Chapter 233 - Apologies and Wishes (1/2)
”…eh?” This was the only sound the Undying Flame Spirit could utter after listening to the long string of harsh words Argentum said to her. To be honest, what she expected to hear from the Pseudo-Animate in front of her was instead words of gratitude or possibly an actual question. She truly did not expect to be lashed out by a Pseudo-Animate she had helped, and a weaker one at that, leading to the loss of words that she was experiencing right now.
After letting out all of the pent-up rage inside him to the master of the Flame Spirit Inheritance, Argentum felt a new level of zen inside him, as if there was nothing that could bother him anymore. Unfortunately for him, that sensation only lasted for a while as his sense of vision slowly focused on the Undying Flame Spirit, who was radiating an aura of confusion as of this moment.
At first, he could not help but wonder as to why the Undying Flame Spirit was confused, as well as why the Undying Flame Spirit was not moving nor responding at all. Thankfully, it did not take long for him to realize that the reason why the Undying Flame Spirit was like this was because of what he had said a while ago. At the instant he realized this, his aura, which used to be the epitome of calmness and composure, was now replaced with the epitome of fear, anxiety, and terror.
Of course, this aura stemmed from the fact that he lashed out at the Undying Flame Spirit, the master of the Flame Spirit Inheritance. This fear was greatly heightened since he had committed the information he learned from the Seven Flame Road into his memory, knowing very well that she was the only being in the continent he was on that could exert the power of the Lux Purity Flames, the fourth flame on the Seven Flame Road.
The power and heat he felt from the Lux Purity Flames was already suppressed to a great extent in order for him to survive such intense flames, but what if the Undying Flame Spirit became infuriated at his words and unhesitatingly decided to use such a flame on him, a flame that would easily wipe out billions of beings from its indirect heat? A flame that would not even need to be exposed for an attosecond in order for Argentum to disappear from the face of this world?
With that in mind, Argentum unhesitatingly prostrated in front of the Undying Flame Spirit as he hastily formulated an apology in his mind, using his most sincere tone to shout, ”I sincerely apologize for what I've just said to the great Undying Flame Spirit!”
Surprisingly, this apology of his was able to make the Undying Flame Spirit come back to her senses as her sense of vision soon focused onto Argentum prostrating, making Argentum feel more fear and anxiety, wondering whether or not the Undying Flame Spirit was planning to kill him at any moment.
”It's just that this lowly Pseudo-Animate is not used to having those kinds of trials in an inheritance, and I just need a place to vent it off…I sincerely apologize!” Argentum said not long after feeling the Undying Flame Spirit's gaze at him become a bit cold. He then said, ”If the great Undying Flame Spirit wants me to, I would gladly become the great Undying Flame Spirit's servant, or perhaps even your sla—”
”You can stop talking, Argentum.” Just before Argentum was about to finish his last string of words, the Undying Flame Spirit interrupted him from doing so as she let out a short sigh. At this moment, the level of fear and anxiety Argentum felt as he realized what he had done was at a level far beyond what he thought was possible. As an incredibly tense silence ensued between the two of them, the Undying Flame Spirit could not help but notice the aura that Argentum was radiating, making him ponder for a bit before going ahead and saying, ”Stand up.”
”Y-yes!” Still fearing the repercussions of what he had said to the Undying Flame Spirit, Argentum hastily replied to her words with a stutter as he stood up, making sure that his posture was as perfect as it could be. Noticing that Argentum still held great fear for her, the Undying Flame Spirit let out a sigh as she said, ”I won't punish you for what you've said.”
”Eh?” Argentum uttered as he listened to the Undying Flame Spirit's words. He could not believe what he was hearing. He then cautiously asked if she could repeat it one more time, which she unhesitatingly did so. At that point, the amount of fear Argentum had for her was slightly lessened, but it was still at an incredibly high level. Mustering up his courage to wonder why, he told her, ”But I badmouthed you…you're way stronger than me…shouldn't you be mad…?”
”Mad? Of course, I want to be mad,” she responded to his question before adding, ”But I can't be fully mad after hearing what you've said. I guess it was insensitive of me to give you those kinds of trials.”
Hearing her response to his words, the amount of fear he had was lessened yet again, now feeling great remorse for what he had done. In his mind, he thought that he should have thought about the reasons why the Undying Flame Spirit did what she did from her perspective and not just lash out from the perspective he had experienced. Letting out a short sigh, he mustered up his courage once more, saying, ”I seriously apologize for what I've done. I guess you can say I was insensitive as well, not considering your perspective as I lashed out.”
He then let out one more sigh as he continued, ”It's just that the trials I've undergone in the past were vastly different from the trials you've let me undergo in this inheritance. The trials I've undergone felt…uh…what's the word I'm looking for again?”
”Normal?” the Undying Flame Spirit asked in response to his question, to which Argentum nodded. Letting out a sigh of her own, she then said, ”To be honest, I was contemplating whether or not to let you go through the normal trials at first, but seeing as you were a Pseudo-Animate, I gave you preferential treatment. This inheritance was made to help bolster the power of Fire-based Pseudo-Animates in the first place.”
”But I'm not a Fire-based Pseudo-Animate,” Argentum said to her, his fear and anxiety gradually disappearing as he continued to talk. ”So why would you still give me preferential treatment?”
”Because you're a Pseudo-Animate. That's all there is to it,” the Undying Flame Spirit replied succinctly. In response to that, Argentum could not help but feel even more remorse than before, saying, ”Now I feel like sc.u.m.”
”Don't beat yourself up like that,” the Undying Flame Spirit said after listening to his words. ”We just have our own preferences in life, it's just that our preferences did not match up.”
”I guess you could say that,” Argentum let out a light chuckle as he responded, which was soon followed up with a sigh. After that, a moment of silence ensued between the two of them, which was broken by Argentum as he directly looked at the Undying Flame Spirit and said, ”Thank you.”
”Hm? What was that?” Although she had a feeling that Argentum thanked her, she wanted to make sure. Fortunately, Argentum was not that shy when it came to showing gratitude, saying it once more, ”Thank you for giving me great rewards with the trials being easy.”
”You're welcome,” the Undying Flame Spirit said nonchalantly, but she was inwardly happy that the Pseudo-Animate was truly what she expected in the fourth trial. Unfortunately for her, she let that slip out as she said, ”I guess my impression of you from the fourth trial was correct. You're a kind Pseudo-Animate at heart.”
”Huh? Fourth trial?” Hearing the Undying Flame Spirit say those words, Argentum could not help but recall what had happened in the fourth trial, trying to find anything that connected the fourth trial to what she was saying. Thankfully, it did not take long for Argentum to realize that there was a chance that the reason why she would say that was because of what he did to the Reconnaissance Spirit.
Wanting to know if it was true though, Argentum mustered up his courage and said two words.
”Reconnaissance Spirit?”
”Exactly,” the Undying Flame Spirit said in response to his question, letting out a chuckle not long after as he felt a bit embarrassed. ”Anyways…”
Just as Argentum thought that he had apologized enough to the Undying Flame Spirit for what he had done, the aura of the Undying Flame Spirit gradually intensified as the color of her body transformed from a crimson red color to an orange one. Not long after, it was replaced with a yellow flame, before being replaced with a white flame, radiating an immense level of killing intent in the process.