Reborn Regress Return: I Am the Heir of Shadows!-Chapter 79: Shattered in a moment of Devastation

"Hahaha!"

That was so funny. Is that how romance normally goes? Sena held her stomach, bending forward as she struggled to contain her amusement at the corny romance movie titled. "I fell in love with my sister's fiance"

In a nutshell, a woman fell in love with her sister's fiancé.

However, instead of taking action and pursuing him herself, she decides to help him court her sister in order to make them happy. Of course, you could expect the ending, and the day before the wedding, he confesses his love for the sister who helped him... blah blah...

"Ah... I can't stop laughing! What a terrible movie."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked beside herself to see the movie theatre mostly empty.

"It wasn't that bad..."

Maria muttered, her eyes drifting around the cinema as if looking for something... or someone.

"Well, at least we got some time to relax," Julian said with a grin on his face. He sat next to Maria, with Sena on his other side, on the bench outside the cinema. "But why did he still marry her sister?"

He didn't want to ask and ruin the moment, but he was curious about why they chose that outcome. The younger sister realises her feelings were a momentary jealousy, and she turns him down and instead cheers on her sister. But Julian felt it was too late by then—he clearly wasn't someone faithful to her sister.

'Why did she let him marry her?'

That made no sense, and even though he watched the movie and enjoyed the plot and characters, it didn't quite work.

Maria and Sena gazed at each other with a strange expression, one complete amusement while the other shock that turned to delight. Then they both burst out laughing.

'What's up with them?'

Sena grabbed his shoulder as she laughed and said through hiccups:

"You... did you enjoy that movie?!"

"This is quite amazing, it's like how men mock women for enjoying porn movies until the end, to see if they get married!"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Maria snorted while laughing causing her to blush.

'What the fuck are these two saying? It wasn't bad, at least...'

He didn't understand their logic.

"Julian, why are you so cute?"

Sena's hands wrapped around his cheeks and squeezed hard.

"We should just take him home and make some popcorn, then put on another romance movie!"

Maria laughed and held her stomach as if she couldn't bear it anymore and had to hold on to something to keep herself from falling over.

Julian wanted to argue, but he felt it was better to let them laugh than fight over such a trivial matter.

"So, where are we going next?"

He tried to shift the subject because although it was nice to see them smiling, with two women teaming up on him, he started to feel a little annoyed and wanted to fight back. His pride wouldn't let him sit there and take this.

"Yeah, what should we do?"

Sena became serious, resting her chin on her palms and gazing at Julian with a warm smile.

"Should we go to the arcade, or maybe for a drink at one of the karaoke bars?"

Maria suggested as she looked around. Her voice sounded light and full of energy, different from her usual atmosphere, which was stiff and overly serious. But now she was relaxed, more like Maria when they were together.

Julian shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"I'll do whatever makes you girls happy."

'Hmm?'

Suddenly, from deeper into the mall, shouts and screams sounded, a quiet sound, but thanks to their enhanced hearing, the trio all gazed at each other. The calm and relaxing mood vanished instantly as the voices became louder. It seemed like an argument or a fight was breaking out inside one of the gaming areas nearby.

'Great...' Julian thought with a frown.

At first, he believed it might be thugs or some kind of gang—they existed in the past, too. Tired of the rich enjoying a lush life, they'd steal and rob places to make enough money to live. But Sena and Maria didn't share that feeling—they turned towards the sounds with grim faces, then looked back at him as if wondering what he thought.

"Julian, can you hear that?"

Sena's low voice sounded more serious, different from if it were truly a gang.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus his ears... the soft breaths of Maria and Sena faded, merging with his hearing. Then in the distance. Screams for help, women begging for someone to save them, men shouting and fighting back, cowering. Many voices echoed in his mind, causing him to grimace.

Then he heard what Sena meant... a low growl, guttural and familiar.

A Nightmare Hound.

"That's a monster's call!"

Julian's voice became low and severe as he stood from the bench, clenching his fists as they crackled with a purple aura.

"Julian, do we help them, or leave?"

Sena's voice was filled with concern, although she wanted to help. Too much publicity might affect their freedom in the future. She didn't know the past completely, but this kind of event did happen, but the first ones discovered died before anyone else did!

"I am with Sena... must we help them? I don't think it's worth it."

Julian tried to stabilise his mind.

He wasn't a hero and didn't want to become one, but when things happened so close, most humans wouldn't be able to ignore them.

He wanted to ignore it...

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The sound of gunshots firing in the distance snapped Julian out of his daze. The calm and happy life he wanted to enjoy a little longer... was it already gone?

He gazed at Sena and Maria before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to quell his throbbing heart and building stress.

"I will stop them. Can you both head back?"

"Julian, no!"

"..."

Sena objected, pressing her hands against his chest, a concerned look in her soft opal eyes, yet Maria nodded to herself and grasped Sena's shoulder.

"Sena, trust in our man."

"O-Our man, you're right... I will be outside!"

"I'll be fine."

The next moment, Julian's fingertip flicked through the air, and his hand held a metallic mask, covering his nose and eyes, only leaving his lower jaw visible.

'The Auction house is quite expensive...'

He purchased a simple mask to hide his identity, but even that low-level, uncommon item cost him more than $500.

A moment later, he flicked his arm, with a black hooded cape wrapped around his body and head, hiding his clothes and figure completely. Now Julian looked like some kind of dark knight cosplayer, but he didn't care. While rolling his fingers to build and gather mana at their tips, he walked towards the distant screams and gunshots.

"Let's go... Umbra, can you hear me...?"

From the moment he returned, Julian could sense a faint connection to Umbra in the real world... Nocta still seemed a little unresponsive and Eclipsa's bond was quickly growing and almost to the level of Umbra.

***

Meanwhile, outside the Mall, people started gathering with several police vans and cars, guns and a swat team, all prepared to face the enemy.

"Sena?"

However, the moment Maria and Sena reached the wall from earlier, suddenly Sena fell to her knees and grasped her chest while panting, clearly in pain as her face filled with bulging veins and the colour of her eyes became pitch black, with a crimson-red iris.

"Agh... it hurts... Julian... don't...leave me..."

"Eh?!"

Maria's eyes widened as she watched black smoke flowing from Sena's body, forming a ghostly image. An image she knew gazed down upon her, with sad... melancholy eyes before it flashed through the air and headed in Julian's direction.

'Umbra... is related to Sena?'

The moment Umbra vanished, Sena collapsed onto Maria's chest, panting and drenched in sweat.

"Don't worry... I'll get you back. I'll get to the car."

"Julian... don't die."

Sena whimpered, her hand reaching towards the sky.

'...'

Even though she wanted to wait here for Julian, Maria wanted to hide Sena from the public and the off chance that Julian saw her in this state and held back in future events.

'Hate me if you want, Sena, but my priority is Julian... not you.'

What made Maria concerned was that Julian never died or came close to it in Sena's past... the life she told her about, so these words she spoke made Maria's heart pound, wondering just exactly when Julian might leave her.

"I just hope that there isn't more to this than we know. Is it just three lives?

or are the gods playing with each of us like fools..."