Chapter 419 - 419: Am I The Golden Finger's Master?
The crimson glow of energy around Treen and Triss started to dim while Rezen's body started to emit that same glow.
Just from appearances alone, it looked like Rezen was absorbing the crimson light, the power of a Noblesse Artifact.
"Stop!" Elder Priss shouted in a panic. She didn't expect that Rezen would have such an ability. It was beyond her calculations.
She was already at the end of her rope. She was barely able to use her power to its current limit to activate the Noblesse Artifact, even needing to sacrifice this body.
If she were to use her power again, everything would be in vain. Triss would have lost all of her emotions for nothing.
Unfortunately, Rezen did not listen to her and had Ivy continue stealing the crimson light with a dark, emotionless look on his face.
"R-Rezen…" Treen muttered. Up until now, he had wanted to say something, but when he tried to speak, no words came out. He could only call his friend's name.
He wanted to stop his friend as he too wanted to save himself, but doing so would mean Rezen wouldn't be able to save himself. How could such a thing be easily said?
This was a matter of life and death!
In response, Rezen looked at him. Gone were the eyes that once held friendliness. Only a dark, deep abyss remained.
"Hate me. That is your freedom," Rezen said in a matter-of-fact tone. His demeanor was completely different from his usual self.
His friends in the Savage Beast Realm could no longer recognize him.
"Your life is no less important than mine. You have the right to hate me," Rezen continued, the crimson glow around his body continuing to intensify while the crimson glow around Treen continued to dim.
"You have someone you want to protect and save along with yourself. But I also have something I must do. As such, I cannot fall here."
"This is not an excuse to make you hate me less. This is the cold, cruel reality."
"Hating me requires you to grow stronger. If you want to make me pay the price, you have to live well and become stronger. Remember that."
As Rezen finished speaking, the crimson glow around him reached its peak.
The crimson glow expanded, piercing through the skies and causing everyone in the Savage Beast Realm to sense a heart-palpitating level of power.
They could sense that this power was far beyond anything they could muster. Even if they were to join hands, they wouldn't be able to unleash such a level of power.
"A power at the fourth rank?! Does this realm have such a power?!" the Vice Captain exclaimed in panic.
Compared to the ignorant natives, he knew full well the sheer terror that power at the fourth rank posed to those below it.
There was a saying that below the fourth rank, everyone is an ant! That's how large the difference in power was. It was no different from the gap between gods and mortals!
The crimson pillar of light didn't last long and soon vanished, but the terror it brought would be remembered by everyone for a lifetime.
Three Suns Realm.
The skies of the tranquil Three Suns Realm were suddenly torn open, and from them, a crimson light descended and fell onto a distant mountain, crashing down and shattering the earth.
"Cough! Cough!"
When the crimson light subsided, Rezen's figure could be seen standing on the scorched earth.
Fortunately, both his strength and his farm had grown significantly compared to their time in the Earth Realm.
This time, although Rezen was also injured, it was not as severe as during his first realm traversal.
His farm also wasn't damaged to the point that he needed mana stones to repair it. Aside from a decrease in size and rank, it was usable immediately.
After coughing up fresh blood, Rezen retrieved a healing potion and drank it. A few minutes passed before he finally caught his breath.
The memories of what he had done back in the Savage Beast Realm returned to him, and his heart was gripped with pain.
Betrayal... he had betrayed the person closest to him again. The life-saving grace that should have befallen his friend had been stolen by him.
This was already the second time he had done such a thing, and although making the decision seemed easy, it was not!
Anger and pain tightly gripped Rezen's heart. His mana boiled, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
He could no longer contain his emotions and threw his head back toward the sky.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The hoarse roar of a beast escaped Rezen's throat. His mana boiled, and fire spread around him, burning the surrounding trees and vegetation while scorching the earth.
"AGAIN!" he cried out while sending a beam of sunlight toward a nearby tree, causing it to explode.
"I BETRAYED MY FRIEND AGAIN!" he continued as he unleashed streak after streak of lightning, ravaging the surrounding landscape.
One spell after another was fired by him, and the ten-meter radius around him had become completely unrecognizable.
Rezen knelt on the ground, his fingers scratching the earth as tears streamed down his face. The pain was unimaginable.
This was not only the pain of betraying Treen. The pain of betraying Claude had also resurfaced.
Thinking of these things made Rezen recall why he had to betray them in the first place. It was because of his parents.
His parents were killed because of the Serpentine Empress, leading him down a path of one betrayal after another.
His parents... they were dead...
Pain crawled into every fiber of Rezen's being like maggots, clinging to him like unremovable stains.
"I told you, didn't I? You will have to fight against the whole world. Betraying a few people is nothing compared to that."
While Rezen succumbed to his pain, he heard Ivy speak, and his whole body trembled.
In the past, when his grief was still fresh, he had said that no matter what he had to do and no matter how dirty it was, he would still do it as long as he could revive his parents.
Destroying and fighting against the whole world meant nothing if his parents could return to him.
However, time had dulled his resolve. He had made friends and led a more peaceful life. His desire to save his parents was still there, but his resolve to do anything and everything for that goal had diminished.
Ivy's words were like pouring alcohol onto his wounds. He wanted to shout, he wanted to be angry, but he didn't know how.
He could only clutch his head in pain, letting his thoughts and anguish consume him until he suddenly realized something.
His bloodshot eyes regained clarity, though his heart remained heavy.
"Slave traders... the invaders are slave traders. That was what you said. Since they are slave traders, their goal should be to capture as many people as possible to sell."
"They wouldn't kill unless they had to. Killing one means having one less slave to sell."
"Ivy, if you can even steal the power of the Noblesse Artifact to send me to a different realm, how could you not help me in another way? In a way that wouldn't require me to betray my friend?"
"Even if they put a restriction on me to turn me into a loyal slave, destroying that restriction should be easier than sending me to another realm."
"Why? Why did you make me do such a thing instead?"
Rezen questioned her. Earlier, everything had happened too fast. He didn't have much time to think. He could only follow Ivy's lead because he had no time to figure out another way to save himself.
However, now that he was in a safer place, he finally had time to think, and he realized something.
Ivy seemed to have deliberately pushed him to betray his friends.
Minutes passed, but Ivy gave no response, and Rezen's anger soared.
"IVY!" he shouted in rage, flames once again spreading with him as the center. "ANSWER ME!" he continued, blood flowing from his eyes.
However, Ivy still refrained from responding, causing Rezen to laugh loudly like a madman.
"Hahahaha!! Cough! Cough!"
Due to his agitated emotions, Rezen coughed up fresh blood once more, but he ignored it and continued to laugh.
"Hahahaha! What a system! No, you already told me before that you and the farm are not exactly a system from fictional novels. Hahahahaha!"
"I can't even get you to give me an answer. The farm also has more power than I can use, but without your permission, its abilities remain hidden."
"Am I really this so-called golden finger's master, or am I just a tool?!"
Everything made sense now. Ivy had already told him in the past that he would have to fight against the whole world.
Since that was the case, how could he ever form real bonds with other people? Is that something someone like him should do?