Chapter 179 – Eternal Lament (V)

Chapter 179

Eternal Lament (V)

“His name is–was–A’tun Elkath,” yeah, sure, whatever you say. “He was born with a rather rare Essence Core, though it wasn’t spectacular by any means. Of his generation, he always lagged behind those at the very top, and as his Father was one of the Primes, the pressure was… immense.”

“Hm.”

“We know that he started experimenting when he was thirteen.” Okay, I asked for his appearance and how he got away–not his freakin’ life story! “And escalated to his first human sacrifice when he was sixteen. When he ran away, he was twenty–in the span of those four years, we suspect he killed a little over sixty people. Since then, however, that number… well, though cruel it may sound, we’ve stopped keeping count.

“As for how he escaped,” the woman’s face turned a bit dark for a moment. “It was his Father. He’d known for a whole year prior and helped both cloak his son and provide him with an avenue to escape. He’s since been stripped of his position and thrown in the dungeons, but no matter how much we tortured him, he never offered us up a way to find him. When he escaped, he was average-looking and entirely unassuming, though I don’t see how that matters. As I told your Disciple, he can take on any form he desires.”

… I’m no psychoanalyst (I’m pretty sure that is self-evident), but you live among people long enough, you pick up on a few things. Especially being the guy everyone goes to for pills–you tend to meet random folk from all walks of life.

And underachieving sons of prominent father figures who turn to any extreme they can in order to satisfy either real or perceived expectations?

Yeah.

They fed the pharmacy, you could say.

It’s hard to generalize, though, as, with age, most of them slowly soften up and begin recognizing there’s really no point in measuring yourself against someone else to such a degree. So, the question, then, is: is he the type to have healed up and grown, or not?

Seeing as how he’s still killing indiscriminately and how he’s keeping a thrall as his ‘stand-in’, essentially… yeah, I have no idea. Look, I said I’m not a psychoanalyst–the reason I asked is simply because people, as on Earth so here, are creatures of comfort. Just how serial killers have a ‘hunting ground’, he, too, probably has certain rituals that give him comfort and safety.

Besides, at the end of the day, isn’t this all kind of for a show? Won’t Long Tao find him regardless of what I do? I mean, yeah, I should probably start putting in effort myself–no, no should. I will. Screw it.

This is a bad guy, and I’ve yet to properly be a hero of justice out of desire rather than desperation.

… did I just use the phrase ‘hero of justice’? Oh my God. I think I’m gonna vomit.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Mister Lu?” Thankfully, Zhu’s voice pulled me out as I finally spoke up.

“I’ve found that the more I know about someone, the easier it might become to predict them. Though, I suppose, if you two can’t do it–knowing him as well as you do–it’s a futile effort. Perhaps the opposite approach might be better.”

“The opposite approach?”

“You know your Captain.”

“What about him?”

“He’s… well, there’s no easy way to say this: he’s a Thrall.”

“…!!” Okay, part of me thought they actually already knew, and that’s why they’ve been ‘hanging’ out with the guy. But, judging by their absolutely flabbergasted expressions… yeah, no.