Duality of Shadows-Chapter 989: Inner Fulfillment

After easing some of her shame and anger, Huuya stopped hitting him and took a deep breath, staring at him. "You idiot... why the hell did you let him hurt you like that?"

"Hmm? I wanted to feel the power of that White Guardian God’s Dao more. I thought it was interesting how that idiot fused the electric laws," Brunon replied calmly.

Before, Huuya realized he wasn’t dying because she also cultivated this Dao. All the Yang electrical energy Innoa used to hurt him was actually calm inside his meridians.

What caused the injuries was him suppressing this energy inside his body, but if he could suppress it this way, he could easily expel it too. If he didn’t do it, it was because there was no real danger.

Alm and Brunon were, in fact, curious about this Dao. In the original timeline, little Huuya was captured by that soldier worshipping this god, and she lived as his slave for a long time. She must have had the chance to read the first level of this Dao at some point, which is why it existed in this illusion created from her memories.

But in the place where Huuya and Almia lived, they tried to find the rest of the Dao, and it didn’t exist; there were only random things written, not the complete Dao. This made it clear that Ruri didn’t have memories of it, so the calamity didn’t invent anything unless it was necessary.

Even though the god was a bastard, his Dao was high-level and very valuable. So, they absorbed that lightning to study it a bit... and also because Brunon wanted to provoke Ruri. Flirting with his own wife without memories, knowing her so well, turned out to be something fun to do.

Seeing Huuya’s expression completely different from anything they had seen in all these years inside the illusion made Alm and Brunon sigh.

She had already reconnected with them deeply. It was a bit too quick, but this was thanks to an instinctive feeling coming from her soul.

Brunon, seeing her gaze, snorted: "Let’s go, we’re doing a test, right? I’m already stabilized and have enough crystals."

He waved and showed her a spatial ring. Huuya looked inside and quickly got surprised. The ring, alone, had more crystals than she and her whole army had collected during this time.

He grabbed the ring and calmly stood up. Then, he waved as if to say goodbye and took a few steps, moving away; but quickly, she moved, following him by his side.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

"Where are you going? You seem to be plotting something shady. I need to keep an eye on you, or you’ll cause trouble for me," she tried to justify, a little awkwardly.

Brunon smiled slightly as he responded, "Alright, alright. I found a different place I want to see up close. On the edge of this continent, I saw a huge statue of that god."

"What’s so different or surprising about that?" She got curious.

"I think that god left part of his soul inside. And that’s his main statue. Praying there should be a thousand times faster. Maybe there are other hidden things too," he explained.

Huuya nodded, understanding. "I see... this continent is restricted, and no one usually comes here except for the main figures of the monastery. Makes sense."

The moment she said that, Alm and Bruno felt a subtle change happening. The environment was altered by the calamity.

The two were satisfied. Bruno had said something random; he hadn’t noticed any statue in the place. But now, he could feel a statue appearing at the edge of the continent.

The reason was that Huuya had simply fully believed what he said and accepted that this statue existed and was very special. Soon, the world of this illusion shaped itself to that. Alm and Brunon wanted it to really exist there, so they made her create it.

The two walked together, side by side, in one direction. Along the way, Brunon murmured serious things, saying he felt great fluctuations underground near the statue since he had a strong command over the laws of the earth.

Huuya fully believed in it. It was a good justification for him having collected so many spiritual crystals. So, the calamity kept adding these things to the world. In the middle of his serious comments, Brunon added some provocations and even tried to grab her hand.

She got really awkward and stepped away from him a few steps. But secretly, she seemed a bit satisfied with his attempts.

Brunon was basically going on the offensive shamelessly because Ruri acted like this in the past with them. So, internally, she would find it fun and approve of the way he fought for what he wanted.

The two kept walking together, and Brunon located more big batches of crystals. They gathered them together as they moved.

In the middle of this, Brunon became really serious and cold. "Some bastards from the other generals are attacking a weaker group to steal. They must be tired of living."

Huuya stared into his eyes deeply. Then, she nodded with a sharp look, and immediately, the two ran to help.

’Son of a bitch, stop copying me,’ Alm retorted mentally.

Brunon laughed mentally, but seeing the satisfied expression on Huuya made everything more fun. She simply liked Alm’s cold but secretly altruistic way. At the same time, she appreciated Bruno’s emotional approach.

Alm complained, but noticed the complete changes inside her. The goal had been perfectly achieved.

They made a good impression at first, then showed strength by defeating Innoa. And now, they showed more deeply how they thought and acted.

It was all to please her more quickly, but they weren’t pretending anything; they just accelerated something that would naturally happen. It was an exaggerated version of themselves, not a lie. As a result, her gaze toward them changed drastically to something bigger.

Bruno murmured: ’Knowing her made everything so easy... I wanted to try out a few different things.’

’What do you mean by that, you bastard? You planning on seducing other women? You think I won’t tell her about this later?’ Alm threatened coldly. ’Ah, I know! You’d have preferred to take my place back then and had the chance to seduce her when she was much younger, huh? You’re such a l...’

’Fuck you!’ Bruno mentally roared.

With four hours left in the test, they spotted the giant statue of that deity but felt a barrier preventing them from moving forward.

"This must be related to the second test." He said, and she nodded, confirming this to the calamity.

Alm and Bruno analyzed it from a distance. The plans were aligned with the changes made by the calamity. They didn’t plan to waste any more time with this illusion and were ready to deliver a final blow to Huuya.

"You came from another planet, didn’t you?" Brunon said softly beside her. "I was born here, but my parents are descendants of a general who came to this place, just like you..."

Bruno started telling an old story, something passed down through generations in his family.

"There was a little girl, the daughter of the leaders of a powerful clan. This clan was ruled by her family, almost like kings of a people. But one day, everything changed. Her parents and her whole family were massacred, and she was spared only to be captured. Her fate? To be used as a tool to force the rest of the clan to submit to the enemy’s control. That little girl, who was just a child, became a pawn in a cruel and ruthless power game..."

Brunon told the beginning of Ruri’s story. Hearing this, Huuya trembled emotionally. Even without memories, she felt a familiarity with it. He continued:

"She grew up in hatred, under the pressure of her entire clan, who wanted her to take revenge and reclaim the clan. She survived, fought, and, with time, became powerful. She achieved what seemed impossible: she avenged her family. She destroyed her enemies in bloody vengeance. But in the end..." Brunon took a deep breath, his voice carrying a somber gravity. "She committed suicide. Shortly after achieving her revenge, she simply didn’t know what to live for anymore."

Huuya’s eyes widened. The unexpected ending deeply shook her.

"This story was passed down from the ancestral general to his children, and then from my parents to me. It’s a lesson left for all of us. That woman, even after saving her people and reaching the peak of the world, couldn’t find happiness. She was respected, powerful, and could have lived for thousands of years as a ruler. Still, all of that was empty. She had lived her whole life chasing something outside of herself. When she achieved it... she realized she had wasted her existence."

Brunon stared at Huuya seriously, his words full of intention. "Saving her people was the right thing? Of course, she’d do it again. Being powerful and respected was good? No doubt, it has value for many reasons. But... all of that was external. She lived only for external causes, but never found a purpose inside herself."

"She should’ve lived for herself? But she did her best..." Huuya murmured, her voice emotional.

Brunon nodded. "Before taking her own life, she left her last words to the people she had saved: ’My world remains dark and nothing is interesting. I tried to fill my life with something empty, but it was all an illusion.’"

Huuya froze. It was the same feeling she had constantly lived with, even until very recently.

He paused before continuing. "She achieved everything everyone expected of her, but it didn’t bring anything true to herself. She found out, too late, that her family wasn’t as innocent as she thought. They had all committed atrocities over generations, and the massacre was just the inevitable result of those actions. But in her blindness and thirst for revenge, she plunged into a sea of blood. Not for herself, but for something that, deep down, never belonged to her."

Brunon took a deep breath, his voice softening. "The final lesson she left was clear: ’Never live for what others expect of you. Don’t chase only what they say is important. Inner fulfillment is the most important. Because, in the end, everything else is empty.’ She had chances to love, to build something meaningful, to leave a true legacy... but she ignored all of that just to take revenge. And when she realized it, it was too late, and she didn’t know how to get out of the hole."