Single for Eternity
Chapter 61: Immortal King

Chapter 61: Immortal King

With that said, I let my body sink into the cool grass, lying flat on my back as the night stretched endlessly above me. The sky was a sea of ink.

The heavy scent of flowers filled the air—sweet, thick, almost intoxicating. A few bloomed beside me, their petals delicate and glowing faintly under the silver moonlight. They resembled lilies, their fragrance eerily familiar yet just foreign enough to remind me that this world was not my own.

I plucked one absentmindedly, twirling it between my fingers, letting its scent calm the embers of irritation smoldering inside me. Meanwhile, Priscilla sat before me, looking absolutely miserable. Tear-streaked, trembling, and utterly wretched.

And that, of course, was absolutely perfect.

Her expression was a crumpled mess, her lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line, but her eyes... they burned. Resentment? Desperation? Fear? It was hard to tell, but I enjoyed watching her like this—completely unraveled, vulnerable, and knowing that she had lost whatever twisted game she thought she was playing.

She spat onto the ground, her voice quivering with barely contained rage. "If you already know, what’s the point of making me say it?"

I chuckled, wagging a finger in front of her face like a disappointed parent. "No, no, no." My voice was light, mocking. "That’s not how this works. I want to hear it from your own lips. I want you to explain what you did, how you did it, and why."

I took a moment to inhale the flower’s scent, then smiled, my amusement sharpening into something cruel. "Because if you don’t... well, let’s just say you won’t like what happens next."

She flinched. A subtle reaction, but I caught it. Her fingers clenched around the hem of her tattered dress, her shoulders stiffening as though bracing for a blow. And then, with great effort, she exhaled and lowered her head.

Her voice came out small, fragile. "I really did want to believe in you all... or at least, I wanted to." She swallowed, eyes flickering with hesitation. "But you don’t understand. You can’t do anything. You can’t leave this place. No one can."

Tears welled in her eyes, glistening under the night’s cold glow. /. Was she a method actor, or were these her true emotions breaking through? Did it matter? Not to me.

My patience thinned. I tilted my head, my brows furrowing in irritation. "I don’t need your pity or your trust. You betrayed me. That’s all there is to it. Just tell me your plan and leave."

She didn’t move. Didn’t answer.

I leaned my head back and let out a heavy sigh, my fingers idly tracing the edges of the flower in my grasp. "Or," I added, my voice dipping into something low and ominous, "I could kill you."

The air around us turned sharp, thick with unspoken threats.

She stiffened, her entire body trembling. The fear in her eyes became something more primal, more real.

And that was good. Fear was honest.

A second passed. Then another. Finally, still shaking, she spoke.

"I... I gave out your location," she admitted, barely above a whisper. "And I released a sleeping gas while we were running through the village."

I nodded, unsurprised. My Chaos Embryonic Core had been saturating while we ran—an unnatural exhaustion creeping into my limbs back then. So it had been her.

I gestured with my hand for her to continue.

She lowered her head, a single tear slipping down her cheek. "I... I didn’t want this either..." her voice cracked. "If I don’t do what they say, I’ll be treated like... like an object... by that noble."

I exhaled through my nose. Annoyed. This was going nowhere.

I pushed myself up from the ground, rising to my feet, and loomed over her. My shadow swallowed her trembling form, my gaze locking onto hers with unfiltered displeasure.

"Would you please," I said slowly, emphasizing each word, "just tell me the details? I don’t care about your circumstances. I need information. Give me that."

She hiccupped, choking on a sob, but she finally spoke again, her words tumbling out in shuddering gasps.

"Our King..." she whispered. "He’s an immortal. A strong one. You could never hope to defeat him." Her hands curled into fists, her nails biting into her palms. Small droplets of blood stained the fabric of her dress. "He’s the one... the mastermind behind the black veil."

The revelation sent a ripple of interest through my mind.

An immortal king.

In a world where marriage granted immortality, this would be my first time encountering one in the flesh. And if he was behind the black veil, then all the horrors we had witnessed so far could be traced back to him.

But she wasn’t finished.

"He even took the majority of the townspeople," she continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "Our village... it once had a population of over 200,000." She trembled violently. "Now, there are only about 5,000 left. And even fewer sane ones."

I processed her words carefully.

"Wait." I narrowed my eyes. "You’re saying the authorities took them?"

She nodded. No words. Just a slow, lifeless nod.

A chill ran down my spine. An entire city’s worth of people—gone.

Vanished.

I exhaled sharply and moved onto my next question. "Who is Lord Skin?"

At that, her demeanor changed instantly.

She looked at me in shock—true, genuine shock. Her hands clasped together in a prayer-like motion, and her expression became... devout.

"You don’t know him?" she whispered, almost reverently. "He is the God of Darkness. We worship him. Our Lord and Savior. Lord Skin."

...Huh?

I stared at her, my mind screeching to a halt.

God of Darkness? That wasn’t right.

The ancient record—Blady—told me the God of Darkness was named Ness. And that record had never lied to me before. If Ness was the true deity, then what the hell was Skin?

Something was wrong.

Something was very, very wrong.

A deep, primal unease slithered up my spine. The name Skin—it didn’t sound like a god’s name. It sounded... cursed.

It sounded corrupt.

A Corrupted God.

The realization slammed into me like a hammer.

’FUCK.’

My vision blurred.

Suddenly, my head felt like it was splitting open, as if a thousand molten needles had been driven straight into my skull.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

I screamed.

My fingers dug into my scalp, pressing so deep that I felt something wet and slimy beneath my nails. The pain was indescribable—an unbearable surge of knowledge I was never meant to comprehend.

I collapsed, writhing on the ground like a madman. Rolling. Thrashing. The grass beneath me soaked in sweat and blood.

I could feel my sanity tearing apart.

The pain lasted for what felt like eternity—until suddenly, it stopped.

I gasped for air, my body shaking violently. My wounds healed instantly, the cuts on my head sealing as if they never existed.

I lay there, panting, realizing the horrifying truth.

This village. The people. They had sacrificed their own to a Corrupted God.

And the one who had led them to this insanity?

The King.

An immortal king.

A man who had lived too long, who had prayed to something he should never have prayed to.

’See, this is what immortality does to a sane man. If that fucker was ever a sane guy.’

And now, because of his devotion, his entire kingdom was damned.

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