The swordsman said, and then he snapped his fingers. In the next moment, Aion felt a barrier similar to the type that Sauros deployed… one that makes people outside look like they have become statues… he didn't need a lot of preparation like Sauros, so that confirmed that he was the real deal. In any case, if he could do that much, he probably could have split Aion in half easily if he wanted to. That was really annoying.
"I see… you indeed passed a portion of your powers to their tribe," Aion said while he was having a hard time enduring the pain in his arms.
"Heal yourself, and the battle is over," The swordsman declared. "About your assumption, I am not sure about that. My last memories were during the moments we were facing the final enemy of our time, and during that period, I didn't have the power to pass my power to others. My guess is that those two are my descendants."
"They never said that. They truly believe that you don't have any relation whatsoever," Aion said. "Regardless, why do you want to talk? I am not satisfied with this result, and I am going to leave the tower for a month and then train to defeat you. I don't have a year to waste."
"Don't be unreasonable…" the Swordsman said. "Still, considering your potential, maybe you can become durable enough to become troublesome, but you will never become as fast as me. As you can see, I obtained the power to control time to some extent after defeating countless enemies that could use that magic, and their blood fell on me. My real power was to use sword techniques up to the limits."
Aion frowned when he heard that… so he became like Siegfried. It was hard to believe that ordinary people's blood could do that kind of thing, but then again, people in that world weren't exactly normal… things like actions over the years and mana could make people mutate, and blood was probably rich in mana.
"Interesting…" Aion said.
"Most likely, what is inside those statues is my blood, and you can confirm that with her later," The Swordsman said. "She used her magic and my blood to seal the use of time magic in our world. Considering your actions, it seems that we moved our ways after winning the final battle, and I decided to look for others who could use time magic in other worlds."
"I see… so you had those thoughts even before the final battle. That explains everything," Aion said.
That explained more than a few things, the origin of the Heradins family was still a mystery, but that didn't matter much. It seemed that the current him had the memories of the time his friends were killed but not of defeating the final enemy… that was a bit weird but not surprising. Maybe the Aion's ancestors used the blood that he shed during the fight to summon him into that circle and to make the statues.
Maybe the original swordsman still was out there hunting those that can use time magic… a journey that lasted over three thousand years. Aion felt exhausted just by thinking about it.
"I can tell that you have her blood due to your high magic capacity and talent, but that was her ability, the ability to use mana like no one else," the swordsman said. "You should be able to use your mana at unrivaled levels, but you showed other traits like summoning spiritual weapons or changing the shape of your weapons… one person shouldn't be able to do that. How did you get those?"
"What am I going to gain by revealing that?" Aion asked.
"You got some answers about the past, didn't you?" The swordsman asked.
"That didn't help me that much. I want real benefits," Aion shrugged.
"That attitude is just like her as well…" The swordsman said and then sighed. "I can't do anything that will directly help you. The only thing that I can do is to reveal to you that you will probably get my power if you use the relics, but that will probably leave your era unprotected against enemies from other eras."
"That doesn't help me that much directly," Aion shrugged again.
"I guess it is fine… even if I learn your secret, it won't help the real me, and I don't even know if I am still alive out there," the swordsman said. "I got a bit curious since it felt like you had the potential of countless people inside you… and I also felt relieved knowing that the sacrifices that we made won't be in vain as long as you get stronger…"
"I won't say anything even if you praise me for all that," Aion said. "For that to work, you would have to be a gorgeous redhead with big boobs."
"You really are a lot like her…." The swordsman said and then laughed. "Anyway, now you have a duty to the world. You need to protect the relics… we never managed to learn what was the reason people of other eras kept coming to attack our world, but I believe that they didn't give up yet. You will have to continue the battle since my blood is losing its Power for some reason. The reason for that is most likely my death."
That was a terrible hypothesis, but it also seemed plausible… Aion just wished that he had chosen a better time to die, like during a time his death wouldn't cause problems for Aion.
"I guess it is my time to go, she can probably answer all of your questions, but she is a bit petty. You have been warned," The swordsman said. "Another warning, don't be conceited about your powers, many people thought I was unrivaled, but brute strength isn't everything. It isn't absolute, and that was why I was unable to protect so many people. Don't become a failure like me."