Chapter 643: Forgive Yourself, Julius
"I-I..." Words caught in Julius’ throat.
His mind trembled and the beliefs he had tightly clutched to keep despair away shattered upon hearing Arun’s words—Adam’s words.
When had he started to mislead himself? Was it when he saw his former teachers and students younger than him die, or was it even before?
’Help others if you can, especially those who showed you kindness.’ The words reverberated in his mind, juxtaposing themselves with the ship’s terrible situation.
Arun and Asha were right. Death grazed their backs with each battle, and even if they could repel the initial tier-four magical beasts, the closer they journeyed to the province’s southern edges, the stronger the invading creatures became.
Yesterday, a tier six deep-sea horror leading dozens of tier five creatures had appeared. And perhaps today there will be two, then five tomorrow.
He knew that only the arcanists and Elena could defend the ship against them, while the students and teachers sacrificed their lives to thin out the weaker ones. His heart throbbed at the thought, but they were cannon fodders here to buy time until their main attack force returned.
Perhaps that was the reason he refused to give up. No... He was still veiling his face behind a fake mask of self-sacrifice—shrouding his heart in righteous light so blinding that he wouldn’t have to see the darkness.
But Louise’s near-death experience acted like a thunderstrike that confronted him with his fears, regrets, and the truth that still haunted him like an insidious wraith clawing at his mind, poisoning it a little more each day with insidious whispers.