Chapter 198 - Return (1)

Yuren was having a dream.

It was a familiar situation. He was dreaming about the Guide. Countless fragments of memories were entangled in this chaotic space. Yuren was in a half-asleep state when the Guide whispered to Yuren.

-It seems you are unsatisfied about something.

‘You aren’t Carlos Rizester?’

Yuren brought up a question that he had harbored for a long time. The Guide gave an affirmation.

-That’s right.

‘Are you the being that I’ve speculated to be?’

-You know that I cannot answer that.

‘If you are the one I guessed, you would say that.’

-Even if I wasn’t, I would have said the same thing.

‘Unfortunately, that is true. When I say one thing, you evade in a different direction. I really do hate you.’

Yuren grumbled. He could only guess at the identity of the Guide. However, he didn’t have any information that could confirm his suspicions.

Yuren was greatly disappointed when he found out that the Guide wasn’t Carlos.

He had wanted the Guide to be Carlos. He wanted confirmation that he was the reincarnation of Baion, and he wanted the Guide to be someone that had fought besides Azell.

Suddenly, the Guide asked him a question.

-Yuren, what do you think about the life you are leading right now?

‘I believe I am using my life for a worthy cause.’

Yuren truly felt that way.

Until he met the Guide, Yuren hadn’t thought for himself. He didn’t have feelings, and he didn’t know what he liked. He had been developed as a tool for the Dragon Demon king worshippers.

After meeting the Guide, Yuren started to find out what he disliked.

He didn’t like the environment he was subjected to, and he didn’t like being made into a disposable soldier to be used by the Dragon Demon king worshippers. On top of it all, he hated himself for not being able to escape from their clutches.

Currently, he thought he could like himself a little bit now. It was a gradual process. He couldn’t shed the sense of guilt, but as he did the right things, he was starting to feel better about himself.

‘It is all thanks to you.’

He was able to escape from the yoke of his fate, because the Guide had given him power. He had been grown to be a tool for mad men, yet he was able to use his life as he fit now.

Above all else, he was able to meet his comrades.

Azell, Kairen, Leticia, Laura….and even Arrieta now.

He had established trust with everyone. He was no longer seen as a tool that didn’t have a sense of self. He wasn’t seen as a disposable tool. He gained comrades that would risk their lives for him and vice versa.

It was a bit embarrassing to say this out loud, but Yuren was truly touched by their attitude towards him.

He would do anything for these people. He would willingly give up his life for them.

These were emotions that he hadn’t known it existed until he met them. Moreover, these emotions made him what he was right now.

-Isn’t that enough?

‘I’m scared.’

Yuren spoke.

‘Your identity and my identity..,.. I’m afraid the truth differs from what I want to believe.’

Until now, Yuren hadn’t revealed his insecurities.

Yuren had always maintained an easygoing attitude in front of his comrades. He acted as if he didn’t have any suspicions about the Guide, who was an unknown entity. It looked as if he was willingly following down the road of destiny being shown by the Guide.

However, in truth, Yuren was worried.

He was able to understand his past sins through the Guide. The knowledge ripped Yuren’s heart into pieces. He always looked for an opportunity to escape as he pretended to live as a tool for the Plain of Darkness. His sense of guilt had kept mounting during this time. It was so large that he had wondered if he would be able to settle it in the future.

The meeting with Azell was like finding a light within the dark. He was able to decide how he wanted to use his life thanks to Azell.

He wasn’t just blindly fighting against the acts being perpetrated by the Plain of Darkness. He was fighting to end them once and for all.

It was the same for Leticia. Yuren and Leticia had been continuously fighting a battle with no end in sight. The two of them joined hands, because they had felt the same desolate feeling about the future.

‘I’m afraid that you and I might become their enemy.’

This was the identity of the fear festering within Yuren’s heart.

Azell and his comrades were invaluable to him. He wouldn’t trade them for anything. This was why he was gripped with fear at the thought of harming them in some way. He was going nuts over it.

‘No matter who you are, I’m really thankful towards you. My feelings about that won’t change.’

Yuren knew the Guide hade planned out his fate. In fact, he might merely be a puppet moving to the Guide’s tune.

At the same time, the Guide had given him the freedom to choose his destiny. In the past, he had only one choice. The guide had increased his options to two, and he couldn’t express how thankful he was.

‘If you are our enemy, then I…...’

-It doesn’t matter who I am. You are you, Yuren.

The Guide cut off Yuren’s words.

‘If my guess is right, I am your reincarnation. We are the same person.’

-Let us say your guess is right. You are the reincarnation of Baion. Do you feel as if you are Baion?

‘…….’

He didn’t feel that way. Yuren was sure he was the reincarnation of Baion, but he never considered Baion’s life to be his own.

-You are Yuren Rizester. It doesn’t matter what you think about me. You cannot deny that fact.

‘Even at the cost of going against your will?’

-I never forced you to do anything. You made your own choices.

After Azell and Laura separated from their comrades, they had delivered Saibein’s story to Niberis. Afterwards, it wasn’t as if they spent the remaining time doing nothing.

“Azell, I think the relic collapsed during the excavation, so they gave up on it.”

“I see. Hmmm. It would be great if there was something left over…..”

Azell and Laura was deep within a forest. It was a place where very few people frequented. They found an old ruin. There was evidence of someone else having tried to excavate this ruin.

However, it was as Laura had said. The excavation attempt hadn’t been successful . Instead of a large-scale excavation, a small group had tried to empty the contents of the relic like tomb raiders. The tunnel had collapsed in the middle.

This ruin was made by Carlos during his lifetime.

Before Carlos was trapped within the mountain peak of Laus, he had made arrangements for Azell. They were placed all over the continent. In the past, Azell had recovered some of them through the information given to him by Yuren.

After Belrun died, Carlos had told Azell many things before the power of the Dawn’s Defender was depleted. Azell received something he should have gotten when he had woken up inside the ruin. Carlos gave Azell a map with the locations of stashes he left behind for Azell.

While Azell and Laura was taking a break, they went around searching for these stashes.

Some had been excavated, and some had remained intact. In the past two weeks, Azell and Laura had visited seven ruins, and three had already been excavated.

“How much love did Carlos have for you?”

Laura was baffled as she looked at what they found within the collapsed ruin.

The ruin held the red magic cape, which he had worn during the Dragon Demon war. It was a cape made out of a Dragon’s hide.

For reference, the two ruins before this one had held the true White Dragon armor. The one that he had gained through Yuren had been a replica, and it had been destroyed in the battle against Reygus. It was a truly welcoming sight to see this item.

“I guess a lot. That rascal should have left some of the Dragon weapons for his descendants…..”

Azell couldn’t help but laugh.

Carlos had been very persistent in creating these stashes. Aside from the weapons used by Azell, there were truly a lot of items hidden all over the continent.

Even if he believed that Azell would return someday, wasn’t this a little bit excessive?

Carlos really wanted Azell to have his items again, and he had truly hated the idea of giving these items to someone else. He didn’t liked it even if the people, who received it, would have been descendants of either Azell or Carlos.

‘Even in death, he makes it hard for me to raise my head….’

Azell had let Carlos depart this world using his own hands.

The things that Carlos had arranged were helping him even at this moment. It spoke to a dedication and stubbornness that had transcended these long years. He felt a complicated emotion regarding the subject.

Suddenly, Laura spoke.

“You look the same.”

“Are you comparing me to how I looked during the Dragon Demon war?”

Laura nodded her head.

Azell spoke.

“It does bring back old memories.”

“If…….”

Suddenly, Laura spoke.

“If the king is revived…..”

“That is already a certainty. It is a matter of when.”

Azell had accepted the fact that Atein’s revival as something that was going to happen. He had to think of it that way, and he had to prepare against it.

“What if the king moves in the manner described by Reshoo?”

“He’ll turn his back on those within the Plain of Darkness? He’ll have no plans on fighting the world, and he’ll try to bring his ideal to fruition in this world? Are you asking what I would do if he moves with good intentions?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll just send him back to his grave again.”

At his unhesitating answer, Laura was taken aback. When he saw her expression, Azell continued to speak.

“The bastard has the power to change the world His moves are so large in scale that it defies imagination..”

Atein was capable of changing the course of history. Azell knew this better than anyone in this era. He was a human that had experienced this truth. He had felt it in his bones.

“The Dragon Slayer’s Ritual……. Yes, it something that is in the realm of the gods. It wasn't such a bad idea. From the perspective of humans, it was a boon for them. Actually, it make me want to pity the Dragons.”

Atein had created the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual, and he had reset the relationship between humans and Dragons. If he hadn’t done so, the population of the world might be much smaller right now. They also wouldn’t have had the power to resist against the Dragon Demon general and Atein during the Dragon Demon war. Humanity would have been on their knees without the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual.

“On the other hand, the Dragon Demon war is a different story. He wanted to change the world to his ideal, so he turned the world inside out. Countless lives were lost before he realized , ‘Ah, I was wrong.’ I’m not going to give him the opportunity to repeat such a massive mistake.”

After meeting Reshoo, he had thought about this problem, and this was the answer he came up with.

“Atein possesses massive abilities. He can overturn this world, and he is a lunatic. What if he tries to strong arm the world into becoming like his personal ideal again…… Wouldn’t a tragedy like the Dragon Demon war happen once again?”

“You are going to kill him just because of the possibility of another war?”

“It isn’t just because of the possibility. I don’t plan on forgiving that bastard even if he repents. Moreover, I don’t plan on believing in the good intentions of a mad man.”

“…….”

Laura closed her mouth.

Azell asked her a question.

“It looks as if you want to say something.”

“I… I’m not sure.”

Laura furrowed her brows.

According to the Ausaurus tribe, she was taught that Azell was ‘the person that allowed the king to rewind his fate.’ According to Saibein’s words, this was the truth.

Atein started the Dragon Demon war, because he wanted to construct an ideal nation. He wanted to create a better world, so he forced the world to follow his new world order. This resulted in him taking on the role of a conqueror and an invader.

However, at some point in time, Atein realized that his ideals were merely an illusion that couldn’t be achieved.

Atein had been very naive in wanting more from humanity and the Dragon Demons. This was why he had despaired after he had thrown the world into chaos through the Dragon Demon war. He had realized his mistake.

However, it was too late to recognize his mistake, and he was no longer able to stop what he had started. Atein despaired, but he also tried to take responsibility. In the end, he was killed by Azell. Azell was a sword forged through the events Atein had precipitated when he tried to force his ideals on the world. By falling to Azell, Atein had earned the opportunity to turn back his wrong choice.

Azell spoke.

“If that is true, I hate him even more.”

“Why is that?”

“He made a horrible mistake that embroiled the whole world. Countless people had died as a consequence. He only threw away his own life, because he knew that he would be able to start a new life. That fact makes it more unforgivable.”

Azell was firm in his stance. He didn’t care what Atein had to say after his revival. His resolve wouldn’t be shaken.

“The relationship between me and that bastard is already set in stone. There is no turning back for us. In fact, the events that occurred during my sleep makes me more secure in my position.”

This point had been agreed by Azell and Carlos. They had come to the same conclusion in their last conversation.

“The acts perpetrated by the Plain of Darkness… The remnants of his people transforming into a religiously fanatic organization after the Dragon Demon war… Atein has nothing to do with that? Ha! Bullshit. Laura, you have a habit of differentiating between the people of this era, and the beings that existed in the past. However, that isn’t reasonable.”

“Why?”

It was true. Laura tended to think that way. She was incensed by the actions perpetrated by the Plain of Darkness, but she didn’t show any signs of hostility towards Almarick. He had been disguised as an elder, who had consoled her.

Azell spoke.

“If Atein hadn’t made preparations for his own revival, the Plain of Darkness wouldn’t have been able to cause trouble to this extent. Moreover, Carlos wouldn’t have had to go through the hellish period of time where he had to wait for me.”

If Atein had died a normal death, Azell would probably have a different opinion. However, Atein had prepared the Great Darkness and the Road of Darkness for his eventual revival. The rights to the Dragon Demon weapons of the Dragon Demon generals and all other artifacts were given to the Plain of Darkness.

It resulted in loss of knowledge like the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual, and a plague called the Great Darkness. It was the worst catastrophe of this era.

“Atein had made arrangements for his revival, and he allowed the survivors of his followers access to his artifacts. He has to take responsibility for everything that resulted from that point on.”