The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 129: Memories Of Lost Heroes

Listen while reading:

-----

The future where Seth came from was one where I wasn’t present, where I didn’t return, and where countless disasters befell both Earth and the many worlds of the Tower.

Among them was the invasion of Floor 80. Divine Beasts ravaged America, killed Caesar and his family, and then were set loose, creating complete chaos.

I have yet to learn everything from him, but so far, everything I’ve learned has been confirmed already, and with my abilities, I’ve detected that he tells no lies.

He is honest and will tell me when I ask, but if I don’t ask, he always would rather keep these things for himself.

I don’t know if it’s because he’s selfish or secretive about his truth; maybe he fears the future could change so much that it wouldn’t be possible to solve these problems as he wants.

But I know that there are things he can’t completely hide from me that I can easily guess based on his actions and what he tells me about.

And right now, I already guessed that this world, Elios...

It was most likely destroyed.

How did I guess that?

First, the Divine Beast Spirit Gods were already dying.

Once they died, the pillars of the world would grow unstable.

The Barbarian God would become the only pillar, and his warmongering tendencies would bring chaos to this world and others. The world might either begin to slowly fall apart, or the cult itself would accelerate its descent into destruction.

And above all, the memories I saw from the shattered souls of Terminus gave me another hint: a mysterious group of vile scum that came to this world and convinced the isolated and discriminated four-armed red orc tribe, who had been chased away into a wasteland by the other red orc tribes due to their fear against their gifted physical power, to do the vilest act in this world’s history.

“The people that convinced Ultimus’ tribe to sacrifice thousands of people in the ritual that created the Evil God Rakshasa...” I said. “Was the end of Elios in your future their fault?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “With your powers, did you read someone’s mind?”

“Yeah, a couple of cultists.” I nodded. “Ultimus mind was fragmented; it seemed he had fallen under a spell that made him mad, perhaps the very effect of the divinity the Evil God granted him. So it was quite hard to browse through his memories. But from what I saw, I discovered such a thing. Now tell me, Seth. What happened?”

“Well…” Seth sighed. “When the World of Elios came to an end, I wasn’t even there to do anything. Back then, I didn’t even care either. I was a selfish person, and, at the same time, just another man. I couldn’t really give myself the privilege of caring about a whole different world.”

“Okay, I get that.” I nodded. “But why did you end up caring now? And how did it end?”

“Back then, it just happened,” he said. “I didn’t care and continued to move on... But it changed a few years later, when I met someone. She started as just another party member, someone I recruited because I really needed a Player to help me out on party-only quests on the higher floors. Mia was her name. She was a beast-kin woman, a tiger-kin to be specific.”

“Aha…” I nodded, listening to the love story.

“A-and... well,” he started blushing. “Things happened. We got along; we saved one another from danger. At one time, our entire party betrayed us; they set us up to kill us and steal our equipment and items. But by working together, we survived, by the skin of our teeth.”

“Huh-uh,” I kept nodding, eating snacks.

“And well, things happened,” he muttered. “Whatever the case, I loved her—I still do. She often used to talk to me about the stories of her world and of Elios. She was always lamenting how her world came to an end. Eventually, I got interested and started researching. I started to slowly connect the dots between many other incidents. And then I discovered that the world of Elios came to an end by the very ritual that created the Barbarian God.”

“He didn’t drain the world?” I asked.

“He did… Technically, the thing is, Evil Gods are tools for these people,” Seth explained. “They’re beings they can actually control. So while the people of these worlds where Evil Gods were created believed that this was a god that would protect them… Once the Evil Gods creators came back, they could easily take over the Evil God’s mind and control them.”

“Is that so…”

“I am not sure who was behind everything; I wasn’t there, and the information was scarce,” he explained. “But it was one of those people, the leader of whatever organization, cult, group, or whatever they were. They wielded the power of the Evil God, the Barbarian God, and turned him into a Divine Construct that helped them drain all of the world’s Energies and Souls.”

“So that’s how it is…” I nodded. “Now I’m even more thankful we killed him. Rakshasa was destined to bring destruction to this world either way.”

“Yeah… Mia always talked to me about Elios, of its beautiful blue skies, of its tranquil grasslands, lush forests, the tribes that lived freely, and more,” he said. “It inspired me; I wanted to visit it with her, to live in Elios at her side... To settle down, even. I was tired, Bing Xue. So tired of everything... I had considered many times if I should stop and simply settle down with her. To forget my world, to forget my purpose. To forget my path... Just so… Just so I could be with her. Mia was my everything.”

“Seth…” I felt slightly moved, but at the same time, I was a bit worried. “Did something happen to her?”

“…”

He remained in silence, looking down.

“Don’t tell me.”

“Yeah, she died...”

I fell silent for a moment. Well, we both did.

He looked sorrowful, reminiscing the time he had spent with her, perhaps.

“It was...” he grabbed his head. “In Floor 76... That nightmare. It was something—something we could have never won against. Bing Xue, if only you would visit that floor, you would understand the dread I feel.”

I noticed his hands were trembling.

Just what is in Floor 76 that makes it so dreadful and strong that even Mia died?

“I couldn’t save her…” Seth grabbed the grass tightly. “I couldn’t do anything! I watched her die… I… Hahh…”

He wanted to keep himself composed, to remain as cold as he always is.

Yet he couldn’t help it; he quickly started crying.

“Mia…”

My disciple was crying in front of me; there was nothing much I could do other than offer him my company.

I walked to his side and then hugged him.

He was much smaller than me, so it was easy to embrace him with my long arms.

“Mia is alive now, Seth. You’ve turned back time, remember? We’ll find her together.”

“It’s not the same anymore… All the time I spent with her, all those years… I am not a complete stranger.”

“But aren’t you relieved she’s alive now, at least?”

“Yeah… I am. And I think… I think it would be better to just leave her be.”

“What! Why?!”

There’s no way he’s thinking of doing that!

As his master, I simply can’t let my disciple think he doesn’t need his lover back!

Mia, prepare yourself; I’ll find you and bring you to poor little Seth!

“C-Calm down! There’s a reason why I wouldn’t want her to come back. I was the one that ultimately became the driving force behind our party…” he sighed.

“I had grown obsessed with climbing the tower and growing stronger. I wanted to reach the top of the tower and wish for Earth to be finally freed from all the destruction and to be healed…”

“I see…” I nodded. “So Mia…”

“Mia and my other friends, they all came with me; I was the party’s leader, so…” he muttered. “Well, they followed me anywhere. They were all good friends, aside from my dear Mia. My other brothers and sisters had lived through many challenges. We saved one another, yet I just couldn’t save them; everyone died on Floor 76 except me. I brought them to their deaths. I don’t deserve to be their friend anymore; I don’t... I don’t deserve Mia.”

So that’s why he thinks like that…

Well, this is indeed rather complicated.

Maybe I’m being selfish by wanting him to get back to her or his friends.

But honestly, I don’t want him to shoulder the responsibility of saving the world or the tower by himself.

“Well, hasn’t the future already changed a lot? I didn’t just fight the barbarian god; I killed another thirteen gods, so I am fairly sure that such a feat will change the tower and any world connected to it forever,” I said. “You don’t really know if she’ll be fine on her own, even less with your friends... If you still love her and if you still care about your friends, wouldn't you at least learn where they are and what they’re doing well enough? So you can see if they need help or if they might be on the brink of dying! Maybe I’m being paranoid now, but... come on, don’t you worry a little bit?”

Seth gasped, looking at my eyes dumbfounded.

“Y-You’re not wrong…” he muttered. “I suppose that’s… right. At least, I should try to find them and see if they’re doing okay. I… I guess you’re really good at convincing people, huh, Bing Xue? Or should I say, Master, from now on?”

“Master is better!” I nodded. “But you can call me however you want. Anyway, what else do you know about this girl? I can help you find her.”

“Hmm, well, she had a few more years of experience than me,” Seth said. “When I met her, I only had two and a half years of experience in the tower, while she had seven. She wasn’t older than me, though, but she had been traveling in the tower at a much younger age. Perhaps because she was born in it. Although children aren’t allowed to climb the tower, that actually depends on their race and what you consider a child. Some people in certain races become adults at three years of age, for example.”

“So she was seven years of age?!” I gasped.

“What! No! She was like twenty…” he facepalmed. "It is simply that most beast-kin become adults at a younger age than humans. That’s all. So she might have started climbing the tower at… thirteen years of age; dammit, that’s so young still. She’s probably… either eighteen or nineteen right now. Around my age, I guess.”

“Where did you find her?” I asked.

“At Floor 33 was our first encounter,” he said. “But that’s like two years from now. This means she could be on a much lower floor.”

“Hmm! I see, any more info?” I asked.

“She told me she spent a lot of time training on Floor 20,” he said. “It’s a world called Zipangu. She learned her Swordsmanship and her Stance Techniques from there. It made her such a powerhouse. She said that her getting there and not was what made a whole difference.”

“Damn, poor girl, she had been on her own all this time! Why?” I wondered. “Doesn’t she have a family?”

“Yeah, she said she belonged to the Golden Fang Tiger Tribe,” said Seth. “I assume they escaped from here long ago and settled in Floor 4's mountains, where the tigers might feel more comfortable.”

“I see… I do remember killing a bulky god; he was from there, I think,” I said.

“{Stone Giant of the Ash Mountain}, right?” he asked. “Yes, he’s a lazy god that asks for offerings from the people living there... He wasn’t someone as terrible as the barbarian god, but not someone nice either. Well, if he’s dead, there’s nothing that can be done about it. And yes, as you asked me before, she has been alone for a while. Most likely, because of those offerings, they were like taxes; they had to pay for each head of a family. So if she left the floor altogether, her family wouldn’t have to spend their resources and money on her.”

“What a greedy bastard; good thing he’s dead,” I sighed, crossing my arms. “Well! I plan to climb these worlds I freed from their gods and see how they’re doing. The very least I can do is take responsibility if they require a new god and create one for them. like I did with Leviathan or Typhon.”

“I suppose you’re the only person who could ever think “creating a god” is somehow something easy to do as a favor to others,” laughed Seth. “Thank you, Bing Xue. If possible, let’s climb the tower together. Once we reach Floor 4, maybe... we could try looking for Mia’s tribe and find more clues about her whereabouts.”

“Nice! Let’s do that then, my disciple.” I nodded. “Look at you, all better now! Come, let’s celebrate with everyone else!”

“No… I mean, I would rather be on my own than-”

“Nope! You’re coming with me.” I grabbed him and dragged him into the middle of a dance between many people.

The beast-kin, orcs, and thralls welcomed him, celebrating at his side, offering him food, and talking to him.

“W-Wait! Bing Xueee!”

As he called for help, I ignored him.

How does he expect to conquer that girl’s heart again if he doesn’t know how to talk well and everything else?

He needs to socialize a bit!

-----