Chương 261: Chapter 258 - Agrinth's Rage

Perinete threw her own veil of aura around her husband as a wave of red hit them at speed. It looked like an uncontrolled expanding pulse that originated from Ryan's location. It went past the hill in moments. As if the aura had been held back this entire time and only now was it released. Perinete's first instinct was to protect her husband. Then that protective instinct turned to fear as she realized what was approaching them was all condensed aura.

Her royal aura or not, it was nothing compared to what Ryan had been keeping contained in his arm. Perinete braced— and then blinked. The impact of aura did not rattle her, nor did she sense that impending doom that always surrounded the boy. It was more like… a regular person's aura— no. There was intelligence and regality to it. A high judging presence. Like entering the throne room when her husband was at his prime. Then the crystals started to form.

Little glittering specks of red fell around them as the condensed aura began to crystallize in the air. Ryan sat through it all, his eyes closed, likely not even noticing what had happened outside of his immediate vicinity. Perinete sighed and clicked her tongue." Truly. A ruckus wherever he goes. I do hope his world has all the luck having to deal with someone like him."

"Y…yes. A shame…" The ex-queen blinked in surprise and turned to the voice that had just spoken out. Her royal husband's eyes were a little more focused than usual. It happened from time to time, in the best of days, though it had been rarer as of late. Theskar's eyes twinkled at the tiny red grains that were falling around them. Her husband was entranced, but he was also more lucid than she had seen in months, maybe years.

"A shame…" Theskar repeated, his eyes were no longer watching the pretty crystals, it was focused at the source. Perinete smiled. Imagine it from their perspective. Imagine having painfully sown the seeds for the next generation… and not being able to see them truly bloom.

"What a shame indeed." —— Ryan sat with Theskar and Perinete on top of the hill. It really was a remarkable view. It overlooked the rustic red tiled roof of their estate mansion, then a neat forest sort of hugged the view, and beyond—was the ocean. It reflected the sun like a sea of sparkling sapphires. A particularly large bird dove into the ocean to gather some fish. Quiet and peaceful.

"I'm not very good at stuff like this. There's so much I want to talk to you about, to ask questions and get your opinions on things… but more than anything, I wish I took some time to get to know you better. Both of you." All they had done the last time was deal with Ryan's problems and talk about his ideas and implementation. He had been in such a rush to get Valmere to prepare for the future that he hadn't taken time to look around. He regretted that now. Theskar could not acknowledge Ryan's words.

Though the King did not cower in fear either. It wasn't the best or the worst of feelings. At the very least the old king looked happy, playing with the glittering grains of red crystals that Perinete had gathered from the vicinity. There was no essence of fear in them, just what Ryan [The Aura Tyrant] wanted to be there. Warmth and safety, that was what Ryan managed to imbue into his aura. A little gift for the old King. To make his retirement more comfortable.

And then, like a child finding something new and shiny, Theskar tried to put them in his mouth. Perinete immediately stopped it. She put a hand on his arm and gently pulled it away.

"No, you cannot eat that Theskar."

"N–nuh. My candy." Theskar struggled against Perinete's grip, trying his hardest to get the pretty red grains into his mouth. Perinete finally managed to prise her husband's hands off the tiny red crystals, they scattered back on the table as Theskar pouted, the old ex-King crossing his arms like an ill-tempered child. The action turned the old King's head which let him see Ryan's melancholic expression.

For a moment, Theskar's eyes focused again and turned gentle, an expression Ryan hadn't seen from the King before. Theskar reached for the grains again and this time, Perinete did not stop him. He grabbed them and reached out to Ryan. Theskar's hand trembled with the effort, but his eyes—"Don't be sad. Have some candy." Ryan kneeled to be at the same level as the sitting Theskar and put his hands out. The King dropped the grains of crystals into his hands and Theskar closed Ryan's hands around the crystals.

The King smiled kindly at him. Ryan smiled back at the old man and put the little crystals in his pocket.

"Thank you." Then he used his skill. [Aura Crystallization] Ryan took out a crystal that was the length of his outstretched hand and tried to shape it with [Aura Command] to have no sharp edges. It was more difficult than he first expected. The solidified aura wanted to be a crystalline shape and struggled against his control. Though in the end, [The Aura Tyrant] prevailed. While the edges were still edges, it was no longer sharp enough to hurt yourself on, nor did the crystal have any sharp points at all.

He offered the crystal to the old man. The King's eyes widened as the largest crystal Ryan had ever made dropped into his trembling hands. Theskar took it… Then promptly put it in his mouth. It did not have any magical properties, it could not heal nor repair the King's aura. Ryan had no idea if that were even possible, but it did teach the old man that the crystals were not tasty. Hopefully. Theskar huffed in annoyance at the horrible tasteless gift. Royal Road is the home of this novel.

Visit there to read the original and support the author. Ryan shook his head, it really was a poor repayment of what he had been given.

"Thank you for everything. Theskar, Perinete." —— Ryan stayed with them for two days, talking to the ex-Queen. Taking his time to hear their stories. He spent most of the other time cleaning up the red crystals because Theskar still saw them as candy. At first, Ryan had painstakingly tried to pick up each bit of crystal. He almost regretted having repaired his skills. At least until he realized he could use [Aura Command] to control them remotely and levitate them into his pockets.

Suddenly thoughts of their use in combat ran through his mind—but he practiced none of it. Time spent with Perinete and Theskar was too important. It was like time spent joking around with his friends. While that kept him grounded… spending time here felt like it was soothing his soul. Here, he was not Artigan trying to climb the heavens and strike at a Tyrant, here he was just Ryan, listening to Perinete and helping take care of Theskar.

He pushed the old king's wheelchair around, performed tricks and even washed the wrinkled hands and face. He did not do the diapers. By the end of day two, Agrinth had arrived. … The giant demon Hero looked exhausted as he barely acknowledged Ryan's existence. The demon slumped back on a large chair designed for him and took a glass of honeyed water from Perinete and sighed.

"Thank you, mother." Perinete smiled warmly at her adopted son. Ryan had known their relationship was sincere considering how Perinete talked about her adopted son, but seeing her actually act this way was still a bit of a sight to see. She was a human woman, maybe three and a half times smaller than the hulking demon. She still looked at Agrinth like he was a rapscallion of a child.

"How was your week?"

"Horrible, because someone." Agrinth glared at Ryan.

"Set the entire Kingdom on fire." Ryan had cut himself off from his phone the entire time he was here. He had not known the protests were still going at all.

"And how'd you fix that?"

"I released the files of you in prison to the public as well as an affidavit by my student that everything was under control and we were honoring an old pact with my father." Ryan thought about it for a little bit. His stint in Valmere's prison where he collapsed and drooled on the ground would absolutely make him look like a charlatan to the Kingdom.

"Oof, throw both me and your father under the bus. That's cold Agrinth." Agrinth snorted.

"His legacy won't be tarnished. A century's worth of rule won't be diminished by a single action that will be looked on in the future as something that united the Kingdom's fracturing council." Ryan blinked as he took some time to process the words.

"You're saying you're going to swing this as a good thing?" The hulking demon snorted at Ryan again." Isn't it? You have just proven that Valmere will not bow to tyrants. Allegiance to the Kingdom is at an all time high and the greediest person in the council looks like he's going to switch to become a true patriot."

"I knew Honorus was a rat." Ryan muttered that under his breath. Agrinth just scoffed again.

"Most politicians are vermin. Some are more audacious than others. But that is how it will go. In a generation or two, I will make sure this is seen as a positive change to our culture, cementing King Theskar's wisdom. A relatively bloodless challenge that fixed our issues before they festered." Ryan considered this.

"Huh. Well then, guess I've got nothing to apologize for. Actually I guess you should be thanking me for giving your Kingdom something to rally against." Agrinth raised a hand in pause, he took a huge gulp of honeyed water and placed it gently onto the table.

"I will thank you when you admit you were wrong about my Kingdom and its culture." Ryan crossed his arms.

"I wasn't wrong at all. All of this wouldn't have happened if your culture of hero worshipping servants was perfect."

"I never declared perfection. Only that my Kingdom would beat you, and it did. You ran."

"I ran because I skipped to the end! I was going to set the capital into a riot until the adventurers finally broke your orders and chased me out. I wasn't actually going to make it much worse… probably. It would have worked too, if it wasn't for that damned pesky Councilmember and his damned temperament." Perinete dropped a pile of delicious cookies between them.

"Now, now boys, no debates in the house. Right Agrinth dear?" Agrinth crossed his arms.

"He is the boy, not me, mother. He's the one that throws a tantrum because things didn't look the way he wanted it to. I was the adult cleaning it up." Ryan laughed." Oh yeah, a big man telling his parents that he's an adult now. That always works on mothers." Perinete's lips quirked in a hidden laughter. It was all Ryan needed to declare his victory. Agrinth noticed both his mother's smile and Ryan's smug face and scowled, then he tried to pretend he hadn't noticed and was being the bigger man—or rather, demon.

Perinete just shook her head.

"I'll bring your father in. He'll be happy to see you." … They kept it pleasant after that. Ryan paid respect to the rule of no debating in the house. That one had been made after Perinete had gotten sick of listening to her husband and son debating the same things over and over again. No wonder it was a pain to argue with Agrinth. The other interesting thing that happened was that Theskar became more lucid when he first saw his son's face.

"You need to eat better, son." Ryan hadn't seen that level of lucidity in the past two days he was with the King. Theskar's consciousness seemed to weave in and out regularly. Sometimes he was no better than a coma patient, sometimes he could hold a rudimentary conversation. Most of the time he barely recognized Perinete's face. And seeing that really fucking sucked. … Both Agrinth and Ryan were on top of the hill sitting, staring at the stars. After an hour's worth of agonizing silence, Agrinth finally sighed.

"To believe that all of this is just a simulation—a projection. Even after a century, after becoming an ascendant, I cannot see it."

"Your father told you the truth, huh?" Not everyone knew the entire truth about the Trial System. The last time he had been here, only the King and Queen had actually known that their world was a projected reality. The other royal confidants believed that a higher civilization was using their world as a stomping ground for their younger generation. That was what Agrinth had known the last time he had been here as well. Though it seemed like knowing the truth did not set Agrinth free.

"Father said it would be difficult to teach you a lesson without understanding the full truth. Though sometimes… I wish I hadn't demanded to know." Ryan was silent for a bit.

"If you feel emotions, if you can laugh, cry and love then projection or not, it still matters, doesn't it?" They weren't his words. Not completely. Ryan borrowed them from the endless online discussions regarding Trial ethics. Agrinth probably picked up that it wasn't exactly Ryan's own words. The demon shook his head.

"My father asked me the same thing. You are right, more than you know." Ryan turned to Agrinth as the demon's words turned to venom." For what do I do with all of this rage bubbling underneath my skin? How do I strangle the creators of this System and choke their lives out of them?" The demon reached out to the stars.

"How do I scream at them that they owe us a debt so deep that not even the annihilation of their Kingdom would be enough to sate my rage?" The world shook as the words of an ascendant, a true ascendant looked hatefully at the skies above. As if he might be able to see the creators of the Trial System in the sky if he looked hard enough.

'You weren't there!' Councilmember Honorus' words echoed in Ryan's head. Agrinth was a century old, or looking at it in another way; Agrinth was only a century old. No time at all to become an ascendant. The demon had risen by facing one disaster after another. Never knowing rest, always knowing that another threat would be around the corner. All because his world was designed that way. The amount of pain and anguish that must have caused… Honorus had been right.

Ryan did not know what Valmere—what Agrinth had truly gone through. Then he had a thought. If the Witch Tyrant can take out Rahess from the Highest Trial, if she believes she can take Gamielle's soul out of the Trial System, then there's a chance it's possible with Agrinth as well. Then his veins went cold as he had another thought. Surely this is how even Great Civilizations end.

Not from horrors from other universes, not from nepotism or culture, but because of a single, intelligent demon demanding righteous vengeance. Because of all the debts that a civilization will inevitably accrue over time. Ryan considered all of this for a moment, then he punched the demon's arm. It hurt like hell because Agrinth had tensed up right before impact. The bastard. Ryan rubbed his knuckles.

"Hey, if there's someone you need to rage at, I'm right here. I'm the one that's been treating your world like it was a game. I've killed your people like they were just achievements to be harvested, I treated your Demon King like he was fodder. I did it all willingly. All of it to raise some adventurers I liked." Agrinth's hands were still outstretched to the sky as he turned to him. Ryan did not falter at the cold fury in the demons gaze. If Agrinth wanted to kill him for it, he would accept it.

After all, Ryan knew exactly what Agrinth felt. The demon just scoffed as his rage was contained once more.

"And what fault does a child have for doing their best?"

"Hey, just because you're old as shit doesn't mean I'm a child. I'm going to make you regret that in three uh…" Ryan looked at the demon up and down.

"Maybe four more Trials."

"A century is quite young for an ascendant. I have not hit my prime yet. Speaking of which, it seems like it is my turn to see if I can fix that rotten attitude of yours." Agrinth clicked his neck and cracked his knuckles, giving Ryan a look that promised pure pain.

"Hah! Good one!" Ryan laughed, then he stopped when he saw Agrinth's face.

"Wait, you're serious?" Then Ryan laughed even harder. This would not be a day the elderly managed to sow the right values into the next generation.