All signs of life vanished. Once again, he had died. This was the expected result. I couldn't predict the future with Laplace, but I could spot the trends among the endless possibilities. There were a few times where he won, but among the thousands of simulations I did, his defeat was the most prevalent. And yet, I let him take my place. He begged me to and I knew it was safer for him to go instead of me, but had I truly made such a cold and rational decision? Or was I secretly hoping for a miracle? I believe it was latter. After all, how else would I explain this emptiness in my chest?
If only I had stayed firm and refused him then, maybe...
Oh well, it was too late for that either way. He wouldn't hear me anymore, but I said the words expected from a real master in this situation.
"...Thank you. Really, thank you."
I didn't want to move from this position as I felt a rush of nostalgic memories flashing through my mind, but before his body became one with the world, I laid my palm over his closed eyes. This was probably the first time I felt so revolted towards this act, but I couldn't allow myself to stomp all over his wishes. Even if this was my rational side forcing its way to the surface of my consciousness, I would follow through.
"Assimilate."
His body wavered into gaseous state before sinking into my body. My eyes grew wet as his memories poured in, but I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth to hold back these tears. How could his proud master cry at a time like this?
[Conditions have been met. Transcendence of Strength has been achieved.]
[A new title has been unlocked.]
[??? (1/4)]
[Conditions have been met. Transcendence of Defence has been achieved.]
[A new title has been unlocked.]
[??? (2/4)]
A couple notifications came up and I felt the silent but enormous change in my body, but I just couldn't get excited. Everything suddenly became meaningless, as if nothing but my memories of him were real.
"I couldn't even give him a new name. Should I put 'Chad' on his grave? Ha, ha..."
I tried to brush it off with a joke, but that only hurt me more. All I wanted was time to grieve, so why?
"Why can't you give me that, Alcor?"
Pieced together from the fragments of flash that were left of him, True Ancestor Alcor returned to standing on two feet. There seemed to be no damage from my attack, but that was expected. If he was such an easy opponent then Brad never would have lost.
I felt no desire for vengeance when I glanced at him. In the end, Brad was the one who attacked him and I ordered it, so getting angry at him for retaliating was too illogical for me. I still felt a bit of irritation but if he quietly scrammed then I wouldn't pursue it for today.
"What a strange 'master' you are. That man gave his life for you and you accepted it, so why do you show such a pathetic face?"
Even in the midst of talking, he used the blood in the room to attack me, but that blood never got close.
He was speaking the truth. I thought that absorbing him was the most suitable and logical thing to do, I still believed that. But the fact that it had to come to this heavily weighed on me.
"I don't know. Probably because I feel responsible. If I had killed you myself, this never would have happened."
I said it in such a calm tone that it didn't sound arrogant, but that made Alcor all the more infuriated.
"You, a mere brat still smelling of your mother, dare overestimate yourself before this ancestor?!"
Alcor shouted at me and created a vortex below my feet to swallow me whole. However, the vortex showed no effect.
"What?!"
He seemed surprised, but I felt no joy over this small victory. In my heart, remembering Brad was far more important than dealing with him, but I knew he would want me to finish the task he left behind.
With the inactive black hole beneath my feet, I stood up straight and faced Alcor.
"Be at ease, I won't use magic. I'll pummel you with brute force like he would have."
I could see Alcor becoming even more enraged, but like a true veteran he hid it in his burning glare. Considering this steadiness of his and the many trump cards he had in reserve, killing him without magic used to be difficult even in my Dragon Form. But now, I could patiently wait for him to make a move. I could use Laplace to predict what he would do, but with the new power I had, my victory was virtually set in stone.
Taking advantage of my passive state, Alcor summoned golems of blood and sent them after me. Unlike regular stone golems, these ones could extend their limbs to increase their reach and spread poison as air came in contact with their bodies. A normal barrier would probably melt before these golems, but I didn't need that. Just like him, I planned on being straightforward, so I didn't block an attack that I didn't have to.
Just like the attacks before, the golems stopped moving once they were within a certain range of me. I quickly noticed the implications of this, but I still held my ground.
"Ha! I don't know what skill you're using to block my attacks, but that complacency will be your undoing young one!"
Alcor then ordered the blood golems to explode, thereby forcing the poisonous substance to invade my vicinity through the air. Like he had probably noticed, the air itself wasn't barred from getting close to me. It was a minor trick that didn't matter considering the true nature of this phenomenon, but I humoured him by enduring this gas. If it was that guy, he would bust out his sigils and smash through this smokescreen, so I tried to do something similar.
While his vision was blurred from the bloody mist, I lowered my posture and prepared to pounce like a lion. When I stored up enough energy, I clenched my fist and pushed off. Faster than a bullet, I stole his neck from his body, and then crushed the rest of his body with a wave of my hand. Even for a True Ancestor, this would be checkmate as no matter how many times he regenerated he would still be in my hands. However, I knew that this wasn't over yet.
"Ahhhh!"
As soon as I heard the scream of the head in my hand, I noticed it mutate into a hideous form while rapidly expanding, and to no surprise, it burst.
"Hahahaha! It always fills me with joy whenever I teach an arrogant youth a lesson. To be fooled by a mere blood doll after all that talk, have you learnt what shame is yet?"
A blood doll, this was the first time I touched one but I knew it was simply a golem made using Blood Magic that could perfectly replicate anyone as long as the castor had their blood. It was nothing special that he used his own blood to make this one so I really didn't know why he was so excited.
"You know, as a True Ancestor can't you be more of a threat?"
As the red mist cleared and I spoke out against his stupidity, Alcor's rage began to erupt, but then he suddenly cooled down. As if all of that previous behaviour was just an act, he showed an cold, ice-like expression.
"You're right, my apologies. It seems I lost sight of myself. From now on, I'll face you seriously."
Facing his imposing presence like this, I felt a bit miffed that he wasn't fighting seriously against Brad, but I quickly threw that anger away and clenched my fists.
"Good. I hope you'll at least be able to scratch me now."
Still, there was nothing wrong with using an extra taunt, right?