Chapter 58: Walking Calamity

"Now tell me something," Dio Larek said. "Why do you know all this?"

Leon tried to back away, but it was useless. No matter how many steps he took, Dio Larek was somehow in front of his face every time, as if the distance between them didn’t exist.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Leon said.

Dio Larek tilted his head and looked at him with a strange expression, then chuckled. "Playing dumb isn’t going to help you here. The only way you could be standing in this place is if you’re connected to my pillar. The funny thing is, even I don’t know why my pillar connected to you. Something in you is linking you to it, and I can’t tell what."

"It’s your pillar," Leon said. "How can you not know what happens with it?"

"Why do you think the Empire has never managed to destroy the pillars?" Dio Larek asked. "Setting aside the measures I put in place to slow your Empire down, the pillars themselves are nearly indestructible.

To even analyze and dissect what’s going on inside one, you would need someone far beyond an Archmage. Someone with a vast amount of knowledge in magic and necromancy. I spent over a hundred years developing them. I picked out every single thing that made them what they are, and I made sure I caught the exact moment when nothing could disrupt the process."

He turned and walked to the pillar, then laid his hand against it.

"It’s a perfect creation. Or so I thought, until there was a disruption. A few beings across the Empire somehow connected to my pillars. You, that vampire, and a few others. The question I keep asking myself is why some of you were suddenly able to connect.

I went back through everything I did to create the pillars, and I still couldn’t find the cause." He paused. "But I realized something else. Every one of you who has connected to the pillars is not normal, to say the least. All of you are walking bodies of calamities."

Leon frowned. "What the hell do you mean, walking bodies of calamities?"

Dio Larek laughed, a low cackle, and pointed at him. "Each of you is destined to be eradicated by the world itself. The world is trying to get rid of you, because you are abnormalities. You hamper my plans and the natural flow of this world. The vampire is an example.

The pillars got to her faster than they got to anyone else, and her true form is already showing. It’s only a matter of time before she becomes the calamity she was meant to be, destroys many, and ends up destroying herself."

When Leon heard that, he walked straight up to him. "You know something about Snow? Tell me now."

Dio Larek only smiled. "Why would I do that? Give information to someone who hasn’t earned it? What I’ve already told you is far too important, and I gave it for free."

The way he said it hinted that he wanted something, and Leon understood.

"What do you want in return?"

The smile widened. "If I told you my true desires, you wouldn’t be able to bring them to me. So I’ll give you a fragment, one I believe you’re capable of. First, you must head to the magic towers and reach the top of them.

The Empire has something I desire dearly, and the only way to take it is through proper disruption and chaos. It’s the only way to save humanity."

"You keep saying ’save humanity’ like you’re some good person," Leon said. "You and I both know that’s not true."

"That’s what you believe," Dio Larek replied. "But you’ll come to learn there is a lot more to me."

Leon didn’t think much of it. In his mind, Dio Larek was the villain. He had read the story, and he knew what the man had done.

"To get into the magic towers," Leon said, "I’d have to graduate from one of the magical academies, or be one of their top students."

"Exactly," Dio Larek said. "You have to do what you have to do. When the time comes, I’ll tell you what needs to be done once you’re there. But you have to get there first."

Leon thought it over for a few seconds. "If I’m going to help you in any way, I want to know about Cain."

"Cain." Dio Larek paused, then repeated the name. "Cain. It seems you’re quite invested in what happened in the past. Very well, I’ll tell you a little about him. He was an Archmage in name, but he was one of the greatest mages the Empire had ever seen.

He did so much that the history books have forgotten. He was also my enemy. Cain is one of the only beings on this planet with the power to kill me, to defeat me. Luckily, Cain is no more."

He said it and went quiet.

Leon stared at him. "Is that all?"

"If you want more about Cain, you’ll have to give me something substantial. Progress toward what I want. Reach the top of the magic tower, or at least show me you’re getting there, and I’ll help you. And don’t worry, I have no plans to get rid of you." Dio Larek’s smile turned thin. "Fate itself will take care of that. After all, you’re a walking calamity."

The moment the words left his mouth, Leon snapped back to reality.

He woke up in Sophia’s arms. He looked up and saw Sophia looking right at him she was worried deeply for him so when she saw him wake up she hugged him tight.

"Leon, you are alright"

"Yeah, sorry I could not hold up for longer, let’s leave" he said and got to his feet, he looked at everyone that was inside the room. They all looked scared and needed someone to help them.

"You know what, let’s take down these undead monsters "