Chapter 1944 One In The Same
"Why did you call me here?" Lilith said through gritted teeth. "This place is incredibly dangerous. If any of those beasts start to find us more interesting than their opponents, we're dead."
Junior smiled. "I won't let anything happen to you, don't worry... As for why I called you here... It's to discuss a few things."
Lilith's brow furrowed. This was the first time Junior had taken such a serious tone with her.
They had been 'married' for more than half a decade now, yet they could hardly be called husband and wife. They were more like bully and victim. Plus, considering marriage in the martial world was sealed by fusing two souls as one, they weren't even really husband and wife, they were only so in name.
Still, in all this time, not once had Junior ever taken such a tone with her, not even when she vented all of her rage on him.
"What is it?" Her voice became decidedly weaker, unbeknownst to herself.
For some reason, Lilith worried that Junior would get rid of her, even divorcing her. Some part of her felt that she deserved it, it wasn't as though she had been a good wife. Not only did she not support Junior as a wife should, she brought his quality of life down.
However, the sudden thought made her realize that she felt an inexplicable attachment to Junior.
It was then she thought of something... If it was someone other than Junior, would she be able to sneer at him for being a eunuch? Or would she be breathing a sigh of relief that he never tried to bed her?
What was it about Junior? Was it because he was related to that man that she felt more comfortable with that idea...? That she didn't feel the same disgust she had toward Sokzac? Just what was it...?
"It's about time I tell you the truth." Junior turned away from Lilith as though he couldn't bear to see her at the moment.
"I am not Dyon's son. He and I are one in the same. He is I, and I am him. I am a clone created by his soul and infused into the skeleton of one who once wielded the Death God Constitution."
Eventually, Lilith tired. Her slender shoulders ached and her tears ran dry, turning into streaks of eerie salts that marred her delicate, soft cheeks.
Seeing that she had fallen silent, Junior slowly began to speak.
"... Even my main body does not understand the extent to which I am him... To now, he truly treats me as a separate man, as a brother and even as a son. This is the truth."
Lilith's brows twitched with anger, but her qi had run dry. Even if she wanted to attack again, she didn't have the strength. As for how she was still floating in this condition, this 'considerate' bastard had drawn a defensive array below her feet and even shielded her from the elements.
If it was up to her, she would leave without listening to these blithering excuses, but she no longer had the strength to. Every word out of Junior's mouth sounded ridiculous to her.
How could the creator of a clone not know something so fundamental? What kind of clone owner thought of their clone as a separate entity? What the hell kind of excuses were these?
"... The path that I must walk is a difficult one. However, if I want to reach the pinnacle of the world and ensure that my loved ones can remain by my side... I must walk it.
"These loved ones... They include you... Lilith."
Lilith trembled at these words, but she simply couldn't make heads or tails of them. If the words of his clone were true, why would his main body be so cruel to her?
Junior chuckled lightly, ignoring the pain of the wounds of his back.
"It may sound odd to say about myself, but I am an idiot. I can be cruel to my enemies, but I am even more cruel to myself. The term masochism doesn't even begin to describe myself.
"Even if my main body realizes that he feels something for you, he will ignore it, he will bury it, he would rather suffer a life of watching you be in the arms of another man than act on it."
"... Why...?" Trace the roots of this material to n0v★lbin
