Chapter 633: Offering Discipleship P1

Reymon let out a slow breath and nodded once.

“Well…. If you support us, you will become their enemy sooner or later. Are you sure you want that?”

Aksai chuckled lightly, as if he found the idea amusing.

“I can’t hide forever. I have already become a Core Formation Lord, so I must take risks. Besides, even if I do nothing, the corrupted druids will still blame Sharang for the changes here.

“You will draw danger no matter what. Strong people from their side may notice, but they can’t enter Sharang themselves. They will send others to act for them. At such a time, you will be a useful piece for me to move even during my absence.”

He said this without shame, almost like it was plain logic.

Reymon gave a dry, humorless chuckle.

“So you want me to use you as a pawn to learn more about the corrupted druids? I… should have expected something like this.”

He stared at the wine cup again, unsure whether to feel grateful or afraid.

Aksai swirled the last of the wine in his cup, then tilted his head back and drank it all in one go. He wiped a bit of liquid from the corner of his mouth and spoke in a calm tone.

“You know, Reymon, people look at it in a bad way, but there is nothing wrong with being used by someone. This is how the world works. You help me, and I help you. As long as you get compensated fairly for the effort you give, it is fine.”

Reymon didn’t answer at once. He stared at the table, thinking deeply. After a few moments, he nodded, even though his jaw was tight. Then he raised his head, and his eyes showed both anger and pain.

“But you killed my people,” he said. “The core strength of the Hall is gone after what you did.”

He slowly looked around at the ruins outside the broken house. Bodies of Aurous Artists lay everywhere, some burnt, some crushed, some barely recognizable.

Their weapons and armor were either broken or melted. Smoke and dust still rose from fallen buildings. The city felt empty, even with the dead lying in plain sight.

One could tell that Reymon had invested a lot in this siege both in terms of manpower as well as the resources. And all of his investments were gone because of one man.

Aksai rolled his shoulders slightly, as if he did not feel the weight of the scene.

“And you killed Zinnia’s people first,” he replied. “That was inconvenient for me as well. I don’t see myself crying about that after I settled the score between us.”

Reymon narrowed his eyes as he studied Aksai’s cold and callous behaviour.

“You don’t care that Zinnia’s subordinates died under your watch, do you? Even after killing so many from my side, you speak like this is nothing but normal work for you. What kind of world did you come from?”

A faint, sharp smile appeared on Aksai’s lips.

“A world not very different from Sharang,” he said.

“Only, in my world, the gap between the strong and the weak is far more clear, far more cruel. Also, acting cold toward one’s subordinates is expected from a leader.

“And don’t act like you are any different. You are not crying for the dead here. You only fear that losing your fighters will slow down your plans against the corrupted druids in the future.”

Reymon’s eyes widened. He wanted to retort Aksai’s words but for some reason he couldn’t. His breath caught in his chest.

In the end, Reymon slowly lowered his gaze and spoke, voice rough.

“My family was killed by those monsters,” he said. “We were trapped inside a Devil’s Den. My mother, my sisters, my wife and my children… they all died.”

His hands curled into tight fists, his knuckles white, and his voice trembled though he forced it steady.

“It’s not that I don’t want to care or feel for my people. It’s that I can’t. After losing everything, I had only one goal left — to make those devils pay for what they did. And now… the three thousand Aurous Artists… they… almost all of them are all gone.”

His voice cracked, and his shoulders slumped.

“They were the only ones who could face those tree demons. How am I supposed to fight now? How do I protect Sharang? How can I work with you knowing that you are the reason the Hall is broken?”

He stared at Aksai, eyes red, waiting for an answer.

Aksai watched Reymon with calm eyes, then let out a small breath and smiled, as if he had already expected this reaction. Without saying anything, he raised one hand and made a gentle waving motion through the air.

In an instant, the ground around them lit up with faint golden light. From that light, piles of round, glowing fruits appeared, each one the color of polished gold with a soft mist curling around it.

They floated above the cracked stone floor, shining like tiny suns. Some rested on vines that rose from the earth, others hovered in the air like gentle lanterns. There were too many to count at first glance, but the number was definitely in the hundreds.

Reymon’s body reacted before his mind could catch up. His eyes widened so much it looked painful, and his jaw dropped open. He pushed himself up from the chair so fast that it almost fell back. His hands trembled as he pointed at the fruits.

“Are… are they real?” he whispered, voice shaking. “There… there are more than two hundred of them…”

Aksai rested his elbows on the armrests and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“They’re real. You can check them with your Spirit Sense and Qi Sense if you want.”

Reymon didn’t even answer. He closed his eyes for a moment and sent out his senses.

When he opened them again, his face had turned pale and his heartbeat was loud enough to hear through his breathing.