It was early in the morning - birdsong heralded the new day before sunrise, and reinforcements from the capital had finally arrived some hours ago. Together with the Eldest and his parents, Caleb talked at length about the past - both Olivia's and his own. The woman was surprisingly open-minded about the things Cale had to tell her, even though she asked several times how he had lived in the orphanage back then.

Olivia also had a mark on her back. For several minutes, Cale weighed the pros and cons of freeing her from this connection, but in the end he decided against it. He had only been in his new life for a few hours and didn't want to play all his trump cards right from the start. The attack on Groka was already a major, life-changing event, but if the Thormod find out that there was someone who could block their mark, then Cale would have a problem.

"I recommend that you get out of here as soon as possible. Perhaps a remote location on the south coast of Sylve or directly in Winstest - any place where your presence is not of concern", Cale announced the end of the conversation and changed his appearance back to that of the blond-haired Zod Adenia.

"You want us to hide?", Vincent replied indignantly. Unlike Olivia, he had not accepted Cale as his son. He constantly questioned his true identity and could not understand why his wife could remain so calm about it. To put it bluntly, they had lost their son today, and he did not want to admit it.

"You should keep a low profile. If the Thormods catch you, don't expect anyone to come to your aid."

"You're a nice son."

"Vincent, I'm not here to play your bodyguard. Talking to you was a spontaneous decision because I need information about Hosik. The fact that you're alive puts... puts all of humanity in danger."

Vincent shot his son a sharp look in response but said nothing more. Nevertheless, the safety of his family was now his top priority, even if his wife had lied to him from the beginning. But his affection and concern for Olivia made him overlook the fact that she was not human. Only the accusations and feelings of guilt were beyond his control. He should have listened to his instincts and fled with his family, then it probably would never have come to this.

"And what exactly are you going to do, Caleb?", his mother asked anxiously.

"I will live under the name Zod Adenia and try to find a way to prevent the war. You can tell people that Caleb Leuen is dead or missing - whatever you prefer. Promise me you'll keep all this to yourselves, because if I hear that outsiders have learned of the story, I'll be forced to kill everyone who knows."

"Now he's threatening us too. Olivia, really... this is crazy."

"Come visit us from time to time, okay? It shouldn't be hard for you to find us, right?", the woman replied, completely ignoring her husband. Cale sensed that she would have a serious conversation with him at a later date and tell him her own opinion on the matter. Therefore, Cale decided that they should stay alive. Perhaps he would have a use for them later, and having Thormod on their side was definitely an advantage for him.

"Don't get your hopes up."

With this dismissive statement, Cale straightened up, ran his hand through his hair, and glanced at the Eldest. Damian had been a silent listener throughout the conversation, keeping his thoughts to himself, for which Cale was grateful. He was well aware that the Eldest also had some unanswered questions and was simply following instructions from the future.

Unconditional trust.

"I'm going."

"Please be careful, Caleb", his mother said, holding both hands in front of her chest as if it were in pain.

"Of course", he replied ironically and dropped the sound barrier.

The Eldest had also stood up and politely said goodbye to the unusual couple and followed Cale without saying a word. They walked outside the city, inconspicuously past all the soldiers, and greeted the first rays of sunshine with a skeptical look. In the middle of the street, Cale finally stopped and stared to the west. He had tried repeatedly throughout the evening to establish contact with Chioni, but her mana was non-existent. Of course, Cale knew the reason for this, which only made it more appealing for him to seek out the gods.

"What exactly are your plans now?", the Eldest asked cautiously, setting aside unnecessary politeness, even though it felt strange to him.

"I will go to the Holy Island of Velence and seek out some important figures to talk to", Cale explained his plan.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Will you speak with the dragons from my vision?"

"Which dragons... ah", Cale replied in surprise, turning his gaze to the Eldest. "You must have seen Velence himself in your vision, right? In the instruction from the future."

"Velence himself? The dragon has the same name as the Holy Island itself?"

"The island was named after him, to be precise. He could be considered the leader of the dragons."

"I see. And who is the black, smaller dragon?"

"That is... not a dragon. At least, that is what the dragons told me back then. I haven't mentioned this before, but the gods have a physical form in this world. The black dragon was Mellontikos, the god of the future, and the dragon queen is Parousia, the goddess of the present."

"Didn't you say that in your first life..."

"Yes", Cale interrupted the question whether the goddess had killed him in his first life.

"And you want to... go back there anyway? Isn't that dangerous for you?"

"I wasn't an Apostle back then, I was a normal human being. If I'm careful, she shouldn't attack me without a reason. After all, I'm not her Apostle. Maybe I'll be lucky and Mellontikos will be there too and in the worst case, none of the three will be present."

"Should I... accompany you?"

"Do you even want to accompany me?", Cale countered with a challenging undertone, noticing how the Eldest began to play with his fingers. His silence was answer enough for Cale. "You don't have to. The High-Magicians will wonder where you are. Come to think of it... what did you tell them? You came here on your own, didn't you?

"I told them I had a few things to take care of."

"Does Aaron and the others know about your vision?"

"No. It's hard to explain the dragon, not to mention that I didn't know what to expect."

"Understandable."

A fresh gust of wind caught the two magicians and made their clothes flutter in the breeze. The smell of blood hung in the air, albeit faintly, reminding them of the events of the previous night. About 200 people had lost their lives last night and three times as many had been wounded. People were already saying that Groka was the worst catastrophe in terms of the creatures, which made Cale wonder if the saying would become popular again.

"Tell me - what exactly do you want from me?", the Eldest asked quietly, after a moment's pause.

"I'm still planning, but be prepared to receive work from me", Cale replied simply.

He needed a few hours' break to sort out his thoughts before he could begin to forge new plans for the survival of humanity. Until now, he'd barely had a moment to reflect on what had become to his sixth life. All his efforts, all the excitement and triumphs, had dissolved into nothing - and even with the Eldest beside him, Cale felt a vast, aching emptiness within.

He had lost his own existence again.

"How thoughtful", the Eldest replied ironically. "Can I count on your presence in the Magistrate? Do you want to pretend to be the 12th High Magician of Altona again?"

"You make it sound like I was just playing around. I can assure you, everything I did back then was sincere", Cale emphasized amusedly and began to slowly rise into the sky. In the distance, he spotted a group of soldiers who appeared to be heading north to get an overview of the past events. Dozens of people had seen how Cale and Damian had saved them from certain doom, which is why Cale suspected that the soldiers would be searching for these heroes. "I will pay you a visit afterward. Until then, keep the information about yesterday's events to yourselves."

"Agreed", commented the Eldest, forgetting that Cale had only answered part of his question. "Stay alive."

"You too."

For a moment, Cale wanted to respond ironically that he wasn't so easy to kill, but when it came to dragons, he wasn't so sure. Even though Fengari had claimed that his barriers were powerful enough to stop the dragons' attacks, he still had the power of the Dragon Queen in the back of his mind. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he reached his cruising altitude and bid farewell to the Eldest with a polite bow. Then their paths separated. Cale flew at a fast pace toward the West Coast, while the Eldest made his way home.

<What a night.>

Cale deliberately did not create a barrier around his body, as he enjoyed the cold wind on his skin. His shadow glided over the green expanses of the landscape, and some people below seemed to spot him as he passed by. Not long enough to clearly tell that this figure had been a human. The smell of blood disappeared and was replaced by the smell of nature.

<If the gods don't exist, then everything was for nothing.>

Cale found himself in a great dilemma. He considered this life a tremendous opportunity, but at the same time, he regretted the loss of his other lives. All the memories he had shared with people were gone forever. Even if he used Velence's ability again, it wouldn't be the same. To make matters worse, his heart ached when he thought of William. He hadn't had a chance to explain to him why Fengari had come to Sylve in the form of a cat. It felt like he had betrayed his friend, especially since he still didn't know what had really happened. All the trust he had built with Will... Cale didn't know how the prince had felt till the end. This doubt applied to all the people he had left behind. Ben, Aletta, Philippa, Grischa, Aaron, Fegari, Velence, even the Eldest. They believed in him. Even without knowing everything about him, they gave him their unhindered trust, and to Cale, it felt as if he had betrayed them.

He wasn't mentally prepared to leave them all behind.

Although he had always expected that, despite his knowledge, the unexpected could happen, he hadn't foreseen this alternative. Cale had to part with his friends, who for most of their friendship didn't know what they had really gotten themselves into. All the things he had said to them or accomplished with them were lost forever. They would never remember who he was or what their relationship was. But the worst part of this situation was that Cale knew himself well enough to know that he would seek them out again. Regardless of the fact that they would have no memories of him, Cale would try again to connect their lives, because he couldn't be without them.

Cale wanted to see them. He wanted to hear their voices, their laughter, their cries. He wanted to feel their happiness and their sadness, he wanted to let them know that there was someone who cared about their well-being. He wanted to protect their lives, fulfill their wishes, and stay by their side.

He wanted to live with them.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.