Chapter 242 - Vagueness of It All

'He's not seriously considering this, is he?'

Crimson looked at the Mech God with a complicated expression. He was unsure of what the god thought as his profound and enlightened intellect wasn't something the likes of a mortal could have understood. Crimson, at this moment, could only hope for the best.

"No. Absolutely not," the Mech God shook his head after taking one second to think. "I'm not going to let you consume any magic. I know what it can do for you."

"Fine by me," the man answered, still smiling. "But you know as well as I do that this mortal doesn't have much of a chance. Unless you find some other way, he won't survive."

Having a firm grasp on the situation, the Mech God didn't bother denying what the man said. He had no reason to deny it nor to hold out hope. He knew entirely well what the man was offering, and it was in Rynold's best interest to take it. But, the consequences thereof might not be something that meager.

"I know," the Mech God placed his hammer to his side, "Even so, there's no reason to let you feed. I'm not going to make a mess out of the mortals again. I'll make sure that the last time will never come again."

"Oh? Compassion? From you of all people? I thought I'd never see the day where you'd be so interested in preserving the mortal realm. Really, what changed? Is it some bizarre sense of reason now that you're a god? After all you've done, you still have the audacity to change your stance?"

The Mech God didn't bother answering that as he looked down on the ground, concentrating on what he had to do. He thought of millions of solutions, all in a matter of mere seconds. His capacity as a god was showing, even though nobody apart from him saw it.

"Let's go," the Mech God turned to Crimson before facing the door. He then walked to it without daring to look back at the man who mocked him the very moment he arrived.

"Oh, oh. Piece of advice for you, mortal," the man spoke up, forcing the two of them to stop. "Whatever that so-called god promised you, you're better off not taking it. I may be locked up here, but that man's more dangerous than I could ever be. If anything, it should be him that's locked up."

After a brief pause of hesitation, the Mech God walked away once more. Crimson looked back, watching the same smile on the man's face. The brief glimpse sent shivers down Crimson's spine before leaving with the Mech God for the surface.

The journey back up was more arduous than Crimson liked. It was much easier to go down than up, after all. But, at the very least, the pressure on his chest significantly lessened as they walked back up the stairs. And, in a matter of a few minutes, the three of them arrived at their destination.

Along the way, both Crimson and the Mech God remained silent. As much as the former wanted to ask questions, he didn't know how to approach it. No matter how he looked at it, Crimson was an outsider. Asking questions now might push the limits of the Mech God's patience.

The latter, however, didn't seem to be thinking the same thing. In fact, the Mech God's thoughts were on something else entirely.

Looking back at what the man said, the Mech God couldn't help but feel frustrated. Not for the reasons that would've otherwise made any mortal feel frustrated. But, it was because of the sole fact that he was stupid enough to believe in the man.

That said, he got what he came for, even if he did so arbitrarily.

Walking back to the platform, the Mech God controlled it once more. The three of them levitated to the sky. Then, the Mech God willfully sunk the temple back to the ocean floor. Doing so barely took any effort, but the perplexed expression on the Mech God's face made Crimson worried.

"Who was that?"

On their way towards some other place, Crimson took this chance to ask. He did so reluctantly, of course, as he wasn't sure if he overstepped his bounds.

Fortunately, the Mech God answered.

"None of your business."

Albeit, somewhat dismissively.

Crimson awkwardly chuckled, realizing how much of a mistake it was. Following this, Crimson inadvertently decided to pursue the conversation. Against his better judgment, Crimson did the exact opposite of what he needed to avoid.

"You guys have history; I get it. But, uh, sir? I never thought that something like that would faze someone of your stature. It's certainly unexpected, sir. I'm sure you've done what you could with —"

The Mech God looked at Crimson with an overwhelming and threatening gaze. He didn't even have to look at Crimson in the eye to scare him. Crimson immediately stopped talking as soon as he realized he had made a grave mistake.

Contrary to Crimson's expectations, however, the Mech God instead laughed.

Crimson flinched. He didn't know what was happening or what made the god laugh all of a sudden. For all he knew, he might be killed here and now. They were above the endless sea, after all. Nobody would find out if Crimson died.

"It's not you," the Mech God nodded his head, pointing at the figure behind Crimson. "It's him. I can imagine what he'd say in this situation. I don't even think that he'd keep silent like you were back in the temple. That bastard would do anything he wanted, really."

Turning around, Crimson saw Rynold's blank expression. Instead of the guy's violent and struggling look on his face, Rynold was silent and in a daze. He didn't seem to be moving at all, as if asleep with his eyes open.

"Is that the reason why you're helping him? Because you find him entertaining?"

"No," the Mech God immediately answered, serious.

"Then, what is it? Because he's special? Someone different from what you'd expect from a Candidate?"

"You sure have a lot of questions, huh? But, no. He's brash, arrogant, crude — everything you don't want from a Candidate. He's not worth my time, or yours, for that matter."

"But —"

"Before I start entertaining your questions," the Mech God turned serious as he looked at Crimson. The platform beneath their beneath kept moving in one direction as he addressed one thing, "Mind telling me why you're following him?"

Crimson hesitated. He didn't know how to respond to that apart from complete silence. That's because he had no reason whatsoever. He couldn't answer because he had no answer to give.

"Nothing, huh?" The Mech God raised a brow, disappointed, "I suggest you forget about him. Seriously. Nothing good is going to come out from following this guy. It's not in your best interest to even be in the same room as this person. Follow your own interests or, at least, stay away from him. I'll send you back to the main hall once we get there."

In spite of that response, Crimson matched the Mech God's gaze and expressed his determination. With just a single look, Crimson conveyed his intentions. He didn't want to go back. Not any time soon. He didn't want to go back, not when he's risked so much so fast.

"You're going to regret it," the Mech God stated in a subtly defeated tone.

"Why's that?"

"He's not someone you should align with, not in under any circumstance."

"No, I get that," Crimson disregarded whatever notion of respect and confronted the god, "There's a reason why you're keeping him separate from the rest of us. If you still held on hope trying to convince me, you should at least tell me the truth."

The Mech God looked at Crimson and snickered. He was sure that he wouldn't say anything about Rynold's peculiarity. So, much to his dismay, he remained silent. The Mech God gave up on whatever chance he had in convincing Crimson. Instead, the god opted to go another way.

"I should have just left you back at the hall. Against your will, if need be."

"So, why didn't you? I'm certain a god like you could do whatever it is that you wanted. If you didn't want me to tag along so badly, then maybe that's what should've happened."

"Watch your tone, kid," the Mech God warned, having had enough of Crimson's willfulness. "Don't you think that if I left you, I would've already done it? Do you honestly think that I'd willingly let you tag along all this time? Of course not. We gods have rules to follow here. You're decisions, no matter how stupid, are yours to bear. We aren't here to be your parents and tell you what to do. We're here to train you, even if it nearly kills you."

The Mech God meant what he said.

He knew that the Candidates he chose weren't children. Sure, some were young, but they had their own wills. They could make their own decisions without his supervision. The fact of the matter was that these Candidates should be able to bear the consequences of their actions.

Rynold's decisions these past few days were a perfect example of this. He chose to do things his way. He knew what he wanted, and he was more than glad to bear the consequences of it all. That was the case until he had mistakenly done something horrible to end up like how he was now.

"I — Okay," Crimson noddingly accepted, even if he hadn't completely understood, "But, what's the point of visiting that man chained to the wall? And where are we going, exactly?"

Hearing the same questions again, the Mech God quickly became annoyed. Crimson seemed relentless, determined to get whatever answers he could.

"He's no man," the Mech God sighed as he answered, "The person on the wall wasn't a man."

"That means whatever he said back then was true..?"

"In part, yes," the Mech God reluctantly nodded, "I made him. But he's not my child. He was a project. A Mech, if you will. Something went wrong. And, what you saw back there was the end result."

Crimson looked at the Mech God with furrowed brows. He was glad he got his answer, but would it kill the god to tell him something more than that? The vague answers didn't help put anything into the light. However, the Mech God didn't seem to be done talking.

"Right, right. That still doesn't explain why we needed that Mech's help. He didn't offer anything useful to us. He didn't even bother to look at Rynold over there."

"That wasn't the reason we went there," the Mech God smiled as he looked back, over the horizon, "We went there to see what we're dealing with here. It's archaic, so much so that I can't get a sense of what kind of magic it is. But, thanks to him, we now know what kind of magic it is."

"How is that helpful?"

"It helped narrow down the scope. This way, I can better dispose of the problem once and for all. The short journey we took probably saved me a few days of work."

"So, you're saying that you have a way to fix this?" Crimson asked, curious as to what the Mech God had meant.

"Probably," the Mech God answered vaguely, "There are a lot of things in play here. I can't guarantee his recovery. Really. Even something like this might be out of my hands."

The lack of confidence worried Crimson. Apart from the lack of anything substantial this past hour, the Mech God didn't seem all that worried about Rynold's condition. But, Crimson was sensible. He knew they had nothing and the answer the god gave didn't help their situation at all.

That said, the best Crimson could do now was to just hold on hope.