Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1552: Epilogue

"Your life ends here!"

When he arrived in the garden, a redheaded boy suddenly attacked Rain with a palm strike on his face; despite the surprise, Rain moved his head to the side and avoided the hit.

After clicking his tongue, the boy chased Rain and kept targeting him with palm strikes and some kicks... the boy was quite violent since he only targeted Rain’s face. Still, he only did that since Rain kept dodging all the attacks by a small margin with a smile on his face. It almost felt like the choreography of a dance.

"I told you to stop with that!" Sealyn raised her voice and smacked the redheaded boy’s head.

"Ouch, don’t hit your son with a closed fist," Reed said.

"Your father is already too lenient with you, and I am not planning to spoil you further," Sealyn said after raising her eyebrows. Don’t attack your grandpa every time he leaves."

"It can’t be helped. The world needs a new hero, not this poor excuse of a lazy bum," Reed said.

"Sorry, Dad. This impertinent brat never learns and never listens," Sealyn said and then sighed.

"It is fine," Rain said and then smiled. "I also agree that the world needs a new hero, but I am not one, so you see, targeting the wrong guy. Still, a hero who attacks their targets by surprise like that sure is an interesting hero."

"You are right... the grannies look a lot more like heroes," Reed said. "But I don’t want to hit them."

"At least you have some morals," Rain said and then nodded. "Anyway, you are not wrong about them looking more heroic than me, but you didn’t have to go out and say it."

Two years had passed since the last battle... after dealing with the dragon god and recovering all the knowledge of the aspects, Rain waited for the overseer to come to deal with him, but he never showed up. As expected, reading that guy’s moves and thoughts was just too difficult.

Reed knew what had happened during that battle, but he found it hard to accept that his grandpa, who annoyed everyone and lazed around all day, had been the MVP. Still, he liked to hear the stories of that time since that motivated him to train, and he wanted to prove that his grandpa wasn’t that impressive or at least force him to show that he was the real deal...

In any case, Rain left Sealyn’s house after paying a visit, and then he decided to visit some people again. Now that he thought about it, Sealyn and Van were half sea folk, so would Reed be one-fourth sea folk? Perhaps it would be more important to say that he was the first person who had sea folk blood to have red hair...

While Rain was crossing the streets, he realized that the human capital was pretty much back to the way he recalled... Other places were being rebuilt right now to expand and improve life, but a lot of them were still there.

Along the way, Rain passed by the church, where he saw Terra, Reca, Jori, Liss, and Asche teaching kids a bit of magic. Before, that place was used as a temporary home for orphans, but now it has become something like a school.

Rain also found a blacksmith shop where his father was working. He was supposed to be a guard and knight, but he became interested in forging thanks to the effects of the hammer he once had.

"Hey, Rain," Roan said. "Are you here to order some forearm guards or something? Are Reed attacks finally starting to hurt?"

"No, and no," Rain said. "I am just killing time since I am bored. You have improved a lot; you only made crap after you began to work without Maxime’s help."

"I might be old, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t learn new tricks," Roan said. "Nothing is impossible when you truly put your mind to it."

"How are mom and my grandparents?" Rain asked. "Still expanding the farms?"

"Yep, we need a lot of food since people are eating a lot more than before," Rain said. "The war is over, so it is the time when our numbers can increase, and that means the necessity for more resources."

Once the dragon god was defeated, Rain and the others decided to return home. At the same time, the others who followed them in the prison also decided to return to their homes... while they had been destroyed, finding similar planets was easy.

Rain also promised the spirit of the planets that he would revive them, so he helped those guys. The lords also left and went to rebuild their own homes somehow... Rain knew that they wouldn’t do anything troublesome, and it was time for them to have a fresh start as well.

"Your sisters are traveling around with no apparent goal, so I am a bit worried about them," Roan said.

"They will be fine. Five to ten years, and they will be back and settle down. Danny and Annie occasionally meet them, after all, and they say that they are fine," Rain said. We all need to start thinking about what we should strive for next, but you already beat us to the punch."

"What about you?" Roan asked. "Are you fine, just relaxing around?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Rain said while stretching his body. "I have done my fighting for far too long. I have one idea in mind, but I am not sure if I should pursue it... it might not be worth the hassle."

"I see. As long as you are thinking about anything, I am sure you will be fine," Roan said.

After that, Rain decided to leave and visit Branden and Esmeralda. Although he could talk with all his friends via Telepathy, that was pretty boring. Seeing them in person was much better, and that also showed both sides how they valued each other’s friendship.

Esmeralda decided not to rebuild her castle, and at the same time, Iori decided to disappear once the previous battle was over. They still existed, but the meaning of the royal family for most people was being lost over time... Iori had caused some wars where many humans died, after all, and his father had done something similar, so disappearing was what he thought would be for the best...

Esmeralda also didn’t like the idea where some people would feel superior to the others just because they had her blood or something. In all fields, one person can’t be better than the other by birth. While some people stand out in some fields, they can’t be better than the others in all of them or even in two...

After having lunch with Branden and Esmeralda and learning that their kids were working on helping people far beyond their current territory, Rain decided to check things with his other friends that lived the farthest away. Reaching them in a single moment was that easy, though. The underwater castle was still there, but even though Rain had arrived in the throne room, nothing was there.

"Come to think of it, Sealyn is technically the sea empress... but she lives most of the time inland," Rain thought.

Rain asked around a few people, and then he eventually found Seadir, who told him that Seadrei was bored, too, and decided to visit the demi-humans who had returned to their Islands. In the end, Rain went there as well and soon found Seadrei in the middle of a drinking contest while a festival was taking place on the island.

The old man had become a lot more lax since Rain had met him for the first time. Rain also found Regis there relaxing on the festival as well... his bodyguards were nowhere to be seen. It seemed that he had given up on his ambitions of becoming more influential. Maybe he realized that he was bad at hiding that kind of stuff.

In any case, Rain decides to stay hidden and visit Isa, who lives in the mountains. Although the group knew the locations of several dragons outside Earth, she was the only one there, and she was a half-dragon, so she felt even more isolationist than usual. Still, she wasn’t truly alone; she just lived very far away from society at the top of a very tall mountain, and she kept the relics with her.

"Wassup," Rain said.

"Hah... it seems that you will be the last person to forget me," Isa said after a long sigh. "Anyway, you sure get bored fast. Is this your fifth or sixth visit?"

"I am technically 140 years old, while you are three thousand years old," Rain said. "So, it is normal for me to get bored twenty times faster. Anyway, what is that festival for?"

"I don’t know. Lately, they use any excuse to drink to death," Isa shrugged. "By the way, the relics decided to go to sleep since they got bored, too, and I don’t think that they will wake up anytime soon."

"They don’t have to, and they fulfilled their jobs, after all," Rain said.

With knowledge of all the aspects, he could be granted the relics and new human bodies, but they all refused that. All of their corrupt energy also vanished when the dragon god was defeated since they had no more reasons to hate dragons. There are some of them out there, but they aren’t a threat.

"Are you sure? Can’t they be useful if the overseer decides to do something?" Isa asked.

"Their power could be useful, but it wouldn’t be that groundbreaking," Rain explained. The overseer would know how to handle them well."

"I guess that makes sense," Isa said. Anyway, don’t you think we can finally relax after these two years of peace? And the overseer is still planning something."

"Nah, we can relax. It will be fine," Rain said. "Anyway, what are your goals from now on? Living here alone forever and clapping to the sun?"

"I like my time alone to think about many things. If I ever get bored like you, I can always visit you guys, too," Isa said. "I am not as needy as you."

"I guess I will kill Nigel when he wakes up," Rain said.

"Is it that obvious that he said something like that?" Isa asked.

"As clear as the sky," Rain said. "Anyway, many of us don’t have long lifespans, so we might pass out without you noticing it."

"Yes, that makes sense..." Isa said, and then she studied Rain in silence. "Are you certain about keeping the knowledge of the aspects sealed?"

"Their power is too great for times of peace. With them, we can ignore the laws of nature as much as we want, and that isn’t optimal," Rain explained while looking at the sky. "We would multiply endlessly, and we can’t tell what the next generations would do with this power."

Rain not only sealed the power of the aspects but also took them from everyone who had obtained them, even from himself, without them realizing it. He sealed the knowledge in countless parts and spread it around the universe. If there was a time that anyone would need them, they might find the power outside, but for now, they will be better sealed away.

"Well, I should go home now. See you the next time," Rain said.

"What is the point of coming if only to stay a couple of minutes?" Isa asked.

"You can always visit as well if that bothers you," Rain shrugged. "You can feel the power, can’t you? You might feel lonely, but you are never truly alone."

The Transcendental Support skill was truly useful, and it also made people realize directly that those who truly liked them were nearby. They felt their power increasing, and that was multiplied by the knowledge that those who valued them were nearby.

"I might show up eventually..." Isa said.

"We will be waiting," Rain smirked.

In the next moment, Rain teleported back to his home and found his wives waiting for dinner. It seemed that he had spoiled them too much since they rarely tried to make food nowadays and could get as good as him insanely fast.

"Tonight, we shall have something extra spicy," Rain said.

"We won’t fall for that, your double-meaning sentences," Terra said.

"I think we lose on the moment when we think that the sentences might have double meaning..." Seara said. "Anyway, how was everyone?"

"Same old, same old," Rain said. "Gramps looked like he was seeking an early grave by trying to win a drinking contest, though."

"We have high alcohol tolerance, so that is fine," Seara said.

Although Rain liked spicey food, he decided not to go overboard tonight in order to prank his wives. His ass would make him regret that tomorrow, so he settled for something mild. Besides, spicy food made him feel lazy, and that night, after exercising during the day, he was expecting some action. Unfortunately, as soon as his wives fell on the bed, they began to snore.

"The story of my life..." Rain said and then shrugged.

Rain went to sleep as well, wondering what he should do during the next few days. He thought more and more about that idea, but it seemed too dangerous. In the end, he fell asleep... but soon, he found himself standing in some mental landscape. It didn’t seem like his own since he had no control over it, and soon, the overseer appeared.

"Hey, it has been a while."

"Yes, have you had enough time to come up with a plan to deal with me?" Rain asked.

"You still think that I would come after you? Even though you never acted like that was the case?"

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst," Rain said. I have always done that and will always do it."

"The dragon god wasn’t completely wrong about his assumptions, and he was mostly right. I was truly the one who created the machine gods, but I also appeared on Earth after their actions. I disappeared so as not to leave any traces for them to look for me. My goal has always been the same: to create the means for this reality to protect itself in case something happens. I thought that the machine gods would be enough for that, but soon they began to deviate from what I had imagined, and then they began to mess with dangerous things."

"Arel and that creature, huh?" Rain asked. "Once you learned about that, you decided to use humans and the path system to check who would be the most suited for that."

"My plan was that the machine gods would eventually become one and the guardian of reality. If their fusion wasn’t enough, I would take over their consciousness. When humans joined, I also had planned to check their true potential with the paths system. Among all the other races in the universe, you were the ones who had the most compatibility with the aspects. So, I imagined that one day, one of you would obtain all of the aspects and become the perfect human. Such a being would have known the hardships of reaching that far from a weak background, so I didn’t think that the person would lose their mind with the idea of power, but I also considered taking over their body. However, you never showed any signs of that."

"I am far from perfect, though," Rain said.

"Perfection is a paradox. What is perfection? Perfection is often seen as the state of being flawless without any imperfections or mistakes. However, it’s essential to understand that perfection can be subjective and context-dependent. What might be considered perfect in one situation or by one person could be seen as imperfect by another. In some contexts, perfection might imply something without imperfections or mistakes. For example, a flawless diamond or a perfectly executed piece of music might be described as perfect because they meet certain standards or criteria without any visible flaws. However, in other contexts, perfection might be more about striving for excellence or reaching one’s fullest potential rather than achieving flawlessness. In this sense, making mistakes and learning from them could be seen as part of the journey toward perfection."

"... And?" Rain asked.

"You don’t like when people praise you too much,"

"Yeah, that gives me the creeps," Rain said.

"So, I will explain that simply. I learned more about perfection by watching your life. Making mistakes, grieving over them, but ultimately trying to avoid them for the greater good is what you tried to do."

"Not for the greater good, just for myself and for those who I care for," Rain said.

"Still, your actions affected many, and those you cared for will affect others too. That is why the Transcendental human path and its final three skills were created. With those, the right humans truly have no limits, and that is enough for my goals. The faith that you had in your friends and family, the faith that they had in you as well, made my goal not be reached as the dragon god said, but it made an imperfect path create a perfect future. One where one day you won’t be around, but there are others who will follow your will, and you let the means for them to do so as well. If something were to happen in the future, they wouldn’t even need the power of the aspects. That is why I came here to say that you are free to do what you want with that knowledge and to say goodbye as well. My work is done, and I have seen what I wanted... no. I saw everything that I wanted and much more. I am satisfied."

"Wow, we got Shakespeare over here," Rain said.

"See? Perfection, through imperfection."

"... What are you anyways?" Rain frowned.

"I am just will. The will to survive and thrive that was shown by countless beings before any of you or even the machine gods, that is all."

"I am not sure I buy that," Rain frowned.

"As I am will, I can only exist until the will is there. So, I won’t be around until I am necessary."

"Sure... you can get philosophical as much as you want," Rain shrugged. "Anyway, why did you choose me, the dragon god, and the others?"

"You all had the same background, people with relative modern knowledge but with zero attachments to your previous life. You all wouldn’t do anything too drastic to stand out and would focus on your survival and creating your best second life. I realized that was the best starting point for the start of the so-called perfect human."

"So, Isa’s friend that made those relics was one of us as well?" Rain asked.

"That is right, so was the first sea emperor, the first human king, the first magic people that learned magic, and the lightning emperor."

"... It feels like you truly tried to mold our history," Rain furrowed his eyebrows.

"I let them do what they wanted. I only granted them the starting point with their knowledge,"

"Since you did everything out of your interest, I am not that inclined to say thank you to you, but I am very grateful for my second chance," Rain said after a long sigh.

"You don’t have to, since thanks to your accomplishments, you deserved it. Anyway, I wish you luck with that, but I need to tell you that it is impossible to know what will happen if you send the knowledge to the beyond."

"It is hard to imagine that anything worse will happen considering that thing that I saw," Rain shrugged.

"Well, it is your life now. You do your own thing. Best regards."

The dream ended, and then Rain woke up... he couldn’t move a single inch since his wives were treating his arms like pillows that could bend in all directions, but Rain didn’t need to move. He still had a whole life ahead of him, but he had accomplished everything that he had set to do.

Now he just had to send the knowledge of the aspects to the universe that thing Arel was playing with and hope that someone would make good use of it. After that, he had nothing else to do to help... he had done everything he truly could to help.

"Oh, boy... what a road," Rain thought and then smiled. "Well, it was fun, so I can’t complain. I got everything I wanted: the best family in the world, the hottest wives, friends that would die for me and I for them... I don’t need a third life. Now, then, I will just pass my knowledge down to those who have the key to the future. The will of the Raging Phoenix is just like me, and it can’t be stopped no matter how much time passes."

The End.

Author’s Note: Guys! How have you been? I hope that you have enjoyed the end of Rain’s tale. So, this is my ninth finished book... it is amazing, but writing the end of my books is always the part that I enjoy the most. I wonder why... people say that the journey is more important than the end after all. Anyway, this was the longest work yet, close to 1.6 million words. I hope that the next one will be even longer and even more fun to write! Hope to see you there!