Chapter 218 Two Zicks

The mist of annihilation around Zick turned gray, as he headed deeper into it.

"Haaa....haaa..." Zick stopped in his tracks. If he went further in, his regenerative power won't be able to keep up. The destruction of his body would be just too rapid.

Zick's skin and muscles burnt away, before appearing again, this process had been carried hundreds of times by now.

The amount of pain transmitted to Zick was so overwhelming, that he could not even focus properly. This was a fatal flaw, the corruption of his soul would be fastened if it was allowed to go on like this.

The logic behind Zick doing such a reckless thing was very simple, the source of energy to the 'wills' in his head was the frenzied energy. Which meant, he just had to get rid of this source!

As for his already corrupted soul, he could find a way to fix it in the future.

The frenzied energy rejected getting merged into Zick as if having a 'will' of itself. But in the strength aspect, Zick's higher form of energy was stronger by a large margin. Which led it to be suppressed by him easily.

"Ugh!" Zick felt like the world was shaking as he held his head. His heart began beating in an abnormal rhythm again.

ROAR!!!

Opening his mouth, Zick roared with all of his might. The space itself shook by his sheer presence, the area he floated on appeared distorted, like everything was being absorbed into it.

The pain was driving him crazy, while the frenzied energy began to turn him insane. Such a situation led to him losing his reasons instantly.

Zick, who was feeling the control over his body slip away, at that moment heard a voice in his head.

"It can't be helped, this soul can't hold on anymore."

In a blink of an eye, the world was dyed white around Zick. Or at least, it appeared so to him.

Standing in the middle of this white world, Zick felt refreshed. It was because he could feel the voices in his head vanish. He even appeared calm like his usual self, he could not feel the unreasonable anger anymore.

Just as a wave of nostalgia brushed off Zick, a figure appeared before him without a sound.

Zick's eyes shrank looking at this person.

The reason was, this person had the same face as Zick, though older.

Both of them looked at each other, their eyes met in the middle, showing interest, surprise, and suspicion.

The older Zick chuckled slightly: "There is no need for you to act so surprisedly. Didn't you notice my existence a long time ago?"

Both of them could tell what the other was thinking, just by looking into each other's eyes.

Zick did not retort, instead, he firmly nodded his head: "It was really strange how I acted when I came to this world. Rationality cannot be cultivated so easily, it was almost like I was emotionless then. Though there were a few instances where my emotions fluctuated, it was still quite weird."

"Then, when I suddenly began pursuing eternal life, that was your doing right? It was very weird, and very sudden too. I might have chosen to pursue such a goal in the future, but at that time I did not have such strong convictions or aspirations. So it was remotely not possible for me to choose such a thing."

The older Zick heard everything with a smile, he had no intention to reject anything either.

What Zick said was certainly true, at that time, it was like someone was putting all the emotions and ideology into his head.

"And lastly, it was when I suddenly lost all my aspirations and ambition, just after I stopped suppressing my emotions."

Zick presented his speculations, that he had been able to think this far-

"It began after I got the regretful necklace, you lost all your control over my mind. And what you had implanted in my mind was also overwritten by my emotions, that you had been suppressing." Zick smiled coldly at the person who appeared just like him.

The reason behind Zick's sudden influx of emotions could be explained through this speculation.

With this many strange occurrences, Zick was able to grasp a few inclines to what might be going on.

Something or someone was manipulating, or at least leading many of his actions. And this being has been with Zick from the moment he had come to this world.

What it wanted, or where this being was trying to lead Zick was mysterious.

There was no sign of this being fully brainwashing Zick or controlling him like a puppet. This clearly showed its limitations.

However, even with all the things that this being had done to Zick, there was no enmity at all in the atmosphere around them.

​ Instead, both of them smirked at each other, though this being appeared suspicious in more than one way, Zick was aware that it was an ally.

The older Zick, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, opened his mouth with crossed arms: "Most of your speculations are true, of course, that includes who I am too."

Zick eyes narrowed upon hearing this, but he began smiling the very next moment: " I see, so you and I are the same person. Sigh... Things have turned more complicated than I thought."

Zick continued, opening his closed eyes: "But, that would explain The reaction of those gods and the demon lord."

The older Zick nodded his head and showed a serious look: "I must take care of that corruption in your soul, that is how you set me to be. So I don't have much time, so I will try explaining everything as quickly as possible."

Zick nodded his head and began seriously here to everything this being, or more specifically, the 'will' had to say.

"This is currently the second timeline, in the first timeline, you betrayed the God, and ravaged them. And joined the dark side. However, for many reasons, that you will understand after I disappear, you gave up on that timeline."

"Hence, here we are in another timeline, many gods were sacrificed in this process of turning back. And lastly, you agreed to cooperate with the giant race. Only after this mist barrier, created by one-tenth of the world core is destroyed, will it be fulfilled."

The older Zick began explaining as much as he could while leaving aside the things that Zick would find out eventually anyway.

"And yes, you sent me back in time using the golden dragon. But in the process, you died at that time. Or more like, you pushed yourself to death purposefully."

"While creating me, you told me to transmit a portion of your memory to the current you. Be prepared to lose consciousness for a few minutes after waking up." The older Zick finished off his explanation with an expressionless face.

Enlightenment rose within Zick hearing all this: '...So I was the one who wrote the novel- 'The hero of Velveric fights the demon lord'. One of my most important doubts was cleared up at least.'

Zick then squinted seeing the other him motionless.

"So, how am I going to escape from this place anyway?"

The older Zick smiled, they were very alike. They did have the intention to stay in such a messed up place at all. Unless any benefits were binding him, Zick did not see any reasons to stay behind.

"The giant God won't break his promise, as it isn't so simple. But he might make a move against you after he gets his hands on this world's core." The older Zick explained solemnly, before smiling slightly.

"However, there is no need to worry. You will know what to do at that moment surely."

Zick was not satisfied with that answer, but he could see that the other him was already becoming transparent as time went by.

" So for my last question, why did you not just reveal yourself from the beginning?" Zick was plagued by this question quite a bit.

"What would be the point then? You without any experience or ambition would just rely on me like a parasite. You would never be able to experience being close to death."

Zick was not fully satisfied, but it was enough for now. He had expected as much, truthfully he thought there was some hidden agenda to it, it turned out wrong.

The older Zick slowly vanished into thin air, he was made of pure divinity, but it was all gone after it removed the corruption in Zick's soul.

Then, the white world began fading away from the horizon too.

'As I thought, the novel was just like a guide for me. I was led to the dragon heart so that I could be prepared to face off against Zrector, which wanted to kill me thanks to the sun god's scheme. Then I received Levienel's help from the side of the giant race.'

The giant race was the reason behind the appearance of such an immortal being in the world. It was easy to deduce, as there were only a few being capable of wielding such an evil divinity around this world.

The giant race's blessing was to make others immortal, that was the conclusion Zick reached a long time ago.

With Levienel's help, Zick was again able to survive against the churches that the gods manipulated.

It was surprising how far ahead the past him could predict, it was almost like he had taken a peek into the future.

Zick held his chin thoughtfully: "Or did I? Aurel might have such an ability, that explains such unfathomable predictions ability too."

No matter how long a person thinks, there is no way everything would go according to their prediction. A mistake inevitably occurs one way or the other.

'I knew that two children of the dragon lord would be useful. But they keep going past my expectations again and again.' Zick closed his eyes as the darkness enveloped him.