Interlude II

"That triangle?" Elmer observed. "Oh, it represents the Trinity," he further added to the confusion of Egon.

"What does that mean?" Egon asked, pointing his hands towards the dots drawn on each corner. "Why are the corners marked with these big dots?"

"Hmmm, let's see…" Elmer hummed as he eyed the triangle. "The first dot here on the left corner represents the creation and the right corner dot represents the destruction."

"They also represent two ultimate beings who have the authority over those two phenomena and they are referred to as the creator and the destroyer. Well, that's what my friend told me." Elmer shrugged.

"I see…then what does this dot on the top corner represent?" Egon asked curiously.

"It represents us, it represents the world around us." Elmer stretched his hands wide as he spoke. "It represents the existence or to be more specific it represents reality!"

"Uhm, then, who holds the authority over this aspect?" Egon was intrigued by what he was hearing. In all the books he had read, there was never a mention of this Trinity. To be honest, he wasn't all that interested in these things and hadn't looked into the books related to world creation and all.

But hearing his father talk about these things, he realised there might be some truth behind these obscure concepts.

"Haa! That's where it gets interesting!" Elmer let out a loud chuckle. "You see, the creator and the destroyer got into an argument over who should hold the authority of existence! One argued it should be controlled and everything should be pre-written before it becomes reality."

"Ohh, that must be the destroyer! He would definitely want to control our lives!" Egon exclaimed.

"Haha, how naive, Egon? How naive?" Elmer snickered. "Why would the destroyer want to control anything? The more unpredictable and uncontrollable the things are the more chances of it creating chaos! Chaos can very easily devolve into destruction! Wouldn't it be more advantageous to the destroyer who enjoys destruction to be everything out of order?"

"Huh?" Egon asked dumbly.

"You might think since the creator is the one who created us, he must love us dearly and would allow us to have free will," Elmer said coolly. "But contrary to your expectations, the creator was a control freak! He wanted everything to go exactly according to his wish. Since he created everything, he naturally expected everyone to act according to his will. That's how fate was born to dictate our lives!"

Egon gulped. This creator was a tyrant for sure.

"Then what happened?" He asked.

"Of course, the destroyer didn't sit idly either. He was incensed by fate. If everything went according to some pre-written orders then his life would become boring! The creator was trying to take the element of chaos completely out of the picture which the destroyer considered a slight against him! He loved chaos; the world would become monotonous without it."

Elmer stood up from the trunk top he was sitting on and went near the magic circle drawn on the ground. He completed the runes by drawing the triangle.

"He rebelled against the creator! His intense anger and hatred towards fate gave birth to destiny. The concept which gives us the power to shape our future! The creator didn't like it. His creations would thrive by following his will and leading an orderly life. If they try to go against fate and challenge his will, that would lead to chaos."

"Chaos gives birth to unpredictability. What if someone who could threaten their authority as the creator and the destroyer was born out of this chaos? Wouldn't he kick them both out of their position and take control of everything? This argument continued for a while before the inevitable war broke out between them."

"Then…who won in the end, father?" Egon asked.

"I don't know," Elmer shook his head in pity. "Even my friend knew only this much. Who do you think won, eh?"

"I don't want the creator to win! It is really creepy to think that everything I do has already been written." Egon opined.

"Ohh, you want the destroyer to win? Wouldn't it lead to destruction and chaos everywhere?" Elmer countered back.

"I…uh…I didn't mean that…" Egon scratched the back of his head in confusion. Who should win? He had no idea. He was a bookworm, he just wanted to read and discover new things. He didn't have any wish to contemplate these profound concepts.

"Hahaha, even I am confused as to who should win!" Elmer chuckled. "Though, my friend did talk about a popular theory about what might have happened."

"See… the reality was fed up with the war between the two most powerful beings in the world. It was the one that suffered the most as a result of their battle. In its desperation to save itself, it took a bold step by intertwining fate and destiny, foretelling an entity being born in this world that would break free from the shackles of the Trinity and reign supreme over everything."

"It wanted someone who cared about reality and wouldn't treat it as a plaything like those two to become its master!"

-Gulp!

"That entity would have to be super powerful! More like omnipotent, isn't it?" Egon took a gulp in fear. He would be less than a speck of dust in front of something like that. Just imagining someone with that much power gave him chills.

"By the way, father, who is this friend of yours? He seems to know a lot!"

Elmer's face morphed into a mix of rage and sadness as he spoke:

"He was a mighty wyvern. He died just a few days ago. Never mind, the circle is complete. Let's start with the ritual, shall we?"

"Uhmm, okay." Egon nodded. He had rarely seen his father so depressed. Even when talking about his mother's death, he was more calm and composed.

"Stand in the middle of the circle. This year I have decided to bless you through the ritual!"

Egon happily stood in the middle of the circle following his father's instructions.

Elmer started injecting his mana into the circle. The magical runes lit up in merriment, emitting a bright orange hue as a pure Phoenix fire started to burn brilliantly inside the circle.

"So good~" Egon let out a contented sigh as the tongues of flames licked at his skin. He was feeling empowered in the presence of Phoenix fire and closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling.

-Voom!

However, his momentary peace was broken by the sound of air humming.

"Release!" Elmer shouted as he pressed his palms together. His mana surged erratically as the chaotic swirls of shadows erupted out of his body. It shot towards the magic circle, completely overwhelming the gentle fire.

"Arghhh!"

Egon screamed in agony as the flames turned dark and started burning him.

"Father, stop! It's burning!" He pleaded as the shadows locked onto his core. Egon's core, which was rotating steadily, started to revolve crazily. His flesh burned in the fire and Egon felt his blood forcefully moving towards his core.

"Arrghhh!"

His scream echoed out in the cavern as his blood was crazily sucked by the core followed by his burning flesh. The core spun rapidly, chirping in exhilaration.

Egon— a fully grown handsome man was absorbed into his own core.

With a flick of his hand, Elmer extinguished the fire and the core flew towards him. He swallowed it like candy and nodded his head in satisfaction.

His injuries, formed due to the breaking of the contract between him and the wyvern, healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

*******

A few moments later…

-Tap! -Tap! -Tap!

Elmer smiled hearing the hurried footsteps coming towards the cavern. A man who very much resembled himself to the minute details descended from the stairs.

His legs were shaking, his sweat trickled down his face in fear.

"Shit, shit, shit!" The clone cursed furiously. "Don't tell me to do anything like this ever again on the spur of the moment. Do you hear me, Elmer? It was fucking scary!"

"Well, you're still alive. So stop your whining." Elmer shrugged indifferently.

"What do you mean? Were you planning on having me killed? Why do you look so disappointed?" The clone thundered.

"It would've been for the best if you had died. Now, it will take a lot of convincing from my side to send the Lord Protector against him!"

"Fucking hell! So, that was your plan? Let me remind you, I don't want to be remade again and again!" The clone thundered.

"Don't shout! At least, something good came out of this fiasco! Cyril is dead. That's a win in my book." Elmer pointed out.

"But it was scary as hell! I have never seen someone like him! He j-just scares me so much, Elmer! Do you think we could beat him one day?" The clone spoke nervously. "He took that heavenly lightning like it was nothing!"

"Hmm, that's really impressive! I guess I could do that too if I unleash the full power of my cultivation…"

"Yeah, and you would be a roasted pig by the time it's over!"

"I would still be alive!" Elmer countered.

"It's a good thing that he is leaving the empire. I don't think we could've hidden ourselves for longer if he stayed here!"

"Right!" Elmer nodded half-heartedly. "What about the rest of the Denvers? Did you send men to keep an eye on them?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Good! Have them poisoned and spread the rumours about…urgh, what was her name? Yeah, Lyla. Blame it on her. Make sure to torture Madam Denver before poisoning her. Spread the rumours everywhere that Lyla was thorough in taking revenge. Oh! And make sure the rumours reach the ears of Duke Goldburns. He should be given a chance to avenge his sister, right?" Elmer chuckled.

"Kekeke, you're still hung up on your mother's murder, aren't you?" The clone cackled, imagining the Goldburns getting destroyed by that freak.

"It's not something that I can easily forget. I won't rest until all of them are dead."

"Don't worry, it will be done!" The clone reassured him. "By the way, Ray was the one who was responsible for Felix's death. His aura was all over the place. It was present in the destroyed Denver manor, in the forest where Tim was killed. But what I don't understand is how he got involved with Lyla."

Elmer thought about the clone's words, his eyes widened in realisation.

"What if he is not Ray but someone else entirely?" He asked the clone.

"Who?"

"Raymond Clover!" Elmer slapped his forehead in frustration. "It all makes sense now, the spy assigned to watch over him blew himself up and our guy inside the Clover family did say that Raymond had defeated Allen, which should be impossible given his condition!"

"Are you sure?" The clone asked, still thinking it couldn't be him.

"Hmm, not only that! I ordered Denver to initiate Plan B! That means Marcus must have told Cyril about his assumption about Raymond's birth!"

"What do you think Cyril would've done when he realised the current Clover head didn't care for Raymond?" Elmer asked.

"He would've sent his best assassin to take care of Raymond to clear a path for his son!" The clone shouted in surprise.

"Hahahaha! I wanted to create a blood feud between Clovers and Denvers but the Denvers got destroyed in the process. Hahaha, this is gold!" Elmer laughed happily. This day wasn't all that bad after all.

"But still, that's all speculation!" The clone observed. "Your daughter seemed to be close with him. She might know something, you should ask her!"

"Highly unlikely! My daughter would've come running to me if she discovered something like that! She would never hide anything from me." Elmer said confidently. "Then again, I will subtly ask her to make sure!"

The clone nodded and his expression turned serious.

"You are absolutely sure that there are no rumours and suspicions around Thomas's death, right?" He asked, his heart thumping against his chest in fear. "He will bury us underground if he finds out about his father! We are still unprepared to face him!"

"I know. Don't fret, everyone that went to war with him that day is dead. There are no clues leading to us." Elmer said and gestured for his clone. "Come back to me, it's already late. We should rest."

"I hope so…" The clone nodded as it merged into Elmer's body.