Level Up Legacy

Although his father glanced at the young Yuvan, he did not spare him more than a glance. He walked past them and headed straight toward the teenager training religiously, standing to admire his training.

"Father was only fascinated by your dedication to martial arts and never cared about what talent I had," said Yuvan while carrying a small artificial artifact. Ilia looked at his younger brother, who activated the artifact in hand. It was a small illusion of their family, a hologram of them standing together.

"And how does that justify what you did?" asked Ilia with a frown. Yuvan was occupied with the hologram before he smiled and threw it to the side and walked away.

"I don't seek your forgiveness, brother," said Yuvan as he entered the house, entering a different scene than this one. Ilia followed him into a classroom, where Yuvan was still a teenager facing a young woman. "I am merely showing what you missed."

Ilia was confused as he stared at the woman, who looked beautiful and sweet. Yuvan faced her with a cold expression as she gathered her courage and replied to him.

"Thank you for loving me, but the person I love is..." said the woman, and Ilia frowned as he heard the name coming out of her mouth. Yuvan did not say a thing and just walked out of the classroom. Ilia stood in place as he looked at the woman, feeling that she was familiar.

"She was the love of my life," said Yuvan as he walked without looking back. "In the end, she confessed her feelings to you, but you disregarded her and said that you had no time for such things."

"How is this my fault?"

"She died in a dungeon because she wanted to grow stronger, hunting after crystals, just to make you see her as someone worthy," said Yuvan as he walked past the doorway, entering a different scene. "If you were just a little less honest and empathetic… she might have moved on from loving you."

Ilia was silent as he followed after his brother, entering a hospital room. His confusion was evident as he failed to recognize this place or the woman lying in the bed. Yuvan was an adult now, wearing the robes of Runera. This made Ilia realize this event was recent now.

"You always sought peace in the Yalveran Union, but could not even find time for our mother's final moments," said Yuvan as he walked forward and stood beside her bed. "Mother was the only one who saw me, but even in her final moments..."

"Yuvan... is Ilia here?" asked the woman as she looked at her son with hazy eyes, her breaths growing shallower by the second. Yuvan stared at his mother for a few seconds before sighing and turning toward Ilia.

"Until her last moments, she asked me to see you. You did not attend her funeral, even because you were busy achieving greater things and keeping the citizens safe. She was so proud even as you abandoned her."

"There was nothing I could do," said Ilia while gritting his teeth. "I was on a mission, and Mom had a terminal illness. Even if I abandoned everything to come back, I wouldn't have been able to do a thing."

"You could have said goodbye," said Yuvan. "I was there to say goodbye, but I was not the one she missed. She missed her great hero of a son, who never called or cared."

"I cared."

"How sweet," said Yuvan as he looked away and walked toward the window, opened it, and allowed the breeze to blow their mother into countless petals. "You have always been sweet, Ilia. But you were so focused on training and achieving that you forgot to look at us, the ones behind you. In a way, you were cruel. But... everyone still loved you."

"Is that the reason you turned vile?"

"Far from it, brother," said Yuvan with a grin as he turned. "You were never that important to me. I hated you, but that doesn't mean I would destroy the world for you. The reason that I hated this world was..."

Yuvan then snapped his fingers, making day turn to night. Ilia stood confused as the person on the bed was someone else. It was Yuvan himself, sitting in his bed while gazing outside the window. A pair of doctors came into the room, said a few words that Ilia could not hear, but left.

"A few years ago, I was still studying runes in my lab when I collapsed. After going to the hospital and being screened and examined, it was revealed that I had a parasite in my brain. It started with headaches and vomiting, but I always thought it was due to exhaustion."

"Yuvan, are you dying?" asked Ilia with confusion before he took a step forward. "Why did you never tell me?"

"Because it wouldn't have changed a thing," said Yuvan with a smirk as he stared at the same sky as he did in the illusion. "Although the parasite devoured my brain year after year, it was the reason I was good with runes."

"How does that make sense?"

"I researched it," said Yuvan with a smirk. "The astral parasite is the same one that creates undeads after humans die. It has been feeding me knowledge about illusions and their runes all this time. If I take it out, I would die because it devoured most of my brain. I am now nothing but a parasite with the memories of a human."

"Arthur could have helped you somehow, there is nothing that he cannot do," said Ilia after a short pause. Yuvan laughed as he turned toward him, looking at his brother as if he was naïve.

"I know he could help me, but what is the point in living after that? I would lose the one thing that gave me value: the runic knowledge I gained from the parasite. After that, I would be nothing but a failure."

"Better than dying!" shouted Ilia with rage as he grabbed his brother by the collar, pulling him in anger. "You care about such useless things in the face of death?!"

"How would you understand when you have everything?" asked Yuvan with a mocking smirk. "I have just this, and I would rather die than live without it!"

"…how did you become so twisted?" asked Ilia with sadness as he let go of his brother. "How long do you have to live?"

"I created an artifact that would show me how much time I have before the parasite devours my brain entirely," said Yuvan with a smirk as he took out a small plate and showed it to his brother. "This is the time I have left."

"You have…" began Ilia as he stared at the artifact, his eyes widening as he turned toward his brother. "Just one more day?"

"I was perfect," said Yuvan with a grin as he adjusted his robes. "I found the Demon King right before my death. I have no more regrets, dear brother!"

Ilia couldn't believe it as he staggered back. Although he was prepared to kill his brother, he never knew about the fate that has befallen his family without his knowledge. Regrets and guilt filled his heart as he considered that it might have been his fault.

"I do not fear death, dear brother, but I wanted to show you this before I die," said Yuvan with a grin as he snapped his fingers again, and the illusion shattered. The two brothers were back to the battlefield, where the String of Fate fought against Ilia's comrades. "You can kill me now."

"There were so many other methods you could have tried," said Ilia with sadness. "You chose every wrong choice along the way. Is this the reason that you have infiltrated Runera? Just to find the creator?"

"I wanted to find out more about the Sin of Wrath, and the best place to find him was through the runemasters. I never considered that the same man Runera awaited would be the Returning King. After that, I just needed to find a way to make him follow me into this tower."

"Julia trusted you," said a voice from behind Ilia, prompting him to turn to see Arthur still glaring at Yuvan. "She considered you as her mentor, and so did I. You wasted everything, Yuvan."

"You respected my runic knowledge, as did everyone," said Yuvan with a shake of his head. "It was the parasite that you respected, not me. The crimes I committed were the only thing I could attribute as mine. I don't regret a thing, dear Demon King, dear Brother."

"I regret an awful lot now, mostly not being a proper brother to you," said Ilia with sadness as he turned back, summoning his lightning again. His comrades fought hard against the String of Fate, holding them back from interfering. "But the time has passed now, and I must take your life now."

Ilia began moving toward his brother, lightning crackling around his body. His expression was a mix of guilt, sadness, and determination. As for Yuvan, he welcomed death with open arms and a satisfied expression. As the lightning spear rose in the air to kill him, Arthur stopped Ilia.

"Don't kill him, Ilia," said Arthur from behind, still having his chin on his knee. "Everything he said was the truth. He has just one more day to live. There is no need to burden your heart with his murder."