Chapter 441
His reckless attempt to merge two opposing cosmic energies had left a deep wound within him.
A wound that would never fully heal.
A wound that would continue gnawing away at the remainder of his lifespan from within.
Yet within that despair, within the realization that the time he possessed might only be counted in months or years, Alaric discovered something he had never expected before.
He discovered the humility to learn.
For the first time since he had been born into the world with the mission of seizing one of Adrien's elementals.
For the first time since he had fought the half-robot man twice and lost twice.
For the first time since he had been forced to cooperate with his enemy in the third battle that nearly took everything from them.
Alaric Syah decided to lay down his weapon and open himself to guidance.
He trained rigorously under the supervision of Adrien Valtheris.
He followed every instruction with a discipline he had never shown before.
He performed various methods specifically designed to restore the barrier that had suddenly disappeared within him.
The barrier that had long been the defining trait separating him from other cosmic beings.
The barrier that kept the white and black cosmic elementals apart so they would not destroy each other.
Months passed during that long process of healing and training.
Months in which Alaric Syah had to struggle against the urge to give up.
Months in which he endured pain that could not be described with words.
Months in which he had to believe that the teacher who had once been his enemy truly wanted the best for him.
And when the time finally came for evaluation, the result surpassed every expectation he had ever imagined.
The barrier separating the white and black cosmic elementals within his body had not merely returned to its former state.
It had become stronger.
More solid.
More resistant to shock than ever before.
Even more astonishing, Alaric could now allow those two opposing cosmic energies to meet without destroying each other.
An ability that had previously belonged only to Adrien.
An ability that opened the door to an entirely new level of power.
It was there, within that long process of healing and training, that Alaric Syah's admiration for Adrien Valtheris began to grow and take root.
Not admiration for power.
Not admiration for victory.
But admiration for patience.
For wisdom.
For the ability to transform an enemy into a disciple without ever demanding that he become one.
Because that training required months that could not possibly be spent elsewhere, Adrien Valtheris eventually decided to bring Alaric Syah to a world that had silently witnessed everything that had happened, was happening, and would happen.
A world blessed by the energy of the white cosmic elemental.
A world that served as the home of the elder of the white cosmic elemental.
A world that had become Adrien's first refuge after he had accidentally massacred every other civilization on his planet.
A world that witnessed how a half-robot man struggled against cosmic disturbances that nearly destroyed him.
A world that had now become a training ground for two souls who once hunted each other but now taught one another.
On that world, on that silent planet where ancient pyramids still stood firm despite no longer being cared for, Adrien and Alaric spent months together.
Sharing knowledge.
Sharing experience.
Sharing life.
"Civilization before the massacre."
After being swept away for so long in the whirlpool of memories flooding his mind, Xavier finally shook his head slowly.
A small gesture, as if he wished to brush away the remaining shadows of the past still clinging to his eyelids.
He realized that sinking too deeply into someone else's life— even if that person was the teacher of his own ancestor— would lead him nowhere except further away from himself.
So with firmer steps than before, he decided to continue his exploration inside the pyramid.
He walked through silent corridors that for thousands of years had never again heard the footsteps of living beings.
Dust rose with every movement he made.
It danced in the dim light whose source he could not even determine.
The atmosphere felt magical, making Xavier feel as though he were walking inside a dream rather than inside a real structure made of stone and time.
The deeper he ventured into the pyramid, the more relics he discovered that made his heart beat faster.
The stone walls he passed were filled with ancient paintings.
Mosaics that, though faded, still displayed the beauty of their craftsmanship.
Intricate carvings that seemed to tell stories without sound about the life that had once pulsed on this planet long before everything ended.
Xavier examined every detail carefully, trying to capture the messages left behind by the long-extinct civilization.
From the rough strokes etched into the walls, he could see images of the humans who once lived there.
How they farmed the land.
How they built cities.
How they celebrated birth and mourned death.
How they laughed and cried.
How they loved and hated.
All of it was preserved in simple yet meaningful works of art.
Proof that they had once existed.
That they had once lived.
That they had once dreamed.
Before everything vanished in an instant due to the actions of a man who had accidentally unleashed a power too great.
Hours might have passed, although in a place without sunlight like this it was difficult to measure time.
Xavier kept walking.
Passing through corridor after corridor.
Allowing himself to become lost within the labyrinth of stone that held countless secrets.
And when he had nearly lost hope of finding something truly meaningful, when his legs began to feel heavy and his eyes grew tired of staring at carvings that all seemed almost identical, he unexpectedly arrived at a chamber different from all the others before it.
The room was vast.
Far wider than the corridors he had walked through.
At its center stood a magnificent throne complete with all the attributes of royal authority.
A tall seat made of gleaming black stone decorated with carvings of dragons coiling around each of its legs.
The armrests were sculpted into lion heads whose eyes were made of red gemstones that still glimmered even after thousands of years without being touched.
Behind it stretched a wall entirely coated in gold, bearing reliefs depicting the coronation procession of a ruler.
That throne, with all its grandeur, with every detail showing how important the person who once sat upon it had been, now stood empty in the middle of a silent chamber.
No one sat there.
No one knelt before it.
No one praised the greatness of its owner.
Dust had covered nearly its entire surface.
A gray veil that contrasted sharply with the luxury of the materials that formed it.
Xavier slowly approached it, feeling like an uninvited intruder entering the most sacred chamber of a long-dead civilization.
He imagined how, long before Adrien Valtheris had ever been born into this world— long before the accidental massacre had occurred— a king had once sat upon this throne.
Receiving the respect of his people.
Making decisions that changed the fate of thousands.
Enjoying luxuries that ordinary citizens could never taste.
"Is this what it feels like before a great decision is made?"
A strange feeling suddenly seized Xavier when he stood too long before the throne.
A feeling he could not explain even to himself.
To be continued…