Chapter 370 - Death Of A Spirit
Arthur related to Romba's situation because he was the same. He became a lord of a city in Alka after going through so much. Here, he had countless people who looked up to him in fear, respect, and even love.
What did he have back on Earth?
He had a fake identity, enemies all around him, and a quest he needed to finish. The three years he spent digging through dungeons for scraps didn't exactly leave him overjoyed.
He was tired of everything, but did he jump on the chance to leave everything behind as this man did? No, he did not. But, accepting that it was okay to run away would break his will.
Romba didn't reply to Arthur's words and simply retreated. Li followed after Arthur, walking beside him.
"What is this place, friend?" Li hesitated as he looked at the platform. "I can feel its ominous presence."
"It seems this place is where the pig eats seekers," Arthur explained, and he could feel Li's apprehension. "However, I plan on going there."
"Why?"
"The only way is forward," Arthur said with a grin, but it's not that Li could tell from his face. "The pig eats seekers here, so it's the only place we can attack it."
"We are inside it, so it should be the strongest existence here," Li said with a nod. "This is a worthy opponent to test our skills against."
"I think... you should stay back?" Arthur scratched his head, and Li halted his steps. Then, turning to the faceless man, Arthur could feel the infinite shock he felt.
"Stay... back?" Li's deep voice trembled as if his soul left his body. "You want me to stay back while you fight the spirit?"
"Uh, yes?" Arthur nodded awkwardly. "I don't want you to get hurt or die. So it's better if you stay out of this until I'm done."
"I refuse." Li's reply was curt, and he wasn't willing to elaborate further than that. He resumed walking and went past Arthur, straight toward the platform.
Arthur watched Li's back with annoyance, not knowing how to convince this ancient man that standing back wouldn't make him less of a warrior.
Before he could think of a way to trick him, Li was already a few steps away from the platform. Arthur sighed and sprinted to follow after him, deciding to allow the man to fight. The two stepped on the podium at the same time.
"There's no shame in avoiding a battle, but I won't try to dishonor your will." Even though Arthur said that, he was still tempted to use his chains and throw Li out.
The only reason he didn't was his debt toward the man or the future version of him. Li nodded as the two took the stage, and light surrounded them as a barrier trapped them.
From the central piece of the platform came out several runes that orbited around each other. The aura around the runes turned into a giant creature that resembled the pig's mouth.
Arthur felt the platform restrict his movements. The ground beneath him seemed to disturb spiritual powers, and it was enough to make them unable to move.
"I see," Arthur nodded. "This is why the pig is confident about absorbing seekers. However, I'm confused about one thing: why is this pig capable of doing such a thing to visitors of the spirit realm?"
"I think because we are in a separate space, so the rules don't apply here," Li said as he tried to move but failed. Even moving his hand seemed to take a toll on him, not to mention fighting the giant mouth approaching them.
"I told you that you should stay back." Arthur sighed as Li failed again to move his body. Li then grunted and shouted as he took a step back.
"My will is unbreakable!"
Arthur watched with shock as Li's form began to distort, and he sprinted forward. His arm stretched long, and his legs bent unnaturally, but he was running nonetheless.
The fearless warrior jumped toward the mouth and punched it, making it cave in. The aura of the pig dented in as if it was a balloon before it flew away and ended up slamming into the barrier.
The spirit dropped like a deflated balloon as Li landed. He fell to one knee as his spiritual energy wavered, seeming to be unstable. Arthur walked toward the man in a relaxed manner and stood next to him.
"You are powerful," Arthur said with a wide smile and raised his hand. 'Exactly as I knew you to be.'
The golden chains around him multiplied as they darted toward the pig's mouth like snakes. They wrapped themselves around him and impaled themselves into its ethereal body. The mouth screamed as space began to expand.
"You overestimated yourself the moment you tried to absorb me," Arthur muttered with cold rage. "You should have kept away since you are..." His chains began squeezing the mouth until it deformed. "... weak."
Arthur clenched his fist, and the pig's aura exploded, leaving only the runes inside. He then raised his hand again, and the chains flew up before whipping at the platform, turning it to smithereens.
Space began to grow unstable as Arthur walked toward the runes on the ground. There were two, and he realized what they were.
'Space Expansion and... Spiritual Interference.'
These were the two runes the pig used to grow stronger. The moment that Arthur's golden hand touched them, they merged with his body and existence.
'I learned them...?' Arthur was surprised at how easy it was. He looked at his golden hands and attributed what happened to his current state.
Arthur couldn't use his legacy in his current state, nor his runes and skills. He knew that it didn't have to do with his legacy, but it was because of the unique place known as the Spirits Realm.
Space began to compress and decompress as panic overtook Romba. The man ran toward them and looked at the destroyed platform. He looked at Arthur with fear, but his eyes had endless hate within them.
"Do you hate me for destroying your little hideout from the real world?"
Arthur asked him, but Romba didn't reply. The former simply shook his head and walked toward Li, whose form began to restore itself.
"It seems I overestimated my strength," Li said with a sorrowful expression. "But only those who fail can learn from their mistakes."
"Well said," Arthur helped the man stand. What he didn't expect was that the moment their spiritual bodies touched, a portion of his energy seeped into Li.
"You destroyed our home..." Romba managed to say with rage as the world kept shaking. Arthur ignored him and looked at the horizon.
This world was disintegrating. Mountains crumbled and disappeared from existence. Arthur turned the other way and looked at the city of Ligan disappearing along with its people.
"Did every single one of you want to stay here?" He asked Romba, who turned quiet. As Arthur turned to see his face, a sad smile appeared on his lips. "You killed those who refused, didn't you? You enjoyed this world you ruled."
Lights began appearing on Romba's body as tears streamed down his face. The giant man looked at Arthur with infinite hate and rage as he gritted his teeth.
"You don't know what we lived on the outside world," Romba said in a choked voice. "I disgust you?" He laughed hollowly. "You judge me for choosing to live another day, but doesn't that say a lot about you? You never lived the fear I lived. You privileged bastard!"
As he shouted, Romba rushed forward and punched Arthur. But, before his fist connected with Arthur's golden figure, the expanding space began pulling the two apart.
"I'm sorry for destroying your peace," Arthur said to the wrathful man. "The alternative was to die. You don't know what I lived as well; the similarity is what made me disgusted by you." The space between them stretched. "You are the choice I refuse to take."
The world crumbled after that, and his voice echoed through the hollow space. His consciousness rose higher until a tunnel appeared. After he went through the tunnel, Arthur found himself at the end of a stairway.
He landed on his feet and looked behind him. The pig was dying, and Li was on the ground as well. The spirit looked at him with fear as it began to dissolve.
A gate opened in the sky and absorbed the spirit into it. The gate had skulls on it. When the closed gate absorbed the dissolved flying pig, it began to open to reveal a different spirit wearing armor and a helmet.
"The death of a spirit,"
A voice came from behind the helmet. As Arthur tried to see what was inside, he found only two streaks of light resembling eyes.
"I am a guard of this realm," The spirit guard took a step forward out of the gate. "Who dares to kill a subject of my liege?"