Chapter 216 Zick's Soul Corruption

Time passed by extremely quickly. Four months went by in a blink of an eye.

There was no unusual incidence since the appearance of Zick. The war continued like usual and people lived their life with nothing out of place either.

The Garbeller empire, which was at war against the republic of Threkert, did not seem to be hesitant even with the appearance of a dragon.

It was all because of the prior meeting Zick had with the ice dragon. He agreed that he would not interrupt this war for no reason.

Celwent had fulfilled all of the things Zick requested. A base, similar to a huge villa, and all of the research results were sent to him.

Yuriel entered a state of constant experimentation immediately, before leaving Zick had good nighttime with her.

Zick left for a journey very quickly, even Yuriel had no idea where he went. There were dozens of tasks that were handed to her.

It included finding a way to strengthen herself too. Zick was starting to find Yuriel's strength dissatisfactory. In the demon continent war, Yuriel's usefulness was very negligent.

Still, the current main task was to find a way to get rid of the corrosion of the frenzied energy, within Zick.

.....

In a wasteland with only a few small hills, Zick berated Arianell before him.

"Don't be foolish! you can turn into a dragon too, which means you have the upper hand over normal aerial monsters."

"A dragon's flying ability is many times higher than any other normal being. So don't make such a stupid mistake, no one is stopping you from transforming into a dragon."

Zick, in these past four months, began to change. It was mainly due to the corruption of his soul, it did not even feel weird anymore, it was like a part of himself.

Zick began accepting his current changes a while ago, there was no way of resisting it.

Three months ago, a report was made by Yuriel to him. It was not possible to remove this red energy from his body, it had already become a part of himself.

Discarding it would be no different than killing himself.

All these four months, Zick has been hearing the voices in his head. At one point, what was bearable before, began turning him insane.

Every day, he had to go through those voices which were growing stronger. There wasn't even a minute to rest, if not for his superior willpower and mind — he would have long gone insane.

His soul which was altered was also something that could not be undone. It had already become one with himself.

'It was a miscalculation on my part, For this 'wills' to have the capacity to grow stronger too...' Zick looked at Arianell with his blank eyes. She had an appearance of a 12-year-old girl, looking peerlessly beutiful as ever.

Arianell's silver hair reached to her waist, tied into a ponytail by Zick. She wore track pants and a white jacket.

Besides Arianell, was another beutiful girl with golden hair. Her name was Aurel, the golden dragon, with time attributes. Zick was training her too in this journey. She appeared to be 8 years old, with similar features to Arianell.

Zick would never berate Arianell before, but as time went by he was turning more and more boorish. At first, he treated both of them kindly as he used to, but now...it was just like a shadow of the past.

Zick squinted his eyes and began moving up the mountain before him.

Arianell and Aurel followed behind him silently, she was aware of Zick's condition. Nevertheless, she could do nothing about it.

Tears almost appeared in Aurel's eyes: "Sister, what is happening with father? I can feel something is corrupting him from within..."

Aurel's voice filled with sadness reached Arianell.

"Don't worry, I will be with you. Father will be back to how he was for sure." Arianell held Aurel's palm and smiled with reassurance.

Zick felt his headache increase as he reached the peak of the mountain.

"...Transform to your dragon form, you both will be honing your aerial skills today." Zick looked at both of them with his hallowed eyes and sat on one of the boulders.

With serious faces, Aurel and Arianell began transforming into their dragon form.

Arianell's silver scales and Aurel's golden scales shone brightly in the radiance of the sun.

Arianell was noticeably bigger than Aurel, but they were yet to reach Zick's size.

They both began sparring against each other in the sky, they had practiced like this two times already. If they still did not get it, Zick would start scolding them again.

There had been even a moment, Zick slapped Arianell for not being able to follow his instruction properly.

Arianell and Aurel were bright, but they were still with many flaws. Their opponents were different kinds of golems most of the time, but they still lost in the end.

Zick took out an alcohol bottle from his space ring and began chugging it down. This was a very special alcohol made from almost all the materials from the Eastern and middle continents.

Therefore, there was a limited amount of this alcohol. By drinking this, the headache that Zick felt would subside and let him relax for a little. Though he would grow somber as a side-effect temporarily.

Zick blankly stared at the clear sky: 'I don't have a long time left, but then, why am I even bothering training them?'

Zick was not sure himself, all the path before him was a dead end.

Within three months, all the continents were explored by Zick. Whether it was the chasm deep within the ground or the giant tree that controlled light particles.

In the end, the result was very disappointing, there was nothing that could help him grow stronger.

Zick was not capable of even thinking straight: 'If I try to research or put all my attention on something else, I will go crazy for sure.'

Feeling sobered up, Zick breathed out with satisfaction.

At first, Zick was training Aurel in hope that he could use her time element, but it did not affect him. Unless she reaches the demigod rank, her powers would be of no use.

The dragon lord's presence could also not be sensed within her. According to Aurel, no such thing appeared in her dream either.

'I feel like killing them both for no reason too, sigh...' If Zick did not hold back this urge, he would have long killed them both.

'Still, I did everything I could in these four months. I feel no regret in my past decision in the slightest.' The airbrushed past Zick, causing his long hair and clothes to flutter.

Zick's eyes moved to the duel between Arianell and Aurel. Immediately anger rose within him, distorting his face slightly.

"Stop! Why are you two holding back?" Zick glared at both of them, making them shiver nonstop.

Both of them landed before Zick, and apologized: ""We're sorry....""

Suddenly, two tight slaps were delivered on their faces. A transparent black hand had appeared before them, slowly vanishing.

Pain coursed from their cheeks like electricity, making them look down.

"Do you think the enemy would hold back like this? Never! If you don't take this seriously, you both will only die in the future for sure." Zick took another mouthful of the special alcohol.

As the anger subsided, Zick understood what he did.

'Again, huh?' Zick heaved a sigh, at first this kind of outburst troubled him, but now all he could feel was hopelessness.

Zick's blank eyes glazed over upon both the dragon's before him.

"You both, just go away. Live like you want, in the place you want, and die the way you want to too." Zick looked at the unending sky at the side.

There was no need for him to train these two, and neither was there a reason for both of them to be treated like this.

Arianell, who was hearing Zick's words, instantly transformed into her humanoid form.

"No...no...I don't want to!" Hugging Zick tightly, for the first time, Arianell began crying.

Aurel too hugged Zick from the side with a sad face.

"I will do anything you say, I won't make a mistake again! So... Don't throw Arianell away!" Arianell began begging frantically, feeling like her heart was being ripped apart internally.

She did not know what to do, she felt sad, despair, and myriads of emotions at once, overwhelming her mind. To her, Zick was everything in the world, if he goes away...

"If father leaves us behind, I will kill myself," Arianell said the thought that appeared deep within her.

Aurel nodded her head too, agreeing with Arianell.

Zick's eyes kept twitching while hearing Arianell speak.

"Can't you tell? It's over, I am going to die soon. There is no need for both of you to suffer anymore." Zick felt sad and annoyed, he tried showing real concern for the first time in his life, but he was rejected.

Zick looked at them with a gloomy face.

"It doesn't matter!" Arianell sobbed harder.

"I will stay with father!" Aurel spoke for the first time too. She was not much used to speaking, just like Arianell in the beginning. They both were really similar to each other.

'Ah, how pointless, in the end, they want to just die with me. Just what is wrong with both of them? They grew attached to me like this so fast.' It felt weird even to Zick, they both were ready to give up their lives so easily for him.

Zick patted both of their heads and looked at the sun.

"Let's stop training then. There is no reason to continue. Let's return to the base and rest."

Zick found the reason he was training them — it was so that he would not leave behind any regret.

'I never thought that my journey would end like this. Hahaha, dying by growing crazy like how I was in my first life. Just that, I would totally go crazy this time, unlike in the past.'

Zick closed his eyes and earnestly thought for a while.

A smile formed on his face: 'Haha, as I thought. Even if I get another chance, I will still choose to walk on this path again with no hesitation.'