Adam’s words cast a heavy, freezing silence over the scene.
They could comprehend the words, but the implications remained out of reach. Everyone present was gripped by a singular sensation: their minds understood the logic, yet their hearts refused to follow. They simply didn't know how to process such a reality.
"That’s why the Flame of Judgment used by Dogma’s group never reacted to you," Adam continued. "You only convinced yourself you were a Reincarnator; in truth, you are nothing of the sort. As for your extraordinary Life Force, that happened because your own Destiny Power began to recover even as Yugo Kurei’s was being transplanted into you. Possessing the Destiny Power of two people effectively doubled your physical vitality."
Adam was answering questions that had lingered for a long time—why the Flame of Judgment had failed to ignite and why Hugo’s recovery speed had far outpaced his friends'—but those details felt trivial now.
Once he managed to wrap his head around the fact that the young man standing before them was indeed the genuine article, Eugene finally spoke.
"...So, you’re saying this man... is the real Hugo? He only imagined he was someone else? He isn't an Otherworlder after all?"
"Yes, exactly. I am deeply sorry for the turmoil I’ve caused."
Looking back, the signs had been there. When Adam first met him, he hadn't said he’d summoned him or reincarnated him. He had said, "I am the one who made you this way." Even then, he was hinting that he hadn't done anything to Yugo Kurei, but rather had created the person standing before them.
How was one supposed to feel? What was the right way to react? There were no clear answers. At the very least, they should have been relieved that the outcome wasn't what Eugene and Fee had feared—that the original Hugo’s soul was gone forever. Yet, the truth was far more convoluted.
"But... but wait! This is good news, right?" Melt interjected, her voice bright as she tried to dispel the gloom. "I mean, it just means Hugo actually lost his memories! That Hero Otaku person didn't steal Hugo’s body like Dogma’s group claimed. We know for a fact now that he's the real Hugo, a person of this world. Shouldn't we be celebrating?"
She was right, of course. Fee wanted nothing more than to rejoice that the brother he looked up to was still there. But Marcos spoke up, giving voice to the complicated emotions swirling beneath the surface.
"Melt... you have a point. For us—for Fee, Lord Eugene, and the rest of the family—this is undeniably wonderful news. However..."
Marcos trailed off and looked up. He stared at his rival’s back, his face contorting with sympathy.
"For Hugo himself," he continued, his voice strained, "this isn't something he can just be happy about. He’s just been told that the person he thought he was... never existed."
Melt caught her breath. She turned her eyes toward Hugo’s back, suddenly at a loss for words. It was just as Marcos said. Until this very moment, he had lived his life believing he was Yugo Kurei, a soul occupying Hugo Clay’s body.
They had seen the fruits of that inner conflict during the battle with Dogma. He had spent every day agonizing over his identity as Yugo Kurei. But Adam’s revelation had just erased all of that. He wasn't the Hero Otaku Kurei Yugo; he was Hugo Clay with amnesia. Yet, Hugo himself likely had the hardest time accepting that fact. In truth, it was even worse than that—he could no longer be called the "pure" Hugo Clay, either.
He was neither Yugo Kurei nor the original Hugo Clay. Who am I, exactly?
As Hugo stood there, shattered by the weight of that question, Adam spoke again.
"I’m sorry, Hugo. I know it was to protect the world, but I am truly sorry for putting you through this."
Hugo didn't respond. He couldn't. Still lost in a reality he didn't know how to navigate, he remained silent, his fingertips trembling with an icy chill.