Zeno glanced at the human pleading below him for a second before returning his gaze to the sky.
"Teach you what?" He asked.
Upon hearing the demon’s query, Kizeler stood up and looked at him. He ignored his throbbing wounds and proceeded to voice out his thoughts.
"I’m nothing without my Legacy," he said.
Then he inhaled a deep breath and sighed before continuing.
"That labyrinth let realize how weak I am against beings that are not getting affected by my eyes. So maybe you can teach how to be efficient and effective when it cos to using my energy," he added.
He was waiting for the demon’s response when he rembered a glimpse of what happened inside the labyrinth when his consciousness returned for a second. He played the mory that bumped into his head while looking at the demon.
. . . . .
"These ice monsters are nothing but canon fodder, yet they keep coming," Zeno uttered as he walked inside the labyrinth while pulling Kizeler’s injured body.
Wolves and bears obstructed his path, and their numbers were so great that they filled the entire corridor.
"Tss, can you guys give way?" He asked.
Then an imnse shockwave coming from him shattered the whole force of ice monsters. Zeno repeated the process while walking.
The horde beca a lot stronger the deeper he went, yet they were all crushed by just his energy.
"I’m still far away from the center," he uttered.
The next second, a club made of ice aiming for Zeno’s neck swung at his side. A humanoid creature was holding the weapon, but as Zeno directed his eyes into the monster, he smiled. And with just a single flick of his finger, the weapon was destroyed along with the humanoid beast.
’This will take forever,’ he thought.
Then he dropped Kizeler on the ground and tossed the black dice in front of him. It destroyed all the monsters on its way before it turned into a scythe that was hurled back to Zeno.
Afterward, as soon as the demon caught the scythe’s handle with his right hand, he spun it around himself and charged towards the horde.
He began to massacre the monsters; they were cut in half and pulverized with his punches. It took him just a minute to eradicate them all.
His weapon turned into its neutral form, and he fidgeted it between his fingers as he went back towards Kizeler and picked him up. Then he glanced at the wall of ice on his right side, and a smile curled on his face.
"Things are getting interesting at the center," he said, contemplating what to do next.
"I’m decided; I’ll take a shortcut," he added.
The next second, he pulled back his right hand, and gauntlets materialized, covering his fists all the way to his arms. Then a huge bang echoed in the place as the chunks of ice exploded from the walls, and another hundred monsters lunged at Zeno from the other side.
Though the demon paid no heed to them, he still threw out another punch that eradicated the group of ice monsters before slicing the rest with his scythe.
"I love to have a Legacy with a fire elent and just burn everything up whenever I see such scenes," he uttered.
. . . . .
"You expect too much from ; I’m not a good teacher, and besides, I don’t want to, and I’m not fond of the thought of teaching soone either," Zeno replied.
’I’m too lazy for that kind of task, after all,’ he added inside his mind.
Then he sat up and leaped down from the tree.
"There are many ways to learn how to be stronger aside from relying on soone like ," he said and started walking.
Kizeler felt disheartened upon hearing the demon’s rejection, but he didn’t give up. He followed him while enduring the pain coming from his wounds.
"Then how? How can I beco so strong like you?" He asked, almost yelling behind the demon.
"Throw away your humanity; that’s the fastest way," Zeno replied, laughing.
"I would rather be weak than strong then," Kizeler retorted, and Zeno’s laughter even beca louder.
Kizeler beca confused as he saw the demon’s action, so he asked. "What’s wrong with what I told you?"
"Your perspective," the silver-haired demon replied without wasting ti.
"Your perception of good and evil. Not all demons are wicked; sa with you humans; most of you are not righteous either," he added.
Then he turned around and looked into the man’s eyes.
"It just happens that demonkinds are superior beings than humanity. They eat flesh, soul, and life force. That’s why you guys see them as monsters, but it’s not just humans. All living creatures are considered livestock for us. We don’t discriminate; we survive on this world by tearing apart those who want to eradicate us," Zeno explained while walking backwards.
Kizeler contemplated as he heard the demon’s explanation. From what he heard, he agreed regarding his wrong thinking process, but he could not stomach Zeno’s reasoning for treating others as livestock.
"That’s the very reason we call you monsters—killing others for the sake of living when you can do it without harming others," he retorted.
"Saying that is like telling to eat shit and die," Zeno answered, still laughing.
Then he turned around and walked the normal way. Kizeler wanted to rebut, but he couldn’t find the right words to say.
’Co to think of it, he’s sowhat right regarding that aspect,’ he admitted.
Then, the next second, he halted his steps as soon as he rembered sothing important.
"The bear’s skin! Damn it!" He scread upon realizing that he forgot to bring his loot.
anwhile, Zeno ignored him and just walked with his eyes staring at the sun while his hands were inside his coat.
They t another dozen rcenaries along their way towards the next town, but they just ignored them as they saw Kizeler’s horrible state.
Then, Zeno spoke all of a sudden, which made Kizeler’s eyes widen with disappointnt.
"Why not try to summon a spirit and obtain it as a familiar? He asked.
"Have you seen wield any elent before?" Kizeler blurted out.
"It’s impossible to form a pact with a spirit without having an affinity for its specific elent," he added.
"That’s true, but there are spirits that lend their powers with a condition: you must abide by them as your master. More like a spirit slave than a spirit summoner, though," Zeno stated, laughing at his own words.
Kizeler sighed as he heard how the demon mocked him upfront. He lost all of his energy to talk. All that he wanted now was to rest to reduce his fatigue and get his wounds treated. However, the next town was still far enough away for him to celebrate.
Deprived of sleep, he found his eyes closing with every second that passed. After all, the only nap he had was the one in the tavern before they went into the frozen lake, yet after they arrived at the next town, the demon didn’t give him the privilege to relax; they traveled as soon as he got his mission approved, and now they were marching towards another town without proper rest or als.
"Can we take a minute to have a breather? I feel like dying," Kizeler uttered, sitting down and gritting his teeth due to the sudden pain he felt.
"Then take your ti and co follow once you regain so of your energy," Zeno replied without halting his steps.
’Are you for real?’ Kizeler thought while staring at the demon’s back, dumbfounded.
"I miss my Priscilla," he whispered, and he stood up before grabbing a small stem from a tree to use as a cane.
Extre silence filled their journey. Even though the sun hid in the clouds and snow began to fall, they kept going.
Kizeler was doing his best to stay alive despite his throbbing wounds and the surrounding area’s chilling temperature. Though, he was a little thankful that Zeno’s steps were not that fast, he could rest for a second even with the continuous walking.
The quietness continued until Kizeler called out the demon and entertained his curiosity.
"Hey, I know it’s a little bit late, but would you mind telling your na? All I know is that you’re a demon, and a very strong one, of course," he said with a short laugh at the end of his words.
Then Zeno looked behind him for a mont before answering.
"Zeno," he introduced himself.
"Is that it? No surna or anything?" Kizeler asked while searching the inside of his head to see if he had encountered such a na before. He tried to rember all the powerful demons that he knew, but none of them had the na Zeno.
Then the demon laughed as he heard the man’s reply.
"There’s no point telling that when I’m the only one alive among the rest of the family," he answered.
"But..." Kizeler wanted to force him to tell his last na, but he gave up the idea, afraid that the demon would find it offensive.
So he formulated another question and conveyed it to the silver-haired man.
"But if I’m not mistaken, I know almost all the nas of powerful demons, yet I’ve never heard of soone who bears the na Zeno; why is that?" He asked, still curious about the demon’s origin.
Then Zeno halted his steps, and this ti he turned around. The white particles of snow were still drifting through the wind when he looked directly into Kizeler’s eyes and began to speak.
"Because the world chose to forget about my existence," he said with a smile, yet his words contained sadness from within.
. . . . .
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