Return of the Legendary Runesmith-Chapter 476 - 475- Perverts

What did Adrian assume himself to be?

Adrian?

Avirin?

Or Lex?

If he were honest with himself, the answer was neither simple nor clean.

He felt like Adrian.

Not entirely, but enough that the name responded when spoken, enough that his instincts, bonds, and choices aligned with it. Lex was there too, embedded in him like an echo that refused to fade. Memories, habits, fragments of thought that surfaced without warning. As for Avirin... that identity still felt incomplete, like a garment he had inherited but never tailored to fit.

He hadn’t truly become Avirin. Not fully.

If that was the case, then why had he never told Ariana or anyone else?

The answer surfaced before he could avoid it.

Because Ariana would never be able to accept that the man she loved carried the soul of someone else.

Cousin. Lover. Anchor.

How could she reconcile all of that with the idea that part of him belonged to another world entirely? That her Adrian had lived another life, died another death, and carried memories she could never share?

He had chosen silence because silence was safer.

But after hearing Nytharos speak, that certainty cracked.

Things about his past were not random. His origin was not coincidence. His death on Earth, his awakening as Adrian, the way events aligned too precisely—it all pointed toward something deliberate.

About a year ago, when he first arrived in this world, he would have scoffed at such a thought. Fate, design, higher intent—those were excuses people used when they couldn’t accept chaos.

But after everything he had seen?

After everything he had survived?

Adrian could no longer dismiss any possibility.

Taking a deep breath, he drank several healing potions in succession, grimacing as warmth spread through his body. He followed it by firing a bullet into his shoulder, teeth clenched as the sharp pain snapped the dislocation back into place.

Once it was done, he exhaled slowly and asked, "How long do I have?"

[138 seconds.]

He didn’t argue.

With a tired sigh, Adrian activated teleportation.

The world folded.

Distance collapsed.

And within a heartbeat, he was back in his room.

He didn’t go straight to the Time Chamber.

Not yet.

He needed a moment. Just one.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he stared at the wall opposite him, eyes unfocused.

Setting aside the question of identity, his origin troubled him far more.

Darkness.

He was connected to it.

Not symbolically. Not metaphorically.

He carried its essence.

The weight of that realization settled heavily in his chest.

Darkness had claimed millions of lives. Not just on this planet, but across countless worlds under the heavens’ domain. Entire civilizations had collapsed beneath its influence. Morality had eroded. Desperation had twisted survival into cruelty.

Cannibalism had once been a necessity, not a taboo.

Darkness stripped people of reason and restraint, leaving behind something raw and monstrous.

So there was no denying it.

Regardless of how the deities treated humanity, regardless of their flaws, they had been defending the world from annihilation.

And now Adrian knew.

His blood carried that sin too.

"Just when I thought being Avirin’s reincarnation was already too much," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Haah..." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

A brief flash lit the room.

In the next instant, three figures appeared.

"Darling!"

"Adrian?!"

Ruby and Annabelle stepped forward immediately. Ariana lay behind them, peacefully asleep, her breathing calm and steady.

They spoke.

Their lips moved.

He registered none of it.

His gaze drifted upward, exhaustion pressing down on him, and he said quietly, "Can I ask you for one thing?"

They stopped at once.

Concern lingered in their eyes as he pulled them onto his lap and wrapped his arms around them.

"Just... stay like this."

Annabelle and Ruby exchanged a glance. Whatever had happened out there had left marks they couldn’t see.

They said nothing.

Ruby clutched his shirt and whispered, "It’s okay, Adrian. We’re here."

Annabelle followed, her voice steady and uncharacteristically serious. "Whatever happened, Darling, we trust you. Always."

He closed his eyes and held them a little tighter.

For now, that was enough.

....

"Yes, she is doing much better now. If this continues, she will recover by tomorrow." Late at night, the nurse came to check on Ariana and was pleasantly surprised to see how better her condition was now.

Annabelle exhaled a sigh of relief, "I am glad you don’t have to put those torturing tubes in her throat."

The nurse elegantly laughed, "Oh, I am glad you understood the pain it brings to the patient."

Ruby smiled as well along with the other two before she asked, "Would there be someone in the infirmary later in the night?"

The nurse nodded, "Yes, absolutely. If something happens or you want to consult a medic you can reach out at any time."

The redhead nodded and thanked her for her services.

Just then, the nurse glanced around the room and asked, "I can’t find Professor Adrian around? Has he gone somewhere?"

Ruby informed her, "Oh, he is taking a bath."

The nurse’s eyes sparkled a little as she nodded and turned silent.

Annabelle waited and waited before her eyes narrowed, "Are you not thinking of seeing Darling just out of the bath, are you?"

Covering her mouth, the nurse laughed, "Oh my, assuming something like that about someone of my age...fufuf..."

The nurse realized she was fooling none since Ruby was now also looking at her dead in the eye.

Realising she wouldn’t be able to handle the burn of these two women’s anger, she tactically retreated.

Annabelle huffed, "Trying to flirt with my hubby right in front of me."

Ruby slightly chuckled while shaking her head before she asked, "Hasn’t he been inside the bathroom for too long?"

Annabelle froze and shared a glance with Ruby.

The redhead’s eyes slightly widened too.

Two women, two different solutions.

While Ruby thought of a more rational method of calling him out by knocking on the door—Annabelle was two steps ahead.

*CREAK*

"Darling?!" The first-ranked Warden slammed so hard in the door that it broke off the hinges and fell to the other side, revealing a butt naked Adrian standing there, holding a towel on either side of his torso, ready to wrap it around his lower body.

But since he failed to wrap it in time, the two women were now staring at his front naked body in full glory.

For a few seconds, none moved.

For a few seconds, none breathed.

And for a few seconds, they couldn’t keep their eyes off it.

The little Adrian

Adrian hurriedly turned away and covered himself with the towel before shouting, "Get out, now!"

Annabelle was broken out of her trance while Ruby was still there...the image of ’it’ made her face flushed and breath rasped.

However, both of them instantly stepped outside, allowing Adrian some privacy to wear his clothes.

Those few moments he took were enough to make Annabelle realize her mistake.

And if only time wasn’t enough, the hard chop on her head, not one but multiple, told her that she misbehaved.

*Tak* *Tak* *Tak*

Annabelle winced as Adrian continued to drop heavy chops on her head as he told her, "There is something I taught you long ago. Don’t intrude unless you have knocked thrice, remember?"

Annabelle winced as she moaned, "Ou...ou...shorry...ou...I won’t do...ou...it again."

Adrian heaved a sigh and pulled his hand back.

Turning towards Ruby, he found her eyes were drawn towards his crotch and the shade of her face matched her hair.

He felt his heart skipping a beat upon the realisation that she has seen it all.

Coughing into his fist, he said, "I didn’t expect such behavior from you, Miss Vermillion."

Caught in the act, Ruby panicked, "I was about to stop her!"

Adrian huffed and said, "Now, you are going to repair the door as a punishment."

Ruby lowered her head and nodded; not escaping the punishment.

And deep inside, she knew the mistake was worth it (⁠ ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄).

Turning towards Annabelle, he asked, "Did you eat anything?"

Annabelle, while still rubbing her sore spot, shook her head, "I was too worried about you to think of eating anything."

Adrian sighed as he checked her head and said, "I will go and make something for you two." After he kissed the top of her head, making her smile in delight, he made his way to the makeshift kitchen in the corner of his room.

Hearing them talk, Ariana’s faint but calm breathing and the familiar space and warmth of his room...yes, the world hadn’t ended.

He has gone through some world-shaking disclosures and has come to realize things which maybe only Nytharos or the system could have told him.

The curiosity about his three souls, the fear of his origin, the uncertainty of the future...there was all that. However, in this moment, with the people who matter to him, laughing and chatting right beside him? He didn’t need to think about anything else.

This was his world. And he would overcome anything to protect it.