Chapter 37: Chapter 40 – The Lost Two Years

“I defeated you with the power of sleep through your Soul Possession. We defeated Lord Virgo because of his unstable Shade Core, and we defeated the other Suzerains because of their arrogance. Lord Darkin has none of those variables.” Theseus explained to the confused Aries.

“You don’t think we can beat him, even with all this training, do you?” Aries got nervous.

“No. Even with my foundation, if Lord Darkin has even half of my foundation at a sub-rank higher, we will lose. I was banking on the hope his foundations were strong but not peerless. I think I was wrong due to new intel. It is safe to assume his foundations are at least four to five times stronger than the average C Rank.” Theseus explained.

“Why the sudden change of heart now?” Aries couldn’t wrap his head around the sudden change in Theseus. What new intel?

“Call it a moment of inspiration. Remember Heaven against the other party?”

“Yes…” Aries responded quietly. They were currently alone, but Aries didn’t like talking about the Self-Soul Hypnosis. 

“We are going to kill him with love.”

“You can’t mean-“

“Yes, we are going to use the same strategy.” Theseus grinned. 

Although Theseus had lived six full years in Hell up until now, there was a caveat.

During the Self-Soul Hypnosis, Theseus and Aries lived in the dream world for two full years. In reality, only six months passed while Leo watched other Theseus’s body. This lost year and a half was what changed Aries from an enemy to an ally. 

Heaven Floor Four. 

During their recovery time after facing King Ouzo, Theseus learned a lot about the nature of Authority, namely the premise of cost. For every exchange of aura, there was an equal and opposite reaction, like the conservation of energy in science. The Authority Path used the surrounding ambient aura as a leverage for the imagination based on the future cost of the skill’s characteristics. 

For example, an Authority skill that acted like a Potential Seal used ambient aura as a conduit for the future aura cost that took its toll on the vessel. Likewise, the dream skills Theseus and Aries used were reliant on the fact that the dream was not reality. Because of this, Aries was able to cross an entire realm through imaginary aura. Aries, who was skeptical at first, came to believe the skill was well thought out.

“This might actually work.” Aries shrugged his shoulders in respect.

“That almost sounded like a compliment.” Theseus smiled at the Shade.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’ve been climbing this damned mountain for weeks, but our progress is too slow. Are you even sure we can reach the end of the fourth floor?”

“Because of our injuries and the new party composition, I had to augment the path we will have to take considerably.” Theseus glared. Aries, knowing it was his fault they were in this mess, could only keep shrugging. 

Hours went by without either speaking. It was awkward traveling with someone who tried to kill you as an ally. 

“Hold on, there’s something weird up ahead.” Aries signaled for Theseus to stop.

“What is it?” Theseus inquired.

“There… There’s another party,” exclaimed Aries, analyzing the auras of a group of five about a mile away. 

“Of people?” Theseus asked stupidly.

“Yes you idiot!” Aries smacked Theseus on the back of the head. 

“Ouch, that hurt you son of a bitch!” Theseus yelled and grabbed the back of his head in pain. 

“Shut up, do you want them to hear us? There are two Royalty Realms there.” Aries growled. 

If the dream was accurate to reality, there could have been another party climbing the fourth floor at the same time as Alvaro’s party, but if it was a dream, neither Theseus nor Aries could know the full truth. At least for now, the existence of this new party on Floor Four was the reality Theseus and Aries had to accept. 

“What should we do?” Theseus asked. He didn’t have a grasp on their power and had to rely on Aries’s analysis.

“They’re much stronger than us. If they haven’t noticed us yet or don’t care, I think we should find another way up. If not, we might face some people who hate Shades, or they might want to take our stuff.” Aries thought like a true cynic. In his eyes, this party would without a doubt be a threat. Theseus was more inclined to trust these mysterious strangers more, but he took the Shade’s thoughts into consideration. 

If not for Aries attacking Theseus’s party on sight, their coordination would’ve been enough to take him down if there was any hint of hesitation. If Aries could sense them at his injured F Rank King level, the party had surely noticed them by now. 

“What should we do?” Theseus asked. A human traveling alone with a Shade up Heaven was suspicious, and they had to come up with some sort of excuse. 

“I guess that means there’s no other way up for us. Damn! We can’t tell them this is a dream; they’ll think we’re insane!” Aries grumbled. 

“What if we tricked them into thinking my old party members were going to die and tied their souls into a Shade?” Theseus suggested. 

“That would never work! Couldn’t they just use a Spirit Ritual for that?” Aries countered. 

“Spirit Rituals take longer to set up. It could be plausible.” Theseus shrugged. 

“What? Plausibility won’t save us here! Most Shades are evil because they have incomplete or flawed Shade Cores, and they’ll assume I’m using you. It won’t hold up.” Aries growled. 

“And you’re saying your core is stable…” Theseus joked. 

“Shut the fuck up. I happen to be a Shade expert.” Aries bragged. 

“Okay mister Shade expert. Isn’t my story plausible enough?” Theseus continued to joke. 

“No, because they probably don’t know much about Shades.” Aries sighed. Shades were misunderstood creatures. If not for the common instability and brutality of the Shade path, it could be used in artifacts and other paths safely. 

Aries was a firm believer in Shade path reform. 

“Alright then, I say we come up with a backstory and mess with our memories a bit.”

“What do you have in mind?”

***

“Help! Please, help us!” Theseus cried out. 

“Identify yourselves!” The party leader, Ciphera yelled at the young man cradling a Shade. 

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“Please, she’s dying.” Theseus had tears in his eyes.

“Stay back! Who are you?” A man beside the party leader called out. 

“My party… they all died… the only way to save my love, was this Shade ritual! Please, her core is unstable, help before she dies or goes crazy!” Theseus collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion and passed out. 

“Ciphera, what do we do?” The man asked. 

“Hmm, looks like trouble. Let’s just move on. Leave them a small medical kit, but don’t engage.” This party was on a strictly kept secret mission for one of the Four Powers, the country Phanec.

Moving on, they navigated away from the troublesome duo without engaging. 

***

Hours later, Theseus awoke and remembered what he was actually doing in Heaven. 

“I can’t believe that fucking worked.” Aries, now bandaged from his self-inflicted wounds with the medical kit, exclaimed. 

“That’s the power of love.” Theseus winked. 

“Ugh, don’t make me vomit.” Aries laughed. 

As the two continued to climb Heaven’s notorious fourth floor, they cheesed their way through trials with comically bad acting and backstories. 

Similarly to his last life, but this time on purpose, the duo faced the F ranked half-Goddess Aurora. 

“What the fuck is that thing?” Aurora threw up at the sight of Aries, who was a distinctly grotesque looking Shade. 

“My wife, my party, they’re all dead. She’s all I have left.” Theseus cried to Aurora, who started to feel bad for the kid. It was miraculous this kid and his disgusting friend survived this far. 

“Okay, okay, just fuck me and have that thing turn around. I’ll let you leave nice and easy.” Aurora licked her lips. 

“You bitch! I’m beautiful!” Aries jumped at Aurora and hugged her violently, breaking character. 

“What the fuck!” Aurora threw off Aries like a rag doll, and he fell limply to the ground, gravely injured. 

“Eww, I need to wipe off his icky Shade germs.” Aurora gagged and tore her clothes off, as if Aries gave her a disease. 

“Get out! Just get out!” Aurora cried violently at the duo as she summoned water to scrub off the Shade germs. The Shade would shouldn’t have survived anyways.

Theseus drug the battered Aries away, and quickly tended to his wounds. Nonetheless, it was a successful trial, although Aries broke character before their scripted scene could play out. Apart from their extreme gambits with dangerous skills, their ‘acting’ got them through Heaven and put the two all the closer to the peak of Heaven. 

***

Back in the present. 

“So which trick are we pulling over on Lord Darkin? I call being the helpless survivor for once! I’m always the disgruntled wife, Shade of the party members or a corpse.” Aries protested. 

“Hmm, I wonder why?” Theseus teased. 

“You bastard.” Aries grumbled. 

“No, this time, we have to split up. I’m sure someone of your acting talent can pull off a solo scene.” Theseus complimented. 

“You’re damned right. I’m guessing I’ll be with the B team fighting Taurus, Scorpius, and the other Captains, right?” Aries grumbled. 

“Do you want to fight Lord Darkin instead?” Theseus raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I would break character.” Aries sighed. 

“Enough jokes, I’m gonna use Jezebel, Capricorn, and Leo for the fight with Darkin. You’ll take Virgo, Gemini, and the other Captains I think. Just fight like normal and play the scene out. It won’t matter if you win or lose.”

“No way I’m losing after that humiliation against Achilles.” Aries clenched his fist, remembering his defeat. All this time, he had been relentlessly training behind the scenes, hoping to never lose like that again. 

“I know you’re much stronger now, but you will be outnumbered. Be careful.” Theseus warned. 

“Don’t worry brat, I have a secret weapon.” Aries bragged. 

“What is it, Shade? You ate some more souls?” Theseus snorted. 

“No. Like you’ve been embracing the Authority Path, I’m following the Shade Path. I’m integrating a new skill you’ll find impressive.” Aries said seriously. 

“Did you make it yourself?” Theseus asked. 

“No. I’m using the notorious Shade Runes.” Aries smiled. 

“Impressive feat, for a Shade.” Theseus grinned. 

Behind closed doors, Aries perfected a rare specialty sub-class of skills. Integrating Shade magic into common runes was a sub-craft known as Shade Runes, and it was extremely rare because it required equal skill in the Shade and Runic paths. 

Most wouldn’t bother learning how to craft runes with Shade magic because the runic power wasn’t increased all that much even with intense research and practice. The only upside was the utilization of the Shade Core in runic spells. 

It was more or less a dead practice since the possibility of a rune failing had a step price, and Shades were notoriously bad with complex runes due to their unstable natures. Incorporating volatile Shade magic into a precise craft was asking for failure, but if any Shade could do it, it was Aries. 

“Let me show you: Tier 2 Shade Rune: Shade Eclipse.” 

After a brief spar, Aries and Theseus panted heavily on the ground to catch their breaths, but both smiled sinisterly. 

Their upcoming ‘performance’ against Lord Darkin would surely shake the foundations of the Oceanic Realm. 

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