Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Much to Nigel and Larisa's surprise, Rain quickly created a gem that made it absorb the blood that Rain had extracted from Iori's body… all that in the brink of an eye and before the system could recognize his death. As such… Rain didn't gain any experience. "... What are you doing?" Larisa asked. "Planning for the future," Rain said. "Don't worry about it." Iori's body began to fall slowly and eventually gained speed, but soon Rain recovered it and took out the coral armor before sending the body began to the vacuum of space toward one very long trip toward the sun as well. As soon as Rain touched the armor, he was able to confirm what it could do. The coral armor truly possessed an ability to not only shield its user from physical assaults but also ward off magical attacks to a certain degree. Its unique properties extended beyond mere defensive capabilities, exhibiting a remarkable counterattack mechanism. When confronted with physical or magical assaults, the coral armor responded automatically, harnessing the mana of its user to trigger a defensive countermeasure. It initiated a sequence that unleashed countless minuscule blasts of water. These water blasts served as a protective barrier, capable of repelling a wide array of harmful elements or projectiles directed toward the user. Moreover, the coral armor didn't solely focus on defensive capabilities. It had the additional benefit of augmenting the wearer's water magical prowess, albeit not to the same extent as its defensive capabilities. While the enhancement to the user's magical abilities wasn't as obvious as that offered by the spear, the armor still contributed a significant boost. At the same time, Rain felt the aura of Nigel growing stronger inside him… he should have recovered a great deal of power. In any case, Rain quickly sealed away the armor just to be safe. It had to remain close to him while hidden, thanks to the water mirror technique. Once Rain returned to his mental landscape, he saw Nigel standing there, and his aura looked more vibrant than before. He also looked more confident, but soon the smile on his face disappeared since he didn't want to piss Rain off. "Sorry, I recovered a bunch of my memories… most of them were when I was an ordinary guy, though," Nigel said. "I will confirm that myself later, watching your memories at a speed of 1500x fast forward since I have better things to do," Rain said and then turned around to see the newest inhabitant of his mental domain. "Welcome to Karma Cafe. There are no menus. You will get what you deserve." Iori still looked a bit confused while looking around… he thought that he had died, but it seemed that it didn't happen… he wasn't very alive either since he couldn't use his magic. Regardless, Rain was surprised to see that he was completely fine just like Larisa. It didn't look like he absorbed dragons' essence to be able to use their power completely… there were no suspicious shadows on his body." "Where am I?" Iori asked. "I am the one who ask things here," Rain said. "If you don't want to be erased from existence, you will confirm everything that I will aks, or deny. If you lie, I will know, and soon you might join your Dad in whatever the hell shithole he is now." Despite Iori's position in the conflict and the passage of a century, his animosity and bitterness toward Rain remained strong. His deeply ingrained hatred fueled his determination to oppose Rain's intentions. This enduring enmity stemmed from an intense desire for vengeance and a sense of indignation towards Rain's actions, especially the insult directed at his father. Iori's profound hatred had withstood the test of time, remaining a powerful force driving his actions and decisions. He harbored a deep-seated resentment, exacerbated by Rain's alleged insult towards his father. This resentment fueled Iori's resolve to defy Rain, refusing to yield to his words or intentions, it also made him use the power of wrath so well. From Iori's perspective, Rain was the embodiment of his deep-rooted issues and frustrations. Despite Rain's attempts in the past for peace or resolution, Iori's anger and grudge continued to fester, intensifying over time. He held Rain accountable for perpetuating the feud, blaming him for instigating and perpetuating his suffering. In the end, Iori's pride didn't let him negate anything that he did in front of Rain. He truly killed thousands of the surviving soldiers of that war to get stronger. At the same he started doing that, he was just eight years old, and he didn't even know he could do that, but according to him, it was his father's plan to avenge his family. That caused quite a lot of trauma to him, but his mother helped him deal with that… when he was eleven, he went to attack and killed the villages of the martial artists and the mercury warriors since he wanted to learn more about their skills and didn't want anyone else to do it. With the strength and the technique he learned from them, he went to the beast people's country and killed all of their tribe leaders when he was just twelve… he wanted to kill Rain that much, but he knew that he wasn't strong enough and instigated that war… he wanted to catch Rain off guard while he was busy, but then he learned that there were other forces in the world. "Humans continue to be messed up even after fifty thousand years… as expected, they never disappoint," The woman in the darkness said. "You did what I asked you to do, so you can use a fraction of my power." "I didn't, and I won't use it. Everything that shines isn't gold, and I am not stupid," Rain said. "I also don't want to anger my wives." "You can use it whenever you want, even if it isn't now," The woman in the dark said.