The Legendary Pseudo-villain

Zail tried to help the boy up but Alphius coughed a bit more and pushed the helping hand away as he kept staring at the ground in shock. 

"It's a relief," Zather sighed as she shook her head, "I didn't have the heart to attend another funeral." 

Alphius looked up in confusion and stared at the woman for a solid minute before he muttered, "Zather...?" 

Zather tilted her head slightly as she heard this but didn't bother questioning anything even after seeing that the boy was behaving differently. 

"You're really careless," Kelly clicked her tongue as she scolded and Alphius' eyes trailed towards her. 

With a small frown, he asked, "Who are you?" 

"..." 

Kelly's cheeks turned red with embarrassment and anger as she heard this question but thankfully enough, Zather patted her shoulder with a chuckle as she calmed the woman down. 

Zather, "The boy just came back from hell. Don't let him annoy you."

Alphius had no idea what had happened here and there were a lot of new faces belonging to people who acted as if they knew him. For an introverted person like Alphius, this was an absolutely torturous situation. 

"Marvin, what happened?" Alphius asked as he looked over at the only person who would perhaps have the answers that he was looking for. 

The last person he saw before he died was Marvin, thanks to the fact that the boy killed him, and the first person he saw after waking up was also Marvin. Hence, it was only natural that he would turn to Marvin for answers. 

Marvin frowned but said nothing. The tears stopped streaming out of his eyes and it looked like the boy was still too shocked to say anything. 

"It's lucky that you woke up," The landlady spoke with a sigh as she looked over at Alphius. 

Alphius looked back at the woman whom he did not recognize, and without saying anything, his eyes shifted towards the girl who was lying unconscious in the woman's arms. 

That was Lara, one of the three willows of spring. This much, he clearly knew. 

"We should give him some space," It was the first thing LeiLei had spoken after waking up again. 

The others nodded as they agreed with her and the crowd slowly began to clear away. 

"Marvin, why do you look like that?" Zather had a small amused smirk on her face as she crouched down near the boy and asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper. 

Marvin gulped as he asked, "What do you mean?" 

"You look unhappy," Zather pointed out without any hesitation, "It looks like you prefer the dead Alphius more than this one." 

Marvin gritted his teeth and immediately glared at the woman as he heard this, "Don't spout nonsense." 

Zather couldn't help feel even more interested as she got such a reaction out of the boy. 

If it was really nonsense, Marvin wouldn't have reacted like that. 

Alphius pushed himself off the ground and stood up as the aching feeling in his chest finally started to fade away. 

"Captain, let's go and get you properly treated," Xanie spoke but suddenly stopped as if she had just remembered something, "Oh..." 

Alphius looked at the girl whose face he was able to recognize but whose name he was not able to recall. 

Xanie sighed as she bowed down and apologized, "Forgive me for forgetting and acting out of habit. Since the war has come to an end, it is time for me to leave as well."

Hecathe was the one who had given her permission to leave the mecha-suits, while Alphius had no idea so it was only natural that he stood there without a clue of what was happening or what the woman was trying to say. 

"Captain, I wish you all the best for the future. Since I'll no longer be one of your servants, even if we meet again in the future, I would not dare call you 'Captain'. If need be, you can always call me for help but please know that I'll also ask for payment for my aid." 

Alphius nodded his head as he heard this but still said nothing more and somehow Xanie looked to be a little annoyed by this wordless reaction. 

"You should at least try to stop me, you asshole," Xanie cursed the boy. 

"..." 

Xanie turned around and left almost immediately. 

"So what happens now?" It was Zather who questioned with a small smile as she looked at Alphius, "Are we bringing back the old rule, or are you planning something else?" 

Marvin sighed as he shook his head and finally started coming back to his senses, "It doesn't matter." 

Zather frowned a little as she heard this response. 

"Marvin, what happened?" Alphius asked as his eyes narrowed down on Marvin. 

"A lot," Marvin simply responded as he felt a little exhausted, "Let's talk later." 

Marvin stood up and left without any further words and soon, there were only LeiLei, Zather and Alphius left behind. 

Alphius' eyebrows creased together and he also followed after the others as he headed out of the underground passages. 

For some unknown reason, he had a bad feeling in his stomach, and as soon as he stepped out, he soon understood where that bad feeling was coming from. 

There were mutants, mecha-suits, mages, and soldiers under the three willows of spring, however, they were all frozen inside a thick layer of ice. 

Alphius couldn't help but gulp and rub his eyes as he tried to check whether his eyes were playing tricks on him or not. 

"Come on," Zather's voice came from behind, "We have a lot of clean-up to do." 

Suddenly a gigantic Dorgon descended right in front of Alphius, "Master, freezing them was easier. Don't worry, they are all still alive so don't scold me." 

Alphius gulped as he pointed at himself and muttered in disbelief, "Master...?" 

The Dorgon immediately grasped the situation and sighed, "Oh... It seems that I got the wrong person." 

Alphius looked to be confused as he heard this and in the very next moment, the Dorgon transformed into a little kid. 

"Well, since he isn't here, I'll just stick around for a bit and leave," The child happily chimed as he put his hands behind his head and headed out into the city. 

Zather chuckled as she stood behind Alphius, "For some reason, it looks like nobody is happy to have you here." 

"Am I supposed to feel bad about that?" Alphius clicked his tongue as he sharply retorted. 

"Of course, not. You are Alphius, after all. Being liked by people would be more shocking for you," Zather shrugged her shoulders as she unhesitantly responded. 

Alphius sighed as he raised his hand and suddenly, the ground began warming up and the ice started melting away. 

Zather's eyes widened slightly and she spoke with a bit of amazement, "It looks like you got stronger. Does death normally do that to people...?" 

"Death?" Alphius repeated with a sigh as he shook his head, "Probably not, but the abyss 1certainly does." 

Zather now looked to be a bit concerned as she heard this, "What in the...?!" 

"Would you believe me if I tell you that the Alphius from another world sent me to hell?" 

"..." Zather's silence was a pretty clear answer to that question. 

Alphius dryly chuckled as he shook his head, "I wouldn't have believed it either." 

Zather's eyebrows creased together as she asked, "Are you sure you're okay?" 

"Zather, I need your help," Alphius spoke instead of responding to her question. 

"What is it?" 

"Help me create a gate."

"A gate?"

Alphius nodded his head, "A gate that helps one travel between time and space. A gate that rips apart the cosmos and changes fate." 

Zather frowned and her expression turned a bit serious as she asked, "Is something like that even possible?" 

Alphius smirked as he heard this question, "It is. If the 'me' from a parallel universe could do it, why wouldn't I be able to?" 

"But... Why?" 

Alphius paused for a few seconds before responding with a soft chuckle, "I want to pay him a visit. That 'me' who sent me to hell." 

"..." Zather did not understand anything the boy said nor was she sure if he was being completely serious, but from his expressions alone, it certainly didn't look like he was joking. 

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In Derton, a young man smirked as he read the morning newspaper that had the headlines 'After an entire year of silence, the shocking return of the Zelium Legend'.

He didn't bother reading the rest as he kept the newspaper back and stuffed his hands into his pockets. 

He looked at the Zuex building that stood tall right beside the main road and he couldn't but chuckle softly as he pulled at his cap and took out a phone from his pocket. 

The phone looked to be identical to the one that Hecathe had and when he turned on the screen for a second, one would be able to clearly notice that he was the one who had sent Hecathe the message that came from Alphius. 

The young man sighed as he walked over towards the entrance of the building and on his way, he threw the phone in the nearest trash bin. 

It seemed that there was something that Hecathe had been wrong about. The message that he got was certainly from Alphius but it wasn't from the Alphius that belonged to the underground mecha city, it was a message from the Alphius who lived in Derton. 

This was the Alphius that had asked him for a favor and sent him into that world. 

"ID please," The guards stopped the young man at the entrance door. 

"Alphius Edler," The young man spoke with a thin smile, "I came here for a meeting with Mr. Hecathe Osborne."