Journey Of A Legend

Silence filled the surroundings as both Eliana and Greg watched Kuragari giving his life force to Zane.

Zane's complexion was akin to a zombie; pale skin, trembling limbs, blood flowing out from his nose and mouth while his breathing was extremely slow. If it weren't for the fact his chest rose and fell from time to time he would have believed he was dead long ago.

"Just what the hell happened here?" asked himself Greg, as he watched Zane's dire condition before him.

"It seems he used a Taboo Art several times and it backlashed on him quite sorely," explained Alice inside Greg's head in an indifferent tone of voice.

"What kind of Taboo Art?" asked Greg.

"It is called Soul Sacrifice. Exchange for your life force you can summon your Guardian out in its fullest potential for a limited time. The longer is the time limit the harsher the requirements will be."

"Summon your Guardian for a limited time... It seems quite powerful, but the requirements to use it too," exclaimed Greg as he watched the gentle blue light seep into Zane's body from around Kuragari's palm.

"It is, but it's an Art created for ordinary people and not the likes of you. Because you and I are special, you don't need to summon me through such a ridiculous method. I can appear and fight alongside you whenever want."

"Ridiculous..." Greg didn't know what to say after hearing that. To call such a terrifying Art ridiculous could be considered as tough or arrogant, but from a deity who lived for eons... Well, maybe then it was not.

"What is that blue light anyway? A healing ability?" asked Greg but soon Alice replied causing his eyes to widen in surprise.

"That is Kuragari's life force. He is giving Zane his own to save his life."

"What? Then won't Kuragari die instead?" Greg looked worried as he inspected Kuragari's complexion. But luckily seeing he was just sweating on his forehead gently, he could sigh with relief.

"Well, he can die, but considering his age he won't."

"What should that mean?" asked Greg with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Well, to put it simply, the amount of life force you can give away to others will all depend on you. And as I can see, Kuragari only plans to give 15 or 20 years of his life force to Zane. Considering his age, he definitely won't die, but he will die sooner than others for sure."

"..." Greg stared at Kuragari in silence as complex emotions appeared both on his face and in his eyes, "Can't you help them?"

"That is impossible."

"What? Why?" 

"Because I cannot restore one's life force. I'm not a Divine Doctor or a Saint who can do such miraculous things, I can just control the elements. On the other hand, the Creator could help them in no time at all."

"Yeah, of course... The Creator..." smiled Greg wryly and stayed silent. Of course, a deity that created the universe itself could help them but there was a sole problem; that being was sealed deep inside an Altar.

"Then I can just watch in silence." 

As he thought about this, the blue light around Kuragari's palm flowed slowly into Zane and it wasn't long as his complexion slowly turned better and better.

"It is truly working!" 

However, the same cannot be said about Kuragari. Even though his condition looked quite good and healthy at the start, right now his face started to pale too, while small wrinkles appeared on his skin all over his body one by one. It was apparent he was getting older and older with each passing second thanks to him losing his life force.

"Cough! Cough!"

Zane who lied on the ground motionlessly all this time now suddenly started to cough up blood while his arms and legs started to move slowly.

"Zane!" shouted Eliana, causing Zane to open his eyes heavily and look around with a weak stare.

"What... Are you... Doing here?" asked Zane in a shaky voice as he glared at Kuragari before him with a complicated stare.

"Just shut up and relax. You will be fine in no time at all."

"But I di-"

"Can you just fucking do what I ask you once? Just only once! It's not so difficult to do it right?" said Kuragari calmly but it was obvious he was annoyed; he wanted to help Zane and he still tried to refuse his aid. Was he this arrogant or was he this dumb? Kuragari was unable to answer this question.

"..."

Zane, whose condition turned better with each second opened his mouth to say something but stopped because he realized there was nothing he could say. As a result, he just simply put his head back onto the ground and closing his eyes started to relax.

Eliana saw this from the side and sighed with relief, but the happiness she was feeling currently was unable to hide.

Time flowed in silence and a small while later Kuragari took his hand away, causing the light to vanish, "This should be enough. I gave him 17 years of my lifespan. But if you try to use that Art once again, I don't fucking care, I won't help you!"

Zane sat up and moved his arms around with a sour expression then looked up at Kuragari. Looking at the white strands in his hair, the small wrinkles on his skin, and the weakened presence around him, a gentle glint flashed in his eyes.

"Why did you help me? Like this, you will die way sooner than I idiot! You dug your own grave!"

"The real idiot here is you, you fucking dumbass. Do you have any idea just how dire your situation was? You almost died! I just saved your life so a simple thanks will be enough too." said Kuragari, anger evident in his voice.

"Of course I knew it! But what should have I done against a monster like that? Let it kill both Eliana and me?" replied Zane as he jumped onto his feet and glared at Kuragari like a lion; it was visible he wanted to fight

"Oh, perfect. I saved you, brought you back from death's door and what do I get? A piercing glare and an invitation for a fight! You are truly one of that kind."

"What di-"

"Can the two of you just simply shut the fuck up?"

"!?"

"!?"

Both Kuragari and Zane flinched slightly by the voice from the side and turned to look at Eliana who stared at them with a blood-freezing glare. It was their very first time hearing Eliana curse out loud after several years and it was quite... Intimidating.

"Woah... She shut those two up in a single instant just with one sentence... She must be truly pissed." thought Greg with a slightly opened jaw as he watched Eliana before him.

"If you both want to fight so much you can do that after we finish our task first."

"Task? What kind of tas... Oh..." asked Zane but instantly realized what Eliana meant under their 'task' and tilted his gaze at Greg, "So? Did you obtain the last key?"

"Naturally." answered Greg, but he wasn't quite happy as he said that, "It seems his behavior changed nothing at all even though he was on the brink of death a few moments ago."

"Here," said Greg as he extended his arm and almost the very next second summoning 6 different keys above his palm.

The Fire key obtained from the Temple of Passion burnt with crimson flames.

The Earth key collected from the Temple of Stillness was made out of solid brown rock, while it shone with a gentle brown light.

The Water key which was made out of jade and was collected from the Temple of Calmness, leaked out such a chilling presence that it made anyone feel frostiness even several meters away.

The Wind key that was obtained from the Temple of Swiftness was extremely harder to see, but if one concentrated enough it was still noticeable that it was formed by hundreds of wind blades swirling here and there like a miniature chaotic storm.

The Light key that he received from the Temple of Time was a mass of white light while the Darkness key that he obtained from the Temple of Void was a mass of darkness put in the shape of a key. 

Each was made out of a different element and each shone with a different color illuminating the surroundings with six different colors. 

And at the same time, each key leaked six different presences and powers, making even the 3 powerful experts before Greg to start to tremble unwillingly.

"I have finally collected all 6 keys so what remains now is to open that Altar." said Greg calmly and glanced at the three before him.

Kuragari who was mesmerized until this point by the sight above Greg's palm suddenly came back to his senses and cleared his throat gently, "About that... We have a bit of a problem."