Dragon Maken War - Chapter 258

Suddenly, countless magical storms erupted in the sky.

It occurred several hundred meters up in the air, yet the aftereffect broke apart the land below.  The shockwave destroyed the buildings, and the heat burned up the land.  The fierce winds swept away everything.

“Koo-ahk……!”

A scream escaped Azell’s mouth.

His last line of defense was the Unyielding Fortress.  It had almost broken under the assault.   Azell was barely able to right himself.  In a flash, a dark silhouette appeared above him.

‘Gate Keeper of Emptiness!  Shit!’

From beyond the Dimensional Distortion, a cursed darkness descended upon Azell.

Ggwah-gwa-gwahng!

Azell, who had been pierced by the darkness, fell towards the ground.  Smoke was emanating from his body.

Soon, the sound of an explosion rang out, and a dust cloud rose into the air.

“Ooohk……!”

Azell stood up from within a broken building.  He swayed on his feet.  He didn’t have the luxury of staying down.  If he didn’t block the impending attack from Atein, he would be dead.

“Azell.”

Atein appeared in front of him.

He didn’t immediately attack Azell.  Azell realized that a mere illusion had been projected in front of him.

Atein spoke.

“I want to ask you something before I end this.”

“You are treating me like already cooked meat.  I admit that you got a decent shot in, but you shouldn’t act as if you’ve already won.”

“I’m not taking you that lightly.  However, I determined that this will be the last chance I’ll get to ask you this question.

“What do you want to ask me?”

“I just want one thing.  I want an answer to the question I asked you last time.  Are you ready?”

“Ha…….”

Azell laughed as if he was baffled.

On the day he killed Almarick, Atein had asked Azell to answer his question on their next meeting.

“My god.  You were being serious?”

“Of course.  Do you really think I said all of that to deceive you?”

“…no.  That isn’t your style.”

Atein was a foe worthy of his hate, but he wouldn’t resort to such petty tricks.  Azell knew this to be true.

Still, he couldn’t understand Atein’s action.

Atein was giving him time to recover.  Of course, Atein knew he was playing with fire.  Why was he giving up such a golden opportunity in order to hear Azell’s answer?

Atein let out a bitter laughter.

“I know I am being foolish.  The logical voice in my head is telling to drop this madness.  However, I do not see you only as an obstacle that has to be overcome.  If I can hear your honest answer, I’m willing to take the risk.”

“Even if it might lead to your death?”

“Life is just a battle that must be won.  However, I’m not interested in just winning the fight.  If I was interested in such a thing, I would have lived my life in a different way.”

Azell was speechless for a brief moment as he looked at Atein.

No matter how much he thought about it, it was ridiculous.  They were in a fight to the death, yet Atein wanted to hear Azell’s answer.  He even gave up his advantage to do so.  This actually made Azell want to answer him.

The importance behind this fight was so large that rationality was thrown out the window.  This wasn’t just true for Atein.  It was also true for Azell.

“Ha ha ha!  This really is ridiculous.”

In the end, Azell couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“You make it sound as if it should have taken me a long time to come up with the answer.  I could have given you your answer at that time.  You ran away before you could listen to it.”

“I’m sorry if I did that.  Will you tell me now?”

“I don’t really need to explain my stance.  The current situation is basically a form of answer.”

“I want to hear the reasoning behind that decision.”

“Alright.”

Azell nodded his head.

5

“Atein, you’ve said it yourself.  You aren’t a god.”

“Correct.”

“From my point of view, I don’t think you truly believe that.  You aren’t a god now, but you are trying to become a god.”

“Why do you think that?”

Atein looked amused.  Azell was indignant.  He glared at Atein as he spoke.

“In the system you are trying to make, there are no place for humans.”

“…….”

“I don’t know why you think your path is the way to reach true paradise, but I reject your idea.  “

Atein had lost hope in humanity.  This was why he had excluded traits of humanity from his system.  He was trying to protect humanity, but he was trying to exclude the traits that made humans what they are.

“If I think about it, it was the same during the Dragon Demon war.  Humanity didn’t exist in the ideal world you dreamt about.  You only thought about the Dragon Demon race, whom you believed to be slightly better than the human race.”

During the Dragon Demon war, Atein became disappointed in the Dragon Demon race too.  This was why he decided on the goal of creating a system that’ll eliminate traits of humanity from the population.

Azell shook his head from side to side.

“You aren’t trying to make an ideal world for everyone.  You are pushing a single person’s standard of good and evil onto others.  Everyone that lives within such a system wiill be living in a hell where they’ll be able to achieve nothing in life.  Atein, you are using selfish reasons to put humanity in a birdcage.  Do you really think humanity would be ‘alive’ in such a cage?”

Azell couldn’t hold back his cynicism.

“You said you rejected the deification of yourself by the Dragon Demon King worshippers.  You are deceiving yourself.  You are merely a mad man that is desperate to become a god.  You lost hope in humanity?  Laughable.”

He was sure of it.

Atein wasn’t someone that could live alongside humanity.  He considered humanity to be a pet that he had to take care of.

He was trying to put humanity into a bird cage, and he was trying to look after their needs.  What else should one label such a being if not a god?

“If not a god, what would you call it?  I cannot come up with a better label.”

“…….”

“I’ll also tell you what my friend said.  Carlos said this about your goal.  Adults try to protect children.  Those with power try to protect the powerless.  Do you think humans do that because they are good?  Why?”

There was a noble reasoning behind such actions.  They believed that all humans had an inherent worth.

Children grew up to be adults.  Those without power could do things that the powerful couldn’t do.

There was no meaning behind the natural order.  The idea of good and evil was an invention of those that possessed wisdom and will.

Strength wasn’t the be-all and end-all in life.  When humanity began in this world, they started to put meaning behind everything.  It continued to this day.  It was the pride of humans, and at the same time, it was the self conceit of humans.

Atein wanted to steal everything from humanity, and he wanted to raise them like cattle.

“You view humanity as an antidote that’ll cure your loneliness, yet you expect humanity to live on the bread crumbs that’ll be given by you.  Who would be satisfied in living such a life?”

“…I see.”

Atein, who had been quietly listening to Azell’s words, smiled.

“I am also a being that looks for meaning in humanity.  I know that I am also someone that is seeking my own self worth. That is why I didn’t want to directly mess with human nature when making the ideal world.”

“I’m saying that your premise is faulty.  You’ve lived for a long time, so you should know this.  During your lifetime, did the standard of what is good and evil stay static?  Didn’t it change countless times? So why are you now trying to take away the the will of the people?  Why should your own will be forced upon others?  Above all else, is there a guarantee that you won’t be worse than any other tyrants that existed in this world?  Will you be better because you’ve lived longer?  Is it because you are more talented than others? “

Atein was so talented that he was a godlike figure even in this era.  However, this didn’t make him a trustworthy person.

Atein let out a forced laughter.

“I already knew all of this, but it cuts to the bone when I hear it from your mouth.”

“You know this, yet you are continuing on with this?”

“Azell, you’ve told the absolute truth.  I won’t deny it, and I won’t look away from it.”

Would the loss be greater than continuous misfortune suffered by humanity?

Would the loss be greater than the blood and tears shed at the hands of evildoers?

“I won’t!”

For the first time in this fight, Atein spoke with passion.  His eyes were like molten lava as he stared at Azell.  Atein heard a voice from the past ring out within his head.

‘If you treat the world with hate, you have to be ready to be hated by the world.’

It was the human youth from the past.  Atein could no longer remember his name, and in the grand scheme of Atein’s life, it had been a brief encounter.  However, he couldn’t forget that youth’s words.  It was etched into his mind.  His relationship with the youth had created an eternal wound, and at the same time, it had become the backbone of his belief.

“You should ask your question to the unfortunate souls that were killed by evildoers, who had power!  You should listen to the painful cries of those that died without justice!  They became Demons just because they resented this world!”

“But…….”

At Atein’s shouted words, Azell’s eyes turned sharp.  A cold voice flowed out of his mouth.

“Blood and tears will not stop flowing in the world you will make.  Do you really think there won’t be any people that’ll resent the world you created?”

“I know that.”

“There might be a small number of them.  However, there will be those that might take up their sword against a god.  The number might be minuscule compared to the people that are satisfied.  Still, there will be people that’ll fight.  It’ll be like what we did during the Dragon Demon war.  There will be death upon death.  Blood will flow like a river.  There will be enough bodies to make a mountain.  In the end, they’ll try to break your birdcage.”

“I’m prepared for it.”

Atein was resolute.

Azell, who had been glaring at Atein, changed his expression.

“Then…….”

His heartbeat resonated with the Rings of Life.  The resonance started from his heart, and it spread to his extremities.  His amplified power gushed forth with force.

“…I’ll end your madness here.”