CHAPTER 399: THE FATE REVERSAL

"I want to be with him, Mother."

Xion’s voice was quiet, but each word was steady, almost defiant.

In his adult form, he stood taller than his dear mother. And yet, despite his grown body, he seemed... smaller. Weaker somehow.

As if something essential had been carved out of him, leaving behind only a shell.

Myrthia’s eyes softened. She knew why. She had brought Xion back so hastily, tearing him away from that mortal in a blaze of divine light.

The separation had left him hollow, his soul frayed at the edges.

Darius had soaked his hands in blood for Xion’s sake, and in doing so, he had woven a new fate.

A red string between angel and mortal so thick and unyielding that even the reversal of time had not been able to sever it.

"Humans and angels are not meant to fall in love, sweetheart," Myrthia said gently. "Every time it happens, it ends in tragedy. That is the law of the worlds."

"Without him," Xion said, staring at his palm as if he could still feel the warmth Darius had left on his fingertips, "it is already a tragedy, Mother. Please, help me find him."

His eyes didn’t tear up, but the faint quiver of his breath was enough to press painfully against Myrthia’s chest.

"I promise. I won’t ask you for anything else. Ever again."

Myrthia stepped forward and pulled him into her arms. "Oh, my child..." she sighed, fingers stroking the back of his head. "If you choose this path, you will lose everything. Your powers. Your wings. Even your life."

Xion closed his eyes against her shoulder. He knew.

Even if all he could have was one year beside Darius, that would be worth all the rest of his life.

When Michael had broken him, it had been Darius who pieced him back together. Bit by bit, he had filled the empty cracks with his own love and tenderness.

Darius, who sat by his side when Xion spoke to no one.

Darius, who fed him when he was too numb to move, combed his hair when it tangled, and retold him the silly stories Xion himself had once told him, as if returning lost fragments of his own joy.

How could he just let that warmth go?

Xion had always been stubborn. When the little angel decided on something, he pursued it with relentless patience, no matter how impossible it seemed.

Just like the time he’d pestered Mr. Cat for months until the deity finally relented and sent him to the human world.

Only a handful of gods — and Mr. Cat — still remembered the first timeline before its reversal.

The other angels couldn’t fathom why Xion clung so fiercely to a mortal he had known for what seemed like a brief flicker of time.

They tried to persuade him. They warned him. Some even scolded him. But Xion did not budge.

And then, one by one, they began to stand by his side.

As long as their little brother was happy, what else mattered?

In the end, Myrthia had to concede. She could not send Xion back under her own domain without breaking the laws she was sworn to uphold.

So she made arrangements with another god, the very same one who had voted for Michael in the last divine council.

Xion was stripped of everything that marked him as an angel.

His halo, his grace, the divine power flowing in his veins, and even his memories. All of them.

No golden light would protect him now. He was reborn as an ordinary human.

But the threads of fate were stubborn things.

Because his destiny was so deeply entwined with Darius’, Xion became linked to the Archduke’s sins as well.

For every life Darius took, Xion paid part of the cost.

Darius, in contrast, gained what he had lacked in his past life — fortune.

Luck clung to him like a second skin. Loyal subjects rose to his side one by one.

Raymond Eldritch, the sharpest sword in the realm, pledged his blade to Darius; Allen, an unmatched alchemist, dedicated himself to guarding the Archduke’s health.

Victories in battle brought him not only land and power but the adoration of the common folk. The devil of Darkhelm house became, in the eyes of many, a war hero.

While Xion became labeled as a pervert, Darius became someone to be worthy of every praise and every salute.

Darius lived in luxury.

And Xion... struggled just to survive each day.

Myrthia had intended, in time, to send Darius into Xion’s world.

Somewhere far from the ceaseless tug of divine politics. Somewhere, Michael’s reach could not follow.

The moment was meant to come on the day of Marquis Vaelis’ grand banquet — the day Darius was supposed to be poisoned.

That death would have freed him to be reborn where Xion now lived.

But fate twisted.

Instead of Darius dying, another perished.

A child of a mortal woman whom Myrthia had once blessed.

That child was human, but the Goddess had thought so often of her beloved little Xion that the boy born looked uncannily like angel Xion.

Both children had been born under Myrthia’s blessing, rare as moonlight on snow. None was like them, and none would ever be.

When Mr. Cat descended to the mortal world to give Xion a quiet nudge and just a small tip to make his human life easier, after Darius would be reborn there by his side.

The result was fatal.

Xion died.

It was Mr. Cat, guilt pressing against every whisker of his being, who secretly left the Mall Point system behind for Xion’s use.

He knew Xion’s habits. If anything, at least this way, Xion would have a lifeline when the gods could no longer intervene.

For an angel turned mortal, the road was cruel for him.

Xion would have to find his soulmate on his own. Walk the entire path without divine aid.

Mr. Cat could only scatter crumbs along the way.

It was also Mr. Cat who smuggled Minato into that world, unseen by the others.

But such meddling came at a cost. After Sakura Mei’s tragic fate, it had become forbidden to transfer souls to and from Eldoria.

Minato’s life was shortened to mere years.

It was still fine, at least, until Xion and Darius finally met, and Xion cured the trouble he had caused.

That was also the reason why, no matter how Darius looked for the person behind his Moon Shade Affliction, he only bumped into a wall with no result in sight.

Xion and Darius became close almost instantly, and Xion fell for the Archduke despite his memories being locked away.

So when Darius began to show his possessive streak again — that dangerous, consuming obsession — Mr. Cat panicked.

Mr. Cat knew too well what could happen if Xion’s memories came rushing back before he was ready.

The weight of them might crush him. The grief, the longing, the old pain — it could drag him back into the shadows he’d barely escaped.

Xion had shown the signs when the people of Ferni had taunted him. Just like in the previous life, Xion had slipped into that numb state.

Luckily, it was only for a brief duration, and this time, Darius was there to punish the ones who deserved it.

However, Mr. Cat was too scared for his little silly Xion’s well-being. So, he acted first.

When Darius became perfectly healthy, an urgent task appeared in the Mall system.

Leave Darius behind and go far. Travel until there is no trace of him in the air you breathe.

It was better they meet again when Xion’s mind was whole. Or at least, when the cracks in his heart had been mended with some love that had been absent from his life since his birth as mortal, even if imperfectly.

Better distance than destruction.

And now that Xion had become aware of everything, even the things that had been done behind his back, he couldn’t help but smile at the grumpy cat.

Under the laws of gods and mortals, they would never meet.

But knowing that Mr. Cat might be watching over him all this time gave him a rare giddiness.

Even the task of stopping Darius from killing those people must be Mr. Cat’s doing, Xion mused.

The furry god didn’t want Darius to end up walking the same path as their last life.

’System... Thank you for always being by my side.’

The system remained silent for a second before replying, [Hey! Don’t go all sappy with me, now. No matter what, I can’t give you the panacea. Nor can I help you find other solutions. Hmph!]

Xion gently patted the sleeping boy on his lap, ’Ah, too bad. I thought I could trick you into telling me some other way, my almighty system.’

[... You don’t need to. If you give me the Archduke’s armor, I might be able to do something about it.]

This little thing was still after Darius’ armor.

Xion couldn’t help but chuckle.

’Alright, I will ask Darius when he comes back. Is that fine?’

[Ohhhh~ Perfect! I can sell that on the black market for millions!]