Chapter 16 : "Happiness vs. Absolute Power"
The shattered planets scattered across the void of space, remnants of Azar's devastating explosions stretching across the realms he had traversed. Azar stood amidst the ruins, his heart pulsing with the immense power he had attained. Yet deep within, he felt an unfamiliar sensation—an emptiness no amount of power could fill. In that moment, he grasped a truth he had never before considered: absolute power, all the strength he had sought, was nothing but a mirage.
As the echoes of the obliterated worlds reverberated in his ears, a wise saying resurfaced in his mind, something he had once heard in one of the realms he had passed through, spoken by an ancient sage:
"Power is a burden, the mind is its jailer, but happiness is true freedom."
Azar pondered: Was this power—the force that had allowed him to destroy everything around him—truly what he had been seeking all his life? Was the chaos and ruin he had wrought a genuine expression of power? Or was happiness, that simple moment of inner peace, the true goal he should have pursued?
It felt as if a small light began to glimmer within him. The further he had advanced in his quest for power, the further he had drifted from that simple thing that could have brought him real solace.
He recalled fleeting moments from his past, back when he was young in the world he had once called home, before he knew pain and loss. Those moments were filled with love and tranquility, moments of happiness that needed no strength to sustain. He remembered his mother's and father's smiles, their eyes brimming with hope and love, and how everything had seemed so simple and pure.
"What have I done?" Azar whispered, the weight of the truth settling over him.
The power he had believed would grant him dominion over the cosmos was not what he truly needed. Instead, it was happiness—that simple, fleeting moment of inner peace—that he had overlooked in his relentless pursuit of strength.
It had been so long since he had felt that happiness, and now, all that remained was the destruction he had wrought. Standing there, at the pinnacle of his strength, he realized this dominion brought no solace. It was merely another burden upon his heart.
"Happiness is the true power, and everything I sought before was meaningless," Azar admitted, his voice barely audible as he gazed upon the destruction he had caused.
He recalled another piece of wisdom he had encountered in his journey through the realms:
"You will not find happiness in the power you wield, but in the peace you discover within your heart."
In that moment, he began to see the stark difference between power and happiness. The destruction he had caused could never lead him to peace. No further act of strength would grant him what he sought; only a deeper, more meaningful journey could.
Taking a deep breath, Azar finally allowed himself to let go. He began to empty his heart of the pain that had consumed him for so long. He realized that happiness would not be found in power but in learning to live in harmony with himself, free from the chaos that had long defined his existence.
This realization was the turning point. Azar saw that the relentless pursuit of absolute power was an illusion. True happiness lay in achieving inner peace and finding comfort within oneself.
And the last piece of wisdom that echoed in his mind was this:
"When you stop chasing power, you will find yourself in a place you never expected—where happiness resides in the simplest of things."
At last, Azar understood: it was not power he should seek, but the joy and tranquility that came from within.