Chapter 974: Fateful decisions
Meanwhile-- On top of a mountain next to Jura City
"...Hey partner, Do you see that? Isn't that one of the noisy bastards called Shadow Swords? It seems that your new friends are in for some trouble." Hulak pointed towards the Jura City
Portal with a laugh.
At that moment, a person wearing tattered black clothes and his body covered in wounds and fractures had walked out. It could be said that whoever did this to him had barely left him alive on purpose.
The Wyvern gave him a sidelong glance, "You're also in the same trouble with the same people, partner. The difference is that my *new friends* have hope of victory."
"Hey, that was uncalled for!" Hulak got angry for a moment, but then shrugged and looked back towards the portal again, "...Alright you have a point."
"Good that you've at least realized that fact. I would have lost hope in you if you thought otherwise." The wyvern's ancient voice sounded relieved, "Then why don't you choose a side?"
"Partner, you just joined them but you're already inviting me on their behalf? Were you using me as an excuse to join them or what? Haha." Hulak smiled and shook his head, "We didn't know each other yesterday, Partner, couldn't you guess my response? I don't want to choose a side, I want to be one of the sides."
"But it's too late for that to be a choice. If you had listened to me all those years ago and united the planet under your rule with my help and the beast army's help, you would have been one of the parties of the conflict, but not now..." The Wyvern shook his huge head.
"I don't need to rule everyone for them to know that I am the strongest. There are people older than me and more influential in Nihari and yet they call me Ancestor! Everyone knows who the strongest person in the world is and that is enough for me."
"This view of yours is what silenced me in the past, you just want freedom and the title of the strongest and nothing else, but now the theater has expanded in front of both of us and we now know that the *world* is not limited to Nihari, what's next? Do you think that you alone can confront all those massive planetary empires? No matter how strong you are, what can you do alone?...We both know the answer to this question, you faced the shadow while I was beaten by three people until they broke all my bones... If you had established your own kingdom in the past, you would have been one of the parties of this fight, but now you are an element, an element that was pushed to the side with a single move."
"Let's stop talking about the past now, I don't like the feeling of regret, what happened has already happened... Second, stop talking so wisely as if you predicted everything going on now," Hulak looked at his partner behind him, "How exactly were we going to control Nihari? Your beast army isn't that invincible, it was bettin' back every time they show themselves. Plus, don't you remember what happened to the Second Heaven's Chosen when he thought of conquering the world?"
Hulak shook his head, "They respected me and gave me titles because I didn't try to overthrow them, and because they thought I had found a way to become stronger and somehow I would give it to them, but if I had tried to subjugate them by force, I would have seen the other side of them, I would have either destroyed the world with your help, or they would have destroyed us!"
*Swoosh* *Swoosh*
As they spoke, Hulak noticed two more people arriving, their arrival caused the rest around the portal to salute and retreat, leaving them alone with the injured Shadow Sword as they immediately began to interrogate him, it was General Gu Barrnet and Billy Burton.
After a moment of silence, Crixus's great voice reappeared, "...What do you plan to do next?" "Didn't you ask about this already? I told you I didn't know." Hulak scratched his head lightly, ever since he heard what happened from the Shadow Sword he felt something inside him turn off.
"You don't have many options really," Crixus craned his neck to look at Hulak, "The first is to go back to Nihari."
"I don't want to!" Hulak looked down, his recently healed heart trembling, the deep-seated fear that the dark shadow had instilled in him found its way to the surface, "...I don't want to go back now, not until I'm strong enough."
"Then you have no choice but to stay here in the realm of Planetary Emperor Robin, but keep in mind that whether you have a role in the empire or you roam free without responsibilities, you will be a part of it..."
Hulak turned slowly, looking into Crixus' eyes for a few seconds, "...I'm beginning to feel like Robin Burton pushed you to recruit me."
...I just want to keep calling you Partner for a while longer, I don't want you to get carried away with your whims as usual, you don't have that luxray anymore." Crixus The Great rested his head on the back of his huge palm.
"..." Hulak looked towards the portal again, following the panicked movements there without saying a word.
It's true that he sometimes acts narrow-minded, not because he's stupid, but because he's strong enough to ignore all the options that don't make him feel comfortable.
But today, for the first time in thousands of years, he found that he had to use his head to calculate the probabilities and reactions to his decisions!
Going to Nihari wouldn't do him any good... If he didn't want to continue fighting, he could ask to go in complete secrecy, and Robin would most likely agree to please Crixus, but what then? Would he keep wandering around like a gypsy trying to get away from the Great Serpent's army? His ambition was indeed to take over Nihari as his personal courtyard, not because he loved the planet Nihari itself or the people of the planet Nihari, but because he wanted this feeling!
As long as he can't possess Nihari's spirit and have his eternal life there, there's no point in going back, he doesn't care about its land or its people!
As for the fact that he was fighting the True Beginning Empire and the Great Serpent Empire over the right to have the planet's spirit, It's not because he suddenly wanted to control and rule everyone, but because he rejects the fact that someone wants to take something that is his, he's already started refining the spirit, who the hell can take what's in his hand?!
...But that's what's happening, Marshal Celipus was refining the planet right in front of his eyes, and he's probably still refining it there.
Now he has two options left, and that's what the wyverns were referring to... Either follow Robin and be one of his subjects, or try to take one of his planets by force.
"..." Hulak scratched his head vigorously, "I'm impulsive, partner, I'm sane enough to admit this, but I'm not stupid! I don't want to be someone's subordinate but I won't go and mess with a planetary empire by myself either, those entities are deeper than just the power of individuals, I've experienced the price of dealing with them myself."
"Good that you understand." The wyvern let out a long sigh and returned to silence, as long as Hulak somehow kept his life alive that was all that mattered now, as long as he got through this ordeal and cleared his mind he would find what was best for himself later.
In the eyes of Crixus The Great, those three who broke his bones weren't fighting seriously, if they fought with all they had they would have been able to stop Hulak without a doubt, not to mention their leader who had subdued them all!
...Hulak spent the next hour or so sitting next to the wyvern, watching what was happening around the portal with an absent mind and thinking about his options without saying a word. The fateful decisions he had to make were too many, but first... Where would he go now after he says goodbye to his partner?!
At that moment, an instant portal opened in front of the portal of Jura City, and two people emerged from it with serious expressions.
"...Hmm? It seems that this is more serious than we expected, partner. Look down there." Hulak patted the wyvern's claws a few times.
The wyvern raised its huge head and focused on what was happening below. Its expression quickly turned serious as well. "...?"
One of the two people who had just arrived was his new master, Robin Burton, and from his expression, whatever was happening near the portal didn't look good.