-Chapter Thirty-Three-
Remembrance
Rekindling has ended. The skill Phoenix's Love has successfully rejuvenated all wounds.
Determining efficacy…
The user’s psyche is weakened.
The Dream has now ended.
Welcome back to the real world.
Ah, that was right.
Yet again, Aelius recalled something that eluded him.
It was a memory he always had, he had just briefly forgotten it until he was reminded of what took place.
Yes, there was a conjurer Devil out there, and Goddess knows how many more than just the one.
It was good he recalled this early, because it now reminded him of what exactly he has to spend the next few years focusing on.
Valorie Sania was more impressive in regards to manipulating Dimensional energy, only for the fact that she dedicated her entire life’s craft to mastering the rapier.
Aelius made a mistake in branching out to too many different powers, and thus falling into the habit of crutching on them.
If he dedicated himself to the sword all the way, his power could rival that of Valorie’s prowess.
Sitting up after a refreshed sleep, Aelius quickly felt the atmosphere of the room between the girls was somewhat gloomy.
That was, until his brown eyes met royal blue ones, and he was somehow reminded of the same scene he had just recalled.
“Aelius Kanaria,” a far younger Valorie than he recalled, was seated cross-legged on a wooden chair before him.
Surprisingly, Aelius found himself giving her a calm smile.
“Valorie Sania,” he remarked.
“So you know of me,” she answered with surprise.
“Who doesn’t?” he shrugged.
“Hmph. More importantly, I’ve waited a number of hours now. You’ve got quite the entourage escorting you, haven’t you?” she asked, looking to Saki who was still on guard against her, Lia who had fallen asleep beside Saki, and Aria who was still focusing on the weapon refinement.
“Well, things go as they come,” Aelius shrugged. “I didn’t know you were in town. That’s quite unlucky for me, haha,” he chuckled with a shrug of his shoulders.
“You must be here to investigate what happened earlier today,” he sighed.
As always, Valorie was investigating him for something, but thankfully, she didn’t have any hostility in her tone toward him this time.
He had long since learnt when she was angry and when she was relaxed, despite her face appearing the same regardless of what emotion she was feeling.
He could sense an irksomeness in her gaze at him. Yes, Valorie hated being led around by the nose, like Aelius was doing right now.
“It is a crime for murder to take place between the city. I saw the damage, I don’t believe it was a one-sided battle. But, it’s still true you murdered another mage within the city walls, with witnesses. A crime should be punished.”
Valorie’s brow furrowed as she felt frustration stab at her, as Aelius gave her a smug smile, his eyes scanning up and down her body.
For some reason, she felt a shudder after being exposed to his gaze.
Aelius however, was admiring her body proportions that she had already achieved, which allowed her to fight with such efficiency as she could.
“Excuse me, Aelius Kanaria,” she spitefully snatched back his attention to her face.
“So are you going to punish me, then?” he asked with a small smile and another stinge of frustration stabbed at her.
“I want to hear your explanation before I decide,” she sternly responded.
“Well, I can’t give one to you,” he shrugged.
“What?” Valorie answered with a threatening tone.
“Now now, don’t take it personally, ‘Lorie,” Aelius chuckled . “It’s not something I can readily share with an outsider. So, what will you do now?” he asked.
She silently glared at him for a moment longer before she responded.
“You leave me no choice but to. I have to judge you in accordance with Farrien’s laws,” she rose to her feet.
“Do you think you have the ability to?” Aelius light heartedly asked her and noticed her grinding her teeth at him.
“Such arrogance from the trash of the Academy!” she snapped at him. It was a low blow, but Aelius remained unfazed.
Before she could continue, he formed a small ball in his hand without leaving his bed.
“You should be aware that, two months ago, I knocked Leos unconscious,” he began to say.
“And?” Valorie asked with narrowed eyes. “He didn’t suffer any permanent damage, so you didn’t actually do anything to him at all in the end. It was pure coincidence from him letting his guard down.”
“That’s true, but I was at the Second Ring at that time,” Aelius told her with a challenging smile. “What do you think I could do to Leos, now that I’m at the Sixth Ring? Do you think one Ring’s difference matters much for a mage like me, who can easily cross those limitations?” Aelius asked.
“…You rose four Rings within two months? How is anyone supposed to believe that?” she asked with her hand clutching the hilt of her rapier.
“It’s the truth,” Aelius shrugged again. “But I tell you now, I could smoke Leos as I am right now. Did you inspect the scene where I ‘committed the crime’?” he asked.
“Enough of this farce-” Valorie had appeared to lose her patience but was interrupted by Aelius.
“You have great eyesight, don’t you? You should have been able to see the lingering Mana remnants in the damage to the city, even if not entirely. So tell me, how strong was my opponent?” he patiently asked and Valorie’s eyes widened in surprise, visibly shaken.
“H-how do you know about my eyes?” She put on a hostile response again in defence, though Aelius could tell he startled her.
“Just answer my question first. How strong was the “victim” who I murdered?” Aelius sarcastically asked.
Valorie inhaled a deep breath, her royal blue eyes glowing with Dimensional energy.
“At least at the Seventh Tier,” she begrudgingly admitted.
“So you’re confident in bringing me in for justice, regardless?” Aelius asked. “You, who’s also only at the Seventh Ring?”
“It’s not about my confidence. It is about the principle,” Valorie answered steadfastly. “If I withdraw from enacting justice just because my safety is compromised, I have no business being the first Holy Knight,” she firmly told him with an adamant expression.
“No no,” Aelius sat forward, giving her a taunting gaze. “Don’t lie. You think you can beat me. Let’s both admit it, you’re confident that you’re stronger than Leos.”
Valorie was taken aback by Aelius’ words.
“Because you’re not the first Holy Knight for nothing, am I right?”
“…Just who are you?” she asked, on edge and Aelius gave her a beaming smile.
“You can make of this what you will.”
Before her, Aelius summoned the energy he knew best, within his palm. It turned the atmosphere of the room upside down, pulling the air into a small sphere in his palm.
The dark blue energy of the stars formed in his hand, and Valorie gasped, taking in the sight of the Dimensional energy in his grasp.
“Y-you…” she stepped forward with fascination, her eyes shining.
The Dimensional energy Aelius was capable of wielding had not deteriorated after he returned from the future.
Better yet, after Valorie’s death, he had focused on solely training his Dimensional energy until he was satisfied with it.
The young Valorie before him would no doubt be drawn in by his energy, one that he had achieved the highest level of mastery with, though, it was still unusable in combat as he was.
While the energy itself was pure in essence, Aelius had not cultivated his body to support releasing such power.
Therefore, it was incredibly lacking in quantity.
“It’s small, but I can certainly tell it’s pure,” she said as Aelius dispelled the energy.
“So, make of that what you will,” he shrugged. “But I can promise you I had a good reason to do what I did today. I just hope we can go our separate ways like we saw nothing of each other. But if you force my hand, I will turn this city upside down,” Aelius told her with a serious tone.
For sometime, she was dead silent until she finally sighed.
“Before I go, I have one last thing to ask you.”
“Uh huh,” Aelius permissed her.
“What’s your relationship with Alea?” she asked with a narrowed glare.
“Oh… You’re better off asking her that, to be honest,” Aelius shrugged.
“I already have. I’m now asking you.”
Aelius could sense Valorie’s protective nature coming through and gave her a chuckle.
“Well, we get along very well. But I’m sure I’m not as close to her as you are.”
At his answer, Valorie blinked in surprise, before she regained her cold glare toward him.
“You escape this time, but by the hairs of your neck I tell you,” she warned him and quickly disappeared out the door, leaving Saki absently looking at Aelius with confusion.
—-----------------------
Aelius knew for a fact that the Devil he slayed was not the only Devil present in Leina.
The only problem is they liked to move around, so he doesn’t know when they pass through or they’re elsewhere.
However, he had spent years hunting down Devils, and with the aid of the Spiritual Eye, tracking them down has only become infinitely easier.
While Aria focused her entire being on refining the weapon, only taking time off to sleep, Aelius was off looking for more Devils.
Unfortunately, he was often unable to find them, and decided to begin training instead.
Even though it was only five days, it was five days he could exercise and train.
His body was still out of shape, a terrible vessel to channel Mana and Dimensional energy.
In order to return to his peak, the very first thing he has to do is build his stamina and muscle.
And so while Saki rested and Lia continued to practise her Sorcery, he was sprinting laps and lifting weights.
He had forgotten about how gruelling it was to begin training from scratch.
Even with just a minor amount of movement, he felt he had hit his limits.
Nausea, breathing difficulties and body aches would torment him even as early as the first few hours into the day.
However, he pushed onward regardless, paying no attention to his limits.
He ran until his body could not physically move, disregarding the pain, until he woke up the next day and would repeat.
Gradually, by the fourth day, he was somewhat more comfortable, but it was far from desirable.
—-----------------------
Hamish was seated in a dark room, burying his face in his hands.
He didn’t know what to think about what just transpired.
Time flowed by without purpose until the door softly creaked open, casting a soft light into the room and he looked up, finding an underling gazing at him with concern.
“Captain, the Holy Knight has returned.”
Hamish, at the words, remained silent for short moment.
“Captain?”
“Alright, you can go,” Hamish dismissed the younger Knight, looking back down at the ground and taking a deep breath before he finally pushed himself to his feet, threw on his coat and gathered himself.
Whatever lies ahead, let’s face it, he thought to himself with determination and stepped out into the hallway.
After crossing the Knight’s Quarters, he came to find the first Holy Knight conversing with some of her underlings in the main atrium.
As they saw him approach from afar with a solemn expression on his face, the Undercorps of the Holy Knights stepped aside for him and he stepped up to Valorie.
“Captain Allonsy,” Valorie greeted him with a stern nod.
“Knight Sania,” Hamish dipped his head to her.
She could tell he was visibly distressed, with dark circles under his eyes.
It was as she expected, but he had some sort of connection to Aelius’ victim.
“Please tell me, what were the results of your investigation?” Hamish asked her.
A moment of silence passed by and he looked up confused, unsure of why she was yet to respond.
Looking up, he found an absent look on her face. “K-Knight Sania?” he asked and she sighed deeply.
“My investigations were fruitless,” she finally answered. “Whatever transpired, there was more that took place than what appeared to have happened on the surface. I don’t even know how deep the event may run.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“T-then shouldn’t you have brought him in for questioning? You found his location, did you not?” Hamish asked, shocked by the results of her personally taking up the mantle to resolve the situation.
“I did, but it was fruitless,” Valorie answered seriously and Hamish felt a sudden tinge of frustration.
“H-how could you leave the investigation so open-ended like this? This is not professional at all!” he exclaimed and received a sympathetic look from her.
“Captain Allonsy, I suggest you lay your personal feelings to rest. Either way, I will not involve myself with this incident further. You’re free to do as you please. It is your jurisdiction, after all,” Valorie gave him a pat on the shoulder, and without another word between them, vacated the main lobby to her guest room.
Hamish was left behind clenching his fists, his eyes shaking as he began to breathe harshly.
H-how dare she? She may be at the Seventh Ring, but at the end of the day, she’s still clearly a child.
He turned and watched as Valorie disappeared through the door.
How can you be so callous, at the death of an innocent person of this city?
He spun away and stormed out the room.
Fine. Since she’s said she’ll no longer involve herself, I’m going to do as I please just like she suggested.
He recalled the strange power from the boy’s body.
Could we win against it?
Even though he couldn’t feel what exact Tier of power it was, he still thought maybe he had a chance against the teenager.
Upon entering his study, he found the Vice-captain of the order sitting at the secondary desk, going through paperwork.
“Captain Allonsy,” the vice-captain rose to his feet. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked.
“Please tell me we sent someone along with Valorie Sania on her investigation?” Hamish asked in response and the vice-captain nodded.
“The third Corps went with her,” he answered and Hamish quickly left the room, wearing a dead serious gaze.
The Third Corps will know where that boy is currently, if I move quick enough.
Upon reaching the room where the Third Corps stayed, Allonsy asked them where Valorie Sania had gone for her investigation.
“Reporting, sir Allonsy,” the squad-leader rose to his feet from his desk. “The suspect is currently staying on the second floor of the inn on Sixth.”
“Alright!” Hamish gestured to the squad. “We’re deploying back there! Right now!”
As he charged out the Knight quarters with the third Corps in tow, he was unaware that Valorie was watching him from afar with her glowing royal-blue eyes, a small smile of amusement and mischief on her lips.
—-----------------------
Aelius was carrying out his daily routine of exercise until he came to a stop in his jog, panting harshly, and took a seat up against a nearby wall, clutching his gut where a painful stitch tormented him.
It was as he was harshly panting, his arms feeling limp, he noticed a brigade of Leina Knights marching down the street on horses.
Within minutes, he found they were surrounding him, until one of the armoured Knights dismounted his steed and stepped forward.
Taking off his helm, the leading Knight revealed himself to be the same Knight that was present when Aelius had killed his first Devil since returning to this life.
He could still recall the euphoria as he watched its body split into halves. Looking up, Aelius gave the man a smug grin.
“You’ve got a much better look on your face than before,” he gestured to the man’s dark glare.
“You little bastard,” Hamish clenched his fists. “State your name!” He quickly unsheathed a blade and pointed it to Aelius, who continued looking at him with amusement.
“That’s strange, Valorie said she wasn’t going to pursue this matter further,” he wondered for a moment before it all clicked. “Hmm. She hasn’t told you my name either. Could you be acting on your own?” he asked.
“Fine, do not state your name, then. You are under arrest, and will be brought in for questioning concerning the murder of one of the city’s civilians!” Hamish declared, but Aelius simply continued gazing at him with a mocking smile.
“If Valorie hasn’t stopped you from doing this, that can only mean one thing.”
Before Hamish, the boy rose to his feet, his smug smile never failing to leave his face.
“She’s sent you here as cannon fodder to get an idea of what I’m capable of. Knowing that now, do you still want to fight me?”
“Enough,” Hamish growled and reached forward to grab him, but Aelius swiftly dodged aside.
Argh!” Hamish swung forward with a fist but Aelius ducked under, slipping behind Hamish.
By the time he spun back around he found Aelius bobbing up and down on his toes, as though warming up his calves.
Finally, Hamish snapped, raising his blade.
“Knights! I permit the use of force! Seize him!” he shouted, completely unaware that the commotion had attracted the attention of many of the civilians, many of whom recognised their city’s Captain.
“Oh dear,” Aelius dashed away, making distance between him and the rest of the numerous Knights. “Since you really wanna fight, you’ve left me with no choice. But, I should’ve expected this happening.”
With an unfazed smile, Aelius outstretched his hand before him and opened his palm up, revealing a small ball of black.
User has activated the skill Path
「Path」
???
???
User has activated the skill Universatility
「Universatility」
Splice and dice skills freely.
United in Body, Mind and Soul.
User has cast the skill Space Sword.
「Space Sword」
Slice anything in existence.
The skill Unversatility has combined the effects of Path and Space Sword. Path will now exhibit the functional effects of Dimensional Energy.
A new skill has been created!
「Path of Dimensions」
Activate ??? on anything in existence.
Nothing is out of reach of ???
Hamish watched in sudden horror as the small black ball rapidly turned a dozen colours between dark purple, dark blue and white.
The air was suddenly sucked into the boy’s palm, light itself was distorted and a high pitched whirring rapidly grew louder.
And then within a fraction of a second, it erupted. Hamish cried out as the black energy surged forward in a wave, but it engulfed him before he could, and then all was black.
Immediately, Hamish had lost all consciousness, his vision and hearing coming back to him in flashes. Through intermittent moments of blacking out, he heard himself gasping for breath and witnessing his men getting bowled over by the black energy.
It surged over them like a flood and he went under the black sea, only occasionally finding his head back above it all for breath, until finally he hit something in hard impact behind him, anchoring him to a stop at last, and then he fell unconscious again.
Some time passed by again, but he was unaware of how long exactly, when he regained some of his consciousness, his head ringing painfully.
The sound of footsteps echoed around him, and he looked up to see a shadow towering over him, and a young voice spoke out.
“You’re lucky I managed to control my strength that time. If you’re still in there, I can tell you this much.”
Hamish couldn’t react, only croak in pain at the mid-teen who was kneeling down in front of him, and then lowly whispering to him.
“Did you even know anything about the girl, who you seem to hold so much care for? Do you even know her identity? Even her real name? Maybe go find that out first, before pointing fingers. Maybe, you were nothing to her at all. Maybe, your one-sided quest for revenge against me… is pointless. Maybe, you’re just trying to appease your own powerlessness.”
With that, Hamish heard the teenager pulling away.
No! No! Come back here! Don’t you dare leave! he tried to cry out in desperation, but his body failed him and soon, he passed out again.
—-----------------------
Whistling happily, Aelius returned to the inn and upon entering his room, found Saki seated at the window knitting a scarf. Looking up, she greeted him with a smile.
“Did something good happen?” she asked and he shrugged.
“Not really.”
“Well, something good happened here,” Saki answered elatedly and gestured to the bed, where Aelius found Aria exhaustedly sleeping in.
The staff was propped up next to her, completely bound, exuding an entirely different aura to before and Aelius gave her a warm smile.
“Alright. I’m going to have a bath. As soon as she wakes up, we finally leave Leina.”
—-----------------------
When Hamish woke up, Valorie and her Undercorps were fishing the Leina Knights from the thick, black energy that had flooded the street where they attempted their arrest.
As his clarity returned to him, he found her pulling him up to his feet, giving him a shake of her head.
“No casualties, though a few are injured.”
Hamish grit his teeth and clenched his fists, looking down the street to see no sign of the teenager.
“He said you sent us here to test him.”
For a moment, a look of surprise flashed on Valorie’s face.
“How could that possibly be? Are you trying to pin the blame on me now, Captain? I said very clearly my investigation yielded no results and I wasn’t going to involve myself any further. I don’t know how that means I’ve sent you here to be test subjects.”
He picked up on my intentions, that crafty child, Valorie thought begrudgingly.
Hamish finally shook his head, letting go of his frustration.
“Where has he disappeared off to now?” he wondered, looking off into the distance.
—-----------------------
At the central Leina Warp Gate, one of the largest Warp Gates of Farrien, a misfit band of four waited their turn in a long queue, hiding their faces with their masks, save for the one young adult woman among them.
It soon got around to their turn, and as they approached, Aelius dumped three gold coins for the operator to see.
“Destination?” the disinterested man asked.
“The city of the Aerianne Archduchy - Sepha.”
—-----------------------
As soon as Aelius stepped through the Warp Gate, he could tell something was wrong immediately. Of the millions and billions of threads before him and his Spiritual Eye, he could immediately see several threads belonging to that of Devils.
He did not even have to go looking for them, there were so many that he could find them straight away.
Was this the state Sepha was in?
The first thing he did was drop the girls off at an inn at the Northern gate of Sepha, which will allow them for a speedy escape out of Farrien borders.
After that was done, Aelius gave Aria a grave look.
“Are you going?” she asked him, rising to her feet from the small table in their room, clutching her staff tightly to her chest.
“You’re coming with me,” he answered. “I want you to witness her unsightliness.”
At his order, Aria pursed her lips.
“Must I?” she asked.
“You’re not getting involved. I won’t ask you to move a finger.”
Aelius turned his back on her, opening the wooden door.
“Come on. I won’t ask twice.”
It was imperative that Aria came with him. This will become the ultimate test of faith.
She did not make a move in his last life, because she knew she had no hope of winning against him.
In order to keep hold onto her life, she had no choice but to watch as he murdered her mother before her.
However, this time around, things could be different.
Aria now has an enhanced weapon that will put her on par with Sixth Tier mages like himself.
Thus, this will become the ultimate test of faith.
She can’t tell what he’s planning either, even with her God eyes, because Saki taught him how to block off her vision like she can, using his power of Liberation.
If Aria does not make any move, Aelius can trust her for now. If she does, he’ll kill her and use her vessel to house Asura.
That’s all there is to it.
The Aerianne manor had a large plot of land to itself, sitting somewhat isolated from Sepha to the West of the city gate, with even its own forest to itself.
It took some time to travel to it on foot, but eventually, by the time the moon was high in the sky, Aelius had arrived with Aria in tow at the manor.
In the dead of the night, though there was no rain, it was still and quiet like his first life’s assault on this place.
Just like last time, he planned on going through the front door.
“Open the gate,” Aelius turned to Aria over her shoulder, who hesitantly raised her hand, wearing a dejected expression.
The gate recognised her Mana and automatically opened, but as Aelius was about to step forward, he heard Aria gasp behind him.
The mid-teen quickly spun around, blinking in surprise as Aria suddenly fell to her knees, trembling terribly.
“Aria!” he called out as he dashed back to her side and knelt down.
“Aghh! Aghhhh!” she cried out in agony, clutching her head and beginning to thrash back and forth violently.
“Nooo! Noooo!” she cried out as he tried to grab onto her shoulders.
“Aria! Calm down, for fucks sake! What’s wrong!” he shouted.
Fuck, is she faking something right now? he asked himself as she continued to cry horribly until she looked up at him.
“Aelius! Aelius! Aelius! Save me, save me please! Save me!” she wept and he saw her golden eyes were glowing brighter than he had ever seen in his life, and they were unstably shaking dangerously.
“Ahhh! Ahhh!” She made noises of pure torment, her throat no doubt burning up as she cried in agony. Falling forward, Aria landed in his arms, shaking violently as she clutched her head and cried out in pain.
He quickly realised her eyes had shown her a vision.
Just what the hell is she seeing, right now? He asked himself with pursed lips.
+Intimacy Points
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Source: Aria
User has activated the skill Appraisal.
…
Compiling results…
Status Menu Retrieved.
Results:
Target: Aria Aerianne [Possessor of the Eyes of Truth].
Current Mental State: Sanity severely compromised
Skills active: Liberated Eyes of Truth.
Aelius frowned in confusion at her skill. Liberated Eyes of Truth?
In bewilderment, he cast Appraisal on her active skill. The results baffled him.
Compiling results…
Target: Liberated Eyes of Truth
A hybrid skill combining and mutually amplifying the effects of the following skills:
Liberation and Eyes of Truth.
Skill desc:
The capability of falling into introspection and recalling past memories belonging to Liberation are combined with the ability to see through time, space and dimensions belonging to the Eyes of Truth, allowing the user to regain memories of another life.
As Aelius read the words in shock, the gears in his mind turned.
So what the vulnerable fifteen year old Aria was experiencing right now, were her memories from his first life?
No! Then all my work would be undone! I can’t let her recall her memories. She’ll be no different from the Aria that I’m trying to prevent. What do I do?
In his franticness, Aria reached up and grabbed him by the cheeks, looking up with tears flowing endlessly from her glowing, golden eyes.
“Aelius! They’re coming!”
He frowned at her shaking tone.
“Who?”
“The Devils!”
“What did you say?”
His eyes widened.
At her words, Aelius suddenly felt an ominous presence from within the manor behind him.
Using his Mind’s Eye, he quickly saw all of the threads of red he had seen when he first entered Sepha, actually led to the manor. And he had just never realised.
“Shit…” Aelius cursed.
There were at least three of them. Did he just carelessly walk into a dragon’s den?