Sakolomé sighed, still dizzy from the revelations Munhwan had just given him.
Munhwan resumed, in a calm but grave tone:
— Mü Thanatos has four children… and they all live within you.
Sakolomé raised his eyebrows, surprised:
— Yes… Saiko, I knew that, but the others… where are they?
Munhwan continued, relentlessly:
— Validus is the eldest. He resides in your brother Bakuzan…
This first revelation struck Sakolomé like a thunderclap, and Munhwan hadn't even finished.
— Carnaticum, Mü Thanatos's third son, dwells in your little brother Bakuran… and Mortuus, the only daughter, is in…
Sakolomé interrupted, his voice trembling:
— Salomé… but why did they choose to live in us? Why us?
Munhwan looked at him intently:
— You'll just have to ask Saiko. But know this: your elder brother Bakuzan and you are the only ones who have awakened and befriended the children of the goddess. We, the original gods, are often called the elder brothers of Mü Thanatos… and they are a bit like my nephews.
Sakolomé lowered his head, comprehension slowly dawning:
— Bakuzan is as close to Validus as I am to Saiko… that might explain why he is so powerful…
Munhwan nodded, as if to conclude:
— Time is up. I must leave you. You will discover other truths over time… or perhaps, if our paths cross again someday…
Sakolomé rushed out:
— No… wait!
Suddenly, the castle of the Unforgettable vanished as if erased by a dream. The air around him seemed empty, silent, intangible. Sakolomé felt helpless:
— No… no!!!
A familiar voice rang behind him:
— Stop shouting like that!
Sakolomé turned and saw Saiko, standing with arms crossed, a piercing gaze:
— I hope you've gathered enough truths.
Sakolomé replied, his voice full of tension:
— Saiko… you knew that your brothers and sister all lived inside my brothers and sister?
A laugh shook Saiko, a mix of mockery and gravity:
— I guess that answers my question. Yes, I knew they were all there, inside them.
Sakolomé insisted, almost desperate:
— But why? Why us?
Saiko cast a thoughtful look at him:
— There was a time when your father was the only mortal to have met our mother and praised her rightly. That touched us deeply…
He paused, as if each word weighed a thousand years:
— When mother disappeared, we all let go of what she was supposed to govern. She no longer does, and it's her angel of light who takes care of it. Yet, originally, it should have been Mortuus who took charge.
Sakolomé frowned, stunned:
— That's… still amazing…
Saiko approached and placed a hand on Sakolomé's shoulder, firm but comforting:
— Sakolomé, our mission, both of us, will be to find mother… and then, your brother Bakuzan. Do you understand?
Sakolomé blinked, stunned:
— Find… Mü Thanatos?
Saiko nodded and gave a slight smile:
— It's crazy, don't you think? To seek what is the conceptualization of every definition… Said like that, one might think it's easy. But in reality, it's much more complex than it seems. Still, with Ñout by our side, I'm convinced it's possible.
Sakolomé, eyes determined, clenched his fists and strongly agreed:
— I agree. And besides… if Mü Thanatos is the conceptualization of all, she surely knows the dead, or at least where they are. So, I could ask her about Sally.
Saiko frowned:
— So you haven't yet sought the entity that possesses Sally?
Sakolomé shook his head, thoughtful:
— It wasn't precise. Sally is not a legend; her name cannot be found in the castle of the Unforgettable… unless she was once involved in the life of a legend.
On Earth, in the real world, all the attention of Sakolomé's pupils converged on a fierce duel: Dan against Wendy.
The spectacle was breathtaking. Their mastery of the system gave birth to exchanges of refined brutality, a mix of raw power and millimetric precision. Yet, despite her talent, Wendy seemed cornered. Blood flowed from her nose, a cut marked her forehead, while Dan remained intact, relentless.
The mana blades they wielded clashed with a crash, each impact resonating like a shockwave.
— You really think you can match me? Wendy gasped.
With a quick gesture, she raised her hand.
— Celestial Lightning!
A lightning bolt tore the sky and struck Dan. But he didn't flinch. His mana wings, a deep purple mingled with diffuse red, opened like a living shield.
Indifferent, Dan dodged the lightning with an almost insolent ease. Wendy, determined, immediately followed with a series of multiple attacks. Lightning fell in furious volleys, lighting the arena with a blinding light… but Dan slipped between each discharge as if chaos obeyed him.
Among the spectators, a student swallowed hard.
— They're monstrous… I wouldn't want to cross either one.
A little aside, Sakolomé — or rather his double — watched silently, his inscrutable gaze fixed on the fight.
Suddenly, Wendy took advantage of the turmoil of her lightning to teleport into close combat. Her mana sword sprang straight toward Dan's chest.
— I've won! It's over for you!
But Dan, still silent, still master of himself, calmly raised his blade. Their clash echoed like a verdict.
— Impossible! Wendy exclaimed, eyes wide.
A lightning bolt, deflected by Dan, turned back against her. The lightning she had summoned struck her own body, piercing through it.
The air froze in the arena. Everyone remained speechless.
Wendy gasped, her body trembling in pain, while the last sparks of her attack faded. Her ragged breath filled the silence. Her clothes were nothing but burnt and torn fabric clinging to her bruised skin.
Her knees gave way and she collapsed on all fours, her gaze foggy yet still filled with fierce rage.
Dan stepped forward without a word. His silhouette looked unreal, wrapped in a blackish mana curling around the bright whiteness of his sword. Arriving in front of Wendy, he calmly lowered the blade toward her.
— You have lost.
His voice was neutral, relentless.
— No! Wendy growled, teeth clenched. I can't lose… it's impossible!
She tried to rise, muscles locked, her gaze still burning with defiance.
But one single movement from Dan was enough.
A flash of steel.
A cutting breath.
Time seemed suspended. Then Wendy's body stiffened. Her joints, severed, gave way all at once. She collapsed heavily, stiff as a broken doll. Her eyes, wide open, stared at the sky with a look of disbelief.
— I have… lost… she murmured in a broken breath.
A heavy silence enveloped the arena.
Dan sheathed his sword without turning away from his defeated rival. Then he slowly raised his eyes toward Sakolomé's double.
The latter, impassive, nodded.
— The fight is over. Dan is the winner. Congratulations anyway, Wendy…
But Wendy did not respond. Lying on the ground, her inert body and empty eyes expressed her refusal to accept the inevitable. In her silence, it was less pain that prevailed than the terrible shock of a shattered certainty.
Sakolomé² clapped hands and said in a calm tone:
— It's time to go back. You've given enough for today, you deserve rest.
The students answered in unison:
— Yes, sir!
They all gradually dispersed. Dan passed by without a word. His attitude caught Sakolomé²'s attention, but he did not try to delve further. Another time, perhaps… he thought.
His gaze then fell on Wendy. She was still lying, eyes lost in the void. He approached quietly, then sat beside her on the cold ground.
— I suppose if I try to heal you, you will refuse? he said softly.
Wendy remained silent.
— Can I still try? he resumed with a slight smile.
Her lips finally opened, but her voice vibrated with bitterness:
— You want to mock me… don't you?
Sakolomé² raised an eyebrow.
— Why would I do that?
A ragged laugh escaped her, tinged with despair.
— Don't play innocent… You must be proud, deep down. Proud to have finally seen me fail, after all the times I made your life impossible as a teacher…
— I still don't see what you're talking about, he replied without losing his calm.
Wendy's face twisted. She looked away, anger piercing her voice:
— Tss… stop pretending! We know you humans. You are never genuinely happy about others' happiness. Men are the worst: always seeing us as inferior beings, always underestimating us. So keep your hypocrisy! It doesn't work on me, do you hear?