Chapter 181: Chapter 94: When Friends And Enemies Meet (Part 1)
Abyss: "..."
Silence befalls the 'devil' as he witnesses the blood of the Hellfire, Ross Green, spewing about.
With complete disregard to humanity, the one whose body he inhabits has murdered a Hellfire in the most brutal way possible.
More than horrifying or surprising, this is saddening.
Abyss: "..."
And yet, he can't put it into words why.
When looked at from a logical perspective, Kais has defeated his enemy, healed himself and temporarily even has the power to reattach Sona's arms, basically nullifying all the damage the two of them have taken in defeating two ridiculously powerful opponents.
So, shouldn't he be happy?
They are winning, after all. That should make any ally of them happy.
As far as brutality goes, this is nothing new for him either. He has seen much more vicious things in his life, some so horrible that they could give nausea to Ethan Kales. The brutality displayed while killing Ross Green pales in comparison to everything he has witnessed in his life.
So, that shouldn't be a bother either.
Yet, there's something - something that is not right.
Abyss: "... Tsk!"
He cannot quite put his finger on it but there's something really wrong with Kais defeating Ross like that.
And, whether it's the fact that he can't understand what it is or whatever it is is so powerful that it affects him regardless, he feels sad about it.
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Rosevelt: "Ha!"
A scoff - that's all the Phoenix's reaction is as he realizes that two of his Hellfires have died.
Rosevelt: "How stupid!"
He doesn't feel any grief whatsoever. All he feels is disappointment upon the fact that they battled and died when he wasn't watching.
Rosevelt: "Such a waste!"
There's no point in them dying when they don't even provide any new information that could give him an advantage over those who defeated them.
After a life of stupidity, the flames on his wings are dying out in the stupidest and most useless fashion as well.
Rosevelt: "Well, if nothing else, I guess I know that they can defeat those idiots."
Perhaps the only redeeming factor of the situation is that he can at least infer the third faction is capable of taking down two Hellfires, albeit the weaker ones.
Rosevelt: "Huh?"
Walking through the darkness of the night as his wounds continue to heal constantly, the Phoenix feels no fear of uncertainty as he gladly walks back towards the battlefield he was thrown out of.
Still, even though their individual deaths have had no effect on him, the same can't be said about the big picture.
Rosevelt: "Well, they have been cut to almost half now, huh?"
The ten Hellfires have now been reduced to six.
And surely, the number is going to decrease even more.
So,
Rosevelt: "Maybe it's not a pipe dream, after all. Maybe, it's possible."
For this to be an indication from fate that his time is up, for this to be a message from death that the march is coming towards him - it's certainly possible.
And, with all he has got, he hopes he isn't disappointed, he hopes that his death does come finally.
But,
Rosevelt: "Before any of that though, there's a score I have to settle."
He mumbles to himself, thinking about the 'God' who thought blasting him away was a good idea and made him miss the death of two Hellfires already.
There's a score to settle there indeed.
"Going somewhere?"
A voice calls out to him, a voice that seems like it belongs to a 16-year-old, but it is still a voice that seems to hold a lot of firmness within it.
Turning back, the Phoenix sees the owner of that voice standing there as if it's the most normal thing to do.
Rosevelt: "Grisham? Or, shall I call you The Reaper? What are you doing here?"
The Phoenix asks with a shallow grin, to which The Reaper replies with a smile.
Grisham: "Well, I came to sate my curiosity."
Rosevelt: "Ha, your curiosity? And what's that all about?"
Grisham: "It's about you, Phoenix. It's all about you."
Elated by seeing the Phoenix get surprised, The Reaper continues.
Grisham: "I have been curious about your stance in this war, about why you seem to take everything so carelessly, about why you are indifferent to so many secrets of the world."
As he says so, he walks over to Rosevelt and offers him his support. Rosevelt, still yet to fully heal, accepts the support.
Grisham: "I have been curious as to why you seem to not care about the results of anyone's actions, about why you seem so indifferent towards consequence and why the many mysteries in this world that have the whole world running here and there have no effect on you."
Hearing all of it, Rosevelt chuckles.
Rosevelt: "So you left your duty as The Reaper and come here because you were curious about all that?"
In a sardonic tone, Rosevelt asks.
Grisham: "You sent your Hellfires on a mission you knew they were likely to fail and die at. Furthermore, the purpose of this mission doesn't even seem to be anything THAT important. So, you are the last person who gets to mock me about my actions as a leader."
Rosevelt: "Well, I guess that's not a bad retort."
Rosevelt, throughout the conversation, keeps a smirk on his face, owing to the realization that something unpredictable like this can only happen by sheer stupidity, but it can happen at least.
Rosevelt: "You want to know why I am indifferent to the world's 'mysteries'?"
He can't help but feel a tinge of excitement for how The Reaper would react when he hears the answer.
Rosevelt: "It's because I know the answers to all of them."
Says the Phoenix casually.
Rosevelt: "There's nothing you people call 'a mystery' that I refer to the same way. Those questions that have the whole world running here and there are merely trivia to me."
Grisham: "...?"
Rosevelt: "Surprised? Or, are you doubting me? In either case, that is the truth."
For the moment at least, the leader of the Ghost Nation has been put at a loss for words.
Rosevelt: "I suppose this all began when you saw me not inquiring about your Nation's stupid secrets, like how you people have been trying to build up Angels and Demons or how you were able to keep it all a secret for so long? Or, maybe it happened when you saw me not inquiring about how those Dragons have been keeping their existence hidden from the common folk when their appearance clearly is hard to hide?"
Even if it was anything else that had sparked his interest, it didn't matter. The answer would remain the same - The Phoenix knew the answer, so he felt no drive to try to inquire about it.
Well, if speaking from the perspective of Vermilion, it may have been better to at least act like he was curious so no unprecedented attention is given to him, but then there comes the disregard for the consequence and the general disregard for anything that happens - following the idea that everything is just a meaningless epilogue.
Grisham: "Well,"
Sighing once,
Grisham: "I don't know what to say. I thought my interest would end when you answer my questions."
Grisham says with a scowl on his face.
Grisham: "In contrast, it has grown."
And so, The Reaper does not yet reach for the blade he has prepared to kill the Phoenix, and the Phoenix, as usual, does not even care.
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