(Raymond's POV, The Eternal Garden)
Only a couple days remained of Mauriss's 90 day deadline, as finally Kaelith concluded Raymond's training and declared him to be a lost cause.
"You were the son I was most proud of, you reminded me of me, however, spending these last few days training you, I have realized that you're nothing like me. You have the talent, yes, however, you don't have the resolve. You don't have the guts necessary to take a blade and plunge it into your old man's heart, who was also the strongest warrior the universe had ever seen. That's something the likes of you can never do, because even today.... Even today, as circumstances force you into a battle you don't want. A battle that can be avoided, if only I step in to save you. You still don't show an ounce of killing intent towards me." Kaelith mocked, as Raymond lowered his head in subservience.
"I won't say that you becoming a Demi-God was a mistake, for a man with no ambition to become stronger is not a man at all. However, the mistake you made is to assume that you're the smartest individual in the universe, when you're not. As you should have taken better care of hiding who you really were." Kaelith added, as Raymond continued to look downwards, as he did not offer a single word of protest in response.
"It's unlikely that you will survive an encounter with your uncle today. Granted, you have trained hard over the last few days, and have improved a lot as a warrior. However, it's not enough to beat Soron. My brother is like me. His will is forged from fire. And in the end, it's that unshattering will that gives him the edge that you weak kids will never have." Kaelith concluded, as he tossed a thin razor blade sized blade to Raymond that weighed no more than 0.1 grams, and was shaped exactly like a shaving razor.
"Here... my last duty as a father. The rest is on you." Kaelith said without emotion, as Raymond studied the razor in shock.
It was Origin Metal. A weapon capable of piercing Søron's skin, should he even have the chance to hit the man. As although it wasn't much, it was still better than nothing, as with this blade in his hands, he finally had some means to hurt Søron for real.
"Thank you, Father... for everything. I know I'm a disappointment in your eyes, but fear not, I won't die bringing shame to your name." Raymond said, before silently taking his leave of the Eternal Garden, as he bid farewell to Kaelith — perhaps for the last time.
---
Raymond had assembled a massive army of over 20 billion soldiers to attack planet Juxta, which in theory was an over kill for a planet that housed only Two billion residents total, most of whom were not even combatants.
However, it did not matter how many people he took with him, for if Søron showed up, they were all going to be nothing more than harmless bugs before an exterminator.
'It is exactly how father said..... Perhaps I lack the resolve to take extreme steps like him.' Raymond thought, as he clutched the origin metal razor in his palms tightly.
'Perhaps, I could have plotted to take down Mauriss The Deceiver in these past few days. Perhaps, I should have tried and convinced my father to help me take him down. However, I instead accepted the fate handed to me, and am now marching towards certain death....' Raymond thought, as he smirked at the irony of his own situation.
For the universe, he was the son of the Eternal Sovereign, the cold, heartless god who aeons ago was the main perpetrator behind the Great Betrayal, however, unlike him, Raymond did not believe himself to be capable of killing his own kin. Despite his father renouncing him the moment his secret was exposed. Despite him threatening to kill him with his own hands if he showed dissent. Somehow, Raymond still loved him, and wanted to spare him from the pain of having to slaughter his own child, as although he knew that the man had the heart of stone capable of handling such pain, he still did not wish to put him through the ordeal.
"I suppose this is where history will call me a fool." Raymond muttered, staring out through the observatory glass as the fleets loomed in the void, while the men behind him worked their stations in silence.
"I suppose this is where they will say that I wasn't deserving of the talent coursing through my veins, and discredit the hard work it took me to become a Demi-God in the first place...."
"I suppose this is the chapter in my life's story, where the readers will wonder, 'if only I had his talent.... Perhaps I would have taken the risk to offend the status quo and rebel my way into becoming a God—' But that's not me..." Raymond said, his voice low and flat as the void beyond the glass breathed its indifferent light across the deck.
"Let them call me coward, let them call me fool, let the chroniclers ink me into a cautionary footnote," he continued, tightening his fingers on the origin razor until the lines of metal bit into his palm, "for I would rather die with the burden of weakness than be remembered as a father killing monster."
He let the words hang as the ship hummed, and he found himself thinking in the long, looping way as to whether courage had always required the same currency as cruelty, and whether the cost of true strength had always been paid in the soft economies of forgiveness rather than the loud banknotes of terror.
As with that thought, he turned away from the glass, his army at the ready, as he gave the orders for them to march towards Juxta. His final battle, now a mere 32 hours away.
(More chapters in Buyers Club for TMT)