Chapter 247: The Cruel Reality of Lifespan
Rhodes walked over to Flamme and crouched down beside her.
She did not look at him. Her gaze was vacant, fixed on the ground scorched black by the aftershocks of her own magic. Tears slid silently from the corners of her eyes, mixing with the dirt and ash.
She had seen it clearly. Master Serie's relaxed, leisurely demeanor.
They had both unleashed spells of Forbidden caliber. Yet, she was paralyzed, unable to move a muscle, while Serie remained completely unaffected.
So the gap... was truly this wide.
"Flamme," Rhodes said, lowering his voice. There was a note of finality in his tone.
Flamme's body trembled slightly, but she did not look up.
"Raise your head. Look at me." Rhodes's command brokered no refusal.
With great difficulty, Flamme lifted her neck, her eyes meeting his.
There was no disgust or impatience in his gaze. Only a clear, insurmountable boundary.
"Rhodes, I..."
"You did well, Flamme." Rhodes spoke, his first words catching her off guard. "Your talent, and that immature yet brilliant Fusion Magic you displayed today—both exceeded my expectations."
His affirmation sparked a faint glimmer of hope in Flamme's heart. But his next words ruthlessly crushed that hope into dust.
"However, feelings cannot be traded for with talent or power. Nor can they be won through battle." His gaze remained calm, but it was cold. "I cannot respond to your feelings. Not in the past, not now, and not in the future."
The air seemed to solidify.
The light in Flamme's eyes dimmed rapidly, replaced by a stubborn, unwilling despair.
She suddenly grabbed Rhodes's hand, her fingertips trembling violently with emotion.
"Why!?" Her voice was hoarse, thick with tears. "Is it because I am not good enough? Is it because I am not strong enough? Or is it because—because of Master Serie!?"
She practically screamed the name with the last of her strength.
Rhodes looked at her silently, letting her grip his hand.
Countless complicated emotions flashed through his eyes before finally settling into a very quiet sigh.
He seemed to struggle. There were things he hadn't wanted to say, but in this moment, perhaps only the cruelest truth could sever this obsession.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
"Because of time, Flamme." Rhodes was forced to speak the brutal truth. "Because the time I possess, and the time you possess, are different."
Flamme froze, unable to comprehend immediately.
Rhodes looked at her and spoke slowly. "I am a man from a thousand years ago. My life has long since transcended the limits of humanity. A hundred years, a thousand years, perhaps even longer—to me, that is merely a segment of a long existence. But you..."
His gaze fell on her young face, written all over with stubbornness.
"You are human. You possess a life that is brilliant, but short."
"I am not willing..." He paused, as if the words weighed a thousand pounds. "I am not willing, a hundred years from now, to stand as your lover and bid you farewell with my own hands. To carve your face into my memory and then walk the endless years that follow alone. That weight... I cannot bear it. And I do not wish to bear it."
Flamme's pupils contracted. She finally understood what Rhodes had been avoiding all this time.
It wasn't that she wasn't good enough. It wasn't Serie. It was the insurmountable chasm of lifespan that lay between them.
"I don't care!" she practically shrieked in rebuttal, tears streaming down her face. "Even if it's only a hundred years! Even if it's only a few decades! As long as I can be with you, I don't care about anything else! As long as I have had you, I will—I will—"
"And what about after those hundred years!?" Rhodes cut her off, his voice rising sharply. "After a hundred years, when you have turned to dust, what of me? Do you expect me to carry that fleeting joy and eternal loss, to face the endless time ahead without you, a timeline with no end in sight?"
He stared her down, every word landing like a judgment. "Flamme, is your love truly so selfish? To care only for yourself, and leave the endless pain and longing to me? Is that what you want?"
Flamme was struck dumb. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Rhodes's words were like a cold rasp, grinding away her unrealistic romantic fantasies bit by bit, exposing the bloody reality underneath.
After a long time, she lowered her head. Her voice was so faint it was almost inaudible, filled with endless bitterness. "By that time... I will be gone. I won't... I won't be an obstacle between you and Master Serie anymore..."
"Ridiculous!"
Rhodes finally couldn't hold back. He curled his finger and, with the force of someone disappointed by their student's stupidity, flicked her hard on the forehead.
Thwack.
"Oww!!!"
Flamme winced, covering her forehead as she looked at him with tear-filled eyes.
"What do you think feelings are? A relay race?" Rhodes laughed in anger, though there was no mirth in his eyes. "Do you think love is something where you run the first leg and then hand the baton to the next person to continue? Flamme, feelings don't work like that! They aren't transferrable assets!"
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions. "My relationship with Serie is a separate matter entirely. And even without her, I still could not respond to you."
"I have made the reason very clear. In this long life, to pull someone along for a brief journey only to be left with an eternal void... that is something I cannot do."
Seeing Flamme's face turn completely ashen, his heart finally softened.
He reached out and gently placed his hand on the top of her head, his tone softening. "Flamme. Your magic, your future—they hold infinite possibilities."
"Do not waste everything on your own obsession. Try to transform this feeling into strength for your path in magic. Can you do that?"
"Let me see you stand at the pinnacle of magic. That... would perhaps be a better answer than any romantic response."
Flamme stared at him blankly, feeling the warmth from his hand. The surging despair in her heart seemed to slowly recede, leaving behind an emotional wreckage.
She was silent for a long, long time.
Finally, she nodded—extremely slowly.
She knew this was perhaps the only reason that could allow her to temporarily suppress the turbulent emotions in her heart.
At least, she could still chase his back. As an apprentice.
Having comforted Flamme, Rhodes stood up. His gaze turned to Serie, who had been standing quietly nearby, observing him and Flamme.
He walked over.
Serie watched him approach. There was no guilt or fear in her eyes; instead, a trace of battle lust lingered, as if she were still savoring the aftertaste of that unfinished magical duel.
Rhodes stopped in front of her, his brow furrowed. "Serie, you were too impulsive just now."
Serie tilted her head slightly, seemingly puzzled. "Impulsive? She challenged, and I responded. Is that not normal?"
"But that was not a life-or-death struggle!" Rhodes's tone hardened. "She used an unstable Forbidden Spell. Instead of stopping her, you used magic of the same scale! If I hadn't stopped it in time, what would the consequences have been? You nearly killed her!"
Serie was silent for a moment. Her gaze swept over Flamme, who was still limp on the ground in the distance.
"She held nothing back," Serie said flatly. "Naturally, I had to use my full strength. Besides, only in this way could she understand the gap between us."
~~~
Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter