Chapter 394: Basin of Memories (1/2)

”Are you talking about the guardians?” Arthur asked and saw a weird expression appear on the spirit's face. It looked at him as if he was someone else.

”You truly don't remember anything,” it sighed and gave the most helpless expression. ”As long as you are still alive, then it doesn't matter, I guess.”

”You are not the first to mistake me for someone else,” Arthur furrowed his brows, but the Sovereign didn't say anything. ”And I'm tired of not knowing what's going on,” a helpless sigh mirrored the one the Sovereign gave.

”I can tell you if you want to,” it said, surprising Arthur.

”Then do,” he leaned forward in expectations.

”However, I know that you don't want to know yet,” it shook its head. ”Otherwise, you would have remembered already. There's a plan, and I'm not going to interfere with it. Your plans never failed, after all.”

Arthur was quiet as he realized this was another dead end. He felt frustrated that everyone was choosing for him instead of asking him about what he wanted.

”I'm not who you think I am,”

”Then that's fine,” the Sovereign shrugged. ”You shouldn't care whether I tell you or not since I'm simply mistaken.”

”You don't believe that you are,” Arthur scowled at him. ”You still think that I'm someone else,”

”I just that you don't remember but don't care about what I think. After all, I'm sure you have never seen any signs that prove my words,” the spirit gave a sly smile.

But Arthur saw them countless times, one contradicting the other. So he was growing more confused about what happened and how it all links in the end. That's why he knew that the spirit was playing mind games to seed doubt into his heart.

'It is one thing to accept being a vessel of a higher being, and another to be someone else entirely without knowing,'

”Let's keep watching,” the Spirits Sovereign smiled as if his goal has been accomplished.  Arthur stared at it for a long time, feeling as if his antics were familiar. ”This is her first battle using spirits. How marvelous she was,”

Destruction and spiritual energy intertwined as the knights fled from the witch they were hunting. Gala's eyes were wrathful, and Arthur watched as she killed over a hundred knights to stand as the sole survivor.

”Marvelous?” Arthur questioned as he studied her expression. ”She is hurt, terrified of the destruction she caused, and scared of her powers,” he saw her look at her eyes the same way he looked at his after the battle against Ilios.

”I guess I'll never have what isn't truly mine,” the Sovereign's voice was sad as if blaming the world for his pseudo-feelings.

The image changed again to reveal Gala fleeing from the witch hunt. She was sitting on the roadside when a giant man found her. He offered shelter, and she accepted it.

'And that's how Gala met young Solomon, that must have been at least twenty years ago,'

The pond rippled as it revealed the image of Gala gazing up. She was wounded in a snowstorm, and a figure stood in front of her. Arthur frowned as the back of the figure made his body tremble.

As if sensing his gaze, the figure turned away from Gala and met Arthur's gaze, and it confirmed his doubts. His lips pressed themselves against each other to form a thin line. The features were ordinary, and a beard mottled his face.

”Dad...?” Arthur could never mistake the green and kind eyes of his father. But now, they weren't kind. Instead, they were wary and looking into his with gradually increasing shock.

”Art!”

The image disappeared as his father reached out to him. Arthur's heart was in turmoil as he took a step back. Despite being a spiritual body, he couldn't stop shaking. They were all identical: the name he called him, his voice, and his face.

”Oops, forgot about this guy's ability,” the spirit waved its hand, and the pond returned to its translucent surface. Arthur grabbed the spirit's color before shoving it back.

”Show him again!”

”Careful now, I don't like physical touch,” the white cross in the Sovereign's eyes glowed before it disappeared. Arthur felt it slip from his grasp, and he rushed to grab with his other hand, but the spirit was gone.

Arthur fell on the ground, and his hands dug into the bark of Yggdrasil. The Spirits Sovereign walked to stand beside him before crouching.

”You are lying,” Arthur gritted his teeth as the image of his father's wary and tired face appeared in his mind. ”You knew that you were showing him to me, and you knew that he would see me.”