"You... what’s your ultimate goal?"
Zephyrion had been about to speak when he paused. Demorian had asked for his goal, and without a doubt, finding his mother was the only thing occupying his mind.
Regardless, it was the prefix ultimate that made him hesitate.
Was that truly his ultimate goal? What ca after he found his mother? Would that be the end of it all... a happily ever after?
Zephyrion had lived through seven years of brutality to know there was nothing like a happily ever after, not in their world.
The Order would still co for him. The tension between empires could snap at any mont. War could arrive without warning. The world was one of chaos, where nothing was ever certain.
His thoughts drifted, and before he realized it, Zephyrion found himself replaying every one of his mother’s rules in his mind. All twelve of them... all centered on one thing. Control.
The world was this way because people couldn’t control themselves. Greed, hate... they ruled over the people of this world.
During his ti in the Order, he had placed dozens under his control, and never, not once, had he felt uncertainty.
Control. That was the only way to eliminate the uncertainty that plagued the world.
As that thought settled firmly in his mind, Zephyrion lifted his gaze and t Demorian’s.
"I want to control this entire world."
Bam!
It felt as though sothing restraining him had just snapped. His mind expanded in an instant. The world seed different, as though his view of it had shifted entirely.
"Heh..."
Ahead, a wide grin spread across Demorian’s face as he slowly shook his head.
"Control the world... that’s insane. I like it." He burst into laughter. "Yeah... a warrior has to be at least this mad. Only madness changes anything. You pass!"
Demorian walked toward him, still smiling.
"I’m sorry about all this, friend, it’s just... I had to make sure you’re worthy of my divine rod."
"...divine rod?"
"Ah, yes! The greatest thing in this world. Long, hard, powerful... it’ll make won—and even n—tremble!"
Demorian planted both hands on his waist, puffing out his chest with pride as he laughed loudly.
"..."
He wasn’t sure if the man was simply vulgar, slow, or just stupid. Either way, Zephyrion wanted to be done with him as quickly as possible and leave.
"...so, I passed. What next?"
"Hm? Oh—right! Now I can tell you everything. Follow to my mansion."
Demorian’s ’mansion’ turned out to be nothing more than the shack Zephyrion had seen earlier.
Needless to say, it was the farthest thing from a mansion. It looked barely held together, with rotting wood and deep cracks running along its fra.
As Zephyrion took a seat outside the shack, Demorian poured out a bowl of brown sludge and handed it to him.
A bubble had just ford on its surface, and as it burst, a drop slipped over the edge and fell onto the grass.
Hiss.
It began sizzling instantly.
"..."
Zephyrion lifted his gaze and saw Demorian gulping down spoonfuls of the sludge without hesitation.
He quietly set his own bowl on the ground beside him and waited.
Burp!
As Demorian finished, he let out a loud burp, then exhaled in satisfaction. Noticing the untouched bowl beside Zephyrion, his brows drew together in a slight frown.
"You’re not eating."
"...I’m full."
"You sure? This shit’s really good!"
It’s shit, alright.
"...I’m sure."
"Alright, alright... so where do I even start?"
"Start with where we are. And... are you even alive?"
"Ah, that. We’re in a pocket space inside my divine rod. And no, I’m not alive per se. I’m just a fragnt I made before I died."
Zephyrion couldn’t begin to comprehend the complexity of such a thing. One’s control over the elent had to have reached an absurd state to even consider achieving sothing like this.
"Why?"
"To guide the next tal runeborn."
Zephyrion’s eyes narrowed slightly.
’tal...’
He had spoken it as though there were runeborns of other elents.
"...guide them to do what exactly?"
"Hmm..."
Demorian fell into thought. For a mont, Zephyrion found himself slightly relieved that the man’s madness had receded, even if only briefly.
"I’ll just start from the beginning so I don’t miss anything," he said, his tone turning unexpectedly serious.
"I was born just after the fall of the elental gods. As a runeborn, I had the complete tal rune in my mind from the start. I don’t know when or how it appeared—only that once I beca aware, it was already there. As I grew and understood it, I awakened and rose through the ranks faster than anyone had ever seen. I was called the greatest genius the world had ever seen, and I pushed Calderalth’s na to the very top. Honestly... it was a wonderful ti. People worshiped . Ladies—especially ladies—fawned over . Ah, I miss those days. Sotis I’d sneak a bunch of ladies into my room and—"
"...what happened next?"
"Ahem... right, got a bit sidetracked. Anyway... it was a great ti. One I loved. And everything was going well... until I t... him."
Grit!
Zephyrion frowned as he saw the burning hatred that had surfaced in Demorian’s eyes.
The man had been nothing but mad and cheerful since they t, he hadn’t expected to see such raw intensity from him.
"That... that bastard. It was all his fault. Because of him, all of this happened. He killed ."
Zephyrion’s brows drew together. This man had risen to beco one of the strongest in history, who could have killed him?
"...Frost."
Zephyrion’s eyes narrowed to slits.
"...Frost?"
"Yes. That guy... during my rise... he showed up out of nowhere, knowing things I’d never told anyone. My complete tal rune, my insane resonance... everything."
Demorian’s fists tightened as his jaw clenched.
"He said he was gathering people like to save the world, to bring back the elental gods. I believed him... stupid ... I actually believed him. But it was all a lie. Frost... that guy is evil. I saw it myself. Just to find a runeborn, he wiped out the entire Verdan empire!"
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