Mimic Awakening

"...After our lord gave us the mission, Dareon and I continued protecting the floating island. Since the island lacked resources to sustain the population, the people gradually died out until we were the only ones left after five hundred years."

"..."

Zyren has finished retelling the stories of their life to Azrael and Claire. The two go silent after listening to it, totally speechless from the sudden revelation of what actually happened back then.

"So this is what really happened." Claire speaks first. "It’s slightly different from what history told us. Well, I think some details change after twenty thousand years."

"So that was how the evil god relates to you." Azrael opens his mouth after a while. "I can’t imagine the feeling of seeing your people die before you. Perhaps immortality really is a curse."

"Indeed, it’s a curse." Zyren nods his head once. "But thanks to this curse, we are able to protect this land from threats. I hope this satisfies you, Azrael, and I hope you are able to understand us more."

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, even though it is just a pair of lights, Azrael determines that Zyren is telling the truth. There might be some details that are different from what he has learned, but as Claire stated, it could be because time forgot a few details, or it could be written in favor of the victor’s narrative.

"Very well. Since you tell us about yourselves, I will tell you why you felt the evil god’s mana. The truth is, I fought the evil god in the dungeon on this island at that time."

"What?!"

Zyren is so shocked that he opens his jaw wide as he speaks. Dareon also does the same.

"You fought a god yourself?!" Dareon exclaims.

"Well, yes, but actually, no."

"Hm?" Confused by his wording, Zyren tilts his head. "Could you care to explain yourself?"

"While it is true that I fought the evil god, he later revealed that he was just using a tenth of his full power when I thought I had defeated him with that explosion. So I only fought a fraction of him."

"Even if it’s a fraction of him or not, defeating a part of a god was still a huge feat." Zyren finally snaps his jaw back. "I don’t know if he was telling the truth or not, but a tenth of that being’s power is still ridiculously powerful."

There was a time when Zyren saw Vordoth when he was still with Veleriz. The moment Zyren tried to gauge both the gods’ powers, he came to a realization that they were on an entirely different level.

At that time, when Zyren was only half as powerful as he is now, he was certain that his mana capacity was not even half a percent of Vordoth’s power. If Vordoth’s power did not diminish through time, a tenth of his power is roughly equal to twenty times Zyren’s current mana without the staff.

However, Zyren estimates Azrael’s mana to be more than sixteen times his own, which means that Vordoth should have the upper hand in that fight in terms of mana reserve. That would be the case if Vordoth’s power had not changed.

But Zyren just dismisses that idea since not every battle is determined by the amount of mana. It could be that Azrael has more effective abilities to overwhelm the evil god just like the powerful explosion Azrael used to defeat Dareon.

"After our fight, monsters stopped spawning in the dungeon. The evil god probably did not like how I abused this dungeon for my own interest."

"I don’t know what you did, but I can feel that it’s kind of your fault the dungeon god even showed up." Zyren utters the latter sentence with a low voice.

"And that’s how you felt the evil god’s mana. I basically vaporized his body with a catastrophic bomb. His magical signature probably mixed up with my own as it was scattered over the ocean."

"I see. That makes sense now."

Once Azrael clears out his connection to Vordoth, he is about to proceed with the discussion regarding the current situation. Azrael turns his head to Dareon, who is still lying on the ground, and thinks how he should handle the situation.

"Now then, I have changed my mind and decided to proceed with a different approach."

"What are you trying to do, Azrael?" Claire asks. "You are not going to take the island anymore?"

"Well, I would be lying if I were to say I don’t want that castle." Azrael then looks at Zyren. "Can I tell you what you think of Vordoth? I mean, whether you are more of an ally or enemy to him."

"Do you really have to ask that? Of course, we despise the evil god as well as the Magic God, Veleriz. They are the reasons why our motherland was destroyed."

"I see. I also don’t care about them. Since we both have a common opinion about Vordoth, how about we stop fighting and join forces together?"

"I’m not sure about that."

"Alright. As a token of my sincerity, I will lift up the unhealable curse I placed upon Dareon."

The moment he says that, Dareon’s body radiates for a second. With the effects of the Endless Pain lifted, Dareon’s passive healing restarts anew, and bones begin to fill up his broken parts.

"Woah! I’m regenerating?!"

As an undead, negative energy wraps his body as his body is regenerating. Dareon’s arms gradually sprout out of his torso, and his broken leg slowly gets fixed. Only his body gets regenerated, so his is still in his badly battered armor. A minute later, Dareon gets all the bones back before he stands up on his feet.

"This feels so good," Dareon says as he is stretching and moving to check if everything is alright. "Being in that state really sucks."

After that, Dareon approaches Raphael and taps his boney hands on his shoulder before walking to Zyren and stands beside the undead mage.

"How about that, Zyren? Can you reconsider my offer?"

"Joining forces together might not be a bad idea, considering we are living in isolation over the ocean. What do you think of it, Dareon?"

"That sounds fun to me," Dareon says as he folds his arms. "It’s not like we are going against each other, so I see no problem with it. In addition, I really enjoyed fighting Azrael. I would like to have another battle with him again."

"So that’s how you feel." Zyren then looks at Azrael and Claire. "You two have proven yourselves of your capabilities, and I won’t deny that having companions like the two of you is beneficial for us."

"And so are you as well. So your answer is..."

"For now, I decided to agree with your terms. Let’s reconcile."

◆◇◆◇◆◇

Around a week ago... Somewhere on the central part of the continent...

A man with long silver hair and emerald eyes enters a chamber in a palace of a certain nation. Given his tall appearance and the authority his outfit is giving, everyone can assume that he is a person with a high military position in the nation.

Once he steps in the room, the guards promptly close the door before he stands upright in front of the person sitting on the desk. The man who summons him to this room is the supreme general of the Kingdom of Dinral, a country in Central Revoria that borders the Empire of Siafran to the northwest.

"I heard you have summoned me, General Plaid," the long-haired man speaks.

"Very well, thank you for coming here immediately, Grand Inspector Millis," the old general says as he places his forearms on the wooden table. "Without further ado, the reason I called you here is because I want you to investigate something."

"What could it be, general?"

"I know that you are aware of what is happening between the Siafran Empire and Roheazul right now."

"A war just broke out between them a while ago," Millis answers immediately. "I heard that the Great Sorceress and the hero have gone missing during the critical time of their kingdom. Do you want me to investigate them?"

"You can do that later. For now, I want you to investigate the lake that just recently formed in the forest within the Kingdom of Roheazul."

"I thought we had nothing to do with them. Did the high leadership order that?"

"They did not. I have a feeling that something fishy is happening right there. There was supposed to be a dungeon there before the sudden appearance of the lake. Allegedly, the dungeon is nowhere to be found. Of course, I don’t trust those secondhand reports."

"So that’s why you want me to personally investigate the place."

"Precisely."

"I understand, sir. Please consider it done. I shall take my leave."

Afterwards, the man bobs his head before heading outside. As the man is walking down the hallway, he takes out a cigarette from his breast pocket before lighting it with the flames coming out of one of the fingers of his gloved hand.

That mysterious lake, huh? Let’s see what we got there.