Book 6 Chapter 28.4 – Time
Lanaxis read the words one after another in silence, however, no matter how slow she read, there were only these few words, so she should have read through them in the blink of an eye. However, whenever her eyes passed over a word, one could see Lanaxis’ figure flicker. This body of hers wasn’t a material body, nor was it completely a projection, but rather something in between both. Her figure’s flickering represented an undulation of her main body’s energy, or an intense fluctuation of her mood. Regardless of which it was, these were things that originally weren’t likely to happen at all.
Wind and waves continued to roar about, the black billows like monsters from hell, crashing wave upon wave against the island, but they were blocked by an invisible barrier when they were still far away, unable to splash onto Bevulas’ body like before.
“Bevulas…” Lanaxis gently said this name, her voice not that quiet, but Dyke Avidar couldn’t hear what she said. This was a side of her Lanaxis didn’t want him to see, but it wasn’t difficult if he wanted to hear, just that he wasn’t that stupid, stupid to the point where he would try to test Lanaxis’ bottom line at this type of time.
The expression of the elder on the ground was peaceful and serene, the expression lifelike, as if he was still sleeping. After being battered by the stormy sea and rain, there were still several strips of dark green seaweed hanging from his body. Lanaxis squatted down, removing the seaweed from Bevulas’ body, her movements gentle and careful, this hand that was glowing even in the darkness forming a stark contrast with his body’s wrinkled skin. If they were strictly comparing ages, Bevulas was actually even younger than Lanaxis. Strictly in terms of abilities, Bevulas could have maintained a twenty year old appearance and body, but his choice was instead to allow himself to naturally and truly age.
“Forgive me, I didn’t know that you would come at this time. I had a bad premonition, but right now, I am extremely weak, which was why I chose to hide. When I sensed your existence and arrival, it was already too late, and that was why this body of yours was contaminated by this seaweed. You always thought that I didn’t understand you, but you are the same. We are quite similar, both of us having our own beliefs, neither of us tolerating wavering and doubt. However, our ways of doing things are different, and so when we both walk down our own path of beliefs, we were destined to drift further and further apart. Forgive me, during all these years, I knew your way of thinking, and also understood your persistence, but there is no way I will make the same choice as you. The complete body is too important, important to the point where we cannot insert our personal preferences and selfish desires. This was how you criticized me before, but I believe now, you should understand me, or else you wouldn’t have started this war against me. However, Bevulas, what you cannot understand, is that strangling and control are not the only two paths to choose from, those are…”
After pausing for a moment, only then did Lanaxis finish her sentence. “… two completely different realms.”
Dyke Avidar heard the last few lines clearly. Towards the events of the hopelessly muddled events of the past, he was still quite clear about, and in the beginning, he was one of the few individuals who had the qualifications to pursue Lanaxis. Afterwards, he was one of the first to withdraw into retirement, and only afterwards did he start to follow her at her side. When Lanaxis gave herself the title Spider Empress, only then did he appear with the identity of a butler and servant, and from then on, spent most of the latter parts of his life behind Dark Red Castle’s tall walls. When they saw Dyke Avidar again, those old friends that were familiar with him almost couldn’t recognize that this was that blood-thirsty, bold, vicious, yet also graceful man. Only Dyke Avidar himself was most clear about it, only he understood why the Spreader of Darkness’ name was no longer loud and resounding, to the extent where it fell behind Westwood’s. It wasn’t because of a lack of talent, nor was it because he wasn’t diligent enough, and even less because of bad luck. At one point, he was even ahead of Bevulas! However, what left the Spreader of Darkness discouraged, thus abandoning his own dignity and efforts, the true reason why he became perfectly satisfied with following Angelina’s side, taking care of some common tasks and odd jobs, was because of the last sentence Lanaxis said.
That was because, they were already in completely different realms.
Back then, in his most flourishing years, Dyke Avidar’s strength and power even exceeded Lanaxis’, but at that time, the young lady closed the gap with terrifying and depressing speed. The absolute speed of her rise in strength might still leave one with a bit of hope, but that type of stability in mathematical meanings was enough to leave one in despair. Each day, Lanaxis’ strength and growth were the exact same, without any change. That was why when Dyke Avidar saw how she was getting closer and closer, he understood well that in the not too distant future, he would definitely see Lanaxis’ rear figure getting further and further away from him, all the way until it completely disappeared. When he saw this young lady who often had a blank expression on her face single-handedly raise the curtains of Blood Dawn, Dyke Avidar knew that his worries had finally became reality.
Lanaxis, even from when this young lady was extremely delicate and weak, the depths of her bright eyes were always filled with an icy-coldness that lacked all emotions when she looked at him. His strength, his power and influence, none of it could make the expression in her eyes waver or fluctuate in the slightest.
