Meeting the Remnant of Half a Soul

After playing for quite a while, the two of them entered the Memory Pool and found a forgotten memory. This included the girl with the golden eyes, and Mahendra began to get lost in a long dream.

Piece by piece, the memories that had been shattered into hundreds of parts now gathered and merged, becoming one. His various lives, which were very short, whether it was the moment of his awakening or his death. He faced the same fate every time he was reborn, as if he found it difficult to control his own destiny.

"Why?"

At one point, there was a deep sense of disappointment. Among those memories, there was also a profound betrayal that felt so painful. However, Mahendra also realized something else; he, who was now living under the name "Mahendra," was no longer born in the Sky World but in the womb of a mother in the old world.

The place where the black curse on his body originated.

After exploring his long-lost memories for a while, Mahendra was carried away by the current to his most recent memory before becoming the true "Devourer  Destiny."

***

The Eastern Region, Red Sea area.

"The situation is urgent, what's wrong with you?!"

"Quick, get out of there!"

The loud voices of two young men, who were far apart, were heard clearly even with so many people around.

The people who had gathered and were shouting loudly while raising their weapons were not ordinary people. There were two opposing sides that had started a war in this Red Sea.

"The Red Sea? I've never heard of that sea. As far as I can remember, this is just a regular sea," Mahendra, who was in the memory, thought to himself.

A civil war once took place in this area. Mahendra only vaguely remembered that at that time, he hadn't fully awakened yet and was still a 5-year-old boy.

On that day of crisis, he was accidentally pushed into the war zone.

Sweat and blood mixed with the salty smell of the sea. He could only stand still and try to get out of the way while watching the course of the battle.

A brown-haired young man delivered a precise blow to dozens of his enemies without mercy, using only a longsword. 

He stood leaning slightly forward while preparing his stance for another attack.

He wasn't alone. Someone was guarding his back with superior movements. The two of them looked very synchronized on this Eastern Region battlefield.

For a moment, "he," the 5-year-old boy, was mesmerized by him.

Everything was clearly visible in Mahendra's view, who saw it all from within his past self. There were no walking skeletons or dark skies; everything was normal.

"Who... is he?"

The battle then ended with many casualties on both sides. Only a few dying people and enemies who chose to flee remained. The brown-haired young man, who had exhausted his energy, was still able to stand straight.

Unable to control himself, the boy then ran to avoid him. However, since he was quite close to the seashore, he could only run there. To be honest, the boy was lost.Not long after, the brown-haired young man suddenly hugged him tightly.

"Hey, kid! Hurry home."

The boy then turned to face him as the hug loosened. The young man's face, full of wounds, could still smile broadly and even caress the boy's head as if he didn't want him to feel afraid.

"Who... are you? Who... is big brother?" the boy asked.

The brown-haired young man only laughed a little, at which the boy immediately realized that the young man had just protected him from a stray arrow.

"GUPTA!!" A voice was heard calling the young man's name from a distance.

"It's nothing, just a small wound. Luckily, this arrow didn't hit you too. I'm thankful to have a somewhat thick body," said Gupta, still smiling at the confused boy.

"Liar! You dumb!"

Besides finding the eastern warrior who had protected him from an arrow, Mahendra noticed another figure in the watchtower. One person was still holding a bow and another was standing behind them.

"Zia!" Mahendra realized that it was Zia who had planned to kill him when he hadn't awakened yet.

The friend of the brown-haired young man—Gupta—had arrived. With a half-torn uniform and a body covered in blood, and the longsword that never left his grasp. Not only that, he ran towards his dying friend with both of his eyes covered by a white cloth.

"Gupta, are you an idiot?! You should have been able to deflect that arrow! Why did you take a direct hit from the enemy?!"

"It's too late... I didn't want any kids to get involved and get killed just like that." Gupta shook his head, laughing.

In this Eastern Region, Mahendra saw no sign of magic at all. Only the bodies of extraordinary fighters who were blessed by the people of this place. However, there was one person who seemed to have a divine aura.

The luminous aura surrounding that person's body made them look like a holy person. However, they didn't use any magic at all. During the fight, that person only relied on their strong body, martial arts, and swordsmanship.

He was Gupta's friend. The black-haired young man whose eyes were covered by a white cloth.

"Hang in there, please!" He held Gupta's body, which was about to fall.

"Asyura... I'm sorry, I can't stay with you until the end. Be careful of those people," Gupta said to him.

"The Wandering King?" This name suddenly crossed Mahendra's mind when he saw the person's appearance.

The memory then suddenly broke off. Mahendra immediately woke up from his long dream, but was still trapped in the Memory Pool.

"What just happened? Why does it feel like something is missing from that memory?" Mahendra wondered.

"Well... that's because you died shortly after I protected you," someone answered.

Suddenly, a man wearing a Middle Eastern outfit appeared, smiling and waving at Mahendra as if they were close.

"You? You... aren't you... or are you still alive?" Mahendra thought.

The man laughed. Then he answered, "I'm already dead. I'm just a normal human, once that arrow pierced my heart, I wouldn't have been able to survive."

"Just like you who hadn't awakened yet, but you died a silly death as a child," he added.

"So you know who I am?" Mahendra asked.

"Before I died, I didn't know, but after I died, I just found out who you were. Even though in the end, you, who appeared in our territory, died at an early age," he answered clearly.

Mahendra sighed and then said, "Alright, alright, I understand, Warrior Gupta."

"What warrior? I've been dead for a long time. The person in front of you is just the remnant of half a soul." After revealing this, he burst into laughter.