Chapter 1501 1501: Let Me Tell You

Their home was exactly as Arthur remembered it, with a central living area filled with toys and discarded clothes. The unfinished dinner on the table told Arthur that he and his brother had rushed out again to receive their returning father.

The kitchen was more of a mess, as if his mother was in the middle of creating a larger meal than the sandwiches on the table. A pot released fumes and vapor as it reached the boiling point, whistling through the release valve.

Arthur turned it off.

He made his way back toward the living room and stared at the television. A show about a shapeshifting teen, one he liked as a child, was being aired. It was about a teenager with the wrong set of powers trying to do the right thing.

Arthur turned it off as well.

These little details of their lives had no place to be here. Arthur felt enraged that he would see them again, knowing that each one of them was perfectly orchestrated to move him somehow.

A sudden noise from upstairs snapped Arthur out of his rage, as he frowned while not knowing what to expect. He hesitated only for a moment before climbing the stairs. He turned a corner and found the source of the noise behind a half-opened door.

Arthur peered inside to see someone sprawled on the ground, with liquor bottles scattered around him. He pushed the door slowly to get a better look at the man, and found him to be his father, Seref.

Seref was out cold, with a stench of alcohol that could intoxicate a sober man. He kept smacking his lips, mumbling something, and shifting in his sleep.

His father had fallen drunk in their room. Oren and Arthur shared a room until they were ten years old, a rule that Seref had enforced for some reason. The two brothers were always fighting because of that stupid rule, but somehow agreeing about how stupid it was made them closer.

In hindsight, Arthur realized that Seref might have been giving them what he never had: a sibling. Benjamin had told them about their father's actions and how it drove him crazy, but Arthur didn't believe that to be his reason. The man was sane enough to manipulate multiple timelines.

But at the moment, he was simply out of it.

Arthur kicked his father to make sure this wasn't some kind of trick, and the man cried out before collapsing into what looked like his own vomit. Seeing the man in this state had a profound effect on Arthur.

"Is this who he is?" Arthur muttered as he picked up his father with a single hand, happy to hear that his stats had returned. He threw his father into the bathtub, placed some clothes he found outside, and turned on the shower.

His father's surprised screams could be heard as he closed the bathroom and went downstairs. He opened the fridge, grabbed a can of his father's beer, and cracked it open.

He was preparing for another headache.

The sounds coming from the bathroom upstairs ceased as Arthur heard the door open and close. Then, his father's footsteps echoed from behind him, and Arthur turned to see the man had changed into his new clothes.

"Arthur?" his father asked in confusion.

Arthur replied with a grunt as he turned away and finished his beer. He threw the can into the trash before turning toward his father with a smile. "We meet again, father," he said the last word in sarcasm. "What have you prepared now? Is my mother your hostage again?"

"I don't understand," his father said with visible confusion as he took the last few steps down the stairs, glancing at the beer can with a little disapproval, and ambled toward him. "Why did you bring me here?"

Arthur frowned at his question. "You were the one to bring me here."

Seref shook his head. "I had nothing to do with it," he said. "I was brought here almost two days ago, and I couldn't leave this place. I tried, but it didn't work."

After some calculations, Arthur realized that if his father was truthful, it was around the same time that he came to this dream. It didn't make sense, however, as to why he would be here.

"I was brought here to relive my experience in Avarice," he said. "Did you have this place set up as a meeting spot after I received the legacy?"

Seref looked to hesitate before nodding. Then, he grabbed his head, as if the hangover from his excessive intoxication caught up with him. Arthur sighed and shook his head.

"You get drunk after being brought to a place against your will?"

"It was too much," Seref said as he grabbed a stool and sat on it. "I couldn't relive the memories created in this place. I had to get away from it."

Arthur only snorted in response. His father seemed to sense that Arthur didn't believe him, but could only smile helplessly. His eyes kept darting to the beer can.

"When I left, you were still too young to drink," he said. "I can't believe that I missed on being the one to give you the first beer."

"You missed on a lot of things," Arthur said with a sardonic smile. "But I'm very sure that the worst of them were orchestrated by you, right? Like sending me to another world to suffer?"

His father looked down in shame, but Arthur didn't let himself be fooled. It could be another one of his tricks to manipulate Arthur. His father seemed to ponder something and his eyes hardened as he looked at him.

"I think we came here so that I can show you the truth," his father said before rising from his seat. "No… I'm glad that we're here so that I can explain to you why I did the things that I did."

"I have no interest in hearing you out," Arthur said with a wave of his hand. "Just tell me how to leave this place."

"Please, Arthur," Seref said with a pained expression. "Please let me show you the one secret that no one knows about me. You are the only person I want to tell, who I want to understand me."

Arthur saw the despair in his father's eyes and heard the helplessness in his voice. He looked at his father, unwilling to believe his lies, but unable to refuse to hear him out.

It might be that he still had a soft spot for the old man, or that he simply wanted a reason for his suffering. But in either case, he could no longer deny that he wanted to know the truth.

"Tell me," Arthur said. "But if I sense deceit in your words… I will kill you, without a shred of hesitation."

"That is only fair," Seref said with a nod. "Let's sit on the couch, as it will be a long story. I would wish to show you, but I'm afraid that we are prevented from leaving this place."

The two of them went over to the couch with Seref sitting on the single seat, while Arthur sat on the far edge of the three-seat couch. Seref seemed to mull over his words for a long time before he began to tell Arthur his story.

***

I'm sure that you have already learned of our hometown, or home-mountain, where your grandfather still resides. Is he still alive? The last time that I saw him, I wanted to do nothing but to kill him, but I hope that he's alive.

Our family has arrived to this world a very long time ago. It was far before any form of civilization took form on this planet. Despite wielding the power to rule, our ancestors lived in the shadows, fearing the wrath of the gods.

As I think about it now, it's funny that the descendants of wrath would fear the wrath of others. But we almost went extinct because of Ragnar's battle, and it became our mission to survive until the next Lord of the Lower Realms is born.

I studied wrath ever since I could think of myself, who I was, and what I wanted. If you think of wrath as an emotion, then you're wrong. It's a desire, similar to the other sins. It is the desire to undo.

We learned from a young age that wrath and creation were the two sides of the same coin, one that governed reality. Things cannot exist without their absence. Life cannot exist without death. Creation cannot exist without destruction.

I'm talking too much nonsense? Oh, you already learned about that…

In any case, I learned to wield wrath, although I wasn't very good at it. It was during my teenage years that I felt that I should be destined for something greater as the descendant of Ragnar. It was also the time that I was no longer a good candidate to wield wrath.

I want to avoid talking about what happened next with your grandmother, as it pains me too much to think about it. Instead, I want to talk about what I learned following my departure from the Netherborne Clan. I want to tell you of the man I met, who showed me how the world was going to end.

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