Seed of Titan-Chapter 114: A Forced Departure

Nero sighed. "This is why I never wanted to meet you again, Zar. Even after more than forty years, you’re still hung up on our severance. If only you had let go of the past, the others wouldn’t have targeted you."

"Let go? How could I!? You bastards killed my master!"

Zar’s killing intent surged once more as a heavy suppression filled the air, pressing down on Drai like an invisible weight.

’Three minutes left on my cooldown...’ Drai thought, gritting his teeth. ’I hope Zar can handle this—I’m completely useless right now.’

Meanwhile, Nero stood unfazed, seemingly indifferent to Zar’s wrath.

"Orwyn brought it upon himself," Nero said. "He tried to stop us from leaving. We only fought back. But I’ll admit, he was far weaker than I expected. And sure, we ganged up on him, but we never intended to kill him."

Zar’s hand trembled in fury. "You ungrateful bastard! Have you forgotten that Master Orwyn pulled you out of the slums, fed you, taught you, and gave you a future!? His guidance is the main reason we obtained our great classes! Where is your gratitude, Adrian!?"

Nero sighed again. "First of all, it’s Nero now. So stop clinging to a name I abandoned decades ago. Second, like I said, we didn’t mean to kill Orwyn at all. He and the others tried to lock us up the moment we told them we were leaving. So, we had no choice but to fight back and incapacitate him, but we didn’t expect him to end up dying. We were quite surprised when we heard about his death a couple of days after we had settled down. But yes, I think we did kill a few others who stood in our way."

Nero’s words slightly stunned Zar. There had been a general consensus among his circle that Nero and the others had cold-bloodedly slaughtered their leader and friends, but Nero’s statement suggested otherwise.

But Zar wasn’t going to spare his foe just because of this. His grudge was too deep to let bygones be bygones, and the Crimson Order was currently also after his own life. Regardless of whatever had happened in the past, their two groups were now irreconcilable.

Therefore, Zar eventually snorted and replied, "I don’t care what you call yourself—you’ll always be the traitor Adrian to me. And it doesn’t matter what your excuse is. The fact remains that you guys betrayed us all by abandoning our founder’s ideals. And since your people dared to attack my academy and jeopardize my students and colleagues, the Verdant Order will definitely return the favor and storm your bases."

"You can try," Nero responded curtly.

"Oh, I certainly will—but only after I avenge my master." Zar said, flicking his wrist.

However, the ethereal blade he meant to conjure to strike Nero’s skull failed to materialize. Instead, a faint purple glow flickered around him.

A tiny smirk appeared on Nero’s lips as he asked, "What was that, Zar? Were you trying to attack me?"

Zar ignored the taunt and flicked his wrist repeatedly. But to his dismay, each of his attacks only managed to trigger the purple glow again.

Standing behind Zar, Drai realized the tide was turning for the worse as he witnessed Zar’s futile attempts.

Zar finally ceased his attempts. His gaze shifted to the large purple jewel on Nero’s staff.

"I underestimated you. It seems you came well-prepared," he remarked coldly.

"Well, you are one of our archenemies, so why wouldn’t I be?" Nero replied. He then tapped his fingers on the large purple gem and said, "I don’t know how you’re able to bypass the spell restriction, but this beauty here is the extremely rare ’stellarite’. Ever heard of it? This thing stabilizes the space around me, effectively nullifying any spatial distortions, including your spells."

Hearing this, Drai’s stomach sank. ’No wonder Zar’s attacks were useless. Why are all these gems so ridiculously overpowered?’

Meanwhile, Zar remained silent for a moment before flicking his wrist once more.

Seeing this, Nero shook his head. He wondered if his old friend had gone senile since he seemed to fail comprehending his words, attacking in vain.

But instead of triggering a purple flicker, this time Zar’s cast successfully conjured an ethereal blade. However, it hadn’t harmed Nero but was floating idly near his feet.

Nero raised an amused brow. "Hm? Are you hoping that I’ll accidentally touch this? It looks like you still don’t understand how stellarite works, Zar."

Without hesitation, he immediately kicked the blurry blade, dissipating it with ease in a brief purple flash.

"See? It’s useless. Now, show me what more tricks you have up your sleeve," Nero said with a condescending smirk.

"Hmm... Stellarite must be extremely rare and expensive," Zar suddenly mentioned.

Zar’s unexpected remark baffled Nero slightly.

"Why are you asking? Are you thinking of getting one yourself?" he asked with a mocking tone.

Zar shook his head and replied, "No. I’m just confirming my conjecture. If stellarite were readily available in the market, I should’ve been familiar with it. And since that huge piece seems to only cover your own body, I can safely assume that its price is astronomical."

Nero furrowed his brows. "I don’t get why you’re so interested in this, old man. Are you planning on becoming a supplier or what? Let me tell you then, stellarite doesn’t originate from Gaia, so it’s impossible to reliably procure it." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"That’s even better. Now I don’t have to worry about your lackeys coming after me in droves while carrying this bothersome gem," Zar replied, his lips curling into a smirk.

Then, he turned to Drai and whispered, "Survive and get stronger."

"Huh?" Drai blinked in confusion. But before he could ask Zar for an explanation, the old man suddenly shoved him backward.

Drai’s eyes widened in bewilderment as he realized that he was stumbling into a portal. And right after Drai fully passed through to the other side, the portal began collapsing rapidly.

Through the portal’s narrow opening, Drai saw Zar standing there, smiling at him.

Drai’s heart pounded. "Rector Zar!" he shouted, reaching out instinctively.

Amidst the blinding orange light and Nero’s furious scream, Zar’s parting words resounded.

"Good luck, Drai."

A moment later, the portal finally closed.