100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 538 - Reunion

That night, Virel and Aniel awakened. Their consciousness returned gradually, layer by layer. Then, their awareness sharpened. It first registered that they were not in their private chambers. Immediately after, memories returned. Not all of them at once, but sufficient fragments. The East. The siege. The retreat. The final instructions. The descent into sleep. And then— the chamber doors swung open. Vivian entered. Her intention was merely to check on them again. She had not anticipated they would already be awake. Vivian gasped, her breath catching. Her hand flew to her mouth, and tears instantly welled, so swiftly and uncontrollably that they blurred her vision before she could even take a step forward. "Mother... Father..." she whispered, her voice breaking completely. "You’re finally awake." The two Celestials resting on the bed froze. For a moment, they simply gazed at her. Not because they failed to recognize her. But because the recognition struck with overwhelming force. Virel’s eyes widened first. Then Aniel’s. The years separating then from now vanished in a single breath. "Vivian," Virel said, his voice hoarse. "My daughter... is that truly you?" Aniel’s own tears began to gather. "You’ve grown so much, dear." That was all it took. Whatever fragile composure Vivian had maintained shattered completely. She rushed towards them. She ran like a daughter who had waited an eternity and feared too often, finally unable to bear the distance for even one more step. Then she threw herself into their arms, encircling both of them, holding them as tightly as if she feared they might vanish again if her grip faltered. "This isn’t a dream," she sobbed. "I can finally see both of you again. I can finally..." Her words dissolved into a cascade of tears. Aniel immediately wrapped her arms around Vivian, one hand stroking her hair with an ancient, instinctive tenderness. "There, there," she murmured, though tears were now streaming down her own face. "It’s our fault. We left too early last time." Virel’s hand rested on Vivian’s back. "You’ve become something wonderful, daughter," he said. "We can feel it." Vivian could only cry harder. For a while, none of them attempted to speak anything more coherent. The chamber didn't require sense; it demanded the profound truth of touch after years of absence. Then, another presence approached the doorway. Lucien. He had been meditating nearby, recovering from the strain of the recent days. The instant he heard Vivian’s voice change, he moved. And now he stood at the open doorway, observing the scene. For a single heartbeat, he remained motionless. The sight before him completely arrested him. Virel and Aniel were awake. Vivian was held in their embrace. Lucien had envisioned this moment many times. In his imaginings, perhaps he would utter something steady and calm first. Something worthy. Instead, he simply stood there, feeling his eyes burn. Tears came before his ingrained sense of composure could object. He had never liked displaying such vulnerability. He never considered himself particularly adept at expressing grief. Yet, these were the two individuals who had raised him in that secluded world. The ones who had provided him with a simple existence, a genuine home, warmth, guidance, and a form of love that never once made him feel inadequate for not being their biological child. He had lost them once before. Now, they were here. Virel spotted him. And let out a laugh. The laugh cracked halfway through as his throat constricted with emotion, but the sound was unmistakably his. "My boy," he said, his eyes shining. "I knew you would do something about our condition." Aniel turned as well, smiling through her tears. "What are you doing standing there?" she asked softly. "Come here and join your family." That was the final catalyst. Lucien crossed the distance almost blindly. Earlier, he had already dispelled the lingering vestiges of Oblivion’s influence around them, ensuring that nothing false, nothing blurred, nothing stolen would remain between recognition and reunion. Then, he joined them. And became part of the embrace. No one attempted to hold back their emotions any longer. The four of them remained tightly entwined. The reunion continued in this manner until even time itself seemed too respectful to interrupt. Outside the chamber, Seraphine arrived with several of the waiting Celestials, only to halt when she glimpsed through the partially open doors what had transpired. Seraphine did not step forward. She immediately understood the significance of the moment. As did the other Celestials. None of them spoke. None of them intruded. The senior guard bowed his head slightly and gestured for the others to step back. Seraphine followed suit without hesitation. The chamber doors remained slightly ajar, but the space was yielded back to the four within, and for a precious interval, the rest of the world was kept at bay. Eventually, the overwhelming surge of emotion subsided enough for them to breathe without pain with every inhale.

A separation occurred. It wasn't by choice, but necessity, as distinct faces became visible, tears were wiped, and years could be gauged with a single glance.

Vivian repeatedly looked between them, as if to confirm their reality each time.

Aniel gently touched her cheeks, then Lucien’s, with the same tender inquiry a mother might show when checking if a fever had finally subsided.

Virel leaned back against the bed, observing them both with a look of fond helplessness that, paradoxically, made him appear younger.

"You two actually came," he murmured softly.

Lucien managed a faint chuckle.

"Well," he replied, his voice raspy, "you did raise us to be quite the handful."

This remark drew another laugh from Virel.

"That's slander, my boy," he responded playfully.

Aniel simply shook her head, a warm smile gracing her features.

Vivian let out a tearful laugh at this, and hearing it in the room, after so much sorrow, seemed to lighten the very atmosphere.

For a considerable period afterward, no one pressed for answers.

They had the time now.

Lucien recognized that many things required his understanding.

How had Virel and Aniel appeared as mortals in their world of origin? How did they live as humans there and yet persist as Celestials here? Were the two versions of them intrinsically unified? To what extent did the old enigmas connect to the Liberators, the Primordial Slime, and the grander mechanisms behind reincarnation?

However, he refrained from bombarding them with these inquiries all at once.

He wouldn't disrupt this initial warmth.

Instead, the family simply reconnected.

Gradually, as the initial surge of reunion settled into a more tranquil state, the confusions in Lucien’s mind began to untangle one by one.

The explanation, when it finally arrived, was more wondrous and peculiar than he had anticipated.

The Virel and Aniel who had lived as humans in the small world were, in truth, themselves.

The reason for this was...

The Reincarnation Disc.

That very name resonated deeply with Lucien.

It was the same ancient artifact once wielded by the Primordial Slime. The identical artifact linked to the transmigration of the Liberators.

And now, that artifact resided in the grasp of another Liberator, integrated into his cheat in a manner still so outlandish that Lucien found it somewhat unsettling to contemplate too often.

Through that artifact, Virel and Aniel had accomplished something extraordinary.

They had dispatched fragments of their very souls into reincarnation.

Merely a portion.

That was the crux of why events had transpired as they did.

Their souls had entered a small world by chance.

The Reincarnation Disc's peculiar function took hold. It guided these soul fragments into vessels bearing a likeness to them, which might also shed light on why they were dispatched to their world of origin.

Yet, because only a fraction of their essence had departed, those incarnations were incapable of transcending mortality.

Concurrently, their true bodies in the Great World remained in a state of dormancy.

Sleeping, waiting, safeguarding the greater continuation of their existence in reserve.

Upon the conclusion of their human lives, their consciousnesses had returned here.

The transition had indeed triggered a repercussion, but by then, that injury had long since healed.

Lucien listened in quiet contemplation for a long interval after that.

Vivian, too, remained silent.

It clarified enough that several long-standing mysteries settled within his mind, no longer grinding against each other like jammed gears.

They had never forgotten them and their lives lived there.

That was what mattered most.

Virel articulated it plainly.

"Especially you, son," he addressed Lucien.

Aniel nodded, her gaze soft.

"We were aware of the Liberators' existence. We knew you were special, even before everything fully came to light."

Lucien stared, taken aback.

Virel offered a smile.

"It was still coincidence. Or perhaps it was fate. The world rarely affords the courtesy of an explanation."

His gaze then deepened with a quiet, heartfelt emotion.

"But encountering you there, in that small world, and raising you..." He gave a single shake of his head. "That was one of the most cherished experiences we've ever had."

Lucien momentarily averted his gaze, his chest feeling constricted once more.

As the narrative unfolded, it became Lucien and Vivian's turn to share.

The atmosphere in the room shifted in a different manner.

Virel and Aniel listened intently.

More than once, their eyes widened with genuine astonishment.

This was particularly true when they heard about Lootwell.

At one point, Virel simply looked at him, inquiring, "You accomplished all of that?"

Lucien smiled.

"I am not alone," he stated, gently holding Vivian’s hand.

Aniel responded immediately, "As expected of my children."

Vivian laughed. Lucien joined in. Even Virel found himself laughing afterward.

With each story exchanged, each memory recovered, and every revelation shared, the years that had separated them transformed from an insurmountable barrier into a path finally crossed.

They also engaged in reminiscence.