Chapter 710: 14,000 Years Later, Keith’s Goal to Find a New Purpose

Chapter 710: 14,000 Years Later, Keith’s Goal to Find a New Purpose

Narrator: Immediately following the end of the first trial.

Solen: “We won’t be starting the next trial immediately. Rest up and recover your strength.”

Keith: “My idea of resting is to have a drink.”

Solen chuckles and closes his eyes for a moment while smiling. He then opens them and speaks.

Solen: “You’re in luck. I just so happen to have a bar in this tower.”

Keith’s jaw drops in shock.

Keith: “Wait! Seriously!?”

Solen opens his mouth wide and angles his head upward for a big laugh.

Solen: “Haah!”

He then looks at Keith while grinning.

Solen: “Of course, I’m being serious. It’s just a few floors up from here.”

Maiyo does a twirling dance move and finishes by pointing at Keith.

Maiyo: “I believe you said that you would take me out for a drink? Now would be a good time, don’t you think?”

Keith smiles.

Keith: “Yes, you are right.”

Zaydra shrugs.

Zaydra: “I feel like I’m surrounded by alcoholics.”

Solen: “Those interested in my bar, follow me.”

***

Narrator: A few floors higher in the tower’s bar.

With bottles of alcohol in their hands, Keith (who is now back in his normal form) and Maiyo sit at the counter just in front of a shelf of alcohol. The bar’s lighting is quite dim. The lights hanging on the ceiling are neon-colored.

Maiyo circles his finger around the rim of the bottle he is holding.

Maiyo: “So, Keith, what exactly is your relationship with Zaydra?”

Keith drinks from his bottle and then responds.

Keith: “It’s nothing too special. I’m good friends with her brother. She just wanted me to come here with her. I want to ask you the same thing. You called Zaydra your rival. What’s your history with her?”

Maiyo drinks from his bottle and then responds with enthusiasm.

Maiyo: “Good question. I would say it’s been about 217 years since we met. You see, I live here in the Dimension of Deities, and one day, Zaydra started coming to this dimension more often. We encountered by chance, but I was immediately captivated by her beauty. Oh, was she lovely! She was like the perfect mix of elegance and sharpness. Truly a magnificent woman!”

Keith drinks and then responds.

Keith: “Kinda sounds like you have a crush on her.”

Maiyo smiles with a quick amused laugh.

Maiyo: “Hmhmhm.” He then responds. “Yes, perhaps it can be interpreted like that.”

Keith: “You encountered her, but then what happened?”

Maiyo smiles with his eyes closed when he responds.

Maiyo: “She punched me in the gut and then kicked me back.”

Keith opens his eyes wide, spits out some alcohol, and then looks at Maiyo with his mouth agape.

Keith: “She really did that!?”

Maiyo: “Hmhmhm. Yes. She called me a creep. Perhaps I was too forthcoming for a first meeting.”

Keith: “And yet, now you’re rivals…”

Maiyo: “She eventually warmed up to me. Once she did, she wanted me to be her training partner. She said that my punchable face made me the ideal training partner.”

Keith squints his eyes in confusion.

Keith: “That just sounds like she doesn’t like you and wants an excuse to beat you up.”

Maiyo: “Hmhmhm. It didn’t matter to me. It allowed me to continue to observe her beauty up close.”

Keith: “So, how did you two get to the point of competing to be the Deity of Suns’s successor?”

Maiyo grins with his teeth showing and points at Keith with both of his index fingers.

Maiyo: “We had been training near the Tower of Suns. One day, he came out and approached us about it. It was something we both ended up desiring. So, that’s how we became rivals.”

Maiyo rubs his chin.

Maiyo: “But there is one thing about her that she hasn’t told me that I’m curious about. She has an eyepatch over one of her eyes. Did she lose an eye?”

Keith drinks and then responds.

Keith: “Yeah… She lost it in the final war against Hell. Following the war, she’s been wearing an eyepatch ever since.”

Maiyo: “Ah, I see. I’m sorry to hear that. But anyway, you’ve been so good to talk to that I want to know more about you.”

Solen walks in and speaks before Keith can respond.

Solen: “Yes, I would like to know what you hope to get out the trials here.”

Solen stands next to Maiyo and pulls out a cigarette and lighter. He lights the cigarette and then begins smoking it.

Maiyo: “Solen, sir?”

Solen pulls out another cigarette and offers it to Maiyo as he blows out a puff of smoke.

Solen: “Want a smoke?”

Maiyo replies with a smile.

Maiyo: “No, thank you. I do not find smoking to be magnificent.”

Keith looks at Solen.

Keith: “I didn’t take someone as wise-looking as you to be a smoker.”

Solen grins.

Solen: “Appearances can be deceiving. I picked up the habit when I observed some mortals on another planet. Earth is actually the second non-Divine World planet that I have been associated with. But anyway, speak about yourself.”

Keith drinks and then speaks with a sad look.

Keith: “The truth is, even though I put on an excited look a lot, I’m trying to find myself again.”

Maiyo: “Again?”

Keith: “By that, I mean following the final war with Hell. Ever since we attained victory, I’ve been trying to find a new purpose. For most of my life up to that point, I had been working to make the world a better place, whether that be the Swamp Underworld, which is my home, or the whole Earth. Everything was accomplished, but I still basically have had forever to find a new purpose and have done nothing.”

Solen: “Hmmmm. A new purpose, eh?”

Keith: “It’s not even just that. It’s that my overall abilities are stagnant. I’m still largely the same as I was when I first met Light Prince Zeth over 14,000 years ago. Since then, the others in my friend group have obtained powers like Soul Power, a badass muscular transformation, Storm Lord powers, or gaining ultimate aura power. What am I? I’m still just a portal-using guy who has a pretty basic demon form. I’d love to have something like a badass transformation. How can I finally take the next step?”

Maiyo’s expression saddens for the first time.

Maiyo: “That does sound tough. Like you are being left behind. Truly, the opposite of feeling magnificent.”

Solen blows out a puff of smoke and rubs his long white beard.

Solen: “Having watched you, I believe you have untapped potential. If you are willing, I can have you drop out of the trails and begin your own training. I can see it within you, there is a beast just waiting to come out.”

Keith looks at Solen with awe.

Keith: “For real!? If that’s the case, then hell yeah! Let’s do it!”

Narrator: Maiyo has revealed his history with Zaydra, and now Keith has revealed the depressed thoughts within his head! Will he attain what he is looking for?”

Chapter 710 END

END OF ARC

To be Continued in Chapter 711: Earth has an Abyss Pyramid!?

OR To be Continued in Destined Lovers or Enemies – Chapter 1: War of Light and Dark

NOTE ABOUT NEXT ARC: The next arc involves alternate universes (or AU for short). Back in 2019, I wrote a 13-chapter AU story that ties into the next arc. Because of that, I will be posting those 13 chapters before beginning to post the next arc. That AU story is called "Destined Lovers or Enemies." Those 13 chapters are not required to understand the next arc but they do add more context. Also, perhaps there was a hint about the next arc back in Chapter 575. ;)

ANOTHER NOTE: I'm planning to once again release future chapters with a novelized dialogue system. I still don't feel it's the best fit for my story but it's a better reading experience for readers who don't have the whole thing fully pictured in their heads like I do. I also plan to retroactively make this change to all past chapters as well but that will be a gradual process.