Chapter 543: Breakdown

Rage bubbled inside Su Pei’s heart when he heard Dupravel’s reason behind defecting.

He couldn’t believe that Dupravel decided to switch over to the Cult just because he would have died otherwise, as the whole ordeal just smelled fishy and cowardly to him.

"So that’s it?" Su Pei said, his voice laced with venom.

"You turned away from your beliefs the moment things got hard? You shook hands with the devil just to keep your own head?" He asked, as Dupravel tilted his head with the same maddening calm that had defined him throughout their entire duel.

"Were you dropped on your head as a child?" Dupravel asked, as he spun a dagger beside his forehead in a circular motion, signalling to Su Pei that he was a fool.

"Dying for your beliefs is the ultimate honor," Su Pei growled, his glare deepening.

"By defecting you tainted your own legacy... Tainted everything you once fought for."

He accused, however, Dupravel’s expression didn’t change.

If anything, he seemed to pity Su Pei.

"Commander, if you really believe that the righteous faction is ’Righteous’ and that the Cult Of Ascension is ’Evil’, then there’s no point in us having this conversation.

You’re simply not mature enough to understand the universe for what it truly is.

But if you’re ready to accept the fact that both sides are morally gray, then yes, I have a reply that might interest you," Dupravel said, as Su Pei looked away from him in anger, but did not walk away.

"The Cult is not Evil, at least not any less Evil than the masters you serve.

And the honor you speak of is nothing but empty praise.

If the Su Clan truly valued you, they would not have sent you to a desolate planet with no strategic importance.

If the Su Clan appreciated your efforts, they would not have sent your firstborn son on a death mission.

The truth is, your loyalty towards them is entirely one sided. And that’s your fatal flaw," Dupravel said, as his words cut Su Pei deep.

"You think your son died with honor?" Dupravel continued, his tone like a poisoned whisper slipping through the cracks in Su Pei’s armor. "Or do you think the Su Clan betrayed him and called it sacrifice?"

"You know nothing—"

"I know enough," Dupravel snapped, interrupting him for the first time. "I know your second son didn’t leave you because he hated you. He left because he saw what you couldn’t. That no matter how loyal you were, the Su Clan would always view you as expendable."

Su Pei scoffed, but his voice faltered.

"I’m not expendable, guarding our borders against the Cult is an important and honorable job...." He argued, but he found the words coming out of his mouth to be increasingly unreliable.

"Come on.... Even you don’t believe that. Because, if the Su Clan really viewed this planet or you as an important asset, then there would be ten thousand ships above the skies of Koral by now, that would have come to rescue you.

But they aren’t coming.... Are they?" Dupravel asked, as Su Pei struggled to find words.

"It’s not that they don’t care. It’s just... complicated. Reinforcements would suffer heavy losses. It’s suicidal to come now." Su Pei argued, trying to make sense of his own words, but by now, he knew deep down that he was wrong.

While Dupravel narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

"If Su Yang, the Patriarch’s son was the one stranded on this planet, do you think they wouldn’t burn a million lives to save him?" He asked, as Su Pei had no answer.

Dupravel pressed on, his words like hammer strikes against a crumbling wall.

"They would send fleets to save him. They would shatter the sky if they had to. But they won’t do that for you, will they?"

"Because you’re just a dog in their eyes. Loyal. Obedient. Replaceable."

"You’re a Monarch. A man who has held down this planet for decades. And yet, not one ship has come to reward you for your years of loyalty!"

Su Pei’s hands trembled, his jaw tightening as denial clashed with truth.

"My clan—" he tried.

"Doesn’t care for you," Dupravel said coldly. "That’s the truth. And you know it."

Silence stretched between them like a chasm.

Then, slowly, Su Pei’s knees gave out.

His blade slipped from his hand, clattering onto the concrete street as he fell to the ground, staring at the cracks in the stone as if they mirrored the ones forming in his spirit.

A voice from the past returned, soft and distant.

"They don’t want you in the clan, Father. You’re loyal to a cause that hates you. You’re a fool."

He remembered the rain that day.

He remembered his second son’s eyes that were filled with pain, not rebellion.

And for the first time, he understood.

"You’re right..." Su Pei whispered, shoulders trembling as the weight of years collapsed on him all at once. "I am a fool."

Dupravel remained still, watching cautiously.

Su Pei looked up, his voice shaky but sincere.

"Tell me, Dupr—no... Viper. The Cult. Are they a worthy organization to pledge loyalty to?"

Dupravel blinked, caught off guard by the question.

"Will I have a fresh and meaningful start, if I defect like you?"

The assassin didn’t answer right away.

He studied the man kneeling before him, the same warrior who had once eclipsed Su Tang as the generation’s strongest warrior, and who was now stripped of pride and desperate for a new beginning.

As never in all his years could Dupravel have expected this outcome.

"Su Pei," Dupravel said quietly, "I don’t know if the Cult is worthy or not, because technically, I’m not sworn to serve the Cult."

Su Pei’s breath hitched.

"So who did you swear fealty to?" He asked, as Dupravel let out a long sigh, feeling sort of ashamed to admit who his master really was.

"My master....ummm... he’s young, and he respects me. He’s a.... Cunn, no I mean, an upright and reliable gentleman.

He umm.... Is very popular as well" Dupravel replied, as he said everything but the name of his master, prompting Su Pei to blink in confusion.