Although Brando could not guess the answer, he at least understood that there would be a moment when the answer would be revealed to him.
Knowing this, he could wait patiently for the queen to make her move. But it turned out that she did not let him wait for too long.
And that moment, it seemed to be now —
There was a moment of silence in the hall of eternal death. The chanting of the acolytes seemed to have become louder. For a moment, there seemed to be a voice in the void that responded to the chanting. That voice rumbled like thunder.
The hall roared. Brando thought it was an illusion at first, but then the seventeen pillars began to tremble. Some of the believers lost their balance and fell to the ground. He looked up and saw dust falling from the dome of the hall.
But in such a situation, no one screamed and ran away. The acolytes only chanted louder, as if they wanted to suppress the thunderous sound.
The tremor only lasted for a few seconds, and then it calmed down again.
"Earthquake?"
Brendel was stunned. He looked at Her Majesty the Queen and Archbishop Philip not far away, but both of them looked indifferent, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
He frowned.
The queen of Madara noticed the look on Brando's face. She was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Do you remember what I said when I handed you the mercury staff on the battlefield of Fenhotos?"
This sentence startled Brando, and he immediately threw the strange phenomenon to the back of his mind. He quickly looked up at Philip, and a little further away in the hall, there were a few undead lords whispering to each other, and there were two high-ranking priests beside them.
Although the queen's voice was not loud, it was not soft either. In Brando's opinion, many people in the hall should have heard this sentence.
But Madara's face did not reveal too much of an unexpected expression. She paid attention to Brendel's expression, as though she saw through his thoughts, and explained plainly: "Don't worry, everyone here has the right to know what I'm about to say. They are all my trusted aides, and Archbishop Philip is also a trustworthy person."
Brendel noticed that the old man's expression did not change. It was obvious that he already knew about this secret. He then looked at the others. Sure enough, other than him and Delphine, everyone looked as if they were already prepared.
Brendel furrowed his brows and wondered what she was trying to do.
With this thought in mind, he replied carefully, "I wonder which sentence Your Majesty is referring to?"
The queen of Madara immediately answered, "The sentence I said when I handed the mercury staff to you. I asked you at that time, do you understand what the responsibility it represents? Do you remember how you answered me?"
Brando shook his head. He did not remember this kind of thing. At that time, he was completely immersed in controlling the five sacred swords and accepting the authority given to him by Bai Kai. He only vaguely remembered that the queen said something related to 'responsibility', but at that time, he did not take it to heart.
"You said the same thing to me back then, Count." The Supreme of the Undead said, "You shook your head at me, but it doesn't matter. I still gave you the scepter that represents the supreme power. Because no matter whether you understand it or not, since you have made a choice, you must bear this responsibility —"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you understand what the mercury staff represents?" The queen of Madara asked.
"Are you talking about the symbolic meaning of the staff in the kingdom of the dead moon, Your Majesty?"
The Queen shook her head. "That's not the most important thing. You have five of the Seven Sacred Swords. You should understand what kind of path this is. It's full of thorns and is not a smooth path. Originally, I could bear all of this for you, but you refused. From the moment you chose to walk the path of ascending to the throne, its responsibility followed you like a shadow."
"Ascending to the throne?" Brando frowned. "What are you trying to say, Your Majesty?"
"Didn't anyone tell you that in every era, Wohnde has a king? In our era, the sages divided it into four. That is why the world is in chaos. But it doesn't matter. The crown has always been there. After Odin, it is waiting for the next successor, a person who can lead everyone and change the fate of the whole world. You should know who I am talking about, right?"
Brando was silent. It was not the first time he heard of such a thing. Miss Tata, the Dragon Queen, and Haku had all said similar things to him. He did have the blessing of the five sacred swords, but what he wanted to do was to save the Roman people. If it was like what Lute said, that gathering the seven keys to open the door was an opportunity, then he would seize it at all costs.
But he had never thought of inheriting Odin's path and changing the fate of the whole world.
It was not that he belittled himself, but he believed that the opportunity that Martha left for the mortals was definitely not such a choice.
Because no one could control the fate of others.
This era of mortals was born because of this.
Ever since the star fell to the earth, Odin and the four Sages, as well as the many divine citizens of the Truth Symposium, the gods and their followers, as well as the countless successors behind them, countless people had sacrificed and bled, struggling and shouting unyieldingly. The mortal world had staggered forward and reached this point.
But in this era, they had to turn back and let everything go back to the beginning?
No.
Brando silently denied this in his heart. He did not think that this was the right path, just like his sonorous refutation in front of the Silver Queen that day. Because in this era, countless people were fighting for their own fate, for their homes, for their loved ones.
The figures of Freya, Princess Gryphine, Haruz, Carglise, the people of Abies, the young people of the White Lion Guards, the Knight Eco of Lantonilan, and the King of Sherman appeared in front of him. Even in this small kingdom, people were still fighting for a chance to live, even if what they did was not worth mentioning in this magnificent era. Just like the fate of Erouine, a small, remote kingdom, could not move the footsteps of the whole world.
People's eyes were always fixed on the long term, and ignored the short term and precious things. Perhaps it was just like the Queen of Madara in front of him. She only needed one order, and all of Aouine's hard work would come to naught.
And he himself had grown to such a point. He felt the power of the Sage for the first time on the battlefield of Fenhotos, and was now only one step away from the final threshold. Just like the Queen could crush Erouine, an ant, with a flip of her hand, and now his power seemed to be able to easily change the fate of Madara.
This was also what he was doing now.
That small kingdom seemed to be no longer able to hold his footsteps and hold his gaze. Everything that he had done in the past to be able to do now seemed to be easily achieved with just a word.
The feeling of controlling the fate of others was indeed fascinating.
But —
This was not what he wanted.
The redemption that Erouine needed was not this, because he deeply understood this point. The future of this ancient kingdom was not based on his words alone. Perhaps he could make Erouine glorious today, but in the distant future, it would once again fall into this cycle. The decay and rise and fall of the kingdom was like an unsolvable loop, going back and forth. Everything that the four Sages had done had already given the mortals an answer, hadn't they?
The lonely Fool had been waiting for such an answer for a thousand years.
But its answer would never be to repeat the past.
Brando's eyes seemed to see Erouine's most glorious era. King Erik was in front of him. He put down his sword and nodded to him, telling him that this was the answer he was looking for.
Erouine was born because of a person's will, but it was also dimmed because of this will. Now, it would not repeat this path.
Wohnde would be the same.
Brando shook his head. At that moment, the answer of the four Sages seemed to have passed by him.
"That may sound beautiful, Your Majesty," he replied, "but that is not the answer I want, and I don't think that is the answer Wohnde wants either."
"Then what is the answer you want?" The Queen of Madara did not seem to have expected his answer. Her eyes flashed slightly, and she asked again.
Brando just shook his head.
"I haven't thought about it yet, Your Majesty, but I think that everyone has the right to decide their own fate, and not rely on the hands of others. Everything that one cherishes should be left to the whims of others."
"Although it sounds beautiful, the reality is very cruel. If the Sages and the people of God all had such thoughts, the mortals might not have been able to wait until this day, and Wohnde would have been destroyed long ago." The Queen of Madara said coldly, "Five of the Seven Holy Swords are in your hands, which means that you almost have the highest authority of the Law of Tiamat. With such power, do you want to avoid responsibility?"
"I've never thought of running away from my responsibilities. I will face Dusk head-on, but not as a savior, just because I'm also a member of Vaunte, so I have interests to fight for it —"
"Besides, I am not only fighting for it." Brando replied quietly, "I will fight for everything that I cherish, even if it will be destroyed in the end. But Wohnde needs this redemption."
"This is my redemption, Your Majesty. The mortals, including you and me, will personally experience this war, because it belongs to each of us — no one is an exception."
"Perhaps one day, we will understand what the opportunity Martha left for us is."
The Queen of Madara maintained a calm expression and looked at him coldly.
"Very good."
She replied.
…
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