Dragon Maken War

Chapter 212 - Past & the Future (3)

Atein laughed as if he was amused.

He didn't plan on contradicting Yuren's words. As soon as he woke up, he knew he wasn't the real Atein. He knew he was a fake. When the body was completely revived, the Dragon Demon king's mind hadn't returned to the body.

Was it because the revival was rushed?

No, it was because Atein's reincarnation was still alive.

Even if the body was revived, Yuren hadn't died yet. At the very least, an awakening had to occur for the mind to return to the body.

Yuren let out a sigh.

"I never expected it to be like this. It seems this plan was done in an overly complicated manner. I never expected him to be able to stop the time of a specific target. I also hadn't expected him to succeed in turning back the time…."

The mind within Atein was one from a thousand years ago. To be precise, it was a copy of Atein's mind at that moment in time. Atein had stopped a moment in time, and he had preserved that copy within the Great Darkness. It was a backup that would wear his body in case of emergency.

Of course, the spells he used was outdated. At the time of the Dragon Demon war, Atein had progressed in his magic, and it wasn't something that the other magicians could make up in the past 220 years. The gulf between other mages and Atein had been that enormous. This version of Atein was using spells from a thousand years ago. Large portions of his spells had been spread to the masses throughout the years, so his overall level of power was lagging behind.

The Compendium of Black Darkness was basically the prior iteration of a Dragon weapon called Incarnation of Darkness. Since Atein lived for a very long time, he was able to advance the abilities of his Dragon weapons. He was successful in changing the form and nature of the Dragon weapons. However, when a user from a thousand years ago returned, the Dragon weapons had acted accordingly. They had turned back into their prior forms to match its owner.

Suddenly, Atein spoke.

"However, it is strange. Will you answer my question, my future self?"

"From your perspective, I'm a being from a thousand years in the future. From my perspective, I belong to this time. I am of this era. For the sake of differentiating ourselves, you can call me Yuren Rizester."

"I'll do as you say."

"What are you curious about?"

"If it is as you've said, this body is from 220 years ago. It was during the time of the Dragon Demon war, and it is yours. Reginor had failed to turn back the time of the world, but he was successful in turning back time for special targets."

Reginor had wanted to rewind the time of the entire world. He had wanted to bring back his race, but Reginor had given up on that idea during the research phase. On top of that, he was an immortal even if he didn't manipulate time. Therefore, there wasn't much benefit for him to continue the research.

However, the research held significance to Atein.

Atein had sealed Reginor in the Great Darkness, and he analyzed Reginor's power. He researched on ways to use Reginor's power, and he found a way to recover his body. It wasn't making a body through an artificial process. Time could be turned back to a set point in time, and the body from that time could be recreated.

The result was the Atein in front of his eyes.

"Why did it take 220 years? Even if it didn't occur as you intended, Almarick was able to revive several dozen years before you."

The ritual had not only been for Atein. He had made it so that all four Dragon Demon generals would revive too.

However, the result of his plan was failure. Aunsaurus and Baldazark hadn't been able to revive thanks to Carlos' interference. Reygus had lost his body, so he had been revived as an Undead.

Yuren smirked.

"You'll know it soon, yet you want to know it right now?"

"I understand that I am merely a silhouette that doesn't belong in this era. When you awaken fully and take over this body, I'll be gone. Only my experience will be left behind."

"You still want to satisfy your curiosity knowing that? All right. First, the technique that turned back the time was a success. However, Atein's body was completely destroyed when he lost against Azell. If a corpse had existed, the revival would have occurred about 100 years faster."

"Is that the reason why Almarick had been revived faster than this body?"

"Almarick's corpse still remained, and the guidelines left behind by Atein was adhered to. The body was thrown into the center of the Great Darkness, and the prerequisites to form the magic was completely fulfilled."

On the other hand, Azell had completely destroyed Atein's body just in case. There wasn't even a single hair left behind, and the body perished far away from the heart of the Great Darkness. Basically, the revival had to overcome space and the retrograde of time. Of course, it would be difficult.

"So why was Reygus revived as an Undead?"

"It's simple. It is unreasonable to expect perfect result for others. It was a worry Atein had when he made this technique, and his worry was proven true."

<Tsk. If I still had a corpse, I would have been able to eat meat and play with pretty ladies?>

"Probably. You ran right into a trap like a boar, so you have only yourself to blame."

Yuren shrugged when he heard Reygus' words.

Atein asked a question.

"I think I understand now as to how I was formed."

"It's possible to revive the body by turning back the time. It is the same for the mind. However, the continuity of the memory is broken."

The current Atein was a prime example of this. It was possible to use a technique to re-create a mind from a certain point in time.

'However, is that really 'me'?'

Atein had that question.

Would his past self, which had never experienced defeat, really be him?

Would his past self, who hadn't experienced the sadness of someone near him die, really be him?

"That is why he wanted Kayalia's secret technique."

He knew Kayalia's secret technique wasn't complete. Kayalia had used a technique over the long years to reincarnate in the body of her descendants. However, this didn't guarantee eternal life.

That is why Atein tried to remedy the shortcomings after learning the technique from Kayalia. If it was only Atein and his magic, it might have been impossible. However, he had sealed 12 transcendent beings within the Great Darkness. It was a support system he could use.

Depending on how he used the power of the Great Darkness, he could turn back time. He could recreate his past self in the current era. If he had the power of the Great Darkness, he was sure he could solve the problem of Kayalia's technique. That was what he believed.

"However, it didn't work."

"…what?"

When Yuren gave a plausible explanation, Atein had assumed that the experiment was a success.

Yet it was a failure?

"He was able to maintain continuity with the memories of his past. The problem was the fact that he couldn't avoid deterioration or changes in his memories. If he truly wanted to avoid these problems, he had to perform the ritual right before his death. He had to store it and call it up later….. Nothing is easy in this world."

He had to transcend time. He had to store his memory, so he could call up his past memories. It wasn't an easy task. He put in massive amount of time and effort into solving the problem. He found out that he had to go through a massive ritual to achieve his goal.

"The first couple times were fine. He had the Great Darkness, so he had great protection over his mind."

"However……."

Suddenly, Atein brought up his question again.

"I didn't get revived through such a process. Also, you turned into Yuren Rizester. What happened?"

"Atein knew it would take a very long time to revive. On the other hand, Atein knew there was another method. There was the method of stealing the fate of his descendant to revive….."

It was possible for Niberis to become Atein's host. However, Atein hadn't chosen that method.

"He chose not to do that. He wanted to use his time wisely until his body's reincarnation was at hand. He had a reason for doing this."

"What was the reason?"

"That is……."

Yuren suddenly smirked. At the same time, he used a powerful curse spell. He ambushed them.

"Mmm!"

The three Dragon Demons had been on guard, so they immediately reacted. They blocked the attack.

However, Yuren had already finished making preparations for the battle. He used Incarnation to make 15 Clones, and he kept summoning his Dragon weapons in succession.

"Why are you continuing this meaningless fight?"

Atein couldn't understand Yuren's actions, so he asked the question.

Yuren was Atein. He hadn't completely awakened, yet he knew his own identity. Yuren should know what he should do.

So why was he trying to continue this fight?

"There is a meaning to this fight. You are a false image of the past! It is a meaning that you don't know about!"

5

Azell's party was moving quickly. They were riding Azell's Dragon weapon called Crying Phoenix.

Suddenly, Azell spoke.

"Yuren, your body……."

In the beginning, Yuren's clone was so well-defined that it had been indistinguishable from his real body. However, Yuren's clone was steadily fading away. It was proof that the magical energy making up this clone was thinning out.

Yuren spoke.

"It seems I've moved away too far. Since I don't have the Incarnation of Darkness, there is a limit to using a Guardian Shadow as a vessel."

The clones made through Incarnation couldn't move too far away from the original, body. Even Azell had to create and dismiss his clones within a radius of several hundred meters.

Yuren had used the Great Darkness. He had used the Guardian Shadow as a vessel to make his clone last this long, but he was at his limits.

"Thankfully, I was able to do all I set out to do."

Yuren had achieved his goal in searching them out. It was an unexpected gift for the party.

"Azell."

Yuren spoke.

"From now on, a bitter fight will start. It will be completely different from now on. They will pressure you from all sides."

Until now, they thought it would be enough to bring down the Plain of Darkness. Since Atein had revived, everything would change.

Yuren had found out about Atein's plan. Atein wouldn't move in the way that the Plain of Darkness had hoped for. Everything that'll happen from now on would shock those that reside within the Plain of Darkness.

"Still, I believe you guys will be able to win in the end. I have faith in you all."

"Thank you for everything."

Azell knew that the time for a true goodbye had come.

He was revealed to be the reincarnation of Atein, but he was Yuren. His last act made Azell's party believe in this fact.

Yuren laughed as if he was embarrassed.

"That isn't necessary."

"Maybe, the fact that you are able to do this is part of Atein's design?"

The Guide's identity was Atein, so it was possible. They had no idea why Atein had acted in this fashion, but in the end, everything was part of Atein's plan. It was part of his enormous destiny. It wasn't unfair to say that Yuren was merely a puppet with strings attached to him.

"Still… I don't think of think you are a figment of the imagination made by Atein. You are our comrade. We believe in you, Yuren Rizester. You chose to travel with us, and you chose how to use your life. I don't think it was done through Atein's will. It was done through your will."

"……."

Yuren was at a loss for words for a brief moment, so his mouth moved silently He felt like crying when he saw the trust in Azell's eyes.

"…thank you."

"This is why I want to confirm this for the last time. Yuren, you know that you are the reincarnation of Atein, yet you chose us?"

Yuren had tried his best to relay as much information as possible in a short amount of time.

He told them about the identity of Atein, who had ambushed them. Moreover, he told them the true goal of Atein….

The party had a clear idea as to what Atein was seeking through their conversation with Yuren. Atein was trying to better the world.

He had solved the language problem in the world by unifying the world's languages into one. It was an attempt to get rid of the tragedies from this world. It was the same reason as to why he had reset the relationship between Dragons and humans through the Dragon Slayer's ritual. On top of that, he had tried to make the ideal nation through the Dragon Demon war. It was all for the same purpose.

Atein, who had revived in this era, would do the same thing. His goal remained the same. It was his methods that differed each time.

"Azell, do you remember it?"