Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

“Violet… I think it would be wonderful if you could be my girlfriend.”

Chapter 1274: Seeing the Past

"call……"

In an open space by the Thames, Isaac looked at the Gate of Truth he had created, sighed, and then opened it and went inside.

Instead of seeing the pure white space or the truth, they arrived directly in a passage filled with sand and stars.

Looking around, Isaac spotted the little girl squatting on the ground, piling sand into a pile.

"It's you again. By the way, where is Allen?"

"I am here."

Behind Isaac, the long-haired Allen stepped forward.

"You brat, you're the one who caused the near destruction of Amestris in the other world, aren't you?"

"Everyone was forced into this situation, so no one should blame anyone else."

What are your reasons for doing this?

“Freedom,” Allen said.

“Very good reason, but you’ve gone a bit too far,” Isaac frowned. “And daring to attack Amestris, you really have a death wish.”

"There is no one named Isaac in that Amestoris."

Allen's tone remained completely calm.

"You should know that all the worlds I've seen, except for the one standing in front of me now, are already dead."

"Yes, I know. In that world, I died at the hands of the boss while trying to stop the androids' plot, and I had my own tombstone at a young age."

Isaac raised an eyebrow slightly.

"But you dare to attack Amestoris just because I wasn't here? Aren't you afraid I'll wipe you out right now?"

"Even if you kill me, it won't make a difference."

Allen said calmly.

"Because I had already done everything."

"what?"

"I should have told you long ago, there is no concept of time and space in the 'passage'. My memories only stopped at the moment I died."

"...It seems that Amestris of that other world has already..."

"I don't know that. I don't know how many countries I've trampled under my feet, and I don't know if Amestris was among them."

As Allen spoke, his seemingly dead eyes stared at Isaac.

"Isaac, you must have swapped bodies with me before."

"Yes."

"Do you think our body swap was a coincidence?"

"……What's the meaning?"

"I mean……"

Allen stepped forward and grabbed Isaac's shoulder.

"I'll let you see him anyway."

--------------

"Mr. Isaac!"

"Hey... Violet... she looks really energetic..."

"Please don't speak! The wound will reopen."

This was a scorched wasteland, surrounded by countless corpses of soldiers, their blood almost staining the land red.

Isaac, who had lost his right hand and right foot, lay on the ground, blood flowing continuously from the cuts. His face was pale, but he forced a smile.

Beside him, young Violet was kneeling on the ground, anxiously bandaging Isaac's wounds.

Not far from the two, Allen and Isaac were standing by watching them.

"Is this... me from four years ago?"

“This is a scene depicted from your memories,” Allen said, standing beside Isaac. “You should have faced your first death here.”

"But I was very lucky to survive."

As Isaac spoke, he looked around at the scorched earth and the corpses scattered everywhere.

"So... is this the 'passage'? Allowing people to see scenes from the past?"

“Whether it’s the past, present, or future, everything is categorized according to time, but there’s no concept of time in the ‘channel,’” Allen said. “Let’s go see the next scene.”

"Wait a mininute."

As Isaac spoke, he walked up to the image of himself from four years ago and Violet.

He deliberately avoided seeing his past self, who had once lay on the ground bleeding profusely, because those who had seen the Gate of Truth might have seen him.

Four years ago, Isaac was already Isaac who had seen the Gate of Truth.

He gently touched Violet, who was anxiously trying to stop Isaac's bleeding while tears streamed down her face, and knelt down to say, "I'm sorry, Violet... crying is really not suitable for you, but... it's all because of my personality of rushing in to my death that you're worried about me."

At this point, Isaac gave a wry smile.

"But to be honest, it's like I used up all my luck in my life to meet you. My repeated deaths were probably a side effect of running out of luck. But... no matter how many times I die, I will eventually come back to you."

He stood up and looked at himself on the ground, his eyes squinting as he was about to faint.

"I was so stupid before, when the most important person was right beside me."

After saying this, Isaac came up to Allen.

"Thank you for showing me something interesting. Can we go back now?"

No, not yet.

As Allen spoke, he put his arm around Isaac's shoulder once again.

--------

"So, where did you bring me this time?"

"Doesn't this place look familiar to you?"

"what?"

When the scene changed again, the two were now surrounded by machinery, and the area was completely sealed off.

Isaac looked closely at the machine and felt it was becoming more and more familiar.

"This seems to be..."

He was about to say something when suddenly a strange sound came from above him.

"As expected of the Four Sages, they have accomplished what ordinary people cannot."

"Of course."

The voices above are those of Isaac and Sumire Muroto.

Isaac suddenly remembered that the reason he and Allen switched bodies again after several years was because of the explosion of the Small Hadron Collider at the Fifth Research Institute.

"Wait, does that mean there's about to be an accidental explosion right where we're standing?"

“No, to be precise, it wasn’t an accident,” Allen said.

"What?"

"Do you know why I brought you to see this?" Allen said, looking at Isaac. "It's to cause an explosion."

"Varied……"

“As long as we stand here, this high-precision machinery will malfunction, causing an explosion.” A smile suddenly appeared on Allen’s face. “Although I don’t know the principle behind it, that’s how it works.”

"You bastard..."

As the lights on the surrounding machinery came on and the device began to operate, Allen then placed his hand on the wall of the machinery.

boom------

In the final moment before disappearing, Isaac saw his former self lying unconscious on the ground.

He finally learned the truth about the explosion at the research institute.

Chapter 1275: You are Free

In the final moments before disappearing from the scene, Isaac heard the explosion, but he also saw it.

Violet thought he was injured, his expression a mixture of anxiety and sorrow.

"What...what have I done?"

After he left completely, the expression on his face was hidden beneath his hair.

------------

"I've done what I needed to do, now it's up to you."

Back in the passage, Allen turned to look at Isaac.

"Now it's your turn."

"..."

"what happened?"

"No, it's just that after seeing what I did in the past, I started to wonder if I was really the right person for Violet?"

Isaac's face was filled with a wry smile.

His former high spirits seemed to have vanished.

"Perhaps I should have thought about this a long time ago. That kind of personality that always exposes itself to danger will eventually lead to its demise. When that happens, I will simply die, but Violet will be saddened by it."