Dimensional Descent

Hutch only closed his eyes for only a moment, but it felt like an eternity. Everything about his life seemed to flash by, and yet it hardly seemed to have anything to do with him at all.

No matter what memory he recalled, they always seemed to revolve around the very same little boy, his pride and joy... his grandson.

Hutch didn't know when it was he had completely lost his grip on Elorin. Maybe he was too focused on the Slayer Legion, maybe it was because he placed too much emphasis on his loyalty, neglecting the needs of the child, maybe he hadn't shown the little one enough love, enough care... enough affection.

He had always closed one eye to such events. Even back then when his grandson had held a blade to his neck, seemingly thinking that Hutch was unconscious, Hutch had been aware of his surroundings the whole time, he had even been naively happy when his grandson chose not to kill him, as though this was something a person should get extra points for.

When Hutch opened his eyes again, though it had only been a moment, his grandson was already just five meters from him. Even amidst the chaos, there seemed to be a moment of silence.

The tear that streamed down Hutch's cheek fell to the ground and seemed to quickly vanish. Hutch couldn't remember the last time he had cried, it hadn't happened even when his daughter and son-in-law passed away, not when his wife had passed away, not when brothers and sisters left this world before him...

However, seeing his grandson stand before him like this broke something within him.

As he looked toward Elorin, he thought about the conversation he had with Leonel back when he brought Emna to train with him. Although Leonel hadn't come out and said it directly, everything about his words seemed to drop hints for the inevitability of the current decision.

coddling the feelings of others. He didn't even waste his time trying to convince a grandfather that a grandson would stab him

loosened. He couldn't seem to gather up

"Why."

Hutch could say. In truth, he didn't even expect an answer. He knew his grandson too well, he wasn't a

much younger, Hutch used to think that it was because his grandson was a bit anti-social and lazy, but as time passed, he realized that whenever his grandson lounged around, he would come back even stronger than before... and it wasn't that he was anti-social... it

was a

Empire killed my parents. The

simply stated them with the ease of talking about the weather. His gaze

open his mouth to respond, but everything felt

something their Gene Assessment made very clear. They lived very normal lives and didn't even interact with Hutch very much due to his own duties. Hutch was just lucky that he was privy to the truth of the Slayer Legion, and as such, was able to allow some members of his family the freedom to be normal. Others were much less

due to this dissatisfaction that so many had

parents had died. As two completely normal individuals, they were almost guaranteed to become Invalids. When the Metamorphosis Descended, they were among the first to fall

without having all of the information, it was obvious that the Ascension Empire had chosen to sacrifice his parents, to kill them

0% chance. But in order to play to the odds, the