Chapter 4: Farewell
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The abrupt voice took both brothers by surprise. They woke up from their daze and within seconds, armed themselves with weapons from the various secret compartments. With their backs touching each other, they looked warily at their surroundings.

“Wow, I am impressed. Such battle awareness and reflexes despite being from this inferior world. One of them has an injury too. Hmm, not exactly prodigies but you are geniuses in your own right.” 

The voice seemed to be coming from every direction, like an illusion.

“Were we drugged? No, impossible. Where is the intruder? Are we surrounded?” Raiden thought but couldn’t find any answers.

“Alright, stop looking. The acupoints in your forehead are not open, so you can’t see me. And your souls are not strong enough to sense me either. I have no ill intention towards you. You might not believe me but regardless, you don’t have much time left. You should have realised it by now, haven’t you? Sort out your thoughts and tell me when you are ready.”

Deep down, Raiden already knew. He didn’t want to accept it but the moment he wore the ring on his finger, he knew that something changed. Something of a timer appeared and he knew that he only had that much time left in this world. At present, the timer showed 11:58:10, which means less than 12 hours left. Raiden sighed and explained the situation to Lewin, who was overwhelmed by the bizarre incidents one after another. After somehow getting rid of the messy thoughts, Raiden lowered his weapon and said, “Alright. Tell us what you are after. I am going to die anyway. But if you harm my family, even if I have to burn my soul, I would kill you.”

“Impressive! Clear-headed, ruthless and resisting in spite of knowing that you can’t kill me. As expected of someone chosen by the Chaos ring. Oh, let me start from the beginning. My name is Aldrich Sagar and I am a true God. I am the 11th deacon of…”

Raiden cut him off and said, “Wait! Shut it and give me the abridged version. I would rather spend the remaining time with my family than listen to you blabbering.”

After a moment of silence, the voice seemed slightly angered and said, “What a temper you have, young man. If I hadn’t been on specific orders, I would have killed you. Sigh…. Alright, let me get to the point. I shouldn’t get angry at this age. The ring you possess is called the Chaos ring, one of the most highly sought after treasures, even in the higher realms. It is a Heavenly Treasure, albeit ranked towards the end of the Sacred List. It is a support treasure that doesn’t give you any significant boost in strength despite its cool name but helps in the bearer’s steady progress in all fields, kinda like a jack-of-all-trades. You would have to explore it yourself. To prevent our enemies from getting such treasures, the heavenly Court assigns a representative to all locations where these treasures might appear. Our duty is to guide you in your journey. Fret not, we don’t want to snatch the treasure since these treasures choose their Masters themselves, not the other way around. And it is bound to your soul anyway. You wouldn’t understand the importance of a Heavenly Treasure now. But what you need to know is that after wearing this ring, your body will undergo various changes. And if you spend more than the time allocated in this lower world, your body will burst, quite literally, due to shortage of spiritual energy. You know, like those webnovels that are popular nowadays. Now, the only way to stay alive is to get stronger in a higher realm and return later.”

Raiden heard everything patiently and shook his head and said, “Even if you say so. By the time I become strong enough to return, there won’t be anyone to welcome me here. I am guessing that along with power, I will also have a longer lifetime. But if my family is no longer alive, what purpose would there be in me staying alive?”

“That’s where you are wrong, young man. It would be hard even for me but let me show you a trick. Now, after 10 seconds, choose a number between 1 and 100 and say it loudly.” Saying that, the voice vanished and despite being confused, Raiden went along. After 10 seconds, two voices said simultaneously “66!”. While Raiden and Lewin were confused, the voice said again, “Do you understand what happened? I went 10 seconds into the future, heard your answer and came back to prove it. In the same way, you can return to the past too. Moreover, due to differences in Heavenly Laws, one day in this lower realm is equal to almost a year in the higher realm. So, if you truly work hard, you can return after 4000 or so years, while only 10 years would have passed here. Then, you can take your family to the higher realm along with you.”

Raiden realised that there was hope. And who didn’t want their parents to live a long, happy life. If he could truly take his family to the higher realm, that would be awesome. While he was wondering what decision to make, a sniffle was heard from the doorway. Momma Smith entered the room and looked at Raiden with teary eyes. “Go for it, son. I know you can do it. Don’t worry about us. We will be living happily and waiting patiently for your return.”

Raiden realised that his mom had heard everything, or at least most of it. He knew that although she was trying to smile, she was anxious about her son going to a different world alone.

“Sorry for the late introduction, I am Aldrich Sagar. You can think of me as a tour-guide cum salesman who is nagging your son. Alright, I shall give you three some privacy,” saying this, the voice vanished. Raiden hugged his Mom tightly and teared up. He had single-handedly taken down several criminal organisations and looked after his family. But now that he was going to be separated from the most important person in his life, his mental defenses broke down. Momma Smith patted his head lovingly and said, “Silly child, why are you crying? From what I heard, whatever happened was beyond your control and meant to happen. This is an opportunity. Your mom shall wait for you to come and take me to the immortal world. As long as you are happy, I don’t want anything else. And you are already 30. Bring a sweet daughter-in-law for me when you come, okay?” 

Raiden nodded and wiped his face on his mother’s sleeves, like a child wanting to be pampered. “I want to eat my favourite dishes, Mom. I don’t know when I will get to eat it again,” he said. Mommy Smith chuckled and said, “Alright, you silly boy. Wait a bit.” She went to the kitchen and left the two brothers alone. 

Lewin was standing silently like a statue, with a grave look on his face, unlike his usual fun-loving attitude. “It’s my body that’s going to burst. How come you're the one who has gone silly?” Raiden teased.

 “Sigh….guess I have to man up from now. I am already feeling the pressure of looking after the family in your absence. Don’t fool around with the girls there and come home as soon as possible,” saying this, Lewin left the room and waited for the food. Raiden smiled when he heard this. He knew that his brother was worried about him and this was his way of showing affection. Typical tsundere, pfftt.

After some time, the family had dinner together but they didn’t know what to say. Time passed little by little and the timer had only an hour left. Raiden sensed something and said, “Aldrich, are you there?” 

The voice soon replied, “Oh! So you can already sense me. Although I deliberately increased my presence to test you, the increase in soul power is still quite great. What I came to say is, although you have an hour left, it’s better to leave a little earlier. Stretching your time in this world to the limit may cause harm to your body.”

Although he wasn’t willing, Raiden had to listen to his Mom who insisted that he go right now. He hugged his Mom and kissed her forehead. He hugged his brother too, albeit stiffly, which made Aldrich chuckle. His eyes were filled with determination as he said, “ Don’t worry about me, Mom. I will return in a few years and take you to the immortal world. As for you, dumbass, reduce your workout time and look after Mom properly. Or else, I would kick your ass when I return. Alright, I am done here, Aldrich. Let’s get it over with, the sooner the better.” And without looking back again, he strode towards the door. “As you wish,” the voice said and both the voice and Raiden vanished.

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