Reincarnated With An SSS-Rank Talent In An Apocalyptic World-Chapter 161: Men of Little Faith

"What's going on here?"

A familiar voice made me frown, and I turned to see Caelum kneeling while Serena gazed at me with a pale face. Her lips parted to speak, but no words came out, and she instinctively took a step back.

"Relax. I'm alright," I said—only to realize my voice was unusually deep and overlapped by countless voices.

Serena and Caelum flinched at the sound, their terrified expressions ignoring my actual words. It felt like what I said didn't even matter; they simply focused on how I sounded.

"Ooh…" I muttered, realizing how scary I must have sounded.

[Door Activated]

A small spiral spatial gate appeared next to me, and I tossed the Devil Grimoire inside. Only once the book had left my hand did they let out a sigh of relief.

Personally, I could understand Serena's reaction—but Caelum?

Didn't this bastard tell me he had faith in me?

"All those having faith in me were false?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Quickly, Caelum shook his head and rose to his feet. He wanted to speak but clearly remembered Serena was beside him.

Glancing at her once, he hurried over to my side before speaking.

"Of course I have faith in you, but you stood there for over 30 minutes, muttering some strange words. How could I not be scared?" Caelum said, and my eyes widened in surprise.

"30 minutes?" I couldn't help but doubt that information.

My encounter with the Divine and Abyss lasted less than 3 minutes, so it was shocking to find out 30 minutes had passed.

"Are you crazy?" Serena screamed, her chest heaving up and down. "Do you know the kind of risk you're putting Adam and the empire into?"

I had never seen her this pissed before.

"Other races have numerous living artifacts that have given them an edge over their peers. Why must we be different? Why can't we use the only living artifact?" Caelum yelled back.

Serena's face turned red, boiling with anger.

"Are you stupid or something?" she snapped. "You're giving him the same thing that killed Grandpa and Dad—all because you want humans to use their own living artifact?!"

'Killed their dad and grandpa? No one told me about that!' I blinked in shock and shot Caelum a look, but he was too focused on Serena to notice.

"Stop acting like you know everything!" Caelum snapped back. "Lord Adam is not like Dad and Grandpa. If there's anyone who can wield this artifact, it's him!"

"Enough!" I snapped before Serena could counter.

Their furious gazes mellowed slightly as they turned to me. I didn't speak any further—I just massaged my forehead.

I was getting a headache from the constant whispers in my ears, and now I had to deal with two barking siblings.

After a minute of silence, I glanced at Serena and asked:

"Do you really think I can't control this power?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She hesitated again, causing me to frown. For some reason, watching these people hesitate pissed me off. I wished she would just say yes or no off the bat.

"We can't tell for sure. It's something that eats you away with each passing moment. It's not something that overwhelms you once. It weakens you over time." She tried to explain, but I only let out a heavy sigh and rolled my eyes.

Swish!

I moved—and in an instant, I was standing in front of her. She jerked back and lost her footing, almost falling on her back, but I caught her hand easily and pulled her up.

"Tell me…" I said. "Do I look human to you?"

Serena froze, her eyes widening at the question. It seemed she never expected it. True to her nature, she hesitated, her lips opening and closing a few times before she finally answered.

"Somehow."

Pa!

This time, it was Caelum facepalming due to secondhand embarrassment. I wanted to scream 'How the fuck is somehow an answer?!'

But I was in a good mood after breaking free from the grip of the heavens, so I shrugged it off.

"I'm of human descent, but in my quest for power, I've become something more than human."

I left out the demon part on purpose.

"I don't age like you do. I don't need to feed regularly like you do. I've dabbled with the Abyss and the Heavens—something humans should not be capable of."

I took a step forward, but she didn't step back. She allowed my chest to press against her breast and inhaled deeply as I exhaled.

Her breathing became irregular, and her face turned red once again—but this time, it wasn't anger.

'Silly girl,' I sighed.

"We are not the same. So don't worry about my control over the Devil Grimoire."

Saying this, I walked around her and began moving up the stairs.

"Where your ancestors failed… I will succeed!" I said without looking back.

I heard shuffling footsteps chasing after me and guessed it was Caelum, but I paid him no attention.

My mind was focused on the fact that I had gained a living artifact.

The first time I encountered this kind of weapon was against Prince Thalorien with his vine spear.

That weapon made him strong enough to keep up with me, even though I was nearly twice as strong and fast.

It was that weapon that nearly got me killed.

If he had tried to decapitate me from the start instead of playing it cool, I would have been dead.

To think such a weapon was hidden within this empire but kept secret from me all this while… was quite annoying.

If they weren't that stupid, I would have saved Empress Althea.

But I guess Empress Althea didn't want me to know about that weapon. If she did, she would have spoken to me about it.

She died for nothing.

"What do you plan to do now?" Caelum's voice came from behind.

"Meet with the strategists and war chiefs. Everything is ready. It's time for war," I said.