Level Up Legacy

"Whilst I choose my fate and how to die," the guardians said, their eyes full of doubt. "You're deceiving your own son just because you think that would protect him."

"You know how many times I've tried, and how many times I've failed," spat the man with green eyes as he advanced forward. "There was no other way. I wish there was, but there is none."

"I was just thinking that you might be the smartest human I have ever met, but now I begin to doubt that."

Seref looked at the Guardian with rage, seemingly affected by being called an idiot. However, he did not let it get into his head. Instead of bickering with the man, he decided to walk away.

"You know that your son might be the only person who can save you from the endless hell, but you are too proud to ask for forgiveness and help. Did you try and fail, or did you convince yourself that there is no other way?"

"I appreciate everything that you have done to help me, but there is a distinct difference between us," said the man without turning back. "You are chained by the past, while I am chained by the future. Do not think we wear the same shoes."

"Arthur will grow stronger than your wildest expectations!" shouted the scholar to the departing man, whose spirit followed him. "You should trust that he will defeat the gods!"

"…I witnessed otherwise."

As he left those words, the man and spirit walked away. The guardian knew that they were imprisoned in this tower as well, but he did not push further. Some of it was because of the spiritual contract the two of them had, most of it was because of their friendship.

As the guardian stood there while mulling about what to do, the tree beside him began distorting. Jizo turned toward the tree that seemed to grow unstable, and his expression crumbled. Without a second of delay, he rushed through the portal toward his command room.

Inside the runic space, the entire world was growing unstable. The guardian was confused as he watched warning settings go off inside the runic space. After a few seconds, he managed to understand what was happening.

[Energy levels have reached a critical ten percent!]

The guardian watched the flashing red warning with confusion before he guessed it was the gods' handiwork. As he scurried to diagnose the issue, another bright warning appeared in his eyes.

[Energy levels have reached a critical nine percent!]

His energy levels represented mana, spiritual energy, and universal force that he has harnessed into his tower. The energy was crucial to supply the realm, but it was decreasing every thirty seconds!

[Energy levels have reached a critical eight percent!]

Throughout its three thousand years of existence, the tower has never reached such a low energy level. As soon as it became below ten percent, the very fabric of space began to distort!

"If we run out of fuel, everyone will be thrown into the interdimensional space!" muttered the guardian with genuine panic. His eyes darted from one place to the other as he tried to pinpoint the issue. However, the entire tower was bleeding before his eyes.

As his mind reached an utter state of chaos, the guardian thought about a single man that could help him. A hologram appeared to connect him but he received an even more confusing message.

"Arthur Netherborne cannot be found within the realm."

"What is happening? Where is he?" muttered the guardian with confusion before he decided to connect to Arthur via a normal artifact he had. It was crude and less sophisticated, but it allowed him to communicate with the King of Wrath a moment later.

"Arthur! The entire tower is losing energy for some reason!" shouted the guardian with a sweaty face. However, the man on the screen did not even flinch. He just kept looking at something high above him before he answered.

"I know."

The answer confused the guardian even further, but Arthur waved his hand. A hologram appeared before the guardian as Arthur created a telepathic image to send him. As he looked through the creator's eyes, he managed to see what was happening.

The Path, which represented the skeleton and veins of this tower, was being drained from the outside. A giant array appeared in the interdimensional space as it sucked out the energy from whatever was within it. As one would expect, those responsible were the legions from Devaheim.

"I noticed the change in space earlier, which pushed me to leave the tower to investigate. I suspected it had something to do with the gods, but I have to admire them for such persistence."

[Energy levels have reached a critical seven percent!]

"At this rate, we have nothing more than three minutes left before the tower collapses! I cannot believe that the gods would resort to such vile means…"

"What a shock," said Arthur with sarcasm as he raised his hand. "I will protect the Path, but you must find a way to restore the energy levels."

"The tower will regenerate its energy as long as nothing drains it," said the guardian as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Please be careful!"

"A cautious person is a calm person," said the man with golden eyes as the black dagger materialized in his hand. "Wrath demands madness."

As the black aura exploded from his body, the voices of a million wrathful souls echoed throughout the interdimensional space. The guardian and whoever remained inside the tower had to close their ears in pain because of the voices.

"You can scheme and attack whenever you want, but I will always be the obstacle that you cannot overcome," said Arthur as he stared at the giant array stealing away their energy. His dagger cried even higher as the kingdom of wrath appeared behind him. "Taste the wrath you created!"

Arthur then slashed with his sword, unleashing the cries of millions toward the giant array. The giant slash traveled beside the tower's path before cutting the runic array in half. Like glass, the array shattered and fell in pieces.

The legions came dashing toward Arthur, who has revealed himself. Although they were faster than light itself, they could not cut through the distance. However, unlike before, Arthur did not run back into the tower. He stood with a straight back, his dagger still demanding justice.

"I can hear your cries, Ragnar," said Arthur as he held his right wrist, which held the dagger. The blade demanded revenge for its fallen master. "Let me offer you some reassurance."

As the legions of Devaheim reached him, Arthur stared at them with a grin. Despite the armor and creatures that they rode, the soldiers of Devaheim could feel a chilling threat coming from the man in black and golden robes.

Their numbers reached the millions, but none of them were true gods. They were soldiers that served Devaheim, reaching the final dream of all worshippers around the world. Arthur looked at them with disdain and disgust that reached their bones.

The wrathful king waved his dagger, unleashing a bigger attack than before. As the black light overtook the world, it rushed toward the legions of Devaheim. The wrath destroyed the legions without mercy, killing over half of their numbers.

"Use them for energy," said Arthur as his dagger disappeared. The rest of the army did not dare approach him anymore. "I doubt they would attack us without an actual god anymore."

As he witnessed the scene, the guardian was awestruck. However, he made sure to activate his absorb-rune, the same that he gave to Arthur to get stronger. Like a hungry monster, the tower devoured the scattered mana and souls from the fallen legion.

[Energy restoration has elevated the levels to ten percent.]

[Energy restoration has elevated the levels to twenty percent.]

[Energy restoration has elevated the levels to thirty percent.]

The relieving notifications came one after the other, making the guardian calm down at last. Arthur returned to the tower without anyone daring to hinder him as the armies stood rooted with fear. Thanks to him, the tower survived another ordeal.

"Having him as an ally is really reassuring," said the guardian with a laugh as he lamented his weakness. "Countless runes and infinite knowledge are dogshit compared to actual strength when the time demands it."

Although the guardian ridiculed himself, he was actually feeling proud inside. Arthur was the person he has chosen and nurtured through his artifacts and legacies. Everything started the moment the two of them met in Avarice Dungeon, which seemed like a million years ago.

After a while, the energy levels were restored inside the tower. Even more, the extra energy allowed the guardian to hasten his creation of the strongest artifact mankind will ever see. It would be the ultimate trump card against the gods, a true harnesser of the universe.

Devaheim did not attack them for a certain while after that because of this incident. As evident of this battle, they would need a lesser god instead of an army of zealous slaves to defeat the Returning King. This incident caused an uproar in the upper realm, prompting them to assume a more active strategy.