"You're getting arrogant. If all of us in the Hakkesshu fully awakened, you definitely wouldn't be our match." Vice couldn't help refuting.
"Want to try?"
"No." Mature and Vice said at the same time.
However, it wasn't because they were scared. It was because they were unwilling, or rather, they didn't want, to awaken.
Even though they had awakened the memories of their previous lives, in terms of their personal behavior and actions, they were still free. They would even feel troubled and resentful toward their fate.
But once they awakened, it would be different. They would hear Orochi's voice, their personalities would undergo earth-shaking changes, and by that time, all their actions and behavior would be out of their control.
Not every member of the Orochi Hakkesshu wanted Orochi to descend into the human world. In these countless reincarnations, each of them, more or less, developed a sense of resistance toward it.
Gaidel, who had been killed by Goenitz, was the best example.
He had already gotten married and had children. He had completely abandoned his faith in Orochi.
Also, the reason Mature and Vice obeyed Goenitz and agreed to meet Aiden was because the two of them had also noticed that Goenitz himself didn't seem very eager to break Orochi's seal.
Although Goenitz had spent these years searching everywhere for the other members of the Hakkesshu and making preparations, over time, Mature and Vice gradually realized that Goenitz's behavior had grown strange. Especially after adopting Goenica, his personality had completely changed.
He started acting polite to everyone and no longer killed people at the slightest provocation like before.
He didn't even go to seek out the Three Sacred Families after investigating where they lived. And you have to know, in these decades since Goenitz awakened, the Three Sacred Families were at a point of generational transition. The older generation had already grown old, while the younger generation had yet to mature. If Goenitz had wanted to eliminate them, it would have been far too easy.
As long as the Three Sacred Families were wiped out, nothing would stand in the way of Orochi's resurrection.
Later, especially after hearing Goenitz say that Shermie had actually begun resisting her fate because of a man, and yet Goenitz still didn't react, even wanting to introduce them to that man, they knew exactly what Goenitz was planning.
So awakening them was impossible.
They definitely hadn't had enough of this free and easy life yet.
As if to prove this point, after saying those few words, Mature and Vice each lifted their coffee cups and took a sip. Although their expressions were naturally dominated by coldness due to their personalities, Aiden could still see a trace of something called happiness on their faces.
'Not wanting to awaken… is it for the sake of freedom…'
Although he didn't know the emotional journeys they had gone through lately, Aiden still knew some parts of the storyline. The two mature women before him were absolutely rebels to the core. Or rather, aside from the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, the other four members of the Hakkesshu were all rebels.
Of course, that was from Orochi's perspective.
But judging from now, the faith of the Orochi Four Heavenly Kings didn't seem so firm either. Just like Shermie, she had completely fallen in love with her current life.
Besides…
Aiden looked toward Goenitz, the leader of the Hakkesshu… Alright, the doting expression on his face already confirmed he was a full-on daughter-con.
'In that case, does that mean Orochi won't be resurrected?' Aiden wondered.
But he wasn't certain. There were still three Hakkesshu members he hadn't met, and among those three, two of them were very firm believers in Orochi.
Besides, judging from his experiences in other worlds, once the plot started diverging from what he knew, unpredictable variables would definitely appear, including developments and enemies he couldn't foresee.
But…
Aside from Orochi, who else in this world could even be his enemy?
Those from the distant realm?
It shouldn't be their time to appear yet.
Just as he was thinking, Goenitz returned.
After soothing the child, Goenitz still had a faint smile on his face. He seemed to take this child-soothing business even more seriously than resurrecting Orochi.
Then, after taking a deep breath and reorganizing his words, Goenitz spoke, "Aiden, what I wanted to tell you earlier is this, since you know about the Hakkesshu and Orochi, then you should also know our fate, right?"
Aiden nodded, "I know a little, so what about it?"
"We're tired." Goenitz said this first, then continued, "Whether it's us, the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, or Vice and Mature, we're all tired."
"And what's that got to do with me?" Aiden was most confused about this part. If you're tired, then go rest. Play for a few decades, die of old age, reincarnate again, and continue playing.
"It actually has nothing much to do with you. At first, the reason I introduced Mature and Vice to you was because I noticed your relationship with Shermie was unexpectedly good." Goenitz sighed and said, "The Hakkesshu are lonely. Even among ourselves, we rarely stay in contact."
"But Shermie told me earlier that she gets along with those two pretty well." Aiden pointed at Mature and Vice.
"'Getting along' just means we can talk to each other. In fact, if it weren't for the boss, Vice and I would each be doing our own thing." Mature shrugged casually.
"If our relationship were really that good, after awakening we would've regrouped long ago. Why would we need the boss to travel all over the world looking for us? Honestly, among the Hakkesshu, only the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi can actually hang out together."
"Uh… alright."
Aiden thought about it and realized Mature had a point. In the game's story, the Hakkesshu really did only have decent relations among the Four Heavenly Kings. As for the other four…
Aside from the member Goenitz had killed long ago, Mature and Vice later betrayed Goenitz for the sake of freedom, even teaming up with Iori to attack him. As for Ryuji Yamazaki, that didn't even need mentioning. If you gave him a chance, he'd probably try to replace Orochi completely.
Thinking this, Aiden took a sip of tea and then said, "Let's not talk about what you planned before. Are you saying you want to stop Orochi from resurrecting now?"
"You could say that." Goenitz nodded without hiding anything.
"Hah… then you don't need me at all." Aiden looked puzzled. "All you need to do is nothing. Don't provoke the Three Sacred Families. Don't look for the reincarnated sacrifices. As long as you don't do anything, the seal on Orochi won't have any issues, and Orochi won't resurrect."
"But the problem is, Orochi is already close to resurrecting." Goenitz said something that shocked Aiden extremely.
Then he continued, "During this recent period, Orochi's voice often whispers in my ears, and it's getting clearer and clearer. This proves that the sealing effect is getting weaker."
"That… isn't possible, right?" Aiden was stunned and frowned. "I've been staying at the shrine lately, and Maki is perfectly fine. She always keeps the Yata Mirror with her and hasn't lost it…"
"This has nothing to do with those." Goenitz shook his head.
"There's more than one way to undo or weaken the seal. As long as someone finds the right method and offers enough sacrifices, Orochi can still break the seal and reappear in the world."
"That doesn't sound like something a single person could do." Aiden continued frowning.
"From how you're talking, it sounds more like a large organization has learned some information about Orochi and wants to summon him."
"That's what I think too." Goenitz sighed. "At first, I was actually happy, it meant we wouldn't have to do the troublesome work ourselves. But after talking with Shermie last time, I realized some of the things she said made sense. And…"
At this point, Goenitz turned his head to look at Goenica, then continued, "And for people like us, once we develop a bond we can't cut off, we stop caring about anything else. I already saw this with Gaidel.
So, after we parted ways last time, I searched around Europe. Unfortunately, I found nothing."
After hearing Goenitz's words, Aiden fell deep into thought. At this moment, he thought of an organization that might have the capability.
'NESTS!'
A huge villain organization with plenty of manpower and money.
But he didn't know much about NESTS. He only knew that K', Kula, and some fighters who appeared later were artificial humans created by them. As for where their base was, he had no clue.
Seeing Aiden fall into deep thought, Goenitz waited a moment before asking, "Did you think of something?"
After a while, Aiden slowly shook his head, then asked, "Have you ever heard of NESTS?"
"No."
The three shook their heads at the same time.
"That makes things difficult, because I suspect it's that organization called NESTS doing all this." Aiden sighed.
"Maybe Rugal knows. He has been an arms dealer and crime boss for decades. Mature and I can find a reason to probe him for information." Vice said.
After thinking for a moment, Goenitz nodded, "That works."
But at that moment, Aiden suddenly felt something was off. But he couldn't figure out what exactly felt wrong.
He could only ask, "What if even this Rugal guy doesn't know anything?"
"Then we can only wait for Orochi's arrival." Goenitz looked at Aiden, his expression extremely calm. "But the problem shouldn't be too serious. After all, the Three Sacred Families are still around. And there is also you, an unexpected variable."
That was what Goenitz had wanted to say earlier. If they truly couldn't stop Orochi's descent, combining the strength of the Three Sacred Families and Aiden, they might still be able to reseal him.
Of course, being able to stop things before that would be even better.
But all of this first required finding that organization called NESTS. Even if it was still only a guess, nothing could be confirmed until they located them.
Thinking of that, Goenitz continued, "I plan to leave tomorrow to search in other countries. My coming to Japan this time wasn't just to meet old companions, I also wanted to search around here."
But at this point, Goenitz looked back at Goenica, then said to Aiden, "Aiden, there's one more small thing I'd like to trouble you with."
"What is it?"
"Goenica is my adopted daughter. She's an orphan with no relatives except me. Last time she had a good impression of you. So this time I also came to Japan because I hoped you could help take care of her for a while. Running all over the world, it's a bit too hard for her."
"Aiden, I hope you won't refuse."
[🥳 New novel guys—"Online Game: SSS-Tier Skills From Scratching Tickets". It is from the same author who wrote "Awoke As a God After Auto-Battling For 100000 Years". Do give it a try and hope you all had a great year.]