Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

Leon looked around and saw the remaining of all his allies and all the monsters in the universe. An endless sea of blood and flesh… a disgusting and disturbing sight. Yet, he didn't feel anything while looking at it. Given the knowledge and experience that he still had, Leon knew that he was supposed to feel something, but just knowing that wasn't enough to make him actually feel anything.

"So, you are the monster that I have to kill, huh," Leon said. "If this is what is left of my allies, you without a doubt deserve it."

"If you think you have the power to try again, then I gladly welcome you. I can feel endless energy coming from you. It really looks like you obtained unlimited power… yet, what you expect to accomplish alone? Did you perhaps also sacrifice the memories of your last moments? If that is the case, I can understand why you are trying to do something so foolish again."

"Yes, I did," Leon replied. "You look… disappointed. Is there any reason for you to feel like that?"

"I thought you fought this far to protect your life and the life of your allies, but I was wrong. What is a being without its memories? It is like a newborn child who can't do many things. The current, you aren't a warrior. You are not even a threat. I don't know how you manage to revive with the few memories that you have, but that is clearly the only thing you will be able to do."

"At some point, I wondered myself about that many times," Leon closed his eyes and nodded. "Who would I become after sacrificing all my memories? Certainly, I would become a different person. However, eventually, I reached a single conclusion, and that is the only memory I didn't sacrifice aside from my goal. My memories… aren't mine alone. The memories I cherished the most are those of the time I spent with everyone. I will never be able to recover them since I sacrificed them in the void, but as long as we win. I can make new ones along with everyone else."

"I see, so you are fully aware that you can't recover the memories you lost even by using mana again. Given how much it is at stake here, it is only natural that you would feel so compelled to win to the point of sacrificing the man who you are. Still… I have lost my interest. Bring back your allies to life if you want. I don't have any more time to waste with you."

"Thank you for giving me the time necessary to do that. It would be hard to revive them while repelling your attacks," Leon smiled.

It was hard to recognize a frown in that monster's body, but Leon felt the mana inside of it changing, showing that the giant monster was confused. Still, that was only a small detail to Leon. Rather than that, he was more focused on following the few memories that were engraved in his mind. The first one was to revive, and he already succeeded. The second was to revive everyone, the third was to kick the ass of the giant monster, and the fourth… was to turn things back to normal, as they should be.

Leon thought he would have to focus quite a bit, but the experience of reviving himself made things easier for him. In the blink of an eye, the bodies of all his allies were repaired. He didn't have to do the same to the monsters since he absorbed their souls when he was in the void. Still, only a few thousand of his allies suddenly opened their eyes. Restoring everyone's bodies was necessary since everyone's flesh and blood got mixed up, but Leon only needed those who wanted to fight. The others would only wake up after the battle… once everything ends. How did Leon recognize those who fought alongside him until the very end when he sacrificed his memories? That was easy. Even though everything had become a sea of blood and flesh, there were still those who exploded near the monster. Leon revived those.

"Leon…" Ilyana said after looking at Leon and recognizing the new energy within his body. "You sacrificed everything, didn't you?"

"Yes. I assume you understand why I did it." Leon said.

Ilyana couldn't help but bit her lips in exasperation. Leon's voice was calm and serene… completely lacking in any feeling. To the current Leon, Ilyana, and everyone else was just a bunch of strangers.

"I wish I had been faster…" Ilyana said. "That way, the burden on you would be halved."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Leon said. "All that I know is this. My mind keeps telling me that what I did was necessary."

Ilyana could only stay silent after that. In fact, Leon found everyone while he was in the void. Although they couldn't talk, they could transmit their feelings through memory energy. Ilyana and Tyrselle had already found the way to revive themselves, but Leon had been faster. Despite all that, everyone had lost some of their memories. It was only natural… Although just a few minutes passed in the physical realm, years passed in the void.

"Since from the beginning, this battle was a huge bet," Tyrselle said while facing the massive beast. "We wanted everything back, but we didn't set our minds to pay the price to have it back. Now that has changed… if you don't want to become a dead weight, I advise you to do the same."

Tyrselle said that to Ilyana while facing the thousands of warriors behind them. They lost many of their memories, and they also sacrificed even more of those for the sake of having the same energy that Leon discovered. Upon noticing that, Ilyana steeled her resolve.