Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son

Chapter 85: [Oracle of Past] [6] [Two sides]

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

I clenched my fist around my chest as my heartbeat started to rise at an alarming rate.

Standing up, I took a step back, away from In?s, stumbling slightly in the process.

"...Not this again."

I grumbled as my breath became shallow, forcing me to try to will my status screen to come forward.

'Fuck!!'

But much to my dismay, it didn't come.

A dark fog-like substance was slowly creeping in at the edge of my vision.

I tried to focus, concentrate, knowing if I didn't, I might lose control of my body.

"..Urgh!"

But my efforts were meaningless as with every passing second, the pain in my head increased until it exploded.

Then it came back again, the feeling of falling, sinking into a place unknown, making me fall to my knees.

"Huff.. Huff.."

Blinking my eyes to alleviate the pain spiking behind them, I tried to take deep breaths and blow them out slowly to calm myself.

'Azariah.'

"Urghh!!"

A pain like sharp knives jabbed into my skull, accompanied by my own voice but cold and detached of any emotions—just like my mother's.

"Inder." I called out, but the pain continued to explode in my head, making it hard to keep my consciousness.

'...Don't fall asleep.'

"F-fuck, easy for you to say!!"

I shouted, roughly running my fingers through my hair.

'...I am feeling the same pain, so stop shouting.'

"....."

Fuck it...

Biting my lip, I tried to ignore the pain rumming in my head.

"..What do you want?" I asked, standing up from the ground.

'...First get out of here.'

"....."

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my surroundings.

The sound of the rain made it faint, but I could hear the footfalls of the soldiers arriving towards us.

Opening my eyes slowly, I looked at In?s....

'... Don't even think about it.'

"... Fuck."

Lamenting my bad luck, I quickly walked towards her, uniting her ropes before placing my hands beneath her knees and waist, picking her up.

Glancing around the corridor littered with corpses, I moved towards the opposite side from where the footfalls were coming from.

The pain still lingered in my head but not enough to make me lose focus.

The only time it hurts badly is when 'he' talks.

'...How long has it been?'

"Argh... Stop talking... my head hurts like hell!!"

'...How l—'

"Fuck!!... I don't know, maybe five minutes."

'...Ten more minutes.'

Arghh... fuck, at this rate, I will die just by talking to him.

'.....'

"....."

Neither of us said anything as I rushed towards a safe place while hiding from the soldiers that came into view from time to time.

'...El.'

[...Yeah.]

"...Stop talking, my head hurts!!"

'...Are feelings related to souls?'

Ignoring my words, 'he' asked, and despite the throbbing pain in my head, his words piqued my interest.

[...Yeah.]

'...I see.'

[...Are you—]

"....Hey El, do me a favor and shut your mouth."

'...Ask, El.'

"Arghh... Shut up!!"

'...Just so you know 'I' was the one who lost a third of my soul so you can have El.'

"Doesn't matter, he's useless anyway."

[....Are you subconsciously connected with Azariah?]

"Hey! El!"

'...Yes.'

I bit my lip tightly as I tried to alleviate the pain while hearing 'his' words.

[...Like I thought, you both are the same.]

'...I am nothing like this idiot.'

"Fuck off!"

Baam!!

I pushed open the door of the bathroom I was in before, closing it behind me before placing In?s on the ground.

[...No, if both your subconsciouses are the same, then both of you are one person... but with two different personalities... and when Inder appeared, both your personalities should have merged.]

"Then why didn't it happen?"

I asked, moving towards the mirror on the side.

[...Something is stopping it.]

"....."

I remained silent as I looked at my reflection.

Everything was the same, with one distinct difference—my eyes. One was purple, and the other was blue.

Something is stopping it? But why? And most importantly, by who?

As the thought crossed my mind, something clicked.

"Our souls have been 'marked'."

'Our souls have been 'marked'.'

We both uttered those words at the same time.

'...just like Ragnar.'

"Fuck, we are screwed."

Cursing, I ruffled my hair as I took some water in my hand and walked toward In?s.

[...What are you doing?]

"Waking her up. She said 'his' name, right?" I replied as I splashed the water on her face. Her eyes squeezed shut as I gently patted her cheek.

[.....]

'.....'

"Wake up!!" Pinching her cheek tightly, I shouted, glaring at her.

It worked. She groggily opened her beautiful green eyes, looking around the place.

"Huh?"

But her eyes soon turned vacant, her head falling down helplessly.

"Oye! What happened?" I asked, grabbing her cheeks and making her face me. Her eyes were still vacant.

After some time, reason returned to her eyes, but her pupils trembled violently. She tried to swallow but couldn't.

She brought her hands close to her head as tears started to slip down her cheeks.

"Uaahh!!" She screamed between her cries, bringing her knees to her face.

"Hey!" I shouted, grabbing her hands before she tried to scratch her face. "Hey! Princess!"

Her eyes darted around wildly before finally settling on mine.

Before I could understand, she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tightly, tears still streaming down her face.

"...It's okay," I whispered softly in her ear, trying to calm her down by rubbing her back gently.

She trembled violently at my words.

"El," I thought silently.

[...She glimpsed into your past and... broke down.]

"....How long?"

[...At least an hour, at most a day.]

"That shouldn't have made her behave like this—"

[...Az, what you've been through was just too much for her.]

"Hey," I said, grabbing her head and making her look at me. Wiping her tears, I whispered softly, "....Everything is okay, stop crying."

She looked at me while taking shallow breaths before asking, "A-are y-you a-alright?"

"...I am fine," I replied, smiling reassuringly.

"Y-you a-are not." Shaking her head, she choked out the words, "..Y-you a-are dying."

She hugged me once again, crying as she repeated her words, "...Y-you a-are dying."

"Sigh..."

I sighed as I broke the hug, crawling a little bit away from her.

She wiped her tears, but they kept streaming down her face.

"...In?s, when you were knocked out, you said a name. Do you remember that?" I asked, looking at her calmly.

"...Inder?" she asked, making my heartbeat rise.

"Y-yeah, how do you know that name?" I stuttered, moving closer to her.

"...Sometimes I dream about past events...I heard that name in one of those dreams...and...when I was unconscious, a voice kept urging me to say that name."

She replied slowly, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"...What past events are you talking about, and what kind of voice did you hear?"

Ignoring the fact that she just revealed her biggest secret, I asked.

"I don't know...they are random...but I remember it was a man with long pointy ears who was saying 'his' name."

She nodded gently. "....And the voice was weird. I can't remember it now."

'Azariah, get out of here now.'

Huh? Why?

'...Just do it, or else we will get surrounded.'

"We need to go." Grabbing her hand, I urged her, forcing her to stand up.

"...Where?" she asked as I dragged her outside the bathroom.

"...Somewhere safe," I mumbled, taking the corridor on the right.

'...Something happened, right?'

Yeah...

The Principalities wouldn't have started the plan earlier than expected unless something beyond their control happened.

Something that can threaten two Overlords...

"W-what is h-happening?" In?s asked, hearing the horrifying screams that echoed in the corridor.

"...The Principalities—they are here to kidnap you."

She froze in her place, blood draining from her face as she stuttered, "P-principalities?"

"...Yeah." I replied, dragging her with me.

Ind—

'No, you can't kill her.'

I bit my lip to alleviate the pain throbbing in my head.

"Wait! Then what are you doing here!?" she exclaimed, shifting her focus.

"What?"

"...They are after me. Why are you involving yourself in this?" she replied, trying to break free from my grip.

"...What are you doing?"

"...They are after me. You run on the opposite side of me; you will be safe." She looked into my eyes.

"...I am not saving you." And before I could reply, my mouth moved on its own without me saying anything, "...I am saving myself."

'Huh?'

I blinked my eyes twice as I could 'see' but couldn't move my body, my consciousness threatening to fade away.

"Don't fall asleep, Azariah," I heard my own voice, cold and devoid of any emotions. "...You have to see what's going to happen."

'How the fuck did you switch our positions!?'

"Hey! Are you mad!" In?s shouted as 'he' turned to look at her. "....I am saying that I can take care—why are your eyes blue?"

"Shut up, brat." 'He' ordered, glaring at her.

"...Yes."

We slowly walked through the corridor before arriving at a hall with four openings and an open ceiling covered with glass.

'Wait, what are we doing here!?'

I exclaimed as footsteps echoed from all directions.

"In?s."

"Y-yeah."

"Take this and stay close to me." Taking the brochure from my suit, he passed it to her as he instructed.

"Azariah," he thought silently.

'Yeah.'

"I am taking three months of life."

'Huh?'

"Amun-Ra's blessing: Second form: sefīgá."

He whispered as the hall started to fill with soldiers.