188 A Game of Chess (2/2)

Helial would have lived alongside the greatest King of the Age of Chaos.

Alexander was a Soul on a par with Iblis, despite the fact that his name was now forgotten.

The young man, then, had been lied to about something. It was true that in normal Illusions time was simply slowed down. But this one was created by Alexander, one of the greatest warriors who ever existed in the universe. In fact, Alexander had spoken of a Time Block rather than an Illusion. In an Illusion the Soul would have been deceived and would have changed its perception of the real world.

Time blocking was a much deeper and more obscure technique. Time itself was blocked, not the warrior's Soul; and this had significant benefits in training. The Soul would not have been absolutely affected by the Illusion, as it should have been normally, but would have lived that experience as if it had been real.

In an Illusion, the Soul was inevitably destined to suffer. The slowing down of time influenced and distorted, even if in an infinitesimal way, the Mana Path.

Unfortunately, only beings of the calibre of Iblis and Alexander could use such a technique, where time itself was frozen. Moreover, the requirements were very strict. Obviously, they could not use the technique for themselves, but only to train warriors whose level was not too high.

It would never work on an Immortal, like Siche or Kirin. Perhaps, at best, it could have brought benefits to someone like Cesar or Aure.

However, for Helial's training, Alexander intended to go much further than a simple Time Block.

Skill Activated:

Memory Seal

The King was sealing Helial's memories. He wanted to give him a second life, where he would not be born as an oppressed boy, but as a warrior among his peers. His sword would no longer bring hesitation and resentment, but would be a messenger of pride and ferocity.

Iblis had used Helial's negative emotions to let the boy better understand Curse of the Demon, and this had given him a natural inclination for the forces of Destruction.

Alexander, on the contrary, wanted to help the Devil build incredible foundations for that young man. However, how could he really probe the mysteries of Life and Destruction by living only one life? He simply could not.

Helial needed to live a second life to understand the forces of Life, the Mana that shone vigorously on warriors led by honour and dignity. The life force that permeated every single step of Alexander's Mana Path came very close to the energy of Life.

In the Age of Chaos, there had been many different Mana Paths; Life and Destruction weren't so predominant and had not been able to create a clear rift within the universe, as had happened in the following era.

Despite all this, Alexander's Mana Path would have given Helial some Illuminations that the boy could never have received, not even living alongside Amaterasu, the Lady of Life.

”If you are wrong, you shit head, the boy would repeat your own mistakes,” said Iblis. ”When we make a mistake, we do not only wrong us, but also others. In life it was a lesson you learned with difficulty, since half the generals who followed you either died or were killed by you, because of anger. ”

”It is dangerous to lean on those who walk in front of us, but a guide who has learned from his mistakes can avoid a lot of suffering. If you had someone who could make you understand the consequences of your actions, would you have made the same choice that forced you to exist in this form?” retorted Alexander.

A strange serenity enveloped Iblis': ”I did a lot of fucked-up stuff, I won't deny it. Every now and then I think I could have avoided some massacre here and there, maybe being slightly more benevolent with some shit that I stepped on, considering all the stench that I had to carry with me. But if there is something that I will absolutely never regret, Alexander, it is what led me to live like this.”

”Do you enjoy condemning yourself?” Laughed the King of the Madonis.

”You have been condemned to live like a maniac. I have accomplished martyrdom, something necessary in order not to deviate from everything I believed and felt. Even today, if I had to repeat that choice now, I would take the same path.”

”So you mock me because I was abandoned by my generals and my army? But is it better than knowingly abandoning people who would follow you to the end of the world?”

While two of the universe's great monsters talked about their past and the choices that had brought them to solitude, Helial's memory were slowly descending into oblivion.

Now the boy was about to be reborn as a totally new person.