Chapter 126: The Gardener [1] — Priest Soma Ferrera

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Louis opened his eyes. In the real world, barely a second had passed, yet the conversation inside felt like minutes.

Everyone stared in awe. They sensed something within him had fundamentally changed.

Psychic Energy surged from his body—especially from his head—rising and gathering around him, taking the form of something truly enormous.

“P-Prince Louis…!” Catrise cried. “Y-You did it! You awakened as an Esper!”

“Esper?!” Louis looked up. He realized his “Delusions” within his Fantasy World had all stemmed from his Psychic Powers. “So it was real… all of it?!”

“And much more. For now, Louis. I have already told Mirai everything. She is coming here as we speak. She sneakily took a teleportation circle. She will appear in the plaza close to you. Go find her!”

“Well done!”

Louis spread his wings and flew toward the ruined plaza—the same one where he had his first date with Mirai.

Whether coincidence or fate, that unforgettable moment he had always tried to downplay now filled his heart with fierce determination to see her again.

“Ah, my first time stepping out of that lab and it’s all in ruins…”

Louis heard her voice. He descended and landed, walking toward her.

He saw her slowly pacing the plaza.

“Mirai!”

“Eh?”

Mirai turned. Her glowing red eyes met his.

“Y-You must be Lord Louis—Ah!”

Two threads reconnected. Two hearts met once more across time and space.

Memories flowed into Mirai’s mind—like dreams, yet far too vivid and real to dismiss.

Perhaps she wasn’t the same Mirai from his previous regression, but for some reason, Louis couldn’t help feeling overwhelming joy at seeing her again.

“Lord Louis…” Mirai began crying as she looked at him. She ran forward. “Louis!”

“Mirai?!” Louis gasped as she leaped into him, hugging him tightly while sobbing.

They both fell to the ground. Louis groaned as his head struck stone. He tried to push her away, but Mirai refused to let go—clinging desperately, crying against his chest.

“I don’t know what’s happening…” she kept sobbing. “But… I… I remember you… like a whole lifetime we once shared together… We had our first date here… And… and… you died…! You died…! I…! I couldn’t take it…! Why… What’s going on?”

“I can explain that later,” Louis said, smiling bitterly. “But let me tell you that it was not a dream.”

“…!” Mirai gasped. “Then…”

“I’m glad to see you again, Mirai,” Louis said with raw honesty, hugging her back tightly. “I need your help.”

“My help? I…” Mirai muttered. “In that dream… or whatever it was, Frostbane didn’t go through this. But why is it different?”

“A lot has changed because I was unable to return in time,” Louis said. “Mirai… Would you lend me your strength?”

Mirai stared at Louis. Her glowing red eyes locked with his golden ones.

For a moment, they were very close.

“Yes…”

She nodded, taking his cold hands and giving him her warmth.

It was a comforting warmth that stirred emotions Louis had always tried to suppress.

“I’ll help you… of course.”

“Thank you, Mirai… for being stubborn and always believing in me.”

♢♢♢♢

The Priest of the Abyssal Mother, Soma Ferrera, had endured a terrible day.

He had been calmly searching for the sinner child to complete the formation and bless everyone in this Kingdom with eternal happiness within the oblivion born from his beloved mother.

Then, out of nowhere, half of the Nameless Streets were swallowed by a different space—a Fantasy Field—and a monstrous Grievance spread its influence, using its spawns to attack and hunt people.

His formation, unable to withstand the Fantasy Field’s spacetime wavelengths, shattered. Most of his subordinates working on it died from the backlash of such a massive formation breaking apart.

“Oh dear, this is not what I was planning…”

The dark priest looked around the ruined Nameless Streets and saw countless people running away and screaming. His face twisted with disbelief as he felt a powerful presence in the skies.

“Ah, a Grievance, huh? Well, as the priest of the Abyssal Church, it is my duty to protect the innocent.”

He smiled and stepped into an area that had become a large, black swamp. Vines spread across ruined houses while screams echoed from inside.

Countless roses of many colors blossomed across the streets, opening their eyes and staring at Soma with indifference. Then they began to glow, charging energy and firing red lasers from every angle.

“Oh my, this is quite troublesome.”

Countless explosions engulfed the dark priest, who continued walking through them, smoke constantly rising. A dark aura resembling ink covered his body, harnessing the agony and pain of countless others and hardening it into power.

“Well, I suppose there’s no point in trying to reason with a Grievance such as yourself, so…”

Soma tapped the ground with his foot. The swamp before him shook and began to warp as darkness flowed everywhere.

Massive hands made of darkness emerged one after another, red eyes glowing within their palms. They roamed the swamp, tearing apart all the plants.

The plants fought back, firing lasers and wrapping around the walking hands, only for the hands to force themselves free or self-destruct, causing constant damage.

The Emerald Moon watching from above narrowed its single eye as it noticed this strange man spreading an army of black hands that began destroying its creations.

“Hello, is anyone there?”

Soma knocked at a door and then tore it out with ease. With his bare hands he ripped away the vines covering the house, revealing a family trembling inside.

“Ah, you’re alive. That’s a relief. Please come with me, I’ll bring you to safety.”

“P-Priest Soma?”

The family stepped out as Soma quickly led them outside the Fantasy Field.

“Quickly go as far from here as you can! And don’t look back—things are going to get nastier.”

“T-Thank you so much!”

“Thank you!”

As Soma waved his hand, he repeated the rescue dozens of times across the Nameless Streets, saving many lives and guiding them to safety.

He divided his attention by literally self-dividing into countless clones made of black, inky miasma.

As the Gardener’s prey began running away and being rescued and healed by Soma, the Grievance grew increasingly irritated.

RUMBLE!

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