The Conquerors Path
Chapter 1011: - 1009-Be Free.

"So what now?"

Austin asked as he looked at Tria, who smirked as she stomped her foot to the ground in a certain pattern. After which Austin’s soul started to fluctuate and shake, like it was breaking or something. Even when that happened, he stayed calm as he looked at Tria, his soul soon disintegrating away. A few moments later, Tria’s also turned to dust, leaving behind just a dark black space, with a whisper of water flowing.

.....

The scene shifted to a scene from the past. Tria floated like a ghost, unseen, as she watched the scene being created. Her eyes were like a hawk as she saw the form of a young Austin being created. Young, being the one in front of her, turned out to look to be about 15 or 16. The young teenager in this case seemingly flopped out from a portal.

His body was fully bloodied, and he was almost at the range of death as he stumbled about and fell to the ground, his body marked with several marks, blood pooling below him as he just lay there like a dead fish. But what was tragic was the fact that he had a smile on his face, as if the thought of death was a bit welcoming for him.

Tria watched all of this with an unchanging expression. In the future she had come from, she had seen far worse things happen. After all, it had become a world where even living was tougher than anything else, a world of destruction, death and corruption.

Tria shook her head to get rid of the useless thoughts in her head. As someone who had survived far longer than many, it came with her realising several truths about the world, and the harshness of reality tethered to all of them. Her heart, having worn down by deaths, disasters and betrayals, was stone cold as she looked at the scene in front of her.

Just as Austin’s body seemed like it was getting cold, a hunter found him. A man who seemed to be in his middle ages, his dress matching that of a hunter. Right now, Austin, having fallen, was dying at that grass, which continued to turn red within the outer edges of a forest. But that was not the intriguing part of it. What was intriguing was that Tria could see the corruption around Austin.

It seems his special physique in itself was fighting against corruption, not letting it affect him. Her hands held tighter as she saw the scene, the reminder of the dirty corruption making her emotions complex. But deep in her eyes, what she didn’t realise was that she was showing a great deal of greed and apprehension at the sight of Austin.

She had heard all about how he could deal with corruption, something which was nearly impossible to find in her timeline. And in a way, she came to her own instance of thought, that perhaps the death of such talent and ability might have been orchestrated by ’them’. Cutting off such talent before it could fully bloom.

’But not this time.’

Tria held herself as she saw the hunter helping him. And unknown to him, the corruption that was latching onto Austin jumped to the man, forming around him, drilling deep into his body without him knowing about it. Tria shook her head at that sight. She could more or less guess what was going to happen from now on.

"This weighs too heavily on you, doesn’t it?"

She said as by her side stood Austin, floating away invisible like her. His expression was as carefree as always, but she could detect the sadness or pressure in him about the situation, like an old wound that had festered within without being able to burst. With a heavy sigh, Austin started to talk.

"Back then, my situation was dire. Near death, I could feel death finding me. It was the same as this, like limbo. I was unconscious, but I could feel everything that was happening around me, and by the time I was healed enough to do anything, it was all too late."

Tria watched as Austin’s hands tightened around himself, his knuckles shaking. She didn’t have to see more as she could tell what had happened. Thus, under her eyes, the situation kept unfolding. The hunter had taken him under his wing, taking him to the edge of his village and keeping him in his home, safe and sound. The family of the hunter is also treating Austin with care.

The family consisted of the hunter, his wife and his son, who seemed to be in his 20s. They seemed loving and took care of Austin. But unknown to them, the corruption had spread to all three of them, having that much quantity in them that it soon started to twist all three.

The husband started to lose his inhibitions. He started to hunt more, enjoying the kills, drinking. The woman fell into a twisted sense of wanting to boost her ego, started buying more things than she could handle, and spent money that they had saved up. The son fell into a cycle of smoking, drugs and debauchery. Twisting the three of them.

The three of them were mortals, barely any mana in them or barely touching any origin rank, such that the twisted corruption was swift for them. They didn’t even get any time to breathe before it started drilling into them. It was only the 3rd day, and the situation had become like that for them. By that point, it was time for Austin to wake up, his injuries almost healed.

But by the time Austin opened his eyes, it was too late.

The night of the 4th day, the son barged in, drunk and drugged and barely even recognising himself. And at that time, his mother was trying on a new dress, making herself look good. Then, to the son, there was no difference; she was just a woman, and he attacked.

Unleashed his lust. At which point the father walked in, his wife was choked to death by the roughness of his son. The anger and desperation from it, combined with the corruption, drove him to kill his son, his body twisting and falling to the ground. And at that time, Austin woke up. He had walked himself into the room to see and understand the situation.

At that point, the man lunged at Austin, surging to kill him. But Austin easily dealt with him, using his ability to drive away the corruption. He stood tall as the man fell to his knees, his mind clogged and driven by insanity. He killed himself. Austin watched it happen, and he didn’t do anything, the guilt and shock still in him as he stood frozen.

"Where did you fall from?"

Tria finally asked, to which Austin, with a wry smile, responded.

"It was a sealed corruption realm. I found it and had plugged it as I fell off fighting the corruption."

"You were lucky."

Tria added, to which Austin shook his head. The guilt was written all over him, and Tria sighed internally. She wasn’t lying when she said he was lucky. The corruption was only enough to infect 3 people, and before it could even spread, all of them involved died, thus stopping an epidemic that would have destroyed the whole village.

This was the mark of how corrupted and dangerous corruption is. Taking away the inhibitions to just make you animals that move on instinct and desire. And some criminals worship this behaviour, being the disgusting part, with notions of how that is ’true’ freedom.

Tria once again shook her head. She could see that this falls heavily on Austin, perhaps something that might destroy him from reaching greatness. Thus, as a senior, Tria took action. She waved her hand, and reality split. Suddenly, Austin found himself in reality not as a soul but standing there, back in that room, the man dead in front of him.

His pupils started to shake, his expression a bit rough as he stood over the dead bodies, their blood seemingly on his hands.

"This is indeed your fault, but does this override all the good you have done in your life?"

Tria asked as she stood by his side, her hands finally touching his shoulder to give a gentle squeeze as she kept talking, infusing a bit of her own calm soul sense into Austin.

"You have saved numerous lives with your actions, and what you see in front of you is from life itself. The hunter chose to pick you up; he chose to save you. You didn’t choose to make his life worse. Breathe it in. Fate is a wonder that guides the lost. This single situation does not wipe away the sheer good you have done in this world."

As she kept speaking, she could see Austin going into a daze.

"A hero is a heavy term. In fantasy, it’s a term that defines one who always exceeds and saves everyone. Unfortunately, that is not reality. As a hero, you can only do your best to save others, but you can’t save everyone. This is war, and in war, there will be sacrifices from all sides. Your heart mustn’t let this weigh you down. Take their pain and strive harder so that this won’t happen again."

Tria’s attached soul is slowly guiding Austin to an epiphany of growth.

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