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Chapter 182: A Light In The Night

Chapter 182: A Light In The Night

As Dora stood there, he could feel the fracture within him growing deeper, intensified by the overwhelming surge of anger radiating from Candace.

It was a raw, searing anger, a manifestation of pure hatred that he had never encountered before, especially not from the dean.

Without thinking, he instinctively took a step back, his right irises flickering between a blazing yellow and fleeting moments of darkness.

- You were never the one they wanted.

"... Stop..."

While his left eye observed the dean, his right eye revealed images that he was not supposed to see. Freya, Mercy, Iris, all three girls wore expressions filled with anger.

- You should never have existed.

"... No."

"Why are you still here?"

Candace held the princess in her arms, her voice devoid of emotion as she spoke.

"You wanted to leave, didn’t you? Go ahead, no one needs you here."

The break on Dora’s face traversed to the other side, creating a symmetrical fracture that marred both halves of his face.

"... You never looked Dora like that... Why are you like that with me?"

- Because you were never Dora.

Candace gritted her teeth.

"Why should I be nice to a coward too? You’re going to leave, right? You’re going to disappear with this body you had by chance, right? Go ahead, you never suffered in this story but go ahead! Take someone else’s happiness!"

From head to toe, she was engulfed in a shiver as she was pulled the princess into a tight embrace. With great effort, she painted a strained smile on her lips.

"What? Are you going to tell me again that it was my decision? Yes, you’re absolutely right... I refused the real Dora’s help, I wanted him to have another chance, with another memory... I’m very good at manipulating people, you know? But it seems like you had another plan all along..."

- Candace cared about Greed, but you’re not Greed.

"... What... do you all want... from me?"

"I WANT YOU TO DISAPPEAR!!! GO!!!"

Her voice resounded, echoing throughout the entire area, leaving no corner untouched. Dora’s face displayed another crack, this time forming a distinct X-shaped mark upon his visage.

Shaking his head in dismay, he slowly retreated, gradually increasing the distance between them before eventually breaking into a run.

As he made his escape, the dean observed his departure, her gaze fixed on the diminishing figure, and then bellowed in a thunderous voice.

"COWARD!!!!"

Holding Solaria tightly, she finally allowed her tears to flow without restraint.

"Coward... go away..."

The fake Dora dashed across the street, devoid of any clear destination. A sense of impending danger gripped his body, as unfamiliar surroundings blurred his senses.

The purpose of his presence outside had slipped from his memory, leaving him feeling disconnected from his own body.

"Where did I fail? Why am I wrong?"

- These are the consequences of your refusal to act.

"... Refusal? The opposite was to kill everyone, they were all against it, why is it wrong now?"

His face suffered another crack, this one running from his neck all the way to his chest and shoulders.

- Because Dora should never run away.

"They rejected the opposite!"

- And now they’re rejecting you too.

"... Why? Why am I wrong? Fighting will kill people, running away is the only way to protect them!"

- No, running away will only protect them... from you.

As Dora took a fateful step into the puddle, a fragment of his face crumbled away. His face was now split into two distinct halves, the right side remained unchanged, while the left side morphed into a mysterious purple haze with a luminous yellow sphere in the place of an eye.

- In need, Dora must always fight. It is not a choice, it is the Will of the Infinite. We are... the Under World.

Every part of Dora’s body fractured at once. Abruptly stopping, he grasped his face, trying to steady himself. A flurry of faces flashed before his eyes, angry, sad, familiar.

Opening his eyes, he found his hand stained with blood from the citizens surrounding him.

"... No no!"

Running once more, he became completely absorbed in his own thoughts, unable to distinguish between what was real and what was an illusion.

- You are the intruder.

"I’m not a killer!!!"

- You should never exist in this world.

"I never asked to be here! I’m trying to leave!"

- You are the cause of the trajedy, it was you.

"Stop it! Stop it!!!"

With every stride he took, his body emitted disconcerting cracks, as if it were breaking apart. His right eye caught glimpses of shattered streets, while his left eye perceived fragments of inexplicable events.

The system screen in front of him displayed a ceaseless cascade of scrolling numbers, interspersed with the visages of familiar faces and unfamiliar individuals.

The world he once knew was gradually descending into a hellish existence, and he was now certain that it was actively rejecting him.

"... Mother... Wendy...I don’t care anymore... I will reach you and use everything to seal us in another world, even if it’s just an illusion... This time, I won’t lose you!"

- You care about them now because it’s already too late.

As the night draped the city in darkness, the streets suddenly burst into a blinding illumination. In the distance, a radiant sphere emerged from beneath the earth’s surface, consuming everything in its trajectory.

It expanded relentlessly, overpowering the neighboring houses and leaving no escape from its luminous grasp. The force it exerted was immense, unleashing a devastating shockwave that crashed against the walls, propelling unsuspecting individuals into the air, their bodies flung away like ragdolls in the midst of chaos and despair.

As the earth continued to convulse, buildings crumbled like fragile sandcastles.

The street now lay in ruins, buried beneath a suffocating blanket of debris.

Amidst the chaos, the night became a symphony of sorrow. The wailing of the injured and the bereaved echoed through the darkness, their cries intertwining with the howling of the wind.

- In the end, you still killed someone, even without moving.