Chapter 7: The secret behind authority

"!!!"

Hearing that, Hastora suddenly became very angry, his eyes that were always flat and cold now became a sea of rage and vengeance. A flash of red lit up his eyes for a moment, before turning into a terrifying blood red. As if he had a grudge against that race.

His aura leaked out due to his unstable emotions. Waves of dark energy erupted from his body, like a tsunami that destroyed everything. It caused the surrounding area to be destroyed and devastated. That dark aura destroyed anything in its vicinity. Pieces of rock and dust flew around, forming a terrifying whirlwind around Hastora.

"Die, you bastard!"

Hastora focused destructive mana in his mind, aiming to kill Zarafel who was currently inside his mind.

"W-wait!" Zarafel shouted, trying to stop Hastora. His voice trembled, filled with fear.

Slowly, Zarafel's existence began to crumble in Hastora's mind. It was because of the destructive mana that Hastora was concentrating in his mind.

Zarafel had tried various ways to get Hastora to stop his actions. But, Hastora ignored all his words and still insisted on destroying Zarafel's existence. Hastora's facial expression became even more terrifying, his jaw tightened, and the veins in his arms tensed.

As Zarafel's existence was about to be completely destroyed, he revealed something shocking. Something related to Hastora's past, which others would find impossible to know.

"Y-you, you want to kill that purple-haired bitch, don't you?" Zarafel asked. His voice was almost inaudible, but full of hope. "If you let me live in your mind, I'll help you achieve your goal."

"... "

Hastora was startled after hearing that, he immediately stopped his intention to kill Zarafel in his mind. The dark aura around him slowly subsided, replaced by a chilling silence.

His curiosity was piqued, he was curious about how Zarafel could know his past.

"You, how do you know my past?" he asked coldly, but it sounded very threatening. "Tell me everything, or I'll kill you.

"Okay okay, but please restore me first," Zarafel replied. His voice was a little stronger, but still sounded weak. "I'll tell you everything right away if you restore my existence first. And please let me stay in your mind, don't kill me."

Hastora furrowed his brow, he was a little hesitant about Zarafel's words. He didn't quite believe that Zarafel would tell him everything without lying to him. But, Hastora's curiosity was overflowing. He had no choice but to restore Zarafel's existence in his mind.

"You will tell me everything without lying at all?" Hastora asked, trying to confirm Zarafel's previous words.

"Y-yes... but restore me first, my existence is almost completely destroyed," Zarafel replied.

"Alright."

Hastora began to heal Zarafel's existence in his mind, he concentrated restorative mana in his mind in large quantities. A soft white light began to emanate from Hastora's body, slowly enveloping Zarafel in his mind.

"If you dare to lie even a little, you will die," Hastora said, trying to warn Zarafel while restoring his existence.

"O-okay," he replied. "I promise."

"... "

Slowly but surely, Zarafel's existence began to recover little by little. Hastora began to feel Zarafel's presence growing stronger in his mind. He felt a warm and calming sensation in his mind.

He concentrated mana even bigger in his mind, aiming to speed up the recovery process.

"!!!"

A huge amount of mana began to enter Hastora's mind. It quickly restored Zarafel's existence, which was almost gone.

At this time, Zarafel's existence had been fully restored.

"... "

"I'm healed!" Zarafel shouted with a sense of joy. His voice was full of energy and gratitude. "I really thank you!"

"It's no problem," Hastora replied. "And now, get to the point. Tell me everything."

"Alright," he replied. "What do you want to know first?"

Hastora sighed, he started to stroke his chin. He didn't know where to start asking, it had just occurred to him.

After thinking for a long time, he finally decided to ask the thing that made him the most curious first. 

"How do you explain how that dragon could be so intelligent?" Hastora asked. "And, before I fought a Demonic Beast, but why didn't it move and just stood still? What is the reason? And I also want to know everything about this magic crystal."

Hastora took the magic crystal from his shadow.

Zarafel saw the magic crystal from within Hastora's mind.

"Oh! This, I created this magic crystal," Zarafel replied.

"Ha?" but, how? you don't even have a physical form?" Hastora asked with a sense of curiosity.

"I created it when I was in the dragon's body," Zarafel replied. "But, you killed the dragon, now I don't have a physical body anymore."

"So you're the creature that controlled the dragon's body?" Hastora asked curiously.

"True."

Hastora stroked his chin, he began to digest all of Zarafel's words with the aim of making sure his words were true or not.

However, he didn't find any suspicion from all the words Zarafel had revealed, there wasn't a single suspicion in all his words.

But, Hastora became curious about who Zarafel really was, why he didn't have a physical form.

"So why don't you have a physical form?" Hastora asked. "Isn't Aevum a spiritual race that has a physical form to interact in the world?"

"True, even though Aevum is a spiritual race, Aevum has a physical form to interact in the world," Zarafel replied. "However, there is a condition, at that time I was on the verge of death because my Life Factor was almost destroyed by that damn purple-haired bitch!"

"Your Life Factor was attacked?" Hastora asked. Life Factor is the concept of existence, and it defines all aspects of an individual (Fundamental Existence). Life Factor is deeper than body, soul, and mind. Life Factor encompasses all life, death, and shapes a person from beginning to end. If someone's Life Factor is destroyed, they will be erased from existence at the conceptual level. This means that Life Factor is a fundamental existence, so how could that purple-haired bitch attack your Life Factor?"

Zarafel was slightly impressed by Hastora's intelligence. Not everyone knows about Life Factor, it's because this is a knowledge that is not explained to the world, only someone who has reached the Supreme level will gain knowledge about this Life Factor. 

The levels in this world consist of ten levels, namely:

 •Flux

 •Enlightenment

 •Ascension

 •Zenith

 •Singularity

 •Tyrant

 •Dominator

 •Divinity

 •Supreme

 •Immortality

Immortality is the peak level, because when someone has reached this level, they will gain immortality, and they will not be able to die unless they are attacked by existence-erasing magic. Those who have reached the Immortality level will also gain powerful powers that cannot be possessed by those below the Immortality level. And if someone reaches the Supreme level, they will gain knowledge that is not explained to the world, for example, knowledge about Life Factor.

Zarafel became more convinced that Hastora was a very powerful person. It's impossible for him to still be at a low level, while he himself knows about Life Factor.

"I can guess that you used to be a very powerful Demon Lord," Zarafel said. "And, the reason why that purple-haired bitch could attack my Life Factor is that she attacked my Life Factor directly."

"Eh?" Hastora was a little surprised to hear that. "How do you know that I am a reincarnated person?"

"Hmmm...why are you so sure about that?" Zarafel asked. "I didn't even mention that you were a reincarnated person."

"Don't you remember what you said earlier?" Hastora asked. "You said earlier that I was a Demon Lord."

"Hoho! You're quite observant, aren't you!"

"You think a tyrannical Demon Lord like me wouldn't notice something as simple as that?" Hastora replied. "Tell me everything."

"I can know that because of the power of my Authority," Zarafel replied.

Hastora furrowed his brow, his curiosity was piqued when Zarafel mentioned the word "Authority". He became curious about it.

"Authority? What is that?" he asked curiously.

"Authority is only possessed by Aevum. There are two types of Authority, namely: 𝟭. 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: allows them to access all types of magic except Ultimate magic. They don't need to chant spells to activate magic and their access to magic depends on their strength, they can only access magic that suits their strength, all Aevum have this. 𝟮. 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: This is the highest ability they can obtain. With this, they are able to use powerful abilities and they will no longer be bound by the laws of the world.

"Hmmm... Why can't 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 access ultimate magic?" Hastora asked with a sense of curiosity.

"𝗨𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 is engraved in the soul and functions like a device that is able to release powerful abilities. So, Aevum will not be able to access this magic, it's because Ultimate Magic is magic that is engraved in the soul, while Ruler's Authority cannot access magic that is engraved in the soul," Zarafel replied at length.

"Why can't Authority access ultimate magic just because ultimate magic is a magic that is engraved in the soul?" Hastora asked.

"Ruler's Authority is present from birth in Aevum, engraved in their souls, and is a right of access to the world of magic, not magic itself. It's like having a key to open many doors (magic), but not having the contents of those doors."

"So?"

"While Ultimate magic is a magic that must be obtained by someone first. The power obtained from ultimate magic for each person is different."

"I already know that," Hastora replied. "I mean, your answer doesn't answer my question earlier," Hastora replied.

"You're right too, hehehe sorry," Zarafel replied. "So, Authority is already engraved in the soul of Aevum since they were born, while Ultimate magic is also engraved in the soul. So, the reason why Authority cannot access Ultimate magic is because Authority and Ultimate magic are both engraved in the soul. Aevum already has Authority in their souls, so they can't access Ultimate Magic anymore."

All of Zarafel's answers were quickly digested by Hastora. He immediately understood all of that quickly. However, there was one more thing that made Hastora curious.

"So, do you have Supreme Authority?" Hastora asked. "If you do, what is the power of your Authority?"

"Of course I do!" Zarafel replied proudly. "My Supreme Authority is 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆"

"What is the power of your Authority?" Hastora asked.

"𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 allows me to know all the information of the target just by analyzing it. I can know all its information, from the past, even all the things it hides. I know all the information about you with this," Zarafel replied.

Hearing the explanation of Zarafel's Authority, Hastora seemed to immediately know the reason why Zarafel's Life Factor was attacked by the purple-haired bitch.

"I'll guess the reason why your Life Factor was attacked by that purple-haired bitch," Hastora said. "You must have tried to analyze that purple-haired bitch and she found out, right?"

"Exactly!" Zarafel replied.

"Tsk, stupid."

"What!" Zarafel shouted in annoyance. "You think you're great?, you also died because you were killed by her, you couldn't even attack the purple-haired bitch's Life Factor!"

"My death is more honorable than yours. Dying because you were caught analyzing? Shameful. And you can't attack her Life Factor either, can you? You think you're great?"

"You bastard!. She's very strong, you know, I can't even touch her."

"You're right, she's very strong. As if she's manipulating the story plot in a novel," Hastora replied. He recalled the fierce battle, how every attack of his was always perfectly anticipated by his opponent. "When I fought her, I couldn't even touch her at all, even though she was just sitting on her throne while attacking me from a distance. She's like manipulating the fight as she pleases."

"You're not wrong, she does have the power to manipulate a story plot in a novel," Zarafel replied. "She can do that because that's the power of her Supreme Authority."

"!!!"

Hastora was shocked after hearing that from Zarafel, it could be seen from his face. His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes narrowed, and his jaw tightened. His usually flat and cold face changed after hearing Zarafel's words.

"W-What? how can such power exist in this world?"

---To be continued in the next chapter---