Unlimited Power: The Arcane Path - Chapter 754
Pacific Ocean, Present day.
Leon suddenly woke up amidst the fly when he heard the announcement of the landing. Although he wasn’t a nervous flyer, he couldn’t help but wake up like that whenever he took a nap while flying. Resting on his right shoulder, there was an astonishing beautiful redhead… it was Ilyana, and she also was sleeping. Leon scratched his left cheek and then showed an embarrassed smile while looking at Ilyana’s belly. She was pregnant and, in a few weeks, she would give birth. It was a strange feeling for Leon, to feel so happy and not even a single bit worried about the future. Feeling like that, Leon couldn’t help but wonder if that final battle hadn’t been just a weird and crazy dream, but it wasn’t… because in Ilyana’s belly, Leon could feel Serena’s presence.
Just as Leon had expected, when he and his allies attacked the system’s creator, the monster tried to take all of them at the same time. However, the power of their energy was much more intense than the monster’s attack. Thanks to that, they endured and survived its last trump card. When the monster got hit, several parts of its body exploded, and many others got dismembered. However, things didn’t end there. The army of dragons, Leon, and his ally continue to push the monster and cause damage while charging forward at an astonishing speed. Since their energy was affecting everyone, their power became one, and their speed also became equal.
The monster lost control over all its mana, and little by little, the creature shrunk in size. However, before the creature could actually die, they hit the boundaries of the universe than had shrunk in size thanks to the monster. When that happened, the monster’s presence begun to disappear, but before that happened, Leon felt a bit of the monster’s mana suddenly disappearing from the universe and moving to somewhere. It wasn’t much… but it wasn’t enough to save the conscience of the monster. Tyrselle tried to take chase, but Leon and Sylas stopped her. They could feel the mana moving to somewhere, probably to another universe, but they couldn’t feel what was that that could separate the universes. Fortunately, Tyrselle stopped when she realized that the monster’s body was completely destroyed and now was releasing all the mana under its control.
Everything with the sole exception of Leon and his allies had been destroyed, the universe was practically dead, but with so much mana at their disposal, they managed to restore things the way they should be. In fact, they even managed to change a few things. For example, Ilyana forced Leon to reset the time until the day he was born and made her be born on the same day and even become her neighbor… Leon already knew that, but Ilyana was an unrivaled stalker. Twenty-two years have passed since then, and now Leon was on a trip to visit Makoto. No, he was going to visit Ren and Yuki because they are going to marry.
“Why do you look so serious?” Ilyana said in a low voice very close to Leon’s right ear in a sweet manner.
Leon opened his eyes widely because of the sudden stimulus. He had some sensitive ears, and Ilyana liked to tease him quite a bit that way. Although that itself wasn’t a problem, Leon was quite troubled because he felt like making another kid when Serena wasn’t even born.
“I told you to stop that while you are pregnant,” Leon sighed to calm down. “Sorry if I woke you up.”
“Still thinking of where the creator of the system went?” Ilyana asked, this time showing a serious expression.
“I’m wondering if that thing managed to escape or if something scavenged the remaining’s of its soul,” Leon replied. “Even that thing had a soul, but just like it said before, it couldn’t escape this universe with a low amount of mana.”
“You should relax,” Ilyana said. “Several years passed since then, and we didn’t notice anything weird happening. We are safe.”
“I know that we are safe. We can defeat whoever tries to mess with us,” Leon said. “But what about life in the other universes? The soul of the creator of the system was scavenged for a reason, and I don’t feel like relaxing knowing that something similar that happened to us might happen somewhere else, even somewhere very far away.”
Ilyana nodded. That idea was unpleasant to everyone who still has memories of the things that happened before. However, they earned their lives back, and they deserved a break. They have been fighting for dozens of thousands of years, after all.
“Don’t worry, I’m not planning to go anywhere,” Leon said. “If the people in the other universes are in danger, they should be the ones to protect themselves and protect their reality. I’m just thinking of giving them a hand indirectly.”
“If that is the case, then you can count on me,” Ilyana said and then kissed Leon’s right cheek. “Until Serena and the other eight is with us, I don’t want to go anywhere.”
It looked like Ilyana didn’t discard the idea of looking for possible threats outside the limits of the universe, but Leon did it. However, Ilyana was someone cautious and didn’t like to leave possible enemies alone, and maybe she would eventually hunt them. Looking at their wedding rings, Leon decided that he would go with her and clean the other universes if the time comes. Just like she promised to him that she would never leave him anymore, he promised the same to her.
When the airplane landed in Tokyo, Leon began to think that not many things had changed despite the fact that mana was still available to be used. The reason for that was simple. People feared that the use of mana would create an existence like the creator of the system. When Leon and the others restored the universe, they made sure to pass the memories of the last battle to every single sapient beings in the universe. Thanks to that, things have been really peaceful as of late, but here and there, a dumbass appears thinking that they can obtain amazing powers and rule the world, but here and there, Leon also disappears for a couple of minutes and then solves the problem. At least, he only solves that kind of problem on Earth. He didn’t want to become a galactic police officer, after all.
“Hey, Leon. Can you hear me?” Darya asked via Telepathy. “You can hear me, right? Aha! I did it! I’m finally strong enough to communicate with you even though we are so far away!”
Leon smiled. While some people were afraid of mana, given that all the universe was almost destroyed, others were still playing with it. However, given that Darya was one of the leaders of her world, it was natural for her to become even stronger. Regardless, Leon communicated with her quite frequently, but this was the first time Darya was the one who started the conversation.
“Well done,” Leon said. “It seems you have been training a lot. Despite that, you still are in high spirits. How are you, and is everything fine on Miebos?”
“The same as usual,” Darya replied. “Some idiots appear now and then, but they are all small fries. I’m quite bored these days, that is why I have been training Telepathy nonstop. I guess I will train Teleport now. It must be awesome to cross entire galaxies instantly.”
Although Leon and the others still had their powers, they didn’t feel much the need to use them. It sounded like a waste of time to use airplanes when he could just use Teleport, but then, Leon wouldn’t be able to enjoy comfy moments with Ilyana as he had before. Besides, showing off wasn’t something he liked to do. That was why the dragons’ identity who defeated the creator of the system still was kept a secret. Only a few individuals knew about them.
“How is Donan?” Leon asked.
“The same as usual,” Darya replied. “He still can’t believe that everyone is back. He also can’t believe that you defeated so many monsters. Whenever I bring you up, he looks as pale as a ghost. Still, you don’t have to worry. It isn’t an excuse, but he became what he became due to the circumstances. You don’t have to worry about him.”
“That wasn’t my intention, but… whatever,” Leon shrugged. “Sorry, I need to grab my things. I will talk to you later.”
“Still using the old-fashioned methods to move around, huh,” Darya said. “You are so weird.”
It was weird, but Darya changed quite a bit. It was almost like she was a teenager again, even though she lived for sixty years previously. Then again, it was the right way to take things in order to live a fuller life.
Weirdly enough, when Leon and Ilyana left the airport, they met all their friends. Makoto, Yuki, Ren, Hector, Amanda, Betty, Sasha. Even Tom, Gisela, Lennart, and Sarah were there. Although they fought as allies and enemies in the past, just like Leon asked them, they get rid of those feelings during the last battle. That being said, there still was a feeling of competition between Gisela and Yuki, but nothing too serious. Regardless, unlike Leon, those people had no worries about entering other countries by using Teleport, even though that was illegal.
“Took you long enough,” Hector said. “Well, given the speed you lived your previous life, I guess it is only natural that you want to take things slowly.”
“It has been a while, right, Leon?” Makoto said and then smiled. “You two look great.”
“Only a few months, you also look great, Makoto. For someone is about to become a grandpa.” Leon said and then smiled. “By the way, if I remember correctly, you said that your future son-in-law would have to save the world seven times. I’m pretty sure saving the universe a single time must be enough to receive your blessings.”
“Don’t bring that again, Leon,” Ren said after dropping shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Ren,” Makoto smiled and then touched. “You may not have saved the world seven times, but you stayed at my daughter’s side for centuries. You two certainly have my blessing.”
“Can you two please stop as if I weren’t here?” Yuki looked away, a bit embarrassed.
After laughing for a while, Leon and the others headed to the imperial palace. Makoto was one of the few who didn’t participate in the last battle but knew everything that happened. So, he invited Leon and the others pretty much constantly. In current Japan, his family didn’t have much political influence, so he had a lot of time in his hand. Aside from training his sword skills, he spent most of his time talking with his old friends.
Leon wasn’t very good with stiff rules, so he spent most of his time worried that he might make some sort of mistake during the ceremony on the next day. The Japanese style ceremony was a bit different from the one he had, but fortunately, everything proceeded well, and Leon didn’t mess up, even though he was just a guest. At the end of the party, everyone decided to let loose. Leon frowned since a traditional ceremony just happened, but it looked like he wasn’t the only one who felt overwhelmed by the previous atmosphere. Although Yuki really looked like a refined princess during the ceremony, at that moment, she and Gisela were making everyone laugh while they were competing to see who can eat more rice balls in five minutes. Leon thought Makoto would feel embarrassed by his daughter’s behavior, but he was actually the one who was laughing more.
“Hello, are you busy, Leon?” Crik asked via Telepathy.
“Well, it depends on your notion what it is to be busy,” Leon said. “If watching two grown-up women acting like kids isn’t be busy, then I am pretty much free. How are you, Crik? How are things on your side?”
“I’m fine. I just want to inform you that the number of individuals who are using mana to start wars is increasing,” Crik replied. “Things on my planet are as well as they could be, but so many planets on this side of the universe are starting to wage war against each other. However, some individuals are starting to develop spells that grant them the power to move over long distances and thus arrive on other planets. It is only a matter of time before someone troublesome appears.”
“Can’t you handle them?” Leon asked.
“I can, but I was wondering if kill them would be the right thing to do after all that trouble of restoring everything and everyone,” Crik replied. “I was thought of using Mana Link and that other spell on them and at the same time, make them unable to use mana ever again.”
“I guess turn them into living batteries is better than killing them,” Leon said. “If you think that will be enough, then do it.”
Leon imagined that something like that would happen sooner or later, the world… no, the universe didn’t lack fools who want to wage war for the sake of conquest. With that in mind, Leon gave people like Crik the knowledge of how to use Mana Link in many ways. One of the ways Crik created was to constantly suck the mana of those connected to him by Mana Link, that way, those would lose their powers forever.
“Understood,” Crik said. “If something happens, I will inform you.”
The job of a galactic police officer fell on Crik like a glove. Now that he and his people recovered their bodies, they felt alive never before, even more so considering that they were back on their planet. In any case, Leon just wanted that Crik could relax a little and not treat him as his boss. They were comrades who fought for the sake of the future, and just that was enough.
The festivities related to Ren and Yuki’s marriage lasted for an entire week. At the end of it, Makoto couldn’t help but cry like a little kid. He was the type of father who always dreamt of seeing his daughter married. Makoto wanted him to stay for another week there just relaxing, but Leon had to refuse. Although he could, he decided not to use his powers to earn money. Besides, he couldn’t spend more than one week without working. That didn’t surprise anyone, but Leon ended up becoming a teacher… not a magic teacher, just a regular one. Despite the fact that he felt more satisfied in teaching magic, Leon felt strangely proud of becoming a middle school teacher.
“Well, take care,” Leon said to Makoto, Yuki, and Ren. “When Serena is born, I will bring her over for you guys to see her.”
“It is a promise,” Makoto nodded.
This time, for some reason, everyone felt like returning home by airplane. Strangely enough, everyone decided to stop at Leon and Ilyana’s house before returning to their respective homes. That included Gisela and Lennart. Leon felt thankful for it because with them nearby, Ilyana wouldn’t try to mess with him. Her voice was too sweet, after all.
Although many of the other passengers looked unsatisfied by it, Leon’s friends didn’t stop making noise the whole trip. Sharing recent stories, telling jokes. They had a pretty fun time during those hours. However, that had to stop because Leon heard the voice of someone unexpected in his head. It was Tyrselle.
“Hey, can we talk?” Tyrselle asked via Telepathy.
“I’m listening,” Leon said while he was seeing Ilyana frowning. “I hope you don’t mind if Ilyana can hear us. It is not like I can stop her, after all. Besides, it will prevent her from getting weird ideas.”
“I don’t mind,” Tyrselle said. “This message is also for her, but I don’t think I can say this directly to her.”
Leon frowned when he heard that because Ilyana heard directly anyway. Regardless, Leon and the others hadn’t seen or talked with Tyrselle since the end of the battle. Mostly because they didn’t have a reason to talk or see each other. For a long time, they had been enemies, so it was understandable. Besides, even though it wasn’t something she did indirectly, she caused the death of many who were dear to Leon and his friends. Even though those were things of a distant past and all those events had been erased, it didn’t change the fact that it happened.
“It has been twenty-two years, right?” Tyrselle asked. “Things have been a bit complicated here, so I have been busy. However, in the last few years, I have been thinking about what I should do and say to all of you.”
“I see…” Leon said.
“However, no matter how much I think, I can’t find a way or actions that show you how much I’m sorry for my actions,” Tyrselle said. “Because there is nothing I can do or say that will be enough to compensate for the things I did.”
“You are completely right,” Leon nodded.
“So, I will say this only once: I’m sorry for everything,” Tyrselle said. “This is all that I can do right now. However, it doesn’t mean that I will forget what happened. It won’t change the past since the past can’t be changed, but I will do my very best to make the future even better, even though I don’t know if that is possible.”
“Well… intentions are important. Results can come later,” Leon said.
“In the future, if you need a hand, you can call me,” Tyrselle said. “It doesn’t matter if you need help with something big or small. You can count on me.”
“Got it, I won’t forget this, Leon said. “Is Sylas with you?”
“Yes, do you want to talk with him?” Tyrselle asked.
“No, just look after him,” Leon said.
“All right… see you later,” Tyrselle said.
Before the ‘call’ could even end, Ilyana was already pinching Leon’s side. She was a jealous woman, so it was only obvious that she would feel that way when Leon was treating Tyrselle so nicely.
“Don’t feel that way,” Leon said. “None of us can bring ourselves to forgive what she did, but even though it isn’t an excuse, she also is a victim of the situation like us. Besides, killing her wouldn’t change anything. In this scenario, we got rid of an enemy and obtained an ally. Isn’t it the best-case scenario?”
“I suppose so…” Ilyana frowned. “Just don’t try to talk to her too much, or else…”
“All right, all right,” Leon shrugged. “I will only talk to her whenever you whisper on my ears when you shouldn’t.”
Ilyana didn’t like all that much to negotiate in that situation, but she decided to compromise in the end. A few hours later, everyone was back at Phoenix, and Leon called his parents, saying that they would visit them. It was Sunday afternoon, and give them the next day he would have to work. Leon decided that it was time to visit them. Besides, only a couple of things were better than having lunch with his parents at their home on Sundays.
The weather was perfect for a barbecue, Leon thought, and weirdly enough, his parents thought the same thing. Leon and the others found several tables in the backyard and the smell of meat being toasted.
“Welcome home, son,” Leon’s father said.
“Oh, dear, you brought everyone,” Leon’s mother said. “Thank goodness your father prepared quite a bit.”
Upon finding his gray-haired and well-built father preparing the food while his bit plumply and gentle mother organizing the table, Leon felt a sense of accomplishment like never before. He felt that way many times since the last battle, but the feeling was as strong as ever.
“I’m home,” Leon smiled from ear to ear.
The end.