Chapter 150: The Dream's End
"Raylin Crimson Bloodborne, for your status as a Child of Fate, I want you to join us in the Dark Order."
Hearing his offer, I wanted nothing more than to split his face and kill him as fast as possible.
I knew that he wanted to recruit me, it was too obvious, but how bold could he be?
"I refuse," I said, looking sharply at him, "I can't believe what you said. You kept talking all the time while showing me some scenes, but this doesn't prove what you are saying. You may be blending lies with truth to recruit me, just like the very same government that you hate, and I don't even know what your supposed dream is."
Smiling, Isaac said: "I was getting to this point. First, I can't give you any proper proof. Just like you, I didn't see all that directly, but I knew about all that by seeing thousands of people's memories as dreams and putting them together, whether you believe it or not is up to you. As for your second question…"
His smile widened, turning into something between pride and hope as he continued: "Knulls want to make the Origin of Chaos, while the other races want the Origin of Order, which doesn't mean anything to the Dark Order. Although we work with Knulls sometimes, we don't share the same dreams and goals. We don't want to see the Origin of Chaos or the Origin of Order, we want both of them!"
Huh?
I frowned instantly, confused by his strange statement.
Didn't he just say that only one Origin can exist? I couldn't think of any loophole that could allow two Origins to exist.
Sensing my confusion, Isaac explained: "Who said that we can't fix Fate?"
My eyes widened as he continued: "If Mike and Alice were able to split Fate's heart when they were young, then what about now? They are now far stronger than before with great experience. If they work together instead of against each other, maybe they can fix their mistake, and maybe Fate will make one candidate turn into the Origin of both Order and Chaos."
I started thinking about what he said, and it seemed possible. But if I thought it was possible, then why didn't all the other people think the same?
'Why are they busy fighting instead of working with each other to fix it?'
The moment I thought about that question, Isaac smiled mysteriously, and the answer came to me almost instantly.
'....They want power.'
Seeing Isaac nodding, my doubts were confirmed.
Only one Origin can exist.
That logic meant that whoever became the Origin would have absolute power. No one would be able to defeat the Origin, they could only obey. After this long war, the origin might hate the other side, and when they become the strongest, getting their revenge would be the easiest thing to do.
The races couldn't choose the Origin, so it was all left for chance.
If they were lucky, the Origin would be someone close to them or a merciful person. If not, then they could only pray.
But why would they even do that? They could simply do their best to win the war and get their own Origin. Take Arthur for example, if he became the Origin, then he definitely wasn't going to abuse his power against his own race. The humans wouldn't care about the others if they could take advantage of the Origin being one of them.
"And that's why," Isaac suddenly spoke again, cutting my thoughts off, "The Dark Order wants to raise an origin that would suit both sides. This isn't the only world in existence, and another Origin may treat us as a game again, thus having an Origin to protect us isn't optional, but necessary."
I nodded, understanding his point as I added: "And I, as a Child of Fate, am one of your candidates to become an Origin, am I right?"
"Yes," Isaac nodded, "We will provide you with all knowledge and help so long as you stay loyal to us. We still have to do many things, like rescuing Alice and killing some threats, but you will only have to focus on becoming stronger and doing some small missions. Of course, I have to remind you that you won't be the only candidate to become the Origin, but under our guidance and with your talent you will become Tier-8 at least."
I held my chin as I nodded, but I didn't answer him.
So basically, they wanted to invest in me. The Dark Order wanted to collect the Children of Fate and raise them themselves. That way, whoever became the Origin wouldn't be a threat, but a sane ruler.
Isaac's offer was good, and I was leaning towards accepting it, but there were 3 problems.
First, I wasn't a fucking Child of Fate!
It was just a misunderstanding, but this might be the best misunderstanding I had in my life. If I used it right, then I'd end up stealing their resources!
The problem was that I might get exposed, which would obviously cause a lot of trouble. I didn't know how valuable the chosen ones were for them, so there was a real chance they'd kill me if that happened.
The second problem was my intent.
Obviously, I wasn't going to help them or stay loyal. In fact, I was more interested in his offer because that would give me a chance to destroy the Dark Order from the inside!
I still hated them for what they did, so I really wanted to end them now.
But in a magical world, I couldn't ensure that no one there would have the ability to know my intent. My uncle already found out that I killed someone with a glance, so everything was possible here.
The third problem was… I didn't know what to do.
As much as I hated to admit it, if what Isaac said was the truth, then that was the best possible ending.
I didn't know how to become an Origin, and even if I knew, I wasn't a Child of Fate. Maybe there was another way to become one, but the odds were slim.
Thus, I couldn't be the one that would protect Eldoria, and I didn't even want to be one.
If one side won, the other would be doomed, so raising a neutral Origin would fix all the problems.
They were right, but their damn means were wrong!
If I joined them, they might give me a mission to kill someone innocent, which was absolutely against my morality.
And if I didn't, I might continue in the academy and end up entering the war. If that happened, I'd have to also fight innocents because they were considered "demons".
I wanted to just run away with the vampires while all the sides fought each other, but that wasn't possible because the academy wasn't allowing them to take me and Aria.
I didn't know the reason before, but now, I was sure they either knew about my reincarnation or had mistaken me like Isaac.
The choice was really hard.
"Can I have some time to think?" I finally opened my mouth as I asked, "I don't think I can make my decision right now."
Isaac took a sip of wine as he calmly answered: "You can, I have expected that. I'll meet you again when the time comes, so decide your side until then. And don't worry, we won't try to kill you or any Child of Fate, but we won't protect you either. As I said, we aren't the same as the knulls."
I smiled as I let out a sigh. At least I wouldn't see him for some time.
But there were some questions I needed him to answer first.
My expression turned serious as I asked: "Are you keeping an eye on me and Aria? And how did you know about her dream?"
Isaac laughed, as if expecting this question. "Haha, don't worry, we aren't that desperate. Remember what I said about the chosen ones knowing about a possible future? We obviously have this advantage too, and your sister was shown once on those possible futures. We are obviously keeping some eyes on the academy, but not on a specific person."
I let out a sigh in relief. Although he couldn't be trusted, it was better than getting the opposite answer.
I opened my mouth and asked another question, but this one was more personal.
"Who… who is the academy knows about all that? Do people like Kyle and Lunara know the truth?"
For the first time, Isaac didn't answer immediately.
His brow furrowed as he thought for a few seconds before answering: "I don't know about Lunara, but I'm sure that Kyle doesn't know about all that. When someone graduates from the academy and gets a high position, they would be told about the "truth" that is made to manipulate them.
Most people in the guilds, kingdoms and government think that knulls are being brainwashed by their leaders. In other words, if they heard all that I said to you from a knull's mouth or from the Dark Order, they wouldn't believe it."
I nodded as I finally decided to end this.
"I'll think seriously about your offer. I think it's time to end this."
Suddenly, the space around us started to shake, just like when I woke up last time, then Isaac requested:
"If you accept my offer, I'll be glad if you helped us recruit the Children of Fate who are close to you.
Confused, I raised an eyebrow. "Close to me?"
I knew about Arthur, but was there someone else? He said children instead of a child.
The dream suddenly turned to darkness, but at the last moment, I heard him say 3 names.
"Selene Lunaris, Arthur Sunblade, and Zephyr Stormblade."