Chapter 1417 The Why

Chapter 1417 The Why

Duke Kriad wasn't a man who believed in fate or manifestation. And he definitely wasn't the kind who'd think the universe was favoring him.

If anything, he saw the world as a jungle and himself as the hunter. Everyone else, was, ofcourse beasts. Some were more useful than others but at the end of the day, were all beneath him.

That belief was why he got where he's today.

Abandoned in an orphanage during a war time, he had to fight kids above his age to survive.

From a very tender age, he learned that his victory meant someone's loss. The laughter of the victory was always accompanied by the sob of the loser.

The world just had a favorite. They listened only to the one success story and ignored the million failures.

To the young mind of Kriad, the nature of such world was clear.

Winner. Loser.

Hunter. Hunted.

Win and Thrive. Lose and Perish.

This world view wasn't unique in and of itself. Many people thought such things at least once in their lifetime.

But his difficult life experiences drilled those experiences and made them his 'truth'.

When the girl who he saved and fed back from starvation promised to take care of him when he fell sick abandoned him when he's on a dangerous fever which nearly killed him or the disciple he cherished as family selling him out for some treasures.

These experiences weren't a one or two time things.

It was a pattern of Kriad's life.

There were more relationships that broke than those that did not. More people who betrayed his love than those who remained loyal.

It's like he's cursed by some supernatural entity, perhaps the universe itself. He could be in the most lavish party of the kingdom, but he'd still feel alone.

For such a man to support Prince Rudolph's faction wholeheartedly was a great surprise.

But Kriad had his own reasons. Besides the obvious factor of Martial Saint Kong favoring the orthodox Rudolph, the Archduke himself wanted something.

An autonomous prime world.

Even though he didn't call it as such, Kriad saw it as a chance to convince his broken conscience that he wasn't a broken soul.

For the sake of his dream, the Archduke joined Rudolph's faction. Even though Prince Merov was in the lead, he believed that Martial Saint Kong would eventually take care of this dark horse.

If Kong didn't, then he would.

But the recent events came as a huge shock.

Not only was Prince Merov killed, Rudolph too suffered the same fate.

Worse, the man who squashed his efforts proclaimed it proudly in the throne hall. And there's nothing he could do about it.

Kriad wanted to kill Varian. But not at the cost of his own life. Isadora was too big of a powerhouse for him to even offend. Yet, a corner of the man's mind was consumed by hatred.

Now, the chances of him getting his wish fulfilled was much lower.

The faction would have to support a new candidate. Everything needed to be built again from scratch.

That's what he thought until he was asked to visit Martial Saint.

A huge surprise awaited the Archduke.

Prince Robert.

The younger brother who was always overshadowed stood with a brilliant light of his own.

Rank 8!

It was a ridiculous thing to even imagine. But the Martial Saint did the impossible.

"Support him well and your wish will be granted."

Archduke Kriad took those words to heart and began to think of all the ways he could act to support Prince Robert.

But as he was returning to his home city, a quiet but definite buzzing of aura caught his senses.

Something was trying to stay hidden but traces of it were being leaked.

"Who dares to sneak into the region I oversee?"

A fierce red light spread across space and a powerful aura locked onto a translucent room.