Chapter 131: Resentment energy

Kyrie opens his tired eyes sensing his wrist searing. When he catches the sight of the spatial magic inscriptions shining, he becomes fully awake. 

[Where am I getting summoned?]

He gets out of Ian's arms wrapped around him and sits up to inspect the ancient inscriptions slowly morphing into different patterns. Like the first time, the inscriptions turn into crimson red, and the new patterns seem to be sinking into Kyrie's flesh like a hot searing iron, causing him to clench his teeth at the pain. After the patterns get printed on his skin, the light shining from the letters turns blue.

"Kyrie?" Ian jolts awake when he looks at Kyrie's wrist, "What is this?"

"They are space magic inscriptions… The ones responsible for taking me to you back when you were studying in the academy."

[And these inscriptions are also found by Yue.]

Before the letters dim back to black, Kyrie feels a powerful energy swirl inside his chest. The energy flows through his veins into his arm in rapid speed, steams out, and wraps around his wrist where the patterns are. The energy turns into a bangle, stretching out away from his skin, taking the patterns off his wrist. Then, the stretched-out bangle bursts and turns into silver particles. 

[What is happening? Why did the essence that Phanes gave me react to the inscriptions?]

---

<God realm>

Yue clenches the fabric on her chest and breathes deeply as she waits for the sharp pain to fade. The inscriptions on Kyrie's wrist have broken forcefully, causing her to suffer from the forced severance. 

She wants to upgrade those inscriptions into a tracking enchantment since Kyrie has disappeared from her vigilance once already. At the very minimum, she wants to have some control over the wild card at least.

'But who would have such an ability to break off that enchantment?'

That enchantment has been something she received from Vita. Yue starts to think over the possibilities, but her mind cannot pinpoint just one entity. Many would benefit from having that enchantment broken. She stands back up even though her vision is blurry. 

"Why did you disobey her majesty and try to summon that human?"

Yue turns to look at Uriel standing at the gazebo's stair. She lets a breath of relief to know that it was Uriel out of everyone. 

"The gates are about to open, so I just wanted to make sure everything is set in motion."

Uriel sneakers, "Aren't you a caring one? I didn't know that you are capable of that!"

Yue gives Uriel a threatening stare, "At least I am not a hypocrite…"

"And I am not as casual as you…" says Uriel spitefully, "Although, it seems like you have found something to do after all those years of just floating around worlds… without a purpose or destination..." 

"Who says that I have traveled to all those worlds without a purpose or destination?"

Yue and Uriel start a staring contest, but Yue finds it meaningless after a while and looks away. 

"You really cannot let go of what is meant to stay in the past, Yue."

"How could I?" Yue huffs, "So many of our friends and family dissipated into nothingness… The god realm became so void and empty. Master almost went crazy from all those events. I think you are lying to yourself if you think you could let go of what happened," Yue pauses as memories flashed in her mind, "... especially because of that girl."

Uriel closes her hands into fists. She hates it when someone mentions that person.

"I don't think you could just let go of that girl, Uriel. Especially when she is there as that fallen god's little servant. What you have done, Uriel, I know everything. So don't come at me like you don't care and that you are above these so-called petty feelings. You can't run away from them forever..."

Uriel's countenance slowly turns grim. Yue's words are right, so right that they pierce accurately to where it hurts. That little girl in her memories has been as close to her as a biological sister, and these turns of events in that incomplete world are starting to take a toll on her emotions. 

"She should not be there, Yue. She was finally given some freedom and a new life without her painful memories here in the god realm, but now… She is again involved in all of this. I am tired that none of us can move on! You made it this way… We finally had some peace, and you had to bring that human into that world!"

Uriel grabs on Yue's arms, and tears are coming out of her eyes, "She was only a child, but everyone had to treat her so cruelly… You know how it was back then… You played with her and even gave her a name similar to yours, Yue. Cynthia… means moon."

Yue shakes her head, "She is not a child or even a being… She is just… resentment energy…"

"She came from a womb, Yue!"

The images of Cynthia peeking out from that small window flashes into Uriel's mind. Her black hair is long and stiff like a bundle of hay. Her clothes are too big for that small frame and too dirty to wear comfortably. All day, that young girl would peak from the window with eyes that crave to see more of the outside world.

"We have a rightful young miss…" Yue murmurs as she looks at Uriel, "She is the true miss that you should worry about."

"She gave up her godhood! She is no longer our young miss!" Uriel raises her voice as she huffs.

"I don't think the master thinks the same. You have so much anger for what happened to Cynthia, but you still full-heartedly serve…"

Yue pauses when Uriel takes her hands away from Yue's arms and backs away. 

"What are you going to do, Uriel? That young girl is no longer a child. Cynthia is an adult, and she has chosen a path that is not on our side. Or, are you still thinking that Erebus is the same as back then? Didn't you see the mess he has caused?"

"I do not think that Erebus is the same. That fallen god… is nothing but a bastard!"

Uriel turns around and walks away. She is not in the right condition to continue talking about a topic that deeply shakes her heart. 

Yue looks at Uriel disappear at a distance on the only path paved on a plane filled with flowers. She puts her hand over the crystal ball on the round marble table. The images of Cynthia appear on its surface. She is tucked inside a double bed. 

Uriel's words echo in her head again, 'You played with her and even gave her a name similar to yours, Yue. Cynthia… means moon.'

Yue puts her hand on top of the crystal ball, and the images projecting from it disappear. 

---

Clouds of mist come out from the gap below an enormous door. Imogen arrives in front of the door, and the mechanisms of the doors start to turn on their own. After hearing one loud click, she walks in after the door opens up. She walks into a circular garden that she has seen way too many times to be surprised by its beauty. 

She arrives at the altar after climbing all the stairs.

"Imogen…" A woman's voice resonates inside her mind, and her vision suddenly shifts to a place where she can stand on top of ocean water without sinking.

She has arrived at the Infinity Abyss, so she walks toward the only figure whose back is facing her.

"Your majesty," Imogen greets.

Vita, wearing her usual empirical hanfu neatly, turns around to face Imogen. She blows out a puff of smoke.

"Good job with purifying the temple, but you did something different this time."

"The paladin suggested that this way was better," Imogen gives Kyrie credit without hesitations.

"Well, Imogen… Do you think it is better?"

Imogen thinks back to the cheers from the people when she came out of the temple, "Both have the same end result, your majesty."

Vita lets out a smile, "You should not lie, Imogen. Your thoughts and feelings say otherwise."

Imogen remains silent.

"It is nice to see that you met someone who truly was able to get your attention. So far, how do you feel about this loop?"

"Things have yet to start, so I cannot give you an answer."

Vita lightly nods, "Yes, that is right. You have to still go through the gates…"

Imogen gazes at Vita for a few seconds to look for the reason the goddess has looked for her. She knows that Vita is not just merely looking for her to reestablish the Garden of Oracles.

Understanding the gaze, Vita puts down her long pipe from her mouth, "I want you to look for Phanes's essence reserves carefully. Kyrie seems to be the missing piece that we needed to find those reserves."

Imogen frowns at the request, "Your majesty, Kyrie's soul has been injured, so he will not be entering the gates until he finds a way to recover."

"I know… You can let Kyrie temporarily keep them."

As if something just clicked, Imogen becomes aware that the essence she felt inside Kyrie is the essence that she has been originally tasked to look for. She looks stupefied at the thought, so she looks at Vita for answers.

"That is right," Vita affirms the thought that she read from Imogen, "Kyrie possesses one of the reserves that we have been looking for."