The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 241

Chapter 241

Chapter 241: Hope and Trust

There was a long silence that followed after I asked my question, and when she did speak, I expected a long and convoluted story of how she managed to get into the castle and save Tessia and my family.

Instead, she started off by saying something I didn’t expect. “Arthur, I knew of your identity the first time we had met, back when you came to me to get in contact with your parents.”

My eyes widened. “What? How?”

Rinia held up a finger. “These old eyes see much more than you can imagine. However, much like how I had feigned ignorance of your past life and kept it a secret, there are also parts of this story that I can’t quite reveal yet.”

I didn’t respond, letting her continue talking.

“I had known for a while now that an attack would occur at the Castle following the betrayal of Virion’s son.”

“Virion’s... You’re telling me right now that it was Alduin who was responsible for letting the scythe in? That’s not possible, you can’t seriously be saying that he was trying to get his own father killed, right?”

“My knowledge doesn’t extend to his intentions, but yes, he was the one that connected the scythe, as well as the rest of his forces, directly to the castle teleportation gate,” she answered.

My hand came up to my gaping mouth. I couldn’t believe it. Despite any disagreements the two of them had, Alduin had always looked up to Virion. After a moment, I spoke again.

“Was Alduin guaranteed the safety of Merial and Tessia? Was that why he betrayed everyone? But then...” I dropped my voice to a whisper so my sleeping family wouldn’t hear. “Why did they take my mother and sister?”

“That’s what Alduin believed, yes,” she said. “As for your family, it’s easy to surmise that they wanted your mother and sister as hostages.”

Rubbing my temples, I thought about what she said until it clicked. “Wait, you said ‘that’s what Alduin believed.’ What do you mean by that?”

Rinia smiled wearily at me. “We’re venturing into the area where I can’t give you an answer. All I can tell you is that if we want to keep any chance of taking back our country, we have to keep Tessia safe and far away from Agrona and the Alacryans.”

My head whipped toward the elven diviner. “Wait, so we do have a chance at taking back Dicathen?”

She nodded. “It’s slim, but it does exist.”

The two of us fell in silence until I spoke again. “If you knew about the attack on the Castle, did you also know that Buhnd was going to die?”

The fire in front of us popped, spraying a small shower of glowing red ashes at the ground.

“Yes,” she finally said. “But had I tried and diverted the entire attack, there was a much larger chance that Tessia would’ve been captured.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn’t quite get the right words.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I couldn’t risk the chance of Dicathen losing everything on the slim chance that I could save everyone.”

“But, if you knew everything beforehand, you could’ve made countermeasures. You could’ve told Virion, or told me!” I argued.

“Time doesn’t work that way. Changing things like that alters the course of the future... a future that I wouldn’t be able to see,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Gritting my teeth, I dug my fingers into the cement floor to try and calm down. I knew I was being selfish... if it wasn’t for Elder Rinia, Tessia and my family would’ve been in the hands of Agrona by now, but still...

“How were you able to save Tessia and my family though?” I asked.

“I was able to intercept them while they were on their way back to Elenoir,” she said nonchalantly.

I nodded at her answer but my mind spun trying to imagine a scenario where Rinia succeeded in doing this. How did she manage to pry Tessia and my family away from Alduin and Merial? Was it just Alduin and Merial there? Rinia specifically said that while Alduin believed that they were safe, they really weren’t. Most likely, after Alduin, Merial, Tessia and my family stepped through the portal, they would’ve been met with a trap.

Did Elder Rinia know everything that was going to happen? Were her diviner abilities able to influence time that well?

Time!

Without any warning, I directed a surge of killing intent over Elder Rinia, and just as I saw her react with an expression of surprise, I ignited Realmheart and immediately used Static Void.

The world around me turned monochrome except for the motes of purple trembling in place. But my eyes weren’t focused on the particles of aether around me; they were focused on Elder Rinia.

Her eyes regarded me in shock as she watched my eyes narrow in realization. She shifted her gaze to look around her before her eyes fell back on me.

“Clever,” she sighed.

“So you can utilize aether,” I muttered, seeing the specks of purple hovering around her, as if protecting her.

“You’re not an asura, I know that for sure,” I started. “Are you... one of the ancient mages?”

Despite the apparent strain that Elder Rinia endured, trying to keep her aether arts active, she let out a chuckle before answering. “No, I can tell you with absolute confidence that I am not an ancient mage.”

“Then who... what are you? Even I can’t control aether without relying on the dragon’s will an asura had given me.”

“While I’m not entirely sure, I believe that my diviner abilities stem partly from aether. As for how I learned, I’m sorry but I can’t tell you that.”

“I don’t think that’s a good enough answer anymore,” I challenged, staring intently at the elf shrouded in so much mystery.

“I can tell you—I can tell you everything. But Tessia and your family might die because of it,” she answered, her face turning more ghastly. “Please, have a little patience and I can assure you that you’ll find out for yourself.”

She wasn’t threatening me with my loved ones—no, she truly believed that her telling me all of this could lead to their deaths. Gnashing my teeth in frustration, I released Static Void, allowing Elder Rinia to release the aether arts she had used to keep her from being frozen in time.

She let out a ragged breath. “Thank you... for believing in me.”

“You saved Tessia and my family,” I said, taking a glance over to where my mother and Ellie were sleeping. “The least I can do is trust you—at least until you give me a reason not to.”

The two of us continued talking, albeit a bit more calmly this time. I asked every question I had. Some she answered, and some she didn’t, but I didn’t press her for details.

What I did find out was that there were teleportation gates here—several, in fact—that could only be utilized with control over aether. That’s how Elder Rinia was able to get here so quickly and without having to physically make a cross-continental journey with Tessia, my mother, and my sister in tow.

My mana usage was limited while in Static Void because I couldn’t manipulate ambient mana, but seeing as there wasn’t much ambient mana in this underground town anyway, I figured Tessia couldn’t have gotten too far anyway. _{ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom}