Chapter 210 - Past & the Future (1)
1
Maybe, he knew it at an instinctual level. He knew that he was a mirage-like existence.
Yuren was an outsider. He had always questioned his origin, and the only time he hadn’t been tormented by this question was when he was being brought up as a fanatic by the Dragon Demon king worshippers.
After being awakened by the Guide, it felt as if he was traveling on a boundless ocean. He had been able to see the world through his own will, and he had been able to choose his own fate. He had feared the truth, yet he still questioned his own ident.i.ty.
He had been afraid of the moment when that question would be answered. That ended now.
‘Who cares?’
It was different now. He could laugh with relief.
In the end, he would die here. This was why he could easily accept his long awaited answer even if it was cruel.
‘I see.’
Soon, Yuren realized what Carlos had arranged for him.
Carlos had prepared a spell that broke the restrictions placed on Yuren. If Yuren was a being that continuously reincarnated, the Guide was his subconscious mind. The spell allowed him to bring out all the memories stored in his subconscious. Yuren would be able to use his latent potential all at once.
In the process, Yuren’s sense of self would be destroyed. However, his life was already forfeit, so this was a last resort move. He wouldn’t worry about what would happen next.
This wasn’t the only method he would use to achieve his goal. He had prepared a trump card. In this place, Yuren would be able to become invincible.
‘I can use the Guardian Shadows as a source for magical energy. For a short time, I’ll able to use magical energy that transcends what my body could hold. There are over 600 Guardian Shadows gathered here, and their number is increasing by the minute. If I can combust the magical energy that const.i.tutes the Guardian Shadows, I can become an invincible magician.’
From this point on, very few beings would be able to contend with Yuren in terms of the amount of magical energy he could use. As a price, Yuren would lose his life, but he didn’t care about that.
-So this is how I die in this life.
Suddenly, Yuren heard a familiar voice from the corner of his mind. It was the voice of the Guide, which he had always heard within his dream.
-It is an end that I hadn"t expected. I woke up before I greeted death.
“Has it always been like that?”
Yuren asked the question. At the same time, the memories that answered his question came to mind.
For over 200 years, the Guide had been reincarnated 14 times.
He had always been born as someone on the lowest rung of society. It had been very difficult to overcome the fate he was born with. At times, he died from starvation. At times, he died from a disease. At times, he was murdered by someone else.
The dreams about the Guide only appeared when one’s sense of self was clearly established. It usually occurred from ages 12 to 15 years old. This was why many reincarnated version died before the Guide could approach them. They died when confronted by their harsh fate.
The Guide always awoke at the end of their lives. He was the first one to start this chain of reincarnation. For a short amount of time, the Guide was able to regain his sense of self. He reconciled any lingering regrets, and he went through the process of getting ready for his next reincarnation.
-That’s right. However, it’s different this time around…. It seems this will truly be my end.
“I agree. Let’s end this disillusion.”
For some reason, Yuren was sure of it. This would be the Guide’s last reincarnation.
-You don’t have any regrets?
“I do. I’m overflowing with it.”
He still had a lot of things he wanted to do. He wanted to fight with his friends, who had healed his loneliness. He was invested in the fight, and he wanted to see the end to this fight. He also wanted a life afterwards.
“However, I’m fine now. This is all I can do. I’ll leave everything here.”
Yuren spoke his true feeling, then he asked the Guide some questions.
“So who are you? Isn’t it time to tell me?”
-You still don’t know?
The Guide sounded odd as he asked the question. He sounded amused, yet he also sounded bitter.
2
“Great Darkness?”
Atein felt confused. The stuff that was pouring out of the box opened by Yuren was the Great Darkness.
As if to prove that he was right, darkness rose from the ground like wildfire. The Great Darkness that had pooled around the sealed Tree G.o.d responded to the darkness that had poured out of the box.
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh…….
From a far away distance, the sound of a song started to resonate.
Reygus spoke out in surprise.
The Guardian Shadows, who were cl.u.s.tered in a far away distance, started to sing. They started to swell like a white wave. It was as if many children were whispering at the same time, and the sound of their singing kept overlapping each other. It shook s.p.a.ce.
It was such an overwhelming amount of magical energy that it made one shudder. It surged forward like a tsunami. The amount was larger than the combined magical energy of Atein, Almarick and Atein.
Then the Darkness split.
“…it feels like I’m about to perish.”
Yuren walked out of the darkness with a ma.s.sive frown on his face. It was as if he was suffering under a splitting headache, and he wanted to throw up immediately.
Darkness poured out from his surrounding. It was as if pitch black waters were pouring out of a bowl. At the same time, the Guardian Shadows started to swarm in.
Kwahng!
An explosion rang out. When Yuren showed signs of changing into something dangerous, Almarick had ran in. However, Almarick was bounced off by Yuren’s counterattack.
“For some reason… I have a very good idea as to how you fight.”
Yuren mumbled to himself. When Almarick had jumped forward, Yuren knew what method Almarck would be using. Yuren had read the signs given by the magical energy, and he knew what would be coming. Yuren attacked with a magic that formed three times faster than the one being used by Almarick.
“I’m overflowing with magical energy. You guys should play with me to the end.”
Yuren’s eyes shone. At the same time, countless spells were activated at once. The spells a.s.saulted Atein, Almarick and Reygus.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwahng!
“Hurry up and go!”
The overwhelming firepower pushed back the three Dragon Demons, and Yuren shouted his words. He yelled towards his back where his comrades stood frozen.
“Hurry up and go while I occupy them!”
Yuren felt pain. It was as if his head was about to be crushed. He didn’t know who owned these memories, yet they kept pouring out like a flood. It was hard for him to maintain his concentration. If he let go of his mind, he would be swept up by the torrent of memories. His thoughts would become paralyzed.
Tears were flowing down his face. Yuren hadn’t experienced these memories, yet the sadness opened up a fountain of tears.
Then he felt a surge of anger. The memory of someone’s pent-up anger made his heart pound.
“Hah……. Is this it?”
The amount of memories flooding into him was ma.s.sive. Too many fragments of memories were a.s.saulting his mind, so he couldn’t make sense of most of the memories. Before he became conscious of the details, only the echoes of the powerful memories were left. The fragments of memories were sent to the other side of his consciousness, and it started to stack.
If he was a normal person, his mind would have broke. However, Yuren was maintaining his sanity. He was familiar with this work. Whenever he fused with a Demon, his mind was a.s.saulted with an endless amount of evil thoughts. He had trained to protect his mind, and this was why he was able to endure this mental a.s.sault..
Reygus charged through the hail of spells. He had finished his transformation, so he was pushing off the ground at incredible speed. In a flash, he was already in front of Yuren.
-Endless Plain!
When Reygus was about to swing his Soul Hammer, he was suddenly very far from Yuren. Yuren had copied the ability of the Vitan’s Chalice using his magic.
“You still only know how to charge forward like a boar, Reygus.”
Yuren’s tone of voice was full of meaning, and it surprised Reygus. However, it didn"t matter if Reygus was agitated. He continued to move. He struck the ground with all his strength. The Soul Hammer overturned the earth.
At the same time, the dimensional distortion was broken. The Soul Hammer had the power to destroy mind and soul. It destroyed the magical energy that was forming the dimensional distortion.
Gwah-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwahng!
Reygus wondered if he had heard wrong. When the Soul Hammer hit, the sound of an explosion rang out. Since he was at the epicenter of the explosion, the sound should be the loudest near him, and as the sound travels, it should fade away. So why did he once again hear the sound of an explosion near him?
He soon had his answer.
The ground should have overturned, and the shockwave of his attack should have spread in a cone-like fashion. However, the shockwave had come back towards Reygus. It defied the laws of nature as the shockwave was focused on him. It was as if he was being enveloped by his own attack!
It seemed Yuren hadn’t attacked as hard towards Reygus. It had been an attempt to bait Reygus into an attack, and the Endless Plain was placed there as a trap. Yuren had predicted Reygus’ moves. He had created a second Endless Plain to return the shockwave towards Reygus.
Even if one was successful in replicating the ability of the Vitan’s Chalice, it didn’t mean one could freely use the Endless Plain. The second Plain of Darkness was placed there in advance, and it would have only been effective if Yuren had predicted his opponent’s moves.
Pah-chee-cheet!
Yuren had sent in an additional attack with the intent of ending Reygus. However, the attack was stopped. Atein had gotten involved in the fight.
“Who are you?”
Atein was taken aback as he asked the question. Yuren answered him.
“I still don’t know. However, I’ll find out soon.”
Yuren and Atein performed a magic battle at high speeds. In between the explosions and lights, there were the sparks of unrealized spells. The aftereffect of the unrealized spells twisted the flow of magical energy.
“This…….”
Then Atein started being pushed back.
Yuren and Atein were in a tight magic battle. In the beginning, Yuren had a.s.saulted Almarick to a point where he couldn’t intervene in the fight. Reygus’ weakness was exposed, and he had been flung far away in distance.
“Mmmm! Even if you are receiving magical energy from an outside source, I can’t believe this is the skill level of a young human!”
In terms speed and efficiency of using magical energy, Atein was above Yuren. In all other terms, Yuren was above Atein. In fact, Yuren was superior in forming multiple spells at the same time!
“Atein, why is your magic so outdated?”
Yuren felt the same sense of incongruity felt by Laura.
The spells used by Atein were outdated.
Atein was the creator of magic, and he had always been ahead of his era. Even if he was trying to cover it up using wondrous techniques, he couldn’t hide the fact that his spells were woefully outdated.
Also…….
“Why can’t you use Incarnation?”
For some reason, he was sure of this fact. Atein wasn’t choosing not to use Incarnation. He couldn’t use it.
Gwah-gwa-gwahng! Ggwah-roo-roo-roohng!
At that moment, a lightning flowed backwards as it rose into the sky, and a fierce magical storm ripped the sky apart. Almarick shot out from within the storm, and he used Incarnation. It was a mixture of clones. Some possessed presence, and some didn’t Several dozen forms of Almarick moved in irregular patterns as they attacked Yuren.
“I’m fighting three of you. It seems our roles are reversed from our last fight!”
Yuren snorted. At the same time, more of him started to form. They weren’t being formed through Yuren. Ma.s.sive amount of power was being produced by the Guardian Shadows by combusting the magical energy that had been forming them. Now multiple Guardian Shadows were clumping together to form clones of Yuren.
“Incarnation? A human magician is able to do this?”
Almarick was taken aback. In a flash, his Cloning technique had been seen through. Yuren could differentiate between what was real and what was false.
Yuren was opposing Almarick as he fought with Atein and Reygus. It was all possible, because Yuren had used Incarnation. Incarnation was the pinnacle technique of the Dragon Arts, yet a human magician was using it!
“Dragon Arts and Spirit Order is just different facet of magic. Do you really think I can’t recreate your techniques using magic? You’ve lived so long, yet you are looking down on magic too much, Almarick.”
As he spoke, Yuren continued to increase in number. At the same time, his spell continued to expand as it approached its zenith.