Chapter 194

146 Part 1

Chapter 146:  The Power of Immortality (2)

“The power of immortality can be divided mainly into two categories. One that has egos such as me and my artisans, and those who move by commands with no sense of self like them.”

“……”

“Of course, I don’t want to make you like them since the method for immortality is entirely different. It would not be feasible anyway since it would not work when one has acquired the power of language.”

The numbers were massive, and the troops were immortal. Ian was very impressed but also felt something deep in his bones at the same time.

‘He is definitely crazy.’

Fran Page was crazy enough to exterminate all living organisms in the prairie for his goals. While he had tried to protect the entire humankind in the past, now he had made a part of them, the natives, into his servants.

“Didn’t you swear to be a protector of mankind?”

“Of course, my ideals have not changed yet.”

“They are part of mankind, aren’t they?”

Ian pointed to the natives that have been incorporated into the immortal troops apart from the monsters. Fran’s logic was full of contradictions. If they were not humankind, what were they?

“Just because they are categorized as humankind, it does not make them the same human beings. Don’t you know?”

The perspective observed by the dragons and that of Fran Page was the difference that started all feuds. Fran continued with his explanation.

“While the lizards do not recognize it, the importance of human beings can be categorized. I just sacrificed the minority to protect the more valuable people and their descendants for a long time. It’s not really a sacrifice, they would have become extinct by the monsters of the prairie. I basically offered them salvation by giving them immortality.”

That was utter sophistry. Of course, one could decide which human beings were important, and Ian sympathized with that notion. The category did exist, but it was much more difficult to divide than what Fran was saying.

‘However, to call it salvation instead of sacrifice.’

Ian could come to only a single conclusion. Fran Page was definitely crazy. He had gone down the wrong path from head to toe with only a ‘fanatic shell’ of being a protector for humankind left behind.

“So, If I betrayed you, you’ll march those troops to the city?”

“It’s already planned. I’m not going to command them to march, but they will sense and move by themselves.”

Ian looked again at the immortal troops, thinking it would be a difficult problem if they truly did not die. The city would not be able to defend itself against them. Ian heard Fran’s voice when his thoughts were about there.

“Do you need confirmation?”

Ian sensed a large mana wave that stretched directly to a part of the immortal troops in a straight line. The mana wave swallowed them up.

With a rumbling noise, dust spread everywhere. The monsters and natives who met the wave headfirst became meat. It was a horrendous scene but did not last long.

There were sounds of disintegration, and Ian saw the exact same scene he had when the bug was given the power of immortality in the library. All bodies became powder and melded together to a dot. That dot formed shapes, and the bodies resumed their original forms again. They were literary ‘immortal troops.’

“Was Oliver the plan the city had? The knights, the army of the empire, and the magicians of the marble tower will not be able to stop them. They will be instantly overwhelmed since the troops cannot be killed. It will not matter if you join them a bit later.”

Fran’s words were not wrong. Even if the army of the empire, the knights, the magician of the marble tower along with all the troops across the land united, they will only be able to delay the inevitable outcome.

‘Artisans and kin cannot be trusted.’

They were each Fran Page’s and the dragons’ trusted subordinates and had to be considered as exemptions.

“Therefore, Ian, please don’t do anything foolish. You should stop whatever you have planned. I’m repeating myself, but I do want my wife to leave as long as that’s possible.

Fran finished up everything he needed to say and made a slight gesture with his hand. The immortal troops crumbled into powder, which was the same one used when the power of immortality was activated. The entire immortal troops that filled the Eastern prairie had disappeared in a second.

“……”

A heavy silence fell over the two. Fran had a confident expression, but Ian’s dilemma became deeper. He needed a counterattack for that one move Fran Page had prepared.

‘I have no other choice but to find the weakness of that power.’

Ian needed to annul the power of immortality by finding a weakness that even Fran had not covered. It was the only course of action left to him.

“I think you had enough time to think things over.”

Fran was the first to break the silence, and he seemed to be rushing things.

“Let’s get down to business.”

Fran pulled a potion bottle from nowhere, which Ian thought novel even though he was the strongest magician of all humankind.

“Drink this.”

“Are you asking me to go back to the past again to learn?”

“This time, it is different and more complicated.”

Fran opened the cap of the bottle and handed it to Ian.

“If you did anything to the potion…”

“I had so many chances. You know that.”

Fran was right. If he wanted to do something to Ian, he would have done so and probably succeeded.

“If you don’t want this, you can give up this chance. However, if you want the power of immortality, you have no other choice but to drink it. Only then we can proceed.”

Ian stared at the potion and wondered what truth lay beyond there. Ian did not think for long and gulped it down.

“……”

It felt the same when Ian had gone back to the past to learn the power of language. Ian began to see a different scene, but there were notable differences. At that time, it was only a world set in the past, so it looked familiar with differences only in time. The plains, sky, and living people proved that it was the same world. However, this place was completely different.

“Where is…?”

Ian’s view was filled with a wet and soft world or cave that was pink like the inside of an open throat. Not only that, but the pink material wheezed as if it was breathing in and out. Ian was disgusted only by standing there.