Jason was silent, and he simply watched as Varina’s face twisted into an angry look and her voice began to rise!
"These people don’t deserve any mercy!? You say you’re the overlord, and yet you stand there and tell me it’s enough! Where were you when my people were getting massacred! My friends! My sisters! They were killed like animals on the street and burned at the stake! Where were you when that was happening!? Why didn’t you say it was enough back then!?"
Varina’s breaths were now coming out in hard puffs that made her chest heave, and her eyes were red with unshed tears! Varina glared at Jason with pure hatred as Jason tried to speak up.
"Varina –"
"I don’t want to hear it! You have no right to come into our world and try to play mediator after everything that’s happened! These people will die by my hand, and nothing you say can change that!"
Jason let out a calm breath as he waited for Varina to finish her rant, and once he was sure that she was done, he finally spoke up.
"I’m not here to lecture you about what’s right or wrong, Varina, and I won’t try to remove responsibility for what’s happened in this world from my shoulders. But as an Overlord, it is my job to ensure that my domain progresses forward, and your war is preventing that from happening."
"My war? Those Witch Slayers are the ones that started this! If anything, they are the ones who brought destruction to this world! I am only giving them a taste of their own medicine!"
"And yet, my point still stands. If you had kept the war between just you and the other Hondurans, then maybe I could’ve overlooked it. Intra-world problems are not within my jurisdiction. But right now, your war has affected other worlds out there, and it is preventing interdimensional traders from moving their goods quickly. I’m really sorry for what happened to your people, Varina, and I can assure you that I’ll make sure something like this never happens again. But as of this moment, this war is officially over."
Varina’s face squeezed in raw anger once she heard that from Jason, and Jason could feel the entire cave shaking as Varina’s mana began to leak from her body in great waves! Varina’s rage was building into something intense, and Jason knew she would try to attack him and escape. Varina’s eyes glowed with an intense green light as a strong wind began to blow around the room! The stone walls cracked and broke from the intensity, and Jason stood up as the table was also lifted into the air by the wind. The wind started to rise upwards as Varina slammed her magic into the ceiling to make a path so she could fly out of the cave!
Boom!
The force wasn’t enough to destroy the mountain above her, so Varina pulled back for another hit! Jason started to walk forward like the winds didn’t bother him at all!
BOOM!
A second hit, this time harder than the first, slammed onto the ceiling, and even though some rocks fell, it was still not enough! Jason continued walking towards her, and Varina kept trying to break through the ceiling. Varina raised her hand to send more magic, but Jason finally stepped into Varina’s personal space and stood just a few inches from her. Varina paused as she looked up at Jason’s understanding gaze. Jason was looking down at Varina with a look that told her he understood what she was going through and he was sorry that it happened, but he would not change his decision. Slowly, almost painfully, Varina felt the fight leaving her body as her hands dropped to her side. Varina’s head bowed to look at the ground, and the winds in the room died down.
Jason spoke to Varina in an understanding voice.
"I can’t ask you to let go of your anger, Varina. But I won’t allow one person’s desire for revenge to affect all the other worlds in my domain. I have a responsibility to them."
Varina didn’t know what to do anymore! Varina knew that her chances of winning against Jason were zero, and fighting him would be meaningless! But Varina couldn’t let things end like this! What was she going to do with all this anger in her heart!? How would she move forward!? Varina refused to accept this! Jason looked down and saw that Varina’s hands were shaking from the raw anger flowing through her, and Jason decided to reach a compromise.
Jason snapped his finger, and a Legion Subordinate appeared from the shadows and dropped a body on the floor beside them. Varina turned to the side, and Jason watched her entire body lock up in shock once she saw the person lying on the floor.
"Patrice?"
Varina didn’t even know how to react to the sight of her brother. It had been more than twenty years since the two siblings saw each other, and the last memory Varina had of Patrice was hearing about him betraying their family to join the Witch Slayers. Patrice groaned on the floor as he slowly sat up and looked around him. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, but once they did, he immediately got to his feet and reached for his sword before pointing it at Varina!
"Witch!"
Patrice’s face was twisted in pure hatred as he glared at Varina, and Varina felt a strange sensation of disbelief coming over her as she looked at the man standing in front of her. Was this really her brother? The same brother who used to watch her and her sister play with magic when they were younger? That same brother was now pointing a blade at her and looking at her with enough hatred to kill anyone. Is this really what their family had turned into?
"I’ll give you a chance to end this once and for all. All of this started with Patrice, didn’t it? He was the one who reported your family to the Witch Slayer who killed them, and he was the one who pushed you to hate the Hondurans. I might be the overlord of this domain, but I have no right to interfere in family issues that do not affect the rest of the world. So I will turn a blind eye to whatever happens here today. Do what you must."
Jason walked away from the siblings, and he went to take a seat on a large rock a small distance away. Jason didn’t care about how this confrontation turned out, but Jason knew that Varina was far stronger than Patrice, so the most likely scenario would be her killing him here. Patrice looked from Varina over to Jason and then back again.
"What’s the meaning of this? What am I doing here?"
"Is that really you, Patrice?"
Varina was still staring at Patrice in utter disbelief, and Patrice narrowed his eyes as he stepped back.
"Stay back!"
Varina moved forward.
"It’s been twenty years since I last saw you, Patrice. You’ve grown. You’re really a man now, aren’t you? You’re tall and strong. You have all those runes carved into your body and such strong silver armor. And that badge. I see you’ve even made it to lieutenant. That’s impressive, Patrice."
Varina was now standing only a few feet away from Patrice, and Patrice’s hand shook as he saw the intensity in Varina’s eyes as she smiled.
"At least you made the best of yourself after betraying our family."
Patrice’s eyes narrowed into a glare, and he spoke with a low growl!
"You think I’ll feel guilty about that? Is that what this is? Some sort of redemption party? I did what I did because it was the right thing to do. You and Lyra, you were both dirty witches, and you deserved exactly what you got! My only regret is that I couldn’t be there when they burned them to death!"