Level Up Legacy

Arthur was in the past. There were moments when he needed to remind himself of that. However, the past was too cruel to see. The corpses began to line up the cave after Larza tortured them and separated those feelings from them before they died.

This was their method of harming the child without actually breaking it. Instead, they made it experience the suffering of others, and they kept stuffing feelings into it.

"This is true human nature," Shinva said with sadness. "They are hellbent on harming each other, even as a means to harm more. I sometimes feel that our existence here is a mistake, and we are all rejected by the world."

"Rejected," muttered Arthur quietly as he stared at Larza, who had a crazy look on her face as she separated a man's skin from the rest of his body.

"My Beloved," she chanted. "My Seika. We are going to be reunited soon. I will feel your power within me soon."

"It seems she has lost her mind because of you," the trickster did not try to sugarcoat as she turned to him. "How fascinating it is to see good people commit evil by their mere existence?"

"I never said I was a good person," Arthur frowned as he stared at Larza. "And I don't hold myself responsible for her madness. I did what I had to do."

"I never said you were responsible," smiled Shinva. "But you are lying, Seika. You still think of yourself as a good person because we all do. This woman before you," Shinva pointed at Larza, "also thinks that her actions are justifiable. All humans do."

"You refer to demi-humans as humans?" Arthur was confused. "However, I understand your argument. But I believe that there is good and wrong and that we all know them."

"Ah, that silly notion. I was there to witness their evolution from humanity. Those who retained their sanity have more powerful genes within them than those who awakened abilities. So it is silly to call them demi-humans. As for good and wrong," she continued. "They change over time."

The memories kept going in front of them, and more corpses stacked. Then, finally, Arthur witnessed the gruesome torture and continuous screams, and he realized at that point that he had changed so much.

As soon as he awakened, Arthur killed a rabbit to eat. The mere act of skinning it left him vomiting. Now, he was staring at these people being murdered, feeling only rageful that somehow this happened because of him.

As if it was okay to happen if it did not involve him.

'When did my fear of guilt overcome my morals?' Arthur wondered, but he didn't answer, and there was a change in the cave.

"Please," a gentle voice, shaken, said from within the sphere of light. "Please, no more," it was broken. Arthur could feel his heart bleed from simply listening to it begging.

"They all died because of you," said Larza as she cleaned her hands. "All of this suffering happened because you refused to give us the tears."

"All because of... me..." the voice was silent for a bit. Then, light exploded from within the cave, and the child of the hydra appeared. "I am... sorry..." it touched its face with both of its hands before opening its mouth and singing.

The singing was what the guard heard and turned him into a good person. Arthur felt emotions explode into his heart as all of the sufferings was released from within the child.

"This is the true pureness of this world," said Shinva with sadness. "However, it has been defiled."

The singing continued for hours, and all the while, Larza listened. However, her face had a grin of success, as if she could not realize the crime that she had committed.

The hours lengthened, but the song was not over. It was one of tears and sorrow, but it was the last attempt for this creature to change the heart of its captor. However, it failed.

"There is no saving for the wicked," said Shinva as the teardrop fell from the child's face. "It is not crying because of the suffering, but because of how corrupted her heart is. It is crying for the world."

The tear dropped and hung midair before the light disappeared and confined the child again. Larza staggered toward the dear, which hovered midair with shaking hands.

"With this, I can have a taste of that power again. I can experience that feeling again."

"It seems you are her target," smiled Shinva as she turned toward Arthur. "You did not expect that, did you?"

"I am not surprised," Arthur grabbed his left chest as he closed his eyes. "That song was not a sadness toward the world, but it was the sadness of the world."

"The world's sadness," muttered Shinva. "This is what I was trying to prevent all along. Humans haunt me," there were tears in her eyes as she said.

"We have obtained the tear, my lord," Larza turned to talk to empty air. "Please, come and take it. This is the final stage of our plan."

The world split apart, and the images burned into nothingness. Arthur was confused before turning toward Shinva, who was suddenly kneeling on the ground. As he crouched beside her, he noticed how pale her face was.

"We have intruded on the timeline of someone far stronger than me," she said with drops of sweat covering her face. "This portion of the timeline is one that we cannot witness."

"It would reveal the identity of the one behind them," Arthur said with a frown. "Please, try to show me. I know that I am asking for too much, but this is the key to solving everything."

"You are selfish too, Seika," she smiled. "However, for some reason, I hold some affection toward you from the time I served you. I will try," she said before closing her eyes.

A piece by piece, the world started to appear again. Finally, they were back at the cave, but a giant portion of the world couldn't regenerate. It included the person who had arrived, and Shinva couldn't retrieve his moments.

"This is what I can show you," she said as sweat rolled down her face. "I am limiting the memory to only the timeline of the herbologist."

"What do you mean by that?" Larza was confused. "I thought you were going to use the teardrop on him!" she screamed with rage.

Suddenly, the snake woman was thrown into the air and flew toward the caves' walls, crashing into them. Then, as the walls fell, the snake woman slowly stood up, her barrier broken from the front but intact from the back.

Her face paled as she stared at the incomplete world, but it slowly regained its color. Then, Larza grinned again but with more craziness than before.

"I apologize, my lord. I did not know this was your plan. This way," she clenched her fist. "I can have him all for myself. Thank you. Thank you," she kneeled, and the world suddenly regenerated fully.

"That person has left after taking the teardrop," said Shinva as she stood up, her face regaining color. "It seems you are not the target, but who is?"

"I believe that the plan involves someone who supports me. Therefore, it must be Solomon," Arthur realized with a sigh. "They must be trying to turn the kingdom against me by killing Solomon and framing me for it."

"I see," Shinva nodded. "That must be the case. First, however, we need to find out where the child is hiding for now. Unless you want to see your fight against this woman," she said with a smile.

"Let's leave," said Arthur with a shake of his head. Shinva nodded and waved her hand, and the scenery changed. It was moments before the child's scream, which has turned countless humans into crystals.

"A tragedy," she said with a shake of her head. "This is the price that humans pay for their sins."

"These people had nothing to do with it," Arthur replied.

"That child disagrees. From now on, all humans are evil, and it will never forgive any of you."

The scream arrived, and Arthur stood still as his previous self darted past him to stop the crystallization. However, nothing worked.

Arthur could have saved them if his insignia worked in this world, but it seems that he couldn't use it in the past. But, unfortunately, this was the order of things, and Arthur could not oppose it.

The cry arrived, and the world turned into crystals. Arthur and Shinva stood in the middle of it all and watched as the child descended after its cry.

"It is not running away," Arthur muttered as he watched the white child lie on the ground and sob. "If it did not hide, then where is it?"

"It seems we have miscalculated," Shinva said while looking toward the distance. "The child is not hiding. It was kidnapped."

Arthur followed her gaze and saw that a figure had arrived at the scene, standing far from the child. The cloak and white hair were unmistakable, and Arthur couldn't wrap his head around why Rae was here.