438: Desperation

Desperation

Eventually, Aurus felt like the other four had gone silent for long enough, prompting him to make a move and figure out why the others acted that way towards Melzarin. With a light cough, he had garnered the attention of everyone, making the pressure pressing down on Melzarin disappear at that instant. "Is there something wrong with the two names Melzarin mentioned? Why are you guys acting weird?"1

Hearing his words, the four could not help but look at each other for a bit before casting a glance at Melzarin. After a bit, the four simultaneously let out sighs as they looked back at Aurus.

"Do you really want to know the reason why, Aurus?" Felix asked, his tone somewhat somber.

In response, Aurus could not help but scratch his head for a bit, wondering if knowing the reason behind their silence would be for the better or for the worse. Considering how somber Felix's tone was, he could not help but think that knowing it would be for the worse.

However, he still nodded.

"It would be great if you did," he told him. Though, he added soon after, "But if you think it's too much for you to explain, you don't really have to."

With that, Felix turned around to look at the others. After a while, he stopped his eyes on Helios. "Helios, would you mind explaining why? After all, you're the one most knowledgeable among us five regarding what happened to them."

Unsurprisingly, a slight frown appeared on Helios' face when he heard that. However, looking at the curious gaze his greatest fan had while looking at him, he eventually let out a sigh. "Fine, but that's only because it's my greatest fan requesting information on this."

"Well, it also wouldn't hurt for you to listen to my explanation, Melzarin," he added, prompting Melzarin to tilt his head in confusion.

"Where should I start…" Clearing his throat, Helios tried to recall all of the memories he and the others had regarding Lucius and Silvia. After some time, a solemn expression appeared on his face as a somber aura emanated from him. "Well, you know how I and the others have our own inheritances, right?"

"Yeah?" Aurus nodded.

"Yeah. Lucius and Silvia are actually owners of their own inheritances as well, being inclined towards their own respective elements. Eleanor's inheritance is inclined towards Fire, Felix's towards Water, Rosalia and Melzarin's towards Earth, and mine towards Wind."

"With that in mind, Lucius and Silvia's respective inheritances were attuned towards two rare elements, the same two elements that are normally categorized alongside the four foundational elements," he said, prompting Aurus to hazard a guess. "Light and Dark?"

"Correct. Lucius' inheritance was inclined towards the Dark element, while Silvia's was inclined towards the Light element." Helios nodded. "Now, you might probably be wondering what their element has anything to do with our reaction to their names."

"Well, my greatest fan. Believe me when I say it has everything to do with it," he continued, his tone laced with a hint of rage. Of course, this did not go unnoticed by Aurus.

"Us seven were sworn comrades, exchanging knowledge and techniques under the sun in order to improve not only ourselves, but also our respective inheritances. After all, the inheritances were our masterpieces, our lifeblood of sorts."

"However, on one fateful day, a being barged into Silvia's inheritance and fought against her until one of them died," he said, prompting three out of the four to go silent. "Take a guess as to how between the two of them died."

"That can't be…" Just as Aurus was about to answer Helios' question, Melzarin felt like all of the puzzle pieces in his mind had finally formed the greater picture. With a shocked expression on his face, he looked at the others and asked, "All of you knew and you didn't even bother telling me?"

"We did it for a reason, Melzarin. Believe us," Eleanor said in response. "Since you were the only one who hadn't gone to check the aftermath, we decided to use that to help Lucius out. I'm sorry you had to find it out this way, but trust us when we say it's for the betterment of Lucius."

Feeling like he had been betrayed, Melzarin could not help but look at the four with a hint of anger. Fortunately, it did not escalate any further as he instead let out a long sigh. "You guys better make it up to me in the future."

"We will," Rosalia said in response. After that, she looked at Aurus. "From our conversation, you have an idea as to who won, right?"

"The being who barged into Silvia's inheritance?" asked Aurus, to which he was met with silence from the five. "Seems like I've hit the mark."

Only after a minute had passed did one of them continue, with Felix saying, "As you've guessed, the being won and Silvia died. Unsurprisingly, Lucius tried to retaliate against the being. However, it was all for naught. In front of that being, even Eleanor in her strongest state would be no match for it."

"Because of that, Lucius lost his mind and broke our group's taboo," he continued. "Amidst the madness, he scooped up what was left of Silvia's corpse from the aftermath and used his mastery over the Dark element to 'revive' Silvia back to life."

"As for that being that killed Silvia, it took over Silvia's inheritance and claimed it for itself," Felix concluded with a sigh. "Well, that sums it all up. Does that answer your question, Aurus?"

Hearing that, Aurus nodded, though he felt bad that he had them reveal what he considered a sensitive part of their past. Nevertheless, there was something else that didn't make sense. "Does this have anything to do with why Lucius and Silvia… well, why Lucius is the one to talk to when it comes to modifying Existence Transition techniques?"

"Think about it for a second, Aurus." Surprisingly, Eleanor was the one who responded. "Put yourself in his shoes. If you went mad and was that desperate to bring someone back to life, would you really stop at a certain point?"

"Well, if you put it that way…" Aurus could only scratch his head in response, feeling a bit stupid that he had asked the question.

"To sum things up, he madly experimented and formulated multiple Existence Transition techniques, all for the sake of formulating a technique that would allow him to revive Silvia back to life. If you think about it, it kind of makes sense for him to choose that first since Existence Transition techniques involve the transformation of life," Rosalia said soon after. "Unfortunately for him, transformation is vastly different from resurrection."

"So, are you still planning to meet up with Lucius, Aurus?" Eleanor asked. "After all, he's the only person we know that's capable of modifying Existence Transition techniques to the extent you're requesting."

"Hmm…" Aurus pondered over it for a bit, feeling a hint of difficulty in coming to a decision. After a while, he looked at Horell, who had been listening all this time, and asked, "Say, Horell. Would you like to use the Existence Transition technique they'll modify or would you like to use the Existence Transition technique that we might get from Lucius?"

"Er…" As everyone looked at him, Horell could not help but feel a bit of pressure. After all, he was just passively listening all this time. Nevertheless, he asked Aurus back, "Why do you need to modify it that much anyway?"

"Well, for one, it'll allow me to build a stronger foundation for future advancement," Aurus replied. "Two, it's actually more difficult to raise skills you carry over."

"Is that so…?" Hearing that, Horell went silent. After a couple of seconds, he scratched his head as he looked at Aurus. "Well, if you put it that way, then it would be better to get the modified Existence Transition technique from that person they mentioned, no?"

"That settles it, then." Aurus looked at the five after that. Unsurprisingly, he did not have to say anything else as Felix told him, "Since you're determined to have the Existence Transition technique, let Melzarin take you there."

As he said that, Felix pushed Melzarin closer to Aurus, leaving Melzarin at a loss for words. "Eh…? But why me, though?"

"Do you really have to ask that?" said the other four at once, prompting Melzarin to go silent as he scratched his head. "Right…"

"Agh, fine!" Furiously scratching his head soon after, Melzarin decided to accept. "You guys owe me for this one, okay?"

"Same goes for you, er… Aurus," he added, to which Aurus could only wryly smile in response.

With that, Melzarin took in a deep breath as a light brown barrier covered both him and Aurus soon after. Casting a few more spells, the two eventually gave off the feeling that even the slightest touch on them would make them crumble. Just as Melzarin was about to finalize everything for their departure, he asked Aurus a question. "Is your friend going to come along with us?"

Hearing that, Aurus looked at Horell, who was profusely shaking his head left to right. Seeing that, a mischievous smile appeared on his face as he told Melzarin, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he wants to come with us. He's been wanting to explore the wider world for a long time actually."

"Is that so?" Melzarin said in response as he manipulated a bit of his energy to drag Horell into the brown barrier covering the two. After that, he looked at the four and said, "Guess I'll be heading out for a while."

"Safe travels to the three of you." All of them nodded in response.

"Get back as soon as possible, okay?" Herellia said soon after, to which Aurus nodded. "We'll try our best. For now, help me manage the town."

With the two bidding their farewells, Melzarin went ahead and cast the final spell for their departure, making them disappear from the room not long after…

But not before a voice could scream out their indignance.

"Aurus, you fucking bastard!"

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