280 The key is finished

Despite how cold and distant great powerhouses appeared to be, the amount that had completely detached themselves from their emotions was almost null. No one who had strived to reach eternity was free of desire, and the more powerful they became, the greater those desires would be. 

It is very normal for powerful life forms to see their families pass away, especially if these were formed during their youth when they were still weak. Those who did not care about that type of bond would not be affected by that, but many found those relationships extremely significant. 

To those types of people, desolation and loneliness could affect their minds and their ambitions. Fortunately for them, the greater their souls were, their higher would be their control over their emotions. Even those with weak wills could endure extreme solitude if their souls reached a high enough boundary. 

There were some that even went to the extreme of purging those emotions from their souls. Although this would affect their personality and ego, many considered it better than to have to resist those painful memories. 

The soul of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was so powerful that no emotion could ever escape his control. As someone who cherished his individuality, he never tore any unpleasant emotion, but he did lock them. The more sad and painful those emotions were, the deeper he buried them, so they would not disturb him as he strived to achieve his ultimate goal.

Unfortunately, Zatiel was no longer the mighty and unparalleled Incarnation of Death and Destruction, whose soul was strong enough to crush a star with a mere thought. He was now an insignificant Rank 3 life form who had not even awoken his True Soul, and the only way he could resist the raging feelings that assaulted his heart was through his will.

Just like Zatiel was able to understand more of the Sage with their conversations and games, the last one was also able to learn a little about the true nature of the Neo-Demon. The Sage knew that it would be almost impossible to break Zatiel's will by using pain, so he chose to tempt him with what his heart desired the most.

What Zatiel saw was a small family playing ball in the garden. There was a middle-aged couple, a young man and a little girl.

After the initial shock, what appeared on Zatiel's face was an incredible sadness. They were the greatest regret of his existence, and the injury he thought was closed.

Their time together could not even compare to a millesimal part of his life, but it was with them that he had experienced the greatest happiness. The time when he saw his father as the largest giant that existed and who could protect him from everything, and his mother as the one who could give him all the warmth and peace he needed.

In front of him, there was also the oldest brother with whom he always fought, and the little sister he pampered.

'It's thanks to our naivety and innocence that we can experience the greatest of joys. I wish I had known that sooner and learned to cherish that time with them while I still had it.' An incredibly sad smile appeared on Zatiel's face. He remained where he was standing and did not get close to the family.

The Neo-Demon knew, deep down, that everything he was seeing was an illusion. However, his senses and even his own instincts were telling him that this was reality, and he felt a force working on his soul pushing him to forget the world outside and take this beautiful dream as a reality. The moment his will showed the slightest sign of instability, he would be defeated.

After a couple of minutes, the family finished playing, and they continued with their lives. They behaved just like in Zatiel's memories. The parents went to work while the children carried on with their studies, and they would occasionally take trips together. They laughed, got sad, fought, and everything a normal family would do.

Zatiel kept watching the family of four but never got close or interacted with them in any way. The Neo-Demon felt that the moment he took that step forward, he would fall into a pit from where he would not be able to escape.

With every passing second, Zatiel felt more and more detached from reality and pulled into this dream world, but his will remained strong.

One day, as Zatiel was seeing the family having dinner together, darkness filled his sight, and he felt the pressure that had been assaulting his mind from the beginning disappear. 

Everything returned to normal the next second, but the Neo-Demon could see the cracks the were forming around him.

Zatiel realized what was happening, and a complicated expression appeared on his face.

'I guess they have fulfilled their goal.'

It was clear to Zatiel that the dream world the Sage had pushed him into was crumbling, which meant Sigrid and Aren had managed to change their fates and destroy machinations made against them.

Zatiel wanted to take one last look at them when all of a sudden, the force that had been attacking his soul for years came back hundreds of times stronger. The Neo-Demon clenched his fists and bit his tongue to resist, but nothing appeared to be working. The difference between reality and illusion became null, and then it happened.

He saw how the little girl, who could not be more than six years old, came to him and extended her hand.

"Big brother, join us." She spoke with a cheerful voice, and her smile was incredibly pure and innocent.

Zatiel's entire body trembled, and he felt like someone was ripping his heart from his chest. He only needed to raise his hand to touch her but was able to resist.

"Why do you resist, surrender and you can be with them forever. Pure happiness awaits you if you stop fighting. It may be a dream, but sometimes a dream can be more real than reality itself."

Zatiel felt those words appearing inside his mind, trying to break his defenses and affecting his judgment. 

A second later, the entire family walked to the child's side, and the older man looked at Zatiel with a kind smile.

"We miss you, son."

Zatiel's eyes widened when he heard that, and then he saw how the cracks filled everything around him, including the family, and a moment later, they became dust in front of him.

The Neo-Demon saw the dust rise to the sky and he could not help but sigh.

"I miss you too." Zatiel understood that they were not real, but he truly desired things would be different.

Those were the first and last words Zatiel spoke inside the dream world before this one collapsed, and he was released.

The time Zatiel spent inside the dream was several years, but less than ten minutes had passed in the real world.

Zitra was extremely confused by what was happening. It was not weird for Zatiel to stop during his work, but she noticed immediately that it was not a wave of pain the origin of his condition. 

Zatiel did not respond no matter what she did. Even when she sent her consciousness inside the Neo-Demon's body, Zitra was not able to find anything. Eventually, she communicated with Totto and told him to come to their location since the Lich knowledge about the soul was greater than her's.

Zitra's consciousness was fully active as she protected the Neo-Demon and saw something that shocked her. Zatiel's eyes twitched, and tears came out from them before he woke up.

The Magus saw that Zatiel's eyes were empty, but the truth was it was just a curtain that hid the absolute hate and rage he was feeling at this moment. 

The Neo-Demon did not even look at Zitra and just waved his hand and inscribed the last part of the runic formation. The runic formation did not disappear into the ground as the previous ones Zatiel had created.

He walked forward into the runic formation, and when he was in the center of it, this one began to glow with an impressive red light. The entire continent trembled as the runic formations Zatiel created appeared once again and connected each other until they became a single rune. 

Without caring for the confusion of the woman in front of him, Zatiel slammed his hand into the ground and activated the rune that occupied the millions of square miles of the Fornes continent.

"Activate Rune: Usurpation of the World Consciousness."

The rune in the Fornes continent shone with a light so powerful that it could be seen even from outside the Crystal Wall, but that was nothing compared with what happened next.

Giant runic lines that reached the deepest part of oceans, covered every piece of the earth, and filled the Crystal Wall appeared in the Beta Heavenly World.