_Chapter Begins_
With one swift movement, William grabbed his sister and then shot toward the ceiling of the hallway with as much speed as he could muster.
The rocks that made up the floor of the hallway were immediately disintegrated to dust by his jump.
Mere seconds before he crashed through the ceiling, he tried his best to protect his sister from the impact.
He felt the ancient rock that made up the hallway crumble as soon as it made contact with his empowered body.
The ceiling was blown to bits, and debris shot in all directions.
William had put all of his strength into this one jump, so there was no way to stop himself now.
So, after breaking through the ceiling, he simply continued his ascent toward the sky with no way to slow down.
William held on to his sister with all he had.
The sound of powerful wind whistled in his ears, almost making him deaf.
He felt something cold land on his head, but he didn't pay it any attention as he was only focused on holding on to Jane.
"Why... why am I even holding on to her?"
He felt his ascent into the sky grow slower and slower.
"If she dies, then Hell will just bring her back... just like it did me."
William was right—physical damage simply didn't matter in Hell because that's how the system worked here.
As long as she only suffered physical damage, Hell would have no problem reviving her.
William's ascent finally stopped, and for a microsecond, he was simply floating in the middle of the sky.
He got a glimpse of Jane's face before the descent started.
Jane's eyes were wide, and she desperately held on to her blade.
In those eyes, he could only see one thing—
Fear. The fear of death.
Even if she knew that it wasn't permanent and that she would just revive, Jane was still terrified of having to experience it.
William's jaw clenched, and his hands trembled.
He was conflicted right now and didn't know what to do.
He wanted to keep his sister safe from all the pain that lurked in this realm...
But he knew that trying to keep her safe in a place like Hell was a fool's task.
Hell was made for people to suffer — that was simply its nature.
So what chance did he have to defy Hell's very nature?
Just as Jane was about to slip out of his arms, he caught her and held her tight once more.
A bitter smile weaved onto his face.
"I guess I am a fool."
They cannonballed toward the ground.
Before they landed, William made sure that his back was aimed at the ground and his sister's body was aimed up toward the sky.
The landing was as violent as one could imagine.
The rows of mystical shards that covered the ground cracked and flung in different directions.
The ground below was revealed.
And even after the shards took most of the impact from the landing, the ground below still got damaged.
A human-sized crater was formed.
In that crater — sprawled on the fragmented ground — were two people: one unconscious while the other simply had his eyes closed.
"Dammit, it's that cold feeling again..."
Just like when he was ascending into the sky, he once again felt something cold hit his forehead and send a shiver throughout it.
Then he felt another cold sensation on his arm... and then his leg.
Before long, he no longer questioned what was making him feel so cold.
William opened his eyes and looked up at the dark sky.
Except it wasn't so dark anymore.
A giant cloud of red fog covered the sky, and from that fog came the rain that was making him so uncomfortable.
"But... why?"
He loved the rain, so why was he feeling so uncomfortable?
William had a very dazed look in his eyes, but he still managed to narrow them at something.
As he looked, a few drops of rainwater fell right onto his face and eyes.
A frown appeared on his face.
"Why is it red... why is the rain red?"
The drops of what William had assumed was water were completely red in color.
So was that what made him feel uneasy right now?
No... no, it wasn't that.
William's dazed eyes made him look like he was out of it.
He lifted his trembling hand and gripped his raven-black hair.
A groan escaped from his lips.
"Why—why am I thinking about him?!"
His eyes, which were pitch black, glowed a bright crimson color.
William lifted his other hand to the sky and smashed the ground below with enough force to make it crack even more than it already was.
His face contorted into an ugly grimace, and his teeth clenched.
"Hans... why am I thinking about him now, dammit?!"
What was happening to him?
Why was all the hatred for his brother Hans coming back to him now?
He had gotten his sweet revenge on him, and that hatred he once had had turned into regret.
So why was he back to feeling this hatred?
All these questions were erased from his mind as an emotion of pure malice took over.
The crimson rain only intensified, and the winds picked up.
William stood up and wobbled from left to right.
He gripped his head and let out a demented scream that
His eyes, which had been entirely black before, were now drenched in a crimson haze.
As William clutched his head, he suddenly heard a few footsteps behind him.
Before he could do anything—it was already too late.
The ghostly dagger that Jane held passed right through his chest and down to his stomach.
Just like the last time, the dagger did not do any physical harm to him.
Something that was hidden deep inside his being was cut and began to bleed out.
William lingered for a few seconds before his mind realized the reality of the situation.
He slumped onto the floor, his body hitting the cracked rock surface.
His crimson eyes, once filled with anger, were now back to being pitch black.
Only now, moments away from death, could he think clearly.
It only took him a second to realize what was going on.
The red fog...
"I need to... get us out of here..."
Jane lifted her dagger up into the air and prepared to once again plunge it into William.
He looked up at the hateful crimson eyes of his sister.
Then, with a hoarse voice, he simply said:
"Reflect."
The dagger came down and hit the fragmented ground.
William seemed to have disappeared.
Jane's crimson eyes glowed in the darkness.
She began to look in all directions for her brother.
"Gods, how many times has this ability saved me..."
William had traveled into the reflection of his sister's eyes.
Despite not having a physical body, he was not spared from the pain—because this pain came from the soul itself.
Just how much damage had his soul taken in only a few days? William didn't even want to know.
Which was rare, because he usually wanted to know everything.
"What do I do now..."
The red fog and its crimson rain seemed to have a type of ability that affected the mind.
If he went out there again, he would lose control of his mind in just a couple of seconds.
The crimson cloud stretched for at least a few kilometers.
Would his reflection travel be fast enough?
What about his sister—how would he save her when he wasn't even sure if he could save himself?
And also, what about his soul?
By now, he knew that his reflection ability used energy that came from his very soul.
Now that his soul was cut open by Jane's dagger, that energy was spilling out at an alarming rate.
What would happen if he ran out of soul energy while still being inside a reflection...?
He was on a time limit, and he needed to make a decision.
There was no time for hesitation.
"May fate save me."
Jane jumped back as he appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
William did not dare waste any time.
He had to knock his sister out and then try to use his reflection travel to move out of the red fog.
Jane looked at him with her crazed, crimson eyes.
She hadn't said anything to him since the red fog had corrupted their minds.
But that made sense—his sister did not show her anger through words, but through her actions.
And she made sure that she was the first to make a move.
Jane lunged toward him and lifted her ghostly dagger above her head for a slash.
William simply stayed put and prepared himself.
He would need to be very careful for two reasons.
One was that he had enough strength to completely obliterate Jane.
And the other was that Jane had a weapon that could cut his soul—and his soul was already damaged enough as it was.
"Adam... is this what you consider being favored by fate?!"
He didn't quite know why he was thinking back to his conversation with Adam.
But for some reason, he felt like...
He was not favored by fate at all.
Was Fate with him or against him?
He simply didn't know.
_Chapter Ends_