I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 156
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 156
“This can’t be right. He’s really dead?”
Anata shook her head repeatedly, her face etched with disbelief. The notion that Jenas had truly perished was difficult to accept.
How had they survived for a thousand years only to die so easily? Did that even make sense? Jenas was a Mage who would have left himself an escape route even in the worst of circumstances.
Anata felt a hollow emptiness spreading through her chest.
Her ultimate objective was to help her descendants and the Test Subjects escape. Jenas’s death had no place in that objective. She had naturally assumed he could not die.
‘Am I truly all right?’
I questioned myself.
But no answer came.
I had steeled myself for the collapse of a thousand-year plan while struggling to help the last Test Subjects escape. Yet I had never anticipated the death of my brother, whom I had walked beside for a thousand years, and that made the emptiness all the more profound.
No, this was futility. Yes, it was futile.
I knew I had no right to feel this way, but the death of Jenas made me feel as though my own existence had been negated.
“Where is Jenas’s body? Where is it?”
Anata asked again, her voice hollow. The Prince of Asdal, drenched in blood, answered in Margaret’s stead.
“What difference would it make if you knew? Why, are you planning revenge?”
Anata faltered at the Prince of Asdal’s words.
“Revenge…? Is this an emotion that can be defined by a single word?”
She answered with a hollow expression, then burst into laughter—the empty, echoing laughter of a hollow vessel.
After laughing like a madwoman for a long while, she slowly rose to her feet.
“Take me to where Jenas is. If opening this door is a trap, then there’s another way to open it.”
“Another way?”
Margaret regarded Anata with an anxious gaze. But Anata was resolute.
“Take me to Jenas, and I’ll explain then. With that method, our Saint will be able to escape with us too. Even if Jenas deceived me once with illusion, he won’t do it twice. I was the one who built this Island’s system.”
Yuanna furrowed the space between her eyebrows, as if unable to comprehend Anata’s words.
“I’m grateful that you all want to help me escape from this Island. But I cannot delay everyone’s escape because of me. This was something I had already resolved to accept. Please don’t worry about me and find the best way forward.”
Diego, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, stepped forward with a face full of objection to Yuanna’s words.
“I cannot leave the Saint here. If the Saint chooses to remain, I will stay as well.”
At his firm and resolute tone, Yuanna’s face became flustered. Then Anata, who had been quietly listening to the two of them, let out a hollow laugh.
“We’re not taking a long detour just to save our Saint, so don’t make it such a heavy atmosphere.”
Even at Anata’s words, the serious expressions on Yuanna and Diego’s faces showed no sign of softening.
“All right then. Let’s go.”
The moment Margaret finished speaking, the tip of Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid’s Sword came to rest threateningly before Anata’s nape.
“Don’t try anything foolish.”
“Besides, you have no other choice either.”
At Anata’s response, Margaret finally guided her obediently to where Jenas was.
As Anata followed Margaret, she glanced at Kaiden, who was being carried on Diego’s back.
The Earring hanging from Kaiden’s ear glimmered with an unusual sparkle.
Everyone seemed too preoccupied with other matters to notice the Earring on Kaiden.
Anata quietly turned her head away. She pretended not to have seen the brief glimmer of Kaiden’s Earring.
* * *
Profound darkness.
Jenas opened his eyes in the abyss where nothing lay visible even an inch ahead.
Jenas knew where he had awakened—inside Kaiden’s body.
Mages possessed the ability to create a separate space within the physical form where the soul could dwell, and this was precisely that space.
Though minuscule in quantity, a fragment of his soul remained within Kaiden’s body.
This was thanks to how he had shattered his own soul into grains of sand before seizing Kaiden’s flesh. After all, it was inherently difficult to completely erase particles as fine as sand. It was a development he had anticipated to some degree.
‘My remaining power is scarce, yet I’m not certain whether to count this as fortunate….’
Jenas recalled his final memory. At the end of that recollection stood Margaret.
Platinum blonde hair gleaming brilliantly, eyes of sapphire blue luminous as jewels. A mysterious visage.
‘Damn it, I still haven’t regained my senses.’
That memory lingered annoyingly in his mind.
She was the source that had ruined his experiments. That was why she kept surfacing in his thoughts.
“You’ve awakened?”
A familiar voice struck his ears. Only then did Jenas slowly rise to a seated position in the darkness.
At the edge of his vision stood Kaiden, arms crossed, sitting in a lotus position and glaring down at him. Kaiden pointed to the earring hanging from his right ear and spoke to him.
“Even though you died, that earring continued to function. I found it strange.”
Jenas listened to his words with calm indifference. Kaiden studied his expression quietly before continuing.
“You really did fragment it into the finest pieces. I’ve never heard of anyone capable of dividing a soul into such minute units….”
“Of course you haven’t. There has never been a Mage to surpass me. What you killed outside just now was merely a fragment of the soul I had shattered.”
Jenas replied with arrogant certainty. Though disagreeable, the fact that he was a Great Mage of such renown as to be recorded in history books was undeniable, so Kaiden found himself without a ready rebuttal.
Kaiden, observing Jenas with an impassive face, opened his mouth.
“You like Margaret.”
“…What?”
Jenas responded with an incredulous expression. Seeing that innocent face, Kaiden let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re completely unaware of it yourself, aren’t you?”
Jenas, whose temper twisted at this inexplicable mockery, forced a smile while distorting his lips. The boy was audaciously presumptuous.
“She’s an irritatingly intriguing woman. But to say I like her—that’s absurd nonsense.”
He rebutted with an irritable tone. Kaiden clicked his tongue and shook his head, then rebuked him with exaggerated words as if testing him.
“Ah, you’re hopeless too. Just go on living without ever realizing it. Besides, Margaret is mine anyway, so it doesn’t matter. How could something as abhorrent as you possibly like Margaret?”
…Margaret was his possession. Jenas ultimately could not restrain himself against Kaiden’s words and interjected.
“Margaret is not an object, and does our descendant treat someone they care for as mere property? She would be displeased to hear such words.”
“Tsk. It’s not the ancestor who would be displeased, is it? You do like her. Didn’t you abandon a thousand-year plan just to save Margaret, you fool?”
“I’ve succeeded in leaving my soul here, so how does it appear that I’ve abandoned my plan? Our descendant’s perspective is remarkably narrow.”
Kaiden finally fell silent.
Jenas, having spoken, suddenly recalled that by now Margaret would be with Anata.
…Would Margaret be all right.
Until now, he had lived a life indifferent to whether anyone lived or died. Whether it was the lives of test subjects or those of fellow Mages, they were all merely fertilizer for his plan.
Yet why was he now harboring concern for Margaret.
Jenas irritably ran his fingers through his hair, then, realizing that Kaiden was watching him, quickly composed his expression.
“Listen, descendant. You cannot kill me. I have no intention of leaving this body willingly. If I find the means, one day I will seize yours.”
Even if not right now, once I recover my strength, it will be possible. Jenas was certain of it. Besides, the Pendant still remained, didn’t it?
“You didn’t choose to be here right now, did you? Entering this sleep state wasn’t your intention, was it, our descendant?”
At his sarcasm, Kaiden’s brow furrowed. He had struck a nerve.
Jenas felt inwardly relieved. The Earring that controlled Kaiden was still functioning properly. As long as his soul connected to the Earring remained alive, it would undoubtedly continue to work until Kaiden’s death.
However, I could sense that my soul’s aura had grown extremely faint. Without a physical body, I wouldn’t have something like a heart, but still.
He took a deep breath for a moment, then gazed at Kaiden again and smiled with feigned nonchalance.
“You want to wake up? But you can’t. How could you claim your body entirely for yourself when I’m here? Unless you share it with me.”
Kaiden regarded Jenas with an ordinary expression before opening his mouth calmly.
“Are you suggesting a battle of endurance? Regardless of how many soul fragments remain, looking at your current strength, I can clearly see it’s an extremely small amount.”
Kaiden spread both hands and drew a Magic Formula. Beneath his feet, a Magic Circle gradually materialized alongside pure white light. His eyes sharp as a blade’s edge, he glared at Jenas and spoke.
“Even if I can’t eliminate every soul fragment scattered throughout my body, each one I destroy will cause your power to continuously diminish.”
His words were true. However, Jenas had no intention of meekly accepting his attack.
“I’ll shatter every last piece of you before you can even rise. Or perhaps I’ll consume you entirely and absorb you as part of my body.”
“Hmm. If that happens, do we become completely one person? Since I’m your ancestor and you’re my descendant, we share the same bloodline anyway. That wouldn’t be such a terrible outcome. Then why do we need to fight like this? Fighting in here won’t be good for your body.”
“Do you think I’d let you live without any restrictions? I’ll render you incapable of recovery and bind you with a contract spell, you bastard.”
From the Magic Circle drawn beneath Kaiden’s feet, a massive whirlwind erupted. It churned violently before rapidly engulfing Jenas.
Yet it had no effect on Jenas. His body crumbled into fine particles of sand, scattering like wind toward Kaiden. The reformed figure materialized right before Kaiden’s face and drove a fist directly into it.
“Don’t think about using Magic.”
Jenas pressed down Kaiden’s arms to prevent him from forming a Magic Formula, then created a Magic Circle beneath Kaiden’s legs.
“Damn it…! Let go…!”
“I told you, our descendant. There is no Mage in this world who surpasses me.”
Jenas whispered into Kaiden’s ear. Just as he was about to bind him completely.
Suddenly, lightning struck from somewhere.
The lightning pierced through Kaiden’s body and invaded the Territory where they clashed. Sharply honed lightning crashed down upon Jenas.
For some reason, the lightning didn’t affect Kaiden’s soul and instead continuously struck only at Jenas.
“Ugh! What in the…!”
Already weakened by his soul, having exerted strength while confronting Kaiden, the mysterious lightning attack dealt him double the damage. Jenas eventually cried out in pain and collapsed.
Witnessing this, Kaiden laughed with an incredulous expression on his face.
Something was clearly happening outside.
This lightning… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but at least it worked out well. From now on, you’ll be subordinate to me. What good is being a great Mage? Your end is this pathetic.”
Kaiden stomped his foot. Magic Circles materialized beneath his feet and beneath the collapsed, suffering Jenas.
Since it was impossible to completely erase soul fragments scattered like grains of sand, the only option was to subjugate him within my body so he couldn’t establish himself.
Kaiden deliberately adopted an exaggerated solemn expression and whispered to Jenas.
“From now on, the contract begins. I’ll make you suffer eternally.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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