Chapter 669: A Wishful Thinking.

Ma and the others slowly stood up, but some of them collapsed once again due to their serious internal injuries. Hywan looked at them and casually pointed his palm at all of them as Mana began to accumulate and surround them. Slowly but surely, all of their internal injuries and their wounds began to heal up until they all fully recovered.

They looked around, seeing the damage and the remains of lives that they couldn’t protect. The first thing that came to their mind was how to explain about what had happened here and the fact some of the clans’ patriarchs and their successors died here, the future of martial arts looked grim. However, that thought was pushed aside when Anastasha finally showed herself up with Nie following her from behind.

"It’s truly unfortunate," Anastasha spoke quietly, there was no sign of sarcasm or mockery in her voice as she looked around and walked toward the Heavenly Alliance. "If I can be honest with you, I was planning to scheme against you and the clans, but I wouldn’t go this far to kill everyone like this. It’s... unnecessary and inefficient," she looked at the damages before her eyes met with Ma and the Zeniths.

Ma and the others stared at Anastasha, finding her words meaningless, but they stayed quiet.

"So? What now?" Anastasha turned to look at Rasmus.

Rasmus hadn’t moved from where he decapitated Ruen, his gaze fixated on the ground where her ashes were. He then lifted his head and turned to look at Ogun, the man who had promised and swore to swear their allegiance. He stored his blacksword into his spatial ring as he approached Ma and the others with an impassive expression before he stopped and stood beside Anastasha. It was enough to say that he was standing side by side with the woman who had plans to scheme against the Khan Empire.

"I believe we can only wait now, waiting for them to swear their allegiance," Rasmus answered as he stared at Ogun. "However, I’m not going to force them," he pointed out.

Ogun was surprised when Rasmus said that he wouldn’t force them to swear their allegiance to him. He could see in Rasmus’ expressions and words that he was telling the truth, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any consequences. There was no reason for Rasmus to save them, and the only thing that prevented him from killing them was the promise Ogun gave him.

"Always playing the benevolent one, aren’t you?" Anastasha chuckled playfully as she stared at Rasmus.

Ogun lowered his head, knowing that they were alive thanks to Rasmus, but at the same time, he had tarnished what made them the Heavenly Alliance. If it was in a different situation, he wouldn’t even bother asking for Rasmus’ help and would choose to die by Ruen’s hand. However, the main reason why he chose to live was the fact that the Ancient Great Spirits who had blessed them and entrusted them to lead mankind, they bowed to him, or at least to the person that followed him.

"If the beings who entrusted us with the responsibility of protecting humanity have themselves chosen another leader, is following that leader actually betrayal or is it fulfilling the same responsibility through a different master?" Ogun asked, and his question was pointed at Ma and the Zeniths.

Ma stood there silently, with thoughts as deep as the sea itself. His mind considered what Ogun said, and Ogun didn’t make any fault with what he pointed out. He never knew how Ancient Great Spirits thought and how exactly they saw humans and what peace was in their frame. With that question in mind, he knew who to ask.

"What do you want to see in humankind, Count Rasmus Blackheart?" Ma asked as he slowly lifted his head and stared at Rasmus.

"To take a step forward into a different kind of world," Rasmus answered without taking a moment to think.

"And what kind of world is that?" Ma asked again.

"A world where they can live on their own," Rasmus answered without hesitation.

The answer was to ambiguous to interpret, even for Ma and Ogun. The Zeniths looked at each other with their brows furrowed, wondering what Rasmus meant by that.

"Are we not?" Ogun furrowed his brows and stared at Rasmus with a confused look.

"If you’re not, then why did you bow to them?" Rasmus asked as he glanced at Hywan, Ashu, and Rhys. "You questioned about betrayal. Do you believe in yourself or the higher power?" He spoke with a straight face.

The question hung in the air, and terrifyingly, there was no right answer to that question.

"I’m not only talking about them," Rasmus pointed at the Ancient Great Spirits that stood on the side. "If one must to obey another, you’re not truly living on your own either," he added.

"That’s absurd..." Ogun spoke before he could hold himself back. "Humans aren’t that simple. Freedom without boundaries and consequences produces chaos," he blurted out again, knowing it was already too late to stop.

"Who said there will be no boundaries and consequences?" Rasmus raised his brows.

Ogun furrowed his brows and slowly he leaned his head back, wondering why he assumed that Rasmus wanted nothing but pure freedom. He then realized that boundaries and consequences weren’t the same as obeying another, it was obeying a system where nobody could reach or manipulate it as they pleased.

"Do humans truly live on their own without having to bow to someone?" Rasmus asked once again.

"No, but that doesn’t change the fact that there will be people who have the power to uphold the boundaries and consequences. What if those people who hold the power decide to abuse it? Humans are unpredictable, there will be no certainty that it would go as you wish," Ogun answered.

"And yet here you are. For centuries, the Heavenly Alliance has been the one to uphold such a thing, from one generation to another. How is that possible?" Rasmus asked. "You only see the unpredictable side of humankind, and not look at the ones around you," he pointed out.

"Do you truly preserve peace out of fear of the higher power or is it truly your desire to see humankind to live peacefully?" Rasmus asked. "If such people can exist, there will be a lot more of them out there. You just haven’t looked," he added.

Ogun lowered his head, and he had so many things to debate about it, but he already knew that Rasmus was right about one thing that made him question him. It wasn’t certainty, it wasn’t hope, it wasn’t promise, it was the truth that every side of every coin had a counterpart that balanced things out and created a harmony.

"Do you think it’s a wishful thinking?" Ogun asked for one last time.

"If humankind stop having a wishful thinking, who would make it happen? All you need is for one person to stand and the others will stand along them. Human is just a single race, but they’re never alone," Rasmus answered.

Ogun smiled at the idea, it was too beautiful to even speak over it. It wasn’t just Ogun, Ma, the Zenith, and even Anastasha who listened to his words like it was such a profound thing, but the truth was it was something basic that everyone already knew.

Ma slowly lifted his head and stared at the sky, knowing that it was time for him to give the answer as to whether the Heavenly Alliance would swear allegiance to him or die by his hand. Rasmus had given enough answers and wasted his time while he waited for them to give the answer he was waiting for. There were too many questions, but Ma knew that time didn’t wait for anyone.

After a long silence, Ma suddenly gave Rasmus the martial salutation. It was enough for Zenith and Ogun to understand what he was trying to do. It didn’t take them a second to finally give the same salutation to Rasmus.

"The Heavenly Alliance swore our allegiance to you, Count Rasmus Blackheart," Ma said firmly with his head lowered.

Rasmus looked at them and didn’t respond to their salutation.

"What you will see, you will see it with your own two eyes. You will see people die because of me, the innocent, the good, the bad, everyone," Rasmus said with a cold expression. "I’m not your savior, and I’m going to use you as I see fit," he continued.

Ma and the others furrowed their brows when they heard Rasmus’ confession. However, they kept their heads lowered as they kept their hands pressed together.

"I only have one request," Rasmus said as he looked at them. "Observe, that’s all," he pointed out as he finally gave them a martial salutation.

Ma slowly raised his head and looked at Rasmus, there was no hostility in his eyes, no greed, no desire, nothing, still the same as the last time he saw him near the waterfall back there. Then something came up to his mind, the one last question that Rasmus promised to answer, the question that gauged what kind of a person Rasmus was.

"Count Blackheart, have you found the answer to my last question?" Ma asked.

Ogun, the Zeniths, and Anastasha looked at Ma and then at Rasmus with their brows raised.

"What do I think about immortality?" Rasmus tilted his head before a soft smile appeared on his face. "It’s a wishful thinking," he answered.

Ma nodded with understanding and he let a big smile appear on his face, a smile of relief.