Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 296: Enlightenment

Chapter 296: Enlightenment

"Who are you?" Emily asked, her breathing uneven as she regarded Douglas with both terror and awe.

Douglas’s lips moved. "I..."

’... am Douglas, your elder brother that misses you very, very much.’

But he didn’t complete it, the rest of what he wished to say dying within him.

His eyes reddened as he felt the pangs of sadness gnawing at him.

Oh, how he wished to embrace her right now... to tell her that everything was okay.

But he couldn’t.

No... even as he saw her hyperventilating at what she’d just experienced, Douglas could do nothing but watch in silence.

"How did you do that?" Yet another student asked, echoing the question that was on everyone’s minds.

Douglas naturally ignored her, his gaze still trained on Emily who, noticing that something was wrong, spoke up.

"You’re the one I saw the other day, right?"

"..."

"... Do I know you?... I don’t know why but... I feel sad seeing you like that."

"..." As tears slowly slid down Douglas’s cheek, he rubbed it away before managing a rather melancholic smile.

"I’m glad you are safe."

"... Thank you but you..." Emily trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

Douglas wished to say more, just to hear her voice for a bit longer but... thud, thud... at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs, he knew it was time to go.

And so, as he took unwilling steps away from Emily, he intoned softly. "... I’m sorry."

Then he was gone...

It wouldn’t be long after when the news about the accident in the technical college and the subsequent supernatural reaction that saved the students would reach the ears of relevant authorities.

***

Douglas emerged from a flash of black and white in his room back on Evernight, everything just as he’d left it.

His eyes were still red and his expression was a telltale to the anguish he was experiencing.

But he remained silent.

Tossing the bag he carried, he got on the bed and sat in a lotus position, taking a deep breath as he placed his hands together and as his breathing steadied with his expression finally relaxing... the world around him seemed to disappear, and the epiphany he had blossomed into enlightenment.

***

"Dad..." MJ stood before Alex, her expression filled with worry for her father.

Alex blinked a few times, massaging his temples as he felt a terrible headache. "MJ... You’re here?"

"Mn... mummy told me to come and get you."

"Oh, she did?... Alright, uhmm, yeah, let’s go."

"Alright."

However just as MJ turned, Alex reached out and grabbed her tiny hand.

"Hmm?"

"MJ... do you hate me?"

"... Huh?" MJ tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"I... I was never there for the best parts of your life and... even now that all this is happening, I’m more focused on your mother than on you and... I’m so sorry, dear. Please forgive me." Alex spoke, unsure why he said all that though he knew he had to say it.

MJ blinked a few times before her lips moved and in that moment, Alex’s expression fell as though her voice was not heard, he had read her lips.

’Never.’

His lips quivered as he stared at MJ, unable to understand why she’d said that.

But then, it got worse.

The room they were in began to distort with black ink pouring down from the walls, quickly filling the room in murky black.

"MJ..." Alex alarmedly called out only to freeze as he realized his sweet daughter was gone and in her place, a grotesquery that took on her likeness stood.

"You... what have you done to my daughter!" Alex bellowed as he backed away.

The creature grinned, its mouth only stopping after it had gotten to its limit but she didn’t stop there.

She went ahead to pull at her jaw and moments later, her cheek tore, allowing her smile to grow even wider.

Alex trembled as his breathing quickened. "What’s... what’s going on?"

"Come and play with us, Dad. Come."

"No...no!"

***

"No!!!" Alex awoke from the nightmare, his body covered in perspiration.

"Master!"

He glanced toward the one who spoke to find Victoria kneeling before him with a worried look on her face.

"You... where are we?" Alex inquired as he tried to calm himself.

Victoria revealed a complicated expression on her visage as she responded. "Back in Evernight. You’ve been unconscious for several hours. I was beginning to get worried."

"Oh, what happened?"

"Don’t you remember?" Victoria inquired but seeing as how Alex didn’t respond, she continued. "After you got Platadoris to discard his adaptation so we could kill him, your two halves got into an altercation and after they merged back, you fell unconscious."

"Is that so?" Alex muttered as he rubbed his temples, a benign headache causing him discomfort.

"Are you feeling alright, Master?"

"... Where is Ana?"

"She is currently with Alejandro. They are inspecting the Hole."

"?... The Hole?" Alex raised a brow in confusion.

"That’s what Alejandro named it. You can see it later but you need to rest for now."

"... Hah, Alright. Did Nadia or Arwen learn about my condition?"

"Not at all, master, you can be rest assured." Victoria calmly replied.

Alex let out a relieved sigh. "That’s good."

Closing his eyes, he sought to get a feel for his current state, and not surprisingly, his pneuma was in a dilapidated state.

He knew there were dangers with utilizing the Splintering again but he had no choice.

Platadoris was that much of a difficulty to handle.

At least it wasn’t at a point of no return so with the right actions, he could recover in a few days.

Of course with his dilapidated pneuma came another problem which was the abyssal corruption of his soma.

Alex opened his eyes and looked down at his chest to find a sarcoma formed at the center, its disgusting exterior thumping in a similar rhythm to his heart.

"Can this be fixed?" Alex inquired.

Victoria nodded. "Mn, no need to worry, Master. Abyssal corruption is troublesome for most but thankfully your domain of Evernight is quite adept at purification. Honestly, the corruption was much worse than this when you first came in."

"Alright then. I’ll handle the rest. You can go for now."

"As you wish, Master." Victoria bowed slightly before getting up to leave, however, she took a few steps before pausing.

Noticing this, Alex inquired. "What’s wrong?"

"I forgot to report that Douglas has gained his enlightenment."

"That means..."

"Mn, he has managed to merge his dual domains."

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