Chapter 442: Ideal

Perseus POV

The orb of Isfrid's powers was in Lilith's possession, she's going to keep it for his successor and replacement. We healed his body before we headed to the rest of them. All of them were crying. I really wish that there was another option...but...Isfrid himself refused for it to happen.

Both Jerah and Dawn walked past us to go and say their goodbyes, to give him a proper burial while I just took a seat and leaned against a tree, the pain was going away from Isfrid's arrows, but from the way, I'm evaluating it...it'll be at least 2 weeks, Isfrid's spells are no fucking joke, those spells were filled and created with hatred.

Rowan got to me and grabbed me by the collar.

"Damn you!" Rowan's voice cracked, "First Edward, and now this?! What's wrong with you?! You fucking monster! I know... I know he's consumed by his hatred. But why does it have to come to this? He's my brother, damn it!

"He's beyond reach, beyond reason. Isfrid... he won't stop until he's drowned in his vengeance, and I can't save him. I can't watch him spiral into darkness anymore. But having to face his end by your hand... it's tearing me apart." 

Rowan's shoulders shook with silent sobs, a tempest of conflicting emotions raging within him. The agony of seeing his brother lost to his own fury, the anguish of accepting the inevitable outcome, it was a torment that tore at his very soul.

In that moment of despair, he knew that it was already too late...he wasn't there when Isfrid was at his lowest, he was never there to comfort him and change him.

"I should have been there," his voice raw with self-condemnation, "When he was at his lowest, drowning in grief I should have been there to offer solace...I failed him...I was too consumed by my own duties, too blinded by my own struggles. I should have been the one to stand by his side, to show him a different path, to be the beacon of light in his darkest hours.

"I was supposed to be the older brother, I am the eldest..." His voice was now nothing but a whisper as tears streamed down Rowan's cheeks

What the hell should I say...I don't know...I'm sorry feels like a cheap excuse. What could I say that would ease Rowan's burden, that would justify the path I took? All I did was just pull him into a hug.

It felt weird hugging the guy who berated me all this time, but he didn't fight it.

*****

Fuck...I think I fell asleep. Well, I was tired, using a lot of magic and fighting for hours was definitely draining. I woke up to see Vince and Buddy by my bedside, and they just gave me some fruits to eat and water to drink while giving me updates.

It was all the same old same old, and expected situations, like a flood of powerful soldiers and angelic beings at the cult's base fighting back against the heroes, and how there's a rebellion starting in the demon continent.

"...By the way, I have an idea...do you want the orange rose by any chance?"

"Me? Why?" Vince asked despite Buddy's approval

"The rebellion will obviously fail, the orange rose will have to go to someone, so why can't it be my own younger brother?"

"That makes sense, but still, why spare the effort?"

"You gave me your powers, and now I'll help you get one, fair trade."

"You do know that I don't expect anything in return, living with you guys is already more than enough."

"Since when were you so sweet?"

"Living with our parents' help, you should spend more time with them, they complain about you a lot."

"Yeah, they really do love me a lot."

"Eh...don't push it, there's a limit, miracle child."

He then told me of the situation of the people of the north, how the disappearance of Isfrid is causing an uproar as the priests can no longer feel his blessings, so he recommended me to find a replacement quickly, even though the timeline won't get destroyed or anything like that...

Finding a replacement is the least I can do, Lilith chose to not let the power disperse and create a new god, so now, we just gotta pick who to take the mantle, my good pal or the pope.

*****

Rowan took on the duty to select the replacement himself and tried to keep Reiner away from me every time we got on a call, but it was only a matter of time, anyway, I got Terrance and the selection of priests to be interviewed by Lilith, they passed Rowan's test and it was Lilith's turn. 

Terrence finished his interview and walked out with a slight glare.

"Hey, Terrance...what's up?"

"Please don't talk to me." he requested

"Why? I thought we were best pals!"

"You know I can't just be friendly with a person who killed my god."

"I didn't do the killing blow though."

"That doesn't...ugh...damn it."

"Dude...you know that I had no choice, you spoke with him, you should know his nature, he never liked me from the get-go, and his intentions of killing me were very clear."

"Shut up, I know, the red rose told me the whole story..." he sighs, "He also told me...that your girlfriend is a goddess...how?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ugh, I really wanna strangle you."

"This is out of character for you."

"...How's your relationship going? Killing my god should make things...well, awkward, no?"

"It does, it'll bounce back, but for now, I'm giving them their space while I gotta do what I can. You see those floating angels and that flying eyeball, right?"

"Yeah, insanely powerful, their top fighters are on a similar level to the roses, and the heroes are stepping in directly."

"Man...look, the position is all yours if you don't hesitate, can...can you just accept it and end this crap? This war was inevitable, but...why can't we just stop this? Look, Cassius is thinking about it, Maple is thinking about it, if you join in too, we can at least pull 50% of the people away."