Return of the Legendary Runesmith-Chapter 475 - 474- The truth(3)

Back in the Time Chamber, Ruby and Annabelle paced restlessly.

The chamber itself remained unchanged, vast yet suffocating in its stillness. The pale glow that filled the space had no visible source, and the air felt heavy, as if time itself had thickened here. Every step Annabelle took echoed faintly, returning to her ears like a reminder that there was nowhere to go.

It had been almost an hour since Adrian left them behind.

An hour that felt far longer.

They had tried everything they could think of. Annabelle attempted to brute-force her way out first, channeling power into the edges of the chamber, pushing against invisible boundaries until her head throbbed. Ruby followed with more methodical attempts, searching for inconsistencies in space, testing corners, observing the way the light bent.

Nothing worked.

They could not step out.

Annabelle eventually turned her frustration toward the system.

At first, she asked calmly, almost politely, requesting permission to leave or at least an explanation. When that failed, her voice sharpened, her words becoming demands, then accusations. She tried to override it, to provoke it, to force a response.

Silence answered every attempt.

Ruby already knew why.

This place was under Adrian’s absolute command. The Time Chamber existed because he willed it to, and unless he wanted them out, the chamber would not open. Not for force. Not for logic. Not even for desperation.

Annabelle finally stopped pacing, clenching her fists so tightly her nails bit into her palms.

"Why couldn’t he trust us?" she snapped, her voice breaking the stagnant air. "Are we really that unreliable?"

She was not asking Ruby. She was not asking the system. She was venting into the void, letting her anger spill out because holding it in felt unbearable.

When Adrian decided to fight Nytharos alone, Annabelle felt something fracture inside her. She tried to tell herself it was strategic. That he was protecting them. That this was simply the most efficient choice.

But her heart twisted the truth into something crueler.

He has lost faith in me.

After her second loss against Nytharos, the doubt gnawed at her relentlessly. She replayed that failure again and again in her mind. Every mistake. Every hesitation. Every moment she fell short.

A part of her knew she was being irrational. She understood Adrian better than that. She knew how he thought, how he carried the weight of responsibility.

Yet concern drowned reason.

The more time passed, the more her thoughts spiraled into darker possibilities. Injuries. Traps. Manipulation. What if Nytharos had prepared something that even Adrian could not anticipate?

Ruby watched her silently for a while before sitting down again.

Unlike Annabelle, Ruby forced herself to think.

She leaned back in the chair, folding her arms, her eyes scanning the chamber as if answers might appear if she stared long enough. Eventually, her gaze fell on Ariana.

The girl lay on the ground, tucked carefully into a blanket, a mattress placed beneath her. Her breathing was steady, faint rises and falls visible beneath the fabric. Though unconscious, her complexion looked far better than before.

She was recovering. Slowly, but surely.

Ruby exhaled, relief mixing with worry.

After a brief pause, she spoke, her voice measured. "Can’t you ask the system or whatever to keep us updated about Adrian?"

Annabelle glanced at her.

Ruby continued, "From what I understand, it monitors people across the world, right? Since you have one too, it should at least tell us how he’s doing."

Annabelle’s expression darkened.

"It can’t do that either," she growled. "Every entity has a different system. For them to share information about their host is considered a breach of privacy."

Ruby blinked. She did not fully understand the mechanics of the system, but she understood enough to be annoyed by it.

"So it’s useless," Ruby muttered.

As if responding to the insult, a sudden message appeared in Annabelle’s vision.

[Host, please calm down and listen.]

Annabelle’s teeth clenched.

"What do I listen to?" she snapped aloud. "You’re nothing but a piece of garbage that’s never helped me once. I really don’t know why I even tolerate you."

The system paused, then responded.

[To answer your second question, you do not have any option to remove the system. As for being useless, the system can inform the host about Host Adrian’s current condition, but not exactly what he is going through.]

Annabelle froze.

Slowly, she turned her head as if the words needed time to settle into reality. "You can?" she asked. "Then why haven’t you told me until now?"

Ruby stood up immediately. "What happened?" she asked, panic creeping into her voice.

Annabelle swallowed. "The system can tell me about his condition. Just not what he’s doing."

Ruby clicked her tongue. "That’s what I want to know the most."

"Exactly!" Annabelle cried before turning inward again. "So tell me. How is he?"

There was a pause.

A long one.

The silence stretched so tightly that Annabelle felt her heartbeat pounding in her ears. When the message finally appeared, it consisted of only three words.

[Hurt, confused, and scared.]

The words crashed into her like a physical blow.

Annabelle’s breath hitched. Her heart sank, and her irises shrank as if the world itself had closed in around her.

"Darling..." she whispered.

For the first time since entering the chamber, her anger evaporated, replaced by something far heavier.

Fear.

---

Adrian stood in silence.

Five minutes passed. Then more.

He remained where he was, unmoving, his mind replaying everything Nytharos had told him. Each revelation layered atop the last, forming a structure too complex to dismiss outright.

Was the Fallen Deity lying?

That was the first instinct. Deception was a weapon as old as divinity itself. A trap wrapped in half-truths would be far more dangerous than a blatant lie.

Yet the more Adrian examined the information, the more it aligned with unanswered questions he had carried for years.

First, his origin.

Avirin was not supposed to be immortal. Witches were long-lived, resilient, but not eternal. And yet, his existence had persisted through circumstances that should have ended him permanently.

Second, his ability to use independent magic.

Adrian had once assumed it was related to Nytharos. However, unlike Annabelle or Elana, divine symbols never repelled him. Churches did not make his skin crawl. Sacred ground did not weaken him.

There was no rejection.

Third, the ancient creature.

Something that once served Darkness itself had obeyed Adrian without resistance. Even Nytharos admitted that controlling it required effort. With Adrian, there had been no struggle. No coercion. Just acceptance.

And finally, his death.

When he fought the Apostle in Raven’s world, Adrian understood a fundamental truth. No matter how close someone stood to divinity, death was absolute.

If someone died, they perished.

Yet Adrian had died.

And returned.

The chances of him being closely bound to a deity were slim. After all, he was proof that something else was at work.

Something deeper.

"I assume it is rather difficult for you to accept the truth," Nytharos said calmly.

Adrian let out a short laugh. "If you told me I carry the essence of something that nearly consumed the world and became the villain of every history book, I think anyone would need time."

Nytharos hummed in agreement. "I will leave you to decide how you approach that matter."

Adrian exhaled slowly before asking, "So what was your goal in telling me all this? You don’t expect me to support you and help you regain power."

Nytharos shook his head. "I do not hold hope for my future. When I betrayed them, I knew exactly where that road would lead."

Adrian studied him. "Then why?"

Nytharos met his gaze. "Because truth should not die with me."

Adrian paused, then asked something that had lingered in his thoughts for years. "Why didn’t you form a pact with your brother to seal independent magic completely?"

Many theories existed. Fear of losing followers. Inherent corruption. Opportunism.

Nytharos smiled faintly. "Someone had to keep Darkness alive in the people. Without it, the world would have regressed by a thousand years."

Adrian’s brows rose. "So you regret it?"

"I regret the method," Nytharos replied. "Not the outcome."

Adrian frowned. "Darkness was erased, right? That means your brothers no longer force worship."

Nytharos’s expression remained unreadable. "That is something I want you to find out."

Then he spoke again. "This is not a command, but a request. At the southern coast, when the moon is full, follow the alignment of the stars. One of my fragments is imprisoned there."

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. "You want me to free you?"

"That fragment knows things you want to know," Nytharos said softly.

"What kind of things?"

Nytharos smiled. "Why we feared Darkness. What relationship binds us. And how three souls can live in one body."

Adrian stiffened. "Three souls?"

Nytharos laughed quietly. "Find out yourself, Mister Lex."

And with that, he vanished.

Adrian staggered back a step.

Lex.

A name he had buried. A self he had abandoned.

His breathing turned uneven as realization struck.

How did Nytharos know?

"How does he know I’m a transmigrator?" Adrian whispered.

Or was that assumption wrong too?

His gaze shifted toward the distance, toward a path he had not planned to walk.

Yet his feet already felt restless.

Somehow, he knew.

That prison was no longer optional.