SSS Transmigration: I Can Extract And Evolve Overpowered Shadows-Chapter 49: No Way Home (1)

After leaving the canyon, Hinata wandered through the forest at a slow pace. His eyes were sharper than they had ever been before; honestly confronting Absalom had felt remarkably good. However, there was still a weight in his heart that had yet to be lifted.

Hinata leaned against a tall tree, the cool air heavy with the scent of damp soil as it brushed past him. Cradled in his hands was the figure of Goku, sleeping soundly.

Hinata’s face darkened, his teeth clenching. He had been so focused on getting back at the Dragonforge family and staying far away from them that he had ignored the state of his companion.

Perhaps because he had seen him so often in this form, Hinata had forgotten that his companion wasn’t actually a dragon or a living person, but an agent of causality formed from his absorption of the shadow core.

Back then he hadn’t understood Goku’s words, but now he was beginning to.

Hinata made his way toward the dark chamber that had once held him captive.

The moment he reached the altar he had once been brought to as a sacrifice for Noctis, he couldn’t help grimacing.

"Feels like you’ve made a full 180."

Hearing the soft voice of a woman behind him, he turned his head.

The beautiful figure of a woman draped in a black cloak smiled before walking to his side. Hinata held her gaze for a moment, then turned back to Goku. "You came late, Tamara."

Tamara tilted her head. "Well, I had to calm the elders before I came to see you. I can’t have them suspecting who I am."

The woman’s black hair gradually turned white and her red eyes deepened. Once she was fully transformed, her elf-like eyes twitched ever so slightly. "What happened to Goku?"

Hinata dragged a hand through his hair. "I think I messed up."

Tamara’s gaze darkened. "You know we can’t go back, right."

He didn’t reply, only stared at the sleeping dragon now resting on an obsidian table. ’If I do cut my connections with the Dragonforge family, what will happen to me?’

Hinata didn’t know. Perhaps things might have been different if he had absorbed the core of an actual god; however, since his master was just one step away from godhood and had filled his core with his will, it carried all the causality and power of the time before his death, meaning that whoever inherited the core would inherit his will too.

That meant that just like what was happening to Goku, he could very well lose his abilities if he did what he had prepared to do.

His gaze shifted to Tamara, who was also staring at the dragon.

It had been about nine months since Hinata discovered the true identity of Tamara.

The daughter of the fallen Moonstone family, who had joined the Dragonforge family so they could be healed, only to be swept up in their divine punishment.

For her, the only reason she existed was to get revenge for her clan, which was why she had clung to the Dragonforge family so tightly, even becoming the caretaker of Noctis’ daughter and carrying out all their dirty work.

After Hinata opened her eyes, she began seeing things differently and decided not only to reveal her true form but to join his side.

Hinata ran his fingers through his hair, his thoughts racing for a solution, yet finding none, which only deepened his frustration.

"So what do you plan to do?" Tamara asked slowly. "The Sterling family are ready to take us in—even hide us, if you want time to think over cutting your ties."

Hinata didn’t respond for a long moment. Slowly, he pressed his hand to his chin, a deep frown settling across his handsome face. "No. I don’t need another force that I’ll end up owing something to."

Noticing Hinata’s demeanor and her own lack of usefulness, Tamara took a step back and began searching through the cave.

Hinata stared at Goku long after Tamara disappeared deeper into the dark.

A heavy silence hung in the air, the kind his little friend usually filled.

Hinata chuckled softly as he kept his gaze on the small dragon curled against the obsidian stone, looking entirely unbothered by the quiet heartache it was causing him.

Eventually he pushed off from the altar and walked out.

---

After coming out from the chamber, Hinata found a quiet slope at the edge of the forest, far enough from the cave that the damp stone smell gave way to open air. He sat down in the grass, legs stretched out, and stared at nothing in particular.

The moment his mind relaxed, the thoughts that had been battling within him surged back up.

At this point, he had only three options: cut his ties with Absalom and probably lose everything, keep the ties and lose himself, or find a third option.

Hinata turned this conclusion over and over, desperately searching for a loophole, or a much-needed third option, yet each time, his thoughts simply... drifted away.

One single decision made out of emotion had cost him far too much.

Hinata sat in silence, his mind gone quiet. Before he knew it, the sky above the treeline had shifted, bathing the world in a warm golden-orange glow.

Hinata leaned back against the tree and exhaled slowly.

’Why am I even doing any of this?’

He had grown stronger. He had taken revenge, to some extent. He had made enemies, forged something close to alliances, navigated his way through a hostile new world for a full year, done things that shouldn’t have been possible for someone who was, in the end, just a high schooler in the wrong place at the wrong time... and for what?

He wasn’t from here. He didn’t owe this world anything. The Dragonforge family, the Sterling family, the gods, their continents, their tier systems, their bloodlines — none of it had ever been his problem.

So why...

Tears nearly spilled from his eyes as he finally accepted the truth.

’Why can’t I go back home?’

If there truly was no way back home, then what was the point of any of this?

Something cold moved through him. Not grief, exactly. More like the sensation of a floor giving way beneath him, slowly, one plank at a time.

Maybe it was Noctis’ words, or perhaps he had realized it far earlier than he cared to admit, but Hinata felt his entire world, his ideology, his standards, slowly shattering.

Even if he held onto this power and returned to the Dragonforge family, there would be no path back home; yet if he decided to let go of everything, that would mean abandoning the last sliver of hope that his family might still be waiting for him.

Hinata felt his chest go tight.

The treeline blurred at the edges, and the world itself seemed to grow thin. The weight he had been carrying all day, perhaps since the moment he entered this world, came crashing down on him all at once.

It was heavy, painful, and he didn’t want to feel it anymore.

His core burned uncontrollably, making him gasp desperately for even a wisp of air.

Hinata was... tired.

"Hahahahahaha..." he laughed wildly through the pain. It seemed that even though he had not officially rejected Absalom’s causality, his will was forcing the core to reject him.

Yet just as his vision blurred at the edges, the loud chime of the system snapped him back into reality.

Ding!

[Your enemy, Elder Tessia is currently spreading a false rumour about you]

[Points earned: 1,000.]

Hinata blinked.

He stared at the notification hovering at the edge of his vision for a long moment. The burning in his core had subsided, and his sight slowly steadied.

’How did I not even think of that?’ He almost laughed at himself, finding it equal parts absurd and telling of just how far his mental state had slipped.

Hinata hesitated for a moment before the system. Even though he already knew the answer to the question he was about to ask, he asked anyway.

"System." His voice came out quiet. "How many points does it cost to return home?"

[Calculating...]

[Permanent Return: 10,000,000,000,000 Points]

Hinata stared at the number, then exhaled a short breath through his nose. "Haa... What did I expect?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his gaze to the grass between his boots.

It was impossible. Laughably so.

Still, he lifted his head again. This time his gaze wasn’t trembling; it was cold as ice.

"System." He said in a steady tone. "How many points do I need for you to send me back for five hours to a specific location?"

The system paused before it began calculating.

[Calculating...]

[Temporary Return: 48,500 Points]

Hinata went very still, his heart racing beneath his ribs.

"...How many points do I currently have?"

[Current Balance: 51,240 Points]

Hinata read the numbers once, then twice, then a third time.

He held every emotion brewing within him at bay and steadied his gaze. "System..." He paused. "Can you do me a favor before you vanish?"

He smiled brighter than he ever had before. "Can you take me back home?"