Chapter 265: I Need To Meet My Mother

Snow walked into the tea shop and sat opposite him while Rowana reluctantly went to prepare the tea, though she peeked at them, hoping nothing happened.

"Your soldiers stopped following me a good while ago. I guessed you would be visiting soon," Snow crossed his arms.

"You didn’t kill her." Godfrey’s statement made Snow silent as his eyes grew wide.

"There’s only one way you can be so sure. S-She’s alive!" He gasped.

Godfrey gave a calm nod. "She is." He trusted Snow and that was something incredibly rare for the current him but the reason was because it had been proven that Snow wasn’t a clone.

If he was, Cain would have made sure Isolde never got to know his secret. Cain was smart, Godfrey had to admit.

That self-proclaimed god spared Snow because he wanted to use him as a distraction. It was either they both fought to the death or their growing bond would shatter and it did.

Godfrey completely saw Snow as a clone and was waiting for Isolde’s confirmation to make the move, trust was broken.

In that little move, Cain cut him off from a potential ally but Isolde’s resurrection usurped that plan.

Like he thought, Isolde’s resurrection was the game-changer, it had opened a path that Cain couldn’t see.

"Well... that explains why you didn’t come for my head. I would say that’s a relief if the entire nation and the world at large didn’t see me as a fugitive. You saw who they sent, right? I might not have survived if it weren’t for that possession skill."

Snow’s eyes flickered. "You know before the mana tree called me, I was lost, tired but then it gave me power. With that power, I thought I was free but now I’m a fugitive wanted for the death of a Superintendent and Isolde who is actually alive but you clearly want to keep that a secret."

He spat, clearly holding a little grudge now that he knew Isolde was alive.

"By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. How many times have you gotten to the tree? You seem to grow without end. It’s like you’re that tree’s favorite."

Godfrey lifted up his head at that remark. "It’s the opposite. I’ve been there once." Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.

The mana fruit! Dirge had always been adamant to evolve despite the cores, well he had not fed her a paragon core but even if he had one, it would be for Isolde.

But now that he thought about it, Dirge’s mouth wasn’t covered! Isolde could also leave her armour, meaning both of them might be able to eat mana fruits.

Might...

But... the mana tree had an obvious dislike for the Pathans. It only got interested when an elf was involved and the mana fruit used for Isolde didn’t make her any more powerful.

It just aided the implants like the False Heart to revive her. It was her victory over the Mother of Dragons that gave her the strength she possessed.

And that was because that mana fruit wasn’t a specialized one. A fruit that fell for a specific reason was powerful for that reason but much weaker for other reasons.

One of the widespread proofs was how the fruits that were brought back after the Great Vanishing didn’t skyrocket people through ranks like it did the King/Queen Tiers that went to the mana tree’s world.

It was specifically meant for them and not the others.

"G...Godfrey? Godfrey!" Snow called out to Godfrey who was lost in thought.

"I believe the mana tree responds to desires. That thing reads the heart and in a way, it restored my desire but in a different way. Now I can change my form and environment on a whim, I became powerful, for a moment we were equals but now I feel like someone who recovered from a drug." Snow sighed softly.

Godfrey looked at Rowana who approached, dropped the tea, glanced at both of them and left.

He took a sip. "Desires? If the mana tree responded based on desires, everyone would be a god. It has its own criteria and I call that choice. It just picks whoever it wants, grants them power and picks another, granting them the power to stand up to the first. It makes their desires come true but it brought up that desire in the first place."

Godfrey’s eyes narrowed slowly. "The apocalypse wasn’t our doing, it was that of the mana tree. Then it waited until we earnestly wanted to fight back, to survive so it granted us the power of summoning."

"Can it be cut down?"

"What?" Godfrey raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised at Snow’s question.

"Adam was able to carve into it and he wasn’t even an Origin Tier Summoner," Snow responded.

Godfrey shook his head. "It was actually Cain who carved into it. Adam didn’t care. Although Cain told me this himself, I believe it because it actually matches his character. And back then Cain was at least a peak level Paragon Tier or most likely a progenitor. However... the mana tree simply played along, when I got there, I didn’t see that mark anymore. I’m sure it was the same place the ranking was carved that I appeared. That aside, the mana tree is the source of mana, without it, mana will cease to exist, the same thing will happen for the current you and the world order."

"Without the mana tree this world ends. Even you and I. I don’t think you have ever imagined yourself living in a mundane world as a normal man who can be killed by the slightest accident."

Godfrey’s response made Snow release his folded arms and look away.

"I’m a fugitive, there’s no life for me here. I’ve been hearing a lot about Paradise, that’s where you must have been. Can you take me and Rowana there?"

Snow raised an eyebrow when he saw the look Godfrey gave him.

"What?"

"Cain is the door into Paradise and out of it. Going in there means you’re going to be watched without end."

"Wait... What?!"

"Gabriel, the man who watches over Paradise, is one of Cain’s bodies. The same for our headmaster. We speculate Cain might have four main bodies but we know three. It was Sebastian’s ability that made you unable to recall anything. It was Gabriel, the man I trusted, the man that taught me about Cain and keeping my grudge aside to help people that killed Isolde."

Godfrey’s words made Snow’s eyes widen.

"But... the headmaster. He went to prison because of you."

"He did and that’s why I would never have suspected him. I... I actually felt guilty for him," Godfrey admitted with clenched teeth.

"This is...!" Snow felt the world grow small, as if the entire earth was in the palm of one man.

"However... I’ve made up my mind to go there," Godfrey looked at him.

"I need to meet my mother."

’Especially to confirm who that man truly is.’

"You want to... what?!"