Chapter 925 |
Chapter 925
Yuder had come here only twice before. Both times, it was when he had a dream after a strange crack appeared. However, this time, there had been no significant incidents related to the cracks, leaving him puzzled as to why he had returned.
‘What on earth is this?’ he wondered, sighing deeply in frustration. At that moment, he felt a chilling sensation on his nape. As he hurriedly turned around, unsurprisingly, there where two hands clad in white gloves.
“...”
Yuder, with his energy drained, inadvertently opened his mouth upon seeing the ten fingers hovering slightly away, silently facing him.
"It's not like I chose to come here."
“...”
His voice sounded relatively normal, although it still had an underwater echo. He had decided not to pay attention to that anymore.
Whether the white-gloved hands had heard Yuder or not, it remained silent. If there had been a face, eyes, or even a body to read expressions from, it would have been easier to discern its thoughts.
And Kishiar was not here. Yuder pressed his lips tightly and then added another sentence.
"I tried to tell you last time, but you pushed me away. I didn't come here willingly, so don't say anything about it."
Yuder was still unsure of what exactly the hand represented. He thought it might be Kishiar's, specifically from a past life, due to its familiar size and touch, along with an inexplicable certainty. But it might not be the truth. However, looking at it naturally brought back remnants of past life emotions, making Yuder's tone increasingly sharp and hostile. The patience and wisdom acquired over long years of experience were of no use in this situation. It felt like reverting back to his true self around twenty years old.
He was always anxious back then, filled with anger and defiance, partly resigned to his fate.
And the white gloves, like Kishiar of those days, remained unresponsive. Regardless of Yuder's impertinent words, it just appeared to smile, exhaustedly breathing like that man. Yuder overlapped it with the image of Kishiar from his past life, who would lean deeply into his chair, fingers entwined in white gloves on his knee, seemingly just wanting to rest. He clenched his teeth and erased the memory.
"What's the matter? Before, you used to communicate through your fingers."
Frowning, Yuder suddenly remembered what Enon had once said.
"So, you might go there again someday. ...Ask if you see it. You said it answered everything you asked."
Meeting unintentionally and conversing with an unknown entity represented only by hands was not easy. But since the opportunity had come so quickly, he decided to put aside his questions about the situation and ask something.
Organizing his thoughts, Yuder began to speak rapidly with the first thing that came to mind.
"This place could be anywhere and nowhere, as you said. Is this the afterlife? Or is it beyond the crack?"
“...”
“Are you an entity I am familiar with? How can you be here? I need more than the difficult-to-understand answer that I am here because I exist. Please explain it more simply. And since I myself do not know how I came to be here, if you have any knowledge regarding this, I would appreciate it if you shared it. I am unable to determine whether this is a dream or reality, which greatly hinders my affairs.”
“...”
“And if you intend to push me away again, I would prefer you just point me towards the exit. I do not wish to experience being pushed and falling like last time. You might not understand, having never fallen yourself, but falling powerlessly is not a pleasant feeling.”
“...”
“You used to answer promptly with your fingers, but now do you dislike even that? Whether you are unwilling or simply not doing it, at least express your intention. Surely, that much can be done with just your fingers.”
Yuder gestured with his fingers, then closed his mouth, having said his piece.
Crossing his arms, he glared, waiting for a response. Finally, the hands clad in white gloves reacted.
More accurately, it was not the hands but the cold air surrounding them that stirred. The sensation was smooth yet piercing, making even the cold, foul-smelling black darkness seem to fade momentarily.
It was like... the many moments when the current Kishiar silently smiled at Yuder.
'What?'
Startled by his own thought, Yuder frowned, and that small, faint ripple soon vanished like an illusion. Then, finally, the hands in the white gloves approached Yuder, stopping at the height of his chest. One hand cautiously reached down and tapped the fingertips of Yuder's crossed arms.
Seemingly asking for an open palm, Yuder slowly uncrossed his arms. The white-gloved hands grasped his fingertips and pulled them. The posture oddly reminded him of the times he and Kishiar used to join hands to dance. Ignoring the unpleasant cold sensation, which was unlike those times, Yuder was drawn to the contrast of the hands.
His own hands, clad in black gloves, and the larger hands wrapped in white.
As Yuder gazed at them, the fingers enveloped in white leather began to write on the black glove.
Even though this is all that remains
It’s amazing that you treat me as myself
Though it would be better if you didn’t.
“...What do you mean, it would be better if I didn't...”
Yuder began to speak, frowning, when the fingers suddenly started moving again.
Your guess wasn’t wrong
Almost
That’s my guess, after all.
Was the confirmation that his guess was almost right an answer to his question if this place was the afterlife or beyond the crack?
And the last part, written as 'that's my guess,' made Yuder's skin crawl. Had it discerned that the guess came not from him but from Kishiar? With only hands visible, how could it know so much to say such things?
As his thoughts raced, the fingers paused for a moment before starting to write again.
Your coming here
Happens when the gap widens.
Between there and here.
Then you are naturally drawn
By the remnants of power
That hasn’t completely burnt out at the end of causality.
“...”
Through the connection.
The word 'connection' unexpectedly pierced his heart. Yuder looked down at his palm and then clenched his teeth tightly.
Connection aside, Yuder pondered over the part about the remnants of power that hadn't completely burnt out at the end of causality.
‘Power. The remnants of power,’ he echoed to himself.
The term 'hasn’t completely burnt out' naturally brought to mind the image of fire.
Typically, the remnants of something burnt by fire were either bones, magic items, or objects imbued with divine power and aura, which were either incredibly durable or protected by some mysterious force. Kishiar was wearing those gloves even at the moment of his death.
Protective gloves, crafted with various magic powers. Was it suggesting that the hand remained because of these gloves? But Yuder sensed that it wasn't just that.
At that moment, the contrast between the two gloves and his that had previously caught his attention came to mind again.
Black gloves and white gloves.
The hands within them.
Yuder knew well what lay beneath his own gloves. His skin, marred with grotesquely bulging, blood-red veins, would display a distinct presence.
His hand had transformed after inadvertently absorbing the power released from the Red Stone during its retrieval.
Among the many changes that marked the division between his past and present lives, this was one of the earliest and most significant transformations.
Yuder had speculated through dreams of his past life that Kishiar must have had a similar reason for wearing his gloves.
However, this remained a speculation; he had never seen the bare hand beneath that glove, not even at the time of Kishiar's death.
If the bare hand inside was, as Yuder suspected, in a similar state to his own, it would serve as evidence that the man from the past life indeed harbored a power akin to the essence of the Red Stone within his body.
The unburnt remnant.
A powerful force.
Feeling like he was on the verge of grasping something significant, Yuder impulsively moved his hand.
His fingers, clad in a black glove, grabbed the end of the white glove and pulled.
Surprisingly, the white glove slipped off easily, without any resistance.