Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 609: An Alternative Future

Spraghhh!

The flash of light was like an instantaneous response.

"Nooooo!"

Viva hadn’t actually managed to see what happened, but she expected her sister to receive the deadly punishment that Aurora promised them.

"Big sis!"

Without any hesitation, Viva ran towards her sister in horror, quickly lifting her head into her lap.

However...

"Big sis?"

Although Yvonne’s eyes looked completely out of focus, the body that Viva inspected was almost completely unscathed.

The smell of burnt fibers assaulted Viva’s nose, but aside from the hundred vine stumps that had been cauterized off, Yvonne didn’t even have a single bruise on her body.

"Wah! Seriously, just how ridiculous is this Ability of yours going to get?"

Unlike the Thorn Trio, who had failed to observe Aurora’s counter, Kara had seen it all under the protection of her starry shadows.

Aurora had only waved her hand very lightly, a storm containing hundreds of light razors had burst out, each as strong as the floor annihilation slash she used during the White Gate Clear.

Within a split second, the razors operated in a precise fashion, thoroughly dismantling both of Thorn Queen’s means of defense and offense.

The fact that she didn’t directly harm the Thorn Queen’s body was even more ridiculous.

To Kara’s knowledge, this level of control was something that only her Master could achieve.

’Well, it’s not THAT good, but still.’

No matter what, this was an entirely fresh move that Aurora had thrown out of nowhere.

If she had used it even once against the White Gate’s Dragonoids, their army could have been annihilated within seconds.

In fact, to this moment, golden light was still coming out of Aurora’s eyes as her shining hair floated above her head like some kind of judicial crown, making her look even more fearsome.

’Is she still softhearted after all?’

Having checked a dozen times just to be sure, Viva turned her gaze toward the silent Aurora, her brain working at full speed.

’As the so-called Hero of Light, she must be reluctant to kill fellow humans.’

Although she knew she wasn’t as smart as her Big sis, Viva believed in her ability to read the room.

It was a relief that Yvonne was still okay, but the fact that she was could be used to deduce a specific fact.

All this time, Aurora had only been putting up a tough act. In reality, she had no intention to dispose of them; her morality wouldn’t allow it.

’If I used this fact to my advantage...’

On one hand, this was a very risky endeavour. After all, there was no guarantee her hypothesis would work all the way through.

On the other hand, if her hypothesis was proven to be true, Viva was confident that she could push back, turning the tables on Aurora.

Threatening them with empty words? She could threaten her back!

Hadn’t she done so much just to keep her disguise a secret from the higher-ups? Such a weak point could be easily held hostage!

If she really lacked the ability to silence them, the Thorn Trio would become the ones in control once again.

’But...’

By doing so, their lives would be put on the line based on a single hypothesis.

That being said, Viva didn’t think she had much of a choice.

’Big sis needs mental treatment as soon as possible.’

She wasn’t brave enough to attempt anything too outrageous against a monster like Aurora, but if she could be convinced to let them go once they escaped this Gate, this could be their only chance of saving Yvonne before she was too far gone.

"Hey, Auror-"

"Silence."

Unfortunately for her, before Viva started her lifesaving negotiation, a flash of light blew her away.

It seemed that in the time it took her to make a decision, the abnormal state that Aurora had been in had also come to an end as her eyes turned back to normal.

’What’s with all this rage?’

Even Aurora herself was confused about her split-second counter.

She was definitely prepared to punish defiance, but the action she took was fueled by pure anger, anger that she didn’t have, at least not toward a pathetic person like Yvonne.

Not only did this rage spoon-feed her a recipe for an attack that dealt extreme damage, but it had also boosted her power in every possible aspect.

Enigma reserves, Enigma efficiency, Ability control... everything was amplified to a noticeable degree.

It wasn’t a temporary elevation either; everything that Aurora had gained remained with her. Which only made her question this strange outburst even more.

’It’s as if I had actually suffered under her hands.’

The hatred she felt for Yvonne during that split second gave Aurora the impression that she had been tortured to death by the Thorn Queen.

In fact, her own reaction felt like a response to reliving a deeply repressed trauma.

Everything seemed to line up, but the only problem with that interpretation was...

’Nothing of that sort had ever happened to me.’

Although the Thorn Trio had attempted to harm her from the very start, those attempts had been met with failure early on.

As for a much earlier occurrence, it was even more unlikely. After all, Aurora had no notion of the Thorn Trio’s existence before they ended up becoming the backstabbers of her team...

’Something isn’t right...’

Aurora’s sense of that traumatic event was even stranger. Her first impression was that of a past event, yet at the same time, it also gave her the impression of a confirmed future occurrence.

’Not even a premonition can explain this.’

Could she outright read the future now? Was this the actual Ability that she had gained from the devastating Green Gate?

’Did she still have a hidden card up her sleeve... No, is this more of a ’Would have’ rather than a will?’

Considering how easily Aurora had subdued the Thorn Queen, it was a logical impossibility for Yvonne to cause Aurora any grief, let alone a deep-seated trauma.

However, even without these obvious circumstances, Aurora could instinctively tell that this should have happened, but something changed, causing an entirely different sequence of events to ensue.

In that way, Yvonne had somehow transformed from someone whom Aurora bore a death grudge against into a useless slug that she dragged around for the sake of her own agenda.

’Yet...’

Only, if that future had been truly avoided, then where did this sudden futuristic anger of Aurora’s come from?