"Really?" he looked into Avere's eyes, asking him a silent question before bringing it into true words.
"You focused your attention on a small character I mentioned in passing, a person I don't even know enough about to give more descriptive factors?" he said the last few pieces, though Avere was certain that that did not respond to the truth of the matter.
"I have a feeling you know something about it, and since I was partially sent to that forsaken realm by a kurakkan, or at least that was the worst being I saw before that realm, I am keenly interested in anything that could help me beat something like that..." he said, kind of ironically, but really, he was just interested in that name which caused his heart to grow the slightest bit heavier, though it was just an adjective for a gender.
"Well, I guess I can tell you what I know..." he said, seeming almost helpless... letting his shoulders hang low, but quickly straightening his back, taking a deep breath, closing the eyes to recount what he knew, and continuing on.
"Knowledge of the old man is rare and in most cases sparce, but I did, as most kings and queens, have a keen interest in the history of that being, belonging to a mythological belief known as the two-sided temple, or the faction of the old man... the second one being a bit more obvious..." he hesitated for a bit.
"The legend of the old man is interwoven with countless legends and real facts, be it the first king, be it the creation of kurakkans, be it the death of the first dragon, be it the extinction of the supreme leviathans, be it the birth of cadonians, or even the origin of the ten great pillars, perhaps even the story of the child or the crusader king, he is interwoven in so many legends it is swindling..." he hesitated once more, not entirely sure if what was to come next should be told as a fact.
"Some say he has powers to serve the ten great pillars, some say he rules above them, some say he is weaker than everyone, simply existing to be the epitome of the weakness of all life, not that I am one of those fools that believes that..." he paused for a bit longer than normal, seemingly looking for something else to add on, definitely having something to say, but not knowing whether it was worth making it audible.
But Avere had another question, because, for the first time since that giant white worm he had fought back on... Manug's home, if that was actually his home, he had heard the name of crusader king, a being Cades had had a interest in.
"What is it with the legend of the crusader king then?" he asked as such.
"No idea, really..." he changed his look slightly, looking younger than before, though his spots coming from experience, age, and probably unhealthy conditions of his body, remained.
"The crusader king is basically a stable of cultural development..."
"Every culture, every world, every single one, has something referring to the crusader king, that counts for my home, Konsiur, for Ehetria, for whatever universe, whatever time, whatever epoch, whatever anything you think of..." he paused, starting to talk soon after, but being interrupted by the Cades within Avere.
"Yes! But what does that mean, what is the crusader king, what is the prophecy?!"
"The prophecy doesn't matter, knowledge of the future is nothing more than a hint, it is never concrete, never truly understood, and I hope you understand that. But when it comes to the meaning of the crusader king there are countless orders, countless mages, innumerable beings that each has their own theory, ranging form the crusader king serving the gods in the crusade to annihilate all non-believers, all monsters, to the crusader king being a literal jester for the king of gods, though most pantheons don't even have a king." he looked deep into Avere's eyes.
"Personally I believe the crusader king is not bound to the gods in the name, because names, names have meaning, that is clear, and in the end, " he started to sound agitated, almost insane, huffing as he talked, " what is a crusade?" he did not give time for an answer " a crusade is a journey, an action, something one does for what they believe in, whatever that may be..." he calmed down once more.
"But in the end, if that is true, then every single person that did what they believed in would be a crusader in some way, I myself always did what I thought to be right, and I was a king, so technically, " he laughed, sniggering at his own joke, " wouldn't I be the crusader king?"
Avere looked at him before explaining something that confused him in retrospect.
"When I was on another world, not a special one in any way, I had never ehadr of it and I have already forgotten the name if I was honest.." he began.
"Yes?" Adelius pressured him to continue on.
"There were beings known as the 'demons', powerful, be it only at the apex and lord-ranks, one of them having been some kind of golden artifact before I destroyed it, that seems to have something to do with intent in retrospect, but there was one, a giant white wyrm, capable of great area magic, had white skin, capable of instantly changing size, I defeated it as a lord, though I don't quite know how in retrospect, but it was talking about the crusader king being prophesized to come by the puddle it was within, hiding beneath an ancient lake..." as he said all of that, he began to realize that something had been off with him back then, he shouldn't have been that strong after all...
"Honestly? Probably just a false prophecy by some ancient civilization, and for your information, the golden light comes from divine beings, so probably the gods intent, and finally, " he took a breath, being old and having his throat slightly rattle as he did, "you were probably an empowered lord."
"What in f#ck's name is that?" he said, exasperated.
"It means you had something to do, that someone helped you and gave you power to do something they said you would do." he twirled his fingers.
"I did it once, powered the guy up by about five or six times, allowed him to amass great power, and when he entered the true ranking, I took some of that extra power he had amassed and got a good power-up that almost pushed me to become formless, though I ended up reaching that rank either way..."