Chapter 264 - The end of the battle and the start to recovering Ren's memories

The moment Kretos saw Alphonso create an ice spear made of incredible amounts of mana he felt enraptured by passion. That was the strongest skill he has ever seen and it was a hundred times stronger than the orb of light created by the Osted family. 

Kretos's blood was boiling and his very soul seems to be screaming out in joy. The mere fact that he gets to fight someone of this caliber has made Kretos so happy that death seems so inconsequential. Every fiber of his being was shaking in anticipation. 

'As expected only battle can give me such a great feeling!' 

Kretos then tried to gather his mana but couldn't do so, the snowy mana field was disrupting his own mana. If it was anyone else they would've felt like the situation was desperate one and would think of surrendering but not Kretos. He with his own mana created a mini mana field that surrounded him, covering him from Alphonso's mana field. It was nowhere near as big as Alphonso's but it was enough for Kretos to go all out. Kretos's mana field was a black aura that seems to devour everything it touches, the snow from Alphonso's mana field was being devoured by the black aura. The more snow that was filled with mana fell into Kratos's mana field the more it grew.

When Alphonso saw what Kretos was doing he couldn't help but sigh. 'As expected from the battle junkie. Even though the difference between our power should be clear, he's still trying to achieve victory. If I prolong this fight he might actually win as his power is still continuously growing... I guess I was caught up with too much nostalgia. Alright then, time to finish this.'

Alphonso's spear of ice grew into the size of a mountain and without any further ado, he threw it at Kretos. Seeing the gigantic thing heading his way at breakneck speed Kretos had two options, one was to flee from the attack while the other was to face the attack head-on. Of course to Kretos there was only one true option. 

With his fist clenched, he collided head-on with the gigantic spear made of mana and ice. The smile on his face showed true joy as he could feel his arm breaking and his mana being pushed back. His very skin felt like it was going to be ripped apart. 

"HAHAHAHA! This is the best, this is a very grand battle indeed!" Alphonso saw that Kretos was able to hold his own despite the overwhelming difference of their mana capacities. Not only was their mana capacities worlds apart, but even their physical abilities and their experience were also that far apart. 

Yet Alphonso wasn't surprised, to see Kretos being able to hold his own despite that overwhelming difference. This wasn't so surprising since the person Alphonso was battling was the so called strongest mortal soul. The person called that would try to achieve victory no matter the situation, he would endure and when you least expect it he would bite off your neck. If he wasn't able to do that much then battling the creator of everything would never be possible. 

Still, the amount of mana Alphonso used should be enough to incapacitate Kretos without killing him. Alphonso even took into account Kretos's growth rate during battle. As Alphonso was getting ready to rescue Kretos just in case he made a mistake, he noticed something weird was going on. 

The ice spear that was the size of a mountain seems to be shrinking. When Alphonso saw what was happening he started to pour more mana into the ice spear. It was at that moment he felt like something was off. Though Kretos was someone who would take everything head-on, and he always did it simply for the joy of battle. But he wasn't someone that would do something like accept a loss peacefully. There must be something more to this head-on clash, it shouldn't be this simple. The guy Alphonso was facing was a being that defies logic itself, so there must be something more. 

Alphonso was now wondering what Kretos would do to turn the situation around. His mana field was not only something that makes full use of his mana it was also something that extended his senses. Everything the snow touches in his mana field was something he could feel. So in theory Kretos shouldn't be able to do anything sneaky while in Alphonso's mana field.

Kretos continued to happily attack the ice spear, but then for a brief moment, it seems like he did something else. Kretos's movement was so subtle and fast that if Alphonso wasn't concentrating on what else he would do Alphonso wouldn't be able to catch that weird movement. 

The moment Alphonso saw that subtle movement Kretos made, Alphonso quickly put up his strongest defense. Multiple shields were summoned and surrounded Alphonso, but then he still felt like something dangerous was coming. Alphonso's instincts were telling him to evade while his mind was telling him to trust in his defense. 

'While in battle if your mind is in conflict with your instincts you should always go with your instinct.' Alphonso remembered what Michael said before and immediately dodged. At first, he was thinking of teleporting away but there was no time. As he dodged to the side he saw Kretos smiling at him with that vicious look of his. 

"HAHAHA! You truly are someone who knows me quite well. Being able to dodge that is a testament of how well you know me." 

When Alphonso heard what Kretos said he felt some pain in the lower left of his abdomen. Alphonso saw that a black aura similar to Kretos's mana field had attached itself to him. Alphonso then started to cough up a bit of blood. 

"I shall happily await our next battle!" Kretos shouted at Alphonso and was finally hit by the ice spear. The ice spear blew him away and destroyed the entire mountain range. Alphonso who was still bleeding from Kretos's last attack deactivated his mana field and teleported to the destination Kretos's unconscious body flew. 

...

Alphonso who teleported intercepted and caught the unconscious Kretos mid-flight. The wounds Kretos received would have been quite life-threatening if it were someone else, but to Kretos it was nothing but a minor inconvenience. Even as he sleeps Kretos's body was slowly healing itself. Seeing this sight Alphonso once again sighed. 

'You really are a reckless idiot, you bloody battle junkie.' Alphonso teleported the two of them back to his shop. Once they were in his shop Alphonso headed to his room and placed Kretos's body on his bed. Alphonso then healed the injury he sustained from Kretos's last attack. 

'If that were to hit me properly, even with my armor I would've been knocked unconscious.' Alphonso looked at the now unconscious Kretos and once again sighed. 

'Just like old times, this guy always makes me sigh so much. Well anyway, now that I got him here, I should probably get started in helping him regain his memories.' Alphonso touched Kretos's forehead and recited a spell. Alphonso was able to scan Kretos's physical and spiritual bodies. Once Alphonso was done scanning, he started to think about ways on how to help Kretos regain his memories. 

'As expected of the ORIGIN, this is going to be quite hard... I can't just pour all of his memories and be done with it, that might break him even more... If I slowly pour the memories at a safe pace his human body would grow old before I finish. If he were to die in this state, I'm not sure if his soul would be able to go through the special reincarnation cycle he has... Hmmm, I guess I have no other choice.' Alphonso snapped his fingers and summoned a pocket watch. He then placed the pocket watch in the middle of Kretos's chest. 

'I'm going to have him relive his life all over again.'