At times, Azekiel was the same old person who talked out loud and discussed things with them like he wanted to get their opinions, while at other times, he was like an entirely different person who did things that were completely out of character for him.
After eating to his heart's content, Azekiel stretched his arms, letting out a sleepy yawn.
"You want to eat more, or shall we go take a rest?" he asked Raphael.
"Rest?" Raphael frowned. "Aren't we going to the Castle of Infinity?"
"It's not the time yet. The Castle of Infinity won't open this time. It only opened at specific times. We missed the last opening. We'll have to wait for twenty hours for the next opening of the Castle."
"What about the key? Can't we use that to open and enter?"
"The key isn't to open the main door. It's to open something else, but first, we need to get to that. Come, let's rest. We've worked quite hard recently. We can definitely take some time off. It's the reward floor, isn't it? Just have some fun."
Raphael didn't know what to say. This was one of those moments where Azekiel acted like a different person entirely.
Since when did he start placing more focus on resting first? It seemed more like something the King of Sloth would do.
'King of Sloth... There were just a few sins that he wasn't showing signs of, but even that line is getting blurry now. Is it normal?'
Raphael tried to convince Azekiel to spend their time better and look around the places, but Azekiel rejected the suggestion.
"I've already seen this entire Floor. There is nothing worth seeing here. And if there is, I'll show it to you later."
Azekiel rejected the suggestion and stepped out of the building, but right there, he stopped. He turned around, glancing at Raphael's expressions.
"I was just messing with you. I don't feel sleepy. I've slept for days already. If I'm still sleepy now, that would be strange. However, I wasn't joking about the Castle of Infinity. The castle would be closed at the moment, and even we won't be able to open it.'
"If we get there now, we'll just be waiting for the next twenty hours. We can use that time much better instead. And no, I don't mean spend that time in sleeping. I had something else in mind."
"What do you have in mind?" Raphael asked. At this point, Azekiel was a complete stranger whose mind he couldn't read at all.
"Meeting someone," Azekiel answered. "I need to meet someone who should be on this floor."
"Meet who?"
"You'll know." Azekiel didn't answer right away, leaving the others to guess.
From what they knew, Azekiel shouldn't know anyone on this floor personally. That meant the person must be someone from Alion's memories. It could be anyone.
Azekiel wasn't the only one who didn't seem to be going to the Castle of Infinity. There were also more Kings here who didn't appear to be in any hurry. Most of the kings here knew when the Castle opened as they had been there once.
There were no restrictions on how many times a person could enter the Castle of Infinity, so most of the Kings who were here wanted to try their hands again since they failed to get anything last time.
There were also some Kings who just gave up on the Castle of Infinity after getting some minor rewards. They didn't waste time here like other Kings and went on the next Floors.
Despite there being so many Kings, there were no flights going on. Instead, the atmosphere here was quite nice. It was also partially because no one was allowed to fight on the Sanctuary Floor. They could only fight inside the Castle of Infinity for the rewards if it were needed, but not outside.
"You must recognize most of them. Who is the strongest amongst them?" Along the way, Raphael asked Azekiel. Since there were so many Kings here, he was quite curious as to who the strongest King was.
Azekiel smiled wryly. "There is no strongest King here. In fact, if I were to say, all of them are the Weakest kings. The strongest Kings won't be wasting their time in this city. They wouldn't attempt the Castle of Infinity more than once since one time was enough to get something worthwhile."
He further clarified. "These Kings are definitely strong since they managed to reach the Eleventh Floor, but that's only when compared to the Kings of their world. Amongst all the Kings that stepped in here, the Kings that you'll find strolling in the city would be the Weakest."
"So they are all weak?" Raphael asked.
"In comparison with the strongest Kings of this Tower, they aren't even close."
"What about you? Where do you stand in that comparison?"
"Me? That's certainly an interesting question, but not quite. I don't think I can be compared with the Kings of this tower."
"Why not? You are also a King, just like they are?"
"While that would theoretically be true, not quite. I am different from them in more ways than once. They are the Kings that were supposed to be. In contrast, I am the King that wasn't supposed to be. They don't have the advantages that I have. The only advantage they had is that they had more time which helped them accumulate more strength, but that's it."
"I'm not being arrogant when I say that it would be unfair if I compare myself with them. It wouldn't be unfair for me. Instead, it would be unfair for them."
"Why? Just because you have knowledge of the future and they don't? Just because you came back in time and had some advantage of knowledge because of that?" Raphael asked, feeling like he finally was getting close to some answers that Azekiel didn't tell before.
Even though his approach was different, this was exactly the outcome he was hoping for.
