The Heroine is My Stepsister, and I'm her Final Boss-Chapter 62: Eli

Atlas heard him, every single word he spoke. But he felt him as well. His emotions not reciprocating with his loud demeanor. Something inside him, not clicking with his speech at all. But whatever it may be. In the end. Atlas finally pieced it together.

’This old man.....so my suspensions were right. He did send me with the intention for my eventual death. Everything. Every motherfucking thing was calculated.’

’Damn. Talk about....fuck. Who am I to complain. I was the naive one who believed him....’

’Deactivate...’ he voiced, again coming back to his perpetual darkness.

His former mood which was of a bit delight from his sister’s care now soldered from his so-called father’s festering comments. He didn’t want to let it affect him as in his heart a part of him knew he was being manipulated. But in the end, it was his own fault. Fault of his craving, fault of his trauma perhaps.

But now was not the time to be disappointed. While a war waged here in the dreaming, another war was on its way to reality.

’The world is really indeed swirling towards chaos. Everything....Everything is getting fucked up while I am stuck here. Stuck in my own body.’

’Heyy!!! GUIDE. Can you fucking Guide me out of here. The kingdom of your precious incarnation is at fucking War!’ He beloud.

{{{....}}}

’No reply.....I hope you didn’t lose an arm. I died and came back for that fucking arm. And I don’t wanna lose any limbs at the moment!’ He beloud, once more.

Booomm!!!

The surrounding shook once more. Like replying to his comments. Himself falling down at the side.

’...what the fuck. Am I getting pushed back or some shit. Wait....I don’t got time for blowing my frustration on someone.....haaa....I hope Eli’s doing fine...’ he voiced out of concern.

’Activate "Observer Perspective" on Eli.’

[Observer Perspective activated.....

Target ’Eli’ ....

Analyzing if the Target is influenced by the Host or not....

Analyzing finish, Very High influence. Access granted for observation, interaction, and touch.

Acquiring Target.....

Successful!]

’....touch? That’s new.....What does it mean? Touch her or...’

The world swirled once more. The darkness shifting into a dark cave-like place, where his vision gradually followed to Eli as she was shouting at somebody. The somebody being the only source of light.

’Eli...who are yo...’ he voiced as he gazed up. Looking at the source of the light itself. The motherfucking giant that was towering over the like the holy mountain itself.

"Just punch the goddamn castle. Why the fuck are you being a pussy because of some lame and old myth!" Eli beloud, pointing her finger towards the mighty giant itself.

The giant only sighed. {{{Girl. You are young. Too young. I have been around since the Dark Continent was created and I assure you, he is no myth. He is there. Resting. Sleeping. Waiting.}}} he voiced.

Eli wanted to rebuke more, trying to belt her tension on him but she suddenly felt something. Something intimate. A scent she could not forget. The sensation she could never forget.

She looked back like somebody was there and not just somebody. Someone she dearly knew, someone she oh so dearly missed.

’...Atlas?’

But no one was there. But no, something was wrong. This feeling in her heart. The gut feeling was especially strong as she gradually heard an echo.

’Eli..’ Atlas voiced.

"Huh...Atlas? You are here? Where are you? You are alive? You came back?" She questioned looking around her.

’Eli...okay. Now you can hear me. Sorry..... No, I am not back yet. Let’s say I am stuck somewhere and also pretty much alive....’

Eli stemmed confused still looking around but not seeing him. "What...why can’t I see you.." she voiced. Her voice pitching high like a puppy. Like she wanted to see him oh so bad.

’Don’t worry. One of my skills. I can communicate with you like this for the moment. Thankfully you are alive as well, and doing better it seems. Talking down on a giant. Not a giant but the giant’ He proclaimed.

As they talked, Veil and the giant could only look confused. The giant looking at Veil as he gestured his finger on his head saying if she got some screws loose. While Veil also stayed in confusion.

"Still playing the leading role, Captain?" Atlas murmured, his voice rough and low, cutting through the stillness like a blade. He tilted his head slightly, as if studying her invisible form. "Or are you just enjoying the dramatic irony of talking down to a giant?"

Eli didn’t respond immediately. When she did, her mental voice trembled with a cocktail of anger and grief, raw as an open wound. "Atlas....it’s really you. You....You left me.....again," she whispered, the words heavy with accusation. ".again and again. You walked into that castle knowing I couldn’t follow. Knowing I’d feel you...."

Atlas flinched. The memory of Dracula’s castle loomed between them—a labyrinth of shadows where he’d faced death while Eli had waited outside, helpless. He could still taste the metallic fear in her thoughts, sharper than blood. He reached out instinctively, his hand brushing the air where her shoulder should have been—feeling her skin on his palm.

"I didn’t die," he said softly, though his voice carried an edge of defensiveness. "I’m here."

Eli laughed bitterly, the sound echoing in his mind like breaking glass. ".... Do you know what it’s like, feeling the bond between us snap? Like someone ripped out your soul and left a hollow where your heart should be? I thought—" She cut herself off abruptly, but the unspoken words hung between them, loud as a scream: ’I thought I’d lost you forever.’

Atlas froze. Her pain clawed at him worse than any wound as like lara, like with Henry. When he used this skill of his, he would connect deeper, feeling a part of their feeling. He wanted to reach for her again, to pull her close and tell her it would be alright—but how could he, when she wasn’t really there? Instead, he leaned back, deflecting with sarcasm. "Dramatic much? I seem to recall you crying over a dead but cute monster once."

"That ’dead monster’ was a scouting party’s worth of soldiers," Eli shot back, her mental voice rising sharply. "And this—this is different. You’re not just some stray I vowed to protect. You’re—" She stopped herself, but the unsaid word lingered in the air between them: ’Mine.’

The admission hung there, suspended like a shard of glass catching the moonlight. Atlas swallowed hard, his throat tight. He wanted to hate her for it—for the way she made him feel vulnerable, for the way her emotions tangled with his own. But instead, he felt something else: guilt. Guilt for leaving her behind once more, for making her feel this way, for dragging her into this mess she didn’t deserve.

"Eli listen to me. I know you are mad but things more than us are at stake at the moment," he growled suddenly, his voice sharper than before. "Your empire has declared war on my kingdom. I need you to do something for me."

Eli’s presence wavered, her mental voice dropping to a whisper. The fire in her eyes, visible and shocked. "...."

Atlas became confused with her reaction. Why was she all so suddenly silent? The visible frustration in her eyes. The way she suddenly bit her lips. the way her feelings changed so suddenly, rippling towards him. A feeling he recognized. A feeling he knew so well.

"Wait....you knew?" He questioned, a bit surprised. Something clicking within his mind. But no. He didn’t want to accept it. He didn’t want to accept it all.

"Eli....Love.....Talk to me....Did you know your empire was going to wage war on us?"

"....." Eli turned silent. Her face betraying every ounce of thought she wanted to avoid. her heart dropping every time she felt his voice echoing in her ear.

"....Atlas..," she voiced slowly with immense guilt. A guilt ".... Atlas, I swear I was going to tel..."

Atlas could not help but feel the guilt she was pouring out. Her denial spreading like Fogg within him.

"Stop!" He beloud. "Just stop.....I need some time."

Eli couldn’t help but grit her teeth. Not able to withstand her heavy heart. She knew this day would come but she didn’t know when. But....But this was part of her mission. A mission she sorely regretted.

Atlas finally pieced everything together. And he did. The pieces clicked into place—the Empire’s sudden aggression, her uncharacteristic hesitation, the way her thoughts recoiled whenever he mentioned the war. She’d known. All along, she’d known her Empire would strike, and she’d said nothing.

Atlas accused, his voice colder than the void between stars. "Was this all part of your plan? The Empire’s plan."

"It wasn’t like that!" Eli pleaded, her mental voice cracking under the weight of her desperation. "I had .....I tried to warn you—"

"Warn me?" Atlas interrupted savagely, stepping closer to the phantom of her presence. "You’ve been a seed for war of the Empire all along. A spy in my court of companionship, playing the loyal partner while your ’real’ masters plotted my kingdom’s destruction!"

Eli recoiled as if struck. The forest itself seemed to hold its breath. When she spoke again, her voice was a shattered thing, barely audible even in his mind. " ....I never wanted this. But when the choice is between your life and millions and milluons of people... Atlas, you don’t understand what it’s to lead, lead a dying empire. The Empire."

Atlas’s rage faltered, replaced by something deeper, more complicated: sorrow. For a heartbeat, he let himself remember—the way she’d fought beside him in the Dark Continent, the way her laughter had been the only light in the abyss. The way she’d held him when the void threatened to swallow him whole.

"Then why were you still with me?" he asked quietly, his voice rough with emotion. "Why are you waiting for me here? Why not return to your precious Empire and let me rot?"

Eli hesitated, tears streaming down her face. She buried her hands in her lap, gripping the fabric of her tunic so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Be...Because I couldn’t bear the thought of you dying alone."

The confession hit him like a battering ram slamming into castle gates. Atlas’s chest tightened, his throat constricting as if someone had wrapped iron bands around it. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, but he blinked them away furiously. He stepped closer, close enough to see the faint shimmer of her outline in the fire light—a trick of the mind, or a remnant of their fractured connection.

"...And now?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Eli shook her head, her shoulders trembling. "Now I stand here, torn between the man I love and the empire I swore to protect. And I don’t know how to fix this."

Something inside Atlas shifted. His anger softened, replaced by a dull ache that spread through his chest like wildfire. He reached out, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face— He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to breathe steadily despite the storm brewing inside him.

"Then choose," he said finally, his voice cold but tinged with desperation. "Choose. Now. Before the war chooses for you."

The cave fell silent, save for the drip of water and the distant rumble of approaching storms. Eli’s shimmering outline faded, leaving only the ghost of her scent—wildflowers and steel—hanging in the air.

Atlas stood alone, the weight of her confession pressing down on him like the mountain above. ’Eli...please, i don’t want to force my hands on you..?’