Reincarnated Hero System

Chapter 1274: The Ghost in the Homunculus

The gazebo was silent for several minutes as they waited for Abigail’s arrival, and not long after that, Evan suddenly looked toward Laurene and said, "This table is four-sided. Would you mind extending that number by perhaps two, Laurene?"

Hearing Evan’s sudden request, Laurene figured he had most likely sensed Abigail approaching, and she pushed her seat back slightly before looking down at the marble-coated table that had been built directly into the ground along with the gazebo.

"Hmm," Laurene hummed lightly, then activated her Myriad Casting Unique Skill.

Several elemental and magical orbs appeared behind her, and the brown earthen orb glowed as she infused magic power into the table, analysed its structure using her Mystic Eyes of Truth, and began adjusting it, expanding its length and width while rounding it out, changing the square-shaped table into a hexagon.

She, Evan, and Eliza had their seats along one half of the newly altered table, while Agnes sat directly opposite Evan on the other side, with both her left and right sides empty.

Evan then apported a chair from his Inventory and placed it on Agnes’s right.

After that, he picked his phone back up and resumed texting, sending messages to the people managing his new property in the Aelum Kingdom’s capital until the rear doors of the mansion suddenly slammed open, and Abigail immediately rushed out.

"Where’s Alisa?!" she shouted the moment she burst from the building, her run stopping instantly when she saw the frozen Alisa.

Her eyes snapped toward Evan’s group, her expression filled with cold fury as she demanded, "Unfreeze her now!"

Agnes opened her mouth to speak, but Evan, without looking up from his phone, gestured toward the chair he had placed to Agnes’s right and said, "Abigail, sit."

Naturally, Abigail didn’t comply so easily.

She stormed up to the table and slammed her hand down onto it, glaring directly at Evan with both Mystic Eyes glowing crimson as she demanded, "I said, unfreeze her. NOW."

Evan’s hand finally stopped moving across his screen, and he exhaled softly.

At that single action, Eliza immediately understood Evan’s mood.

’He’s pissed,’ she thought.

And right as that thought crossed her mind, Evan locked his phone screen and placed it down on the table before looking directly at Abigail and responding, "I said, sit down, Abigail Lowe."

His Mystic Eyes lit with a golden glow within his grey irises, and erupting from his body was a wave of crimson-gold aura that spread across the entire estate in an instant.

The pressure exploded outward from Evan like the wrath of a Higher Existence made tangible, a crushing wave of destructive intent that slammed into Abigail like a mountain collapsing onto her soul and blanketed every inch of land within the estate with such monstrous oppression that birds dropped from the skies, animals collapsed mid-step, horses crashed to the ground unconscious, servants and guards below Level 500 fell where they stood like puppets with severed strings, while those within the Level 500 to 600 range froze in place, their minds drowned in so much primal terror that even breathing became difficult.

Only the Level 700s could still move, and the moment that pressure swept across the estate, every Legendary present, from Zestari to the rest of the guards assigned to Abigial by Zaos, alongside the Tharvorian Living Legends sent to protect Agnes due to her status as a Priestess of one of its most influential Tribes, rushed towards the gazebo with weapons drawn and auras blazing.

Agnes instantly rose from her seat and, for the first time, raised her voice.

"STOP! All of you, stop! Stand down!"

She thrust her right hand into the empty space behind her just in time to knock away the arm of the Tharvorian Living Legend who had appeared behind her to grab her and pull her away from Evan, whom he perceived as a threat, her pupil-less eyes snapping open as she glared at him and commanded, "Stand down, that’s an ORDER."

Infused into her tongue as she spoke was magic power, and the tattoos across the man’s skin instantly glowed, freezing his body in place.

Shock filled his widened eyes, but Agnes didn’t explain as she immediately turned towards Zestari and shouted, "Zestari, deactivate that skill, or that will be the worst decision you could ever possibly make."

Then, turning back toward Abigail, Agnes grabbed her and said, "Abby, call them off now and sit down, please."

Her voice snapped Abigail out of her little shock episode, and the princess’s expression contorted as she stared at the symbol within Evan’s irises.

"Stage 6...?! You’re Level—!"

"Abigail Lowe," Evan said, cutting her off before she could say his level. "Please, don’t make me repeat myself again. Sit down."

The elven Living Legends frowned at his tone, many itching to attack Evan, but hesitation gripped them because of both the horrifying, destructive aura pouring from Evan and the simple reality that Abigail was close enough for Evan to reach her before any of them could, leaving none willing to risk her safety.

Tense silence consumed the garden for several seconds before Abigail, her fists clenched so hard that her nails dug into her palms, finally ordered, "Fall back."

"Your Highness?!," Zestari began, only for Abigail to cut her off immediately.

"Fall back, all of you."

Unable to disobey a direct order, the Legends sheathed their blades and lowered their spears.

Evan ignored their glares and deactivated his Intimidation skill before casually picking his phone back up, sliding the screen open, and returning to his messages as though nothing had happened.

"Here, have some," Eliza said, chilling a drink she brought out from her Spatial Storage Ring and placing it before him.

It was strawberry flavoured, Evan’s favourite, and when he saw it, his expression brightened slightly as he chuckled, picked it up, and took a sip.

That small act eased some of the darkness in Evan’s mood, and with a soft sigh, he looked toward the frozen Alisa and flicked a finger, using magic power to lift her frozen body and move it to the empty seat on Agnes’s left.

With a snap of his fingers, the ice shattered, and though she nearly collapsed, a chair summoned from Evan’s Inventory appeared behind her, catching her before she hit the ground.

Her eyes were wide with disbelief, her breathing ragged, but before Abigail could even move toward her, Evan glanced at Abigail from the corner of his eye, stopping her cold, before turning to Alisa and speaking.

"I’m in a very bad mood right now, so please, be silent, because one unprompted word from you might very well be your last."

In simpler terms, speak without being spoken to, and he’d kill her.

Alisa only stared at Evan with a dark expression, seeing the symbol in his eyes and as a former Hero, naturally understanding what his current Mystic Eye Stage implied.

Abigail, on the other hand, was pulled down into the seat to Agnes’ left by the priestess, and once Abigail sat down, Evan responded to his final message, locked his phone, dropped it onto the table, and then spoke.

"Now then, let’s talk."

He placed his palms against the table and, looking at Abigail, asked a question.

"Alchemist of Living Forms. That’s the title you earned after successfully creating a complete homunculus, right?"

Abigail nodded silently, and without even looking at Alisa, Evan said, "And to think that she of all people was the reason you started trying to create homunculi."

Evan was still caught off guard by the fact that the hooded figure who had always followed Abigail in Aidos Online, her first successful complete homunculus, had been housing the soul of Alisa Reeva, the former First and Leader of the Seven Heroes.

He knew Alisa was never going to be able to take over Abigail’s body, but he’d assumed her soul would have been lost like Arlan, Felicia, Ellisar, and most of Yvonne’s souls had been.

"You were sharing your Mystic Eyes with Alisa, right?"

Abigail nodded silently at Evan’s question, and Evan immediately asked another.

"Why?"

This wasn’t a question Abigail could answer with a nod, but the answer in her mind didn’t seem like one the current Evan was gonna accept.

"Why?"

When Evan repeated the question, one eyebrow raised, Abigail finally answered.

"Because she offered to help. And I needed that help."

"Help with what?"

"Our job as Heroes," Abigail replied instantly.

Evan frowned at that response, then looked toward Alisa before turning back to Abigail, only to return his attention to Alisa once more.

"You really expect me to believe that you, of all people, want to help?"

"She’s no different from Yvonne and the rest," Laurene cut in coldly. "Hearing her say she wants to help sounds like nothing more than a foolish attempt to atone for her stupidity."

At her words, Evan chuckled lightly, then, while still looking at Alisa, gestured toward Laurene as he spoke. "What she said, that’s what I think, only worse. What do you have to say?"

Alisa’s expression remained dark, and she bit her lips silently before asking in return.

"...You have Arlan’s memories, don’t you?"

"Unfortunately," Evan replied.

"Then go through them and check if I was ever truly on his side! Tell me if we actually got along, or if we were bitter enemies who only smiled at each other in public to maintain the façade of the Heroes being ’united’ for the sake of the masses?"

Her words made it clear that the previous Seven Heroes hadn’t been as united as the current world believed.

"That bastard Arlan always wanted to be the Leader, always running off and doing things by himself! Even this stupid reincarnation plan was his idea. You’ve no idea how happy I was when I realised that you weren’t Arlan, and that bastard’s soul had been lost to the void of the universe and ground to dust by causality for breaking the laws of reincarnation!"

Alisa clenched her fists, grinding her teeth as she continued, "I never intended to steal my successor’s body. I altered that spell not to steal, but to share my successor’s body. At least, long enough for me to acquire one for myself.

"When I say I chose to reincarnate to help my successor, I mean exactly that."

Silence settled over the table after she finished speaking, and hearing this, Evan nodded once before replying.

"I don’t care whether you and Arlan were on bad terms or not. I only care that you’re one of the former Seven, and you see, Alisa Reeva..."

Evan’s words trailed off, his irises glowing faintly as he continued in a cold voice, "I don’t like ANY of you. And you know the reason for that just as well as I do, don’t you?"

"Alisa is not our enemy, Evan Eris," Abigail cut in with a frown, but Evan wasn’t having it.

"Then why did Artemisia curse them?"

"!"