Chapter 211 - Past & the Future (2)

Incarnation was frightening, because it truly was a way to ‘increase oneself.’

Incarnation could only be learned by those that could manage numerous threads of thoughts all at once.

If one made a clone with presence using Incarnation, it wasn’t as if one’s mind was controlling two bodies.

In a flash, the user’s mind was copied to make a clone.

Even if it was Azell or Almarick, there was a limit to how many thread of consciousness one could maintain all at once. When one used a secret technique, one had to use all of one’s concentration to manifest it. When there were over 30 bodies, it was impossible to have fine control over those bodies.

However, what if these independent clones were given one common root? What if they interlocked to form a form of hive mind?

This was the secret to the reason why Azell was able to display enormous power after he created numerous clones. It allowed him to transcend the limitation of human thought process and senses.

It was the same for Yuren right now. Moreover, Yuren possessed enormous magical energy that was supporting this move.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!

If he was like a flood before using Incarnation, he was akin to a tsunami now. Eight clones were formed through Incarnation. The spells made by them razed the forest, and it swept away the three legendary Dragon Demons.

<Koohk! This reminds me of the old days!>

Reygus pushed to the front to become a barrier against the attack. From behind him, Almarick used his Incarnation. He poured out his thunder and storm winds to blunt the spells coming towards them.

Then…….

“I see. It really has been a long time since the three of us fought against one opponent.”

Atein created a breach.

All the spells that were falling from above was sent back to Yuren using the Gatekeeper of Emptiness. The Sky’s Fortress defended the three of them, and the Compendium of Pitch Darkness amplified Atein’s magic. It allowed him to act as support. Then he summoned another Dragon weapon.

-Come Dragon weapon! Chain of Thunder!

Gwah-gwa-gwahng! Gwah-roo-roo-roong!

The thunder erupted from the ground, and it was several dozen times stronger than a regular thunderbolt.

This was the result of Atein connecting his magic to the Chain of Thunder and the Compendium of Pitch Darkness.

When the overwhelming destructive power pushed back Yuren’s magic, it created a vacuum. Almarick put away his Incarnation, and he activated his Dragon weapon’s power.

“Persevere, Storm’s Scream!”

He shouted his command, and thunder swallowed up his sword. The transparent blade burned white hot, and in an instant, it turned into a massive sword of thunder that pierced the heavens.

“Thunder God’s Sword!”

He was using an archmage’s magic alongside the magic of the Dragon weapon. Then he made a connection with a different Dragon weapon to concentrate the thunder. He gained explosive power. Atein and Almarick were connecting each other’s power to create the ultimate sword of destruction. It could burn everything in its path.

Kwahhhhhhhh……!

The light emitted by the sword of destruction stretched into the horizon. Everything in the path of the sword’s magic was sliced like butter. Even the ground was split open. Unimaginably enormous heat and pressure exploded on the surface and the underground.

It was a calamity.

Everything evaporated when it was cut by the sword. Everything perished at its mere touch. The aftereffect of the sword caused earthquake and explosions to form. The shockwave extended outwards, and scalding winds whirled around them.

At that moment, the three Dragon Demons were in the fiery pit of hell. If they didn’t possess massive power, they wouldn’t have been able to survive even a second in such conditions.

-Come Dragon weapon! Son of Earth!

However, Atein didn’t end it there.

After he dismissed the Chain of Thunder, he summoned a new Dragon weapon called Son of Earth. The earth was being burned, and it was being broken. The Dragon weapon gathered the power of the earth. It was as if the still remaining quake and heat was flowing backwards in time. It became focused in one place.

Reygus immediately swung his Dragon weapon, Soul Hammer.

“Maybe.”

<Hmmph. All right. It had been awhile since we’ve overtaxed ourselves. Soul Hammer!>

This closely linked moves were something Atein and the Dragon Demon generals used against transcendent beings. It was their trump card. This was a calamitous attack that required the power of the Dragon Demon generals. When Almarick’s Storm Screamer and Reygus’ Soul Hammer was used, they would suffer temporary reduction in their power for awhile. This was a testament to how burdensome this attack was to them.

<Let’s go! You little brat without an identity…. If you are alive, this strike will…….>

“You are causing too much trouble.”

From beyond the swirling fire and smoke, Yuren’s voice could be heard. It cut off Reygus’ words. Yuren had intentionally formed his words through magic, so his words were delivered to the three Dragon Demons.

“I want to thank you for showing me something that is so impressive. It was a close thing. If I hadn’t remembered it, I would have been dead. I know it now.”

<What?>

The Soul Hammer was letting out a light that was bright enough to burn out one’s retinas. Reygus became puzzled as he held his vibrating hammer. At the same time, the hellfire split open as Yuren appeared.

-Come Dragon weapon!

A powerful wave of Dragon Demon magic shook space. Almarick became shocked.

“He has a Dragon weapon?”

-Darkness Engraver Sword!

It was a sword made out of complete darkness. It didn’t reflect any light. Since it was absorbing all light, it didn't look real. A very alien sword showed up.

It was….

“How are you able to use Atein’s Dragon weapon?”

Almarick was shocked, so he asked the question. Reygus was also surprised, so he missed his opportunity to attack. He came to a stop.

“It’s because…….”

Yuren laughed. He snickered, and his face was filled with pain and madness.

“It’s because I am Atein.”

After Yuren had yelled at them, Azell’s party had escaped. It was pitiful and vexing. However, it couldn’t be helped. They could have stayed behind to fight with Yuren, but his last words took away that option.

‘While I’m still Yuren Rizester, you are my comrades! Run away! If Yuren Rizester dies, someone else might take over this body. It will be the end if that happens!’

However, the act of escaping wasn’t easy either. Kairen and Leticia were close to death. Azell had regained consciousness, but he still had a serious injury. Laura used her dimensional distortion, and it allowed them to skip a long distance. However, it didn’t take too long for a great explosion to occur, and their surrounding turned into hell. It didn’t allow any living beings to exist in such an environment.

“My god…….”

Laura was shocked. If she had been a second too late in creating the Vitan’s Maze, her party would have been wiped out.

Atein and Almarick had combined powers to form the Thunder God’s Sword, and its power was beyond imagination. In terms of physical destructive power, it might be stronger than Azell’s Sun Lightsaber.

“Arrieta, please be in charge of carrying everyone.”

“Understood.”

Arrieta nodded her head. When the Vitan’s Maze was dispelled, Laura would have to cast all kinds of protective and survival spells to withstand their current environment. While she was doing that, she would have to use dimensional distortion, so it would put a lot of burden on her.

Hoo-ooooooooooh……!

As expected, scalding winds were swirling around them when she cancelled the Vitan’s Maze. If she breathed in this air, it would burn her from inside out.

Laura had used her spell, so it was possible for her to breathe the air.

“Laura.”

A voice spoke to her from within the heat. Laura was startled, and she turned to look at the owner of the voice.

It was Yuren.

Laura was like a doll. Her face had been expressionless, but a very faint disturbance appeared on her face. She had been taken by surprise. She couldn’t sense the person that was walking through this hell-like condition like it was nothing.

Yuren shook his head.

“Stop it. I’m not your enemy.”

“…if you became our enemy, would you tell us that you became our enemy?”

Yuren’s own warning made Laura feel tense.

Yuren laughed. He was laughing, but his expression looked as if he was crying.

“I guess you are right. However, I’m really not your enemy. Not yet.”

“Not yet…….”

“Also, this isn’t my true body.

Laura became surprised at his words. She just realized that the Yuren in front of her was a clone made through Incarnation.

‘What is he?’

He couldn’t use the Dragon Arts or Spirit Order. He had used Incarnation through magic? Even with her knowledge of magic, Laura couldn’t make sense of how he had done it.

Yuren spoke.

“I’ll be spare with my words. There isn’t much time left to me. I’m trying to use this time to fulfill my most important task.”

“Most important task?”

The one to ask the question was Azell.

Soon, the party became shocked at the story told by Yuren.

“You are Atein?”

Almarick was shocked as he asked the question. Yuren had dark circles under his eyes as he snickered.

“That’s right, Almarick.”

-Come Dragon weapon!

At the same time as he dismissed one Dragon weapon, he summoned others.

-Breath of Wind! Volcano’s Giant!

From the 13 Dragon weapons possessed by Atein, Yuren summoned those that had dominion over fire. A half-transparent blue cape appeared, and a 10 meter tall fire giant appeared behind him.

Their power took care of the hell-like environment. The fire and hot air quickly died down.

“Is this enough proof? Or maybe….”

Yuren glared at them with bloodshot eyes, and clones started to appear next to him. The Thunder God’s Sword had destroyed all the Clones, but there were still a lot of Guardian Shadows left. Moreover, more Guardian Shadows were arriving by the minute, and they were burning their own power for Yuren.

-Frost Forest! Dream’s Apostle! Moon of Wrath and Rest!

Yuren’s clone continuously summoned the Dragon weapons. In total, five Dragon weapons were summoned. At this point, they had no choice to believe in Yuren’s assertion.

“Hmm. I see…..”

Suddenly, Atein opened his mouth. Unlike the shocked Almarick and Reygus, Atein looked interested.

“So you are the future me”

“That little brat is?”

Almarick asked in surprised. Yuren looked at him.

“I deduced this from the attitude you treated Atein with… You knew he wasn’t the Dragon Demon king.”

The reason why Reygus and Almarick had acted insolent towards Atein was simple.

The Atein in front of them wasn’t the Atein they had served as the Dragon Demon king. It was the archmage Atein, who had adventured with them in the past.

“The Compendium of Pitch Darkness, and the very old magic…. I was wondering about it. Now I see.”

Yuren couldn’t hold back his laughter, so he chuckled.

His memories were coming back. The fragments of memories had been pouring into his mind, and the memories relevant to to the current event acted as a focus. His memories were starting to arranged themselves.

“This is driving me nuts. No, am I already mad? I’m Dragon Demon King Atein? That is too much!”

In the end, Yuren let out a laughter. Tears were streaming out of his eyes as he laughed. He looked mad.

However, his laughter suddenly came to end. Yuren wiped his tears with his sleeve as he spoke.

“You possess Atein’s body. Atein had analyzed Reginor’s power to create a technique. He left behind a copy that possessed all the information about himself. However, this was unlike a normal copy. This technique perfectly captured and recreated the version of Atein that had used the technique. It was as if time had been frozen, and now you were allowed to resume in time….”

As the final Alps, Reginor had the power to manipulate time according to his will. Atein had researched the power for several hundred years, and he was successful in analyzing the power. Through the Great Darkness, he was able to create a magic that controlled time.

The result was the Atein in front of him. It was a version of Atein from a thousand years ago.

“If I’m to quibble over it, it is something I did, yet it really is baffling. My word. I revived a body from 220 years ago, and a copy of myself that had been frozen in time for a thousand years was placed within! No, let’s leave it at that. Anyways, the form of the Dragon weapons returns to its past forms depending on the user? Isn’t this a new discovery? Isn’t it?”

“If we are to talk about new discoveries, I’ve been encountering them constantly. I’m experiencing it through you and your comrades. However, it seems you are right. The function, appearance and name of the Dragon weapons had changed, yet it returned to its past forms when I used it. It really is interesting.”

Atein laughed as if he was amused.