Chapter 1504 1504: Spiritual Harmony

His father's words were tainted with the despair of a man who wanted nothing but the forgiveness of his son, but Arthur knew that they were the truth. He could not deny that he was even the master of this dream because of the prompt in front of him.

[Spiritual harmony has been achieved.]

[Please state your goal for the reawakened legacy.]

The words hovered in front of him, ones that his father didn't seem to notice. But the revelation that Arthur himself had created this world filled him with insight about who he was, and what he wanted to do.

"You've hurt me more than any blades can," Arthur said as he stared at his father. "I will forever be changed by the things that you have done. You had your reasons, and they explain why you did them, but do they excuse your actions?"

His father seemed to shrink like a deflated balloon as he heard his words. But Arthur's next words surprised them both.

"But I forgive you."

The words seemed to physically lift his father from the chair, as the light of life returned to his eyes. He had looked like a corpse until the moment that the words were uttered. His father was once again crying.

"I know that what you told me was the truth," he said with a wave of his hand, as the scene changed to reveal them on one of the higher branches of Yggdrasil. "I created this space, subconsciously, where no lies can be told."

"Arthur… I… it doesn't matter. The timeline will reset now," his father said with a shake of his head. "I tried telling you before, but it only seemed to foil the quest."

"I understand," Arthur said with a nod. Then, he lifted his hand, his palm facing him. It began morphing from the human form, taking the same metallic appearance of black metal with golden lines. "That's why I will remove the legacy from you before that happens."

"No!" his father screamed and backed away. "We'll fail. It's the only thing that can make us survive. I cannot—"

"Dad," Arthur said with a smile as he interrupted the man. "You can rest now. I'll take it from here."

Seref froze in place as he stared at his son. The boundless confidence in his words seemed to completely eradicate his fears. Arthur moved his hand without another word, and shoved it within his dad's chest.

His father didn't seem surprised nor pained, as Arthur dragged out a globe of power from within him. However, once it left him, Seref collapsed to the ground. Arthur looked at his father's unconscious face with a smile.

Then, his father was gone.

Arthur turned toward the sphere of power in his hand. It pulsed with life, and he could sense the presence within it. The sphere let out a hum before it turned into a blinding light that engulfed the world.

The next moment, Arthur found himself standing inside an empty, bleak room devoid of color. Then, he realized that life itself had no color now. He looked around, and then he saw the figure awaiting him.

It looked like a humanoid gray light, with dark hollow eyes and a mouth. It towered at three meters, almost touching the ceiling of the room. The creature looked at him.

"The Liberated have taken an oath to never interact with the descendant of Rangar," the creature said as it turned away, as if speaking to the wall.

"I know about your oath," Arthur said. "But you did more than just interact with me, didn't you? You orchestrated my entire life, to the finest detail. How does it feel, to turn from a slave to a slave master?"

"We are no slave masters!" the alien shouted, but it quickly fell to the ground while clutching its chest. It seemed that the oath was the truth.

"You have enslaved my father, even if he willingly followed, simply because you burdened him with the fate of the world," Arthur said while looking down at the creature. "He was a good man. Misguided, but good. You took away something within him, changed it to your bidding, and then used it. Is this the freedom you have been preaching about?"

His words seemed to carry a pressure that Arthur did not realize he had. It seemed that achieving spiritual harmony had changed his aura somehow, as it became more oppressive. Maybe it was his new conviction that changed his aura.

"The Liberated have sacrificed their lives to stop the gods. What does a single soul amount to, in the sea of souls that are being devoured by the gods as we speak?" the creature asked with pain as its form began to disintegrate.

"I can see that the self-oath is as strong as I feared," Arthur said, but with a smile. "And you are right. My father is insignificant when it comes to the billions and billions of souls being devoured each second. But it shows how you became hypocrites, just like the gods are. They preach of divinity and peace, but send horrors to distant worlds just to grow stronger."

"You understand," the creature said with a grin. "It seems that we haven't failed after all."

"You have not," Arthur said as his smile disappeared. "But bear no hope that you will have a seat in the kingdom I shall create. Tell your masters that they have replaced my respect for them with disdain."

The creature said nothing, as the room began to crumble. Arthur only spared it one last glance before turning around to leave. However, it still asked a question despite the risk of obliteration.

"What's your oath?"

The moment it uttered the words, Arthur could sense its soul crumbling and detonating. However, it resisted just for a few seconds until Arthur answered.

As the creature heard Arthur's words, its face crumbled into both fear and shock. Then, it screamed at the top of its lungs. "You're a goddamn madman!"

Arthur turned to the creature and grinned and watched as it burst into numerous lights. A wisp of those lights seemed to fly away, attempting to reach the other Liberated creatures.

But a hand caught it before it left the room. Arthur looked at the spot of light in his hand as the grin remained on his face. Then, he crushed the light and ended any possibility of the universe knowing what he planned to do.

The world crumbled around him, and Arthur saw the scenery change again to send him back. This time, his stop was at the top of the tree of creation. A single figure waited for him, sitting while its feet dangled from the branch.

"Welcome back, old friend," the white-robed figure said as it ate some kind of fruit with a grin. "I thought you would fall behind in the game."

"It's just the start, is it not?" Arthur said as he looked at the creature. He could never get used to its paper-white skin, the two horns on its head, or the completely black orbits it had for eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to give you a warning," the Spirit Sovereign said as he rose from the tree branch and looked at Arthur. His grin disappeared and was replaced by a somber expression. "Your recent feats have alerted the gods to your position."

"I thought that they already knew," Arthur said with a frown.

"That was a single faction from the gods," the Spirit Sovereign said with a wave of its hand. "Devaheim has many factions, and they are collectively called the gods. The faction that you have met so far was the one responsible for creating the Nameless. Others are beginning to take note of your presence."

"And what does that change?"

"Everything," the Sovereign said as his smile returned. "You will have to become a Sovereign of your world soon, otherwise you won't be able to ward off intruders. It will take them some time to reach you, but it's barely enough for you to finish the requirements."

"The requirements?" Arthur asked again with a frown.

"In order to become the Sovereign of your world and obtain the protection of Yggdrasil, like I do, you have two requirements to achieve," he said, raising two fingers.

"First, you will have to reach the tenth trial in the Sovereign Path. It's the bare minimum to obtain your Sovereign Title. It will come with a few power-ups that you desperately need."

"Desperately?"

"You think that you can take on the gods in your current state?" the Sovereign said with a laugh. "You are barely capable of dealing with restricted low-level gods. Draw your own conclusions."

"What's the second requirement?"

"Oh, it's even more fun, and a lot easier," the Sovereign said. "You just have to become the ruler of your world. You have to create a nation and force everyone to worship you as their leader. Simple, no?"

"That's already what my father was pushing me to do, to be a savior," Arthur said with a frown. "Is that the reason? He wanted me to become the Sovereign in order to protect Earth?"

"As long as you become the Sovereign of your world, the gods can't descend anymore because of Heaven's Rules. At that time, you can even leave your world without worrying about it being obliterated by some merciless gods."

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