"Fate."
Zayen smiled at Fafna's answer. Then, he lifted his head, gazed at the sky, and suddenly said.
Then, he said, "Fafna, have you heard of such a story?"
"Story?"
"There was a monarch who held great power. One day, he received a prophecy from a witch. The prophecy said that he would be killed by a child born under Venus on the night of the third Wednesday and his country would be destroyed.
In order to protect himself and his country, the monarch found all the children born under Venus on the night of the third Wednesday and destroyed all of them.
But one of the survivors luckily escaped the massacre. He grew up with hatred for the monarch and became a valiant warrior.
In the end, the warrior joined the rebellion against the empire's rule, overthrew the country, and killed the monarch with his own hands. Just as the prophecy said. "
Jenn paused for a moment before continuing.
"But the root of everything lies in the prophecy. If the monarch didn't listen to the prophecy, he wouldn't have killed so many children. Our protagonist wouldn't have been hunted down, and he wouldn't have grown up with hatred for the monarch. He would have become an ordinary person.
And this way, the monarch and his country would be safe and sound … Of course, the monarch might scoff at this. But just as fate has said, a child born under certain conditions might destroy his country and kill the monarch for various reasons.
This might not necessarily be revenge. It might even be love and kinship … So, which do you think it is? "
"This …"
Facing Zayen's question, Fafna hesitated for a moment. But before she could answer, Zayen continued.
"Of course, we have no way of knowing the conclusion of all this because when that monarch made his choice, his ending was already decided … There are no ifs in the world and it's impossible to start over again. So to us, the future is certain and all we can do is to do our best to pretend that we don't know the ending — because we really don't know."
"…"
After hearing Zayen's words, Fafna fell into silence. After a long while, she finally spoke softly.
"Thank you for your consolation, Sir Overlord.
Just as you said, perhaps this is my fate. If I take the initiative to activate the slate here, I will definitely die because of it.
But if I choose to escape, perhaps I will also lose my life due to all sorts of accidents. The Fate Slate may or may not be activated, and it may even fail because of my escape. I don't know which ending will bring better results. But I think I can at least make a choice. "
"Everyone can make a choice."
Jenn raised his right hand. Shortly after, magical radiance gathered on Jenn's palm.
"Me too."
Having said that, Zayen suddenly raised his right hand and pressed down forcefully.
Following Zayen's action, the red magical mist instantly erupted and spread out with Zayen as the center. Then, the thick mist rolled and condensed, quickly turning into squeaky goblins.
Shortly after, the dense mist rolled and coalesced into Goblins that screeched in excitement.
Looking at the goblins in front of him, the corners of Zayen's mouth curled up into a smile. Then, he raised his hand and waved forward without hesitation.
"Begin. This region shall become the battlefield!"
"Kakaka!"
Following Zayen's order, hundreds of goblins instantly let out excited cries. They began to spread out in all directions, and quickly occupied every inch of the land.
Under the bright sunlight, the Goblins leaped and trampled on the ground. After a few moments, along with a buzzing sound, a scarlet slate emerged and disappeared under the cover of soil and plants. At first glance, it seemed as though nothing was there and everything was the same as before.
But only Jenn knew that everything before him was no longer the same.
On the system screen, the red color belonging to his side gradually expanded like a virus.
Looking at this scene, Zayen nodded in satisfaction. Then, he turned his head and looked at the only remaining platform in front of him. This was once the highest place in this country, but now, all that was left of it was an insignificant mark.
But … Zayen obviously did not expect to rely on these broken walls to withstand the attack from the gods, saints, and their army.
He had his own ways.
[Detected Underground Territory. Please choose to build]
Looking at the buildings listed in front of him, Zayen raised his hand without hesitation and tapped lightly on a tower. Soon, another line of prompt appeared in front of Zayen.
[Use 30000 resources to build the Mage Tower. Confirm?]
"Confirm."
Looking at the prompt in front of him, Zayen nodded, reached out his hand, and pressed the confirm button.
At the next moment, the ground trembled.
The dilapidated ground began to tremble. The thick layer of soil shattered and scattered, revealing a smooth, flat floor. Shortly after, an enormous tower that was dozens of meters tall spun and drilled out of the soil like a drill head that soared into the sky.
Gorgeous and mysterious patterns made of flowing gold and silver rims could be seen on the glittering tower.
Pieces of prismatic crystals unfurled and slowly rotated around the tower like guards.
Magical radiance emanated from within, connecting and enveloping the entire tower, forming an indestructible defense.
A series of square stone slabs floated and scattered, forming a flight of stairs that led to the top of the sky.
At the top of the tower, a scarlet sun emerged from within, its dazzling radiance enfolding the vast forest in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the azure sky darkened. Rolling clouds swarmed in and enfolded the land instantly. In an instant, the entire world seemed to have fallen into darkness.
And the only source of light was this tower.
"Good."
Gazing at the Mage Tower, Jenn nodded in satisfaction. Then, he tapped on the list of buildings.
To Jenn, this was only the beginning and the busiest part was yet to come.