Hutch only closed his eyes for only a moment, but it felt like an eternity. Everything about his life seemed to flash by, and yet it hardly seemed to have anything to do with him at all.
No matter what memory he recalled, they always seemed to revolve around the very same little boy, his pride and joy... his grandson.
Hutch didn't know when it was he had completely lost his grip on Elorin. Maybe he was too focused on the Slayer Legion, maybe it was because he placed too much emphasis on his loyalty, neglecting the needs of the child, maybe he hadn't shown the little one enough love, enough care... enough affection.
He had always closed one eye to such events. Even back then when his grandson had held a blade to his neck, seemingly thinking that Hutch was unconscious, Hutch had been aware of his surroundings the whole time, he had even been naively happy when his grandson chose not to kill him, as though this was something a person should get extra points for.
When Hutch opened his eyes again, though it had only been a moment, his grandson was already just five meters from him. Even amidst the chaos, there seemed to be a moment of silence.
The tear that streamed down Hutch's cheek fell to the ground and seemed to quickly vanish. Hutch couldn't remember the last time he had cried, it hadn't happened even when his daughter and son-in-law passed away, not when his wife had passed away, not when brothers and sisters left this world before him...
However, seeing his grandson stand before him like this broke something within him.
As he looked toward Elorin, he thought about the conversation he had with Leonel back when he brought Emna to train with him. Although Leonel hadn't come out and said it directly, everything about his words seemed to drop hints for the inevitability of the current decision.
Leonel was simply too good at coddling the feelings of others. He didn't even waste his time trying to convince a grandfather that a grandson would stab him in the back. Even so, how much experience did Hutch have? Didn't he already know that this was inevitable.
Hutch's grip on his machete loosened. He couldn't seem to gather up the strength to hold onto it tightly.
"Why."
This was all Hutch could say. In truth, he didn't even expect an answer. He knew his grandson too well, he wasn't a man who liked to speak much and was often in his own world.
When he was much younger, Hutch used to think that it was because his grandson was a bit anti-social and lazy, but as time passed, he realized that whenever his grandson lounged around, he would come back even stronger than before... and it wasn't that he was anti-social... it was more accurate to say that he couldn't be bothered to deal with the people around him.
However, to his surprise, Elorin actually answered. It was a short and succinct answer, but it was an answer nonetheless.
ραпdαn૦νel "The Ascension Empire killed my parents. The Ascension Empire deserves death."
There didn't seem to be any rage or fury in Elorin's words, he simply stated them with the ease of talking about the weather. His gaze didn't fluctuate, his radiance didn't dim, his expression didn't even flicker.
Hutch tried to open his mouth to respond, but everything felt empty.
Elorin's parents didn't have the necessary talent, this was something their Gene Assessment made very clear. They lived very normal lives and didn't even interact with Hutch very much due to his own duties. Hutch was just lucky that he was privy to the truth of the Slayer Legion, and as such, was able to allow some members of his family the freedom to be normal. Others were much less lucky, completely unaware that the rebellion of the Slayer Legion was a facade, they embroiled their entire lives in that fight...
It was likely due to this dissatisfaction that so many had turned on the Empire now...
One could easily imagine, then, how Elorin's parents had died. As two completely normal individuals, they were almost guaranteed to become Invalids. When the Metamorphosis Descended, they were among the first to fall from the skies, being crushed to death even before the awakening of their Ability Index could fail.
Elorin was far too intelligent, it was easy to put two and two together, even without having all of the information, it was obvious that the Ascension Empire had chosen to sacrifice his parents, to kill them along with the other Invalids, just to ensure that their evolution path was smoother.
Even if there was just a 1% chance that his parents succeeded in awakening, it was still not a 0% chance. But in order to play to the odds, the Ascension Empire hadn't hesitated to sacrifice tens of billions of people.
1% or even 0.1% was a small number. But of such a large number, how many tens of millions were unjustly slaughtered? And what if his parents were among that number?
"And so you'll stand in opposition to the only family you have left because of this?" Hutch asked with a hoarse voice.
"I think you should be asking yourself that question," Elorin replied, reaching toward his back.
At that moment, a rusted machete arched through the air, seemingly zipping through time to land in Elorin's palm. By the time Elorin lowered his arm, it felt as though the machete had always been there, as though he had stitched together different causalities until he found the one that granted him this weapon.
Hutch looked toward the machete. He recognized it all too well. By now, it was decades old, forged of Earth's Third Dimensional technologies. It was the very same machete he had gifted his daughter for her 13th birthday. Although she never had the talent for it, she swung it around everyday with a childish enthusiasm.
Hutch could still remember that look of excitement on her little face and years of pain and agony came flooding forward all at once.
Hutch howled into the skies with a hint of madness in his eyes as he and his grandson attacked at the same time.
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