TFSAWE - Chapter 265: Long Lost Sibling (Patreon)

"Sister?"

The voice that reached me from reality immediately brought me back to consciousness. As I blinked my eyes, I saw Leon gripping me with a worried expression on his face.

"Lina? Are you awake?"

"I'm fine. But who.."

As I turned my head, I swallowed my breath. Beyond the cracked ground stood someone I knew well.

"Evelina."

He no longer smiled; instead, his face took on a demonic expression as he called out to me. But what startled me wasn't just his demeanor. Holding a knife to his throat was a thin woman whom I recognized in an instant.

"Iris."

Before my murmurs of surprise could fade away, Iris reached out her hand toward me and shouted.

"Sister! Sister!"

"Sister?"

I couldn't fathom why Iris was calling me sister. As if to answer my inner query, Carl interjected.

"Don't you greet your family? You're her older sister, whom your mother carried when she fled."

"What are you talking about?"

Iris stared at Carl, unable to utter a word.

"Something tells me your chastity did not simply enter any body. Looks like the sisters were fortunate enough to receive divine favor!"

Carl continued shouting at me, who was still speechless.

"Your parents deliberately demanded money from the temple and abandoned you, relying solely on the church. The statement that they cut off contact was true. They intended to annoy the parents of a saint and make an appearance to kill them!"

Before Iris could respond, still held by Carl, she looked at him in silence.

“That's why you and your family were forced to move away from any religious centers, including the temple.”

I recalled the records I had read about her family in the past. It stated that her parents, disguising themselves as the parents of a saint, extorted money from the temple but never sought her out again after receiving a substantial sum. But now, was it not her parents who wanted to kill her, prompting her escape?

It was not surprising that he would commit such an act. However, Iris must have been greatly shocked.

"At any rate, it is true that until now they abandoned you."

"No!"

Iris, held by Carl, shouted loudly.

"No! My parents prayed every day! Even if they didn't go to the temple, they prayed for you every day! When we had to run away from the evil spirits and leave that place! Even when we had to sleep in the mountains, they prayed without fail, morning and evening!"

In her struggle, the knife pressed against Iris' neck, causing a wound to bleed. I realized she was unable to utilize her full power properly.

"We are in the same predicament."

When I first entered Evelina's body, I possessed power, yet I didn't know how to wield it correctly. I remembered how I failed to stop Cidell. Iris must be in a similar situation. If she could have properly utilized her power, she would have easily blocked that knife.

"What is this?"

Leon's bewildered voice was as disconcerted as I was. It reminded me of a book I read before I died. Nowhere in that book did it mention anything like this.

"Sister?"

I heard a voice, and immediately I could tell. Her voice trembled more pitifully than any I had ever heard before.

"I had a younger sister?"

Isabella's consciousness crumbled completely, and I realized that I could see all the memories she had been hiding. Several scenes flashed through my mind in a short span of time.

A young lady, crying all day in the temple, searching for her parents.

The disappointment she had to hide when she learned that my birthday was not actually the day I was born, but the day I arrived at the temple.

The sight of the woman pleading for her daughter's life, while tears of relief and joy streamed down her face after saving the almost lifeless child, despite the objections of other priests. She stared blankly at the woman, whispering, "You should forget about parents who abandoned you. You have no family now."

"It was all a lie."

My voice filled with astonishment, and Carl laughed.

"Of course. That's how you would follow me and cling to me more."

In the depths of my consciousness, I heard Isabella swallowing her breath. Now, she finally learned the truth and could not even cry. It was a voice that vented her frustration and anger. That was the moment.

[Crack!]

With a thunderous noise that made my ears tingle, Aslan's body fell from the building beside me. As I looked up, I saw the rays of the ancient god's light enveloping Aslan. Red magic was attempting to repel the light from all directions, but Aslan's body began to be tinged with a golden hue.

Lathbai desperately tried to sever the rays of the ancient god's light, aiding Aslan. However, the ancient god, seemingly determined to finish off Aslan first, paid no attention to its own body being severed and wrapped around Aslan.

[Roar!]

With a beast-like roar, Aslan writhed in the light that grabbed his legs.

The building could not withstand the weight of his massive body and collapsed. As Aslan and the ancient god's power crashed mercilessly onto the ground, the earth shook and cracked like an earthquake. Because of that, everyone standing there trembled. If Leon hadn't quickly pulled me and shielded me, I would have fallen into the ground immediately.

Everything shook and fell chaotically. It was no different for Carl and Iris.

Beneath the sinking ground, the bodies of the two rolled.

"Iris!"

Without realizing it, I reached out my hand and called her name. Carl, who regained his senses first, grabbed Iris by the hair and pulled her towards me, shouting.