Chapter 1074: Chapter 1074: Uh oh
"Gk... Grah!"
"It"s okay, just push. You"re nearly there, we can see the head."
"R...Riley!"
"It"s fine, your partner"s there. Just push."
Riley had thought of numerous paths the next trial would take - and this was actually one of the ideas that came up. He had already obviously killed Katherine on the previous trial, but to kill her now as she was giving birth to Karina was something that caused him to slightly hesitate.
The only thing Riley could really do was just stand inside the operating room, watching as tears trailed down Katherine"s eyes as she screamed and gritted her teeth at the same time. It was weird Riley had already heard billions of screams, and all of them usually led to death. Katherine"s screams, however, were not headed there but were instead headed for life. He had already witnessed Lucifer and Renna"s birth, but it still made Riley feel some sort of way he could not really understand. It was as if just for this brief moment alone, he felt... human.
Undeserving, of course, but human.
He doesn"t belong here. After all, what else signifies life greater than actually giving life? One could argue that growing life would signify it even more, but then again, an argument.
All Riley could really do was watch, watch as Katherine struggled to give birth- and soon... "It"s... it"s a girl!"
Riley then let out a small sigh as he was about to turn around, to find another Hera to ensure that the baby Karina would be sent to the real reality. But as soon as he left the operating room, he just found himself back in it.
"...Hm."
"R... Riley. Riley, where are you? Look at her... look at our baby."
And as Riley heard his name being called, the only thing he could really do was approach Katherine... only to see a baby with brown hair; clearly not an albino like him.
"Oh," Riley then blinked a couple of times as he realized something. Paige was not able to recreate the evaniels because of their unique existence, so it makes sense that she also would not be able to make Karina, who came from him, "Katherine."
"Hm...?"
"Rest," Riley then softly caressed Katherine"s cheek, instantly killing her there and then by practically erasing her brain and heart at the same time. And without even any hesitation, he did the same to the baby.
He was sure that Karina would have something to say to him once he was outside the trials, but that was another trial to be faced later; now, it was time to move on to the next floor... or so Riley thought.
Instead of being teleported to the next trial, it would seem his current trial was not over yet as everything around him just disappeared, except for the operating room itself.
"Interesting," Riley whispered out; his whisper, slowly being accompanied by the noise of the door opening. He did not really contemplate on whether or not to enter it as he just did so — and when he did, what welcomed him was a person he had not really seen for a very long time.
"Riley, is something wrong?"
"Yes."
Riley found himself suddenly sitting on a chair in front of an obviously expensive set of PC, and sitting beside him was Tomoe Reynolds, also sitting in front of an obviously even more expensive set of PC.
"Tomoe, it has been a very long time since I last saw you."
"What... are you saying?" Tomoe squinted her already small eyes as she glanced at Riley, "Please stop being so weird, they"re waiting for us to go online. I already told you to update your PC earlier."
"Hm?" Riley could not help but blink a couple of times as he just stared at Tomoe, who seemed completely different from the one he knew. He was about to say something else, but his PC stopped updating and he saw the wallpaper he had.
It was a photo of him and Tomoe together, with Tomoe wearing what Riley could only a.s.sume to be a wedding dress.
"Are we married, Tomoe?" Riley asked.
"...Yes?" Tomoe raised an eyebrow, "What"s even with that question? And can you turn on the AC? It"s too hot in here."
"Why not just use your abilities to cool down the room, Tomoe?"
"Oh yeah, like I can just magically turn this room into a refrigerator. Wait, are you still half asleep?" Tomoe then stood up, and as she did so, Riley noticed her large belly, "Come on, stop lacking. Once the baby comes out, we won"t have time to play anymore! We need to wait at least until he"s 6 years old, and then we can just ask her to pilot our characters."
"Hm," Riley blinked a couple of times as he finally realized what was happening - this was a completely different world, a different outcome where powers didn"t exist at all. A world... where he was completely normal.
But why did he end up with Tomoe? Was it by Paige"s choice?
"Tomoe."
"Hm?"
"I will find you outside too."
"What are you-"
And before Tomoe could even finish her words, Riley held her cheeks. She just quickly smiled as he did so and slightly puckered her lips... only for Riley to twist her head and kill her.
And once again, the room became empty as the door once again opened. Riley had already expected it, but it would seem the 3rd trial consisted of other stages. But no matter, he would
-clear it-
"Wake up, Blankface."
"Pavoom."
But as soon as he heard his sister"s voice, he immediately killed himself and returned to the
real reality.
"Hm..." Riley then took a step back and he found himself back, standing in front of the Black Tower. He stared at the tower for a few seconds before just shaking his head and walking back to his tent before he could even take 3 steps, however, he felt a fist moving toward his cheek; Riley did not move at all, and even slightly leaned away so that the fist wouldn"t be hurt — after all, it belonged to his sister.
"I am a little confused now as to how to address you, Sister 2," Riley then just casually looked at the Hannah who they pulled out from the trial, "You have lived the same life as my real sister, and you are her - but at the same time, you are not. I suppose I would just have to settle with the idea that there are truly two of you now...
...and also you."
Riley then raised his palm to block another fist - Megawoman"s.
"It would seem you recovered faster than before even without needing any external help,
Aerith."
"Darkday..."
"I know all of you are confused, I am too," Riley let out a sigh while shaking his head, "I a.s.sume Crimson Paladin or someone else has explained the situation? I did not really think
this through, quite honestly...
...I just wanted the both of you alive."
"You..." Hannah, whose eyebrows were completely lowered, slowly retracted her hand as she heard Riley"s words, "... Are you really my brother?"
"I suppose so," Riley smiled at Hannah before turning his attention to Megawoman, "May I suggest that we all just sit around a table and talk?"
"You... you killed all of them," Megawoman"s voice trembled as she looked Riley in the eyes, "I saw it... you fought with my mother and-is all of this real?"
"It is now, Aerith," Riley sighed before finding Angela approaching them, "Did you explain everything to them, Miss Angela?"
"I did," Angela breathed out; the expression on her face was quite conflicted. How could it not be, when she just watched Riley practically destroy a universe? Something that would have definitely happened if all the stars aligned, "But you can"t expect them to just believe all of it and I think they"re attacking you for a different reason, Darkday. No...
...everyone here is afraid of you now."
"Hm?" Riley then turned to look at the ma.s.ses gathered around the Black Tower. He hadn"t
noticed it before, but no one was taking the trials anymore-in fact, the number of people
had obviously dwindled.
"Where are Karina and Hera?" Riley then asked as he noticed they weren"t there, "Did... she
see what I did to Katherine?"
"Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately not," Angela let out a small but very deep sigh, "They
are with Whiteking and Diana...
...all of them went back to the only remaining universe while you were gone."
"..." Riley blinked a couple of times as he tilted his head to the side,
"...They went back without me, Miss Angela?"