I ignored Phon’s words and actions.

“First, allow me to reveal my identity. I want you to hear this too, sir.”

The disguise device Alex and I used had a feature that allowed it to be deactivated three times. And that’s exactly what I did.

In front of the head and heir of the Morten Family, I deactivated the appearance of Franz Martin Inferesse.

The liquid-like substance covering my body instantly lost its shape, sliding down as if melting before our eyes and falling to the ground. Then it turned into something like a gas and began to disappear.

“…”

Thomas Morten just watched in astonishment. Phon, however, had reacted more intensely.

“What?!”

It was a bit… disgusting to look at, but it didn’t matter much.

In the end, they both found my true face, or rather, Aiden Tenebra’s face, before them.

“W- who the hell are you?”

Although, neither of them seemed to fully grasp who I was. It was clear from their gaze that I looked familiar, as if the name they needed to match this face was on the tip of their tongues.

Finally, I parted my closed lips.

“You’ve probably heard my name. I am Aiden Tenebra. I am known on the planet as the Hero of the Holar War, the Representative of the Spirits, and a half-wiera who stands against the organization called Saligia. The reason I disguised myself in Old Gundam is because I’m conducting a secret operation against Saligia.”

An expression appeared on Thomas’s face as if he suddenly understood what was going on. As surprising as it was, there were very few people in the world who hadn’t heard my name. I appeared frequently in the news as Cevilian’s rising star, which was a little embarrassing.

But what really mattered was… Phon’s reaction toward the truth.

As someone working for Saligia, he should have heard my name much more than Thomas had. On top of that, I had told them directly that my next target was here, so he definitely knew he needed to keep an eye on me.

And… precisely for this reason, the role he had ultimately assumed had cracked a little, without him even realizing it.

His eyes were twitching. He stood there as if there was someone he didn’t want to see in front of him, even though normally he had no connection to me whatsoever.

“You…”

His breath seemed to have been cut off, he kept swallowing his words.

But I wasn’t going to wait for him, of course.

“I’m sorry to say this, Thomas Morten.”

I raised my hand and pointed my finger at Phon coldly.

“But your son…”

Phon’s eyes widened as if he realized what was about to come out of my mouth.

And so, he finally abandoned the role he had taken on completely.

“Is a wiera, just like me.”

As soon as I finished my sentence, caora wrapped itself around his body. It added power to his strength, force to his muscles.

Without caring that his father was standing right next to him, he lunged at me. He probably had a lightning-related skill, because he looked like he was trying to turn me into coal and ashes with the sparks coming from his hand.

However…

No matter how high his potential, Phon Morten couldn’t even touch a hair on my head when we were the same age. There were only two people in my age group I thought could match me, after all.

So, I decided to use my newly acquired abilities to see how effective they were.

I used the first of my two authorities, the Chains of Sin.

There was barely a meter between Phon and me when chains shot out from all sides around me and wrapped around his entire body.

“Ughk…!”

His hand pointing at me, his torso, his legs, his neck…

“A- ahk!”

His entire body was wrapped in purple chains, tightly constricting him. It was clear he was in pain.

“L- let… g…o…!”

“It’s pretty funny that you thought you could do anything to me, despite realizing who I was.”

This time, I used my second authority.

I gathered all my feelings and thoughts, one by one. I tangled them together like a ball of yarn, then unleashed them into the mind of the wiera standing before me, unable to move a muscle.

“H- huh…?”

The change was quite sudden.

His eyes first lost focus, then became almost cloudy. It was as if he had forgotten the pain he was in and stopped struggling, as if exhausted. He looked around with such an expression that it was as if… his mind had flown away.

“Phon Morten. You work for Saligia, don’t you?”

He paused at the mention of his name, his unfocused eyes turning to me.

“Huh?”

“Didn’t Saligia tell you to take over the Morten Family?”

“A- ah…”

His head seemed to be aching. His brow furrowed, his eyes began to twitch.

Still, he answered my question.

“Y- yes…”

“After taking control of the family, next was Black Blood, right?”

“Yes…”

“And then, finally, you would hand over the Old Gundam to them completely.”

This time, he answered not with words, but with a weak nod.

“Hmm, I see. Then… you can sleep.”

I brought my clenched fist down hard on his cheek, but not hard enough to kill him.

His head was so confused that he instantly passed out. His eyes closed weakly, he lost all strength and willpower in his muscles. The moment he was freed from the chains that bound him, he fell face down to the ground like a dead fly.

I then took my eyes off him. I turned to Thomas, who was watching everything unfold from where he stood, trembling, his eyes wide open.

“If I’ve gone a bit overboard, I apologize. But please listen to what I’m about to say.”

Thomas didn’t say anything. He didn’t even nod his head.

Seeing that, I sighed softly and explained to him exactly what the wieras were.

That his son was no longer in this world, that the person lying unconscious between us was essentially no different from a clone possessing his memories.

“…”

Finally, Thomas Morten stared at his ‘son’ on the floor without saying a word.

“…”

Silently, without uttering a single word.

“…”

As if… he had completely disconnected from the world.

But then, I saw him clench his fist out of the corner of my eye. No matter how hard he tried to keep his expression steady, tiny cracks slowly appeared. His eyes were twitching.

And eventually…

Whether he wanted to or not, he dropped the mask he was trying to maintain.

A loud, anguished roar shook the mansion.

“AAAARRRHHHHHH!!!”

Instead of releasing his clenched fist, he immediately slammed it into the wall on his right.

This time, there was no trace of the control he had shown in the wine warehouse.

~boom!

Such a shockwave spread that everything in the room was scattered here and there. The wall shattered into pieces, but it wasn’t the only thing affected. The room behind it was also destroyed, its wall exploding as if hit by a rocket.

One after another, all the rooms in a straight line were reduced to a state where they could hardly be called ‘rooms’ by Thomas Morten’s fist.

As the dust and debris blocking his view slowly settled to the floor, the man responsible for this destruction stared at the ground, breathing unevenly. Tears streamed from his eyes, falling one after another, and faint sobs could be heard despite his efforts to suppress them.

Amidst it all, I, whose jacket wasn’t even wrinkled, slowly approached him.

My footsteps echoed, the sound of my cane was hollow.

“You didn’t make any mistakes, Thomas.”

There was no ‘sir’ anymore. I was talking to him as if we were equals.

“There is only one culprit for all of this, for all the tragedies you have experienced here.”

I put my hand on his shoulder, as if I were a friend trying to comfort him.

But I didn’t continue my sentence.

I sank into silence.

Because we both knew what I was going to say.

“S- Saligia…”

I gently rubbed the shoulder I had put my hand on.

“Exactly. Saligia. Those who took your first child away, who used his body to brutally kill your youngest son, and almost put your daughter through the same scenario…”

I leaned in slightly so he could hear me more clearly and loudly.

“It was all Saligia.”

“A- ah…”

As the tears streaming from his eyes increased, he trembled more. He placed his hand on his chest as if it hurt, and grabbed it tightly, not caring that he was tearing his clothes.

“They took so much from me too, believe me. They were the ones who took half of my humanity, they were the ones who made my body like this, they were the ones who took my lover from me.”

His breathing became even more irregular. The frequency of his breaths decreased. Even the mana around him was becoming unbalanced now.

“We’re pretty much in the same boat. That’s why… you can help me destroy this common enemy, right?”

He was practically having a panic attack, his heart beating so loudly I could hear it pounding against his ribcage from where I stood.

But I didn’t care.

“After all, we both have revenge to take, nothing is over yet… right?”

I just kept going.

“Will you help me, Thomas?”

Right at that moment, I wrapped my blue flames around his body. Not to burn or harm him… but to heal him.

What he was experiencing was largely psychological at this point. Still, as his heart calmed down and his lungs began to breathe a little easier, he gradually began to relax.

Thomas Morten was a strong man. His body wasn’t going to give in just because he was having a panic attack. That’s why, with a little help from me, he was able to recover quickly.

“…”

And now, silence had fallen over the room.

“Sir!”

Just then, the first of his men arrived, wanting to check what had happened after the punch that shook the whole mansion.

“Are you okay? Do you need any help, sir?!”

But Thomas quickly raised his hand to signal him to stop, without even looking at who it was.

“E- everything… is fine. Just go back.”

The man looked at his family head, and then at me, standing right next to him as if supporting him.

He looked a little… uncertain, as if unsure of what to do. But in the end, he bowed his head, stepped back without saying anything, and simply disappeared from view.

After he left, Thomas finally spoke.

“Aiden… Tenebra, right?”

I stepped back so he could see me. He no longer needed my support; he could stand on his own. So, when our eyes met, I nodded my head slightly.

“Yes. Franz Martin Inferesse is nothing more than the identity I used for the operation I’m conducting here.”

He had recovered at an astonishing speed. His gaze and eyes were much steadier than just a few seconds ago. Whatever his psychological state, at least for now, he was himself.

He really was an S+ grade man, no matter how gentle and soft-spoken he might be inside.

“Well, it doesn’t matter who you are… it was foolish for me to even ask. You said you’re Saligia’s enemy.”

His eyes narrowed and his wrinkles became more pronounced as a look of disgust instantly appeared on his face. It seemed he didn’t even like to say the word ‘Saligia’.

“I’ll… help you, whatever you’re going to do. I’ll let you use me and my family however you want, as long as you don’t harm us. I just want you to promise me one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“You will make sure those damned men called Saligia… are destroyed. No matter what happens, no matter what occurs… even if the whole world is in the palm of your hand, you will stand against them. Their eradication from this world will be my wish until the day I die.”

“There couldn’t be an easier promise to make. I was expecting something more challenging.”

Thomas Morten stretched a little, straightening his posture slightly. He turned his gaze to the window and looked outside for a moment. Then, he took a deep breath.

“Whatever…”

He turned around and walked away from me. The heavy and firm steps I had seen throughout the night, capable of crushing anything in their path, had been replaced by ones that seemed weak, even weary.

“I want to… rest a little. Let’s talk again tomorrow. You do the same.”

Even though I had whispered as if we were equals just a moment ago, even though he was walking away with his back to me, I couldn’t help but bow slightly this time.

“Of course, as you wish.”

Thomas didn’t say another word after that. He simply walked out the door and into the hallway, his footsteps slowly fading away.

After a short while, just like that, he was completely gone.

In the now completely silent room, I turned my eyes to Phon Merton, who had been sleeping soundly on the floor while all this was happening.

“Hmm.”

It was more successful than I had thought. Although Thomas seemed to have realized toward the end that I was trying to manipulate him, he didn’t seem to care much.

His hatred and resentment toward Saligia was so strong that he was willing to be used with peace of mind for a future where they would be wiped out.

I really couldn’t have achieved a better result than this.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep