Previously...
The God of Death said, tattling on Jour about Deruth. It was also his fault that Cale suffered so he's gonna make him pay back tenfold when he ever gets the chance.
***
"What did my foolish husband do again?"
Jour's face immediately went from joyous to serious. Although she loved her husband, her child was the one she loved and cared for the most.
(well not for any longer LMAO)
"Hmm, how about you two come here and watch the record yourself."
The God of Death motioned the mother and son duo to the desk he was sitting at. It was the place he tended to use to watch Cale or rather Deon.
The record began to play the moment Jour and Kim Rok Soo were near. They watched the scene as their faces morphed in shock and then into anger.
"I knew my father was not the best but this is..."
Kim Rok Soo felt conflicted. Would the father who used to smile so brightly at him be like this? But at the same time, he was also the father who neglected him as a child after his mother's death.
Kim Rok Soo turned to Jour who was quiet while watching the record play. He noticed her shoulder shaking and was about to comfort her. However, Jouur immediately stood up and slammed her fists on the table.
"Those motherfucking assholes! How dare you treat my son like this, you sons of bitches!"
'Comforting... Comforting my ass! Mom can be really scary too...'
Kim Rok Soo had never seen such an angry side of his mother. It scared him since this was the first time he'd seen her get this mad and at the same time he was also angry at Cale's so-called loving family.
"First they kill Rok Soo and now they're doing this to Cale?! Not to mention that they are now resurrecting him which is taboo to the law of time!"
Jour continued to cuss out the group. She was angry and angry was an understatement, first they killed her other child and now her other child is being subjected to what is considered torture. How could she not be mad?
"Haah, and I thought I was bad. But no these guys may have taken first play by working with the hunters."
The God of Despair walked sighing for the nth time this day. These guys make him want to become the God of Hope and save people. He almost looks like a saint compared to them. A God of Despair looking like a saint compared to literal humans!
"They are... working with who?!"
"The hunters...?"
Jour was even angrier now when she heard they were working with the hunters. Her husband was working with her household's family.
This was a nightmare for Jour, she couldn't believe this was happening. After all, she had done everything to make sure her children would be able to live happily and save the world.
This was then when Jour and Kim Rok Soo had realized they were killed most likely as a sacrifice. They were crazy enough to go to Earth One and kill them as a sacrifice so they could go to Cale's new life.
"I want to talk to Deruth."
"Seriously? He'd ball his eyes out if he saw you again you know. You and Cale are practically his weak spot."
"Weak spot my ass, that bastard betrayed me the moment he did that to our child we raised together."
"Very well. Write on this piece of paper, I'll make it so one of my followers sends it to him."
The God of Death handed a piece of paper with a pen to Jour who immediately took it and wrote a message on it for Deruth. Kim Rok Soo was curious and decided to take a peek at the paper his mother was writing on.
"Do you want to have a go, Rok Soo?"
Jour handed the paper over to Rok Soo who received it with two hands. Rok Soo looked at the paper and wasn't surprised by what he saw, based on what he heard a while ago this was to be expected. — 'Don't you dare think of me as your wife anymore after what you did to my child.'
Kim Rok Soo wrote right underneath Jour's message; Why did I ever think of you as a good father?
It was a genuine question, he wondered why he ever thought of Deruth as a good father if all he had ever done was ignore him for his red hair and reddish brown eyes that were identical to his mother's. He was glad he didn't inherit his father's looks and instead inherited his mother's looks or else he would have gotten his stupidity as well.
"Wow, this is gonna be a huge blow on him... I can't wait to feel his despair!"
The God of Despair cheered as he looked over the God of Death's shoulder who was holding Jour's and Kim Rok Soo's (hate) message to Deruth. The God of Death then walked outside to put it into a mailbox that was labeled 'for my followers' and walked back.
"Oh, who is this?"
Jour looked at the holographic screen with a familiar white-head with red eyes on it. He looked just like her but with white hair! He was so adorable, she felt like going down and squishing his cheeks.
"That's Cale's new life."
"He looks so angelic it's scaring me."
Kim Rok Soo commented on Cale's new look. Pure white hair, red eyes, skinny physique? He looks like those angels in the novels he found lying around in his house.
"What's his name?"
"Deon, Deon Hardt."
"Hmm, that definitely fits him alright! I like the meaning of his name, a mighty and all-powerful God."
(A/N): These are one of the meanings, his name can also mean duty, proper, follower of dionysus, and necessary person which all fit him pretty much
"Sure fits him alright, he's so powerful that he was able to change the fate of the universe. I wonder how he'll do so here."
Kim Rok Soo looked at his (self proclaimed) younger brother. Maybe the few times they had met before the incident happened slowly made him attached.
(Cruel better watch out... your younger brother is gaining another hyung...)
He saw how Cale lived in his original life, being abused and losing everyone you had love to the apocalypse and many more would have destroyed someone already.
But Cale had no choice but to keep going because those people had all died for him, even if he couldn't go he had to keep going for the people who sacrificed themselves for him at least.
"I do hope he gets to live a happier life this time."
Cale Henituse has suffered enough in all of his lives. Having to fight to stay alive was exhausting, now imagine having to do that for all three of your lives. Kim Rok Soo couldn't imagine it at all. That is why he genuinely wished for Cale to be able to live in peace soon.
***
Deon was walking through the palace grounds with his hood on and suddenly felt a chill on his back. Was someone watching him or talking shit about him? He's pretty sure someone is already talking shit about him.
'Man, I swear if I bump into a noble again...'
Just as Deon jinxed it, he bumped into a noble while exiting the palace. The noble was around his forties and had generic blonde hair and brown eyes. Guessing how there were only two marquises and he had already seen them, this man was most likely a count, viscount, or a baron.
"Oh.. Honorary Count Hardt. It's me, Count Nemour."
"Ah- I am Deon Hardt. It was a pleasure meeting you..." Something about this man gives me horrible vibes!
"How could you not remember me, I helped you during the great war. This saddens me."
'Fuck... I'm guessing my split personality had taken over since I don't remember this guy.'
Recently he found out that his record ability split into two when he gained a second personality. If he wanted to find out what happened during the war, he'd have to dig through all of his records which doesn't sound pleasant at all. He would probably end up nose bleeding again as a backlash and it would be hell to experience such heat while it was still hot outside.
"I apologize, I was under a lot of stress back then since I was young."
Deon apologized and immediately ran away. He wasn't going to linger around this guy any longer because sooner or later he'd end up in huger trouble than he already was and that'd go against his plans for a slacker life.
(Not that you had it in the first place)
There was another reason why he wanted to get away. His gut feeling told him that it was dangerous if he got more involved with this man and his gut feeling was always right. This feeling is what helped him survive in his life as Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse, that was until they did that to him.
'Ah, shit... That stupid cult created by that duke... Should I tell the Emperor about it?'
He didn't want to deal with it at all, and getting himself covered in dirt didn't sound comfortable at all when he could just tell the Emperor about it.
'Guess I'll have to go back in now.'
Deon walked back into the palace and headed towards Eduardo's office again. He could have used a butterfly but he might cough up blood again.
(You didnt even need to tell him..)
***
"Count Hardt... I heard from Nemeseus that you'd be taking a rest. How come you are here now?"
Eduardo put down the documents he was holding and looked at Deon who was sweating and thought he was still hurt. In reality, Deon just didn't want to go near the Emperor and wanted to avoid him at all costs.
"I came here to report something."
"Oh? Well, go ahead then. You should hurry up, I don't want you to overexert yourself alright?"
"Yes, one of my subordinates happened to come across a church that was called the Redemption Church."
Eduardo widened his eyes at the familiar term he heard from Deon but said nothing and continued on. Just a while ago Duke Illuster requested for the church to be taken down since it was a cult.
"They found out that Duke Illuster was the one that made it or had some affiliation with it. They saw him talking to one of the church officials and they handed them documents." This is technically not a lie but he thinks I'm probably loyal because I want to wipe out the Hardt family so he might buy what I say.
"Adding on, the official was also seen near the duke's estate. I have seen them myself" Well the butterflies did, not me though.
"Is that so..."
Eduardo sighed. That duke seriously wants to become king, doesn't he? Too bad he'll never allow him to become king.
"They also infiltrated and found a weird stone somewhere but couldn't enter it... I'm assuming it was magic."
"...You can go now Honorary Count Hardt."
"Thank you."
Deon walked out of Eduardo's office feeling refreshed. He messed around with Duke Illuster and his plan to defame the Emperor and he didn't need to move around to solve the whole problem.
'I never got the chance to eat the chocolate...'
Deon looked around the place, checking to see if anyone was watching him, and took out a bag of chocolates. They were the same ones that Cruel gave him, he just transferred it into a bag so he could bring it around with him.
He also needed to go to the sorcerer's village and get more information about what they knew. Now that his future will definitely change because of Choi Han and the others he needed to at least know the forthcoming things so he could prepare.
***
"Huff... Huff... I didn't- think it'd be- that hard to climb..."
Deon panted in exhaustion as he finally managed to reach the village. Though originally he was supposed to go here for the Redemption Church this time it was for himself. He knew they were already expecting him so he decided to walk right in as if he owned the place.
"My child! You're back!"
"Yes, I am back..."
The elder looked at Deon with expectant eyes rather than scornful eyes as she did in the novel. Deon didn't think much of it as he was dragged into the village.
Of course, the only reason why she treated Deon so well was because all of his hatred for his family was gone. However, she also saw his fate as his hatred disappeared.
When she foretold his fate once again she was horrified at a possible ending for the child who was once a disaster. The world can be very cruel to certain people sometimes.
"We meet again, I didn't have the chance to actually introduce myself did I? I am Ran, and I am this old grandma's granddaughter."
The same shaman walked up to Deon who was right behind the older shaman. She still held the stoic but confident look.
"Yes, I have a lot of questions."
"Very well, come along with me. I'll answer them for you."
Ran walked to the back side of the village with Deon following her from behind. She knew he had a lot of questions regarding his future and wanted answers. She also knew about how Dan's fate had changed because of all of the hate that had disappeared from the white-head.
"My first question is, what did you and your grandmother see about me? Why is it that she looks at me with such a look of guilt and horror?"
"That... Your future is very grim, those otherworldly people will bring disaster to this world and you if you go along with them."
Deon noticed how instead of him becoming a disaster it was now Choi-Han and the others who had become disasters. He wondered if Dan's future had changed as well, they were going to see him soon since this exact scene played out in the novel except there was no Cruel.
"Explain more, I-"
"Don't worry, that young man who is your older brother will keep you safe. I am sure of it, I've taken a peek at his feelings and fate; he is doing everything he can to protect you."
"..."
"I promise you. No, I swear to the stars of truth that what I'm saying is true."
Deon didn't know what to say, was Cruel able to get stronger than Choi Han and Eruhaben? For all he could know they were way stronger than anyone else in this world and would be able to destroy it in a matter of minutes.
"If that's the case, do you know anything about my soul?"
Deon decided to move on from the matter of his 'fate', he would never go along with those people no matter what life it is.
He also needed to know about the matter of his soul since the God of Death told him that they were trying to resurrect him. He knows reviving someone has something to do with tampering with one's soul. This was why he wanted to ask if Ran knew anything about it.
"Your soul? I could try though I'm not sure it'd work."
"Thank you."
Ran put her hand over Deon's head. She could feel the dread, despair, and happiness that Deon had felt these past days. However right at that moment her hand started burning.
"Ugh..."
"Is something wrong?"
"Y-your soul is slowly breaking... And there's one more thing..."
Ran could see a blurry image. It was so blurry she could only interperate it in her own way rather than seeing the full picture.
But one thing she knew was that this was bound to happen even if Deon tried to change his future. She knew fate could be changed if the person had tried hard enough but this time, she had a feeling that this wouldn't be able to change even if one tried hard enough.
It was a blurry image of what seemed like two people. One had black hair while the other was most likely Deon, the future was so blurry and disfigured that she could not tell what was going on.
Ran continued to attempt and read Deon's future despite her hand beginning to burn up even more. She thought that if she continued she could make the image in his fate less blurry.
"Ugh!"
Ran backed away almost immediately the moment she saw a clear glimpse of it. She was surprised and scared of the future she had seen.
"Miss Ran are you okay?"
"I'm fine...Moreover, please be careful in the future. Around November is when something bad will happen to you."
"I will, thank you Miss Ran,"
'Around my birthday... Then it might be my brothers death?'
Deon could hear footsteps from nearby that were heading right to them. He turned around to find a boy that had the same features as Ran only except he had brown hair rather than blackish brown.
"You are..." You are definitely that crazy Dan kid!
"Dan, you are here."
Ran gave a small smile as she greeted Dan who did the same thing back. He seemed to be happier and less angry than what was described in the novel.
It was either because the novel exaggerated to much like The Birth of a Hero, or it was because the future had changed.
"Deon, this is Dan. A few yeas prior to you becoming a child of eternal resting, Dan's future had changed drastically. At first he was the disasters right hand man, but now he is fated to become you and your brothers helper."
'Oh, this time brother is involved. And a helper huh? I wonder what he can help me and my brother with?'
Deon was a very curious type unbeknownst to him, he would try to deny it and say his slacker life was important. But how do you think he get's into such huge messes? That's because he was too curious and noisy.
"You must be one of the children of eternal rest."
"Yes- I am?"
Sometimes Deon forgot he was a saint of the God of Death. Not forget literally, he always buried the thought of him being a saint in the back of his head and didn't think much about it.
"Where is the other one? I may not have as much education or practice but I'll do everything I can to help you!"
'Wow he's really... chatty.'
"My brother isn't here right now."
Deon replied back. He was really tired ever since coming here, and he feels like he might actually die even though he is full of vitality.
***
I wonder what Ran saw? :))
let me tell you Jingrenn was after me after i spoiled her a part of my fanfic