Chapter 163: True Motive
He took a slow sip from his glass, then reached forward, grabbing the whole bottle to fill the second goblet on the table. He slid it across toward Uhtred.
"Drink," the Jotuniel said calmly. "It is far better than anything your primitive world has ever produced."
Despite the polite gesture, a natural, undeniable layer of superiority laced his words. It wasn’t particularly arrogance, it was simply the ingrained attitude of someone who belonged to a species that had traveled and seen the many sights of worlds across the multiverse for decades.
Uhtred looked at the blue wine. A faint, unfamiliar essence swirled within the liquid, completely unlike anything he had ever come across. It was clearly a high-tier, expensive drink meant to nourish high-level cultivators as much as satisfy their taste.
He still didn’t touch the glass, though. He wasn’t here to share drinks. In fact, he wasn’t here of his own will at all.
"What do you want?" Uhtred asked, skipping any attempt at pleasantries. "You know what I read in that chat. You know what he ordered you to do. So let’s skip the small talk. Why am I sitting here alive? Are you trying to betray your master?"
The room went completely silent for a beat.
The Jotuniel set his glass down on the table. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and clasped his long, dark blue fingers together.
"Yes," the Jotuniel said plainly. "I am betraying my master."
He paused.
"Or more accurately, I am betraying the masters of my fathers. I am damning my species to a bitter, terrible end. The Nether empire will hunt them. They will be slaughtered, tortured, and erased from existence... but at least, then, they will be free again."
His voice trembled with emotion. The calm superiority he had held a second prior cracked open, revealing a well of deep hatred and pain. He leaned back against the couch, resting his arm along the frame as he stared at the ceiling.
"Tell me, Uhtred... who is your sponsor—?" he caught himself, chuckling at his error. "Ah, my mistake. I forgot. The System doesn’t allow ascenders to take sponsors until they reach Level 50. You can only make non-binding promises for now."
He looked back at Uhtred. "So, who have you promised yourself to?"
Uhtred leaned back against his seat, shrugging his shoulders. "Nobody. Why would I sign myself away to anyone?"
The Jotuniel stared at him for a second, then suddenly burst into loud, ringing laughter.
"Listen to you!" he laughed, the sound tinged with manic disbelief. "Even a human from a backwater integration world understands the trap! How could the great leaders of my people have been so blind? How could they have sold our entire race for such a cheap, pathetic promise of security?!"
His laughter cut off instantly, morphing into bone-deep fury. His golden eyes flared brighter, and the veins along his neck bulged as raw anger vibrated through his body, and with it an uncontrolled burst of his aura.
Tears of pure rage even welled at the edge of his eyes before he forcefully choked the emotion back down.
Uhtred watched the sudden outburst with a slight raise of his eyebrow.
Either this Jotuniel was an Oscar-worthy actor, or his species possessed extreme emotional swings. This couldn’t even be described as being bipolar. The thickness and fluidity of the emotion, from nostalgia to bitter grief to explosive wrath within five seconds, felt far too raw to be fake.
The Jotuniels are an emotionally unstable race, Uhtred noted mentally, keeping the information for when it’d be useful.
The Jotuniel otherworlder took a deep breath, smoothing down his dark tunic as he regained his composure. He offered a small, quiet laugh, brushing a hand over his face.
"It is good that you haven’t promised yourself to a sponsor," he said, his tone becoming steady again. "In fact, it is perfect. It makes my sacrifice worth the cost."
He leaned forward once more, resting his forearms on his knees, his golden eyes locking onto Uhtred with intensity.
"You and I can build something here, Uhtred. I am sure you have already deduced my true intentions. I have no intention of leaving this planet. This trial quest has granted me, my closest officers, and my trusted elites the means to change our fate. To carry the Jotuniel bloodline forward."
He gestured broadly to the room around them.
"The System designed this trial to force you and I into conflict, Uhtred. Jotuniels and Humans. But it doesn’t have to be so. You have faced me in the woods. You know the truth. I am leagues above your current level. I could end your life right now without breaking a sweat. You are sitting unarmed inside my stronghold. Yet, I haven’t harmed you in any way..."
"This is simply because I want peace. I want us to come to an... amicable arrangement."
Uhtred remained silent, listening without interrupting.
"In the entire history of the multiverse, native populations never win this trial," the Jotuniel continued. "The System places otherworlder forces on your worlds as an immovable hurdle, a permanent pressure to force your species to keep striving even after you return to your main continents..."
"We are meant to occupy this territory. To be your means to the greater multiverse... if you choose to allow us..."
The expression on Uhtred’s face didn’t change in the slightest. However, internally, he noted another fact. It would seem down to the last detail, integration worlds usually faced the exact same things. Even to the point of a separate continent for the first world trials, and the segregation of "main continents."
He filed that away and continued listening to the Jotuniel speak. But as more words came out of his mouth, the more Uhtred’s demeanor began to sour.
"So, let me get this straight," he cut the Jotuniel off abruptly. "What you’re offering me right now... is to become the same kind of lapdog that you’re cursing your fathers for becoming?"
The Jotuniel’s warm smile instantly froze.
"You call it a partnership," Uhtred continued, standing up slowly from the couch and looking down at the otherworlder. "But this is just colonization. You want to hide your pathetic remnant on our planet. You want to squat here in Australia, leech off our world’s integration resources, and take advantage of our native buffer period while offering us crumbs from your table. Is that about right?"
The otherworlder’s face went completely rigid. The warmth vanished entirely, replaced by a cold, dangerous stillness as he fought to suppress another violent wave of emotion.
Uhtred didn’t care about his temper. He kept his gaze locked onto his pale gold eyes, completely unbothered by the vast level gap between them.
"I might not know much about the grand multiverse yet," Uhtred said, his tone laced with disdain. "I’m just a native who hasn’t even left his home planet. But I can spot a terrible deal from a mile away..."
"Earth isn’t buying what you’re selling."
"You and your people can sit in this city for as long as you want. We don’t care. You’re just temporary squatters. It might take a year, maybe even two... though I doubt I’ll need that long..." Uhtred grinned wickedly. "But we’ll be here to drive you right back to where you came from."
"How’s that sound for a deal?"