Chapter 126 - The Enlightened One

His presence quickly caught the beast's attention, who looked as if he had seen a ghost.

The almost-human reaction garnered a smile from Ren, who removed the bloody, tattered tunic from his body--revealing a set of tattoos now etched onto his pale skin.

The open wounds and bruises that once covered his body had vanished as the young man took a deep breath. Unraveling the torn cloth that wrapped itself around his palm, the wound it covered had been sealed shut without a trace.

"I will ask you once and once only, come down from your false throne, beast. I will not have you looking down upon me with your unworthy, filthy eyes. Lest you dare disrespect the honored one before you."

Malice made itself absent on his face, only holding a smile that sat with his gilded gaze.

Asterius sat still, looking down with eyes that didn't believe what sat before them, only his mouth having slightly agape in response to Ren. Only another moment was granted to the minotaur before the opulent-haired human appeared directly in front of him. One would be hesitant to call it speed, as he moved as if warping space itself.

"I said I would ask only once."

He held his smile in front of the perplexed beast, placing his hand atop its fur-clad head as it did nothing to prevent him from doing so.

"Repent."

It left his mouth as more of a divine suggestion than a word as a vibrant light filled the air before blasting the minotaur backward, shattering his throne as he met the ground with an intense force.

"You did not fall that easily, did you? I would not blame you for succumbing to my superior strength, but I would be vastly disappointed."

Before the beast could stand himself up properly, he was once again met face to face with his enigmatic opponent, who greeted him with a smile as his golden eyes stared into the depths of his being. Such swiftness that made the creature deny what its eyes showed made it easy to drive confusion into the enemy, and once confusion and doubt were seeded within the minotaur's mind, soon fear sprouted.

"To strike fear in those who have long since abandoned such weakness, that is something worthy only of the ones who stand at the pinnacle--and I am the one who stands at the precipice of such heights."

"Do you understand now? I am the one who delivers finality to those I deem unworthy of breath. There is no greater undoing for a being than to lay a finger upon my honored self. Do you understand now? This is the consequence of the negative karma you've accrued, of all the torment you've bestowed upon man, I am their avenger. Kneel before me and I will grant you a quick departure."

If there was one certainty that made itself known in Asterius' sparse sanity, it was that the man before him was not the same young man--at least, something fundamentally changed within him. He was completely and utterly high on power, devoid of any stress and mercy. The man seemed only to act in accordance with his own desire and nothing else.

Hesitance grasped Asterius for a moment before he blew steam from his nose, rearing his fist back as he sent it towards his opponent. It was stopped dead in its tracks, meeting the palm of the young man's hand without any force emitting from the impact.

"Ah, so you haven't caved to your fear yet? Are you denying yourself salvation? To reject my graces is to reject life itself."

It felt so minuscule, the giant fist possessed by the minotaur held nothing behind it that threatened him any longer, tracing his fingers across the matted fur on his knuckles while holding his careless smile. In the face of an overwhelming difference in power, the animalistic mind of Asterius fell into utter fear, attempting to unshackle himself from the subservience his instincts attempted to tie him into.

Each movement he watched the man make was coiled in grace and tranquility, holding not a semblance of malice yet, there was a looming, horrific power he displayed.

There was one thing the man-beast learned by gazing upon his radiating presence--his very existence was contradictory, it was deceiving. While only benevolence oozed from his being, he was distinctly sadistic, wanting to bestow torment upon the beast. It was simply illogical, the man that stood before him transcended such reason.

It was his domain, the one and only place in the world that he belonged--yet he felt like nothing but an insect before him, holding fear that he had long forgotten.

The moment Asterius' moved the slightest bit, a sharp impact collided against his mutilated nose, sending him crashing against the unmoving stone gates.

"Ah...it's rather hard to restrain my strength. It is easy to forget how fragile you all are."

Moving over to the groggy beast who fell upon his collection of brittle remains, he watched as Asterius let out a deep groan, lifting himself as bones fell from his physique.

"Good, evil,...They're one and the same. That's why what you're seeing before you is the form of good that you should seldom provoke, the reflection of evil. If these two intertwined concepts are said to exist on each side of a coin, then I am the one who flips that coin, as well as the one who decides which side it falls on."

A frontal kick sent the minotaur back against the wall with a heavy thud, leaving a trail of saliva from its mouth.

Its status as a guardian wasn't for show, shaking off the impact with a quick shake of its head before it engaged with the opponent who came only to a portion of his height.

Fist met fist, the disproportionate knuckles colliding against one another with a brutal impact that shook the skin of the cobble. What seemed like a classic case of "David v Goliath" was indeed the opposite. The strength behind the translucent-haired man's fist propelled Asterius' arm backward with a violent thrust of wind pressure.

"I am unmatched. I am without peers. I am the greatest! The Strongest! I am the almighty!"

Utter exhilaration plastered itself on his expression as he spread his arms out into the air, flexing his entire body as he claimed dominion over strength itself.

"Tainted by power? The opposite! I am blessed beyond any other! That is the undeniable truth in this world!"

"Come, bull. Don't tell me you fear pain?"

The taunt dragged the minotaur back into the battle at full throttle, charging forward with his horns jutted in front of his pathway.

Holding the resolution to pierce him with its hazardous spears protruding from its head, the beast propelled itself forward with a heavy yet swift dash.

It was the first time since that decisive battle ages ago--before him, the man didn't attempt to evade his rush or conjure magecraft to combat his horns. Seeing the confident, radiant man hold his smile while awaiting him manifested memories sealed in the deepest depths of Asterius' mind.

The illuminating aura around the young man was all the same as the legendary hero of Athens, the boisterous man, blessed by gods, who had attempted to slay the minotaur. An unknown feeling bore itself into existence from within the man-beast, who pushed onwards, this time--with a conviction of his own.

What blended the two figures in his mind was the overwhelming confidence the two men displayed, the bravado of a hero who believes in nothing else but the outcome they see as "good". If it was in the name of good if it was against a monster--then they could do whatever they want, however cruelly they decided to cast this judgment.

"Hero."

It was a concept that existed as the antithesis of Asterius' own life, wanting only to live his life in solitude, finding himself hunted by heroes who proclaimed him to be a horror upon the world.

Now that he recognized the man before him as a harbinger of justice, Asterius pushed onwards with even more strength behind his step.

Before its fangs could reach his skin, Ren repelled the charge with a mystical pressure, propelled by a single step of his foot. Even with a mind as deluded by madness as his, Asterius discovered what brought upon this difference in strength as the invisible force pelted against his hide.

That difference was the love bestowed upon the man by the world itself. In this world, governed by unseen forces of divinity and primordials, the minotaur was a plague upon it, secluded from kindness, affection, and love.

It was the result of a man blessed by the world facing one scorned by it.