"Yeah. Just like that Spirit wants to do. If you could change something about your past, would you do it?" Azekiel asked, even though he already knew the answer to the question. Or at least he thought he did.
"If I could change a thing in my past, I don't see any reason not to do it."
Raphael had many regrets in his life, which he would've loved to change if he could, just like anyone else in this world. Unfortunately, he didn't believe it was possible at all.
"I guess I know what you would change," Azekiel pointed out. "You won't pluck the apple from the Garden of Eden if I'm not wrong."
"That's not it," Raphael replied, shaking his head. "If I could have an opportunity to change one thing about my past, that won't be the one thing."
"Then what will be?" Azekiel grew slightly surprised. He thought that was going to be Raphael's demand. What did he mean by 'not it'?
Even though Azekiel appeared to be immersed in talking with Raphael, he was still wary of his surroundings. His hands remained wrapped around his stomach, holding onto the two books as he treaded through the water with care.
He moved slowly yet steadily, avoiding any troublesome areas.
Raphael didn't answer right away to Azekiel's questions, seemingly somewhat hesitant.
Generally, Azekiel would've said that he didn't need to tell if he didn't want to, but not this time. He really wanted to know what Raphael wished to change about his past. In case he had the opportunity, he was going to help Raphael achieve it in the future since Raphael had supported him a lot.
"You don't have to tell if you're uncomfortable. I'm sure it must be something personal if you're hesitating."
Unfortunately, it was Lia who chimed in, speaking the words that Azekiel avoided. She could feel that Raphael was somewhat uncomfortable with the question.
"It's fine. It's in the past, so it doesn't matter," Raphael admitted without showing much emotion.
The only emotions he showed were briefly when he thought about this question.
"If I could change any one thing about my past, it would be leaving my brother alive..."
Azekiel frowned, wondering if he heard right. Even Lia was surprised. Raphael's biggest regret was not killing his brother?
So instead of changing his past and protecting himself from the curse of hunger, he would rather kill his brother?
"Why?" That was the only word Azekiel could let out in his surprise.
"Because not killing him is the biggest regret of my life. If I could go back in time to do one thing, the only thing I would do differently is killing him right there with my own hands before he could..."
Raphael went silent abruptly, not even finishing his sentence.
He took a deep breath as he realized he was on the verge of being swayed by his tormenting emotions.
"That aside, what about you, Lia? What would you do?" He swiftly changed the topic.
It wasn't as if no one came to see Raphael's attempt to change the topic. In fact, it was as evident as the bright sun on a clear day. However, none pointed it out.
Even Azekiel didn't ask despite being curious since he was worried that Raphael might return to the same state as before. He didn't want to go through that again since, this time, he couldn't even summon Raphael to the material world to calm him.
"One thing I would change? I don't think I even need to think about it." The water droplets kept passing through Lia's body as a melancholic smile graced her lips.
"I would kill those bastards who killed my sister and my father. I would give them the most brutal death the world has ever seen! In fact, I would make them beg for their death."
Most of the time, Lia's face looked so serene, as if she was a wingless angel who walked this earth, but as she talked about what she would do differently, her expression became darker. Her angelic allure swiftly changed to a demonic charm as she imagined how she would take her revenge. Still, it wasn't odd.
Azekiel already expected that answer from Lia. He knew she was going to select her revenge. The only answer which stunned him here was the answer of Raphael. Unfortunately, he couldn't ask him more about that at the moment.
He kept his focus on the path ahead, walking through the rain.
*****
The Third Floor... Almost all the Lords of Sins and Kings passed through this floor to get to the next floor, but there were only two Kings who had ever managed to discover the Temple of Gods, which lay on the outskirts of the third floor.
The Temple appeared to be beautiful from the outside. Looking at the Temple, no one could've guessed that there was an entirely different world inside the Temple. However, the same could be said about the Tower of Sins itself.
At the moment, the rubble of two broken statues was lying before the entrance of the Temple of Gods. The Statues that appeared to possess immense strength were not only defeated but also destroyed, which wasn't something that could be overlooked.
At the moment, a young man stood before the Temple of Gods, gazing at the rubble.
The man was dressed in beautiful white attire, donning a white robe on his back as if he was a royal. There appeared to be a princely aura around the young man.
There was something really strange about that person though. His body... It appeared to be illusory. It was a semi-transparent body which was see-through to some extent. It was as if the man wasn't actually here, but a projection of his was.
The man had a white dragon tattoo carved on the back of his hand, which appeared to have a life of its own, moving around.
"The guardians of the Temple are destroyed." The man rubbed his chin, lost in thought. "There's also an aura here which shouldn't be present. Fascinating."
"First, those two came down to the third floor, flouting all rules, and now this strange phenomenon. Third Floor is certainly going through some interesting things, it seems."
The silver-haired man clapped his hands gracefully. Following the clap, a small portal opened before him, which was only a meter wide at best.
A small mirror floated out of the portal and stopped before the young man, who barely looked to be in his mid-twenties.
"Let's see who decided to mess with the Temple Guardians..."
