Son of the Hero King

While the world moved and all the pieces Sol had prepared took their respective positions on the board to play according to the plan he had prepared, Sol opened his eyes in his sea of consciousness, floating amid crystal clear water with endless depth.

This place was no different from what he remembered when he became a Duke. An endless sea below and a clear blue sky above, also stretching endlessly to who knows where.

With vacant eyes, Sol gazed at the empty sky and slowly felt his position in the world of his consciousness. His current position was on the surface of the endless sea, not exactly where he needed to be to complete the current phase of his metamorphosis.

Deeper. Far deeper. At the very depths of this seemingly endless sea.

Sol did not move an inch, however, his body soon started to sink deeper into the endless sea. Contrasting to the blank world above, the deep sea showed a far more turbulent world than he remembered it to have.

It was an aquatic world, filled with strong currents yet no life. The deeper he sank, the more the feeling of suffocation became prominent for Sol.

The truth behind everything that happened during his ascension as a Duke and how the Avatar of Ymir was destroyed.

He could feel that his life was hanging by a thread, and he was steadily approaching death.

Death was an aspect that Sol was very intimate with. After all, he had already died twice and it was not in a hypothetical sense.

Once when he was still nothing but a normal human on earth and a second time not long ago when he faced Nihil and Surtr.

What was Death? Even with all his experience, dying not once but twice at that, it was still a question that was hard, nigh-impossible for Sol to answer. However, many would consider Death to represent the End of a person’s story— bringing the climax to their life and putting a period on everything that made a being who they were. For a select few, Death was part of a cycle, a necessity in a world that should never be erased.

Sol closed his eyes when he felt his back touch the hard ground. He had reached the deepest depths of his Sea of Consciousness. At the end of the day, for Sol, Life and Death were nothing but a cycle. There was no life without death as even the largest stars would reach the end of their lifespan and then would die in a blistering explosion of astronomical scales.

“If Life and Death are a cycle then… I guess the End and Beginning are also cycles. If there is a Beginning, then there must be The End, the culmination of one’s journey, and if The End exists… then undoubtedly a new Beginning would also exist for that particular individual later down the line. What do you think?”

Sol looked toward the slightly ajar gate and questioned in an indifferent tone. The one shut-off gate was now slightly open, showing only the Darkness that lay beyond the surface.

Sol did not mind the lack of answer and stood up before walking toward his Gate of Truth. He could see the markings on them, a vivid illustration of the Tree of Knowledge.

When he finally stood a few steps away from the door, a giant pupil manifested from beyond the gate, as though appearing out of thin air or the endless darkness that lay beyond. The scene was eerie enough to spook even Sol, and that would have been the case if he had not already readied himself for something spooky to happen.

Even though all he could see was an eye, he had the distinct impression that the eye was smiling at him, and his experience told him that it was not just a feeling or his brain playing tricks on him.

“I would love to keep on prattling about philosophical ways of looking and understanding the world that surrounds us, but I do not have time for such things.”

While Sol had been sinking into the depths of the sea, images kept pouring inside his mind that reminded him of a distant past. Pictures and sounds, memories he had forgotten and had been sealed up for him to access when the time was right.

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“Adam.”

Now he knew the identity of the being observing him from the other side of the gate. He also knew who was the source of all the dreams he had been experiencing lately and all the strange information that was filling his mind.

However, the knowledge changed nothing for him. In fact, it was only a confirmation that all his preparations until now were not useless worries.

[It seems like the young chick is ready to take its first flight.]

A clear, deep, and powerful voice reached him as the eye closed its lid and was replaced by a blurry silhouette with no distinct features to it, not even the shape. It was like mist, omnipresent.

“Playing mysterious again, are we?”

[No. I am simply being myself. After all, this might be the last time I have the chance to speak.]

Once again, Sol felt Adam smiling while gazing at him. Deciphering a faceless expression should have been impossible but it seemed to not matter when it came to Adam.

[We are one, if not the same. So, it’s normal for you to be able to guess what I am feeling easily.]

“Correction. We are not one, nor are we the same.”

[Is that so?]

Adam’s tone was light, clearly finding Sol’s words extremely amusing, and mildly interesting. An irritating gesture, but manageable.

[Then, dear Sol… What do you wish for, right now? Why seek me once more?]

“I want to awaken a Name and become a King.”

[With your strength and talent, you could have become a King at any moment, and a very powerful one at that. Why seek more power when you already have enough?]

“Enough?” Sol chuckled, “Now that my memories have returned, all my suspicions about Aurora were proven. It’s honestly a miracle she did not strike me down. Do you truly think I have enough power to deal with all the mess you have left for me?”

Adam stayed silent for a while, before ultimately sighing, an impossible feat with his blurry existence but the world wasn’t lacking in impossible things now was it…

[I guess more of them survived than I thought.]

“You seem glad. Happy even. It’s quite interesting. Why show relief when they all hate you after you killed them?”

[The Twilight of the Gods was an inevitable outcome. I seek the forgiveness of no one. I have simply done as I needed to.]

“…”

[As for those who have survived… You should not worry too much about them at the moment. Without their territories, they are unable to get back their full powers.]

“I do not want to bet nor leave my life to the whims of Fate. It’s a very fickle existence, known to strike when you let your guard down. As such, I ask you to move out of the way.”

The only thing stopping him from reaching the power he sought was none other than Adam himself.

Adam said nothing as he watched Sol walk and then phase past him like nothing.

[Hey, that is hell you are walking into. Once you go beyond this gate, nothing will ever be the same.]

Sol stopped for a moment,

“I know.”

[Yet you still decide to take such an illogical decision?]

“I will not break. Because unlike you, I am not lifting this burden alone.” Sol laughed, his steps light, almost jovial, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. This may have all started because of my desire and selfishness, but at its core is a wish. A wish to save everyone I care for.”

[Even if that life… is that one where you must give up on your sense of self? Becoming nothing but a tool and a sword for Fate?]

“I refuse to give up, even on the slightest thing. Even if the path I walk is one drowned in lies, hypocrisy, and selfishness— I will become a monster if I have to if that means I don’t have to give up on anyone or anything I hold dear.”

[I see.]

Adam did not look behind him. His gaze still focused forward, while his mind reminisced a past he wished to forget but was condemned to remember forever.

[You were right, Sol. You are very different from me.]

“Heh, you teach me nothing. As long as my heart beats, I will control my Fate.”

Sol pushed the gate wide open and stepped through, leaving Adam alone in the sea of consciousness.

At this very moment, with Sol deep inside the gate, it would be so easy for him to emerge and take full control of his body. Sol should have known that and yet he did not try to stop Adam.

“Haha… What a courageous fool. At least, there are still some similarities.”

Adam cackled out loud but did not move from his spot. He wanted to see whether the answer Sol would find at the end of this path would be one he would come to regret in the future.

Until then— he would wait patiently, eager to watch the story that Sol would weave.