Chapter 738 “I Need to Rest”
?Just like Eliza feared, she and Evan ended up doing it in the bathroom again. For a moment, she wondered how she had the stamina to keep up with Evan, but she remembered that 'Life' was her main affinity.
Stamina was hardly an issue for her.
'And yet, Evan nearly made me go unconscious…scary!'
Such thoughts crossed her mind as she pulled the cake from the fridge, glancing out the window at the setting sun.
"I can't believe we ended up having sex all day…"
"There are many more things I would love to do to you but first, I would like to see the rest of the gifts and fill your stomach with food before we continue."
Evan's voice rang out from behind her, and the girl's body trembled. She turned towards him with tearful eyes, asking.
"…c-continue?"
"Pfft!"
Evan burst into laughter when he saw her expression. Realizing she was being teased, Eliza punched his chest to express her 'annoyance' before carrying the cake out of the kitchen.
She was desperate to NOT let Evan figure out she had actually become a little aroused at the thought of them continuing.
'Crazy! You've gone crazy, Elizabella!'
For the sake of her mental stability, Eliza resolved to ensure they didn't engage in anything too intimate that night.
Fortunately, the rest of the day unfolded without any PG18 activities. They resumed their gift unboxing, enjoying the cakes Eliza had baked and playing music in the background.
Evan received some 'Wild' gifts that had them both rolling on the floor laughing, nearly toppling the cake from the table. After averting that disaster, they continued with gift-checking until they grew tired and decided to switch activities.
Evan pulled out his collection of digital cameras, and together they scrolled through the photos and videos from their adventures over the past month.
They'd travelled to various countries, and Evan had shown Eliza some of the fantastical sights he'd been eager to see since arriving in Aidos. Along the way, they'd made countless silly memories.
Eliza had purchased some Dwarven Alcohol when they were in Awhen so they enjoyed a bit of wine, with Eliza displaying her frighteningly high alcohol tolerance.
Eventually, the sun dipped below the horizon and the moon began its night shift. The two fell asleep on the living room floor, surrounded by gift boxes.
Despite their physical recovery, mental fatigue caught up with them so it wasn't unexpected that they had slept off.
Eliza wanted to stay up till the day was truly over but Evan preferred she rested so he didn't wake her when he saw her dozing off in his arms.
Not long after, he too succumbed to sleep, feeling its pull beside her.
◇ ◇ ◇
Evan saw himself in a scene right out of an apocalypse.
A Collapsing Sun.
A Broken Moon.
And Earth Shattered beyond Repair.
Surrounding him was a field of corpses.
Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of bodies.
Gold and Red blood soaked the shattered earth
"The War was meaningless. Trillions died, but for what cause?
In the end, there was no victor, only vanquished."
He let out a heavy sigh, surveying the scene around him.
An elf's lifeless body lay to one side, a demon's to another, while the immense form of a fallen dragon loomed in the distance. At its feet, a god's body lay, bathed in a shimmering pool of golden blood.
[Tsk…]
He heard a tongue click in disapproval, and a faint smile crossed his lips as he addressed the person who had suddenly appeared behind him.
"It's you. How long has it been on your end?"
[Not too long. Time flows faster in the Valmone Universe than it does on my end.]
The person moved closer, standing beside Evan and gazing up at the collapsing star in the sky. Evan kept his gaze forward as he responded.
"I see…"
After a moment of silence, he continued.
"Did you come to mock us? For this pointless war."
[Mock you? While it might seem unnecessary from my outsider's perspective, I can't mock you for it.
The event that sparked this war... I knew him as well as you did, and I was close friends with his son.
Had I been here when news of his death came out, I might've been the one to declare war.
At the very least, I'm certain the gods wouldn't remain a Hegemon in this Universe. I would have dealt with them myself.]
"Just like you did in Zanerth?"
Evan questioned, causing the being to show a hint of surprise.
[You know about Zanerth? How? That's an event from the past—in every sense of the word.]
"Vincent told me."
At Evan's response, the being seemed to find it reasonable that he knew about the actions where he altered the past in 'Zanerth'.
"This war. The true reason for it got lost over time, and in the end, only a few remembered why we were fighting at all.
Now, all sides are left weakened."
Evan held up his five fingers, folding one down with each line he spoke.
"'Demon Emperor' McEnda I and his Wife, 'Empress' Nephinae have gone missing.
The 'god Emperor' Craig is dead and an imposter controls his body, unbeknownst to all.
The 'Elven Emperor' Falael, the powerful 'Deadly Sin of Pride' has fallen.
And the 'Spirit Empress' had no choice but to give up her power in order to avoid being captured by the laws of causality."
He began walking forward, climbing the hill of corpses before him as he continued speaking.
"The once Illustrious Orithyia galaxy is in this state… it makes me fear for the other galaxies.
The '72 Demon Kings' of Gozon are now Defunct, the 'Race Kings' of Aidos are dead, and the Pheonix Revi is the only one left to rule the 'Regal Void Expanse'.
…
Oh well…all of this does not concern me anymore."
[Doesn't concern you? How so?]
Evan took a seat atop the hill of corpses as he answered.
"I want to experience 'Life'.
A perfectly normal life. Born to a normal mother and father, have normal siblings and live a normal life.
I want to go to school like normal mortal children, immerse myself in their games, graduate, find a job, live till I'm old and grey, and finally pass on.
This 'Normal' life…it's something I never experienced.
I want to experience it.
I 'need' to."
Evan dropped his sword and heaved a sigh before concluding.
"I need to rest."
The being he spoke with hummed lightly before replying.
"Worry not, I shall grant you the rest you deserve."
He turned to the source of the voice. But his consciousness was fading already.
The last thing he saw was a glowing pair of red and blue eyes.
◇ ◇ ◇
Evan's eyes shot open and his pupils darted towards the side, just as the living room door creaked open, revealing a grey-haired elderly woman.
"Shh..."
He raised a finger to his lips, gesturing towards Eliza nestled in his arms. The woman nodded silently, muffling her footsteps.
Evan carefully lifted Eliza and placed her on the couch, soothing her with a gentle pat on the head until she settled back into sleep.
He then turned to the woman, conjuring text in the air that read:
[Let's go outside. I want to talk to you.]
She gave him a puzzled look, but Evan just pointed at the door she followed after him, closing the door behind them.
Little did they know, that the 'sleeping' Eliza's eyes flickered open the moment they left.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Darcy, right? Good morning to you."
"Good Morning."
Darcy responded, following Evan as he ascended the stairs to the manor's balcony. Evan swung open the door, inviting thecold morning breezeinside as he pondered his dream.
'That apocalyptic scene again…but what happened next? It's all so hazy.'
Shaking off the feeling, Evan decided to focus on matters currently within his control. Perched on the balcony railing, he turned to Darcy, appraising her for a moment before speaking.
"How long do you have left? Your lifespan, I mean."
"…what?"
Darcy blinked in surprise, taken aback by Evan's question, while he silently gazed at her.
'How does he…?'
"I don't know if Eliza has told you, but I know…'things'. A lot of things aboutthisworld and the people in it.
That includes the Laneford Clan, and that includes you, Darcy 'Kaur'Prichett."
"…"
Silence hung in the air as Evan pulled up information from the System Archive about the 'Laneford Quest.'
"You're already 327 years old. That's a lot of extra years considering Master Realm humans usually max out at 250-300 years.
Alden may have extended your lifespan with his powers but even that has limits…and he's reached those limits.
At this rate, it wouldn't be surprising if you were to suddenly…"
Evan let the sentence hang, implying the potential end of her life.
"…"
Darcy had no words to refute Evan's statement. She had indeed reached her lifespan limit, so unless she became a grandmaster, there was no extra year for her.
She wondered how Evan knew, a fact only she and Alden were supposed to be aware of.
Even Alden's wife and her daughter—Eliza's mother—were unaware.
The answer to her question was the line that Evan was looking at in the System Archive at that moment.
[After Darcy Prichett's Death at Age 328, the Laneford Clan Patriarch…]
He did not care for the rest of the article, only focusing on the number 328.
'The exact date is not given, but that's honestly not far off…'
"Do you plan to tell her?"
Evan shook his head in response to Darcy's question.
"No. That'd just make her sad. And I don't want to see a sad Liz."
He raised his hand and tapped something on the system interface before continuing.
"And that's why I'd help you."
"Help me?"
"Yes."
Evan replied, showing her a projection of the name and details of a certain dungeon.
"The 'Grotto of the Hopeless Wizard'…?"
Darcy called out the name of the dungeon and seeing the unfamiliarity in her expression, Evan sighed in relief.
"It seems you have not been there before. That's good."
"How so?"
Evan brought up a map of the Alpha continent, zooming in on Kasteblum where the dungeon was situated.
"Go to that dungeon.
On your first run, you must 'Reach Floor 30' within '30 Hours' and clear the floor (Boss Included) within '30 Minutes'.
If you do, you'll find a vial on the Boss's corpse, brimming with Life Law energy. Given your sensitivity to Life Energy as a Laneford Clan member, you won't miss it.
That vial is a potion you can only take once in your life. Its effect is very simple: it extends your lifespan depending on the years you've lived."
Pointing at her, Evan concluded.
"So, with your 327 years, you'd gain another 327."
Darcy's eyes widened. Such a potion sounded unbelievable, and she couldn't shake the feeling that there must be a catch.
"If this potion exists, how come people don't know and Kasteblum isn't profiting off it?"
"Pfft…true, Kasteblum would make money off it—if they knew.
Think about the conditions I mentioned. Clearing up to floor 30 within 30 hours and beating the 30th floor's Boss in 30 minutes.
What are the odds anyone does that?"
"…very low."
"So low that no one's managed it in at least a millennium."
Evan stepped down and approached Darcy.
"Believe me or not, but I hope you do. Not for your sake but for Eliza's. If you die, she'd be sad and I don't want that so I need you to stay alive.
Maybe those extra centuries will give you a shot at becoming a grandmaster."
Evan shrugged offhandedly, as if revealing something Kings and Emperors would kill for was no big deal, and headed back inside. Lost in thought, Darcy followed, so preoccupied she didn't notice when she arrived at the Living room where the 'now awake' Eliza was seated.
"Hey, Liz, ever heard of a mountain chicken?
PS: It's NOT areallybig chicken."
"…then what is it?"
"This guy."
Evan sat next to her, showing her a picture from his camera and her incredulous expression set him off laughing.
"That's a frog, isn't it?"
"Yep. The 'Mountain Chicken' isactuallya Frog."
Eliza facepalmed and muttered something about 'crazy scientists' before looking up and greeting Darcy.
The older woman expressed her desire for a private chat, likely to discuss 'certain details' and check on her after yesterday's activities.
As Eliza slipped on her slippers to follow Darcy, she paused and turned back to Evan. Cupping his face, she kissed him softly, whispering.
"Thank you. I love you."
Immediately after she saidthat,she turned around and left the living room.
"Hmm? Wait a sec…her hands were cold."
Evan was puzzled. He had made sure to cover her with a blanket before he left, so her hands shouldn't have beencol-!
His thoughts abruptly ceased as he realised exactly why Eliza's hands were cold.
"…she was listening in on us…"
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