Journey to Become the Zenith

The Price of the Past

There was no third outcome.

Yet...

Victor didn’t move.

Instead, he rested the Death Scythe comfortably across his shoulder.

His posture remained relaxed, almost casual, as though the battle had become nothing more than light entertainment.

A carefree smile lingered on his face.

”What are you doing?”

His voice was calm.

Almost disappointed.

”Go on.”

”Finish your spell.”

Alibaba’s empty eye sockets remained fixed on Victor.

For several long seconds, neither of them spoke.

Finally, he asked,

”What do you mean?”

”Aren’t you going to eliminate me?”

Victor let out a quiet chuckle.

”I will.”

His answer came without hesitation.

”But only after you’ve used that spell of yours.”

He took another slow step forward.

Each footfall echoed across the devastated battlefield.

”The last time we fought...”

His smile faded ever so slightly.

”I was forced to retreat because of various reasons.”

His golden eyes blazed with absolute confidence.

Not arrogance.

Conviction.

The unwavering confidence of someone who feared no opponent.

”But this time...”

He tightened his grip on the Death Scythe.

”I want to face your strongest spell...”

”...and then defeat you.”

Another step.

Another unwavering stare.

”Only in that way...”

Victor’s voice remained steady, carrying across the battlefield like an unshakable declaration.

”...will I be able to say I truly won.”

The battlefield fell silent once more.

No one could understand the way Victor thought.

Facing the enemy’s strongest attack on purpose...

It sounded completely insane.

Yet not a single trace of hesitation could be found in his eyes.

Alibaba quietly observed him.

Normally...

He would have dismissed such words as arrogance.

Yet after everything he had witnessed...

After seeing Victor erase the Doom Knight so effortlessly...

He realized something.

This young human truly meant every word.

For the first time in countless centuries...

A forgotten memory resurfaced.

The face of someone from thousands of years ago slowly appeared within his mind.

That person looked nothing like Victor.

Their voices were different.

Their appearances were completely unrelated.

Yet...

That smile.

Those eyes.

That battle-crazed confidence.

They were identical.

Alibaba’s emerald flames flickered violently.

His thoughts raced.

Impossible...

It couldn’t be.

That being had once stood at the pinnacle of the world.

Compared to him...

Victor should have been nothing more than a grain of sand.

And yet...

Why did they feel exactly the same?

Then he remembered the spells Victor had used throughout the battle.

Though weaker in scale...

Though different in execution...

Their structure...

Their casting rhythm...

Even the concepts behind them...

Were unmistakably familiar.

Alibaba unconsciously whispered a name buried beneath thousands of years of history.

”...Anos...”

Victor’s smile disappeared for the first time.

”Heh...”

”How do you know that name?”

Curiosity briefly appeared in his eyes.

Alibaba slowly raised one skeletal finger and pointed directly at Victor.

”You’re...”

”Anos.”

For countless centuries, Alibaba had believed himself incapable of fear.

Everything he had shown until now...

His laughter...

His delight...

His amusement...

Had all been nothing more than hollow performances.

But now...

Something buried deep within his soul awakened.

Fear.

Pure...

Instinctive...

Bone-deep terror.

He remembered standing before the Demon Lord long ago.

He remembered countless armies collapsing.

Kingdoms vanishing overnight.

The overwhelming despair that no amount of courage could overcome.

He had witnessed empires rise...

Empires fall...

Entire civilizations disappear beneath history’s tide.

Yet nothing...

Nothing had ever surpassed the terror he felt when facing that existence.

And now...

That same feeling stood before him once again.

Victor scratched the side of his cheek before letting out a small laugh.

”Oh...”

”Interesting.”

”So you were actually able to recognize me.”

He looked genuinely intrigued for only a brief moment.

”I wonder who you were in my past life...”

He thought quietly for a second before shrugging.

”Well...”

”It doesn’t matter.”

His expression returned to its familiar battle-hungry grin.

”Just use your strongest spell...”

”...and be done with it.”

”If you don’t use it...”

”...then don’t blame me for dying again without giving everything you’ve got.”

The brief curiosity vanished from Victor’s eyes as though it had never existed.

To him...

The battle mattered far more than the answer.

Far away on the walls of Fantom City, everyone could only see Victor and Alibaba standing face to face.

Neither side moved.

No one could hear what they were saying.

The distance between them was simply too great.

Ruby narrowed her eyes.

”Why did they suddenly stop fighting?”

Natalia shook her head.

”I can’t hear anything...”

Videl tightened her grip on her Long Sword.

”Victor is talking to him.”

Lane’s anxious gaze never left Victor’s back.

”...Whatever they’re discussing, it won’t end peacefully.”

Even Max, who had fought countless battles throughout his life, remained silent. He could only watch the distant figures, unable to understand what was unfolding between them.

Meanwhile...

Only Victor and Alibaba could hear each other’s voices.

Alibaba stared motionlessly at the young man before him.

The emerald flames burning inside his empty eye sockets flickered violently.

”...Impossible...”

His dry voice barely escaped his skeletal throat.

He wanted to deny everything.

He wanted to believe this was nothing more than a coincidence.

But the more he looked at Victor...

The more memories from thousands of years ago resurfaced.

The darkness spells.

The battle instincts.

That fearless smile.

Even the way Victor stood in front of an overwhelmingly powerful opponent...

Everything reminded him of one person.

His soul trembled.

As a necromancer, emotions should have long since disappeared from him.

Yet something buried deep within his soul awakened.

Fear.

The same fear he had experienced countless centuries ago.

”...How?” Alibaba finally asked.

Victor simply shrugged.

”I don’t know.”

”And I don’t care.”

He rested the Death Scythe casually across his shoulder.

”Just use your spell already.”

”I’m losing my patience.”

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Authors Notes: Dear Readers, Thanks so much for joining me on this adventure! Your enthusiasm, feedback, and encouragement really keep me motivated to keep bringing *Journey to Become the Zenith* into existence. If you’re loving the Chapters, I’d love it if you supported my book with a Powerstone, review, or even a Golden Ticket—it helps me develop as a writer and lets more readers enjoy the story. I look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to share!

With love,

Scorpio_saturn777

Creator of Journey to Become the Zenith

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