Chapter 1448 Old Burned Bridge [3]

Chapter 1448 Old Burned Bridge [3]

Damien hesitated for a moment, but seeing the man's pleading eyes, he stopped holding himself back.

Those words.

"Read my story."

They weren't words that alluded to a story that could be told.

Damien was told to read the story not listen to it. The problem was that his ability to do so wasn't something others were supposed to have.

This man was assuming that Damien could read his story.

Or, at least, that was Damien's assumption. When he put his hand back on the man's head and felt with his mana, though, that assumption became fact.

'There's no barrier.'

The man's mind was now open like it wasn't before.

'Maybe it's because I healed him?'

It may have been an instinctual reaction towards his savior, but it also could've been something deeper.

No person, no matter how mentally crippled they were, would willingly open their mind to others without a basis of trust.

That action held great meaning that every living being instinctively knew.

To allow another person into one's soul was an absolute show of trust. To do so without trust was an absolute show of submission.

The natural response of a human being was to protect his or her independence. As long as ego existed, it was impossible to invade another person's soul without injuring them.

Even for Damien, who targeted existence rather than soul, this logic held true.

'He's looking for Dante. Can my father also...?'

Damien shook his head.

'He asked me to read his story. Whatever it is, I'll learn it when I do so.'

He allowed his mana to flow as it wished.

He entered the man's mind, entered his soul, and read the truth of his existence.

Alex West.

He had a more important part in Dante's life than Damien thought.

In the beginning, there were six.

Dante, Hugo, Alex, Serena, Persia, and Claire.

They were a group that traveled and did everything together.

They were the ones who created their legend together, and they were the ones who created Void Palace together.

Six of them, not five.

Among them, Alex was the one who knew Dante the best.

They grew up in the same city. They didn't actually become friends until their teens, but they'd been acquainted through mutual friends and on good terms since they were kids.

Their relationship wasn't a shallow one.

Not only did Alex betray them and fatally wound Dante, but he also destroyed several of the palace's facilities and killed several of their rising geniuses before escaping.

None of his old friends could stop him.

All of his bridges were burned that day.

And he could do nothing but watch as he was slowly driven to insanity within the confines of his own mind.

His body started working with the Straea Clan from that day forth.

The parasite had all his memories and experience. It acted perfectly as if he'd truly become a traitor.

The Void Palace group had multiple encounters with him over the coming years, but they were never able to see the oddity within him.

He desperately pleaded for them to save him. He wanted someone, anyone to see what was happening to him and tell his friends that he wasn't the man they thought him to be.

But it was impossible for him.

He was forced to work as a slave for the Straea Clan under the control of the parasite for thousands of years.

Or was it millions?

He couldn't tell.

But it went on until another fateful day.

Dante Void disappeared.

And suddenly, Alex West became useless.

The only reason they used Alex was because of his relationship with Dante.

It gave them the ability to maneuver around a lot of obstacles to get to him, especially with the knowledge Alex had accumulated from spending years together with him.

When Dante disappeared, they lost the need to use Alex.

As for what happened to useless tools?

The answer was clear.

Alex was thrown away.

He was meant to be killed, but with the last of his sanity, he managed to overcome the parasite for barely a second, fusing into its consciousness.

He became one with the creature, and, as his mind devolved due to its influence, it started acting on his base desires rather than the orders it was given.

He escaped the Straea Clan because of that fusion, but the only place he could go was into hiding. Nobody would accept him anymore.

That was how he found himself in the cave.

His bottom half was severed when he fled from his captors, and his mind was in pieces.

Millions of years passed once again.

And Alex's state only got worse.

All hope was lost for him.

Until he felt that aura. The one he thought he'd forgotten after so many years.

Void.