Reincarnated Hero System

Chapter 1275: The Dark Roots of History

"Then why did Artemisia curse them?"

"!"

Evan’s question caused Abigail to freeze, and even Laurene’s expression became uncomfortable at its mention.

As for Eliza and Agnes, who’d had no idea that the previous Seven Heroes had been cursed by Artemisia, this was completely out of nowhere.

"When they died, they all should’ve stayed dead, but no, Ferrid just had to bring them back with that damned skill of his," Evan continued in a derisive tone, casually revealing another truth about the former Seven that the world had never known.

’The goddess Artemisia cursed the Heroes? And they were resurrected by the First Finger’s Skill?’

Evan hadn’t hidden the fact that the First Finger of the Demonic Hand, Ferrid, was an existence from the war of a thousand years ago, and that he had fought against the invading Gozonian demons during that war.

He had also revealed to a select few that Ferrid could resurrect the Executives of the Demonic Hand because of his ’Child of Reincarnation’ skill.

’But to think that skill was used on the Heroes as well...’

At that moment, Eliza’s eyes widened as another realisation came to her.

’Near-Transcendent! Evan had always called his predecessors "Near-Transcendents." History books say the Seven Heroes were almost as powerful as the Dragon Lord and the Superior Transcendents of that era, but Evan’s wording had always implied otherwise!’

Eliza knew Evan’s choice of words had always hidden major truths, like how he’d never called the Duke and Duchess of Eris "Father" or "Mother," or how he always referred to Aidos as "This World" instead of "My" or "Our" World, since Duke Roger and Duchess Patricia weren’t truly his parents, and he was actually an Earthling soul in the body of an Aidosian.

She also knew that the cost of the Child of Reincarnation skill was half the target’s power, and assuming the Heroes weren’t exceptions to this, then it made perfect sense why Evan always called them "Near-Transcendents" while Laurene never corrected him.

’They lost their Transcendent power in exchange for resurrection.’

"It’s funny how I can tell what you’re thinking just from your expression," Laurene suddenly said, pulling Eliza from her sea of thoughts.

She looked up to see Laurene watching her with a small smile, and tilting her head, Laurene spoke again.

"Let me guess, you’re wondering how they died?"

Eliza nodded in confirmation, and at this, Laurene revealed the truth.

"Demon General McEnda IV. He single-handedly defeated and killed all seven of them the moment he descended into this world."

That had been McEnda IV’s very first action after arriving in Aidos, and the reason the man was immediately marked for elimination by the Aidosian Transcendents led by Gorm.

"After they died, goddess Artemisia cursed them so they’d never again be able to reach Transcendence in their lifetimes," Laurene continued, revealing another dark and filthy secret of the former Seven.

"What?"

Eliza’s eyes widened at this revelation, one that would completely overturn what the current world called "History."

"Makes you wonder what they did to earn Artemisia’s curse, huh?" Evan asked with a snort.

At that, Alisa couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

"I understand your hatred for the others, but putting me in the same category as them is ridiculous! You know I was the only Hero who opposed the Dimensional Rift experiments Arlan spearheaded! I was the only one who opposed the Reincarnation Plan that Arlan once again proposed.

I was the voice of reason among those insane, irritable bastards, and you’re putting me on the same level as them?!"

Evan was about to respond, but Eliza raised her hand to stop him, then looked at Alisa, who sat directly across from her at the table, before speaking.

"Alisa Reeva. I know nothing about you beyond what I’ve learned from my history books, the same history books Evan and Laurene have repeatedly told me praised the wrong people.

I don’t doubt them, but I can’t say I understand why they say that."

Brushing away the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face, Eliza continued, "But just now, you said something that caught my attention.

’Dimensional Rift Experiments,’ was it?"

Alisa nearly flinched at Eliza’s words, but Eliza wasn’t even paying attention to such small reactions as she directly asked,

"I have one question. The Dimensional Rift on the Dark Continent. Was it opened from Gozon to Aidos... or from Aidos, to Gozon?"

"..."

Alisa couldn’t answer that question, and seeing this, Evan laughed before saying, "You heard me earlier, didn’t you? Makes you wonder what they did to earn Artemisia’s curse, huh?"

That single line, along with Alisa’s silence, was enough for Eliza to reach her conclusion and uncover the truth.

"I see," Eliza muttered calmly, nodding to herself in understanding.

"W-wait! It’s not lik-"

"Exactly what," Eliza said, cutting off Alisa’s attempt to explain, "is it that you think you can do, and are doing, that makes you claim to be on ’our’ side now?"

She brought the conversation back to the main question Evan wanted answered.

Glancing at Abigail to her right, she continued, "I wouldn’t want to believe that the Elven Emperor’s famed genius daughter, who is also a Hero, would be so easily deceived by an enemy."

Eliza was implying something else when she said that, but hearing those words, Evan burst into laughter.

"You know, Liz, it’s a bit too late for that," he said.

His lips curled into an evil grin as he continued, "Contrary to what you’d like to believe, she’s very much capable of being easily fooled by an enemy. After all, her dearest best friend has been pulling the wool over her eyes for several years now..."

At that moment, Agnes’ brow twitched, and Evan turned to her before continuing.

"Isn’t that right? Miss Tenth Finger of the Demonic Hand?"

"Wait, what!?" Abigail instantly exclaimed, her expression turning furious as she shot up from her seat and glared at Evan.

"That’s not funny, even as a joke!"

Evan, however, only laughed at her anger, leaning back in his seat as he asked Abigail,

"Several years ago, one of the homunculi you created for your dear best friend was destroyed by me. Did she tell you about that? Did she also tell you it was because I found her in the middle of a Demonic Hand base in the GEE mere minutes before I went on to kill Maude Gilatryd, the Ninth Finger?

She didn’t tell you that part, did she?"

Evan shrugged after saying this, his tone casual as he continued, "Why don’t you ask her yourself? Is she the Tenth Finger of the Demonic Hand or not?"

He paused after that, a small look of remembrance passing through his eyes as he added, "Well, she hasn’t officially taken the position yet, but for her to be next in line, she has to be affiliated with the Demonic Hand in the first place, and last I checked, they were WORLD ENEMIES."

Drumming his fingers against the table, Evan continued.

"So the best friend of one of the Heroes is working with the greatest organisation of World Enemies. What a lovely tale."

Abigail was about to immediately fire back at Evan’s words, but she suddenly froze, her eyes widening as realisation dawned.

’...why hasn’t Agnes said anything?’

She didn’t know Agnes as the kind of person who’d sit there and accept direct false accusations like this without saying even a single word in response.

The fact that Agnes hadn’t defended herself at all was strange.

Abigail silently turned her gaze toward Agnes, but the priestess wasn’t looking at her, but was instead staring directly at Evan.

"Why so silent all of a sudden? Don’t have anything to say in your defence, Agnes?" Evan asked with a raised eyebrow and an expression of feigned confusion.

"What about you, Abigail? Nothing to say to your BFF who’s not even attempting to defend herself?"

Evan shook his head with a scoff, picking up the half-filled strawberry juice bottle on the table and finishing the rest of its contents in one go.

"You do realise that if it wasn’t for the fact that I want to maintain some level of good relationship with my fellow Heroes, you’d be dead right now. I would’ve come to kill you years ago," Evan said, looking directly at Agnes.

"But besides the fact that your death would affect Abigail’s psyche and make her pretty much useless in the war against the demons, and the fact that I now have a use for those soul manipulation abilities of yours, I’m pleased to say you would’ve become nothing but ashes in the wind."

The way he spoke was like he was reading a passage from a novel, but the reality behind his words described a potential agonising death Agnes had avoided thanks to her skillset.

’As I thought. He does want something. That’s probably why he came here in the first place...’

Agnes exhaled softly, the first reaction she’d shown since Evan revealed her identity as a Demonic Hand affiliate, and at that moment, Abigail called out to her.

"Agnes."

’Tell me it’s not true’—Abigail’s eyes seemed to say.

Unfortunately for her, Agnes genuinely considered Abigail her best friend, and she didn’t like lying to her best friend.

Sighing softly, she spoke.

"Nothing he said was a lie."

"..."

Abigail was left without words. She didn’t want to accept reality, but this was Agnes admitting it on her own, without any coercion as far as she knew.

She even went as far as appraising Agnes to check her ’Condition’ tab, but there was nothing there that pointed to her being under the influence of any mental skill or magic, or feeling any form of unease.

Evan laughed shortly when he noticed what Abigail was doing, but his smile quickly faded, and his demeanour changed into his serious mode.

"But jokes aside, I did once consider you an enemy to be eliminated like the rest of the Fingers of the Demonic Hand. Then I found out you were just misguided, because of the story Beatrix, the other goddess, probably told you."

He placed his palms on the table and drummed his fingers lightly as he continued, "I thought about it for a while and realised that our intentions and our actual desires matter more in situations like this. For example, you still remember what I told you that day was my reason for being a Hero, right?"

Agnes nodded lightly before replying, "You have a deal with goddess Artemisia, and you’re a Hero in exchange for the reward she owes you."

"That’s not all of it, is it?" Evan asked, one eyebrow raised slightly.

"You also said you’ve come to love certain people in this world, and you don’t want them living in a world under constant threat of invasion from another."

For a moment while speaking, Agnes’ gaze turned toward Eliza beside Evan, but before finishing, she looked back at him.