‎The hall became quiet after Eveline tried to confront Rasmus in front of everyone. Lenin and Novia were the only ones that weren’t surprised by it because they knew that Rasmus and the people that followed him weren’t in the same framework as them. Those people didn’t use morality to work on their goals, they all chose effectivity and practicality to achieve them.

‎”If that shocked you, believing that it’s not right, maybe I should make you understand,” Rasmus said as he stood up and fixed his suit. “Lady Nior, what’s that on your waist?” He pointed at the sword on Nior’s hip.

‎”This is a sword, Count,” Nior looked down and tightly gripped on the handle.

‎”What’s a sword?” Rasmus asked again, leaning his hands against the table.

‎”It’s a weapon, Count,” Nior answered again, confused as to why Rasmus asked those questions.

‎”And a weapon is a what?” Rasmus raised his brows, staring at Nior with a straight and unreadable expression.

‎”It’s a tool…” Nior answered, slowly getting to understand what Rasmus was trying to say.

‎”Yes, and how do you treat your sword if I may ask?” Rasmus smiled softly at Nior.

‎”I treat it carefully. I keep it sharp, I keep it in the best condition all the time. I treat it like it’s my own body. By treating my sword carefully, I know that it will protect me and help me when the time comes,” Nior answered, not wanting to lie just to invalidate Rasmus’ points.

‎”So, is it wrong to call someone a tool when they treat them just like how you treat your sword?” Rasmus asked with his arms crossed. “You depend on each other, not out of trust, not out of loyalty. Yet, it feels right?” He added.

‎”Yes,” Nior answered, nodding her head.

‎Everyone wanted to argue, but they all held their tongues back. Everyone took a moment to think, to try a valid argument against Rasmus, and yet the more they prepared their arguments in their heads, the more they agreed with him when they put aside their morality.

‎”I have said this many times, I would argue, but I believe we are in the wrong time and place for that kind of luxury. There are people here who aren’t interested in this and they prefer to discuss how to deal with the situation we are in,” Rasmus said as he looked at Lazarus, giving him a nod, knowing that Lazarus wasn’t interested in this at all.

‎Lazarus responded with a nod, showing a little bit of gratification for stopping this pointless argument. When they saw Lazarus’ response, they all decided to brush away their thoughts and focus on the issue in front of them.

‎Rasmus sat down and looked at Lenin, nodding his head, telling her that he was done making a scene. Lenin nodded and continued the discussion from where they had left off.

‎Lenin reported every preparation to defend the Holy Nation from the demon army. She personally thanked Carrion and Erlina who had provided the Mana stones. It was Erlina and Carrion’s objective in the first place the moment they arrived at Central Neva, the plan that Rasmus suggested a long time ago.

‎Rasmus began to speak up as well about his speculation on Satan’s plan. He revealed that the Holy Nation would be the last nation they would invade. He also revealed that the cult of the Zevrathi would take refuge here as well, and that was Satan’s plan all along. It was as he said that the demons were hunting the Zevrathi and their only lead was in the hands of the cultists.

‎”Why don’t you tell them the truth, Lord Julius? I believe you owe me that for scheming to make the Blackheart family disappear from this world, just because my father was so close to revealing that dark secret your family was hiding,” Rasmus stared into Julius’ eyes with a stoic and cold expression.

‎Julius stared at Rasmus and that was when it struck him when Rasmus said that he was a tool to Rasmus. He realized that this was the moment where Rasmus wanted him to be, and to be used by Rasmus. He knew that there was no point in hiding it anymore either, so he began to explain the truth, the whole truth that his family, the Suncrown family hid from the world.

‎At that moment, everyone found out the dark truth behind everything. Julius revealed the truth behind the Great Era, and that the cultists had infiltrated major families in Central Neva and even in other continents. He also revealed the cultists agenda and schemes that involved the Blackheart family, the Angelis family, Serena’s family, and other events that the world was unaware of.

‎Aurelia, Isador, Monica, Alexander, and Maximilian, the four of them were shocked deeply. The others, they were in disbelief that the truth was worse than they had expected that even the Angelis family who was involved in this was being played by the Suncrown family and the cult.

‎”I can be heartless, I can be harsh, I can be cold toward everyone. I don’t dwell on emotions, I don’t look back at the past for what everyone and even the world had done to me. However, if I do, do you think I would be sitting here in front of all of you? If I’m like any of you here, who dwells with emotion and ego, I would be on the other side, willingly to do anything to watch your heads roll on the ground. I have all the right to watch this world burn and wish for it,” Rasmus said with a cold expression. “Fortunately I’m not. I don’t care if the world burns, but I know for sure I don’t want this world to be in the hands of those demons,” he pointed out.

‎

‎”What you’re trying to say is that if you cared even a little, the world should have burn by now, young man?” Lazarus asked, staring Rasmus in the eyes.

Rasmus didn’t expect Lazarus to involve himself in this conversation. He stared at Lazarus, and he had seen that kind of gaze before, someone who had lived long enough that everything seemed clear no matter how hard people tried to hide it.

“Yes, thank you for making it simple for everyone to understand,” Rasmus nodded.

“All of you despise this young man for what he has done and for who he is. However, after listening to what Lord Julius had said, some of you were the ones who created this man to be who he was. You despised him, and yet you were the one who made him that way. Is this what the world down here truly is? To hate a man and blindly look away the reason why the man is like that?” Lazarus asked with his brows raised, staring at Julius, Lenin, and everyone else that weren’t from the North.

Rasmus stared at Lazarus with a stoic and unreadable expression, not even showing a shred of reaction. On the other hand, Lenin, Arandil, Julius, Thalior, Xena, and Uriel who had shown their dislike toward Rasmus.

“However, young man…” Lazarus turned his head to look at Rasmus. “Are you trying to play God here? To stir people toward the direction you want them to be? I have heard enough that everyone here believes that you’re the one who’s controlling the board while everyone else is your pawn. After listening enough from your words, I can see why they think so, and I have to admit that you’re trying to do so,” he asked with a calm expression.

Rasmus smiled as he shook his head, not surprised and appeared to be disappointed that everyone couldn’t see the world as he looked at it.

“No, I’m just a cog in the wheel, just like everyone in here,” Rasmus answered, tapping his finger on the table. “We are cogs with the same size, the same purpose, and the same function. We are all equal, however, some of them dwell on emotions and egos that it makes their cogs stop moving because they don’t want to follow others. Some of them dwell on their beliefs and ideologies, making their cogs move faster than others. What will happen to the wheel if the cogs aren’t moving in sync? It breaks, it fails, it destroying itself,” he explained as he stared into Lazarus eyes with a cold gaze.

“Me? I’m just a cog who never slows down, never moves faster than it should be. No matter how hard they tried to rebel against their function, they would achieve nothing. The cogs are made with such precision, consistency, practicality, and efficiency, and that’s who I am, the one who forces others to either keep up with my pace or to slow down their pace to function. They can hate me and despise me, but in the end, they can’t disagree with me because that’s illogical,” Rasmus explained as he stared at everyone at the table.

“For your question, elder. Am I playing God? No, I’m the only one who’s not broken in the system,” Rasmus answered, staring into Lazarus’ eyes.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep