Chapter 302: Ch 301: Familiar faces

"My dear Kael, are you disappointed that you are not outside? But how can I allow you to leave me like this? I would rather have us both remain here than have one of us go back. Now come here—"

Kael let out a sigh at those words.

He was done running away. Rather, he could not run away since there was no way left.

Even if he did decide to leave, the people inside the funeral would be in trouble. And he had already gotten people involved and killed. He had no intention of getting even more people killed.

"You know...I am tired of this bullshit. I die in one world, and you cross space and time to come and find me. Does that even make sense?"

Kael asked about the corruption, and Sera just let out a laugh at his question, as if he had asked something that was incredibly funny.

"Make sense? As if I care about something like this. All I want is you—"

"If all you want is me, then my dead body will do as well, right? This time, I will make sure I leave my body behind so that you can have it."

Kael was not suicidal, but he was not too attached to his life at this point either.

He had already come to terms with losing his life twice now, so why did a third time matter?

The smile on Sera’s face slipped away, and she looked at Kael with a face filled with betrayal.

"You...you won’t dare—"

"Well, I do. Now, goodbye."

Kael had a gun on him for self-defense, which he raised to his head in order to take himself out. The corruption tried to stop him, but Kael already knew it would be too late.

But the gun did not have any bullets, which was something Kael did not even know.

"Looks like this world is in my favor. Now, come back—"

A piercing light cut through the corruption, and Kael felt his heart beating faster and faster each second. Something was erupting inside his own heart, and he could feel the power threatening to break free.

It was not his own power, but it was familiar. It was power beyond death...

"Elena, is that you—"

Kael questioned as the space around him started to shift. Soon, the corruption turned to darkness until it merged and cut through space and time.

"Mother, I told you that my power would come in handy someday, right? I was not able to wake up when you died, but this brush with death gave me an opportunity to interfere. And don’t worry. I am not alone. I brought a gift."

Elena opened the rift again and brought out Officer Tyson’s unconscious body. She reached inside his chest before a golden glow started to emerge around Tyson.

Within seconds, his body split into a familiar one and an unfamiliar one.

"Is that..."

Kael questioned, looking at the owner of that familiar body, and Elena gave him a nod.

"It is Leon. I managed to preserve his soul and bring him here with me. Don’t worry. He’s alive and filled with divine energy."

Elena promised, but that was the least of their worries currently.

Despite having more people on their side, the corruption was not defeated yet. Rather, the fight had just started.

"So, you think having more people will help you out? This is just a delusion. I will crush you now and show you the truth—that you are powerless against me."

Sera looked confident, and she had every right to be. After all, she had already cornered them in a place where there was not a lot of mana or divinity.

But Elena had not come here without a plan.

"Kael, I am going to open a path using Leon’s divinity, but both of us won’t be able to move once I do that. So I need you to do something when the time comes."

Elena warned Kael, but she did not tell him what he needed to do. Still, Kael understood what he needed to do.

As soon as Elena opened the path, Kael gathered the extra energy and channeled it into divine energy. Chains made of divine magic grabbed Sera’s arms and dragged her out before shutting the door behind her.

The moment the door shut, the entire corridor fell silent.

Kael stood there for several seconds, staring at the place where Sera had disappeared, unable to believe that it had actually worked. The corruption had been overwhelming only moments ago, yet somehow, they had managed to force it out of this twisted space.

"Did we...actually do it?"

Kael asked, although he already knew that celebrating too early would be a terrible idea.

Elena shook her head.

"No."

Her answer immediately wiped away any relief Kael had been feeling.

"The corruption is still connected to this place. I only managed to separate Sera from it temporarily. If we do not leave soon, she will find another way back."

The second Elena finished speaking, the corruption around them started to boil.

"I am not done yet. I will not give up. Kael is mine-"

"Shut the fuck up. Seraphina, how long are you going to keep listening to this bullshit? Do something about it alright."

Leon yelled, finally waking up and the corruption shone brightly with divine energy. It was enough to break the corruption’s hold on Seraphina’s soul and Sera’s body changed to Seraphina’s.

"I am...trying. Do you think it is easy? I still cannot...find the others...but I...just make sure you keep your promise alright?"

Seraphian asked as he stabbed her body. The corruption started to fade away slowly until none of it could be seen anymore.

For several moments, no one said anything.

Kael stared at Seraphina’s body as the last traces of corruption disappeared, his mind struggling to process everything that had just happened. Leon was standing beside her, his expression exhausted but determined, while Elena remained focused on maintaining the rift.

Finally, it closed and they all collapsed.