Chapter 241: Cortana (2)

"We… had a child, Xanthus. A daughter…

...And I lost her."

"!!!"

"Please calm down, mister Xanthus."

Although the souls inside of Viel had no control over him, Xanthus' emotions still reverberated inside of him, causing turmoil inside Viel's mind.

Somewhere down the road, Viel had developed the ability to speak with the souls, or rather souls inside of him. However, the Viel now has not yet experienced what it felt like to have the influence of more than 1 soul inside of him.

It had always been Lu Yi that communicated with him ever since he lost all of his precious memories. And she was patient enough not to impede in Viel's daily life, only making her presence known whenever necessary.

But now, with Xanthus awake and screaming inside of him, Viel's thoughts were in complete disarray. If not for Lu Yi holding Xanthus back, then Viel might have become deaf already… if that was possible.

"Miss Cortana, was it?"

Viel then gently pushed Cortana's embrace as his eyes turned straight towards her eyes. "Perhaps we should talk inside the house?"

"..."

"Nevermind, we can talk here." Viel could only clear his throat as he remembered that his house was no longer of this world. "You--"

"Wait."

Before Viel could continue his words, Noah approached the two of them. "...You should not be here, 2nd Demon God. It will ruin my Prophecy."

"It's fine, it's fine." Viel patted Noah's shoulders, "It seems that your Prophecy has no chance of being fulfilled anymore."

"But--"

"I will come with you to the Planet of the Gods or whatever once all of this is over to explain to whoever is in charge there. Now shoo, play with your daughter or something." Viel waved his hand as he gestured for Noah to leave them alone for now.

"...It's not that simple."

"We will talk about the finer details later, just go. Your daughter is waiting for you."

"...You really are an anomaly," Noah could only let out a sigh before returning back to Lyanna's side and continuing to repair the damages that he and Viel had done.

Sofia wanted to say something, but it felt like it wasn't her place to do so. And so, she just kept quiet as she stood by Viel's side. And without even saying a word, she summoned a table and some seats from the ground beneath them.

And so now, out of nowhere, there were three people sitting at a table just a few meters away from the town wall.

"...Please take a seat, Miss Cortana."

Viel said as he gestured for Cortana to sit down. The confusion on Cortana's face was obvious, but seeing as the two people in front of her just casually took a seat, she did so as well.

"Mister Xanthus is currently screaming his lungs out and is starting to affect me."

"So… So Xanthus is inside you? Can he… can he hear me!?" Cortana, who just took her seat, once again stood up as she placed her palms on the table.

"Yes. And he is currently asking what you meant by your words, repeatedly." Viel scratched his chin as he let out a loud sigh, "So…

...Can you please tell us your story?"

***

A few months after Xanthus' untimely death, the Western Continent scattered to recover themselves. But most did not really recover. They lost their family, their home, and most of their history.

They gained hope with the defeat of Demon God Xanthus, but the Hero's sudden disappearance also affected them.

Some say she died due to the injuries she received from their battle, some say she went into hiding so that she could spend the rest of her war-torn life in peace.

The truth is, for a little while, it was the latter. She was currently being kept hidden by the very same people that forced her to be the Hero-- her family.

She wasn't able to hide it anymore as her belly grew bigger and bigger. They found out that she was pregnant, but seeing as she was not married and did not even have a partner, her family hid her.

They said it would tarnish the name of the Hero if ever the populace were able to find out that she was pregnant. It did not help that she was supposed to be betrothed to the only surviving son of the King after the war was over.

And so, they hid her. They hid her until she could give birth and they would, of course, hide the fact that Cortana ever had a child in the first place.

That was her family's plan. Well, it was supposed to be until Cortana delivered her child. There was no problem with the child. It was, in fact, a very healthy baby girl with already a full set of hair.

Except for the fact that she only contained a hint of the prestigious silver hair that Cortana's family was known for. Instead, most of the strands of her hair were jet-black in color.

But most importantly, even when she was just delivered to this world, she already bore a striking resemblance to the deceased Demon God himself.

The family knew then and there who the father of Cortana's child really was.

And so, with Cortana still weakened from giving birth, they employed various magic arts and tricks to seal her powers and imprison her. Cortana could only watch as her own father ordered one of their maids to take her daughter away.

His very own father ordered the death of her child.

She screamed and she reached for her, but the only thing that she felt in her hands was the cold steel that would shackle her for more than a decade. Everything after that was just fragments and fractures of the time that had gone by.

Her rage, her sadness, her longing… the extreme negative emotions that she felt turned her into the monster that ravaged the very same lands that she used to protect.

But then… the world heard a whisper. And within that whisper, Cortana found hope. She doesn't know why. She doesn't know how… But she knew.

She knew that her beloved had returned.

"I see…" Viel could not help but let out a hum as he heard the entirety of Cortana's story.

A sniffle could also be heard whispering in the air as Lyanna started bursting into tears as she listened in on Cortana's story. Halfway through her story, she and Noah became curious as they also took a seat at the table.

And so now, there were 5 people casually sitting around a table just a few meters outside the town wall.

"So… you returned back to normal after hearing Viel's words?" Noah asked.

"...Yes"

"You really have destroyed my Prophecy, Viel." The frustration in Noah's words was obvious, but still, ever since he knew that the Judge of Karma was inside Viel, he had become a bit careful with his words.

"Sorry… but may I ask who you are?" Cortana, who had been lost in her own story, finally became curious as to who this dark-skinned man was. He had been interrupting them since the start and was the only one that didn't seem to be surprised with her story.

"Me? I suppose…

...I suppose you can consider me Xanthus' father."