125. The Empire is All Normal (Maybe)

Frankly, Kronos had actually made a great deal of effort to look at He Shenyan with a normal state of mind.

But he couldn't do it—or rather, every time he thought he could, the Mage would hit him with something big.

It was almost as if he were deliberately playing a joke on him.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Kronos?"

"I simply can no longer find a reason in my heart to excuse you, that's all."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes." Kronos nodded. "I have been trying to convince myself that you are not a god, or some messenger of the Emperor, or anything of the sort. But I have run out of reasons."

"Don't be like that. I only burned half a city. What's the big deal?"

The Mage laughed, and even blinked with mock seriousness. "Couldn't an Exterminatus do the same thing? Just think of me as a humanoid, self-propelled, low-output version of Exterminatus."

The corner of Kronos's eye twitched, and then he burst into helpless laughter.

He could now confirm that this man was absolutely not a god.

The faint sense of distance he had not felt in a long time quickly receded.

The First Captain of the Sword of the Emperor sighed and said, not without complaint, "That's easy for you to say. How are we supposed to explain this to the soldiers?"

"Just say the families and Council of Piltover were struck by divine punishment." The Mage once again put on an expression as if trying to be convincing. "What they did did indeed deserve those two words."

Hearing his description, Kronos frowned.

"You mean...?"

"There's no need to bring those things up again, my friend. Their sins have already vanished, and the innocent souls who died wronged cannot return. Let's talk about you.