kscans

Chapter 79 - Dialogue with the Reincarnated Hero and the Reincarnated Swordsman

The carriage continued to sway. The darkness of night enveloped the world outside the window, and the dull rocking stirred Yuto's consciousness.

His days were spent on the run, a wanted man with a price on his head, but now he was being taken somewhere.

The door opened, and his feet touched a cold stone floor. Looking around, he saw a grand hall with opulent silver pillars and magelights casting a brilliant glow. Waiting for him were a young man and a doll-like girl.

"Yo, I'm the Hero, Ares Vanguard! Before gettin' reincarnated, I was Taiga Nanjo. Guess my core personality didn't change much, eh!"

"Hitokiri Yuto, you really can't trust people, can ya? But listen, we reincarnators are comrades. Nothin's gonna start if we don't trust each other."

Yuto tensed, spitting out cold words.

"I don't trust humans. I don't trust anyone."

The doll-like girl took a step forward.

"I understand your sorrow."

Her gaze was quiet, yet it touched Yuto's heart deeply.

"I, too, died alone, with no one to watch over me. I was lonely."

When she held out her hand, green threads of magic descended, and a female doll with a gentle smile appeared.

"This child will be your mother."

Looking at the doll, Yuto saw the faint, almost forgotten image of his own mother superimposed upon it.

A door deep within his heart swung open, and an uncontrollable flood of emotions poured out.

Yuto's consciousness reeled violently. When he came to, he had returned to the form of his seven-year-old self, Yuto Saito.

In the corner of a dim room, a small, trembling body shivered. On the verge of being crushed by pain and loneliness, young Yuto could no longer hold back his tears, and he let out a sob.

"Mommy... Mommy..."

He pressed his tear-streaked face against the female doll of faint light that Mel Aria had created. The doll gently reached out, stroking Yuto's hair as if to envelop him.

"You're not alone anymore, Yuto."

Called by his childhood name, the boy clung to her, sobbing.

"I was so scared... Daddy kept doing painful things... Why... why isn't Mommy coming home...?"

His voice trembled, growing faint, and his tears wouldn't stop.

"I was hungry... and it hurt, and I was so lonely..."

Like a real mother, Mel Aria's doll continued to gently stroke his back.

"It's all right. I'm here. You don't have to be scared anymore."

Still crying, Yuto hugged the doll tightly with his small, trembling arms.

"Mommy..."

He called her name over and over, his tears unending. In that moment, he was still just a child who wanted someone to protect him.

The radiant female doll gently embraced the sobbing Yuto. Mel Aria smiled with satisfaction. Within the palm of her hand, Yuto's heart began to slowly unravel.

"I was... always alone... so lonely." Yuto couldn't hold back his sobs as large tears streamed down his face.

Gradually, an eerie light began to dwell in Mel Aria's beautiful face. Her violet eyes glittered ominously, as if reflecting the darkness of the abyss itself.

The corners of her mouth twisted slightly, a slow smile spreading across her lips. But this smile was far from benevolent. It was the smile of a cold, cruel ruler.

"Hee hee... at last, you're mine."

Her voice was sweet, yet it carried an undercurrent of unfathomable madness. Her gaze was filled with the joy of having completely captured Yuto's heart and stolen his freedom.

Like a beautiful, venomous snake coiling around its prey, relishing the inescapable bond. Mel Aria slowly spread her arms, displaying her gentle yet ruthless dominion.

"From now on... I will guide your everything."

Her madness, along with her dark smile, cast a heavy, dense air over the surroundings. Ares looked at Yuto and said with a grin.

"Crybaby Yuto, eh? Well, that's fine. Everyone's weak sometimes. From now on, we gotta fight together. We're reincarnated heroes, so don't be shy, leave it to us!"

Yuto lifted his tear-stained face, his voice a mixture of anger and complex emotions.

"Don't just decide I'm your comrade... But, just for a little while... I'll listen to what you have to say."

It was the moment the three reincarnators were bound together by the twisted threads of fate.