Chapter 345: Who are you?
"Who are you, Adyr?" Thalira Luna approached in small, measured steps, silver eyes locked on him as if trying to understand what kind of being stood before her.
"Me?" Adyr lifted his eyes from the Tower of Worth to her, touching his chest as if oblivious and confused.
"You are not Velari, am I right?" Brakhtar Gorat’s voice rang in his ears. The 4-meter ogre, newly lean, was closing in from the opposite side.
"Should I feel in trouble?" Adyr raised a single brow as the two leading races moved in from either flank.
Maruun and the mixed-race group watched every motion, confused and uneasy for a heartbeat. Then they stepped forward as one and formed up at Adyr’s back, bracing as if for an all-out war.
They also weren’t idiots, as all had already realized what Adyr showed a while ago was a bloodline talent, and he was probably one of the Elder Race. However, their decision was the same; they took his side.
"That is not the right question," Brakhtar said, noting where the mixed-race group had chosen to stand. "The question belongs to us. Should we be the ones in trouble?"
Thalira remained silent, but a glance at her and the Lunari behind her made it clear she leaned toward the Gorathim and seemed ready to decide together once they heard his answer.
Do I have to kill them all now? The thought passed through Adyr’s mind as simply as deciding to take a walk in the park.
He knew he had revealed something inside the Tower that he shouldn’t have so easily, but he hadn’t expected the Tower to react like this. At most, he’d expected the same treatment Brakhtar received, yet the situation escalated beyond his control, and those words appeared in the system message for all to see.
Now, even he did not know what those words meant, nor how the Lunari and the Gorathim—top races—would judge him. He felt himself being pushed toward a choice he did not want to make.
His plan had been only to show that he possessed a bloodline talent like Brakhtar. He expected the others to respond to him as they had to Brakhtar. Instead, it now seemed as if he were hiding something more, something that made both races feel threatened by his existence.
It wasn’t fear that kept Adyr from acting. Even if he eliminated everyone here to leave no witnesses, their families couldn’t openly go after him once he was out of the Legacy Domain.
That was exactly why he had helped Liora subdue the Rank 4 Colossith and earn a title; her presence outside meant no one could easily threaten his life.
The real problem was different. He had invested too much time in these people, earned their trust, and they were still useful to him.
What should I do? The question kept echoing in his mind.
At that moment, he realized something strange. His eyes widened, and a brief, genuine surprise crossed his face.
He was startled by his own reasoning and hesitation. Do I truly not want to kill them because I think they will be useful to me? Is that the truth?
Since his reincarnation, he had been forced to suppress his urge to kill, even hurting himself at times to smother it with pain. Yet now he was living something new.
For the first time, he felt as if he were making excuses not to kill.
Since when did I start hesitating to kill?
Never before had he realized there could be a moment when killing brought no pleasure, and now he genuinely did not want to kill.
Am I growing emotions? He asked and answered at once. No.
It was not that he never had emotions; he had always been the one using them, not the other way around.
Am I becoming soft, more human?
The monster inside him had always driven his bloodlust. He wondered if that monster was dying under its chains, and the answer was also no.
So far, the only ones he truly cared for were Marielle and Niva, the two who unknowingly held the keys to the monster’s chains, and that had not changed.
But...
"I don’t want to kill you." The words left Adyr’s mouth as simply as they were, plain and steady, more a statement of fact than a threat.
Even now, he felt confused about what was going on inside his head. His thinking and his feelings pulled in different directions, and he could not reconcile them. Yet for the moment, he decided to listen to them. He let that impulse stand.
"I see." Relief touched Brakhtar’s face, though it did not fully satisfy him. He asked again, voice firm. "But that answer alone is not something we can take and keep living with. Just tell me why you are here. In a desolate place like the Outer Region."
It was a reasonable question. An Elder Race, even the weakest among them, should have deep roots and unimaginable power. A land with so few resources should be worthless to them, not a place worth fixing their eyes on.
Even the mixed-race group listened with ears pricked, openly curious about the answer he would give.
Noticing the growing attention, Adyr smiled and answered with a light, evasive turn. "Aren’t you also considered an Elder Race? Why are you here in the Outer Region?"
Brakhtar sensed the evasion but answered plainly. "That’s true. Gemnarch blood flows in my veins, but I’m still Gorathim. I’m the first in centuries among my people to awaken a bloodline talent, yet even that doesn’t make me one of the Elder Races—unlike you."
Brakhtar knew this well. The Gorathim were proud to call themselves descendants of the Gemnarch, yet if they ever met the Gemnarch anywhere, they would never be accepted as one of them.
In the Gemnarch’s eyes, that door would not open.
They were an ancient race living in the Midlands, a two-headed ogre people who preserved their tribal traits. For them, bloodline mattered above all. They would never accept a Gorathim among their own and, in such a proud culture, would likely even consider a Gorathim an enemy.
Because of this, Brakhtar had few places to go outside the Outer Region, at least not unless he became a Rank 5 Adept, strong enough to secure his own safety.
"I can feel it." Brakhtar’s small eyes narrowed. He took another step forward, and the second head beside his own flickered in and out like an image on a broken television screen.
"No... I know it. What’s inside you isn’t half-stained blood like mine, but pure blood none of us has ever had and never will. Your place is not here, unless there is another reason, a special reason, that requires you to be here."
His voice carried the sound of a sigh and a quiet reproach, and that tone was what made his words convincing.
Why am I here? Well, that is also something I want to know, Adyr thought, and then he spoke aloud. "That’s a question I can’t answer with full consciousness, but the only thing I can say is that it’s not something that will threaten your existence here. In fact, it will be beneficial for you, for all races in the Outer Region."