Chapter 336 – Theories, Flames, and Oversized Egos
Valor and Valen walked calmly toward the guild.
Well… "calmly" was a big word, especially when Valor advanced with the confidence of an exiled emperor, drawing attention even from the cobblestones.
Valen, meanwhile, still carried Arelis in his arms, hood carefully lowered to avoid anyone noticing that the child he carried was, technically, a walking cosmic problem.
After a few seconds of silence, Valor suddenly furrowed his brows.
— Agniryos proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Primordial Flames…
He crossed his arms, looking grave. Too grave.
— But according to what I saw in his memories, he was born from the empty shell of the First Link.
— An entity of the Void.
Valen looked him up and down.
— Since when do you make metaphysical analyses?
— That's not very… Grand Valor.
Valor turned to him, shocked.
— Nonsense!
— The Grand Valor has ALWAYS been intelligent, handsome, splendid, charismatic…
He thought for a moment.
— …and occasionally brilliant.
Arelis raised an eyebrow.
— So according to you, Agniryos isn't really the Primordial Being of Flames?
— I'm not saying that, Valor replied.
— He clearly uses the Primordial Flames.
— He's immortal, he even resurrected thanks to them.
He narrowed his eyes.
— But a true Primordial…
— should exist before creation.
Valen nodded.
— And Agniryos didn't exist before creation.
Arelis slipped down from Valen's arms and walked beside them.
— Exactly.
— A true Primordial Fire would exist as long as destruction, transformation, or energy exist.
— So, Valen added,
— it would exist in every fire.
— Stars, magma, explosions… Arelis confirmed.
— All would be passive extensions of him.
He paused.
— But that's not what we saw in Agniryos.
Valor proudly ran his hands through his hair.
— I knew the Grand Valor was right.
— Calm down, Valen sighed.
Arelis continued, more serious:
— He masters the Primordial Flames.
— But mastering is not embodying.
Valor grimaced.
— Still…
— He did try to erase the Grand Valor from the narrative with those flames.
— Pathetic attempt, Valen replied flatly.
— Obviously.
Arelis stopped suddenly.
— I have a theory.
— Me too! Valor immediately shouted.
— Nobody asked, Valen retorted.
Arelis continued calmly:
— Agniryos was probably born from the will of the Primordial Being of Flames.
— An attempt to rebirth the First Link through the flames.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
— But that entity had already given its essence to Nova.
— It couldn't resurrect him fully.
Valen thought.
— Even without that…
— the First Link was already lost.
— Either plunged into the World Oblivion.
— Erased forever.
— Or sealed in the Abyssal World.
— An eternal prison.
Valor frowned.
— Wait.
— If that's true…
— then everything the incarnations of Vael erase should end up there, right?
Arelis shook his head.
— No.
— The avatars and incarnations of Vael choose.
He raised a finger.
— Definitive erasure.
— Or conservation in the Endless Abyss.
— In Agniryos's flashback, he added,
— Death erased the First Link…
— but deliberately left its shell intact.
Valen stopped dead.
— …How do you know all this?
— Even I didn't know.
Arelis smiled softly.
— I'm not the Absolute Being for nothing.
— It comes from Vael, Valen murmured.
— In the end… I'm not even surprised.
Valor put a hand on his face.
— My head hurts.
Arelis continued:
— And to be clear…
— Yzareth, the Primordial Dragon of the Void, is much stronger than Agniryos.
— Not by a little.
Valen shrugged.
— The lizard?
— I defeated him easily.
Arelis looked at him.
— Because he fought you with a limited version of himself.
— His arrogance doomed him.
Valen smiled.
— It wouldn't have changed anything.
— I would have smoked him.
Arelis stared.
— …If you say so.
A silence passed.
Then Valor sighed.
— Honestly, I don't know why you complicate everything.
— Not everything needs to be logical to make sense.
Valen looked at him.
— Bold words coming from the one who started the discussion.
Valor shrugged.
— The Grand Valor just wanted to pose a simple theory:
— Agniryos and the Primordial Being of Flames are two distinct entities.
He threw a glance at Arelis.
— But an old man playing at being a kid complicated everything.
— I'm not an old man playing at being a kid, Arelis replied.
— Then what are you? Valor asked.
— An Absolute Being.
— Yeah… sure.
— It's true! Arelis protested.
— Valen, tell him to stop bothering me!
Valen sighed.
— Mister Grand Valor, please stop bothering Mister Absolute Being.
Valor raised his hands.
— Fine, fine.
— I'll stop.
He muttered as he turned away:
— Still… old or not…
— weird anyway.
Curtain. 😌🔥
Chapter 337 – Logic, Vael, and Speed That Defies Common Sense
Valen stopped dead.
— Wait a second.
He turned to Arelis.
— I had decided to erase him permanently.
— You said yourself it's the incarnation that decides, right?
He frowned slightly.
— I decided to erase him.
— Not to send him into the Abyssal World.
Valor, his head literally steaming, passed a hand over his face.
— WHY do you always try to complicate simple things?
He raised his arms to the sky.
— Something doesn't NEED to be logical to be possible.
— Stop breaking our heads with this.
He proudly pointed to himself.
— And when I say "our," I obviously mean the Grand Valor.
Valen sighed.
— Fine…
He shrugged.
— And besides, it's Vael.
— Nothing surprises me with him anymore.
Arelis nodded slowly.
— You said it.
Then, very seriously:
— Even if sometimes… I want to kill Death.
Silence.
Valen blinked.
— …Why?
Arelis looked at him.
His expression shifted.
As if he were hiding something.
— Nothing.
He looked away for a fraction of a second, then added:
— But if it's her…
— Or Vael…
— Who try to hurt you…
He gently placed his hand on Valen's face.
— I will save you.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
— You and I… we are the same.
— You have suffered so much.
Valen stayed silent for a moment, then smiled faintly.
— Don't worry.
— It's in the past.
He frowned.
— And how do you know that, exactly?
Arelis smiled calmly.
— I am the Absolute Being.
The tears vanished instantly, as if they had never existed.
Valor approached slowly, suspicious.
— Wait…
He narrowed his eyes.
— What did you smoke today, old man?
— You're acting weird.
— I'm sure playing at being a kid fried a few neurons.
Arelis stared at him.
— …I remind you I could erase you from the narration.
Valor shrugged.
— Yeah, yeah.
— As usual.
Valen coughed lightly.
— Anyway.
— Valor, can you explain Ravna's powers to me?
Valor straightened immediately.
— Ah.
— Now we're talking seriously.
He crossed his arms.
— At the core, everything is centered on speed.
— But not "I run fast," no.
— Real broken speed.
— I saw her use Accumulation March.
— Each movement accelerates the next.
— The more she strikes, the faster she becomes.
— In the end, she doesn't even move anymore… she chains space itself.
Arelis added calmly:
— She also used Transcendent Steps of Continuous Compression.
Valor sighed.
— Even the name is violent.
Arelis explained, counting on his fingers:
— The technique rests on a simple… but extreme idea.
— She permanently compresses everything related to movement:
distance
time
energy
and even the information of position in reality.
— She doesn't "go fast."
— She deletes the existence of the path.
Valen blinked.
— So… she arrives before she's even left?
— Exactly, Arelis replied.
— The movement is recorded after it has already happened.
Valor added:
— And there's also Instantaneous Fracture Rush.
— No gradual buildup.
— A brutal acceleration.
— Each step crushes the previous space until it ceases to exist.
Arelis continued:
— And with the abilities of my Labyrinth…
— She obtained a passive‑active capacity.
He paused.
— She can directly slice through laws tied to an entity: immortality, resurrection, essence anchoring, avatars.
— It's not an attack.
— It's an authorization.
Valen whistled softly.
— Charming.
— And finally, Arelis said,
Adaptive Hierarchical Execution.
— The technique analyzes the enemy's true position in existence.
— Then instantly adapts the strike.
— Neither too much. Nor too little.
Valor concluded proudly:
— Every blow is perfectly calibrated to kill.
— Zero waste.
— Zero chance.
— That's why she's become more confident.
— And more arrogant.
— Not to mention her scars…
— She earned them.
Meanwhile…
Dervan walked calmly with Ravna, Eldric, and the children — Solan, Lyane, and Kaor — toward the Guild of the Northern Pantheon.
Solan raised his arms enthusiastically.
— Next time, we'll learn to fight with Uncle Valor!
— That would be so awesome!
Kaor was practically bouncing.
— He's so cool!
— So handsome!
— He's got so much flow!
Eldric adjusted his glasses.
— …I have to admit, yes.
Ravna smiled.
— It's true.
— And he resurrected you.
Eldric paled.
— Ah… yes…
— About that…
Ravna frowned.
— You were incredibly lucky Agniryos didn't use his Primordial Flames.
— Even Valor wouldn't have been able to resurrect you.
The children froze.
— What?!
— Your essence was almost completely evaporated, Ravna continued.
— Those flames block regeneration.
— No one can come back after that.
Eldric swallowed hard.
— …Then how am I still alive?
Ravna smiled softly and showed her tattoos.
— Every time they glow…
— It means I've adapted.
Solan nodded, impressed.
— The teacher is really a final boss.
Kaor grinned.
— Or a system bug.
Ravna sighed.
— …You're impossible.
But she was smiling anyway.
Chapter 338 — Strength, Arrogance, and Hands in Pockets
Ravna sighed lightly before continuing, arms crossed.
— It's true I've become stronger… but mostly because I had never faced opponents that powerful before. And besides, there's a huge difference between an S‑ rank — the "almost but not quite" S — and a true S‑rank.
She paused, then vaguely gestured toward the horizon:
— Look at Valor. He can afford to be arrogant because he has the means. When you're weak and arrogant, you're just annoying. When you're strong and arrogant… you're Valor.
Dervan nodded.
— That's true. The difference is pretty huge.
Ravna shot him a sideways glance.
— Easy for you to say, you're S‑rank too. And last time, you're the one who put Aeris in a KO.
Aeris, stung:
— …Our student.
— That genius, he added quickly, trying to save his ego.
Solan's eyes widened.
— He's the one who hit big brother Aeris?
— Why??
Dervan thought inwardly: *Look what you've done, champ…*
He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
— Honestly… I didn't mean to. I just wanted to teach him how to fight.
Ravna stared at him, incredulous.
— Teach someone to fight… by beating him with your hands in your pockets?
Solan lit up.
— But that's exactly what Uncle Valor did!
Kaor clapped his hands.
— Aaah so it was for flex!
— Wait, wait! protested Dervan. It wasn't for flex! It's just that… I didn't want it to be unfair. So I put my hands in my pockets.
Lyane tilted her head.
— Logical… but you still made a mistake afterward.
— You released way too much power.
Dervan sighed deeply.
— Exactly… there. Thanks for reminding me of my crime.
Then he muttered, a bit bitter:
— Luckily these kids won't ruin my reputation for nothing…
He shot Ravna a dark look, like *I know perfectly well you did that on purpose.*
Ravna smiled… and immediately tried to hide her smile with her hand, far too late.
Eldric looked away, shoulders trembling, trying not to burst out laughing.
Solan raised his hand, curious:
— Say… who's stronger, you or Uncle Valor?
Dervan looked at him for a long moment.
— …I can't confirm that.
— Valor is very powerful, from what I've seen. But I don't know him well enough.
Solan continued, admiring:
— Uncle Valor is incredible! He fights while running his hand through his hair, he attacks with insane flow!
Dervan nodded slowly.
— I didn't know him… but the moment I saw him, I knew one thing.
— That man loves being filmed way too much.
Ravna burst out laughing.
— You haven't seen anything yet. Lord… his level of narcissism… it's not arrogance anymore, it's a tourist attraction.
Dervan stayed silent.
— …Wait.
— But we're all arrogant, aren't we? One way or another.
Ravna agreed.
— Yes.
— But him, it's at a stratospheric level. Satellites included.
Eldric added calmly:
— Didn't you notice his arrogance during your little altercation?
— When he didn't detect any mana in you, he made two hypotheses:
— either you were so strong you hid your mana to the point he couldn't detect it,
— or you had no mana at all.
He smiled slightly.
— And since it was impossible for him that you were stronger than him…
— he pointed downward and concluded you had no mana.
Dervan shrugged.
— In that case… he was right.
— I really don't have mana.
Then he added:
— And for the children, it's different from the Guild of the Northern Pantheon.
— They have S‑rank mages.
— We… don't.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, Aeris sneezed.
— Achoo.
— …Someone is clearly talking bad about me.
He turned to Lyan, serious.
— You must become stronger.
— In case Brakk comes back for revenge.
Then, after a short pause, he added:
— …And also so no one ever puts me in a KO with their hands in their pockets again.
Chapter 339 — Resolve, Mockery, and Rare Talents
Vareth crossed his arms, calm.
— Don't worry.
Nyra lifted her head slightly, a dangerous smile on her lips.
— Llan, if he comes here…
— I'll erase that Brakk.
Nyra added immediately, even more casually:
— No, leave it.
— Next time, I'll cut him to pieces.
Llan frowned.
— What did I just say?
— Brakk is mine. I'm the one who has to make him pay.
He clenched his fist.
— Even if for now he's stronger than me…
— If I keep climbing the Labyrinth, I'll eventually defeat him.
Vareth tilted his head slightly.
— Wouldn't you like me to grant another wish for you?
Llan shook his head without hesitation.
— No.
— I can't afford to take the easy way out.
He looked up at them.
— Even if I'm accompanied by beings as powerful as you…
— If I want to protect what I love, I have to make enormous efforts.
A silence followed.
Then—
— THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.
Aeris, tears in his eyes, clapped softly.
— Truly…
— I've never heard anything so sincere.
Nyra sighed.
— Enough, you too, stop your theatrics.
Aeris turned to her, shocked.
— Do you have a heart of stone, young lady?
— How can you hear that and feel nothing?
Vareth intervened immediately.
— She's right.
— You're faking it.
Aeris froze.
— …
— Fine.
— I admit it.
He scratched his head.
— Maybe I went a little overboard.
Then he smiled.
— But it was sincere anyway.
He placed a hand on Llan's shoulder.
— Just for that…
— You're a good one.
Llan blinked, a bit embarrassed.
— …Thanks.
Vareth sighed deeply.
— I don't know how someone can be so powerful
— and so unserious at the same time.
Nyra shrugged.
— It's a rare talent.
Aeris smiled proudly.
— I work hard for it.
A silence passed.
Then Nyra added:
— But still…
— If Brakk comes back, I'll cut him up anyway.
Llan opened his mouth—
— We'll talk about it later.
Vareth sighed even harder.
— I give up.