Lynn admitted it frankly. He adjusted his Monocle and stood up as well.
"I don't deny it."
"Because I have too many enemies. Even if I can undermine just one of them from within, that would still be a considerable victory for me."
The figure said quietly:
"Then do you think I'll let you control me and fight them to the death over this old hatred?"
Lynn had no answer.
If the one standing before him now were a mad god, he would choose to withdraw unscathed and direct that madness toward the calamity.
But if it were a rational god, then while he might not attack you, whether you could make him an ally was another matter entirely, with no certain outcome.
"But at least you succeeded in one respect."
The figure glanced sideways, his voice neither joyful nor sorrowful.
"As I am now, I won't stand with any faction. Not yours, and naturally not theirs either. In that respect alone, you could say you've achieved your goal."
He said no more.
He walked calmly forward, passing shoulder to shoulder with Lynn.
Heavy footsteps rang out across the platform, like a fate with no end in sight.
"Go."
"You helped me, so I won't take your life. Consider the Dragon Heart in your hand the bargaining chip in this transaction. Neither of us owes the other anything. Painter was actually very clever. She made this Dragon Heart the key to opening the God King's realm, which also indirectly protected this bargaining chip from corrosion and corruption."
His figure receded into the distance.
"From this day on, we owe each other nothing."
Lynn gazed at that retreating figure for a long time, countless indescribable emotions stirring within him.
Because he was walking toward those Divine Kingdoms.
He did