Novel Full Chapter 446: Why
Chapter 446: Why
"No! No! You tortured me. You made a man so obsessed over my life that he haunts my every step! You slapped my life in Isolde’s face, ruining her childhood! All I’ve suffered can be traced back to you... my mother!"
He took a step back.
"You didn’t make me stronger.... You broke me." He looked at her. This time, his anger was mixed with sadness. "I know why but... why?"
"Why would you do this to a peaceful universe? Why would you create this chase for power? You’ve killed more than numbers can count. We were made, just like you were. Why?"
"With or without you, it will continue. Do not see me as the villain, I am not. You don’t judge the sea for drowning men who just went there to make sure they can feed their families," she replied.
"You don’t blame a stone because you struck your foot against it. You don’t blame the sun for being too hot, nor can you blame the rain for being too severe, causing a flood that destroys everything in your house. Do you know what energy is? Cause."
"Maybe I’m just carrying out what I’m meant to do. To others, I’m just a tree, so they don’t blame me, but you do because you’re privileged. Yet, with all your privilege, all you do is sulk. Your case isn’t the worst."
When she said that, Godfrey forced a thin smile, then turned away.
He turned away from her but then she spoke again.
"Actually, Valentina’s summon can bring your friend back to life. She just doesn’t know how."
The moment she said that, Godfrey faced her with a frown.
"But life goes for life. She can loan him ten years or more, but that same amount will be taken from hers. So, Godfrey. Since you hate your mother that much, why don’t you make her do it?"
She tilted her head. "She’ll do anything you tell her. Do it, and let’s see how your father handles it. His own son asking his wife to give away a good portion of her life for a friend. And, funny enough, the Celestial Stag’s lifespan is just a hundred and twenty years. Such a short lifespan for a very precious creature."
She looked Godfrey straight in the eye. "What will you choose? Give your friend ten years so he can at least live until he’s twenty-eight and risk watching your forty-year-old mother suddenly become fifty?"
The Mana Tree went and touched Isaac’s cold forehead. "The prerequisites are simple. One, he can’t be dead for too long. Two days is still salvageable, and his soul has to be around. Lucky for you, his soul hasn’t left the soul space because of his summon. That spider is a master of soul skills. Unfortunately, those skills only work when she’s dead."
She looked at Godfrey. "I know you’ve already decided to give up ten years of your mother’s life. Just know I told you this because I don’t want to watch your fall like a pack of cards. Once this Ruination is over, you’ll become a Godking. At the Monarch Tier, your blood becomes ichor, and no one below your tier can kill you. At the Sovereign Tier, you will be able to compel those weaker to do anything, even against their will, and at the tier of a Godking...."
She smiled.
"You’ll be much stronger. A Godking amongst gods. It also means you’ll be extremely valuable dead, and others are prone to hunting you to fuel their growth. It’s even more vicious than the hunt for paragons. At their tier, morality doesn’t exist."
She tilted her head. "So, dear son. Will he command me to do it for you? Will you take ten years of your mother’s life without her permission? You could take more. All of it, and I won’t be here to speak to you again. It’s your choice."
Godfrey was silent. He turned and approached the door. "Let’s say you succeed, even though you don’t know what I’ll become at that point. Doesn’t that frighten you?"
The Mana Tree raised an eyebrow but then she noticed another face staring at her. A shadow clad in armour overlapped with Godfrey for a split second, but it made her frown.
"You know... I’ve figured out a way to die without you or Cain winning, and trust me, when that time comes, you’ll come to fear the monster you created."
He turned the door handle. "It won’t be far from now."
***
"It’s been two days. His mother has a right to know. We can’t keep it from her any longer." Adrian was saying when Godfrey stepped into the corridor.
Everyone looked at him.
"Don’t tell her."
They all looked at themselves when he said that, but no one said anything as they watched him walk away.
Percival swiftly went after him. Outside, Percival held Godfrey’s shoulder. "You can’t deprive his mother of her right."
"What if she doesn’t get to hear her son ever died? What if there’s a way to bring him back to life?"
Godfrey turned.
Percival took a step back. "What? You think there’s a way to bring him back? Most of these things work within a few minutes. A few hours is already too late, and Isaac has been there for two days. We have all been searching for a skill that’s able to bring him back. If what you’re proposing isn’t necromancy, let me hear it."
"My mother..." Godfrey took a deep breath. "She can loan ten years of her life to Isaac."
The moment Godfrey said that, Percival’s eyes widened.
"You can’t seriously be thinking about that."
"I don’t know what to think."
"How will your father feel? That’s ten years of her life. You’ll watch her age ten years in the span of a second...." Percival exhaled. "Maybe she has a long lifespan, I mean—"
"She doesn’t," Godfrey interrupted. "She’s already in her forties, and she has a life expectancy of a hundred and twenty. She’ll have ten years less to live, and Isaac will only have ten more years."
Percival clenched his teeth hard, then turned away. "Are you going to do it?"
"I will."
Godfrey replied and walked away. He knew the Mana Tree wanted to prove a point with this. She wanted him to make a sacrifice that would haunt him and kill the cards he used to brand her as cruel.
To think... Once upon a time, his goal was to protect his mother and ensure her prestige at all costs.
’Godfrey... How far have you fallen?’ he said internally. ’My sixteen-year-old self would have haunted me even if he was several times weaker. Don’t... don’t I have that fight in me anymore?’
Godfrey chuckled. There was a soft voice inside, encouraging him, telling him it wasn’t over. It was almost perplexing how a part of him feels condemned and another still said there were more battles to fight.
That King Godfrey can’t be condemned.