Versatile Mage

1379 The Reason For Not Leaving  

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

If the mysterious man was here, it did not make sense for him to just do nothing. Mo Fan believed he had some plan in mind!

“What plan? We should just get the f**k out of here. Do you really think the few of us can stop the Great Pyramid of Giza? Are you dreaming now? I would like to be a hero too, but it’s like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!” Zhao Manyan protested.

Mo Fan did not lose his patience despite Zhao Manyan’s grumbling. He looked at Zhao Manyan and said, “Old Zhao, calm down.”

“Calm my ass, you said it yourself! We are trying our best, just so we won’t regret it even if the worst happens. Are you telling me that we haven’t tried our best? Do we really have a chance of stopping what’s going to happen? The military in the north doesn’t even care, why do we have to do their job instead… didn’t you hear the Prophet? The authorities have already given up on us. Aren’t we nothing but idiots if we stay?” Zhao Manyan groaned.

“Old Zhao, let’s hear what the Prophet has to say. You can leave if you really think he’s out of his mind,” Mo Fan replied.

“Fine, I can’t wait to see what plan you are going to come up with. Nothing matters when you’re up against absolute power! Either way, I’m leaving after hearing what he has to say. If you don’t, I’ll beat you into a cripple and drag you with me!” Zhao Manyan snapped.

“Can you even beat me?” Mo Fan raised his brows.

“Who f**king cares!?”

—

The mysterious man saw everyone looking at him. He understood what they were feeling. The fact that they had not lost their minds or broken down mentally showed how tenacious their mindsets were.

“First, it’s true that the Great Pyramid of Giza is going to appear. We won’t be able to stop it now. You have heard it from Mo Fan, the Underworld Monarch Frogs aren’t showing up all in the same place. The Great Pyramid of Giza will clearly be moved here unless we know the whereabouts of every Black Vatican deacon, and eliminate them all to stop the Underworld Monarch Frogs from appearing,” the mysterious man informed them.

“Second, the Black Vatican’s overall strength is clearly higher than the strength of the people we currently have,” the mysterious man continued.

Zhao Manyan was about to speak, but he withheld the urge to curse when he saw Mo Fan staring at him.

“Everything I said is the truth. The Cold Prince has prepared a long time for this. He doesn’t even care if we know what he’s up to now. He’s that confident, certain that none of us can stop him. We have to admit that he’s a devil, just like Salan, and unfortunately, our country has ended up as his sacrifice, just so he can prove he’s as competent as Salan…” the mysterious man trailed off.

The Cold Prince had spent a long time on the plan. It was already in motion when he acquired the core component from the Sacred Hall of Liberty.

He was able to set down the coordinates in any country, and bring great destruction to it, but he insisted on making China his target…

It was all thanks to Salan!

“Can we cut straight to the main point? What’s the point of knowing all this?” Zhao Manyan said impatiently.

“The Cold Prince is just like any other Red Cardinal. He has his own ideas, which revolve around the idea of the strength of evil faith. If he hates someone, he won’t try to kill them. He will kill everyone that the person cares about instead, trying to obtain their hatred, rage, and obsession to get revenge. He believes he will be empowered by their evil faith. As a result, if the Cold Prince has more chess pieces than Salan, if his subordinates scattered across the world like Salan’s, he will definitely cause a greater panic. The guy is a psychopath, and unfortunately, the Heavens still gave him such outstanding talents,” the mysterious man went on, ignoring Zhao Manyan’s complaint.

“Did Mo Fan manage to gather any useful information? If we can’t stop the disaster, I’ll risk everything I have to take down the Red Cardinal with me. I’ll teach him that he has to pay if he wants to stir up trouble in our land!” Ye Hong snapped furiously.

“There has been some progress, but I haven’t learned anything critical,” Mo Fan sighed.

“Mo Fan, are you reluctant to leave because you want to take out the Cold Prince?” Lingling asked when she realized Mo Fan’s intention.

Mo Fan opened his mouth, shocked. He did not expect Lingling to see through his intentions so easily.

“Brother Fan, is that true?” Zhang Xiaohou asked.

Mo Fan nodded after a slight hesitation, “Mmm, the Chief Extraditor isn’t here. There’s no way we can track down all the members of the Black Vatican. The Cold Prince has split his men up into many groups, to prevent us from interfering with his plan. Taking one or two groups won’t make any difference, so I’m thinking of waiting until their grand ceremony… to track down the Cold Prince!”

“Damn it, I knew you would lose yourself every time you do something! When we joined the national team, we already said that we were only going to enjoy ourselves while traveling across the world, yet we gave everything we had just to earn glory for our country. This time, you were only meant to gather some evidence that the Black Vatican was involved, and even though you’ve already done it, it somehow turns into an attempt to assassinate a Red Cardinal of the Black Vatican! F**k me, that’s a Red Cardinal of the Black Vatican we’re talking about! The Magic Associations of the Five Continents couldn’t do anything about him, and you’re thinking of assassinating him!?” Zhao Manyan was about to lose his temper again.

“If the Red Cardinals aren’t doing anything, there’s nothing we can do about them. Since the Cold Prince is planning such a huge conspiracy, it also means he’s going to expose himself. If we don’t grab hold of the opportunity to eliminate him, he will withdraw behind the curtains after he has earned his reputation. We’ll never be able to find him again, which is why…” Mo Fan said.

“Which is why you’re doing it, even if all odds are against you? Who do you think you are? The Invincible?” Zhao Manyan snapped.

“Our people have been trampled and massacred by two Red Cardinals in a short period of time. They are still at loose after destroying cities and bringing massive destruction upon our country. They are just like gods; more people are going to worship and learn from them. Are we just going to let them destroy our dignity?” Ye Hong spoke up.

“Is dignity more important than staying alive? If the people hiding in the inner city shared the same thought as you during the Calamity of the Ancient Capital, they would have rushed out of the city and fought the undead to death for the sake of their dignity. There would be no survivors!”

Lingling pulled Mo Fan’s sleeves and said softly, “Mo Fan, we’ve already done our best. Let’s just leave. Why do we have to kill the Cold Prince? If you go, you won’t survive either…”

Mo Fan shook his head and said helplessly, “I don’t want to act like I’m a hero, but there are times where we don’t have any choice. I’m the closest person to the Cold Prince at the moment. If I give up now, wouldn’t it make me the accomplice of a second Salan? Did you forget about the maggot and the pseudo-dragon it turned into? We were chasing it all the way into the ocean just to eliminate it… the reason we did it was because we knew about the terrible consequences if we let it live. Every life that it took would end up as a hint of guilt in our hearts.

“I’m already trying my best to be a heartless person. That way, I might be able to live a more comfortable life, and I wouldn’t be bothered by the sense of guilt accumulating in my heart… but I realized I couldn’t do it. If the Cold Prince is still alive after the ceremony, think about the crimes the people that are following him will commit. If the victims are just strangers, I can still suppress the guilt at the bottom of my heart, but what if they hurt someone that I care about, like you? What will I feel? Will I hug your lifeless body and burst into tears knowing I’ll never be able to see your smile again and slowly forget about it, or will I roam across the world in rage until I find the Cold Prince and tear him to pieces?”

Lingling looked into Mo Fan’s dark eyes. She could not find any words to answer him.

“The Black Vatican has always been around us. One day, they are going to hurt the people around us. I might be able to protect every one of you, but I can’t stay by your side all the time, nor am I lucky enough to know what the Black Vatican is up to every time. The Calamity of Bo City, the Calamity of the Ancient Capital, and the current situation here in the North Valley: both the people around me and I are so close to death. Even if I was to tie you all by my side, when a calamity like this happens, I am still tiny and helpless…” Mo Fan said.

Everyone could feel their hearts beating rapidly after listening to Mo Fan!

“It’s why I can’t convince myself to just turn around and leave.” Mo Fan fondled Lingling’s head with a faint smile.

Lingling lifted her head and saw the smile on Mo Fan’s scarred face. Her eyes filled with tears!

“Asshole, every one of you is an asshole, you keep talking about your ideas that I can’t refute! Father said that, my sister said that, and now you too!” Despite Lingling’s outstanding intelligence, she was still no match for Mo Fan’s words. She hugged Mo Fan tightly and completely lost the calm she was wearing as a disguise. She was still just a little girl…

Mo Fan smiled. Perhaps it was why he always had some peace of mind; there were still people like them around. Perhaps he was only doing the same thing because of those people too…

“Brother Fan, the Chief Military Instructor would be very proud of you if he heard what you just said.” Zhang Xiaohou was extremely touched.

“Then we should blame him for not teaching us how to be cowards,” Mo Fan said.

“Mo Fan, if you insist on killing the Cold Prince, we’ll have to split up,” the mysterious man said.

“We were meant to listen to your plan, but somehow, I ended up being the topic of the discussion?” Mo Fan replied.

He was starting to get more emotional as he aged. If it was his old self, he would not bother talking so much. He would simplify it to just one sentence: If that son of a b**ch Cold Prince dares to pick on us, we’ll screw him up!

“General Bin Wei, you’re the successor of the Northguard Fortress, right?” the mysterious man inquired.

“Yes,” General Bin Wei nodded.

“The North Valley has an ancient defensive mechanism. It covers a very large area. It might be able to buy the people that are evacuating some time,” the mysterious man said.