CH 50

Zel and the rest of the Pantheon are now in the -Surveillance- room. Their eyes darting around the multiple screens that broadcast a variety of news and information. The abdicate has proven to be a lot more troublesome than they expected. Heck, they can't even get close to the thing. The solitary thing they can afford to do right now was to observe it, pinpoint a weakness they can exploit and use it to bring the thing back down to the hell it came from.

"I don't understand, I thought you said the first abdicate would merely be a minor trouble for us? How is a city-level disaster minor trouble?" Matthew looked at Zel whose stern expression hadn't left his face ever since he brought back those six people.

The man's eyes glowed an eerie blue while staring at the monitor where a gigantic hole in the sky produces a pair of standing legs under it. The abdicate had stayed in that position for an hour now, compelling them to think that maybe it's stuck or something like that. But Zel knew better than others, he's been friends with Matthew for too long to be unable to get a few tricks from his Paths ability.

"I don't get it as well, of all the futures I've seen... None of them contained an abdicate this powerful in the first few months. Usually, we'd be in a war with the other rankers first. Those groups who want to unite the earth under one banner. But now, I don't know... We might not even get to live for a week if that thing gets out."

Zel walked around the room, looking at all the screens as he shuffled his attention at every one. He followed a few interviews with the survivors, a news anchor talking about the floating hole in the sky, an enormous pair of rabbit's feet, even a camera that shows the inside of the Coalition's conference room. All of them were talking about it as if it has been immobilized for now, but Zel knew it wasn't the case.

"We need to inform them, about what it's going to do. I know you understand what I'm talking about Matthew."

The rest of Pantheon looked at Matthew who had been silent all this time. He was closing his eyes in deep thought. Cold sweat was dripping on his back as he tried showing a strong demeanor. When he revealed his eyes, an audible gasp was heard throughout the room.

"Matty! Your eyes!" Kylie ran towards Matthew whose eyes had now turned gray.

She had noted him looking the same as before when he walked through the door just a few minutes earlier, but what happened that made them like this. Matthew's eyes didn't even look at Kylie as he twisted his head towards Zel's direction. He offered the man an uneasy smile, but his eyes never focused on Zel, or anyone for that matter.

"I've never seen anything like it. The abdicate's mana... It's condensing? Like it's flooding every mana in the air towards its chest, right where the heart is, and coercing them to congregate into something so bright I can see it clearly from here."

Matthew looked towards the direction of the abdicate. He was staring at a wall, so the people around him couldn't help but wonder why he was looking at a wall. He then stood up, only to fall back down on his chair again. Luckily Kylie held on to him or he might have fallen back hard.

"That's what happens when an abdicate tries to replenish its mana. Those things have already learned how to harness mana unlike us. Their bodies have already adjusted make storage of mana easier, they typically use their hearts to do it."

Zel subsequently extracted something out of his storage ring, a tiny crystal ball the size of a marble. It was blue and transparent, but the glow it radiates is familiar to everyone in the room.

"Is that... your mana?"

Billy had seen personally what Zel's mana looks like when it is manifested physically. The threads he produced that held six people in the air made him look like a person with tails growing out of his body.

"These are mana cores, crystallized mana that serves as a storage of mana. When you achieve a significant level of control, you can produce this too. Some more extraordinary level beings are even capable of creating permanent mana cores inside their body. This one is merely something I constructed when I had the time."

While he was talking, Zel threw the core in the air and it exploded. The resulting force was nothing noteworthy, but the movement of the residual mana was fascinating to say the least. The threads of mana Zel had were intertwining with the 'mist' that was formed when the mana core exploded, and they were visibly getting more substantial. Then they grew thinner again as Zel made another mana core in front of the others while he clasped his hands together.

Zel produced a smile when he saw that Matthew was already out of his stupor as his eyes returned to normal. He subsequently clasped his hands together while focusing his mana towards his chest similar to how Zel formed the mana core. His mana radiated outwards while coagulating towards his heart, right where the stone of life is.

"So, you finally recognize what it does? That stone is exactly like a permanent mana core, just like the one that Heftpound has. Right now, it is storing mana in its permanent mana core, and when it's done, the whole thing will probably unstoppable by our standards."

"So, what do we do now?"

Phil saw Zel was still giving off a desolate vibe, but the man had always been someone who can fix things. He got him this far too, if he were to be left on his own, he would have been just another dead man in those streets. He lived there after all.

'What do we do now?'

Zel looked around as he gave everyone in the room a gaze. Though this was only the foundation of the Pantheon, he couldn't help but wish it was the same as he had made in so many dreams before. This was getting tiring, especially when you must do this ten of times accumulating to a few years already. Building up only to have to start over, it releases something in him.

Emilia had read his mind and couldn't help but capture him in an embrace. The rest of the group were confused as to why Zel's severe expression suddenly turned ambivalent, like he was tired. His aura which was imposing before had been brought back inside his body and they only saw him put the armor back into his storage ring. He was merely wearing a shirt and a pair of shorts now.

The whole team watched as he turned to the screen where the hole in the sky was being focused, his fist tightened up to punch the screen without any protection at all. It bled while he stood there without even flinching. Kylie was about to attempt and relieve him when she detected a hand hold her back. Her father swayed his head while they watched as Emilia walk up to Zel whose back now seemed so unlike him.

'Should I just give this whole Pantheon thing up? I could just live my life as a bystander, living to protect only who I care about.'

"Don't be like this Zel, that's not who you are." Emilia comforted Zel as his face grew more stressed.

Why is it that he had to do this again? The last time he dreamed, he was pounced on by the very people he had saved. How many ways could the world have ended without his help? Even so, not a single soul had granted him any recognition.

"I know, I'm grateful."

Emilia held Zel's cheeks that were overflowing with tears. She had followed his thoughts for so long, the pain he feels, the guilt he has towards her and many others, she knows them all. But the fact remains that he cannot bear to give up, that he needs to try. Because that's simply who he is. Though now it's hurting him more when he realizes his efforts were for naught.

"No! You don't!"

It was the first time Zel had screamed at Emilia. The lone woman he never dared to hurt even after all those dreams. But he can't take it anymore. The responsibility he placed on himself, did he absolutely need to undertake it? The promises he made to people in those dreams, was there any weight to it when they can't even recognize his face? What was the point?

"I've done everything I can to put this world back together but what do I get? I can't even spend time with you without having to worry about what kind of world we would face tomorrow! The world that I try to build up will be gone by the time I wake up and even then the whole baggage is still with me! The deaths, the dreams, the relationships, I carry them with me! Do you understand what that means?"

"Then share it with me!"

Emilia screamed at Zel as well. If he wanted to stop fighting for other people then he could do so, but he doesn't. He chooses to remain the hero because he wants to, he needs to. It's completely up to him what he accomplishes with that power, what he accomplishes with that responsibility. And she idolized him because of it.

"Share it with me too!"

Kylie had just learned about the way of healing that her ability could not do. Every so often, the best way to heal a person was to talk to them. And it seems she wasn't the only one who assessed Zel's pain as the others soon followed.

"I'll join too."

"Yeah, share it with me!"

Matthew and Billy came up to Zel while patting him on the back. The boss seemed more human now than before, though they had heard from him about his ability to foresee the future, they didn't know just how direct the ability influenced Zel.

"Zel! I'm sorry. Please share it with me too."

Phil, who was looking at Zel apologetically, lowered his head before the man. He had seemed to trigger something in Zel to make him blaze out like that. He was the last man to talk to him after all before that outburst of his.

"Yeah boss! Share it with us."

"Yeah"

Yeah, Zel! Share it with me!"

The rest of the Pantheon seemed to finally understand just what Zel's role is in all of this. The man's ability to predict the future didn't make it his responsibility to consider and manage anything about this whole mess. But he chose to do it and he chose them. Maybe instead of trying to urge him what to do, they can be the people he cherished them to be. The people he believes in to put together the appropriate decision.

"Why don't we just collaborate with Chu Yang and his organization? The man seems to care about Cina as much as we do anyway, it wouldn't hurt to try together while we still have the time right?"

Daisy had already forged on ahead, seeing that Zel had already started to feel better in Emilia's arms. Though she did want to hug him herself, she knew she couldn't do that.

"Chu Yang is a man whose country is number 2 while his reputation is number 1. If we do try to join arms with him, he will not be as cooperative as we would like."

"Who says we need to fight with them?" Zel looked at Matthew while a grin finally appeared in his face. The trademark smile finally returned. He held on to Emilia's hand while looking towards the screen where the Coalition was having a meeting.

"Let's deliver them a plan and make them fight it!"