Azekiel ignored the old man and left, not even glancing back once.
It wasn't too surprising for the old man either. He knew just how stubborn Azekiel could be. There was no way he was going to accept what he didn't want to accept. Still, the old man was hoping that things could be different this time with Azekiel; the path that he was walking on was really treacherous.
In failure, there was death. And even in success, there was a failure. No one had won while taking the path that Azekiel was taking.
The old man disappeared as well, knowing that even if he tried to force Azekiel, it wasn't going to work. He had already told Azekiel the consequences and what he could lose in the process; now, everything that was left was for Azekiel to decide... Decide if he wanted to win or if he wanted peace because both couldn't come together.
Azekiel walked in silence, followed by Raphael and Lia. None spoke anything, as the silence was contagious.
After a long silence, Azekiel stopped before the cafeteria again. To distract himself from other thoughts, he decided to eat something as he was starting to get hungry.
On one end, Azekiel entered the cafeteria to eat. On the other, more kings came out of the Castle. The kings who were coming out now were the ones who hadn't failed. Instead, they managed to get some treasures inside the Castle. They were also stronger than the ones who had failed outside.
Amongst the newly arrived Kings, there was also Alion, who also had a decent haul. As there wasn't Raphael inside the castle this time to have a conflict with him, he didn't have to leave the castle before getting anything.
"So many were killed," Alion commented, observing all the dead. "It looks like they all fought each other over something and ended up killing each other. Idiots..."
He couldn't believe that these were the same people who were the best of their world that managed to get to the eleventh Floor. Despite all that, they were stupid enough to die like this in the stupidest of manners.
He didn't pay much heed to them as he just considered them to have died by their own stupidity. He left the place, not knowing that it wasn't their stupidity which was the reason for their death... At least not entirely.
After Azekiel finished eating, he stepped out of the cafeteria and joined Raphael and Lia. Even now, he still couldn't get rid of the old man's words. He didn't believe there was any way for those words to be here. Yet, a seed of doubt was planted in his head, which was quite upsetting to him.
After a long time spent thinking, he came to a conclusion. If the old man was right, then it wasn't good. If he was truly scared of losing Raphael and Lia, then they were his weakness.
He didn't know if the old man was right or wrong, but he didn't want to take the risk. There was a possibility that subconsciously it was true, which he didn't want.
It was a war for him in which he wanted no attachments, friends, or family, as they could only hold him back in fear of what he might lose on this journey.
Azekiel stood before the entrance of the building, just gazing at Raphael and Lia.
The two had helped him many times... And they blindly trusted him. But still, he didn't know what he should do. If he was really shackled by these emotions one day, then it was going to be really difficult for him to make heavy decisions.
In the past, he had always been alone, so he didn't care. He didn't have anyone else as his weakness. His actions only had consequences for him in his mind.
In his mind, he was also cursing the old man for planting this seed of doubt in his head. The old man was right. Raphael and Lia were weaker now compared to him, so he didn't need to rely on them. Moreover, it really shouldn't matter to him, even if they hated him after knowing the truth.
The thing about it affecting their battle efficiency was true, but not to a significant extent, so it wasn't a big enough reason.
All this thinking was giving him a headache, which he couldn't take anymore.
"Old man! Come back here!" After a long time, he roared at the top of his lungs in anger, alerting all other Kings in his surroundings.
All the Kings started looking in Azekiel's direction, wondering why he was screaming. Was it because he was upset that he couldn't get Treasures in the Castle? That's what most thought.
However, after initial curiosity, they all stopped looking at him, continuing on their path.
"You don't have to yell. I don't have a bad hearing." The old man appeared before Azekiel once again. "Why did you call me?"
"You know I hate you." Azekiel scoffed. "You intentionally planted this seed of doubt in my head."
"You mean seed of truth?" The old man chuckled. "You know everything I said was the truth. It might not be the truth for you, but it was the truth for Azekiel... The one who didn't know anything about his past. You might be slightly different now, but the old personality is still affecting you. I don't think I was wrong in my assumption."
This time, Azekiel cast a Barrier around them to make sure that no one could hear them.
"Shut up and listen to me." Azekiel rolled his eyes. "You are neutral in this war, so you're the perfect person to help me here. I don't know if what you said is true subconsciously or not, but I don't want to take the risk. I don't want to have a weakness that's holding me back."
"If what you're saying is here and I indeed made the mistake of getting close to people when I didn't have the memories, I want to correct that mistake," he declared.
