Chapter 115
115 Duality
While Cain went through the memories of the ent.i.ty that called himself Red King, something else happened in a remote corner of his soul.
Apex stood in front of the ma.s.sive gate covered by chains of golden-purple flame and black-white lightning.
There was a somber expression on the System Spirit’s face as he saw wisps of electromagnetic energy emerging from the crack in the gate and blending into Cain’s soul.
Apex stared at those wisps containing the ego of the Red King. While he wanted to stop them, he could not do it.
‘Brat, whether this is a divine lucky chance or an abyssal catastrophe is up to you. I can only hope that you will not forget who you are.’ Apex could not do anything but sit down and wait for things to unfold.
—
Cain was still confused by all that was happening since Zarak’s hypnosis was supposed to leave him in a lucid dream, not evoke old memories.
‘Maybe my ident.i.ty as a Reincarnator made things different.’ That was the only answer Cain could come up with; whether it was wrong or not, he had no way of knowing it.
After watching the ma.s.sacre of his people, the little boy explored the world while developing his powers. No life form could threaten him, so he tested his abilities against nature.
.....
He rose to the highest mountain peak in the world while running the entire track at full speed, suppressed a volcano’s eruption, and fought back a tornado capable of crushing entire cities.
All those were feats that would make the blood of any young man burn with excitement. Even Cain, who lived in a world with t.i.tans and G.o.ds, was amazed by those experiences.
However, the only emotion in the boy was boredom. Nothing in this world could challenge him anymore, so there was no reason to feel excited about those feats.
One day the boy remembered a certain anniversary coming up. He rose from the bottom of the deepest ocean and reached the sky before flying at full speed.
Cain saw how the boy reached a large city full of millions of people. He was invisible to normal people and spent the next few days watching how they lived and learning from their culture.
Cain could feel the boy’s emotions and thoughts and knew that the way he looked at all those people was similar to how humans would look at chimps. They did not consider themselves superior; they knew they were superior!
As the boy lived among those people, Cain could not help but have mixed emotions. Imagine yourself in a world where you could not form a bond or connection with anyone as they were all so primitive. Have the power to fight off natural disasters, but have no path ahead.
‘A life like that would drive anyone mad.’
That thought crossed Cain’s mind when he saw the boy interrupting a military parade. An ominous feeling a.s.saulted his mind as he felt that what would happen next would be truly horrible.
And it was.
Cain saw and felt everything as the boy ma.s.sacred the entire city, showing no mercy at all. Man, woman, and child exploded to pieces under the might of his spells!
Some might think that the boy unleashed such carnage to obtain revenge for his people, but Cain knew this one only wanted to see if he would feel anything by performing this ma.s.sacre.
The answer was no. Even after killing the person directly responsible for the death of his entire clan, the boy showed nothing.
On the other hand, Cain’s soul burned with rage. He saw himself as a hero, and that level of cruelty was not something he could tolerate.
The wrath in Cain’s heart was only worsened by the fact he felt everything the boy did as if he was doing it himself.
As Cain’s mind was about to be overwhelmed by that rage, he felt something. For the first time since he awoke in these memories, he felt a genuine emotion inside the boy.
Cain saw the sun rising on the horizon, and he and the boy felt the same. That was their path!
—
Zarak and Abin waited patiently for Cain. They were using wave crystals to cultivate, as the density of the Life Wave in this area was far from enough to satisfy their needs.
Suddenly the duo opened their eyes and stopped their cultivation as they saw a red force field emerging from Cain’s mind.
“It took him ten days, but it seems he already came up with the first stage of his Visualization Technique,” Zarak spoke with a large smile.
He and Abin focused on Cain’s red force field. The most exciting part came after the Visualization Technique was already in place.
The formation of the Alter-Ego.
Every Alter-Ego is a metaphysical representation of how you look at yourself and embody your ego and idiosyncrasy. The one of someone whose true nature was of a hero like Cain was bound to be full of life and thrill.
Cain’s red force field only grew stronger and stronger as the Alter-Ego slowly came into existence.
Unlike the excitement in Zarak and Abin, Apex showed a somber expression when he saw that more and more wisps of the Red King’s Ego Wave emerged from the crack and fused into Cain’s soul while this one formed the Alter-Ego.
Zarak and Abin were not worried about anything since they were sure that no matter how impressive the Alter-Ego of Cain would be, it could not affect people with their cultivation.
That probed a great mistake since the instant the power of Cain’s red force field reached its zenith, a crimson orb appeared, and a wave of utter shock a.s.saulted the mind and soul of Zarak and Abin.
The crimson orb was smaller than a grain of rice but unleashed that aura that flooded the entire room.
Zarak’s eyes burst with blue light, just as powerful as the one displayed during his life-and-death battle against the Abyssal Demon powerhouse. His mind regained its calm, but his eyes grew sharp as he focused on the other person in the room.
He saw how Abin’s face showed two different emotions while her eyes were glued to the red orb as if nothing else mattered in the entire world. The half-right of her face showed peace and happiness, while the left had absolute terror.
Zarak did not hesitate before pointing his hand at the woman and using his Ego Wave to send a powerful mental attack that knocked her unconscious.
Blood leaked from Abin’s ears and eyes due to the sudden brain trauma, but Zarak knew he had done the right thing. Had he waited a little longer, Abin’s ego would have surrendered to Cain’s willpower, destroying her spirit and free will.
After making sure that Abin was fine, Zarak focused his attention on Cain’s Alter-Ego and was surprised not just by its ability to influence others but by its power. That red orb could give you a sense of belonging that some might only find in the people they love the most while simultaneously sowing a feeling of utter terror as if you have lost everything you ever held dear.
Zarak understood the origin of the kind and gentle force since Cain saw himself as a hero, but he was baffled by the second one.
While it infused a sense of terror in people, it was not really evil. The fear in those that saw it was an instinctive response of their minds and souls when faced with a force capable of absolute destruction, just like what a little child would feel seeing an earthquake shatter an entire city.
Such a unique Alter-Ego confused Zarak a lot. The avatar was supposed to embody the most primitive and honest way you look at yourself, but Cain showed two completely opposite paths.
On one path, Cain would be a radiant hero, with people rising by his side, while on the other, he would be a tyrant to whom all needed to bow.
Zarak was not so arrogant to say he knew everything about the Ego Eternal Path of Power. Still, his knowledge did reach the peak of the G.o.dslayer Humankind Empire, and he had never heard of an Alter-Ego capable of duality.
A serious expression appeared on Zarak’s face as he stared at the Alter-Ego and remembered the shock he felt when he came to this one’s rescue and found out the Atrox Wave Champion’s soul was gone.
Initially, he thought that some hidden powerhouse had taken care of the Atrox, and since he was about to enter a fight to the death, he had no time to ask questions. However, now that he saw Cain’s Alter Ego, another explanation came to his mind.
‘A Wave Warrior capable of shattering the soul of a Wave Champion. Just what kind of secrets are you hiding, brat?’ Zarak could not help but wonder whether having someone like Cain as his core disciple was a good idea. Nevertheless, he had already made the decision and was not someone that would go back on his word.