Chapter 486: Perspectives

"Well," Adrian said and rubbed his chin. "If he was in our home continent, then he could easily just punch the air. And just from the shockwave and the force of his punch alone, the air would act like a huge boulder as it shoots forward and hits people. He didn’t need to get in range to kill people. He could just punch people from far away and they would die."

Claire swallowed hard.

"He is that strong," Adrian continued. "He can change the atmosphere. He can just punch high up into the air and the clouds would separate for him. He could split mountains with his punches and kicks. Well, not exactly split them in half, but he could break them apart. That is the kind of man we are talking about."

Adrian looked at the three of them with a deadly serious expression.

"Do you really think any of you can survive that?" Adrian asked quietly. "I would have had Aria beside me if it wasn’t for the fact that she is still just a fourth-circle mage right now."

He took another deep breath and looked at the grass beneath his boots.

"See, listen," Adrian said and looked back up at them. "I cannot guarantee that I will come back without a single scratch on my body. But I can promise you this. I have ways I can go around him. I have ways to fight him."

He took a step forward and walked closer to the girls.

"While I can’t promise that I can have a fair toe-to-toe fight, because I know that I am way weaker than him physically," Adrian said. "The truth is, like Aria said, he is a dumb motherfucker."

The sudden curse word made Serena smile slightly but Adrian didn’t stop.

"I am pretty sure that all of this smart play he is doing right now about this divinity and karma gathering, this is probably an orchestration by someone else," Adrian said with confidence. "I am one hundred percent sure. Because that guy was someone who was literally the last in his class back on Earth. He did not have any social skills. Like... he literally had nothing. A guy like that making plots? A guy like that constructing complicated master plans? That is just unrealistic."

Adrian crossed his arms.

"We need to think about who we are actually fighting against," Adrian said. "He is physically strong. Extremely strong in fact. But he has an issue with his brain."

Adrian frowned as he thought about the timeline changes.

"But here is the thing," Adrian added carefully. "While he was pretty dumb back in my world, he has experienced quite a lot in this world during his past life. Due to those experiences, he could be a little stronger mentally. His brain could be a little smarter now, is what I am trying to say. But even at the end of the original novel, even by the very end, he wasn’t that capable of a thinker. So I am pretty confident that it won’t be that bad. I would run away if he actually knew how to set complex traps and plot against me, but that is not going to be an issue."

Claire just stared at him. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to process everything he was saying.

"You should not be pushed to an extent where you are supposed to die," Claire said softly. "I don’t want that to happen. Even though I know that I have used my blessing on you, I don’t want you to abuse it. It just feels like I am the one being used when I am sitting here doing nothing and you are going out and fighting."

She wiped her eyes again in frustration.

"It feels like you are playing mind games with us," Claire accused him. "You could have just done things yourself without coming here to see us. But you still came here and talked to us. And now, as much as I hate to say it, I am more inclined to accept whatever you are saying."

She looked down at her hands and gripped her pants.

"I can’t," Claire whispered. "I just can’t bring myself to be angry at you for too long. And I feel like you are just taking advantage of that."

Adrian let out a very soft sigh.

He uncrossed his arms and stood right in front of her before he grabber her by her shoulders.

"Listen," Adrian said gently. "I came here because I just felt guilty. I knew that I fucked up. I should have taken a different path when it came to all of this. I should have talked to you guys about it first. But it’s just... I have worked alone for so long that this is just the way I do things normally. It’s a habit, Claire."

He looked at Serena and then at Aria before looking back at Claire.

"I won’t say that I am going to stay like this forever," Adrian said. "But I need time to change. But there is one thing that is not going to change, and that is the fact that your lives are of the utmost priority for me. Period."

He leaned in slightly.

"As much as you hate it," Adrian said. "As much as you hate the fact that I am locking you here and not letting you fight with me, it doesn’t change the fact that you being outside isn’t going to make much of a difference. In fact, it will probably just negatively impact me. Considering the fact that you can easily be taken as hostages."

Claire opened her mouth to argue but Adrian cut her off.

"And that guy, his main fighting style is literally taking people hostage," Adrian said firmly. "I don’t want to give him that chance. So let me ask you this."

Adrian kept his eyes locked on Claire’s.

"If you have an enemy who is so much stronger than you..."