SSS Awakening: All My Clones Have Divine Bloodlines!

Chapter 158: Selena’s Choice

Even though Seraphine stood right there beside him, Evan knew he was the only one who could actually see her. Not because she was some kind of illusion or anything like that, but because the beautiful goddess had her own ways of staying hidden.

"Well, I suppose it was to be expected. If you can be that cold to a poor damsel like myself, I imagine you won’t feel much for a little girl like her either," she said, not missing the chance, as usual, to needle him.

’What else am I supposed to do, drag her along with me?’ Evan grumbled internally.

Just as he was about to say more, the girl in front of him, who’d finally recovered from the shock, spoke up, her voice a tangled mess of panic and doubt.

"W-what did you do to him?" she asked, the tip of her arrow still pointed straight at him.

Seeing this, Evan didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

"Him? I didn’t do anything to him. Now that he has finished his job, he simply returned to me," Evan said, and without wasting any more time, he walked past her, straight toward the clearing not far ahead.

"Returned? What do you mean by that?" she asked quickly, spinning to follow him, but Evan didn’t answer, continuing on his way.

Seeing this, Lirien felt somewhat lost.

’And now what do I do?’

She had been saved, and she had already recovered.

She had accompanied that guy all the way here, but now what? What was she supposed to do?

That was her first thought, but then his earlier words came rushing back to her.

’So it was him who sent that thing to save me? But why?’ she wondered. After all, the two of them didn’t know each other, and this was, without a doubt, the first time she’d ever met him.

Could he be a student from the academy too? she wondered.

Naturally, she had countless questions and doubts, but the other party didn’t seem interested in giving her any more time, which irritated her a little.

In the end, she calmed herself down. Her curiosity about the entire situation, about him, won out, and without hesitation, she decided to follow him.

After all, where else was she supposed to go?

Their instructor was dead. Percival, well, she wasn’t sure what had become of that bastard, not that she particularly cared. The rest of the group was scattered, in other words, gone, and the stranger walking ahead of her was, as far as she could tell, the only living person here.

So she decided to stick close to him, at least for now.

Evan, of course, noticed all this, and couldn’t help but wonder whether he should summon Ash just to scare her off.

In the end, he decided against it. As long as she didn’t bother him, he could simply ignore her.

And so, while Evan prepared to see for himself what kind of creature this Avatar of an Abyssal god actually was, Selena and Vincent found themselves in a difficult situation of their own.

Because of the excessive mana she’d burned through in her fury, all three of them had drawn the attention of the Forsaken, who wasted no time closing in. And now that they were here, they weren’t about to let their prey slip away easily.

Vincent was far enough away that he hadn’t immediately drawn their attention, but the same couldn’t be said for Percival and Selena, especially the latter, who took the initiative and struck first, cutting a few of them down without hesitation.

But it wasn’t enough. More kept arriving, and her few kills seemed meaningless when considering the situation as a whole.

’This isn’t good. At this rate, we’re going to be completely surrounded.’

Selena found herself caught in a dilemma. She could still run, there was still enough room to maneuver and flee, but that would mean giving up her revenge.

The thought infuriated her, and how could it not? She’d finally gotten her hands on Percival, and right as she was about to finish him off, she’d ended up having to fight these things instead.

Meanwhile, Percival, still alive, watched the Forsaken closing in on him and started thrashing like a pig on a spit.

"Fuck, stay back, don’t you dare come closer—" he screamed, trying to move, but the extreme pain from the ice spear embedded in his chest restricted his movements, causing his anger and panic to grow even stronger.

The fact that he hadn’t died immediately was already a miracle. But what good was that miracle if he was just going to end up torn apart by these things instead?

Watching the scene unfold, Selena finally let out a breath. She’d made her decision.

She couldn’t kill Percival with her own hands. But he couldn’t escape either.

He would die at the hands of these creatures, which in a certain sense was also a death far from peaceful.

That was what she told herself, to quiet the frustration building inside her, and in the end, she turned, closing the distance to Vincent in a quick burst, ready to drag him along with her.

But he stopped her.

"No... leave me. Just run. It’s already too late for me," he said, moving his remaining hand away from the wound on his chest.

There, despite no visible wound on the surface, the skin had darkened, a large stain spreading slowly across his entire abdomen.

It was clear the earlier blow had wounded him far more severely than it first appeared, and now, it seemed, that wound had already crossed a point of no return.

Vincent knew this. He’d already made peace with it. But when he saw the girl about to carry him away with her, he stopped her.

Selena, seeing this, frowned.

She wasn’t about to save this man out of the goodness of her heart. After all, he was still a Langthon, and even though she held no personal grudge against him specifically, she’d sworn to eliminate every last one of them.

The only reason she’d decided to bring him along now was because there was something she needed to confirm.

Vincent had arrived at the academy shortly after she’d received news of her mother’s and brother’s deaths.

Back then, she hadn’t thought much of the coincidence, still too lost in grief. But later, as the anger built up inside her and the urge to wipe out the Langthon family took hold, she couldn’t help but wonder whether her mother’s death had really just been an unfortunate accident.

She had nothing that proved otherwise. But when it came to the Langthons, it was hard to believe they’d simply let something like that slide without lifting a finger.

Maybe she was reading too much into it. Maybe she wasn’t. But she knew who to ask.

Vincent.

She’d never gotten close to him back then, and never got the chance later either, since he seemed to actively avoid her.

She wasn’t sure why. But it didn’t matter. One way or another, once she was done settling her revenge, she’d find out.

This expedition, disastrous as it had turned out to be, had also been a blessing in disguise for her. Not only could she eliminate two of her targets, she could finally get some clarity on the matter too.

So she’d wanted to drag him out of here first, and interrogate him after.

But it seemed that wouldn’t be possible.