Chapter 1258  A World Without...

As soon as Diana saw the black mountain, her instincts of the great phoenix and ice spirit kicked in. Her body shivered as she knew that advancing any forward would threaten her life. That made her heart beat faster, until she felt the rea.s.suring calloused hand hold hers.

"I sealed him," said Arthur as he looked at her with his scarred eyes, their sight still filling Diana with guilt. He lost his sight just to save her from what her father has done to her. "You don"t need to worry."

And her worries disappeared just like that alongside with her primal instincts to survive. His voice worked like a magnet that picked up her fears and blew them in the winds.

"Is this... Eragon the Destroyer?" asked Dia after taking a deep breath as the crane lowered them even further. "I never thought that I would meet what Alkan people used to scare their children."

"You know about him?" asked Arthur with interest, to which Diana nodded with a smile. Lyle also seemed interested in what she had to say as he turned his head toward them.

The memory of her mother telling her about all the calamities surfaced in her mind. Before her father attacked the ice spirits" mountain, her mother tutored her on everything that might endanger her outside.

Eragon the Destroyer was the scariest calamity to ever exist. The legends have it that he wiped out nation in its rage, shaped as a giant wolf that tore through the very world with its teeth.

Diana retold her childhood stories to the listening men as the crane descended on the base of the mountain. She told them about the great civilization that once existed in Alka, but ceased to exist because they angered Eragon.

Although every calamity could tear through nations, Eragon was the embodiment of violence. He was a man born out of hatred and desire to destroy, making him the sole sin that focused on harming others.

"And you are now telling me that this kind of creature exists within you, Arthur?" asked Dia as she looked at him with a frown.

"He is a version of me, in a way," said Arthur with a laugh as he looked away, gazing up the mountain as if he could still see its summit. "I also had my fits of wrath."

Diana found that very hard to believe. She met Arthur when he was nothing but a slave for Larza, the snake woman. But even after he obtained his powers and reclaimed his pride, he was never angry.

The only time that she saw that side of him, filled with unknown mysticism, was a day earlier in the arena. And it made her heart race just thinking about it.

Lyle led them up the mountain, where they got to see Eragon. Witnessing the calamity in person made Diana realize that he was the real deal. Each deafening shriek of wrath shook the heavens and earth.

"As you can see, Diana, he is sealed here," said Arthur to rea.s.sure her. "Although I might be the Sin of Wrath, I am only borrowing his powers."

"Borrowing is the wrong word," said Lyle from behind the two, making them turn to face him. "Eragon"s powers still exist in this world, and that is the reason you need to seal him. However, your sea of consciousness mirrors your outer world, Arthur."

"And that makes him able to use abilities from things within his sea of consciousness?" muttered Diana with a breath-taken expression. Lyle nodded at her words, but Arthur did not seem affected. "How could you be so calm?"

"I had an inkling ever since my conversation with that giant over there," said Arthur while pointing to a different direction of his world. "He told me that I can somehow use both powers of creation and wrath. So, I"m not too surprised if this is my real ability."

"But you fail to understand how absurd it is to have the creator and a calamity residing here in your sea of consciousness," Diana gulped down as she told him. "In order for something to host another, the former must be..."

"Grander than the latter," Lyle finished her words as he advanced toward Arthur with a smile. "She is right, Arthur. After my death, I found myself in this world, and I have been wandering through it ever since. I reached that same conclusion."

"That I am grander than creation and wrath?" muttered Arthur with the same blank expression as he took a moment to digest it. Then, Diana saw his grin, followed by the most domineering words. "I am Arthur Netherborne, after all."

Not creation, nor wrath, could match up to the man in front of her. His presence was the center of the entire universe, and his soul could encompa.s.s everything inside it.

Just because he was Arthur Netherborne.

"Not a bad explanation," laughed Lyle as he turned back toward the path they came from. "There is someone else inside this tower that is waiting for you."

"Dorian," Arthur revealed another name that Diana did not recognize. "I was wondering how he was doing inside my sea of consciousness."

"You placed him here?" asked Diana with confusion.

"Rather than him, I placed "it" inside my sea of consciousness," he said with a grin but did not elaborate further.

Diana was once again shocked to see the "it" that Arthur mention. It was a red tower that pierced through the heavens, looking grand, majestic, and a part of the world itself.

The tower was not sealed by walls, but rather had its contents laid bare for the world. As the crane circled around it, they saw the different floors of the tower.

"There are people living here," muttered Diana as she peeked from above the crane, looking at the lowest floor of the tower. "What brought them here?"

"The G.o.ds wanted to destroy the Red Tower with me alongside it, but I fought them off and placed the tower inside my sea of consciousness," revealed Arthur. "How could you see the contents of the tower?"

Dia realized that he could not see the beautiful sight of the worlds stacked inside this enormous structure, and she wrapped her arm around his as she began describing it. Arthur listened attentively, enjoying her descriptions as the crane took them higher.

"Dorian Stormblade is in the fourth second floor, still trying to unite his people and prosper the ten cities," explained Lyle.

"I understand everything about my sea of consciousness, Lyle, except for you," said Arthur with a frown as he looked at the man with azure hair. "How did you end up in this place?"

"The moment that you entered the lake back in Ilios, a portion of my spirit entered your sea of consciousness," admitted Lyle with a smile. "Are you unhappy about seeing an old friend?"

Dia turned toward Arthur as well, because he has been silent for a while now. Hearing his question, Arthur took a moment to smile at him.

"Just regretful that I can"t really see you again."

"Inside your sea of consciousness, you can see anything," said Lyle as he turned back toward the second floor as the crane flew right inside. "You are this place"s master, after all."

Diana realized that as well, but everything that existed here was based on Arthur"s perception or their respective sea of consciousness. Thus, Arthur was still unable to see in the way that they did here.

"Not the same as I remember you," said Arthur with sadness. "But I am d.a.m.n happy that I got to talk to you again."

Diana felt a lump in her throat as she realized how much Arthur must have suffered without her. The three of them landed inside the second floor, where a group of people already awaited them.

Leading the group of men was a tall young man with ashen hair and a similar beard. He advanced toward them with an overjoyed expression, lighting up as he saw Arthur.

"Lord Arthur!" called out the man, who later introduced himself as Dorian Stormblade, master of the Red Tower.

Diana toured the place with Arthur, Dorian, and Lyle. She witnessed he world inside Arthur"s sea of consciousness, still unable to understand its magnitude.

As Arthur and Dorian were lost in their discussion and catching up, Lyle approached her away from the crowd. He stood while looking at Arthur interacting with Dorian and his advisors.

"Arthur is something unique to this world," said Lyle with a somber expression, his tone a little grave. "That makes him a threat to its natural order. Sooner or later, the G.o.ds will seek him."

"They already did."

"The G.o.ds that can manifest after the merge are different. They are omnipotent creatures that has reached the apex of this universe using every means possible."

"Why are you telling me this, and not Arthur?"

"Because Arthur will advance forward regardless, because he is a Netherborne, a man meant to stand for the lower realms. As his closest ally, you will be able to see things that he cannot."

"Things like what?" asked Diana with a frown, turning toward the remnants of a spirit. However, in the man"s eyes was a fire that could not be extinguished.

"Just like Ragnar Netherborne, Arthur will one day be betrayed. It is inevitable, because the world he envisions is not one we ever dared to imagine."

"What kind of world?" she asked him.

Lyle pressed his lips together, his eyes squinting as he answered her, "A world without magic."