Chapter 301: While He's Away (6)

Spring Continent.

A blessed land where a mild climate prevails throughout the seasons.

As the spring sky began to lighten, Louis appeared.

Poof!

At the same time, his eyebrow twitched.

His gaze swept beyond the Green Mountains.

He sensed faint traces of demonic energy—demon activity.

They’re here too.

Thanks to Maha’s distance, the coastal area near the Green Mountains hadn’t been frozen over. Still, it seemed the Maha’s influence still lingered.

This is the first time I’ve seen so many military forces gathered in this region.

Just like the Winter Continent, Louis detected the presence of armies dispatched by nations of the Spring Continent near the Green Mountains. The sparser concentration of forces compared to the Winter Continent suggested the situation here was relatively stable.

Louis’s divine form soared through the air as he surveyed the vicinity of the Green Mountains. He landed near Genelocer’s lair.

Thud.

Louis scanned his surroundings.

Nothing seems to have changed…

Despite his calm facade, Louis felt an urgent restlessness, which manifested in his hurried gait. The moment he crossed the lair’s barrier, his expression hardened.

”…?!”

This was a place he had entered and exited countless times, yet now he sensed something amiss. He quickly realized the source of the unease.

…It’s not in order.

Genelocer was a meticulous housekeeper. Though he occasionally displayed eccentricities, his fundamental nature was fastidious, and dust never accumulated in his lair.

Now, dust and stains marred every corner of the lair—a sight Louis had never witnessed during his time living there.

He immediately released his senses, and several familiar energies immediately registered.

“Phew…” Louis breathed a soft sigh of relief at the familiar presence.

But…

Father isn’t here.

Genelocer’s energy was conspicuously absent among the familiar signatures.

I’ll ask the kids for details later.

With that thought, Louis headed toward the concentration of energy.

Thud, thud.

His footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor.

How much time passed, he couldn’t tell.

Crackle!

At the end of the corridor, something flashed like lightning.

Crackle!

In an instant, it was right under Louis’s nose.

A dagger aimed for his throat.

Yet its speed was anything but ordinary.

The speed was beyond the range of normal perception.

Had the target been an ordinary person, their throat would have been slit.

But the target was Louis.

Swish.

He evaded the dagger by a hair’s breadth, then reached into the lightning that flashed before his eyes and yanked it out.

Surprisingly, a snow-white wrist emerged from within, followed by the rest of a woman’s body.

Louis smiled at her. “Isn’t that a bit too grand for a welcome, Kani?”

”…Huh?”

Kani’s expression had been cold and venomous at first, but it softened at the familiar voice.

The moment Kani saw the face of the person who had affectionately spoken her name…

“Huh…? Huh?!”

Kani’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Clatter.

The dagger she was holding clattered to the ground, slipping from her grasp.

Louis also released her wrist.

After blinking several times, Kani cautiously reached out to touch Louis’s face, her expression dazed.

“Louis…?”

“What?”

“Is it really… really… you, Louis? Our Louis? Louis? Is it really you?”

Louis frowned at the repeated questioning. “I told you to use my name only once.”

His response was curt and grumpy, but it was the voice she had longed to hear so desperately.

Hearing it, Kani’s dazed eyes welled with tears.

“Oh…”

Kani finally burst into tears, pounding Louis’s chest with her fists as she shouted, “You idiot! I thought you were dead!”

“Why would I die?” Louis retorted. He hated the word “die” more than anything in the world. He’d been scrambling to stay alive all this time—why would he die over something like this? If he did die, he’d haunt King Enra, the Lord of the Underworld, and escape the afterlife just to get revenge.

Moved by his heartfelt words, Kani buried her face in Louis’s chest, sobbing, “Huhk…”

That’s when it happened.

Krak!

A thunderous crack split the air as lightning struck right above Louis’s head.

“Hah… these two are a pair.”

The nature of the lightning descending from above was as obvious as fire.

Just like during the Isle incident, Louis effortlessly dodged the falling lightning, retrieved Khan from the lingering electrical residue, and hurled him forward.

Khan soared through the air, smoothly rotating mid-flight to regain his footing and level his sword.

“What kind of fool are you?! Release Kani this instant!” Khan roared, his voice brimming with murderous intent.

“You idiot! Can’t you even recognize Louis?” Kani retorted, her voice sharp.

“You can’t even recognize—”

Smack!

Kani lightly struck Louis’s chattering lips, shooting him a sly glance.

Louis pouted, sticking out his tongue and making a sour face.

Meanwhile, Khan froze in surprise at Kani’s shout.

“Huh…? Who’s there?”

“Louis!”

“Louis? The Louis I know?”

“Yeah!”

“But… Louis died, didn’t he?”

“No, he didn’t! Look! He’s right here!”

Kani pushed Louis forward.

Khan stared at Louis, his brain seemingly frozen, unable to even blink.

”…Huh?”

After standing frozen for a long moment, Khan suddenly lunged toward Louis, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Haaah! Louis! My Louis!”

Kani shoved Khan’s face away just as he tried to embrace Louis.

“Get away! Don’t you dare smear your snot on my Louis!”

“Haaah! Louis! He’s not your Louis! He’s my Louis! Louis!”

Despite Kani’s attempts to restrain him, Khan flailed his arms, desperately trying to embrace Louis.

Was it because of their commotion?

A small shadow suddenly poked its head out from behind one of the doors.

It was Fin, a tiny golden-haired fairy.

“Louis…?”

Fin stared blankly at Louis for a moment before flying over, her voice slightly tearful as she cried out:

“Louis! Louis!”

“I always knew you were alive! I believed in you!”

She clung to her owner’s shoulder, showering him with kisses.

Feeling her overwhelming joy, Louis gently stroked her hair.

“Me too! Me too! Pet me!”

“Ugh, get off! Where did you get so dirty?! Go wipe your runny nose first!”

Surrounded by his three friends and overwhelmed by waves of emotion, Louis finally spoke when the situation seemed to have calmed down.

“By the way, what are you guys doing here?”

Khan answered, sniffling. “We were… watching over Ari.”

“Ari?”

The moment he finished speaking, Louis quickly strode away.

He arrived in the room that had once been his, but was now Ariana’s.

In the center of the room, a white baby dragon lay asleep, wrapped in a protective barrier.

It was Ariana, who had entered the first-stage sleep device several months before Louis left for Earth.

Soft breathing…

Louis stared blankly at his deeply sleeping younger sibling for a while before Kani’s voice echoed behind him, having followed him.

“Louis, what on earth happened to you?! We really… we thought you were dead.”

“There was a bit of an accident. So I had to go somewhere for a while.”

“If you’re going somewhere, you should at least tell us when you arrive! You went somewhere and didn’t even send a message! You could have contacted us!”

“Another dimension.”

”…What?”

“I went to another dimension and couldn’t contact you.”

Kani’s slightly angry demeanor softened at Louis’s explanation.

Finally tearing his gaze away from Ariana, Louis turned to face the twins.

“Now, let me ask you something. Where is Father? Why are you two the ones protecting Ari?”

“Mister…”

Kani smiled bitterly at Louis’s question.

Just then, Khan interjected, “Lately, I keep wondering if Mister is losing his mind.”

“Hey, Khan! Watch your mouth!”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Whenever he’s with Ariana, he’s back to his old self. But when it’s anything else… he feels like a completely different person. It makes me wonder if we should just let him be…”

Kani fell silent at Khan’s words.

Louis’s heart skipped a beat.

No way…?

Perhaps sensing Louis’s worried expression, Kani broke into a bright smile.

“Don’t worry too much! You’re here now, right? Mister will be alright again!”

“So… where is Father now?”

“Mister goes out every night and doesn’t return until dawn.”

“Is he at Silver Flower Castle?”

“No, he hasn’t been to Silver Flower Castle.”

“Then?”

“It’s like he’s possessed. He’s searching for something every day, but we don’t know exactly what. He won’t tell us.”

Louis turned away from Khan and Kani’s conversation.

“He said he’d be back at sunrise, right?”

“Yeah, he should be back soon.”

No sooner had Louis finished speaking than he sensed a familiar presence.

The twins noticed it a moment later.

Their faces lit up as they dashed off.

“Mister’s back!”

“Let’s go tell him!”

With that, the Twins rushed toward Genelocer in a flurry.

Louis sighed softly and slowly followed behind them.

How long had they been walking?

Louis finally caught sight of the Twins, who had been so eager to run ahead earlier. But something seemed off. He’d expected them to be chattering excitedly in front of Genelocer, but instead, they were hesitating and had stopped mid-stride.

As Louis approached them, he realized why they had halted.

“Speak!” A roar filled with fury.

“I said, speak!” The voice now carried a hint of madness.

The owner of that voice was none other than Genelocer.

Bloodshot eyes and shadowed eyelids.

A gaunt face, sallow and worn.

And those eyes, gleaming with murderous intent—proof that the crazed voice he’d heard moments earlier hadn’t been a lie.

This wasn’t the usually affable Genelocer, but a figure closer to the deranged Genelocer from the original work.

He was gripping someone by the collar, spitting venom.

“Tell me… now. Before I carve you up, chew you to pieces, and swallow you whole!”

Genelocer’s thickly concentrated aura of malice was overwhelming for an ordinary person to withstand.

Fortunately, the man whose collar he gripped was no ordinary being.

“Heh-heh-heh! Heh-heh-heh-heh!”

His body, more flesh than muscle, made him seem even more massive.

His long hair hung in tangled strands, and his unkempt white beard reached his chest. He looked like a deranged old man who had been wandering the streets for decades.

“Heh-heh-heh.”

Despite Genelocer’s brutal warning, the old man merely chuckled.

Anyone could see that he wasn’t in his right mind.

As the old man stared blankly at him, Genelocer’s eyes turned icy.

“You must know something about it. Tell me… how to make the Honcheon sword.”

“Heh-heh-heh.”

Louis’s eyes flickered at the mention of the Honcheon sword.

“If you won’t talk… I’ll rip out that useless tongue of yours.”

“Heh-heh-heh-heh.”

Just as Genelocer’s hand moved to carry out his threat, Louis stepped forward to stop him.

Thud.

Louis grabbed Genelocer’s arm.

“Stop.”

”…Let go, Khan.”

Genelocer’s gaze remained fixed on the old man, unwilling to look away. He sensed that the old man was not in his full strength.

Even at this close distance, he can’t sense my presence.

To the point where he mistook Genelocer for Khan.

Still glaring fiercely at the old man, Genelocer felt Louis’s gentle tug on his arm.

Louis sighed softly and spoke. “Stop it.”

“I told you to let go—!”

Genelocer shook off Louis’s grip and turned toward him. The moment he saw Louis’s face, he froze.

”…?!”

Louis stared intently into Genelocer’s wildly fluctuating eyes.

”…I’m back.”

”…!”

“Father.”

Louis’s calm smile filled Genelocer’s dark eyes completely.