"Roland! You..."
Cairneas's thunderous voice alone was enough to convey the frenzied fury in this Old Deus's heart.
Yet Roland merely shook his head helplessly.
During today's battle, he had indeed repeatedly mocked Cairneas for his lack of ambition, but heaven knew that his last remark had absolutely not been a provocation. It had been a heartfelt observation.
As a pragmatist, when he had had no other choice, he too had entertained fantasies of carving out a place for himself through his astonishing wisdom and peerless talent.
But the arrival of the Key of All Spirits had interrupted all of that.
Relying on himself when he had no cheats was one thing, but if he still had to rely on himself after getting cheats, what was the point of having them?
So even now, the one thing Roland had the most confidence in was his will.
With the price of Contract Spirits laid out before him, he could clearly feel his own growth in this regard. It was power that had truly become part of him and could not be stripped away.
In other areas, he often reached the heavens in a single step before slowly digesting what he had gained. Although he had put considerable effort into the process, he inevitably remained somewhat cautious when facing powers from other worlds.
When he first entered the Nasuverse, he had already obtained Shendu's wisdom. At the time, he could not distinguish the specific difficulty of any Magic Formula he saw, even Caster's Age of Gods Magecraft.
After all, it was impossible to feel any difference between things he mastered at a glance.
Later, the uniqueness of True Magic and Authorities such as Beast had taught Roland a proper lesson. But back then, he had backers everywhere, from Dark Chi to Root