Above The Sky
Chapter 321 - 321 300 Destiny's Freedom 23_2

321: Chapter 300 Destiny’s Freedom (2/3)_2 321: Chapter 300 Destiny’s Freedom (2/3)_2 He gazed at the dying person’s eyes beside his feet and said calmly, “Because I am afraid.”

“Patrick, I’m afraid I’ve chosen such a shortcut.

A path that is not the best, but seems the easiest.”

Yes.

Ian indeed had refused the Worm Nest, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t recreate the Dao Path of the Swarm.

The Brain-Eating Parasite had not been exterminated, and the Insect Swarm Psychic Network had not completely vanished; if Ian wished, he still had the chance to regret, to start from scratch and rebuild the Worm Nest.

But he had no intention of doing so.

Because it was a shortcut.

It was not to say that Ian had a fetish for mental purity or that he had a sense of ritual, insisting on reaching Above the Sky with a human body—absolutely not for such reasons.

Ian was very aware that if he chose to become the Swarm Overlord, he would do his utmost to be the best.

Just like Viscount Grant that Patrick talked about…

at that time, they would do whatever it took for the ‘best’, and no one knew what that would be.

If it was so, then there was no turning back; many decisions would no longer have the chance to change, many outcomes would never have the possibility to come true—choosing the Dao Path of the Swarm was just such a path, seemingly quick, but in reality lonely and difficult, and very hard to reach ‘perfection’.

“Yes…

Heh heh, parasite psychic network…

Perhaps this is the real ‘Echo’ and ‘Mirror’?”

With a sneer, Patrick thought of these two words, his gaze filled with hatred, but his expression was one of helplessness, “This method is indeed more viable than using that so-called Learning Machine…

it could even give one immortality.”

“The Mother Nest is truly immortal, such creatures are vastly different from us Humans; no wonder they pursue…

pursue this possibility so fervently.”

“Yes.”

Ian nodded slightly, turned his head towards the direction where the Nest Will’s corpse lay, and then spoke, “I know the real question you want to ask me, Patrick.”

“You want to ask, if I cannot reach Above the Sky throughout my ‘human’ life, whether I would also crave immortality, to pursue the path of Echo and Mirror.”

“You want to ask this question, to know whether I would act against the Ellen Family…

or, to be precise, against the Yisen Gard, against the Bloodline of your Eclipsing Light Refining Dragon lineage.”

“Just like Axel did.”

The middle-aged man remained silent.

He knew that he had no right to ask, because it was he who was prepared to kill Yisen Gard, the assassin; his current pretense of concern was really quite shameless.

Even despicable.

But then again, he was about to die, so what did shamelessness matter?

It was precisely because of death…

that Patrick could all the more let go.

“Yes.”

He pulled up a smile and met Ian’s gaze, “That’s exactly what I wanted to ask.

I want to know if you could become a bastard like Axel…

in the future, in a possible future, do such a thing as engulfing your own grandson’s body to sustain your own immortality.”

The man spoke softly, “I can’t stop you, I just want to know…

if the one who defeated me is a noble shining hero or an ambitious tyrant.”

“Is that even a question?”

Ian asked frankly, making Patrick fall silent.

He had guessed Ian’s answer, and therefore smiled bitterly, “Yes, you certainly wouldn’t…”

“I would.”

But Ian’s response took the man completely by surprise, “I would, Patrick.

It’s not about being a hero or a tyrant, those trivial, insignificant details; if it’s necessary, I will.”

“I will do so without hesitation, with no burden on my conscience.”

While the golden-haired man watched in astonishment, Ian closed his eyes.

And when he opened his eyes once again, gazing at the Worm Nest crystal before him, his aqua-colored gaze and voice were as calm and chilly as ever, even carrying a hint of pure indifference: “If I need time to advance my cause, to fulfill my dreams—then I will pursue immortality without hesitation, by any means necessary, and without a trace of confusion or reluctance.”

“Even if it means being stained with the blood of the innocent, becoming vile and disgusting.”

“But.”

Having said so, the young man gripped the sword in his hand: “If I am going to do it, I will do it to the best of my ability.”

“Even if I die in pursuit of the best, I will not resort to inferior methods to achieve my dreams.”

“This kind of immortality offered by the Swarm is obviously not the best choice…

neither is letting innocent people die.

There are many ways to achieve immortality, I don’t have to choose this one.”

“I have such determination and will, as well as the means, but my character decides that I won’t do it; perhaps this too is a kind of fate.”

Bowing his head, Ian smiled as he once again looked at Pat who was lost in thought: “Considering you’re about to die, I’ll answer your question first, satisfying your curiosity.”

“Now, I ask, you answer.”

Ian inquired: “Exactly who sent you to kill Yisen Gard?

Why did you heed that person’s instruction?”

“And why would you go to such lengths, even at the cost of your own life, to do all this?”

The young man’s questions were sharp and direct, causing Patrick to take a deep breath before he replied with a wry smile: “Those are good questions.

Well, since I’m about to die, I’ve wanted to get it off my chest anyway.”

He raised his head and told Ian everything about what had happened and the truth.

The white-haired young man listened intently, then his eyes widened, a ‘just as I thought’ expression appeared, and a hint of sympathy shone in his eyes.

It was not for Patrick, but for that companion with whom he’d once adventured in the underground ruins, the golden-haired boy’s sympathy.

“I understand.”

When Patrick finished speaking, Ian could already see the dense dark aura emanating from him.

This was the soul of someone who was surely doomed to die, or perhaps, who had already died, temporarily lingering in this world only because of the Sublimator’s will, waiting for the Origin Quality to dissipate before completely fading away.

“It’s time for you to die.”

Turning his head, Ian no longer looked at Patrick: “Farewell, Mr.

Patrick, you’ve led a truly tragic life, but at least you’re not looking so bad at the time of your death.”

He didn’t unsheathe his sword to end the other’s life; he had other matters to attend to and neither the time nor the energy to waste.

Of course, that wasn’t the most important reason.

Instead, if he were to strike down the man before him, it would perhaps serve as a release for him.

With that in mind, it was better to let Patrick walk towards the end of his life on his own.

To let him reminisce, contemplate, and to let him…

Suffer because of himself.

After Ian turned and left, Patrick leaned against the Worm Nest’s crystal wall, gazing vaguely ahead towards the direction where the Nest Will had dissipated.

He seemed to want to laugh but couldn’t, the man murmured to himself in a lost and bleak tone: “Indeed, it’s been a sad life.”

“Why did it come to this…

when I once could resonate with such emotions…

I still remember that summer, watching the stars with Ely and my brother…”

“How did I end up doing such pointless things decades later…”

“Is it because I’ve grown old and forgotten my dreams?

Or is it, after all…”

His breathing gradually ceased.

In the Worm Nest, Patrick·Erlen’s life came to an end.

And at the same moment, Ian stepped into the real vulnerability of the Worm Nest.

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