After a few hours of grappling, wrestling, and throwing insults like flying daggers, we collapsed in a tangled heap of limbs and bruised egos.
"Huff… Puff… That was exhausting," Isaac panted, lying flat on the ground like a defeated NPC.
"Not me." I stretched my arms and cracked my neck, smirking. "Still have tons of energy left."
"You monster," he growled between wheezes.
"Lil wins." Rona raised her hand with a sleepy grin, her arm wobbling like a referee at her limit.
I raised both hands in mock triumph. "Thank you. Thank you. It was an easy-peasy match!"
Isaac rolled his eyes and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something."
I flopped down beside him, grinning. "Sure, shorty. What's up?"
"Is it about Lyndall?" Rona wriggled between us like an eager puppy.
Isaac scooted aside, making room. "Yeah."
"You believe me?" I tilted my head, honestly surprised.
"Yup," they both answered in unison.
I blinked. "I know Rona would, but Isaac too? I thought you'd say something like 'superficial nonsense' or call me delusional."
"I would… if I hadn't seen things myself," Isaac said coolly. "Besides, I'm into ancient texts and dark myths."
"You… understand ancient language?"
"Some of it. Learned a few scripts so I could decode stuff."
Rona and I stared at him like he'd just grown two extra heads.
"What?" Isaac shrugged. "It's either spend my time learning or let my brain rot like someone here."
The last strand of my patience snapped like a twig.
"You little—!" I lunged for his neck, but Rona dove in and held me back with all her might.
"Come here, you smug little twerp!" I shouted, flailing like a windmill.
"Relax!" Isaac held up both hands and scooted backward like his life depended on it. "We're straying from the main point here. Just hear me out, alright?"
I stopped struggling, though my clenched fists and twitching brow said otherwise. "On with it."
Isaac exhaled. "So... I once hacked into a supposedly dead server, right? And I found this file called Private Account. I thought it'd be some juicy gossip or bank info... but it was actually a forbidden text."
"You accidentally stole a forbidden text?" I slapped my forehead.
"Hey, it's not like it was labeled Danger: Cursed Tome Inside. How was I supposed to know?"
He sat up and adjusted his glasses like some anime scholar. "Anyway, when I heard your story about Lyndall, I remembered the text. It mentions a doctor, a demon, and a priestess."
"That's… oddly specific. How's that like my story?"
"Just let me finish."
Isaac's voice took on a different tone—cool, analytical, laced with curiosity and something else… fear?
"Long ago, in a small Japanese village, there lived a kind doctor who used traditional medicine to treat everyone, no matter who they were. People loved him. But one day, a mysterious disease swept through the village. No one survived more than a week. It was agony. The doctor tried everything, but his medicine failed."
His voice lowered, pulling us in.
"In his despair, he stumbled across a shrine. One that shouldn't have existed. It radiated malice. But desperate to save the village, he entered. Deep inside, he found a grotesque god statue. Just as he was about to flee, a voice whispered: 'Do you wish to help those poor folk?'"
Rona held her breath. I didn't blink.
"The doctor dropped to his knees. 'Yes, I'll do anything!' The voice answered: 'Then pray to me. Every day. And your power shall surpass death itself.' And he did. The villagers were healed. The disease vanished. Years passed, and the doctor lived in peace, even raising five daughters and, finally, a son."
I felt my heart skip.
Isaac continued, "But what he didn't know was that each patient he healed had their life force extracted—stored in him, then funneled to the god. That's how they all lived for so long. But if he ever stopped praying, even for a day…"
"They'd all die," I whispered.
He nodded. "They'd decay, and their souls would be trapped for eternity."
Rona shivered. "That god's a demon, not a god."
Isaac pushed on. "Then came a spring when all life in the village began to die again. The doctor's god fell silent. No prayers were answered. And then… a traveling priestess appeared. She sensed a powerful evil in the village. It came from the doctor's cabin—specifically, from his son."
I swallowed hard.
"She saw a child outside the broken cabin door. Beautiful, unnatural. When she attacked, he dodged effortlessly. They fought—one light, one shadow. It ended when she let herself be impaled…"
Isaac looked down at his stomach, and my eyes followed where he was looking.
"There?" I pointed at his stomach and he nodded.
Isaac continued. "…only to trap the demon child within her through a forbidden sealing rite. The moment the seal activated, the shrine vanished. So did the village."
I sat there frozen, processing every word. Five daughters. One beautiful son. Cabin. Winter. Demon child.
Everything was too similar.
"After hearing your story… it just clicked," Isaac said softly.
"I-It's just a coincidence," I said, my voice cracking. "There's no way Lyndall is… that."
"I'm just saying," Isaac replied, "be careful. You attract weird things like it's a hobby."
"Thanks, I feel so reassured."
Rona suddenly leapt onto me. "Rona gives Lil good luck!"
I hugged her. "Aww~ Thanks, Rona."
Still… the questions clawed at the back of my mind.
Why is Lyndall inside me?
Is the priestess my ancestor?
How did she survive a hand through the gut?
Isaac answered like he read my mind. "If the demon child is Lyndall, then yeah, the priestess might be your ancestor. As for how she lived… well, sealing a demon inside yourself isn't something normal humans can do."
He gave me a look.
"…You calling me not normal?"
"I'm saying maybe you inherited some of that monstrous strength and willpower."
Isaac stared at me and smirked. "Ya… monstrous."