Chapter 258 257. Answers.

(AN: I am outside so only one chapter today; I will edit it tomorrow as it is unedited right now) (A raw chapter?)

***

A week later.

After finishing a few of the necessary and unnecessary things, A handsome white-haired elven man walked up a hill that led to a huge mansion.

"I can't believe I'm coming back here again." I grumbled with a deep frown. However, while I was displaying extreme emotions on the outside, I wasn't particularly bothered by the situation on the inside, which was just a tinny tiny bit annoying.

A guard who was guarding the gate frowned deeply when he saw me walking towards the gate; maybe he recognised me since his face tensed at the end.

"Stop! This is a private area; you cannot enter without a permit!" The guard said without stuttering, which was quite brave of him, but channelling mana in his body right in front of me wasn't very brave. Well, I guess he can't help but be tensed when he sees a Rank-SSS hero appearing in front him out of nowhere.

"Haaa..." I sighed and started to rethink if I really needed to go into this goddamn mansion.

"Shoo, go and talk to your "madam" or "sir" and say that "Max" has returned." I shooed him away, but he just stood there staring at with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Go." I said in a commanding tone this time, causing him to flinch before rushing into the mansion to report with a terrified expression on his face.

"Hhyyyaammm~" I yawned, leaned back, while manipulating the aether to hold me floating above ground.

*

(AN: Omniscient POV)

A few minutes later.

TAK-TAK (5x)

The guard rushing towards the floating handsome white-haired elven man with an anxious expression, while the entire mansion was in chaos, a certain couple, wanted to rush out towards the gate, but stopped themselves when they remembered their status.

"The masters are waiting inside for you, young master." The guard bowed overly politely; the way the guard called him; the respectful tone; the guard's attitude; everything had changed, but none of it mattered to "Max," so he just ignored him and walked into the building with his otherworldly aura surrounding him.

After a few minutes, his domineering figure was visible to the couple, who stood at the door, slightly minding their status, but looking at Max, who seemed healthy, they ordered the servants and walked into the waiting room where they planned to receive Max.

The man was Dwayne Knight, a SS-ranked player, one of the three, player association chairmen, and a father who abandoned Max and left him to die in Sector One when Max was just a three-year-old kid. And the woman was Eli Knight, an A-ranked player, and the mother who birthed Max.

"Welcome, young master!" The servants bowed to Max when he entered the house; because he wasn't raised in a proper higher-class house, they expected him to get flustered, but Max simply ignored them as if they weren't worth anything and walked towards the waiting room without anyone guiding him.

BAM

He kicked the door, which fell off of its hinges, and walked towards the couch, sat on it, leaned forward, and started the Knight couple in their eyes without any familial love, care, respect, or emotion of longing in them, which surprised the couple, who had expected a touching reunion, ignoring everything about Max and his feelings.

*

"Hello, Max Knight...." Unable to bear the awkwardness, Dwayne Knight decided to initiate the conversation and ask his long-lost son about his well-being, but was instantly cut short by Max, who closed his eyes as if to not show the annoyance in his eyes.

"Eshwar. Eshwar Frost, is my name." Eshwar said.

"....." Dwayne frowned deeply at Eshwar's attitude, but then abruptly remembered the name of the world's first person to ever reach Rank-SSS. So he ignored Eshwar's arrogance and inwardly gloated, pridefully. About what? Of "his son," of course. Yes, he had completely ignored the fact that he had abandoned Max, no, Eshwar, in Sector One, but Eli was furious at her son's behaviour and couldn't hold it in.

"Max! What is the tone you're using when speaking with your father!!" Eli Knight roared, only to receive a scoff in response.

"Ha! Let's talk properly, alright? I don't need your family bullsh*t after you dared to abandon a child in a monster's den." Eshwar almost laughed out loud when he heard their way of speaking.

"Max! You...." Eli glared at Eshwar but was quickly cut off by Eshwar when she seemingly wanted to lecture him, giving their reasons for their actions and whatnot, but, unfortunately for them, Eshwar didn't care about any of it.

"Eshwar. This'll be the last time." Eshwar warned, staring at Eli in her eyes and said, shutting her up and saving himself from her rants.

"Good. Anyway, mister Dwayne Knight, your son, Elmer Knight, is the person responsible for the cadet slaughter incident that happened a while ago, and I had said that I would be responsible for everything that happened in my class, so your son killed the students I was responsible for, so hand him over." Eshwar casually mentioned the reason for his visit.

"What for?" Dwayne had absolutely no intention of doing anything Eshwar had just asked, but he asked only because he was curious to hear the answer he would receive.

"Kill him, of course." Eshwar replied with a shrug, making the couple freeze in rage. How did Eshwar learn about this matter? Because of Azazel.

Eshwar had asked only a few questions that day, one of which was, "Who was responsible for the cadet slaughter incident?" Two, "Who was the one that prompted the attack on the academy?" Three: "Who was responsible for the orphanage slaughter incident?" The answer to the first question was Elmer Knight, who felt humiliated on that day and asked the vampires' help to kill all those who had laughed at him. That was all the answer that Azazel gave to that question, but Eshwar knew better, of course, because he was the one who created this world and those who live in it.

(AN: About the topic mentioned in ch 45: The Artificial Dungeon (2))

'Tchort. He was the one responsible for the incident; he had somehow made contact with Elmer Knight while he had infiltrated the academy and incited and manipulated Elmer into his ways, which was what was supposed to happen to Max in the original story. Max, who was abandoned by his father, would be rescued by the Knight family's butler, who raised him like his own son and made him join the academy. Max, who saw his brother in the same academy, would be blinded by rage and falls into Tchort's ploy, where he manipulates Max against his own family. This is how the story would go if Max existed, of course.' Eshwar remembered the original story, or whatever it was, since now nothing about it mattered or really made much sense because of Seol So-Young's past "reality."

And the answers for the other two questions were: Heath Walker, who was Isha's half-brother, which was also the reason Isha cried when she learned about this fact; though there wasn't really much familial love between them, they didn't hate each other; no, it was more like they didn't care about each other; and Isha, who never really spoke to him, didn't have any reason to hate him; and even if their parents somehow influenced them, it was never to the point that they would want to kill each other. And Eshwar, who heard the answer, frowned before connecting Isha's features to imagine how her brother would look, and a certain face flashed in his head.

'NOW PRESENTING THE 33rd MATCH OF THE NIGHT. TO MY LEFT, TODAY'S 33rd CHALLENGER!! DIEMOS!!' The voice of the announcer from the Obituary Colosseum sounded in Eshwar's head, and he remembered what that Diemos guy had been mumbling about that day—it was something about killing his sister when Eshwar incited jealousy and rage in Diemos, who was supposedly Heath Walker, Isha's half-brother.

(AN: character introduced in Ch 39: The Obituary Colosseum (3), ch 122: Loss, again in ch 204: New System, and finally in ch 220: Targets (2))

Even this time, Eshwar suspected Tchort to be the one manipulating these small pawns from behind. The reason for his suspicion was simply because Tchort craved the destruction of Earth, which bound him to itself, hoping that it would free him if completely destroyed, or so Eshwar remembered writing about it as such.

'But considering Heath Walker's negative emotions towards Isha, I don't think that Tchort had too much hand in it.' Eshwar seriously pondered inwardly, ignoring the raging Knight couple in front of him.

'Us, the vampires, plotted to kill our target, Quinn Walker, but yes, he was the one who dealt the final blow to Quinn; he made use of the opportunity that opened up and killed the orphanage kids, but the reason behind it wasn't known.' Azazel's answer sounded in Eshwar's head, where he connected the dots to all of Heath Walker's actions.

'Let's just say, he didn't want Isha to be happy, so he slowly destroyed everything around her, blinded by his jealousy.' Eshwar concluded in a much simpler terms, but he was still very engaged by the fact that, Heath, that son of a bit*h dared to make "his" Isha sad!

"I dare you say that again!" Dwayne Knight abruptly roared, snapping Eshwar out of his trance.

"Huh? What?" He mumbled out in confusion before remembering the topic at hand.

"Ah! Mister Dwayne Knight, your son...." Eshwar went back to serious mode and began to speak, but was cut short by Dwayne, who was outraged at Eshwar's behaviour.

"I don't need you to repeat that bullsh*t!!! How dare you say that you'll kill my son right at my face!!!" Dwayne yelled and released his killing intent, which put the entire mansion under immense pressure, including his wife, but that pressure was something that was happening because bits of Dwayne's intent that were wandering while the real deal was completely focused on Eshwar.

"Quite strong, aye." Eshwar mumbled under his breath with a smirk; the pressure he was under was so strong that any human would be crushed to death by just being near it, but Eshwar wasn't "any human," and even if he were, they seemed to be forgetting about the fact that he had reached rank-SSS, with a tiny bit of control over the aether, and not even the ground beneath his feet had cracked.

SNAP

WHOOSH

"!!!"