Have You Come to Take Me Home, Father?

Jie La Er stepped out of the darkness and looked at that incomparably familiar face.

Just as it had been in his memories, without even the slightest trace of time. He was still so young, as if only yesterday he had been begging to join the Evening Star Squad.

It left Jie La Er somewhat dazed.

Then he heard Yong Xin speak again. "You've grown much older, Father."

That voice pulled Jie La Er out of his daze.

He looked at that face again.

It truly bore more than ninety percent resemblance to the one in his memories.

The only difference was that the smile once filled with youthful spirit had become an exceedingly uncomfortable... fake smile.

But to Jie La Er, that was the greatest difference of all.

"You..." he slowly said. "What exactly are you?"

Hearing this, Yong Xin let out a soft sigh. "Isn't it a little too harsh to call me a 'thing'? Father, have you already forgotten who I am? Or is it that an adopted son simply wasn't worth remembering so deeply?"

Jie La Er ignored Yong Xin's pathetic provocation and merely watched him quietly.

Yong Xin's gaze gradually lowered toward Jie La Er's feet, where someone lay—the subordinate who had accompanied him earlier.

That subordinate had once been an elite of the Devil Squad, yet before Jie La Er, he had not even had the chance to raise a warning.

So it really was because of...

His gaze slowly rose again, settling on Jie La Er's left eye. That exceptionally unusual eye still glimmered faintly even in such darkness.

"You obtained a very good eye." Yong Xin chuckled. "I could never understand why, after returning from Rhine, you suddenly became able to see so many things. Our concealments were like decorations before you. You saw through every action and every scheme, as if you had changed eyes... What I never expected was that it was actually true."

He paused, then showed Jie La Er the opened letter in his hand with a soft sigh.

"What a pity. The information I received from Rhine came too late. If I had known earlier that eye might have fallen into your hands, I would never have waited until now. But I still want to know—how exactly did you obtain it? According to my intelligence, the one who took that eye should have been a Rhine Father named Ulu... What kind of deal did you make with him to get him to give it to you?"

"Or did you... kill him?"

"If that is the case..."

His gaze lowered again, landing on Jie La Er's left hand.

"Then you have more than just one eye."

"No wonder you were able to defeat Bishop Holman."

Yong Xin kept muttering, as though speaking to himself, yet also as though speaking to Jie La Er.

But Jie La Er answered none of his questions. He merely advanced step by step, his heavy footsteps like seconds ticking away inside a pocket watch.

Then Jie La Er stopped in front of Yong Xin.

Metal scraped against metal.

The huge Chainsaw Sword came down onto Yong Xin's shoulder. Its savage, razor-sharp teeth pressed against Yong Xin's neck, swiftly cutting through his skin as blood streamed down without stopping.

"You still haven't answered my question." Jie La Er stared at Yong Xin and slowly spoke. "What exactly are you?"

Yong Xin finally stopped talking to himself. He lowered his head to look at the Chainsaw Sword resting against his neck. He knew very well that if Jie La Er activated it, his head would hit the ground in an instant.

Yet even then, his expression barely changed.

"Are you going to kill me, Father?" Yong Xin smiled at Jie La Er. "Ten years ago, you abandoned me... Ten years later, are you going to kill me with your own hands again?"

...Ten years ago?

Jie La Er seemed to lose focus.

"It seems you really have forgotten, Father." Yong Xin spoke softly. "Ten years ago, in the Abyss Land, I could no longer walk. You told me that you would come back and that I had to wait for you. I waited and waited, but you never came, until... now."

Yong Xin spread his arms, as if he wanted to give Jie La Er a great big hug.

"Now, have you finally come back to take me home?"

"I've been waiting for you... for so long."

After saying that, Yong Xin slowly leaned toward Jie La Er, while Jie La Er showed no further reaction.

Until Yong Xin's hands were about to touch Jie La Er's body, he heard a faint click.

Before Yong Xin could figure out what it was, the battered Chainsaw Sword on his shoulder let out an even louder roar, like a beast bellowing.

The wildly spinning teeth instantly sliced open Yong Xin's neck, then tore straight downward without resistance, splitting his entire body in two.

Amid the spray of blood, Yong Xin's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at Jie La Er, as if he simply could not believe Jie La Er had actually struck.

"Wh... y..."

By the time he could make a sound, only half his body remained, lying in a pool of blood.

He stared at Jie La Er with all his might, his eyes filled with shock, loss, and pain.

"Father... why..."

Jie La Er looked at Yong Xin's twisting half-body and said calmly, "My son died ten years ago. You are only a monster that came back using his body."

Yong Xin opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something more, but the massive loss of blood drained away what little life and strength he had left. In the end, he lay still with his eyes wide open.

As though he had simply died.

But Jie La Er did not leave. He merely took a few steps back and watched quietly.

Then came a sigh.

"All right. Under that eye, there really is no point in putting on too many meaningless disguises."

Yong Xin suddenly "came back to life."

Under Jie La Er's gaze, the half of Yong Xin's body that had been cut away crawled back and fused with the other half again.

"I'm becoming more and more curious about that eye." As Yong Xin rejoined himself, he looked again at Jie La Er's left eye. "Logically, I can even stop my heartbeat. There is no reason you should have been able to see through me. And before you attacked, I should have been no different from an ordinary person..."

He paused.

"Or did you not attack because of that eye? Was it because... you wanted to kill me from the very beginning? Yes... that must be it. This is you. This is who you are!"

He gradually became excited, licking the lips soaked in blood as he shouted.

"Just as you could kill your contaminated comrades back then! Now you can kill your contaminated son! This is you, this is you! Hahahaha!"

Before Yong Xin's laughter could end, the Chainsaw Sword swung up again, carving a semicircle through the air before once more shearing off his not-yet-fused head.

Then Jie La Er reversed the blade and brought it down in another cleaving strike along the headless body.

Though this Chainsaw Sword repaired by Ju was far inferior in power to the newer models of today, and even weaker than it had been ten years ago, it was still more than enough against flesh and blood.

And Jie La Er clearly did not regard Yong Xin as a normal person. He treated him like the contaminants that had wandered outside his home over the past ten years, every strike aimed at mincing him into pulp so he could never rise again.

Very quickly, Yong Xin was hacked into an unrecognizable mess by Jie La Er, unable even to remain standing.

Yet Yong Xin still had not died, because his voice came from every direction.

"Yes, yes, just like that! This is the you I remember. This is what you taught me back then."

Jie La Er discovered that the things speaking were Yong Xin's scattered flesh and blood.

So he stepped forward again and crushed every piece of flesh capable of making a sound with the Chainsaw Sword.

Yet Yong Xin's voice still did not disappear. He shouted at Jie La Er.

"You want to kill me now? Why?"

"Have you forgotten?"

"You were the one who told me not to die!"

"You were the one who told me not to die!"

Jie La Er's body froze. He abruptly turned around and saw the flesh and blood drifting through the air like dandelion seeds gradually gathering behind him.

Yong Xin struck a strange pose, his battered body curled in the corner as though grievously wounded, and he gave Jie La Er a pale smile.

"Why have you forgotten?" Yong Xin said softly. "You were the one who told me not to die, Father."

That sight struck Jie La Er's heart like a hammer.

No, don't die?

Those words left Jie La Er somewhat dazed.

At the same time, he heard a burst of hurried footsteps.

He instinctively turned his head, then his eyes widened.

Because someone was walking toward him.

That person wore an Evening Star uniform, his face filled with urgency and panic, as though desperate to accomplish something.

But that was not the important part.

The important part was that person was... Jie La Er himself.

He thought it was another one of Yong Xin's tricks and instinctively slashed at it with the Chainsaw Sword.

But the Chainsaw Sword struck nothing and sliced through without obstruction.

This was... an illusion?!

Jie La Er was stunned. Before he could react further, the phantom from ten years ago rushed before him and overlapped with him.

Then Jie La Er felt a burst of agonizing pain, as though new things were constantly forming inside his mind.

Then he heard Bai Wei's voice.

"So that's how it is."

"Is this the price you paid?"

...The price?

What price?

Before Jie La Er could figure it out, the memories that had surfaced in his mind dragged him away in an instant.

Back to that time ten years ago that he had forgotten.

"Lord Jie La Er, this is an urgent mission. Please lead your Evening Star Squad to the Contaminated Land as soon as possible."

Clerk 44 smiled as he handed over a sheet of letter paper.

"This is very important. Please hurry."

After taking the paper, he opened it. There was only a simple drawing on it: an open box with a tongue lying inside.

"Bring it back," Clerk 44 said.

"Captain, isn't this mission location too deep?"

A well-dressed middle-aged Knight pointed sternly at the map.

"This is already far beyond the designated exploration range. Everything there will be completely unknown... What are we going there to find?"

He raised his head, looking at the dense fog in the distance and the enormous, indescribable body within it, as large as a small mountain. He spoke softly.

"To find Lyra's hope."

"Captain, what exactly is this thing?"

A Knight covered in wounds sat there. He looked over with exhaustion on his face, yet his gaze was unusually serious.

"The moment we took it, every contaminant in the Contaminated Land charged at us like mad. At this rate, all of us will die here... I'm not afraid of sacrifice, but I want to know what we are risking our lives for."

He lowered his head to look at the tongue in the box, then lifted it again to look at the squad, which had been reduced to half its original number. His fist clenched tightly.

"I... can't say."

The ground began to tremble, and the roars of beasts echoed around them again. He knew those damned things had caught up once more.

"We can't rest anymore," he said.

"Father, it seems I can only make it this far..."

The impossibly young Knight forced out a pale smile, his voice weak as a thread.

"You must take it out. This is... the final hope. And Ina, please tell her... I'm sorry."

"No! Ian!" Holding the box in one hand, he roared hoarsely at the young Knight. "Don't die! Don't die!"

The tongue inside the box quivered slightly.

He turned his head. The monsters were still approaching in the distance, and only he and the young Knight remained of the entire squad.

And he knew that on his own, he could no longer bring the tongue back. Those monsters would not let him leave.

"No, don't die, Ian."

He said it again to the young Knight who was about to lose every last trace of life, his voice pleading. Even he was on the verge of breaking down.

He was badly wounded.

He could not take the young Knight with him.

Nor could he take this tongue with him.

He... needed reinforcements.

They were already close to leaving the Contamination Zone. As long as he found reinforcements, he could return here quickly.

Looking at the young Knight who had only one breath left, he knew he had only one choice.

"Don't die." He pressed his forehead to the young Knight's, as though trying to share some of his warmth. "Wait for me... I will come back."

Then he buried the box behind him inside the enormous Purification Source Crystal, hoping this thing from Holy Sound could hinder those monsters, even if only slightly.

Even the slightest bit would do.

He took one last look at the young Knight, then, without further hesitation, ran madly toward Lyra.

He knew he was Jie La Er, Knight of the Evening Star.

He needed reinforcements.

To save his son and bring back the thing that could save Lyra.

He had to come back. His son was still waiting for him.

That was what he thought.

But... his head hurt so much.

It really hurt.

As though something were tearing at his body... and his soul.

Making him feel as though things were constantly falling away.

He was Jie La Er.

He needed reinforcements.

His son was waiting for him.

Lyra was waiting for him.

He was Jie La Er.

He needed reinforcements.

His son was waiting for him.

He was Jie La Er.

He needed reinforcements.

He was Jie La Er.

He finally broke through the fog, but his eyes were filled with confusion.

Why was he here?

What was he supposed to do again?

He raised his head and saw countless people charging toward him, roaring at him.

"Jie La Er!"

"You betrayed Lyra!"

He suddenly opened his eyes.

Yong Xin was still sitting there, covered in blood.

"Do you remember now, Father?"

"You told me not to die. You said you would come for me."

He spoke softly.

"Are you... here to take me now?"