The Castle of Infinity was a castle that was said to have infinite layouts. Every time the castle opened, the layout in the room was different from the last time.
That's why even the ones who entered before found it hard to navigate inside the tower the next time. Only the ones who had the map of Castle of Infinity knew just what the true layout was at the end they entered. Just like the Castle had infinite layouts, the map of the castle also had infinite layouts.
As soon as someone with the map entered the castle, the map changed itself to show the current layout, which made it easier for the ones with the map to navigate inside the Tower and to know where to go.
Even though Azekiel had the memories that others didn't, even he didn't know what the layout was going to be and where everything was going to be without the map.
The only reason he waited was because he didn't want to waste time fighting others. He was sure that if he entered first and opened the map, the others were going to try to attack him to take the map from him. The allure of the map was just too much.
Even though he believed that he could fight back, he didn't want to bother. Fighting back was more time consuming than just waiting for a few seconds and entering with a perfectly calm head.
After all the Kings entered, Azekiel finally started moving toward the mystical castle.
He took his first step inside, feeling as if he had entered a different realm altogether. The aura inside the tower was completely different, and so was the scent of the Castle. The Castle of Infinity had a really ancient smell inside, which was very pleasing to Azekiel's senses.
Only after entering the tower, Azekiel called out his map from his inventory and opened it.
Raphael and Lia also moved closer, observing the map. They were surprised to see the exact map. The map was really big when it unfolded entirely. Even though the map depicted places and the routes in a very small size, it was so huge since the Castle of Infinity just had so many rooms and places.
"This place looks like a maze," Raphael commented. Seeing the map, it was obvious that the castle was like a maze which made it really easy to get lost. Through the map, it was also evident that there were many routes that just made people walk in circles and led them down the wrong path in the end.
"I suppose we need to get to the center of the map?" he asked.
Through the map, the central room appeared to be the hardest to reach, thanks to all the mazes around it. Without the map, he didn't believe that they could even reach there.
"That's right." Azekiel agreed, slightly impressed by Raphael's comprehension. "The center is the most important place. We need to reach that place, and that's also where we'll be using the key. Unfortunately, it won't be easy to get there, even with this map. The map just depicts the route, but not all the traps that are laid down in our path."
"Even I don't know what kind of traps will there be, but they will definitely make our journey much harder," he continued. "It's good that you two are in the spirit form. You'll be safer on this journey, but I'll have to be more careful."
"Isn't it funny? When I didn't have my memories, I was weaker, but I cared less about my life. But now that I have my memories, I'm stronger than I used to be before, but I care more about my life now?" he asked, directing this question at Raphael.
"Because you want to live until you have your revenge?" Raphael asked. "If I was in your place, I might've been the same. Before, you didn't have something you would've wanted with such determination, but now that you remembered your past, you want to kill all your enemies."
"Another thing is that last time, you didn't know what was coming. All the missions, you just jumped blindly into them, not knowing what was to come, but now that you know what can be ahead, you think more about that. That's why sometimes more Knowledge can be disadvantageous as well."
Raphael analyzed Azekiel's words and even made sense to them since it wasn't rare. He wasn't the only person who worried about their lives if they knew what dangers they had to face.
"Despite knowing what's to come, you're still going to go forward. That I'm sure about. Isn't that right?" he asked. No matter what Azekiel remembered, at the core, he was the same person for Raphael, who was never scared of challenges.
He might be concerned about what challenges were going to come ahead, but even then, he wasn't going to step back, which was precisely what Raphael expected from him.
"Of course, I won't step back. I am hungry... But this time, I'm hungry for strength. To get that strength, I'll face any challenge that comes before me, no matter what it could be. As far as the traps that are ahead, we'll just have to deal with them."
"Moreover, it's not as if those traps were going to be worse than what I'll be facing in the future. In fact, compared to what we are to face, these traps would be nothing. If I can't even face the traps of this castle, how can I expect to face the others? I won't be weak."
Azekiel folded the map once again and kept it back in his inventory after memorizing the initial route. He started advancing ahead.
"Lia, are you still angry at me for lying?" Along the way, Azekiel asked.
Raphael was talking to him like normal, but Lia was somewhat distant now. He really wondered if Lia was going to step forward to help him in case he needed it in the future.
Lia glared back at Azekiel. "Shall I give you two statements as well?"
