Chapter 7: Temptations

"No! Absolutely not!" shouted Lazarus.

"And who you might be?" said Leon pointing to Europa.

"That's none of your business, I'm here for Lazarus." said Europa.

"This is the goddess Europa." said Lazarus as he sighed.

"And what does she have to do with you? You do know she's bad news right?" said Leon.

"And that's simply not true! I have something that Lazarus needs, something that he's been wondering about for a while!" said Europa.

"She's playing mind games with me." Lazarus said.

"What does she hold on you?" said Leon.

"She has information about my-"

"I have information about his past, I know exactly who his parents are. All I wish for is for me to be his wife!" said Europa.

Leon started bursting out laughing.

"Hahahahaha! This is what you call mind games?" Leon said.

"Well..." said Lazarus.

"She's beautiful of course, but you know that she's a demon myth correct?" said Leon.

Lazarus was in absolute shock.

"Wha- how do you know?" said Lazarus.

"When you reach your highest self, you can feel it" said Leon.

Lazarus felt like Leon was making things up, but then remembered how he had previously reached rebirth. And also felt the presence of Lazarus' bad energy.

"You... mean it?" said Lazarus.

Leon unwielded his katana, and Lazarus was looking at him in total shock.

"What... are you...?" said Lazarus.

"By the heavens, by the soul realm, I want to honor this one with peace." said Leon.

Europa started to slowly back up, but there was nowhere to go. They were meters up Mount Zeus at this point.

"And you think that killing this woman will grant her peace?" shouted Lazarus.

"Lazarus... you still have a lot to learn, kid. Though she looks beautiful and doesn't look demonic, her soul is gone. She is not herself anymore, she is the definition of temptation. There is no life left in there." said Leon.

Leon then shouted a line.

"Through the hardships, I went through to reach this point.... through the terrains I've traveled, that made me feel like giving up, through the soul realm where I was able to reach peace within myself, and now on Mount Zeus the place where I became one with myself, I grant this demon myth Europa, the privilege of eternal peace."

He slashed his katana straight down her body, and flames started to erupt out of his katana. Europa didn't even have time to react, it was almost like time stopped itself. Slowly piece by piece, she began to fade away. As the pieces were fading, a white glowing butterfly appeared. The butterfly started to flutter around Leon, then started to fly upwards towards the sky. Faintly Lazarus and Leon heard a girl say

"Thank you...." as the butterfly disappeared.

"What just happened." said Lazarus as he wanted to tear up.

"Lazarus, it may seem like she was still human, but not all demon myths have to be demonic looking. Just now, though it seemed violent. I granted her soul eternal peace." said Leon.

"Who was that saying thanks?" said Lazarus.

"That was her soul, that was just released." said Leon.

Leon looked up at the rest of their journey up Mount Zeus.

"Come on, I'll explain while we walk." said Leon.

Though Lazarus was still confused, they started to walk up Mount Zeus' path, and Leon began to explain some things to Lazarus.

"Though I don't like to tell people my System, I suppose since you are my student I shall tell you." said Leon.

Lazarus was happy as he thought would get an insight into how to evolve his own System.

"I've been through three rebirths now." Leon laughed.

"One on Mount Zeus, one in the soul realm, and one now, in the present." said Leon.

"I was granted the privilege in the soul realm, to help corrupted souls reach the soul realm. That is my duty, now, of course, my System is the ability to send corrupted souls, like demon myths, to the soul realm. I am able to release souls out of bodies." said Leon.

"Woaaaah, that is amazing you are the definition of a hero." said Lazarus.

"I give my thanks. But I will say that I believe you are a great candidate for one of us." said Leon.

"One of us?" said Lazarus.

"In the soul realm, I am a part of a team called The Charities we all have the same duty to send corrupted souls to the soul realm."

"You.. honestly think I can become one of you?" said Lazarus.

"You need more confidence! You have many heroic features Lazarus!" laughed Leon.

They continued up Mount Zeus, and it started to heavily snow. Though Lazarus was running out of stamina, Leon made him push himself until they made it to the top. To Leon, this journey was nothing.

"You really want to continue? We've been at it for like seven hours now." said Lazarus.

"It's easy to give up." said Leon.

"This is different than giving up, I'm running out of stamina." said Leon.

"We will push through this Lazarus. I have faith in you." said Leon.

"Then can I get some thoughts out of my head while we get through this treacherous snow?" said Lazarus.

Leon smiled and replied, "Go for it!"

"Then I have a question if you know anything about Systems or powers from the soul realm, then why am I devouring the dead?" said Lazarus.

Leon looked shocked and had to make sure he was understanding things right.

"What do you mean by devouring the dead?" said Leon.

"Well, the sword that I'm carrying, green aura pours out of it every time someones die and starts to devour them. Even my own friend Petros I devoured. It's been hurting me ever since." said Lazarus.

"If you don't mind, may I see that sword of yours?" said Leon.

Lazarus took his sword out of his sheath and handed it to Leon. Leon was inspecting it but primarily focused on the gems that were on Lazarus' swords hilt. One was a huge emerald that shined in the moonlight, the second one was a ruby that was fire red, and the last one was a diamond, that was so pure it looked transparent.

Within the gems, Leon spotted tiny specs that were floating about within the gems. Leon closed his eyes and thought about what to say to Lazarus.

"I don't know how else to put this, Lazarus." said Leon.

Leon opened his eyes and decided on the words he wanted to say.

"I think it's best to wait until we get to the top Lazarus." said Leon.

"But why?" said Lazarus.

"I don't want to discourage you right now." said Leon.

Though Leon's intentions were good, Lazarus still felt anxious about what this meant. Lazarus started to think that he was born evil and that this power was absolute wickedness.

They continued up Mount Zeus in silence. The whole mood changed as Leon was more quiet than usual. They were at a part on the path where they needed intense focus, the path was getting much harder to traverse.

The snow was piling up on them but they kept going, in silence.

Eventually, after some hours, they got to the top. But just before the top stood a statute. It was a statue of the God Zeus. The mountain was named after him as he was rumored to be the first to ever climb this mountain. It was a grand chiseled statue with two diamonds for eyes.

Lazarus thought it was the coolest thing in the world, as he had always seen Mount Zeus as a child but obviously never attempted to climb it. As for Leon, he's seen this statue many times. Right next to the statue stood a tattered ladder, and beyond climbing it was a plateau that gave a beautiful view of all of the Kingdom of Yanni.

From the top Lazarus saw the many beauties of Yanni. He saw the many different biomes, dense forests, swamps, tundras, and even flat grasslands. He saw the many cities and towns that were familiar to him. It was a beautiful feeling, he almost felt like he was the king of the world. He felt like his thoughts were fading away as the wind was blowing against him.

Lazarus instinctively sat in a criss-cross position and began to close his eyes. For once he felt like he can finally relax. It was just him and Leon, in a spot where nobody can possibly bother him. He felt in intune with his own thoughts.

"Wow, you're a quick learner!" said Leon.

Lazarus lightly smiled while keeping his eyes closed.

"I want you to relax before I tell you what I am about to tell you." said Leon.

Obviously, Lazarus was still feeling a bit anxious about his power, and tried his hardest to relax but he felt his heart racing.

"So.. Lazarus about that weird power you have. I want to tell you that..."