The ti it took for the two to reach Elijah’s room wasn’t a lot, but an awkward silence accompanied them the whole way.
"We are here…"
Chloe said as she made way for Hans by turning to the side and pointing with her arm to invite him.
As the young man passed by her on his way to the room he whispered:
"You were really incredible… let’s do it again if you have ti"
Chloe did not know why… but hearing those words made her feel a lot better as if she had been acknowledged by a great person she aspired to beat.
Even though it was already too late for her to reply, she still thought about what she wanted in her mind:
’Yeah, let’s… do it again next ti we have the chance’
As he walked away, Hans was happy…
’I don’t feel any remorse now that I’ve said those words…
Theoretically, this ti it’s my loss…
Not only have I used my ice armor repeatedly, but I was also forced to end the battle with my fire spells…
Even though I did incapacitate her with gravity spells if I hadn’t concluded the spar as soon as I did, she probably could’ve found a way to destroy my space isolation, and afterward, my spells probably wouldn’t have worked anymore.
…
Anyway, she made obtain two new spells, I owe her at least this much… I will also ask Elijah to let her help in defeating him, receiving help from soone like her would be appreciated.’
But even if she had gotten over it, Chloe couldn’t help but wonder why her defense had been easily bypassed by Hans’ spell.
The fire bombs he had used in the last few seconds of the fight had completely smashed it to pieces, but that wasn’t the case for the strange spell he had used to trap her in the air.
What she did not know, is that she wasn’t Hans’ spell’s target, since that spell aid to achieve sothing else.
By creating a different space and imbuing it with the gravity spell’s powers, it was as if Hans had... Modified the laws of that space, and her armor didn’t offer any resistance to Earth’s natural gravity, aning that when Hans modified the gravity in that defined space… his spell beca ’true’ and not an external force trying to affect her, which would’ve activated her armor’s defense.
…
Hans was now walking down a pretty dark hallway, in which end could barely be seen a tallic slide door.
As soon as Hans stepped close to it, the door slid open, revealing a dark room beyond it.
A voice talked to him before he could set foot inside:
"It’s nice to see you again…"
The voice said.
"I could say the sa but I can’t really see anything in this room"
With a coarse and weak voice, the man inside the room laughed:
"Haha… you might have to bla for that… the seed begins acting up every ti it sees so light"
Touching his chin with his right hand, Hans replied by saying:
"I see… it must not be the best feeling"
"What? The feeling of sothing disgusting growing inside knowing I can’t suppress it or knowing that my body will be used by a demon-like entity to make a massacre out of my city and country?"
"Um… maybe both?"
"Ha… haha… I guess it doesn’t exactly feel good"
"I ca here because I heard you had sothing to tell , and Chloe said I don’t have to kill you anymore… has sothing happened?"
"Mh… I discovered sothing during my last attempt"
"Attempt?…"
Repeated Hans in a doubtful tone.
"Mh… my last suicidal attempt"
Replied Elijah.
Hans remained in silence after hearing this, waiting for the man to continue.
"I tried walking into a gate which was about to close… the chaotic mana seeped into my body, and in less than a minute, the ’seed’ managed to take control of my body, it rushed out of there as quickly as it could, just as it did the previous tis, but this ti I was with my niece, and she tried to stop , which made think… Instead of killing , wouldn’t it be many tis easier to keep inside the gate until the last second and leave there when it’s about to close?"
"Mh… it certainly does feel easier, but there’s also sothing you haven’t considered…"
"I know what you’re thinking, there’s a chance of you remaining trapped inside the gate with "
"That’s right"
Hans exclaid.
"You don’t understand, I have suggested it because I think you will have a higher chance of survival that way, you have certainly grown a lot, but you’re nowhere near the level you need to reach to beat , you wouldn’t even be able to beat the abyssal snake how you are right now"
Hans was usually quite open-minded, but he did not expect to hear sothing like that…
His expression changed from friendly to serious as he asked:
"Are you telling the truth? Or are you just saying that because you think I might lose interest in becoming stronger if I reach the level I need to behead that snake?"
After a few seconds of silence, Elijah’s calm voice replied:
"I cannot be sure, but you would barely be able to beat the snake I faced four years ago…
After that, no one’s ever seen it, so it could have reached a realm similar to my own."
"Last ti you said you would be able to kill it with a single slash… now you’re telling it could have reached a realm similar to yours… you aren’t very coherent"
"Both the things I’ve said are what I think to be the truth, just because that monster might be at the sa level as does not an I won’t be able to behead it In a single slash"
’Sigh… I really can’t tell if he’s joking or if he’s being serious sotis…’
Hans closed his eyes for a few seconds, and as he opened them again, a newfound objective resided in his mind:
"You are asking a little bit too much"
He said.
But before Elijah could open his mouth, Hans continued…
"A hypocrite, you can call however you want, but I think I’ve been patient enough, the reason why you’re trying to solve this with as little help as possible… and the reason I would have to risk my life…"
Hans didn’t continue, waiting for the sick man to finish the phrase he had started…
And soon enough, Elijah’s low-toned voice spoke:
"…It’s because most of the world would plumt into chaos, seeing an awakened turn into sothing similar to a monster would most certainly create panic and fear, and people would possibly create a faction to stand against all awakened… since they wouldn’t stop, a possible civil war would break out, or even worse, they might decide to help the Crymson Tyranny plan sothing that would create a lot of friction between awakened and the civilians.
Every outco would result in the death of a lot of people, there is already enough trouble trying to fight against the monsters and the Tyranny… if we also begin an internal warfare…"
However, he was interrupted by the young man.
"That might be the case, but I’m sure there’s one person in particular you’re doing this for…
Aren’t I right?"
"…
So?
What are you trying to say?"
"I am not a good Samaritan Elijah, if we are talking about saving a lot of people because we have the power to do so, then I wouldn’t really care, but you are asking to risk my life because you want your niece to live, because you know that if the fact that you have gone crazy went public, the first person everyone would target is your niece.
My life may not be valued higher than your niece’s… or than millions of people’s…
But in correlation with my life is also the fate of my whole family… if I were to die, they would also end up the sa way… you know it don’t you? The curse that snake cast…
My family has been asleep for five years and a half… and if I don’t kill that snake they won’t ever wake up"
The desperation in Hans’ voice could clearly be heard by Elijah…
The green eyes of the sick man weren’t pitying Hans, they were genuinely saddened, but there was another emotion behind those eyes… it was remorse.
He should’ve been the one to kill the snake, and not only he did not manage to do that, but he had now also beco a ticking bomb. When that counter inside him reached zero… his niece’s life would probably be ruined, and the sa for millions of other people…
And on top of all this, the only thing he could do to stop it was leave all these responsibilities to a young man whose life had been ruined because of his past mistakes.
"I get it…
I get what you are trying to say"
The voice said after a long period of reflection...
"I will give you sothing to help you along the way…
you can take it…
my sword"
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