540: My Wish

My Wish

"Gah!" The lady writhed on the ground, suffering from the corrosive mist that burned her body, causing the skin to peel off.1

Seated before her was Forna, trembling as he was in a daze. On one side, he wished to kill the traitor that had compromised the security of their Realm. But on the other side, he was tearing apart from within, unable to bear causing his beloved to suffer.

But after a moment, he retracted his power, kneeling on the ground weakly, "I…don't care anymore. I can't put up with this shit! Just kill me and be done with it."

He collapsed on the ground weakly, trembling in pain. He wasn't physically injured anywhere. Hailed as a legendary hero of his Realm, he had a lot of wealth and authority. And of course, that also meant a healer was under his command, having healed him to full health long ago.

He was hurt mentally. He wasn't suffering this much when he slaughtered his enemies. No, even though he flinched at the start, that was only because he wasn't experienced in killing.

In the past, the other Realm had slaughtered his Clan. So, he was only exacting revenge. But after the war was over, and he gained an authoritative position, things started to become worse.

He became broiled in politics, understanding to the extent the enemy Realm had invaded theirs, causing countless sufferings to people.

Their young were kidnapped regularly to be trained into child soldiers that would then be unleashed onto their homeland or trained as a spy to infiltrate the Realm's governance through legal means before disrupting things from within.

Once he began to investigate, Forna came across countless such cases, with each taking a toll on his body and mind.

He was a soldier, someone that openly slaughtered the enemies that charged at him with killing intent.

But once he jumped into the murky waters of politics, he came face to face with the worst of human nature, experiencing the depths to which one could go to achieve their objective.

Implanting a slow-acting poison through food that would corrupt the hearts of the consumers in such a way that when they try to break through from the Martial Origin Stage to the Martial Providence Stage, this weakness would reveal itself, causing them to fail, resulting in wide explosions that would wipe out their Clan/Sect.

Or there was a favoured drink of their Realm that didn't have any problems at first glance. But upon excessive consumption, it would clot their Martial Spirits, resulting in its explosion if they were ever to fully exert themselves.

There was a mafia that was stealing their resources, people, etc. transporting them to the other side. They were just some of the examples.

And then, there was the worst of them all, one that targeted their mind, gradually implanting a seed of individuality in their mentality, causing them to oppose anything that resulted from a collective interest.

This resulted in their younger generation having more intention to become lone wolves with selfish interests than strive for the interests of their Clan, Sect, or even their home. It was to such an extent that if given better benefits, they would even join their enemies to form the vanguard that slaughtered their friends.

There were multiple problems that he realised only after reaching the top. And as he tracked them down to get rid of, he came to understand the mammoth task that he had undertaken.

As he investigated, the deeper into their Realm's affairs he got, the graver he noticed the situation to be.

And no matter what he did, things continued to become worse. Even his allies, those that had fought by his side on the battlefield changed after obtaining positions of authority.

Some of them defected to the other side for more benefits. And every time he confronted them, the twisted logic he heard from their blasted mouths hurt him, gnawing away at his mental sanity.

He hated those bastards that had betrayed their home, he despised the other side that resorted to such dirty means, and he deplored the actions taken to eradicate them all.

Once he began to kill his allies, Forna was unable to trust anyone anymore, gazing at everything and everyone with doubt, including his family.

It was to such an extent that his children were unable to endure it anymore, leaving their homes.

This left only Forna and his wife in their massive mansion, causing everything to feel too large and vacant. And mirroring it was his heart that too felt vacant.

And the final nail that slammed the coffin was when he cracked down on the organisation whose only goal was to kidnap children of his Realm and train them for a year by fully brainwashing them into loyal soldiers before releasing them back to their homes.

And these loyal soldiers would gradually infiltrate the ranks of their Realm and destroy it from within.

But, once he began to crack down on it, he came across frightening info. It was the fact that his wife, Carlina was also a member of this organisation. She was one of those trained by the organisation from a young age and then dispatched to become close with anyone that displayed cultivation talent.

"I…just want everything to end." Forna sighed, staring at the dying figure of his wife, "I'm done."

"Someone grant us salvation!"

"Granted!" Suddenly, a mystical voice resounded as a tiny, ethereal figure hovered above Forna and Carlina, absorbing all their physical and mental injuries before vanishing.

The situation hadn't changed, but Forna felt strength surging from deep within him as he was able to think better once again, with strength this time, having the mental faculty to face everything.

He then stared at the figure of his wife that was fully healed, gently helping her get up as he said, "I'm ready to listen."

"Thank you…" Carlina teared up in response, feeling hope as she said, "It is indeed the truth that I was kidnapped by the organisation when young. It was a horrible time. But, I wasn't brainwashed. I managed to fool them…"

"No, that isn't entirely correct." She shook her head, staring at him as she said, "I would still have done whatever they ordered me to. But, you were the one that changed me. You made me look forward to a life in my home, one that I felt had abandoned me before."

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