Night Journey

Chapter 158 Choice
The raindrops, like fine needles, pierced the concrete ground of Hull, splashing up a misty rain.

Cillian couldn't remember how he left the intensive care unit. When he came to his senses, he was already sitting on the cold, damp steps, his coat soaked through with rain, the chill seeping into his bones.

Looking up, the sky was a somber, leaden gray, the dim morning light completely swallowed up by thick rain clouds.

Last night's radio broadcast predicted that, according to stargazers, the incessant showers would continue for about a week, engulfing Hull in this prolonged rainy season.

A soft footstep sounded from my side.

Anya walked over and, disregarding all decorum and etiquette, sat down on the steps next to Ciri.

Rainwater slid down her chin, her once meticulously styled golden curls clung wetly to her pale cheeks, and her empty eyes reflected the gray sky, making her look like a sculpture soaked in rain.

Anya spoke, repeating the doctor's words.

"Dalin may not wake up."

She then went on to tell the story of what happened after Cillian left.

"Meifuni is taking care of him, along with others. She is very sad. Besides Dale, several of her friends are also unconscious."

Chief Decal returned to the city guard headquarters; he was going to give a mobilization speech on the ruins, emphasizing that he would mobilize the entire city's forces to fight against the Rebel Falcon.

Cillian remained silent.

Anya glanced at him sideways. Those eyes that had once captivated countless men were now empty and distant, reflecting the gray sky.

This tranquility lasted for a long time; the two remained as still as statues, unmoved.

At one point, Anya suddenly started talking about her past, as if she were confiding in Cillian, or as if she were talking to herself.

"I became homeless when I was very young, and like a cliché story, I embarked on a miserable life, dealing with men and exchanging my body and smiles for survival, like a commodity waiting to be sold."

Therefore, from a very young age, I understood an ironclad rule.

His voice carried a hoarseness that Ciri had never heard before, a mixture of weariness, coldness, and deep-seated pain.

"I can't expect anything from anyone, nor should I do anything for anyone."

I belong only to myself, and only to myself.

The voice paused for a moment, chewing on the bitterness of the memory, then cast its gaze into the depths of the rain, piercing through time and space to look at the self struggling in the mud.

"But ideas are ideas, and reality is reality..."

She took a deep breath, her voice trembling.

"Later, I met a man."

He's different from others... or rather, he's different at pretending.

He said he loved me, didn't care about my past, only wanted my future, and said... he would marry me and pull me completely out of this quagmire of a life.

Anya's lips curled into a tiny smile, a self-deprecating expression.

"You know what? Back then, I actually believed it."

That 'love' was so beautiful, so beautiful that I forgot the ironclad rules upon which I depended for survival, and like a fool, I shed all my armor... I became incredibly vulnerable, placing all my hopes on him.

As Cillian listened to her past, his fingers unconsciously curled up, his nails digging deep into his palms.

“One day, he said to me mysteriously, ‘Do you want to become a torchbearer? Like me?’ He described his new life after becoming an extraordinary person: power, respect, and complete transformation.”

I was tempted, or rather, I was completely bewitched by that illusory future.

Anya's voice deepened, taking on a dreamlike quality, pulling Ciri into the vortex of her memories.

"That was truly a day that changed my destiny. He guided me through a ritual, my consciousness surging and bubbling on the edge of the turbulent Sea of ​​Origin."

I encountered unimaginable things: enormous, chaotic creatures, terrifying waves crashing on the sea, and the pain... a pain that tore my soul apart.

I almost thought I was going to die, but somehow I pulled through and stepped onto the ladder to power.

Anya's tone suddenly turned sharp and cold, like a poisoned ice pick:

"I thought a wonderful life was about to begin, but when I woke up, I was greeted by a face twisted with shock and anger."

He roared at me, cursed me, and couldn't understand why I, without the guidance of scholars, had been able to rise to the position of Torchbearer unscathed.

In his story, I should die in the Sea of ​​Origin, triggering a small-scale chaotic invasion, and he will turn the tide and resolve the crisis.

Raindrops slid down Anya's eyelashes, like a belated tear.

"What a perfect ending! He gets rid of this troublesome woman like me and adds to his career achievements at the same time..."

The sound of rain swallowed everything, leaving behind a deathly silence. Anya spent some time restoring the sound to that almost cruel calm.

"At that time, I didn't know much about the extraordinary world, but I understood what he meant to some extent."

What love? What future? It was all lies! I was just a damned pawn in his plan, a sacrifice used to pave the way. I was deceived, completely and utterly.

Her lips twitched again, this time a cold, resolute, and blood-tinged curve.

"What happened next was quite simple."

“In his eyes, I will always be that lamb who puts on a brave face and lets others slaughter me, a plaything who doesn’t know how to resist… He underestimates me too much, Cillian.”

“I plotted to kill him.”

Anya's voice was as soft as a whisper, yet as heavy as a thousand pounds, each word striking the wet steps.

"In his horrified, incredulous gaze, I personally slit his throat, dissected his heart, and drew his scalding blood, thus completing the bloodline inheritance and officially becoming a torchbearer."

Her narration ended, but Cillian remained immersed in the afterglow of the story.

From the day they decided to join forces against the Unseen, the three were united, but most of the time, it was only Cillian and Daelin who were cooperating.

Cillian was mysterious and unpredictable to Anya, but wasn't she just the same image to Cillian?

He had never fully trusted this woman, and Anya understood this as well. So at this moment, she laid bare her painful past to the public in a bloody and painful way.

Anya looked up at the sky and murmured.

"Decal is the invisible one."

"..."

Cillian remained silent.

Anya continued, "Before we arrived, Dekar had already informed the city council of the incident... The veracity of the intelligence is no longer important; what matters is that the city council now has a reason to wage war against the Reverse Falcon."

A muffled rumble of thunder echoed from the gloomy sky, lingering over the city for a long time.

"According to my old survival rules, I should give up at this point."

Anya mocked herself, "The enemy is Dekar, and the entire city council. You and I alone have no chance of winning."

Even if we told others the truth about the Invisibles… a promiscuous woman, a newcomer, no one would believe our lies. We might as well stop here. As for Dalin's grudge, there's nothing we can do about it.”

She continued to complain, "It's true, being betrayed again, it feels awful."

Cillian moved his gaze inch by inch, looking into her sad and angry eyes, and spoke his first words.

"Anya, are you going to give up?"

She seemed completely unconcerned and gave an irrelevant answer.

“Even without Dailin, there will be other men who will spend money on me, sleep with me, and spend long hours with me… Maybe they will perform better than Dailin.”

But honestly, building rapport with another person from scratch is just too much trouble.

Anya hesitated for a long time before shaking her head with difficulty.

“I will not give up, Cillian.”

She then affirmed.

"I'm going to kill Dekar."

Upon hearing this answer, Cillian's icy expression softened for a moment.

He gave a faint smile.

Only then did Cillian truly understand why Daelin loved Anya so much and was willing to be enslaved by her, and what kind of charm she possessed.

"Want to come with me? Even if you desert, I won't blame you," Anya warned. "But if you choose to come with me, there's a very high chance you'll die."

"To die?"

Cillian didn't even think about it and decisively rejected it.

"One thing is enough for me to regret for the rest of my life."

Under the leaden sky, the rain poured down.

(End of this chapter)