"Pathetic," Albert said, his voice dripping with contempt. The attack seed to have hit him squarely—or so Strax thought. He felt the impact and knew he had struck sothing. But as the dust settled, revealing the scene with a chilling clarity,
Albert was there, apparently unscathed, a mocking smile dancing on his lips. His eyes shone with cold and cruel amusent as he looked down, holding the sword with his bare hands.
"Is this the best you can do?" Albert taunted, his voice echoing in the now silent battlefield.
"No... it can't be..." Strax murmured, gripping Tiamat even tighter. The sword's energy still pulsed through him, but the reality of his father's invulnerability was a crushing blow to his self-esteem. There was no chance, there never had been, but he thought, just a little... that he could do sothing.
"Did you really think you could defeat with that?" Albert continued, stepping forward. "You can't even use your sword, you can't assimilate properly. You can't even sense the world around you." Albert said, preparing a punch.
Strax's vision blurred with the effort; his body was already at its limit, and he couldn't push any further, but he refused to back down. "It's not over," he said through gritted teeth, but his words carried no weight anymore, just thrown to the wind, lost in the vastness of the impending defeat.
"Have you given up?" Albert asked, staring into Strax's still determined eyes. He would lose the battle, but not the war, that he was sure of. Even if he had to be reincarnated and return to Thalassia with force to find his wives and kill this old bastard. "Just kill and get it over with; I have more to do," Strax said.
At no point did he feel fear; he had only accepted and was already thinking about what he would do to co back to life.
"You're quite interesting, boy." Albert said before delivering the Final Blow.
The strike was quick and devastating, a blur of movent that Strax barely managed to follow. Pain exploded in his chest, a searing fire that burned both his flesh and soul. He felt the brutal force of the impact, every bone in his body vibrating with the intensity of the blow. The world around him blurred, shadows dancing in a chaotic whirlpool as he fell into an infinite black void.
"Look... I'm here again," Strax said, floating in the infinite blackness he knew so well. "Well, let's wait now... When I reincarnate, I'll start over and return to them. It's not so decrepit old man who will sentence my death or judge my determination." He murmured, his eyes fixed on the void beyond life.
"Thinking about it... it seems I have a really bad problem with my parents. In my past life, it wasn't much different... Despite having these mories of Strax..." He continued to murmur, his tone echoing in the silence of the void.
"System, are you there?" Strax asked, and even in the infinite void, the System tab opened. "Oh, so I'm not dead yet, how amusing." Strax said as he continued to feel the nothingness... It was as if his fear didn't exist. "Maybe dying once has already consud , especially in such a brutal way..."
"Thinking about it now, I'd like to know more about my mother from this world. For so reason, she ca to mind. But does it matter? I don't know, but it seems that this boy... Strax, was destined for sothing greater." He reflected, navigating the system interfaces, examining every little trace of information.
"System, is this body's physique original to his world or is it sothing from the System?" He asked, trying to keep his consciousness. After all, if he fell asleep, he probably wouldn't wake up.
[]
"So that's it... given that my current father is an ordinary human, only my mother remains..." Strax thought, but before he could conclude his thoughts...
[]
[]
"As I suspected..." Strax murmured, reading the ssages. But he... "What? Completed?" He questioned, feeling a warmth in his body. A tremor ran through his waist, and in the blink of an eye, Strax found himself seated in the armchair again, both swords seemingly ready to leap imdiately.
"Calm down, you stupid won," Albert said, looking at the scabbard of Strax's weapons.
"Calm down?! You used a spiritual attack on him, you son of a bitch!" Ouroboros roared, almost breaking the seal on the sword Albert had placed.
"Quiet," he said in a cold tone, and the sword imdiately stopped trembling and speaking. He sealed it again.
"Damn... what the hell was that." Strax placed his hand on his head, feeling the deep pain in his body. Despite having no visible wounds, he still felt excruciating pain throughout his body.
"Pull yourself together," Albert said, maintaining his dark tone.
[]
[]
"What fucking pain," Strax continued to complain about the pain, while his father looked at him with a cold yet curious gaze.
"He didn't even fear death... What was he planning? To co back to life right away?" Albert wondered, analyzing his son's features.
"He doesn't fear you," Byakko's voice echoed in his ears.
Albert narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on his son. "What are you planning, Strax?" he murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "Co back to life right away? And what would you do if you succeeded?"
Strax lifted his head, the pain still throbbing in every fiber of his being. "I'll do whatever it takes, so get used to it," he said, his voice firm despite the suffering. "You can knock down as many tis as you want, but I'll always co back. And one day, I'll defeat you, simple as that." He finished as he placed his arm over his eyes and tilted his head up.
"Damn, the pain just keeps going." He murmured while hearing Albert laugh again, a cold and emotionless sound. "We'll see, boy. We'll see." He turned and went to his desk to fetch sothing.
"I did all this to see if it was wise to trust you with anything," Albert said, holding a small pocket watch, engraved with runes and showing worn golden coloration.
"This watch," Albert began, his voice laden with subtle sarcasm, "is not just a symbol of your failure. It's sothing your mother left for you. I don't know what it is, but knowing that woman..." He paused, observing Strax's reaction. "She must have believed you would know what to do with it, considering she wanted to give it to you, even knowing you were a failure in cultivation.
I was told to deliver it only when you reached the Master Stage."
"My mother?" Strax questioned, and Albert tossed the watch to him, which he caught with a reflexive motion, his fingers trembling slightly as they touched the cold, polished tal.
Strax looked at the watch with an expression of surprise and confusion. His hands, which had already felt pain and fatigue, were now pressed against the object with a mix of anticipation and curiosity, especially since he barely rembered his mother clearly. He opened the watch slowly, the chanism emitting a soft click that seed to echo in the vast, silent room.
Inside the watch, an image of his mother was engraved on the inner side of the lid. She had a serene look, appearing as a warrior rather than the figure he rembered, with an unmistakable strength, much more imposing than his own father who claid to be the strongest in Thalassia. Beside the image, a na was engraved in elegant, detailed letters.
"Scathach Antares," Strax read softly, his heart racing faster. The na resonated within him as if he had heard it before... Yes, that na... in his previous life... In so mythological story...
Strax had noticed sothing for a while... In this world, there were entities with nas from mythological gods. First, it was Thanatos and his bracelet, then the title "Mother of Night" that Xyn carried... or rather... Nyx. Not to ntion, of course, Tiamat and Ouroboros...
both dragon nas he had heard before but didn't know much about their stories. But the na didn't shock him. How many won could be nad Scathach in the world? Many. What really caught his attention was...
"Why... is she red-haired in this picture?" Strax questioned, as he didn't rember her hair being like that, or rather, he barely rembered anything. "Your mother died from a degenerative disease due to her physique; the color of her hair faded as ti passed and the disease consud her," Albert explained.
"Physique, huh..." He thought, "Maybe... No, better think about it later."
"All this was just to give the watch?" Strax questioned, still sowhat in pain. "She asked to do this, bla her, not . I have many matters to attend to; I just wanted to finish this quickly before I get busy with that foolish king," Albert replied, sitting back in his armchair.
"As for you being a target... Use your mother's surna outside the Ducato's walls. It will be difficult to attack you here, but outside... Well, you're an adult, do as you please. And I recomnd that those won do the sa," Albert said. "You can leave now."
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