Chapter 200: You've Grown

"Who… Who is that?", Viel stuttered as his tears continued to trail on his face,

"Why... can't I remember?"

"What? What do you--"

"Vi!"

Before Violet and Diao Mei could place their hands on Viel, Sofia quickly rushed towards them and pulled Viel away from the party, dropping her plates without care.

"Miss Sofia, what's happening!?", Diao Mei wanted to chase Sofia as she dragged Viel out of the courtyard, but Sofia raised her hand, gesturing for Diao Mei and Violet to stay.

"It's nothing", Sofia shook her head, "Please enjoy the festivities, we'll return later"

"W--"

"It will be alright"

Before Diao Mei or Violet could even say anything more, Sofia already left the courtyard with Viel. Yinji, who also noticed Viel's sudden change in mood, squinted her eyes as she followed the two inside the castle.

Sofia did not stop dragging Viel by his wrist until they reached a quiet and isolated room. Viel's tears seemed to have no plans on stopping as it left a trail on the floor.

"Why… why am I crying?", Viel stuttered, "Why does it feel so heavy?", he said as he looked at Sofia.

"Grandma Ling… who is that?", Viel's heavy breaths started to fill the room.

"She is… your grandmother, Vi", Sofia said as she fixed her spectacles.

"Grandmother?", Viel blinked his eyes a couple of times, "I had something like that?"

"Why… Why can't I remember?"

"Vi… your memories…", Sofia took a light gulp before she placed her hand on Viel's shoulder, "They are being erased"

"...What?"

"It's being erased by whatever it is that is inside of you", Sofia looked Viel straight in the eyes, "...the thing you call Mr. Voice, it's probably the one doing that"

"What…?", Viel wiped his tears as he looked at Sofia, "Mr. Voice?"

"Ye--"

Before Sofia could even finish a word, Viel's jet-black eyes trembled and bright green letters started flickering on them.

"!!!", Sofia quickly summoned her bubble, but it was too late, Viel's hand was only a few inches away from her neck. However, before Viel's fingers could reach her throat, Yinji suddenly appeared, pulling Viel back and throwing him away.

Yinji quickly summoned her 9 golden swords, all of which were pointing at Viel as soon as they appeared.

"Are you okay, girl?", Yinji said as she slightly glanced towards Sofia.

"Y… yes", Sofia stuttered as she let out a tiny breath. It would seem that Viel's fingers slightly cut her neck even though it didn't make contact with it, "Thank you, Miss Yinji", she said as she gathered her mana, healing the wound on her neck in the process.

"Hm…", Yinji only nodded as she placed her focus solely on Viel, her 9 divine swords still resolutely pointing towards him.

Viel, however, only kneeled on the ground as his eyes started to return to their natural darkness, "W… what did I do?", Viel stuttered as he looked back and forth from Sofia's bloodied neck and his hands, "D… did I do that!?"

"What's… happening to me!?", Viel's chest started to puff as his stuttered breaths became uncontrollable. His eyes once again started to tremble as his thoughts were in complete disarray.

Yinji could not help but squint her eyes as she stared at the hysterical Viel. His presence has been fluctuating unnaturally, and it was starting to make Yinji somewhat dizzy

"W… what are you guys doing here?"

It was then that someone else entered the room, "I thought I detected something weird around here. But it's just you three?"

As soon as Sofia saw who it was that entered the room, she quickly rushed towards her and shielded her with a bubble. "What are you doing here, Miss Charlotte!?"

The first time they met earlier, Viel's eyes suddenly flickered. She might even be the reason why Viel's mind was running amok right now, Sofia thought.

But contrary to what Sofia expected, Viel did not do anything, he just stared at Charlotte before curling into a ball, screaming.

"W… what's going on with Viel!?", Charlotte could not help but raise her voice as she saw Viel wailing on the floor. She was not being let through by Sofia, however. She has no idea what Viel would do in his current condition, so it would be best for everyone that no one approached him.

"It's alright, Miss Charlotte", Sofia let out a sigh, "Please return to the part--"

"!!!"

Before Sofia could finish her words, she quickly backed away and gathered her mana as she stared directly at Charlotte's eyes. She didn't notice it earlier because of Charlotte's naturally bright blue eyes, but her eyes had the same flickering green letters that Viel has.

Sofia adjusted her glasses, trying to see if she was just seeing things, but no. Her eyes flickered the same as Viel's. "Your eyes…", she whispered, "What's happening to them?"

"M… my eyes?", Charlotte tilted her head in confusion, "Why are you talking about my eyes?"

Sofia furrowed her eyebrows, was Charlotte not aware of it? And how is she able to remain as herself, while Viel is completely taken over whenever the green lights flicker in his eyes?

"...You said you are related to Viel?"

"M… maybe, why!?"

"That--", Sofia shook her head. That wasn't important right now. She needed to take care of Viel first, she thought as she released all of her mana and rushed towards Viel, who was still curled in a ball.

Yinji, who saw that Viel seemed to have slightly calmed down now, called off her 9 swords.

"Vi... are you alright now?", Sofia said softly as she placed her arms around Viel.

"Grandma Ling…", Viel whispered, "Why… why is my chest so heavy"

"Grandma Ling is--"

"Why!?", Viel then suddenly stood up, pushing away Sofia.

"Tch", Yinji could not help but click her tongue, she shouldn't have called off her weapons, she thought. But before she could summon them back, Viel's whole body started to tremble uncontrollably, and then, after a few seconds, he fell down. As if a puppet whose strings were cut.

"Vi!?", Sofia quickly crawled towards Viel, checking if he was still breathing. She could no longer feel Viel's mana, similar to what happened when he fought the mysterious red-haired man before they left her world.

Sofia let out a sigh of relief as she felt the warm air that was coming out of Viel's nose.

"How is he!?", Charlotte asked.

"...He's alive", Sofia once again let out a deep sigh, "Let's put him somewhere more comfortable", she said as she looked at Yinji and Charlotte.

"Hm", Yinji slightly nodded as she gently lifted Viel with one hand.

***

"Ha…"

Viel slowly opened his eyes, finding himself feeling light. And when he realized where he was, he soon realized that he wasn't actually feeling light, he was floating.

He has been here before, he thought as he looked around the vast and empty darkness. He quickly flew in a random direction, floating towards nowhere. But after a while, or maybe a long time, he didn't really know anymore… but he saw something inconsistent from the rest of the darkness from afar.

He hastened his pace until he was right in front of it, a huge screen. He has definitely been here before, and as to his expectations, someone was on the other side. But instead of three people, he only saw one.

Lu Yi was currently hitting a floating man who Viel had never seen before. Viel tried to knock on the mirror, but Lu Yi can't seem to hear him as she was too busy hitting the floating man.

And so, Viel took a deep breath and pulled his fist, slamming it as he released his breath. The whole expanse of the darkness itself seemed to ripple from Viel's fist. The giant mirror slightly vibrated, but alas, it didn't break.

The sudden force made Lu Yi flinch as she quickly looked back towards the screen.

"B… baby Viel!?"

As soon as her eyes laid on Viel, she quickly stopped whatever it was she was doing and rushed towards him. "Y… you're here!?", she hollered.

"Are you alright!?", Lu Yi could not help but ask. The last thing she saw on the screen was Viel panicking from trying to remember Grandma Ling. She could feel Viel's emotions rumbling and thundering in the darkness, but then it just stopped abruptly, and the screen turned black.

The last time the darkness was in chaos like that was when Viel was still in the Academy when he first felt rage. Back when he met and battled with his biological father. So their initial assumption was right, she thought. The three of them came to the conclusion that if Viel suffers from severe mental stress that he couldn't endure, he loses consciousness and gets sent here with them.

"How... are you, miss Lu Yi?"

Her thoughts were then disrupted by Viel's voice. Even though Viel has not seen Lu Yi for years, it felt like he knew her. As if she was one of the closest people to Viel. It somewhat makes sense though, Viel thought, since Lu Yi was literally inside of him.

Lu Yi, however, could only squint her eyes. She wasn't expecting Viel to be calm, seeing as his emotions were in a mess before he entered his own consciousness.

But after a few seconds, she shook her head. Who knows when she will be able to see or talk to Viel again directly. And so, with a tiny sigh, she let out a smile. There were a lot of things that she wanted to say, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was...

"You've grown, Viel"