Chapter 638: Eternal Contract! The True Evil Eye!
Kaede ran off with Hikage Miyauchi and Konomi. The sudden revelation about the other women was too much for her innocent heart, and she needed space to process the fact that the gentle Ren she knew was surrounded by such a... complicated harem.
Yaeko felt the atmosphere was also a bit awkward, thick with unspoken implications and the heavy scent of supernatural power. So, she also said goodbye and left with the thoughtful Yuzuru and Shoko, planning to slowly process the worldview-shattering information back in the safety of their own space.
Tohka had the same thought. The weight of the revelations pressed on her, and she needed to regroup.
But when she went to pull Rikka's hand, Rikka remained rooted to the spot. Her small frame was tense, her singular visible eye fixed on Ren with an intensity that burned.
"Rikka?" Tohka called out softly, confusion coloring her voice.
Rikka looked up at Ren. The usual playful spark of her chuunibyou persona was dimmed, replaced by a raw, aching vulnerability.
After thinking for so long, wrestling with the phantom pain of loss and the desperate hope of fantasy, she finally made a decision. She would confront the truth, no matter how much it hurt.
"Dark Hero! I want to know… Dad, has Dad really left forever?!"
"Rikka!" Tohka looked at Rikka in astonishment. Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp.
She had thought that Rikka would once again use the "Boundary Line of the Other Shore"—that fantastical construct of her grief—to escape the crushing reality of her father's departure. It was her shield, her fortress against the pain.
But for the first time, Rikka directly spoke of this reality. She stripped away the metaphors and the magic, asking the question that haunted her every waking moment.
"Death is a fact that has already occurred," Ren answered, his voice calm and unyielding.
Since she asked him, Ren naturally kept his promise and answered her. He wouldn't lie to her, not about this.
He didn't tolerate Rikka's avoidance like Tohka had always done. Tohka's kindness was a soft blanket that smothered the truth, but Ren offered the cold, hard steel of reality. It was painful, but it was honest.
"…"
Hearing the answer she already knew, the confirmation from a being of immense power shattered the last vestiges of her denial.
Rikka's small body still trembled. It started in her shoulders and cascaded down her spine, a visible manifestation of her internal collapse.
From her lowered head, water droplets fell from her face, hidden by her hair. They splashed silently onto the floor, each one a testament to her grief.
Her father had died. He was gone. The Ethereal Horizon didn't exist in the way she had hoped.
Such a fact was painful for Rikka. It was a wound that refused to heal, a void that nothing could fill.
Tohka covered her mouth with one hand, trying her best not to let her bitter emotions show. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she watched her sister's silent agony.
Looking at Rikka like this, crumbled and weeping, she felt guilty that as an older sister, she hadn't been able to protect her younger sister. She had let Rikka retreat into fantasy because she didn't know how to handle the reality herself.
But a gentle large hand gently stroked Rikka's small head. It was warm, grounding, a stark contrast to the coldness of her grief.
Ren spoke again, his voice now a little softer, imbued with a gentle authority that demanded attention: "But after death comes new life."
"New… life?"
Rikka lifted her tear-streaked eyes, repeating the word blankly. The concept was foreign, a flicker of light in the overwhelming darkness.
Ren didn't explain with words. Instead, he shared a vision, a fragment of truth from the cycle of existence.
A warm light seemed to emanate in her mind, expanding until it filled her vision. She saw a scene, vivid and real.
It was the boundary between light and darkness, a place of transition and peace. The air shimmered with golden particles, and a soft breeze carried the scent of memories.
A figure stood in the light curtain. He was familiar, achingly so. The set of his shoulders, the gentle curve of his smile—it was him.
He was waving at her. It wasn't a wave of goodbye, but of reassurance. A silent message that he was okay, that he was moving on.
"Father!"
Rikka shouted, her voice cracking with emotion.
She couldn't be mistaken; that was her father! He looked younger, unburdened by the illness that had taken him, radiant with a newfound peace.
But before she could step forward, before she could reach out and try to hold him one last time, the vision shifted.
She saw her father lower his arm, a relieved smile on his lips. He turned, his figure dissolving into particles of light as he walked deeper into the curtain. He didn't look back, but his steps were light.
"Father!" Rikka cried out, reaching towards empty air.
"Your father has embraced new life after death, departing from the Boundary Line of the Other Shore," Ren explained softly. "He is not lost. He has simply moved on to the next stage of his journey."
Everything just now was what Ren had allowed her to see. It wasn't a conjuration or a trick.
It was not an illusion. It was a glimpse into the mechanism of the soul, a truth usually hidden from mortal eyes.
It was just that he had truly found her father's soul, purified from an evil spirit that had lingered, and had him transcended. He had given her father peace, and in doing so, offered Rikka closure.
This matter was quite hellish in its details—the corruption of a soul, the purification process—but Rikka didn't need to know the gritty specifics.
After all, it was quite something that her deeply missed father had become an evil spirit. That truth might break her.
But now that he was transcended, and could give the young girl Rikka an answer, it could be considered making the best use of him. It was a kindness born of power.
"Rikka, what's wrong with you?!"
Tohka heard Rikka's sudden shout and quickly knelt down, grabbing her sister's shoulders, asking worriedly. She hadn't seen the vision; she only saw Rikka staring into space, tears streaming down her face.
Rikka couldn't control the tears falling from the corners of her eyes. They flowed freely now, washing away the stagnant pain of the past three years.
But her lips involuntarily curved into a smile. It was a small, fragile thing, but it was genuine.
"It's Father, I saw it, I saw the Boundary Line of the Other Shore! Father didn't leave, he went to find a new life!"
That warm light, and the relieved smile—Rikka wouldn't feel wrong about it. It resonated with her soul. He wasn't trapped in a dark void; he was free.
"Huh?"
From Tohka's perspective, nothing had happened, and she completely didn't understand what Rikka was saying. Was this another delusion? Another layer of the fantasy?
Was she still in her chuunibyou phase?
Not chuunibyou, but she was about to be. Or rather, she was about to redefine it.
Rikka wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, sniffing loudly. She raised her small head, her golden eye—the colored contact lens glinting—fixing on Ren with renewed fervor.
Her small hand covered her right eye, fingers splayed in a dramatic gesture, and she once again struck her previous chuunibyou pose. The stance was practiced, but the energy behind it was different now. It wasn't defensive; it was affirmative.
"Dark Hero! I must thank you for witnessing the Boundary Line of the Other Shore with me!" she declared, her voice ringing with theatrical power.
"At this moment, I shall make an eternal pact with you with the world's strongest Wicked Eye of the King! We shall be bound by fate and darkness!"
Translated, it means: Thank you. You saved me. Can we be friends? Can I stay by your side?
However, Ren felt it was more interesting not to translate it. He appreciated the flair.
He pinched his chin, feigning contemplation for a moment, letting the silence stretch just enough to build tension. Under Rikka's surprised, slightly anxious gaze, he casually shrugged.
"Then let's do it."
"Eh?"
Rikka was stunned. Her pose faltered.
She… she was just saying it for fun! It was her way of coping, of expressing gratitude in the only language she felt safe using.
Of course, she knew whether or not she had the Wicked Eye of the King. It was a contact lens and a vivid imagination.
But why did Ren say that? Why did he agree to a pact that didn't exist?
Could it be… he was also a chuunibyou?!
Uh, that didn't seem right either. He really did have superpowers. He had just shown her the afterlife.
She was still overthinking how to answer, her brain short-circuiting between her fantasy persona and the reality of the situation.
She didn't notice Ren's hand reaching out, touching her small hand.
The contact was electric.
The next moment, a burst of light and strong wind blew Rikka and Tohka's clothes. The air in the living room crackled with energy, lifting Rikka's hair and sending dust motes dancing wildly.
Then a magic circle-like aura expanded under Rikka's feet. It was intricate, glowing with a deep crimson light, rotating slowly with a hum of power. It pulsed once, twice, and then instantly retracted into her body, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.
"What's going on…"
Tohka didn't understand the current situation. She shielded her eyes from the wind, looking between Ren and her sister in bewilderment.
"Nothing, just a contract," Ren stated simply, withdrawing his hand.
"I… I feel like there's such powerful strength in my body!"
Rikka incredibly clenched her small hands. She could feel it—a surging river of energy flowing through her veins, hot and potent. It wasn't adrenaline; it was power.
A bright red hexagram lit up in the center of her right eye, burning through the contact lens with actual magical light.
And then she flew up!
Her feet left the floor, hovering inches, then feet, above the ground.
"Rikka?"
Looking up, Tohka, who only saw Rikka's small bear shorts as she floated higher, was startled. "You're... floating!"
"Holy Regulator! Did you see it? I'm flying!"
Rikka excitedly shouted, spinning in mid-air. The sensation of weightlessness was intoxicating.
She really was flying. It wasn't a trick of wires or wind.
Didn't this mean that from now on, she wouldn't be a chuunibyou anymore? Her delusions had become reality.
I have a real Wicked Eye of the King!
The one who gave her power… it must be Ren!
She quickly flew down, landing gracefully despite her lack of practice. She stood proudly with her hands on her hips, chin held high.
"Hmph hmph, Holy Regulator, did you see that? This is the power of my contract with the Dark Hero! The Tyrant's Eye has awakened!"
"…"
Tohka was speechless. She stared at her sister, then at Ren.
This was clearly caused by the contract Ren just mentioned. He had turned Rikka's fantasy into literal power.
How could she not know what her own sister was like? Rikka was imaginative, yes, but she couldn't fly. Until now.
"Ren-kun, could you please explain the current situation to me?"
As Rikka's older sister, Tohka was very concerned. This wasn't just playing games anymore. This was supernatural.
"Just a contract, giving Rikka some minor abilities," Ren dismissed with a wave of his hand.
Even if Rikka unleashed her full power, it would only be enough to destroy a town—a trivial amount of destruction in the grand scheme of the multiverse—so they were indeed just minor abilities to him.
"Do you want to try it too?" he asked Tohka, his golden eyes glinting with amusement.
"Eh? Holy Regulator too… Darn it, Holy Regulator is seducing my Dark Hero!"
Rikka swiftly moved to Ren's side and hugged his arm, glaring at her sister as if guarding her own possession. "Get your own contract! He's my contractor!"
"…"
Tohka twitched her lips.
She just defected like that? One minute she's crying about Dad, the next she's fighting over a boy with superpowers.
Pressing her temples to stave off a headache, she exhaled a turbid breath and asked the practical question: "Shouldn't a contract be between two parties? Are there any requirements? Prices to pay?"
She just felt that this contract wasn't that simple. Magic always had a cost.
"Oh? You're very perceptive."
Ren showed surprise, a smirk playing on his lips.
He simply stopped hiding anything. The air around him shifted, becoming slightly heavier, more serious.
"After the contract, you probably won't be able to leave me."
"Can't leave?" Tohka repeated, her heart skipping a beat.
"That's right. After the contract, your life will be as long as heaven and earth, fundamentally different from ordinary people. Immortality, eternal youth, power... and how could there be no cost for gaining my power?"
"The cost is belonging to me."
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