Rise of The Anti God

After a few hours of long training at a stretch, Damien had to insist on making Elor go back to the cottage and rest.

Otherwise, this old man seemed so zealous to train him and didn't even realize how tired he was getting.

Elor was no longer a cultivator and was just an old man with ailments any ordinary old man could have. So Damien couldn't risk anything bad happening to him, especially when Reva had finally reunited with her grandfather for the first time.

Elor was teleported to his cottage through one of the teleportation circles and was surprised to see Irene sitting up on the bed, her expression blank.

"Irene…" Elor mumbled softly as he began to walk closer to her slowly and continued, "...Are you…okay now? You were very hurt when you came here. I almost had my heart collapse thinking that I might lose you forever…" Saying so, Elor slowly sat down beside her while wondering what she was thinking about to look so dazed.

Even though on the outside, her injuries seemed to have healed completely, her face was still a bit pale, and Elor didn't need to have cultivation to see that her internal injuries weren't completely healed yet.

He also deduced that her ethereal energy must not be at full capacity, especially after exhausting itself in breaking down a powerful medicinal pill to heal her body. So at the moment, she wouldn't even be able to use a wisp of her ethereal energy nor her powerful senses.

Seeing her still being silent, Elor took a deep breath and said gently, "Irene…please…you should rest some more. Damien and I can handle things here. Otherwise, Reva will get worried if you don't make a full—"

"I am a sinner, Elor…I…" Irene began to mumble in a fragile voice as her eyes began to tear up. Even when her daughter died, she didn't cry because she wanted to appear strong before Reva, but now she couldn't hold back anymore as all the painful memories flashed in her mind coupled with her guilt and resentment.

"What are you talking about, Irene? You never—"

"I sinned against you…against Reva…against my people and most of all…my own daughter…" Irene said weakly as she slowly looked at Elor, feeling even more sad and guilty seeing his pallid face.

She was unable to look at his eyes and looked away as she continued, "I didn't believe your words all those years ago, and because of that, you ended up like this…Making me unworthy to be your wife. After that, I forced my own daughter to marry our enemy with the excuse of saving our people when in reality, nobody got saved, and my daughter died a miserable death because of me, and I hurt Reva in the process as well. At this point, I was already unworthy of being a mother or a grandmother. And if that was not enough, I was slowly leading my people to their deaths all these years by obeying each and every order of that vile and unholy god. With that, I was unworthy of being a leader to my people. Now…I don't even know why I am still alive. Every one of you would be better off with me dead. I destroyed all of your lives."

Outside the room, Reva was standing beside the wall, silently listening to Irene's words as tears rolled down her rosy cheeks. Still, she didn't make the slightest sound, no matter how overwhelming the emotions inside her were.

"Stop it, Irene! This isn't like you. You don't wallow in self-pity for things you aren't to blame for, nor do you talk about dying when Reva and Damien, along with our people, risked their lives to save you. Are you trying to insult their efforts?" Elor strongly said as he cupped her hand with both his hands.

He just couldn't bear seeing one of the strongest people he knew, who was also his wife, be in such a pitiful state. But he could understand her pain.

"I…I really don't know, Elor…I truly don't…" Irene said with her head drooped. She was feeling even more pain by thinking about the sheer number of Zirians that died recently because of Yohr's failsafe that self-destructed the other Forsaken bases.

Elor began to gently caress her hand as he softly said, "I never had and never will blame you for not believing me, especially when I spoke against your faith or the faith of our people that had stood rock solid for generations. Nobody in their right mind would believe me without any solid proof, and that can even include my own wife, especially when all of you believed in a god…a divine being…something which we mortals worship and pray to. But despite speaking against your beliefs, you still risked your own life by pleading mercy for me before the very god you used to worship. You probably even knew that you might lose his favor by pleading mercy or something worse. Yet you still did it because…you love me. And only today do I realize that I am grateful to you for being alive. Otherwise, I would have never lived to see the day where I meet my granddaughter or the young man who paved a path of hope for us."

Irene slightly turned her head towards Elor, hearing his words while trying to calm down her emotions.

"As for our daughter, don't you remember the day when she came here and told us that she wanted to save our people and us by doing her part? Even if you brought her up as a soldier to save our people, she was the one who chose to do it and only because that bastard Yohr convinced her as well. You never forced her to do anything. But it was indeed our fault that we were too blind and stupid to stop her from destroying her own life or to bring her up in a different environment instead of training her to undertake dangerous missions. So that is on me as well and my burden to carry as well. Not only yours. We both weren't the parents she deserved. But…we still have our granddaughter…we can make sure our daughter's soul can rest in peace by at least doing right by her. I am sure you still have the chance. She doesn't hate you. She only has boundless love for you. Otherwise, why would she desperately try to save your life?"

Irene pressed her lips together as she thought about Reva and couldn't help but feel even more guilty thinking about her.

"I know how much you care about Reva. Otherwise, would you be so protective of her in the Forsaken? You were constantly monitoring her each and every move to make sure nothing bad happened to her as our daughter. You were already prepared to not make the same mistakes. As for our people, they believed in Yohr too, just like you. And even if you were our leader, there is no way you or anybody else can see through a god's evil machinations. We are just mere mortals who got played like a fiddle by a god. It is not something we could have done anything about unless…it was someone like that amazing young man named Damien."

Irene softly nodded as she wiped her eyes and suddenly hugged Elor as she sobbed, "I am sorry, Elor…No matter how you put it, I still wronged you by not being a dutiful wife…You were supposed to be my god, yet I didn't treat you like that…I won't ask for your forgiveness since I don't deserve it, but I promise to stay by your side till my last breath…"