Helas wandered the city for two hours, his body torn to shreds and covered in blood.

Yet, with the last ounce of strength still in his body, he made his way back to the city center.

There, he sat down on the ledge of a giant statue no smaller than 40 feet in height.

The statue was made of bronze, and it looked to be of a previous lrax. The lrax statue held a large cup into the air and was clad in tribal armor.

As thousands gathered around the city center, Helas spoke while staring at the ground.

“Black…” He uttered through the pain, “He was a horribly cunning man.” As soon as he said those words, his pupils gleaned in a bright red for only a couple of seconds.

During this time, he exclaimed in pain, his chest sticking out as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Seeing this, Tyr furrowed his brows in confusion, ‘Red eyes and pain after insulting Black…?’ He was a bit thrown off.

“What I have done here today… I know it does not make up for anything that I have done to you all.” Helas began to say, looking up and facing every spite-filled expression in the crowd.

He was no longer looking at humans, but rather, fearsome forms and shapes created out of emotions such as rage, disdain, and spite.

“What I am going to say may make some see glory in my actions… and may change nothing for others.” Helas paused again, causing many to shake their heads, scrunch their eyebrows, and clench their fists.

Tyr squinted his eyes, ‘This isn’t making sense…’ He thought to himself, ‘Something is amiss. I am not understanding everything… why… why am I not understanding everything? I have already defeated Black. Why is there still confusion…’

“However, I do not want mercy. What I have done is horrible.” Helas paused for the last time before saying: “Years ago, I was infected with something called the Black Gu. A powerful weapon created by the Black Merchant Guild, which every child and adult in this city has heard of in thier lifetime.”

‘As I thought…’ Tyr mused as he heard this.

Helas continued: “Through threats on my family… friends… city and more, I have been forced to work with the Black Merchant Guild for a very long time. And for that, I use this final day as a means to apologize, not to you all, but to myself. I know that my apology means nothing to you, and you all deserve much more. But…

to that person who I was long ago, I want to tell him that I did what I promised. I atoned as much as I could.”

On hearing all of this, many of the furious expressions among the crowd began to soften all of a sudden.

Eyes began to expand, some even glistening in the sun due to slight moisture build up.

Lips began to peel open, soft and ragged breaths going in and out of them.

Hearts thudded like drums, limbs shaking and arm hairs raising slowly amongst many in the crowd.

“And now…” Helas said, turning to face the statue behind him, “There is one last act I must do…”

He rose to his feet and raised his arms into the air.

“Father of Blood… take my ichor… and take my soul as a sacrifice. Do unto thy as you have promised.” He closed his eyes.

The blood all over his body began to shake all of a sudden. As though a magnet pulled on the vital fluid, it began to float up.

All of the blood on the outside of Helas’ body was pulled out from him, all pouring into the cup held by the statue above.

Then, Helas fell over the ledge as a white orb flew out of his body and entered the statue.

After a couple seconds of silence, a low creak came from the statue.

Out of nowhere, the statue’s eyes opened. Rust fell from its limbs as it stood up straight.

As everyone looked with fear and awe, the statue lowered the cup full of blood to its mouth and drank it in two big gulps.

It closed its eyes again. Its body changed, turning from bronze to flesh all of a sudden.

In mere seconds, the statue had turned into a real giant human figure.

Finally, it threw the cup to the ground as a large smile appeared on its face–stretching from one side of its mouth to the other in an almost eerily scary scene.

“Hahaha…” It chuckled lightly, “Did you really think that you had slain me so easily.” It said these words… and then suddenly twisted its neck toward Tyr with big bold eyes.

Tyr’s eyes slowly opened as realization filled his thoughts.

“Black…” He muttered under his breath.

As he said this, the large statue smiled even more.

“Hahaha!” Black broke out into a peal of laughter, “Fool… did you think I had not anticipated death? Like I said… even though I have seen it… I will defy it!”

‘There he goes again talking about what he saw in my soul…’ Tyr thought to himself.

Everyone slowly began to back up… everyone excluding Tyr, Hanzo, and Malon.

Noa rushed to get everyone to safety, causing many to begin sprinting backward and away from the lifefilled statue.

“So… a plan B huh? If you were to lose your main body, you would use Helas as a means to trick others into leading to this. Helas was a scapegoat from the very beginning… a smart trick.” Tyr said, thinking of just how genius this plan really was.

“Yes… except, you missed a few key points. My previous body was no main body of mine… I wouldn’t walk around in my main body… how foolish would that be? I can only revive because my main body remains intact.”

Tyr exhaled before saying: “Who are you?”

Black smiled: “Long ago… I was Lrax of a city within the Zasean Kingdom. I also had a statue built for me. One that I placed an array on… which could always revive me. Thankfully, however, as lrax’ birthed into this world and fell, I never died.

Not until now… but I am finally back to my original body–sealed in this statue.”

*Author Note*

End of the mini-arc? Just kidding… not quite yet!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep