Chapter 39: Meeting Michael Again
The system was incredibly arrogant. If anyone deserved second place in arrogance, then no one could ever take first.
The reason was naturally Lucifer. Arrogance bestowed by the most arrogant being was naturally second to none in this universe.
But the system was arrogant, not stupid. It knew its power wasn’t anything special compared to the mightiest divine beings.
[M-Michael, I never said that. Those stupid mortals were the ones who said it. Those damn fools are clearly plotting rebellion. They should all be thrown into hell to pay for their crimes.]
The great system was actually showing a surprisingly pathetic side. If those people heard these words, they would definitely curse the system without holding back.
"Alright. The universe has never lacked beings who call themselves gods. This isn’t a big deal either. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just talking nonsense. Nonsense isn’t much of a crime."
Insulting a god might be considered a serious crime in some religions, but what immortal being would stoop so low as to care about a mortal’s insults? Of course, if the insult came from another divine being, that was a different story.
If a mortal cursed Michael, he wouldn’t care at all, but if Lucifer cursed him even once, he would immediately grab his sword and fight Lucifer.
No immortal being truly cared about how mortals reacted. They cared about their responsibilities instead.
Like how angels loved humanity without needing a reason. Even if humanity insulted angels or even killed an angel’s incarnation in the mortal world, it still wouldn’t change their love.
On the other hand, demons didn’t need a reason to harm humanity either. Even if humans treated them kindly, they would still hurt humanity without a moment’s hesitation.
"Why did you bring us here?"
Even as he asked that, Nexus knew the reason. Bringing Mark back to life only for him to die again right afterward was practically mocking the laws of the universe.
[Trash master, are you insane? You can’t rely on Michael’s favor to speak so disrespectfully to him. Hurry up and kneel.]
The system immediately flew into a rage when it saw Nexus acting as calmly as ever. In its programming, Michael stood at the very peak of the universe, while Nexus was bottom-tier humanity. Nexus’s disrespect made it worry that Michael would wipe out both it and Nexus.
"Do you want me to fix it?"
Michael hadn’t wanted to bother with it before, but since he happened to run into Nexus now, he decided to ask.
As long as the system did something that dissatisfied Nexus, Michael would immediately reset it and remove Lucifer’s influence from it.
"No."
Nexus gently shook his head. Although this system really was something weird, his principle was to never actively destroy a sentient being.
The system was a little different from other kinds of souls, but it could still be considered a sentient being.
Resetting the system and killing it were basically the same thing. If the current will of the system was erased, how was that any different from death?
[Stup... Ah, no, master. I really did follow the right person.]
Even though the system’s respect for Nexus was still set at the lowest level by default, it highly approved of what Nexus had done this time.
The fact that the system didn’t call Nexus an idiot in that one sentence was already its way of repaying him. After leaving this place, of course, it would go right back to insulting him as usual.
Nexus couldn’t be bothered with the system and looked at Michael, waiting for the reason Michael had invited him here.
"I can’t read your thoughts, so I don’t know what you’re planning. But judging from the current situation, your disciples constantly dying and coming back to life isn’t a good thing. So I’ve made a special exception. After your disciples die, all of their souls will remain on Earth. That way, the system won’t have to keep yelling at Heaven to return their souls anymore. Is it okay?"
"Good."
That would naturally save a lot of trouble. Of course, it would be less trouble for the system and Heaven, not for Nexus.
For Nexus, whether his disciples lived or died was their own choice. The only thing he did was teach them how to cultivate. As for how they chose to live or die, that had nothing to do with him.
"Good. I’ll send you back."
As soon as Michael’s authoritative voice rang out, the space around them shifted once again. They returned to that residential area once more.
The time they disappeared and returned was so brief that no existence in the universe was perceptive enough to notice they had vanished. Other than Lucifer and Michael, not even the other angels and demons could sense it.
[Trash master, hurry up and forget everything you just saw. This great system is absolutely never afraid of anyone.]
The moment it returned to Earth, the system’s arrogant attitude immediately came back. Its arrogance even made it deliberately forget that Michael knew everything that had happened, was happening, and would happen throughout the universe.
"Hurry up and do your job. I’m not free enough to pay attention to that pointless stuff."
[Got it. Let’s see where Mark’s soul is now.]
The system looked around and realized Mark’s soul still hadn’t returned. It seemed Heaven’s ’express delivery’ was working rather inefficiently.
While waiting for Mark’s soul to return, Ron suddenly struggled to his feet and slowly dragged himself toward Nexus, one heavy step at a time.
Nexus frowned slightly, but then relaxed. As long as Ron didn’t cause trouble, he didn’t care what he wanted to do.
[Trash master, be careful! This guy may be weak, but he’s still a D-rank hunter. You’re just a trash G-rank. One punch from him and you’ll be blown to pieces.]
Nexus didn’t listen to a single word of the system’s ’kind-hearted’ warning. He could clearly see the corners of Ron’s mouth twitching and his eyelids constantly spasming after hearing the system’s insane rambling.
Contrary to the system’s warning, Ron walked up to Nexus, then knelt and respectfully bowed until his forehead touched the ground.
"Thank you, sir."