Chapter 88: A Despairing Enemy {Mass Release}
Seeing the shadow, Logan froze.
His mind drifted back to the shadow he had encountered during the mission to kill the governor and the vice-head.
Back then, it had only appeared briefly.
But now...
The shadow slowly tilted its head to the side and spoke with a smile.
"Logan Weaver... its nice to see you... again."
Logan was briefly startled by the shadow’s words.
From the way it spoke, it was obvious the shadow wasn’t referring to their encounter just days ago, but something far deeper.
"Who are you?" Logan silently retrieved his SSS-ranked sword, his body immediately tensing with alertness.
One had to know that both he and Luna were still invisible.
Yet the shadow could see them perfectly.
"You wouldnt know me..." the shadow lingered for a moment before speaking evenly. "But you should."
"I have always been there right from the start of it all, Logan. I have always been one step ahead of you..."
"What do you me-"
Before Logan could react, a strange, mysterious energy wrapped around him.
The force was overwhelming.
Uncontrollably, he was dragged into another dimension.
Logan’s heart filled with alarm.
’Was this an... origin domain?’
After reaching a certain level of mastery with one’s origin ability, there was a chance to create a domain tied directly to that origin.
The instant the strange sensation swallowed him, Logan understood.
It was a domain.
The shadow’s voice spread from every direction, cold and inescapable.
"In the previous timeline, I was merely a random character in your story. However this time... I aim to be the main character."
The shadow’s words caused Logan’s pupils to shrink.
This time, the shadow wasn’t speaking vaguely.
Previous timeline?
Main character?
His heartbeat quickened slightly.
Could the shadow be...
Just as he was about to reach a conclusion, a screen appeared before him.
It resembled an illusion, vast enough to display everything clearly.
Logan stared at the screen, shock flickering across his face.
On it was a silver-haired youth with a dazed expression.
Shockingly, it was himself at the moment he transmigrated.
"See Logan? Everything has always been under my control from the very beginning." The shadow’s voice drifted through the darkness like the whisper of a devil.
The scene shifted.
Soon, the maid appeared and informed Logan of the celebration.
After the maid left, Logan noticed something he had completely overlooked before.
Her shadow twisted unnaturally.
Then a small fragment of it silently slipped away, merging with the shadows near the curtains.
It remained by the wall.
Watching.
Silently observing his every movement.
...
During the escape, the shadow was there as well.
Always present.
Watching the entire situation unfold.
When Logan triggered the hidden mechanism and used the secret passage, the shadow had followed him inside.
He hadn’t noticed it because he would never have guessed such a thing was possible.
But now...
A chill slowly crawled down Logan’s spine.
...
The display shifted again.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again, it replayed everything that had happened since Logan arrived in this world.
The shadow was always there.
Always watching.
Always one step ahead of him.
Suddenly, the screen froze.
...
Strangely, it was no longer displaying scenes from Logan’s life while training in the city with Evelyn.
Instead, it showed the room of a middle-aged man.
The man sat quietly reading a novel when a piece of paper suddenly slipped beneath the door.
It was the shadow.
The shadow had delivered it.
The instant Logan saw the man, his heart sank.
Kael.
The man responsible for driving Evelyn to her death.
Kael opened the paper, and a photograph slipped onto the floor.
For a moment, Logan felt as though everything around him had become unreal.
It was a picture of himself and Evelyn.
Even the location had been carefully written on it.
Logan’s thoughts immediately drifted back to the day Kael attacked them.
Back then, he had already felt that something was wrong.
Everything had happened too quickly.
Kael should never have found them so soon.
Initially, Logan thought it was because they had left the city.
But that wasn’t the case at all.
It had been the shadow from the very beginning.
The shadow knew the leader of the assassin organization was nearby, so it deliberately sent the letter to Kael.
It had orchestrated Evelyn’s death so perfectly that Logan felt dazed for a moment.
What was this?
What kind of enemy was this?
"Hahahahahahahaha..."
"Do you see it now, Logan?"
"Everything you’ve ever thought of has always been within my calculations."
Logan stared blankly as the screen vanished.
For a brief moment, he felt strangely hollow.
Inside his heart was an endless mixture of rage and hatred.
"You... killed Evelyn?"
"She was merely part of the goal." The shadow spoke after a long stretch of silence.
"I want you to feel what true despair is by losing everyone you love."
Logan could feel the vengeful hatred hidden within those words.
But he didn’t understand.
He didn’t know the shadow.
So why did it hate him this much?
And it had been studying him from the very beginning...
It was almost as though it had...
Lived this life before.
Logan’s eyes widened drastically as a terrifying suspicion bloomed within his heart.
"So you finally realised." The shadow didn’t sound surprised.
Logan didn’t want to believe it.
But he understood now.
At last, he understood why the shadow had spoken to him with such familiarity the moment it appeared.
"You are... a regressor?"
"As expected of the bastard son of origin." The shadow didn’t deny it.
"Despite knowing the truth, you can no longer change your fate within my hands."
"You are already too late."
Logan’s heart gradually turned cold.
From the shadow’s confirmation, it seemed that originally...
It had been present all along.
But that couldn’t be possible.
He had only recently transmigrated into the novel.
In the original timeline, the shadow should only have known Ethan.
’Something’s wrong.’
’What’s going on?’
’Is he mistaking me for Ethan?’
Logan immediately ruled the thought out.
The shadow had specifically targeted him.
That meant it already knew Ethan would never become an important figure within the story.
...
Author’s note: if you enjoyed this Chapter, along with the big reveal, please do consider donating some gifts, golden tickets and power stones thank you. What speculations do you have about the identity of the shadow? I have a feeling he’s someone we know about. Or could it be a lady? Do you love the mystery or should I go back to a casual slice of life with some mixture of smut elements. Your feedback and gifts will be highly appreciated. I’m grateful to you all for coming this far in the novel...
