Chapter 103: Never Retreat
It wasn’t just that he had lost his hearing; Mark’s eyes had now shattered from the inside, making him unable to see anything at all. He just stood there screaming with a hoarse voice that was getting quieter and quieter, as if it could suddenly cut off at any moment.
Mark’s mangled body made him look more like a zombie standing there than a real living person. If Nexus hadn’t intervened, Mark would have exploded on the spot by now.
Nexus felt that helping him to this extent still wasn’t enough, as Mark now could do nothing except stand there screaming. So he had no choice but to enter Mark’s conscious space himself.
"Mark, what do you think you’re doing?"
Mark was now sitting curled up in some corner, lowering his head deeply, ignoring the huge spiritual root in front of him that was constantly cracking apart.
His guilt made it so that, other than sitting there regretting everything, he no longer knew what else he could do that was useful and practical.
"Master... Why didn’t you save them? What about the system too, why didn’t it save them? You two clearly witnessed everything that happened! Don’t you have a conscience?!"
The moment he saw Nexus, Mark immediately ran over, grabbed Nexus by the collar, and kept questioning him. Right now, Mark looked like a failed madman who only knew how to blame others.
Unlike White, Mark truly couldn’t understand what kind of existence Nexus was. And even if he did understand, so what? Right now, Mark just needed someone strong enough for him to blame even though that person wasn’t at fault at all.
"Yes, I don’t."
In response to Mark’s madness, Nexus only replied coldly. This indifferent attitude was like a bucket of cold water thrown directly onto Mark’s burning emotions.
Mark could only let go of his hand. His master had already said that, so what else could he say? Was he supposed to curse Nexus? But Nexus hadn’t done anything, so what could he curse him for? The only way to curse him was to curse meaninglessly like he did the system.
"Master... I’m really trash, aren’t I? Clearly, I could have... I had a chance... but I..."
Mark’s face lowered further and further. Right now, he felt that he no longer had the right to face his master.
Of course, Nexus couldn’t just leave his disciple feeling this depressed. He grabbed Mark’s head and pulled it straight up, looking directly into Mark’s eyes.
"If you hadn’t been there, Cerberus would have killed them all with a single slap long ago. It was because of you that they lived longer than the fate they were supposed to have. Even if it was only a few dozen minutes, that can still be considered changing fate."
Was this really an effective way to comfort his disciple? Normally, probably not, but with Mark... almost definitely not.
Mark understood what Nexus meant was that it wasn’t Mark’s fault, and moreover, Mark had even contributed. But even if it was logically correct, emotionally, Mark simply couldn’t accept it.
"Some vague thing like fate is something I don’t have the right to know about, and I don’t need to know either. The only thing I know is that everyone died because of my hesitation and uselessness. If I had been more decisive and tried harder from the beginning, then..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Nexus suddenly turned his back on him. Looking at him like this, it seemed like Nexus was preparing to leave.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"If you give up like this, you’re already about to die anyway. There’s no need for me to teach you anymore. I’m going to my second disciple."
Don’t think that standing there complaining would earn Nexus’s sympathy. Nexus wanted to help, but if Mark didn’t have the will to keep trying, then so be it. After all, Nexus still had White.
"Wait!"
Mark hurriedly chased after him. If Nexus really left now, Mark would truly have no hope left.
"Say what you want to say."
An existence more patient than anyone else like Nexus was actually losing his patience now. Even if he was only acting, this was the first time he had acted like this.
Urged by Nexus, Mark became a little flustered as he tried to organize his words. After hesitating for a few seconds, he gathered all his courage and said it.
"Please help me kill Cerberus to avenge everyone."
"No."
"Why?"
Cerberus was the one who wanted to kill your disciple, and he even treated your disciple like a toy for entertainment. Why weren’t you angry at all?
Nexus’s answer was so short that it couldn’t possibly be any shorter, leaving Mark stunned.
"If you want revenge, do it yourself. I don’t have time."
"But what can I do?"
Even using all of his current strength along with the energy from spiritual herbs, Mark would only barely have a chance of taking down that A-rank skeleton knight. As for killing Cerberus, it was completely hopeless, even if he swallowed ten spiritual herbs.
"You can’t do it now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it in the future. You just need to kill that skeleton knight, and I’ll guarantee that you’ll still be alive after today. I’ll give you a little more time to think by yourself here. If you still can’t do anything, then I’ll leave you alone."
With that, Nexus disappeared, leaving Mark standing there in a daze. Everything that needed to be said had been said, everything that should be helped had already been helped, and everything else depended entirely on Mark.
"Master..."
Mark muttered, and in his dejected eyes, a flame of determination slowly began to burn. After all, everyone was dead, dying while protecting him. If Mark gave up on revenge now, he would only feel contempt for himself.
At Brann’s final moment, Mark hadn’t seen even the slightest trace of giving up in him. His teammates never gave up protecting Mark until death, so Mark would carry that spirit with him to protect the people he would meet in the future.
"Even though I can’t change the past, I can still strive for the future..."
"There are definitely still many good people like them in this world. I have to live. I have to keep getting stronger. This tragedy will absolutely never happen again!"
"I became a piece of trash because I retreated. If I only move forward, keep moving forward without stopping, then even if I fail, I’ll be the first one to die instead of my friends."
"This secret technique is called Never Retreat."