Azekiel absorbed the souls of all the Kings that were killed, gaining even more strength for himself.
Unfortunately, their strength was all he could take. He couldn't access their inventory to take their treasures that they could've found inside the castle. However, he wasn't upset about that. If these people were out so soon, there was no way they would've had any decent Treasures.
Also, if he wanted to take Treasures, he could've taken them himself from the Castle. He only needed one thing, which he already had now.
"Old man, how long are you going to watch me? I thought we had already finished our conversation," Azekiel asked, unclear who he was talking to.
"What more can I do than watch?" An old man appeared near Azekiel, being the same man that they saw before the lake.
As Azekiel stated, he had already finished his conversation with the old man, so it was unclear why he was here now.
"What brought you to me this time?" Azekiel asked the man. Even he wasn't expecting to see the man anymore.
"I just came to check up on you and to tell you something," the old man answered.
"Tell me what?"
"There are people who know about you in the tower... People who aren't as nice as me," the old man explained. "Just thought I should tell you to stay alert."
"Old man, did you think I wouldn't know about this?" Azekiel wasn't surprised at the revelation. "You're talking about Zheng, aren't you? The guy who is waiting for me on the next floor?"
The old man burst into a hearty laughter. He didn't know why he thought that Azekiel wouldn't know about this.
"I should've known... My warning wasn't needed."
"More than your message, I'm more concerned about the fact that this message came from you. Even though it doesn't help much, it's still quite intriguing." Azekiel stepped closer to the old man, stopping not too far. "Weren't you supposed to be neutral? This doesn't look neutral at all."
"Don't tell me you're starting to tilt to one specific side?" he asked, placing his hand on the old man's shoulders.
"You know you can always join my side. The doors are always open for you, old friend."
"I don't need to join any sides," the old man scoffed. "And you're wrong. I didn't come here to help you because I'm tilting toward supporting you. I came here to warn you. You still have time to change your ways... Leave the tower and forget about this place."
"Only Zheng knows about it for now, but with time, the others would know too. And unlike Zheng, the others won't keep it hidden from her. This might be the last opportunity you'll have of successfully retreating..."
The old man appeared really serious as he asked Azekiel to leave the tower to stop all this conflict.
"I couldn't stop last time, and I definitely won't stop now. My goals are bigger than this tower, old man. Last time, I was stopped, but this time I won't. I need to succeed... I can't afford to fail. And as far as she is concerned, even she won't be able to stop me this time."
The old man let out a sigh. He knew they were entering a dangerous territory which Raphael and Lia didn't need to know. He was also sure that Azekiel didn't want to tell them either.
The old man raised his hand, casting a beautiful white Barrier around him and Azekiel to separate them from Lia and Raphael. He didn't want them to hear.
" I will take back everything that belongs to me, and then I'll get back to the main goal!" Azekiel exclaimed. "The rivers of blood that I saw... It might just be a story to you, but for me, it was my life... I can never forget that... I will never forget that."
With the barrier around them, he could actually talk freely now that he didn't need to be concerned about what he was saying.
"So you won't stop?"
"I won't. Even if it takes a sea of blood to be created for me to achieve my goal as well, I will do that. The past... I might forget the last at times, but my soul can never forget it... It can never forget the anger, hate, and rage!"
Seeing the firm resolve of Azekiel, the old man could only sigh in disappointment. No matter what he tried, Azekiel wasn't willing to listen. His mind was still stuck in the last, unable to see that they were in the future.
"What if you succeed only to find out that it was all for naught?" The old man asked. "Can you bear the burden of all the lives that you will be taking and all the sins? You might think that beyond the veil lies a success waiting for you, but that's not the truth."
"There is only more pain and torment waiting for you there... On the mountain of all the dead bodies, you'll be completely lonely and desolate... You can't do anything other than that..."
"Even if I only have death waiting for me at the finish line, I'll happily embrace it. And as far as desolation is concerned, when wasn't I lonely? When hadn't I been desolate? That's how I spent most of my life, all alone, creating this tower, all for my goals!" Azekiel answered, looking somewhat down.
Outside the barrier, Raphael and Lia could neither hear Azekiel nor see him. Even as they tried to pass through the barrier, they found out that it was impossible.
"Do you really think you've always been alone?" The old man asked. "Look outside the barrier! You have two friends waiting for you... Two friends who are worried about you... The friends that are concerned about you! You have a life now... And something similar to a family in them. Why do you want to lose it all, only to be in pain again?"
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