Chapter 264: Ch 263: Kael has lost his mind

"You want to tell me the truth? How do I know that you would only tell me the truth and nothing else? It would be easy enough for you to lie to me for your own sake."

Kael pointed out, and the corruption paused before it chuckled.

/You are right. You have no way to verify whether what I am telling you is the truth or not. It will have to be a risk you take. Now, the decision is yours./

The voice told Kael, and he knew that the smart thing to do would be to pretend he had never heard the corruption speak.

But he wanted to know more, so he decided to take this risk.

"I will hear you out. So tell me, what are you, and what is the World Magic?"

Kael asked, and the corruption finally started to take solid form in front of him. It first formed a shapeless mass before gradually taking the form of an adult human woman.

By the time it stopped, it was easy to make out a woman’s face within the black, liquid-like fog.

/Since you wish to know the truth of the past, I have decided to show it to you. However, you will have to trust me and step into my authority. Are you willing to take that risk?/

The corruption waved its hand, and a black, inky portal opened in the middle of the room. The corruption wanted Kael to step inside and see the truth for himself. But Kael’s instincts told him that it was a bad idea.

They were reacting to the corruption, and he unconsciously took a step back.

/This is not fair! You are the one who asked me to show you the truth, and now you are trying to back down? If you wish to know the truth, then you will have to trust me and come forward. If you refuse, then that is your choice as well. But I will not offer you this chance again./

The corruption sounded almost as if it were offended by Kael’s fear. He knew that it was a natural reaction of the human body. But the corruption did not understand that.

To it, Kael’s reaction was a rejection that it was taking personally.

"I...am not afraid. I told you that I wish to know the truth, and I will keep my word."

Kael took one step forward and then another until he reached the portal.

It felt unfamiliar, and his instincts warned him that it was not a good idea to go inside. But he did so anyway and stepped through the barrier.

The last thing he heard was the door to his room slamming open and someone rushing inside.

"Kael, what are you doing—"

Iris’s voice rang out as she tried to get his attention. But Kael had already stepped into the portal, and there was no way for him to look back anymore.

He felt betrayed by Iris, and he did not want to talk to her at the moment. But he still thought she deserved to know where he was going and what he was doing.

"I am going to find out the truth of this world, so there is no need for you to look so worried. Just tell Leon that I will be fine and that I will be back soon."

Kael told Iris before his body disappeared into the portal of corruption.

The form that had led him there had disappeared long ago, leaving only Iris behind with a shocked expression on her face.

...

"Kael..."

She called out, but no one answered her. Still, she was determined to bring him back.

She knew Kael would not have made such a decision if he had been in his right mind. That meant something had happened that had forced him to do this.

’Leon. He would know what happened. I need to find him.’

Finding the hero was not difficult at all. Leon was training when Iris rushed toward him with a panicked expression.

"Leon, this is an emergency! Kael...huff...he..."

Iris was a Sword Master with tremendous physical strength, so she hardly ever ran out of breath. The fact that she was acting like this was enough for Leon to know that something terrible had happened.

"Take a deep breath and calm down. I will hear what you have to say, but you need to be able to speak clearly first."

Leon pointed out, and Iris tried to calm herself down. But her panic was too much to handle, and she almost collapsed before catching herself.

"I don’t think we have time for all this...no, that’s not what’s important! We need to bring Kael back right now. He decided to head into the corruption, and there is no telling what will happen to him. We need to go after him and—"

Sigh.

"Iris, calm down and take a deep breath. Kael is not an idiot. He knows what he’s doing. Actually, I would say that he knows what he is doing better than any one of us. He does not need us to interfere."

The fact that Leon said this made Iris irrationally angry.

"What are you saying? Kael is—"

"He remembers his memories from his past life. He knows what happened and how he died. But he still chose to forgive us and associate with us. So this time, I want to trust him."

Leon told Iris, and she paused to look at him with a shocked expression.

Slowly, realization dawned on her face, and she let out a gasp.

"You...told Kael! You told him about what happened between us and what we did. Is that why he followed the corruption? Leon, what did you do—"

"I did not want Kael to remain in the dark any longer. If he had found out about this from anyone other than us, then he would have felt even more betrayed. He might have stopped associating with us altogether. Would you have preferred that?"

He asked, and Iris suddenly looked uncomfortable. She knew this was a cheap trick Leon was playing, but she still fell for it anyway.