Chapter 362: Chapter 362 : Taking Responsibility As a King

The ruins of Avaloria smoldered beneath a fractured sky.

What had once been an empire was now a grave.

Mountains lay split open like broken ribs. Entire districts had vanished into yawning abysses. Rivers no longer flowed—they hung in the air, frozen mid-collapse, before raining down in muddy sheets.

Ash drifted through the wind like snow, carrying the echoes of countless lives that had ended in an instant.

Alex stood alone amidst the devastation.

His gaze swept over the destruction in silence.

’Was I responsible for this…?’

The answer came without hesitation.

’Yes.’

And yet—

He felt no remorse.

Not even a flicker.

As long as those close to him were safe, nothing else mattered.

Not empires.

Not civilizations.

Not the screams buried beneath the rubble.

Only one thought rose clearly in his mind.

’The world can burn… as long as my people live.’

A deep groan shattered the silence.

It was wet.

Ragged.

Filled with pain.

Alex turned toward the sound.

Amid shattered stone and scorched earth, Zarvok lay sprawled across the ruins. His once-colossal form was broken and twisted. One wing was torn nearly in half.

Scales had been peeled away, exposing raw flesh beneath. Blood pooled beneath him as he struggled just to breathe.

He could not stand.

He could barely move.

With trembling effort, Zarvok lifted his head and looked at Alex.

His lips parted.

Only one word escaped.

“WHY”

Alex stared at him.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then he spoke quietly.

“Nothing… really. I’m just trying to find someone to blame for all this.”

His eyes hardened.

“And you seem like a perfect excuse.”

A broken smile curved across his face.

“Just for my peace of mind. Nothing else.”

He gestured faintly at the ruined world.

“So lie there… and take all the blame.”

A hollow laugh bubbled from Zarvok’s bloodied mouth.

“For a guy with such terrifying strength,” he rasped, “you really don’t like taking responsibility, huh… boy?”

Alex walked toward him.

Not with hostility.

Not with intent to kill.

He stopped beside Zarvok and lowered himself to the ground, sitting next to his shattered form as though beside a long-lost friend.

“You know,” Alex said quietly, “sometimes I feel like this world would be better… if I didn’t exist.”

Zarvok lay there, listening.

After a moment, he asked, “And why do you think that?”

Alex exhaled slowly.

“I never told anyone this,” he said. “But I’ll tell you.”

“I wasn’t born in this world.”

Zarvok’s eyes shifted faintly.

“I came from a peaceful one. No magic. No monsters. No gods.”

“People woke up in the morning, went to work to earn a living, and returned home to their families.”

Zarvok swallowed.

“Sounds like a wonderful world.”

“You could say that,” Alex replied. “Though life wasn’t easy there either.”

He paused.

“But one day, I died.”

“And when I opened my eyes… I was here.”

He clenched his fingers against the ash-covered ground.

“I was happy at first. I had a family again. Even if it was just one person. Someone to live for. Someone to fight for.”

His voice lowered.

“But somewhere along the way… while I was chasing strength… everything started going downhill.”

“This world’s future was never this,” he whispered. “At least… not the one I knew.”

He drew a shaky breath.

“But maybe… no—”

“I have to admit it now.”

“Because of me… things have taken a turn for the worst.”

Zarvok turned his head slightly.

“You know what’s funny?” Alex asked.

Zarvok answered weakly, “What is it…?”

Alex let out a hollow laugh—one that carried more grief than amusement.

“I don’t even know what I did wrong for the world to end up like this.”

“Every problem that came my way… I fought it tooth and nail.”

“Sometimes for myself.”

“Sometimes for the people I love.”

His eyes reflected the burning ruins.

“And yet… here we are.”

“Instead of things getting better…” Alex continued, his gaze drifting back toward the endless ruin, “everything only gets worse.”

He slowly rose to his feet, ash crunching beneath his boots.

“Half of the future I knew of this world… Avaloria was never in this state.”

His voice trembled—not with weakness, but with restrained fury.

“But look at it now.”

He gestured toward the broken empire.

“I think… because of me, someone I was very close to died.”

His jaw tightened.

“Because of me, my girlfriend was almost killed by your hands.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

“I tried to find excuses. Tried to convince myself it wasn’t my fault.”

“But no matter how I twist it… the answer doesn’t change.”

His eyes dimmed.

“The only solution I can think of is this—if I didn’t exist… maybe their lives would be better.”

He turned back toward Zarvok.

“That’s why I’m trying to find someone to blame.”

A faint, bitter smile formed.

“And you, my frenemy… became the perfect candidate.”

Wind swept across the ruins.

Then, from Zarvok’s shattered body, a hoarse voice rose.

“Stop talking like a coward… boy.”

Alex froze.

Zarvok’s ruined chest rose and fell as he forced air into broken lungs. Blood frothed at the corner of his mouth, yet his eyes burned with fierce clarity.

“You are someone who defeated the Dragon King himself,” he continued.

“Do you have any idea what that means?”

“Entire races lived and died beneath my shadow. Kingdoms shaped their histories around the fear of my name. I was a calamity. A ceiling no one could touch.”

“And you shattered it.”

“Take pride in that.”

Blood slid down his chin as he laughed weakly.

“And don’t misunderstand me—I can tell exactly what kind of road you walked.”

Zarvok’s gaze sharpened, as if piercing through Alex’s past.

“I can see it in your eyes.”

“You weren’t born with a throne waiting for you.”

“You weren’t handed power by a god.”

“You clawed your way upward while the world tried to crush you at every step.”

“When fate closed a door, you broke the wall.”

“When the heavens rejected you, you carved your name into them.”

His voice grew steadier.

“You fought tooth and nail—not just for yourself… but for the last family you had left.”

“You bled for them.”

“You burned for them.”

“You endured things that would have broken most beings long before they ever reached this height.”

A faint, genuine smile touched his ruined face.

“I have always admired people like that.”

“Those who rise not because the world is kind… but because they refuse to kneel.”

“You think this destruction makes you a villain?”

“This world was already rotten.”

“It was already marching toward ruin long before you arrived.”

“You were simply strong enough to be visible when it broke.”

His eyes locked onto Alex.

“You’re trying to blame yourself for something that was bound to happen.”

“Even if it wasn’t you.”

“Tell me,” Zarvok said quietly, “in the future you knew… was it guaranteed this world would survive?”

Alex’s eyes widened.

“No.”

Zarvok laughed.

“Then listen.”

“I was born beneath a god who branded me a slave.”

“I clawed my way out of fate.”

“I devoured fear. I burned my own limits. I became king in a world that never wanted me to rise.”

“Nothing in this world is gentle.”

“Nothing is fair.”

“You think you ruined everything?”

“No.”

“You are merely strong enough to stand at the center when everything collapses.”

His voice hardened.

“And now?”

“You have inherited the ashes of an empire.”

“You stand where kings fall.”

“So act like one.”

“A king doesn’t hide behind guilt.”

“A king doesn’t beg the past for forgiveness.”

“A king faces everything head-on… and decides what tomorrow will be.”

“Even if the world hates him for it.”

Even if history curses his name.

Zarvok’s breathing grew shallow.

“You didn’t climb this far just to disappear.”

“You didn’t bleed this much just to erase yourself.”

“If the world is broken… then become the one who reshapes it.”

“That… is what people like us are born to do.”

Silence followed.

Then—

Alex straightened.

’He’s right.’

“I shouldn’t run from responsibility.”

The system’s voice echoed within him.

[ Host. ]

A cold sensation rippled through his chest.

A window materialized before his eyes.

[ Value of Existence: 98 ]

(Warning: If this value falls below 50, your existence will be endangered.

The universe will begin to erase you.)

Alex didn’t flinch.

“Just activate it.”

“I don’t care anymore.”

“My soul won’t be able to handle what I’m about to do.”

He turned toward the endless ruin.

Another window appeared.

[ Origin Collapse has been activated. ]

Time roared.

Invisible tides surged outward from Alex’s body. The air bent. Light staggered. Reality shuddered as his affinity for time awakened at its root turning into an absolute law.

Past and future overlapped.

Broken towers trembled as moments rewound and collided.

Cracks in space pulsed like open veins.

Zarvok’s eyes widened.

What he saw made his heart nearly leap from his chest.

The ruins of Avaloria… began to move.

Not forward.

Backward.

As if the world itself were being dragged against causality.

For a moment Zarvok thought that he was dreaming.

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