May Soul Dissonance Bow Before Me

Chapter 27

However, before Cale could fall back off to sleep, Choi Han's voice upon the Palantír caught his ear, and he opened his eyes again to look toward it consideringly.

"And the moment the chief was about to fall, a young boy got in the way of the people trying to take the children."
"...Lock?"
"Yes. It was Lock."

"Oh!" TBOAH!Rosalyn turned her head sharply the moment TBOAH!Lock suddenly sagged, crumbling into his seat beside the goddess and burying his face into his hands, sobs were heard from between his hands, they weren't muffled enough to be hidden. TBOAH!Choi Han and TBOAH!Rosalyn turned pale. They both stood up and rushed across the room. Grigori moved to give them space to crowd around TBOAH!Lock - to hold the shattered boy even as the Palantír mercilessly criticized him for his inaction in their TBOAH!Timeline.

'Why would Lock show up this time? In the novel, he had stayed hidden, even when the children were killed. Did he think killing and kidnapping were different? Was it his instinctual need to protect his family members and his younger siblings, who were weaker than him? What would have made Lock's natural wolf instincts flare up?'
"I stopped the assassin. No, I tried to kill them." Choi Han said that as he looked back at Cale.
Cale did not show any emotions as he urged Choi Han to continue speaking.
"Keep going."
"...I realized that the people who did not have stars on their clothes used the same black power as the assassins I killed at Harris Village."

"Among them, there was just one person who had the red star with five white stars on their chest. That person was the one who killed the guard." Choi Han started to tear up. "And that trash of a human was drinking the Wolf Tribe's blood."

Several people turned away when Redika's image appeared upon the Palantír, more people regardless of which world they came from turned pale and hung their heads as they tried to control their breathing - anger, no rage and a thirst for violence, was pulsating rampantly within all their bodies. This time, Grigori raised her hand, and her unique misty mana washed over the room like a soft semi-transparent fog. The overwhelming aura of oppression and malice dissipated.

"In the end, I could not capture or kill them. The ones I captured committed suicide, while the rest disappeared when the person with the stars used teleportation magic."
'Why would the blood drinking mage, who is a highest tier mage and crazy for blood, try to kidnap the Blue Wolf Tribe children instead of killing all of them like in the novel?' Cale could not figure it out.

The question on everyone's mind now was whether or not the same had happened in TBOAH!Timeline and no one had ever known about it.
"Goddess-nim..." TBOAH!Choi Han respectfully called out to Grigori, his voice faint as his eyes continued to shake, however, Grigori shook her head and motioned toward the Palantír which was enough to provoke TBOAH!Lock's bloodshot gaze back onto the Palantír so he could fully witness how far he had fallen short in comparison to his counterpart - he was both punishing himself and seeking salvation by watching this record upon the Palantír.

"This is what the mage said." Choi Han continued in an angry and bitter voice. "How disappointing. They were perfect as seeds. These young ones probably have even tastier blood."
Seed. Cale didn't know what the mage meant by seed, but he kept the word on the back of his mind as he opened his eyes and asked.
"And the children?"
The guard, chief, and the rest of the Wolf Tribe adults were dead. The only ones left were the 10 children and Lock.

Choi Han avoided Cale's gaze. This was the first time he did that since they sat down at this table. Cale instantly figured out what must have happened, as Choi Han reported in a quiet voice.
"They are at the inn."
'I knew it.'
Choi Han opened and closed his mouth a few more times before finally adding on.
"We came together with Rosalyn's magic."