Chapter 416 - 416: Betray Again
Taking advantage of the time she bought at a cost, Elder Priss finally arrived at where Treen and the Headmaster were located.
Aside from these two people, there were also additional people present. It was Rezen and the others.
As soon as Rezen saw and sensed the sky being torn apart along with the appearance of thousands of terrifying auras, he immediately moved and made sure that he was near Treen and the Headmaster.
It couldn't be helped. Out of all the people in this realm, not even the Guardian of Humanity could give Rezen peace of mind.
He believed that only Elder Priss could help keep him alive.
The Guardian was at most a Great Mage while Elder Priss, although on the surface she was the same, was definitely hiding big secrets.
After all, even the Guardian could not possibly send Rezen away from this realm as Elder Priss had offered, right?
As such, the wise choice was to stick close to the people that Elder Priss seemingly gave great importance to, and those people were none other than his friend Treen and the Headmaster.
As expected, as soon as Elder Priss arrived, she only looked at the two and ignored the rest.
She was about to make a move when a whip of mana suddenly appeared and wrapped around her, making her unable to move.
"Hmph, do you think you can still flee?" the high-cycle Great Mage snorted in disdain, feeling pleased with himself for capturing this woman.
The Captain desired the capture of this woman who was seemingly hiding great secrets. After all, how could an early-cycle mage possibly restrict the movement of thousands of mages? There was not even a lack of mid-cycle and high-cycle mages among them.
"Hahaha, good, good. You will be rewarded later."
It didn't take long before the fat Captain appeared as well. He didn't make a move personally because he felt like it was beneath him.
The high-cycle mage flew as fast as he could before catching up to Elder Priss, while the Captain flew leisurely. Yet even then, the Captain was only a second late.
Just this alone showed the difference between their power despite both of them being Great Mages.
While the mage who captured Elder Priss was merely a normal high-cycle Great Mage, the Captain was at the peak and was only one step away from becoming a Noble Mage.
However, although it was only a single step away, there was a huge chasm between Great Mages and Noble Mages. This one step caused despair to trillions of Great Mages.
Even after spending all of their lifespan trying to become a Noble Mage, countless Great Mages still failed.
"You, give your secret to me. How were you able to freeze so many of us for a moment despite your low strength? Do that, and I will let you become my woman."
The Captain spoke calmly as if he were offering grace to Elder Priss. In his eyes, all natives were lowly. If they were to become his woman, they should be thankful that he even gave them a chance.
This kind of mindset was not limited to the Captain. Almost all slave traders shared the same mindset.
In fact, even people who were not slave traders felt the same.
Those that had entered and made contact with the vast universe thought of themselves as highly advanced civilizations. They viewed the natives of realms that had not made contact with the universe as barbaric and backward tribes.
This was the result of countless Noble Mages enslaving realms below the fourth rank to earn themselves more resources.
If it was already hard for Great Mages to reach the Noble Mage Realm, then for Noble Mages, it was almost impossible to continue advancing regardless of how talented they were. They could only rely on piles and piles of resources to help them progress further.
Hearing the indecent proposal, Elder Priss remained silent. Her eyes were still glued to Treen and the Headmaster.
At this moment, the Headmaster had also lost most of her liveliness. Her eyes looked somewhat vacant, and her facial expression had become ice cold.
Her personality had always been that of a lively and playful woman, but today, her personality suddenly underwent a major shift.
From a lively beauty, she became an almost emotionless, ice-cold queen.
However, due to the sudden turn of events, no one was able to notice her shift in personality. Whether it was Treen or the others, all of their attention was focused on the people surrounding them.
"T-they are all Great Mages. H-how is this possible…" Theon muttered gravely.
The Savage Beast Realm barely had any beings at the third rank, but now, many such beings had suddenly appeared.
How could such a thing be possible? Were they dreaming?
While the attention of most people was on the Great Mages surrounding them, Rezen, on the other hand, was staring at Elder Priss.
He knew that in this dangerous situation, Elder Priss was his only hope of leaving here alive.
Aside from leaving this realm, he could not think of another way to obtain freedom.
This realm was different from the Earth Realm. The laws were intact, and his farm could not steal the Origin Energy to teleport him into a different realm.
Only Elder Priss had the capability to send him away.
Rezen would not forget Elder Priss's promise. In exchange for helping the Headmaster fall even more in love with Treen, she would snatch the Sage's artifact and use it to send him into a different realm.
However, just as he was thinking of a way to help Elder Priss break free and give her a chance to use the artifact, Ivy's voice rang inside his head.
"Give it up. She will not use the artifact to help you get away."
Her tone was icy, a different kind of coldness from her usual mechanical voice.
This time, instead of sounding like a robot, she once again seemed to possess the traits of a living being. The iciness in her tone was not mechanical but rather the kind of coldness one would have after being betrayed.
"What do you mean by that? Didn't you say that I should cooperate with her and that she could help me?" Rezen questioned, and Ivy gave an answer.
"That was in the past, before the slave traders arrived. In your original agreement, she would help send you to a different realm. Her original intention should have been for Treen and Triss to remain in the Savage Beast Realm."
"However, things have changed dramatically. If I am not wrong, this should be thanks to the H—"
Ivy stopped herself mid-sentence, remembering that she could not utter such words at the moment.
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"If the Savage Beast Realm remained peaceful and the most powerful beings were only the Guardian and that cowardly magic beast, they could remain here."
"However, now that slave traders have arrived and this realm is no longer safe, do you think that they can still stay here?"
Ivy did not give the exact reason, but Rezen was smart enough to understand it, and his expression darkened.
"You mean…" he uttered.
"Yes. Instead of helping you leave this realm, I am certain that woman would choose to use the broken artifact on Treen and Triss."
Although he had already guessed that this was what Ivy was implying, Rezen still couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
Why was such a thing even happening?
He was almost free.
He had almost received Elder Priss's help to leave this low-level realm.
Why did things always turn for the worse just when the situation was about to become better?
Rezen clenched his fists tightly and continued to communicate with Ivy in his mind.
"Then what should we do?"
Regardless of how much Rezen had grown mentally over the years, he was still helpless in front of absolute power.
He could be given a hundred years to think of a solution, and he might still fail, much less now when he had no time to think.
"It's simple. You just need to do the same thing you did back in the Earth Realm," Ivy replied, and there was even a hint of playfulness in her tone.
Rezen frowned before saying, "Didn't you say that this realm has intact laws and that we cannot steal its Origin Energy?"
"No. I did not mean that. What I meant was the thing you did to your close friend, Claude Preston."
Hearing that familiar name, Rezen's heart throbbed in pain.
Despite knowing that what he did was for the sake of reviving his parents, it did not change the fact that what he did was... betrayal.
Indeed, he had betrayed Claude.
The Earth Realm originally still had a chance of recovering, but what he did pushed it faster toward destruction.
The guilt that he had buried deep inside his heart surged once more.
Claude had trusted him.
Claude had considered him a friend.
And yet, in the end, he was the one who betrayed that trust.
Even now, whenever Rezen thought about that day, he still could not decide whether what he did was right or wrong.
He only knew that he had made a choice.
A choice that he could never take back.
"Since Elder Priss will use the artifact to send Treen and Triss away, you just have to replace them," Ivy continued as if she were a demon whispering into Rezen's ears.
Rezen's body froze.
Replace them?
His mind immediately understood what Ivy was suggesting.
Just like what he did with Claude.
Just like the choice that he had made in the Earth Realm.
He had to betray someone again.
The people around him were all staring at the terrifying Great Mages surrounding them, unaware that another battle was taking place.
A battle inside Rezen's heart.
On one side was his desire to survive.
On the other side was the guilt that he had carried for years.
He had already betrayed someone once.
Could he really do it again?
Could he really sacrifice Treen and the Headmaster for his own survival?
Yet, if he did not, then what?
Would he simply stay here and wait to become a slave?
Wait for his dreams of reviving his parents to vanish forever?
Rezen's fists trembled.
His breathing became heavier.
The voices around him gradually faded.
At this moment, all he could hear was Ivy's cold voice echoing in his mind.
"Choose, Rezen."
"There is no longer enough time for hesitation."