Chapter 79 World D: Starfall Side Story - Ethan...

When Ethan returned, it was almost ten years later.

He was pulled from his drowsy state of consciousness and regained a rare moment of clarity, but he was still somewhat dazed and his reactions were a little slow.

"Lord Starfall~" Erhan uttered a tone even sweeter than before he was imprisoned: "Have you heard me? Do you know what I just said? If you promise me, I'll let you out! But you have to act normal, okay?"

Xingyun had no choice but to agree; what right did he have to refuse? He was even wearing a straitjacket, and something had been stuck to his mouth, rendering him unable to speak.

God knows why he's become more and more disgusting, where did he learn that tone of voice?

“I’m glad you’ve finally figured this out.” Ethan handed Starfall a suit he often wore and undid it for him. “Please hurry, or they might get suspicious if it takes too long.”

Xingyun slowly stood up, and once he was standing still, he felt as if he had been reborn, as if standing like this was something from a past life.

Then comes the emergency one-click outfit change, a quick hair styling, and a quick grooming.

Although she had prepared herself mentally, it was clearly not enough. Seeing Ethan, who looked exactly like Ethan except for his clothes and expression, Xingyun felt extremely complicated.

Based on what Ethan just told him, this counterpart seems to be normal, and their relationship is either quite normal or even closer, that of city will and guardian.

For a moment, their atmosphere was somewhat tense, until Ethan's arrival broke the silence.

"Hihi~" Ethan placed a plate between the two of them, a big smile on his face: "How's the chat going? Come on, have some dessert!"

"What the hell? Where did he get all these desserts in such a short time?" That was Xingyun's first thought.

Could it be poisonous? This was Xingyun's second thought, a very serious consideration.

He started acting again. This is Starfall's third reaction.

Ethan first took a piece of cake and stuffed it directly into his counterpart's mouth. Ethan chewed it with a bewildered expression.

This shouldn't have been Xingyun's fault, but seeing her two deskmates so affectionate and considerate, an indescribable emotion welled up within her. Xingyun tried to analyze it and realized it was displeasure.

This is terrible. His first reaction was discomfort because Ethan wasn't giving him what he was looking for. What kind of twisted feeling is this? He thought about it... something called Stockholm syndrome? This condition can make the victim attached to or even fall in love with the perpetrator.

Xingyun thought, "Why should I?"

Ethan is the one who caused him to become like this. Why is it that he is the one who developed this twisted illness? This damned brat stole his power and might even be able to eliminate him directly, allowing him to take over the position of the new city's will.

Although there's no precedent for trying this, I feel that since Ethan has gone to such lengths and even stole almost all of his power, there's a high chance of success.

How disgusting. Why would he have such a first reaction?

How disgusting, how disgusting, how disgusting.

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

Let the world end, and don't save anyone else. Let him die together with Ethan.

...

Why isn't he number one?

Go to hell, go to hell, everyone! Go to hell!

Ah... he was really going crazy. Xingyun felt like his brain was being controlled. Why could the city's will be manipulated like this? He was speechless.

Can Ethan just die? Go die too! And take your counterpart with you! Take Kagerou with you.

No one could understand the collapse of Starfall. Only Ethan, who picked up another piece of cake, keenly noticed something unusual about him, but couldn't guess the reason.

Oh well, who cares? It's not that important.

Ethan picked up a piece of cake and brought it close to Starfall.

Xingyun's first thought was to back away, feeling that Ethan might have added something to it, and in any case, he couldn't eat it.

But he met Ethan's gaze.

His eyes, seemingly gentle and smiling, actually held an undeniable force. He stared directly at Xingyun, not saying a word, but it was as if he were asking if Xingyun wanted to go back to lying down again.

Starfall could only stiffly lower her head slightly and open her mouth to take a bite of the cake.

He couldn't taste anything, nor did he care to. He could only mechanically bite and chew, swallowing it whole as if completing a task.

What followed was mostly meaningless banter, but as they talked, the conversation drifted to their world, drawing Xingyun's attention back and sparking her curiosity about it.

But what did he hear?

Was what the imp's counterpart said serious? Changing the taste of the potion for him? The effect would be greatly reduced, wouldn't it? We'd have to revise the recipe and find suitable replacement herbs.

When did he become so patient? He'll even be a sparring partner for the Guardians? Personally tutoring them one-on-one? Is this some kind of joke?

Ethan kept glancing at the meteorite as he listened, then a second time, a third time, and many more times. The meaning couldn't be clearer: a comparison to the other world, followed by accusations against him.

What would Xingyun's reaction be? Of course, nothing. It would be abnormal for his counterpart in that world to do those things, okay? Is that brat even worth all the effort he put into raising?

Yes, he admitted that Ethan was intelligent in some ways. For example, if he studied hard, he could master anything quickly, and he could also do his own research and create devices that could help him steal his power. He was also very capable with his hands.

But that doesn't change the fact that he's a rotten person; he became a useless person because he tried to stop his abnormal behavior.

Listening to Ethan talk about his own story was like listening to a science fiction movie, and the kind of absurdity that even Starfall could laugh at. It seemed that the Starfall City Will in Ethan's world just happened to resemble him in appearance, but their personalities and ways of doing things were completely different.

He and Xingyun couldn't believe that their counterparts in Ethan's world were so outrageous, while Ethan was extremely moved and even gave Ethan a big hug, promising to lend him his power.

"...May I, Lord Starfall?"

He looked at the falling star and asked.

Starfall slowly typed a question mark: "?"

You're asking him? You're asking him?! You're asking him when he only has 5% strength left and doesn't even know if he can beat the will of other cities?

All the power is in your hands, so what's the point of asking this? Do you want to steal that last 5% too? And then kill him?

Xingyun thought for a moment and realized that he was probably acting out of character. He didn't know what the consequences would be if he didn't respond... So he looked away and gave a perfunctory reply.

Then, like an outsider, he coldly watched as Ethan tried to persuade the visitors from other worlds not to leave Starfall City for other places. While he wasn't entirely wrong—Ethan didn't get along well with everyone because of the issue of rule—he was on bad terms with everyone.

Ethan and Ethan went to change their clothes, while Starfall raced against time to review the documents, striving to understand the situation outside as quickly as possible.

Yes, Ethan's files, the pile that hasn't been processed yet, and he'll look at the ones that have been processed.

Holy crap? Five cities destroyed in ten years? How is Kagerou still alive?

About half an hour later, the two returned, covered in decorations.

Xingyun: “…”

He saw over thirty colors in Ethan's eyes, along with a whole bunch of flashy accessories, and Ethan even demanded that he compliment him.

I don't want to praise it.

But all Xingyun could manage to squeeze out was a stiff, "Beautiful."

Clearly, Ethan was very dissatisfied; his smile faded, a sign that he was about to get angry.

Ethan gets angry in two different ways.

The first sign is that the smile on her face gradually fades until it disappears, and she looks at you expressionlessly.

The second is an extension of the previous state. After the smile disappeared, another smile appeared, as bright as ever, but in reality, he was furious.

There was nothing he could do but squeeze out all the knowledge he had stored up. After living for so many years, he started praising people for the first time. After he finished praising them, he felt like he was dying.

Ethan looked very happy and gave him a hug.

“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.” Starfall heard Ethan whisper in his ear, his voice sounding cheerful and even a little amused: “Lord Starfall.”

How disgusting.

So disgusting, so disgusting.

How disgusting! How disgusting! How disgusting!

Xingyun felt his hair standing on end, his whole body screaming that he wanted to kill his opponent.

He was wrong. How could he possibly find a human-shaped Kagerou in his own city? He looked like a ghost. I feel like throwing up. Can't I stay away from him? The last time I felt like throwing up was because of Kagerou.

Ethan, who was closest to him, was the first to notice his unusual behavior. He turned his head to look at Xingyun, blinked, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and his smile widened as he hugged her even tighter.

Feeling the stiffness in the person being hugged, Ethan felt even happier, not even realizing that his eyes were crinkling with laughter.

Finally, Ethan and Ethan went shopping. Xingyun felt like she had survived a disaster and found herself sweating profusely without realizing it.

...He's sweating now? He's really too weak.

After gaining a general understanding of the current situation, Xingyun lightly tapped her wrist with her fingertip, hesitating slightly, because something was buried there.

Even though he lost almost all of his power, he was still much stronger than an ordinary person. After regaining consciousness, he easily discovered the locator implanted in his wrist.

He was speechless with frustration about Ethan.

Should we dig it up? He was so oblivious to when it was buried that he didn't even notice. Could there be a second or third? Or perhaps others smaller ones that he didn't realize?

Given that Ethan even developed a device to help him take back his power, Starfall felt there was a high chance he had other locators on him.

In the end, he still chose to dig it out. His magic transformed into a scalpel, and he controlled the scalpel to cut open his hand, separate the tissues, find the locator inside, and then pry it out.

I joined my index and middle fingers together and gently ran them over the wound, leaving only a pink scar. Before, it would have healed instantly with a thought.

He opened a portal and went directly to the space where he usually met with the wills of other cities. Everyone who saw him expressed their surprise. Almost all of his contemporaries were still alive, except for a few who had appeared in the last few hundred years.

Novigrad's expression relaxed a little: "It's so good that you're still alive."

"Starfall, it's so good that you're alive." Yang Yan poked his face with her finger: "But now that you're dead, can I have your face?"

Starfall gave him a cool glance.

...

Yang Yan silently walked to a corner with his severed arm and tried to put it back on.

"Did you come here this time to ask us to continue fighting against him?" Noviglad asked cautiously, feeling conflicted. After so many years, she had long lost her initial confidence in killing Ethan.

Moreover, over the years, they have been trying to contact Xingyun, and have infiltrated the alternate dimension many times but have not been able to find him. They almost thought he was dead. If it weren't for the faint connection between their city's will that made them believe that Xingyun was still alive, they would have already held a memorial service for him here.

“No.” Surprisingly, Starfall denied it, calmly revealing his current situation: “...Our chances of winning are very low, and he has taken away my power. After the last defeat, almost all of it was taken away.”

This was a heavy topic, and even Yang Yan, who was squealing and yelling after his arm was reattached, fell silent. The other city wills stared at him in disbelief.

"...So what is the purpose of your visit this time?" Noviglad tried to skip over this topic and asked him why he had come.

“There’s a really bad thing going on. Two travelers from parallel worlds have arrived. They’re the counterparts of Ethan and the Guardian of Yangyan.” Xingyun frowned. “Ethan seems to have developed some interest in parallel worlds. I’m worried that she’ll research this area and then travel through time and space to turn other worlds into what we are.”

This was truly devastating news. It was bad enough that Ethan might ruin their world, but the other city wills felt a deep sense of despair at the thought that Ethan might turn many other worlds into the same state as this one.

And double Ethan? That sounds so hopeless. How did the guardian of Yangyan City in that world end up with him?

“I have some knowledge in this area, and I destroyed the relevant books before I came, but I can’t guarantee that he won’t be able to figure it out through his self-study.” Xingyun’s expression was very serious. “We need to unite and set our world to be an in-and-out world… to prevent him from turning other worlds into chaos after those two leave. But at the same time, this is very dangerous. He might target us and take his anger out on everyone. So, is anyone interested in joining? I can’t guarantee that I won’t be able to come out again, so we need manpower.”

This was the first time they had ever seen Xingyun speak so calmly, even in a good manner, inviting everyone to join in killing Ethan in this world.

The city's wills looked at each other, observing the expressions of the other wills.

"Count me in~" Yang Yan was the first to walk up to him, putting her hand on his shoulder and grinning, "This is the first time I've seen you like this—"

Xingyun frowned, looking extremely disgusted, but in the end, considering that he was the first city will to make a choice so quickly, she didn't shake him off and ignored his words.

“I think it’s necessary.” Novigrad walked up to Starfall’s side shortly after Yangyan had settled down, looking at him. “If I were in your situation, I would also choose to keep him trapped here.”

A few seconds later, Novigrad heard a soft voice, barely audible to those close to Starfall: "Thank you." She was slightly taken aback; her lips, usually expressionless, curled into a slight smile.

"Why does she have it but I don't?" Yang Yan suddenly transformed back into her female form, tugging at Xing Yun's clothes, her tone indignant: "Tell me too! I'm the first one to stand by your side! Do you favor women? I'm a woman now too!"

Starfall said, "Get out of my way."

Seeing the three city representatives standing side by side, more and more city representatives chose to stand on their side.

Arcadia watched them, then slowly walked to Novigrad's side. Vitoris, who had been hesitant, followed her. After struggling with her decision for a long time, she finally made up her mind and walked to Arcadia's side as well.

All the surviving city spirits joined in.

Another thing is to quickly tell them the method and make sure you buy them as much time as possible so they can finish. Ethan won't notice that he's being blocked until he starts researching and trying it out, at which point he'll realize that the world is being blocked.

Then he rushed back as quickly as possible. Who knew how long they would be shopping? It wouldn't be good if Ethan found out he wasn't in the alternate dimension.

Unfortunately, even though Starfall had tried his best to explain the entire plan and how to proceed in the shortest possible time, speaking very quickly, and with no one disturbing him, he still returned late. Ethan was angry.

Ethan, seemingly genuinely curious, uttered words with an innocent expression, questioning why he had left without permission and whether he wanted to go back to bed.

He also guessed that Xingyun had gone to discuss matters with the other city wills, thinking that they were overestimating themselves and trying to deal with him, not even thinking about trapping him in this world. But they were still threatening him, saying that they would give them the earring that could make the city wills confused.

This won't do, at least not now. If there's no way to escape, it can't be this early. If I have to endure the wrath of having an earring put on me, it can't be just because of this.

Fortunately, he was just saying it first, using the classic tactic of giving a slap followed by a treat. However, Xingyun had no doubt that if Ethan got upset, he might actually give each of them an earring.

Starfall could only feign compliance. Of course, Ethan knew he was faking it, but that didn't matter. He just wanted a gesture.

However, Starfall underestimated Ethan's impoliteness. The barrier was shattered, and Ethan heard everything Ethan said to the other world.

Ethan is a good kid unlike Ethan. Starfall doesn't dislike kids like that. When he sees a good Ethan counterpart, he's quite friendly. He even wants to warn him not to come back. If he comes again, he'll have to break the barrier again to get out, otherwise he'll be trapped here forever.

But Ethan heard it.

Starfall and Ethan stared at each other, watching his smile gradually fade until it disappeared. He stared intently at him, then suddenly a smile appeared on his face, more exaggerated than ever before.

Ethan was furious.

He looked sullen and complained like a child, but Xingyun knew he wasn't as calm as he appeared. If he wasn't mistaken, he'd be locked up again soon…

It's really... annoying, he's already tired of the darkness.

After Ethan left, Ethan questioned him, asking if he trusted the other Ethan more than him. Did he even need to answer? Obviously, Starfall didn't respond, but Ethan was instantly ignited with anger.

He grabbed his tie without ceremony and pressed the newly made earring into his left earlobe.

"Good night, Lord Starfall," he said with a smile.

The starfall consciousness was quickly swallowed up, and before it completely plunged into darkness, it was still praying that the will of the other cities would succeed.

-----------------------

Author's Note: The relationship between this father and son is complex because their power is roughly equal, and both have been plundered. It's difficult for them to directly confront each other, but the struggle continues.

Teacher Wan—I really didn't post anything, but I forgot what I posted, it was something like...

Starfall Meow*Cat's Fur Ruffled*

Ethan held his head high and chest out.

I've started working in a new department and encountered quite a few strange people. Can I just leave this department?

It's been so long since I've seen Teacher Jun! *Recipe*

I recently bought a tarot card to play around with, specifically to do a divination for the plot of the story I want to start after finishing this book. There are two different scenarios, and I'm hesitant about which one to choose, but I've found they're quite similar. I feel like this divination is somewhat accurate, while others aren't.