Mystery: Chaos Path

Azik saw Lucifer again three days later.

It was a rare sunny morning, unlike usual when you barely see the sun all day. That morning, Klein had taken on a new commission and left, and Jack and Red Angel seemed to have something to do, also leaving the residence early in the morning, leaving only Azik, theoretically a guest, staying in the large villa.

Lucifer knocked on the villa door under these circumstances. When Azik put down his newspaper and opened the door, he saw the black-haired, golden-eyed angel standing at the entrance.

The clothes he wore had been changed, looking more casual than a formal dress, but still luxurious. The thick book in his hand was still the same as before.

"Good morning, Azik."

Lucifer raised his hand and pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his face, giving Azik a smile with a very leisurely attitude. He said, "Jack told me you wanted to see me."

"Good morning, Lord Lucifer."

Azik was much more nervous in comparison. He welcomed Lucifer in, somewhat awkwardly brewed black tea, handed it to him, and then said:

"I indeed wanted to see you. Perhaps Jack has already told you the reason in his letter. I want to meet my past self, the former Death Magistrate."

Roland, wearing the Lucifer persona, chuckled upon hearing this. He picked up the black tea brewed by Azik, took a sip, and then looked up at him, saying:

"This is very dangerous. You should be aware of your situation. Directly facing the former Death Magistrate might cause you to directly recall that past in the Bayam Empire. That was when you were most deeply influenced by the God of Death and divinity. Actor, are you prepared to face the impact?"

"I don't know."

Azik shook his head after a moment of silence, but then his gaze became firm, and he said, "But at least I don't want to passively wait for death."

During this time, Azik had thought a lot. Occasionally, he would dream of those past events, although they were not clear and could only be described as fragments, they still allowed him to glimpse how different the former Death Magistrate was from the current him.

Azik had been afraid and resisted, but ultimately decided to do so.

At least this way, he might still be able to grasp his own destiny, instead of being passively devoured by the other half of his soul.

"Perhaps it's not devouring?"

The black-haired angel seemed to have glimpsed his thoughts, chuckled, opened the blank book, turned to a certain page, and said:

"Azik, do you want to know your future? Considering you're a good actor, I don't mind letting you know some of the script in advance."

As he said this, the young man's face had an undisguised mischievousness, clearly indicating that he was doing this simply to watch a play, to see some amusement.

Azik pursed his lips, did not refuse, and said, "So, what was the future originally meant for me?"

"You…"

Roland's gaze fell on the blank page. There were no words on it, but Roland's mind had automatically conjured up various events from the original story. This made him smile and say:

"It could be considered a good ending. You give up the other part of your soul, and someone helps you avoid the fate of fusion, but as a price, you will be forever trapped in reincarnation."

"Do you like this ending?"

Roland looked up at Azik, smiling and saying, "If you like it, you can still choose this."

Azik was silent again. After a few seconds, he sighed and then smiled, saying, "If it were a few days ago, I probably would have chosen that ending, but now I want to choose another ending."

"Oh?"

Roland raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.

Azik looked at him, his gaze firm yet gentle, and said, "I want to fuse with my other half soul. I want to escape reincarnation. I want to overcome divinity with humanity."

"What made you make such a change? Actor."

At this moment, Roland asked like a director, or like a reporter giving relief to others’ worries.

"There are many reasons."

Azik replied unhurriedly, "If I really had to find a decisive reason, it's probably because the world that Jack and the others described is too wonderful. I want to help them, so I can't continue to wallow in this way."

Roland showed a surprised expression, looked at Azik, and said, "I didn't expect you to still be an idealist."

"No, I'm not."

Azik shook his head, revealing a bitter smile, and said, "During this time, I've actually dreamed of many things. I've dreamed of myself dying and being resurrected again and again, and I've also dreamed of myself sitting on a throne, one person after another falling down beside me, and then turning into skeletons and crawling up…"

His voice was somewhat dazed, like a sleep-talk.

"I feel like this is wrong, it shouldn't be like this, but another me says it should be like this…"

Azik lowered his head, murmuring, as if lost in his memories.

Roland quietly watched him, knowing that his actions had brought about some changes. Compared to the original story, Azik had clearly recovered more memories, but perhaps due to the influence of reuniting with his children, the current Azik was obviously in more pain than in the original story, where he gradually became indifferent under the influence of his memories.

Because of the pain caused by the conflict between humanity and divinity.

"Besides that, what else have you dreamed of?"

Roland suddenly spoke, his voice gentle, as if a priest listening to others' troubles and then giving relief, but then in the next moment, he was incomparably cold as he said, "Did you dream of your children?"

"Dreaming of them also in that pile of bones, dreaming of their disappointed expressions."

Azik suddenly looked up at him.

Roland gave him a smile, but his voice was like a sentence: "You know very well that your children would not be willing to accept such a father."

One wrong, one first, one hair, one content, one in, one by one to see!

Azik's body almost trembled. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a coherent word.

Roland's gaze seemed to carry a hint of pity, or perhaps it was an indifferent smile. He stood up, raised his hand and pressed it lightly on Azik's head, like a god stroking a lost lamb, smiling and saying:

"You are atoning, Azik.

For the sins you once committed, for those bloody pasts you can't describe to your children…"

"When Jack described the world we want to create to you, you were very happy, right? You can finally atone, you can slightly make up for your…"

Roland paused here, couldn't help but smile, and then said, "Past as the Death Magistrate."

"…Yes."

Azik finally uttered a coherent word. He raised his head and looked at Roland, saying, "I want to atone."

"I know that the mistakes of the past cannot be truly compensated, but at least now I hope to contribute my share of strength for that beautiful world."