The surrounding atmosphere suddenly changed - if it were expressed in a comic-like manner, Annan would now only have white lines left. Everything around him had turned into a turbid gray-black.
Resentment. Fear. Despair.
Curse. Cry. Wail.
At the moment when he was immersed in the rapidly expanding gray-black realm, many noisy whispers appeared in Annan's ears at the same time. It was like those complicated emotions were reflected in Annan's heart.
but--
Can't hear. Can't hear at all.
Because there were too many voices, too mixed... Each voice tried its best to express something, but Annan couldn't hear anything.
The next moment, Annan suddenly woke up.
The gray-black world around him suddenly and silently shattered.
But it was not crushed by Annan's power... but actively terminated.
Annan then realized that his body had been covered with scars that were deep enough to show the bones.
His fluorescent blood soaked all over his body in the blink of an eye, directly dyeing the white robe he had just obtained red.
It was like being pierced by a sharp blade.
Although the shape of the wound is very similar, it is not a "stab wound".
——but "split".
Even if Annan has become actinic, ordinary blades cannot hurt Annan at all...but these wounds still appear on Annan's body.
The white robe on his body was not even torn or torn.
It was like a water-soaked tattoo sticker that transferred the pattern onto the skin. These wounds appeared on Annan's body out of thin air and directly caused huge injuries to Annan.
[Health: 65%]
With just one casual blow from his hand, one-third of Annan's life was easily taken away.
This is even considered as showing mercy by the other party...
Otherwise, he only needs to target Annan's heart, brain or the light wings on his back to attack - this is Annan's current weakness.
Annan looked a little ugly and tightened his grip on the Three Sirens, taking a step back slightly.
Three steps away from him, everything was wrapped in a gray-black field.
The plants became decayed and withered, and the sun became dim. Fragments like pure black catkins floated in the air.
The dry plants were like ghosts, monstrous like demons in the dark and lightless gray realm, and the air was filled with despair.
…Is this really…the element of suffering?
Annan was a little suspicious for a moment.
He also saw the Passion Saint.
Although they were all attacks carried out using "one's own wounds" as a medium... the noble avatar of Vladimir the Winter Rebellion reminded Annan of the god of memories and despair named "Greysmith".
Annan did not use magic to heal himself.
After actinization, the blood leached from those wounds glowed brighter and brighter - not like wriggling granules, but light that could bond the body. His health was increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
But Vladimir, who had just attacked without hesitation, did not continue to expand the element field and pursue it.
Instead, just like at the beginning, he stood calmly on the spot holding his cane and looking at Annan calmly.
"Why——"
Annan asked in a low voice.
He didn't ask anything specifically, he just expressed his doubts.
Because there are too many things he doesn't understand.
From the very beginning, when Annan learned about Vladimir's existence... he felt that this man was full of mystery.
Why did he defect? Annan has already got the answer to this question.
but……
How does he know about worms? Why does he have to look for worms? What is his purpose in worshiping worms?
At that time in the Grand Duke's Mansion, he clearly had the advantage, so why did he suddenly escape?
And why was it now that he rushed out and dragged Annan to the wilderness and launched an attack without saying a word?
After he used his elemental power to easily injure Annan, why did he stop where he was and not pursue him?
——Only Vladimir’s behavior pattern cannot be understood by Annan.
He is like a madman, unpredictable.
...Maybe he is really a madman.
"Why?"
When Vladimir heard Annan's inquiry, he chuckled: "Your Majesty, not everything in this world has to have a reason.
"If I have to say it...I think you must know that sentence.
"——Destiny is a rut in the sky."
"...I've heard this sentence before."
Annan asked quietly: "But, what do you want to express?
"We are the only ones here. Whatever you want to say... you can already say it here."
He suddenly attacked himself, but did not pursue him while he was recovering from his injuries...
Is this hoping that Annan will not interrupt the next topic?
It doesn't hurt to listen to what he has to say.
After chatting for a while, all his injuries were healed.
No matter what Vladimir wants to do, it is definitely better to ensure that his condition is at its peak first... than to forcefully fight the opponent when his condition is unhealthy.
"I've been thinking about this for a long time."
In the mouth of Vladimir, the Defying Winter, a low and cold voice sounded: "What exactly is fate?"
But what surprised Annan was that his voice gradually began to look younger...just like the face of the Winter Defying Man at this moment.
His moonstone-like pale blue pupils did not change at all from his upright back.
But his face... that face covered with centipede-like scars was gradually becoming younger.
The scars on his face all appeared after he left Annan. As they gradually faded, the sunken flesh on his face gradually became fuller, and the dry skin gradually regained its vitality.
But the world around him became even more desolate.
Sixty or seventy years old, forty or fifty years old, thirty or forty years old...
In the end, Vladimir's appearance remained the same as when he was in his early thirties.
——Rejuvenation.
"destiny."
A low and rhythmic voice sounded.
It was a voice that reminded people of that man who was particularly fond of blue-eyed white dragons.
From an old man exuding a rotten atmosphere, to a thirty-year-old Vladimir, he opened his jewel-like pupils and stared at Annan, as if he was sneering at something: "Who stipulated that there will be things that cannot be changed?"
What about his fate?
"I never believe in destiny. If destiny really exists, it should not be that only the crane can change the established destiny.
"Because if that's the case - then as long as I control the crane and let the crane change my destiny, wouldn't it mean that I have changed my destiny with my own hands?"
Annan was silent.
He didn't know what to say.
He always felt that Vladimir had not finished what he said.
"snort."
Vladimir, who became young again, showed a cold smile: "Your Majesty, who has been expected by the gods to become a god since the beginning of his birth, you must not understand.
"When Your Majesty was three years old...an old ritual master who was captured by me and was famous for predicting fate performed a divination for me.
"He said... I will make Winter strong, I will kill the young master I once served. And... I will eventually become the nourishment of the Heavenly Car."
Vladimir said calmly: "Of course, I am not afraid of death.
"Because death is death, everyone will die, and I am no exception. As for why I died and what my death will bring, I don't care.
"That was what happened after my death. I had closed my eyes and was unconscious. What did my death bring and what did I lose? It was just to comfort me, my relatives and friends, who were about to lose their spiritual intelligence.
It’s just something.”
The meaning of death is nothing but foolishness and illusion.
The Winter Defying Man sneered: "But it happens that I have no relatives or friends. I don't care about these myself.
"What I'm curious about is...he won't survive that time in the future at all, so the 'fate' he encounters has nothing to do with the principles of prophetic magic. How did he see me - destiny?
"So I tortured him. Without knowing me or understanding me, he explained my fate so far. What shocked me was that all of this was very consistent with my experience.
"I asked him to predict other people, and the results were equally accurate. Whether it was the past or the future... there seemed to be traces to follow.
"Then, I want to think about it - has everything that I have experienced so far, from the past to the future, been programmed? Is it possible that some great curse has already written down my life from birth?
A life until death?
"——Even the moment when I had doubts, it was already decided?"