Reincarnated Hero System

Evan also didn’t want the Demonic Hand killing off potential fighting forces in the process of executing their ‘Disaster’ plans.

Some of the things Agnes spoke about today were things he wasn’t aware of beforehand, even from the game.

The Soul Mark or World Repulsion Force plans for example.

In the game, all the ‘Eight Disasters’ were resounding successes, and the player was to deal with the Disasters after.

In the ‘Seven Deadly Sins Massacre’, the player confronted Peak Ranked Demons amidst the ruins of once-thriving Dungeon Cities.

As for the ‘Dullahan Attack’, Dominik Velak was defeated after Cheverton had already been wiped off the map.

The ‘Lizard Lord’ Bhak and the ‘Hidden Boss’ Faldo were both Living Legends in the game, and it was only after Lacertilia and all its satellite dungeon cities had been destroyed that they were put down.

The Desert Country ‘Fell’ and never rose again, eventually turning into one of the strongest Outposts of the Demons on Aidos.

With the Barbarians under his control, the First Finger was able to perpetrate all the Beta Continental Disasters with ease.

The benevolent Basilisk who was too kind for his own good was forced to kill his own people after his mother passed on.

The ‘Second Finger’ and the ‘Wolf of the End’ had the time of their lives as well, eventually defeating Ashe Iremith and this paved the way for the Second Finger to become a Transcendent even stronger than ‘The Five’ in one go!

As for the ‘Ancient Demonic Dragon’s Resurrection’, that was the final nail in the coffin, completely killing and burying the already low morale of the Aidosian resistance.

The Demon King’s Descent wasn’t too far off from this.

In the game, the ‘Demon King’ was the final boss and Evan defeated him after a FIVE phase boss battle.

He had used the Resurrected Ancient Demonic Dragon as a mount in the first two phases, and in the third phase, the Dragon fought alongside him so it was really a tough battle.

The story didn’t end after defeating the Demon King, as there were sequel quests that entailed wiping out the remaining Demon Forces on Aidos, and only after this was the game complete.

Why was Evan remembering all of this now?

It was simple; because in the game, the Disasters had succeeded, the Demons had come to Aidos, and they were there to STAY.

Drawing parallels from it, Evan could almost conclude that all of these plans that Agnes had just told him about had failed.

Just as Evan raised his head and was about to speak to Agnes, he sensed something and turned his gaze outside the window.

“What happened?”

Agnes noticed his reaction and questioned him about it, but Evan’s reply was one she never saw coming.

“If you value the Soul Fragment within this Homunculus Vessel and wish to prevent its destruction, as well as harm to your original body on the Beta Continent, I suggest you leave this building within the next…”

Evan glanced at his watch and then back up at Agnes before concluding.

“…5 minutes.”

“…what?”

Agnes was left speechless by his remark, and Evan, after a brief glance out the window, resumed speaking.

“A certain person close to me has been informed about our previous encounter by some of the spirits that usually flock around me, and she is none too pleased about the knowledge of our meeting.

If you two are to meet, it would NOT end well for you.”

He turned towards her and calmly spoke.

“Since you gave me some pretty valuable information today, I’m informing you beforehand so you have the choice to run now.

Hurry up, you’ve only got 4 minutes left.”

Agnes didn’t need too much brainwork to figure out exactly who it was that Evan was talking about. An inadvertent glance out the window and she had quickly spotted a giant ‘mass of life’ making its way over to their current location.

‘Eliza Lane, huh? Lucky her…’

That thought crossed Agnes’ mind as she noticed the rapidly increasing ‘happiness’ on Evan’s soul metadata as he looked out the window, indicating his anticipation for her arrival.

Taking a deep breath, she got up from her seat before speaking.

“Hope to see you around, Evan.”

“Hahaha! Pray you don’t, dear Priestess.”

Without looking at her, Evan gave a calm but threatening declaration.

“Because the next time we see, you might leave with a Sword in your chest.”

Pretty fancy way to say he was gonna kill her, or whatever Homunculi she sent to him. Agnes was unbothered by Evan’s threat, taking one last look at him before turning around and leaving the room.

◇　◇　◇

Walking through the streets of Morduhn, Agnes was deep in her thoughts. She skilfully put her blindfold back on while using her spatial perception to navigate her way across the moving sea of people.

Her mind was occupied with thoughts about her and Evan’s earlier talk, and she had gained a bit more understanding about the Irregular Hero.

‘There are personal stakes in this for both Evan and I. He most likely wants something from that goddess Artemisia. But he said that was his initial reason, meaning there are probably other reasons now.

For me, protecting the few people who I care about and exploring the Unique Souls of this World—things I’d literally kill for.’

These personal stakes added depth to the motivations of the two teenagers and could drive their actions in unpredictable ways.

Still deep in her thoughts, Agnes’ mind switched focus to something else she gleamed from her talk with Evan.

‘I had high expectations but Evan went on to exceed them…

His soul is ever-changing, constantly evolving. It’s like it’s gaining new pieces each time I see him.

There’re also those flames of his…it felt like they’d burn my eyes if I stared too much…’

Her mind was filled with the details of the sight she had seen when she had looked at Evan’s soul with her special eyes.

‘But this has also let me confirm a few more things…

First off, Abby was right about my obsession. It took every bit of self-control to hold myself back today.

Secondly…observing Evan’s soul is key to evolving my eyes a step further.’

Agnes remembered the notifications that had appeared to her after her first encounter with Evan some months earlier.

|Scanning Completed.

Unique grade ‘Ocular Ability’ detected. |

|Conditions Met. |

She focused on the second line and whenever she recalled it, she also recalled Evan…as well as the other ‘Seven Heroes’.

“It would be so ironic if this is what I think it is.”

Just as she voiced that thought aloud, she heard a very familiar voice reply to her.

“I wonder, Agnes. Just what do you think it is?”

The girl’s body froze, and not of her own will.

Some external force was acting on the Homunculus, and it was no longer processing orders from her.

There was only one person capable of doing such and after turning her gaze to the side, Agnes’ eyes took in the sight of that person’s soul.

The one who created the Homunculus—her best friend.

Abigal Lowe.

“You must have been in such deep thought that you missed my presence.”

“…how?”

That was all Agnes had to say. How was Abigail here in Awhen?

Her purple-eyed elven friend was supposed to be on the Beta Continent. She had confirmed this mere moments before she walked up to Evan and though she spent some time talking to him, that was far too little time for Abigail to cross continents and find her.

‘Besides…I removed all the trackers.’

Just as that thought crossed her mind, Abigail raised a brow and asked.

“You’re probably wondering how I found you if you took off all the trackers, right?”

“…”

“Don’t you think your nails are looking pretty shiny today?”

Abigail’s question prompted Agnes to turn her head down and in her spatial perception, she noticed that there was a small blinking light coming from underneath her pinkie finger.

“That doesn’t explain how you got here so fast…”

“An acquaintance gave me a lift.” (EOTD used Teleportation: It crossed continents super-fast!)

Abigail replied as she pulled Agnes off the sidewalk and into the outdoor seating area of the restaurant where Zestari was seated.

“Pray tell, Agnes. Did I not strictly warn you that using these prototype Homunculi for extended periods of time would be detrimental to your soul?”

“…”

“Did I, or did I not?”

“…you did.”

“So why the fuck are you inside one now?”

Abigail’s voice grew louder as she finished speaking, and her action of smacking the back of Agnes’ head attracted some attention.

However, the girl gave them a destruction-infused glare and all the curious onlookers quickly turned their gazes away out of existential fear.

Refocusing on Agnes, Abigail stopped restricting her control over the Homunculus before grabbing the Priestess’ hand and speaking.

“We’re going to go greet Uncle Kolvar and pass him a message from my dad, then you’re coming back to the Duchy with me.”

Agnes just let herself be pulled along by Abigal, who was clearly NOT in a good mood.

“Also, when we get back, you’re grounded.”

Hearing the elven princess’ words, Agnes chuckled softly and asked.

“Grounded? What are you, my mom?”

“I abdicate that title. I didn’t raise you to be this disobedient.”

Again, Abigail was acting like she was the one who raised Agnes despite only being older than her by a day.

Despite the playful exchange, Abigail’s grip on Agnes’s hand tightened, indicating her seriousness. Feeling the Elf’s tightening grip, Agnes glanced at Zestari who was following them from a short distance away and asked.

“How pissed is she?”

“On a scale of 1 to 10; 11.”

“Oh, wow…I think I’m fucked.”

Agnes said calmly, her brain beginning to formulate plans to alleviate the anger of her very worried friend.