Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1373 Command to Rest

Arthur stared at the golden crack that had appeared inside their world, while Ragnar sat on the ground next to the pond. The two of them sat in silence for a while before Ragnar rose from his seat.

"Is it time?"

"Time," muttered Arthur with a smile. "That term sounds like a joke after all that happened. How many years has it been?"

"Just a few minutes, in the real world," Ragnar answered with a smile as he stared at his hand. "I'm about to disappear as well. This is the last shred of my will left in this world."

"Does that mean I'll never see you again?" Arthur asked with a frown as he looked at his ancestor. Although the two men had never met before this ordeal, they grew closer than any two souls could. Ragnar smiled as he felt his sentiment.

"The time we spent together will always exist in your memory," Ragnar said as he placed his hands behind his back. "I taught you everything I have to know about wrath. The Virtue of Patience will no longer have an effect on you."

"You used the last sliver of your soul to teach me this," Arthur stared at Ragnar with confusion. "Am I the right person to carry your will?"

"Time will tell," Ragnar said with a smile, and then the two broke into laughter. Their echoing voices died down as the golden crack grew bigger. It had been there for years now, but it was just a second in the outside world.

"I have one final question before I leave," Arthur said while staring at the world crumbling around him. "What made you lose against Devaheim?"

Ragnar seemed to have prepared his answer long ago. Arthur knew that the Virtue of Patience and whatever weapons Devaheim had weren't enough to kill the King of Wrath. Something else killed him.

"I lost because I wanted to lose," Ragnar said, which made Arthur confused as he turned toward him. In their countless years sitting in this place, Ragnar had never revealed this piece of information. "I knew that I wasn't the one to decide justice for the world. It should have been someone who wants to do it, not someone like me, burdened by his sins."

Arthur nodded after a brief silence. This fact would go unknown forever, but Arthur would never forget. Ragnar was the kindest to everyone, except to himself. The sins he carried never left his mind, and Arthur would be the same.

The world began falling around them, as Ragnar closed his eyes with a smile. His soul began scattering with the wind to leave Arthur as the sole witness of its end. Arthur

watched as Ragnar left behind a single scroll.

Arthur unfolded the scroll as the world crumbled around him. Written inside was the final lesson that Ragnar had to tell him. It was the last technique to master wrath.

Inside the scroll, Arthur found a single, beautifully inked line:

"To wield wrath is to understand its purpose: not to destroy, but to transform. True wrath is the fire that tempers, not the flame that consumes."

Beneath it, a set of instructions followed, guiding him through the final technique.

"Breathe in the fury, yet release it as calm,"

"Let anger fuel your focus, not your rage."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"When the mind is clear, wrath becomes a force that strengthens the weak, shields the innocent, and purifies the heart of fear."

Arthur read each line, feeling the words ignite within him. Wrath was no longer a burden but a tool-a fierce compassion for the world, a fire he could control. Ragnar's voice lingered in his mind as he realized that this last lesson was a gift: not just power, but peace.

Ragnar had given him peace that could whittle down the wrath into something more defined. The world then crumbled around him as Arthur found himself standing inside Kera again.

His hair had grown long enough to reach his feet. Arthur was wearing black robes with nothing underneath. His golden eyes scanned the battlefield to see Diana, Deluge, and his kneeling guild members.

"We welcome the guild master!" shouted the group behind him as Arthur returned, the stone that encased him scattering to dust. Arthur stared at them, then toward Diana, who had tears in her eyes and blood on her face.

Arthur reached toward her face and wiped away the blood and tears. He could tell that she was exhausted after giving everything to bring him back. She fought to protect a city she did not know for his sake.

Diana escaped her world and waited for him for one hundred fifty years inside the ice. She sacrificed her years to be with him again. After everything they had been through, Arthur was disappointed.

"I'm sorry, for I will never be able to repay you, my love," Arthur said as he caressed her face with a gentle touch. "I'm sorry for always disappearing."

"But you keep coming back," Diana said with a grin. "I knew that you would."

"Then why would you cry?"

"Because... you look sad," Diana answered as she cupped her hands around his. Arthur was confused for a moment before understanding. Ragnar was gone, and he was alone

to fight against the gods.

No, he was not alone. Arthur stared at Diana and then at his men who lined up behind him. He looked at every single one of them, choosing to serve him when the entire world wanted him dead.

"This battle is over, Deluge," Arthur said as he turned toward the calamity, who stared at him with confusion and shock. "Your virtue will no longer work against me!"

"How can you... return?" muttered Deluge with confusion. "They told me that a single cut would kill you, just like Ragnar died. How... could you be this much different? Why am I unable to kill you?"

"Because you were never meant to kill me," Arthur answered as he raised a hand. His coarse fingers seemed to touch the fabric of reality as they met one another. "But you were never meant to exist, too."

Arthur then snapped his finger, and Deluge stood there with confusion. Nothing changed before the stone sword fell to the ground. Deluge stared down at his hand, which began to disintegrate. He watched the same happen to the rest of his body before he turned toward Arthur.

"What have you... done?" the calamity asked with fear and confusion. It no longer had the heart to hate Arthur or seek to kill him. Deluge understood that he was never

meant to defeat him.

"As the King of Wrath," Arthur muttered while lowering his hand, but his eyes betrayed a pitying and saddened look. "I command you to rest."

Deluge stared wide-eyed as his entire body scattered with the wind. There were no screams and no promises of revenge. The Sin of Lust died once more, but this time... he would never return.