Chapter 213 - Past & the Future (4)

"Azell, do you remember it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It happened at the time of the Dragon Demon war.  Do you remember the last words spoken to you by Atein?"

"Of course……."

How could he forget?

'Unfortunately, this experiment was a failure.  I was still too ignorant.  I have no choice, but to accept this truth.'

Atein's death had been imminent, yet he had calmly admitted his failure.  Moreover, he had admitted that the war that had swept over the entire world was for an experiment.  At the time, the goal of this experiment had been unknown.  Atein's words had stuck in his mind.  It haunted him like a vengeful spirit, and it created the fear he had towards Atein.

Yuren nodded his head.

"That is exactly Atein's view.  Atein had tried to create the ideal society for the humans and the Dragon Demons.  However, he found out something in the process.  He didn't have a good understanding of the humans and the Dragon Demons, who were supposed to make up his ideal society.  No, it would be more correct to say that he had understood them in the past, but he no longer understood them."

"He no longer understood them?  What do you mean by that?"

"Atein had lived too long."

While living for a very long time, he got sick of seeing humans go through the four phases of life.  This was also true for the rise and fall of nations.  In the beginning, he had tried to make personal relations.h.i.+ps with people, but as time pa.s.sed, he gave up on that idea.  As he did so, his view started to s.h.i.+ft towards a macroscopic view of the world.

"He started seeing the world from an overly macroscopic view.  He no longer loved individual humans.  His love was transformed to the love of humanity."

From this point of view, humans were like mayflies, and he could no longer understand humans.  He communicated with the beings in front of him, and they shared the same s.p.a.ce as him.  However, Atein was having difficulty a.s.sessing the essence of a person.

"This was the reason why Atein started the cycle of reincarnation.  It was an extremely hard headed reason.  He no longer understood what it was to be a human.  He had to know the essence of a human if he wanted to create the world in the right way.  That is also why he had honored my free will."

"Mmm.  So what you are saying is….  He wanted to understand the complete human experience?  That is why your free will wasn't restricted?"

"Yes. That is why I was able to be Yuren Rizester.  I remained human."

A vague direction of how to live his life was given, and he was given enough power to overcome his fate.  However, his free will hadn't been manipulated.  This was how Atein engaged with his reincarnated selves.

"Atein took on the form of the Guide.  He let me keep my sense of self as he observed my life."

Atein had taken a measure to protect his own sense of self.  The reincarnation technique was incomplete, and he couldn't fix it.  That is why he stored his sense of self within the Great Darkness.  Then he decided to observe the newly formed personalities live their life.  

"Until now, the relations.h.i.+p was unilateral.  However, the barrier put up by Atein was brought down thanks to Carlos-nim.  I was able to gain his memories, and I was able to see him from the opposite side."

Atein was too enormous to be called a mere individual.  It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he was almost a G.o.d-like figure.  From such a lofty position, he peeked into the lives of his reincarnated forms.

On the other hand, Yuren was human, and he had seen into the mind of a G.o.d-like being.

"Atein definitely has a sense of what is right and wrong.  In some aspects, this makes him scarier than someone that is pure evil."

Wasn't Yuren a victim?  Didn't Yuren have his fate violated by Atein's 'good intention'?

That is why Yuren had the right to criticize Atein.   There was only one person in this world that was qualified to criticize Atein.  It was Yuren.

"I was born through his experimentation.  I suffered from the consequences of his errors.  That is why I oppose him as a human.  I oppose him as Yuren Rizester."

The fact that he was a reincarnation of Atein didn't matter, and it didn't matter that he had originated from Atein.  He was a completely different person from Atein.

"Are you satisfied with my answer?"

"It is enough."

Azell nodded his head.  Yuren laughed.  It was as if a big weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I'll leave everything to you.  This is the end of the road for me."

Finally, Yuren's figure disappeared.  It was as if he had melted into the sunlight.

6

Atein asked a question.

"Why? Why are you fighting me, my future self?"

"You are wrong."

Yuren accelerated.  His clones couldn't be differentiated from his real body.  He charged forward at frightening speed as he poured out his spells.

"I am Yuren Rizester!"

A ma.s.sive wave of magical energy spread out as he kept summoning his Dragon weapons in order.

-Come Dragon Weapons!  Gatekeeper of Emptiness!  Sky's Fortress!  Volcano's Giant!

Yuren could summon more Dragon weapons compared to the current Atein.  The two of them were sharing Dragon weapons.  If one summoned a Dragon weapon, the other couldn't summon it.  Therefore there was a limited supply of Dragon weapons that could be used in the fight, so the fight came down to who had the most magical energy and the most developed techniques.  Yuren had the edge.

Above all else, Yuren was becoming stronger even now.

Atein's memories were still pouring into his mind.  It contained knowledge about spells.  It also told him of the optimal way to use his senses.  It was all becoming a part of Yuren.

At the same time, Yuren's sense of self was slowly being submerged by Atein's memories.

He had memories that had acc.u.mulated over a ma.s.sive amount of time.  It transcended the span of numerous human lifespans.  The emotions within these memories brushed past his mind, and it made Yuren want to let go of his mind.

He couldn't tell if he actually knew the people in his memories.  It was becoming hard to differentiate between his memories and Atein's memories.

Was Yuren the one that became sad after killing someone or was it Atein?  He was no longer sure.

"I……."

Yuren let out an extremely sad laughter.

If he lost a little bit of concentration, it felt as if he would be swallowed up by Atein's memories.  It was true that Yuren held control over his mind right now, but the amount of memories flooding into him was too much.  It was overwhelming.

Atein asked a question.

"These spells and Dragon weapons…….  Everything here proves that you are Atein.  You know  your own ident.i.ty, yet you reject it?"

"As expected of a figment of an imagination, your words are empty."

Yuren snickered.  It felt as if his head would shatter.  All sorts of human emotions were flooding him from all sides, so he laughed as he cried.  He felt rage burn in his chest at the same, and at the same time, he felt warmth in his heart from happiness.

It was hard to shed these emotions.  It was too difficult to maintain who he was.  There was only one goal that was allowing him to maintain his sense of self.

"Are you trying to say that the pain I felt in my life is Atein's pain?"

There wasn't true at all.  Atein never felt Yuren's pain.

His life had been ravaged as a consequence of what Atein had done.  The world was scarred, and the madness that had erupted from that wound had captured him.  From the moment he realized this, Yuren had been fighting against his destiny.

"I don't care who I was in my past life.  My pain and loneliness is all mine.  I was born in this era as a human, and this is the life I've forged!"

"…I have no idea why."

Atein was confused.

"What did my future self think when he came up with this idea?  What great despair did he face to….."

"You'll find out soon."

The body had been restored, and the reincarnated form of Yuren had awakened.  Atein's revival was close at hand.

It was inevitable.  When Yuren exhausted his power and died, the true melding of the body and mind will start.

There was only one method to stop this.  This method could only be carried out by Yuren.

"But……."

Yuren's eyes was burning with tumultuous killing intent.

"I have to kill you here, so my friends have a chance."

He had to destroy Atein's body with his hands.  If he was successful, Atein's revival would be pushed to a later date.  At that point, he was sure Azell's party would be able to make it so that Atein never wakes up again.

Atein's expression hardened.

"I won't go down easy.  Can you feel it?"

At this moment, Yuren's power was truly overwhelming.  Atein, Almarick and Reygus could attack at the same time, and they wouldn't be able to win.

However, the balance of power was s.h.i.+fting as time pa.s.sed.

The change was occurring within Atein.  His reservoir of energy was noticeably increasing.

"So this is how you do it."

In a flash, another Atein appeared next to Atein.  It was a clone that held substance.  It was Incarnation.

"Koohk……!"

Yuren groaned. 

Atein started using Incarnation, and the situation changed rapidly.

's.h.i.+t. Was he also affected by the awakening?'

Yuren was a reincarnation that held Atein's soul.  The past Atein possessed the body of Atein, but his soul was like a shadow of the real Atein.

The past and the future was gathered in one place.  When one side started to awaken, the other side was affected too.  The past Atein's outdated spells were changing form.  His spells started to advance towards spells used in the modern times.

"Hmm.  Now we can breathe a little bit!"

Almarick and Regus started to move after they gained some relief from the magic battle between Yuren and Atein.  Up until now, they had been busy defending, but they had the opportunity to attack now.

While Almarick took down Yuren's clones, Reygus had flown right next to Yuren.  As soon as Reygus swung his Soul Hammer, a large door of Darkness appeared in front of him.

"I thank you for treating me like a human brat!  However, be gone!"

It was the Gatekeeper of Emptiness.  Reygus was sucked into the gate of Darkness, and he appeared impossibly high and far in the air.

"A trap is the best way to catch a boor!"

After getting rid of Reygus for a brief moment, he created a Dimensional Distortion.

-Endless Plain!

Almarick had planned on following up on Reygus' attack, so Yuren had used his spell to block him.  However...

Pah-cheet!

At that moment, Atein interfered with exquisite timing.  He destroyed the formation of Yuren's spell.  After letting the Compendium of Black Darkness fight the magic battle in his stead, Atein charged towards Yuren.

Yuren had been successful in making Almarick retreat, but it created an opening for Atein.  He charged towards Yuren as he summoned a new Dragon weapon.

-Come Dragon weapon!  Darkness Engraver Sword!

Atein was the only being in history to train both magic and Dragon Arts to the extreme.  The sword was made out of perfect darkness.  It didn't reflect light.  It sucked in light, and one couldn't sense its ma.s.s in s.p.a.ce.  This alien sword struck out towards Yuren.

Pah-jee-jee-jee-jeek!

Yuren used a barrier spell to resist against the attack.  In a flash, Atein changed his posture as he used a different technique.

A murky darkness extended from the sword as it encroached on Yuren's barrier magic.  When Yuren reacted to the attack, an invisible attack impacted his body.

"Kuh-uhk……!"

"Amazing.  Is this the level of cultivation reached by my future self?  Is this a new Dragon weapon I made?"

Atein had baited the barrier to respond to his spell, then he used the Dragon Arts to pierce through the barrier.  Both attacks were based on magical energy, but there was a qualitative difference in how the attack manifested.  Atein had used this to exploit Yuren's defense.

Memories were flowing into Atein's brain too.  It was an extremely small amount compared to the amount of memories received by Yuren.  However, it was enough to increase Atein's skills drastically.

On top of that, Atein didn't have to fight to keep his sense of self.  He willingly and aggressively welcomed the memories of the future.  He tried to embody what his body was supposed to be.

"Huh-uhk, huh-uhk……."

Yuren was a b.l.o.o.d.y mess as he was gasping for breath.

There were still countless spells clas.h.i.+ng and swirling around them.  The three Dragon Demons weren't rash in their attacks.  They were carrying out a hit and run strategy.

However, the result of this battle was already determined.  At this rate, Yuren's power would dwindle, and he would meet his destruction.

Atein asked him a question.

"Why?"

"You are still curious about that?"

Yuren laughed as if he was baffled.  On the other hand, Yuren could understand Atein's feelings.  Atein's memories allowed Yuren to understand how the mind of Atein worked.  It was as if he was reading the palm of his own hands.

"It is obvious.  I disagree with Atein's goal."

"You know who you are, yet your opinions haven't changed?"

"That's the exact reason why it hasn't changed.  Despite being the reincarnation of Atein, I didn't live as Atein.  I am Yuren Rizester."

Yuren was firm in his conviction.  He wouldn't reject his self, because he found out the whole truth.  He had no plans on giving his support to Atein.

'I'm sorry everyone.  I knew it would be be difficult to kill Atein, but at the very least, I wanted to kill either Almarick or Reygus for you all.  However, it turned out it wasn't something so easily done.'

Yuren smirked.  He wanted to kill some of their intractable enemies to smooth out the path of his comrades, but it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.

However, he didn't despair.  He had done all he could do.  All that was left was to believe in his comrades.

'What a mysterious feeling.'

Until he met Azell, he had been in a deep depression.  If he died at that moment in time, he would have cursed his fate as he died.

However, he felt unbelievably lighthearted right now.  It was amazing.  He had comrades that would fulfill his life's goal, and it made him feel extremely rea.s.sured.

Was it like this during the Dragon Demon war when Azell left the future to his people?  He could understand why Azell had chosen to pa.s.s on his Dragon weapons to them.

"It wasn't too bad."

At the end of the fight, Yuren smiled as he closed his eyes.

"It wasn't a bad life."

Across the horizon, a ma.s.sive darkness connected the sky to the ground as it started to spread.