"Great Serpent, I'm just a mortal, not a god," Lynch said slowly, without reservation. "So, I doubt the authority of the world, those powerful gods, and the devils that represent desire and temptation. Every doctrine, every rule, I don't understand the meaning behind them, and I doubt everything in this world. I speculate on them, deny them, but at the same time learn from them, and that's how I become stronger."

The Great Serpent nodded.

"I don't know what kind of change the science you speak of can bring to this world. I'm not a god, I don't have the ability to see through the future. And as far as I know, even gods sometimes have limited abilities in this regard. I dare not boldly predict what the Anriel Continent will become. Perhaps errors and setbacks will haunt that world again and again before ultimate success is achieved. The benefit of the final outcome compared to the losses caused by the thorns along the way, what kind of relationship it really is, will always be the most difficult question to calculate."

"I have been in a dilemma, constantly wavering between choices. But not anymore," Lynch said with a smile. "I dare to deny everything in this world, and what needs to be denied the most is actually myself. Just as you said, I have power or could reach the strength to change a plane—I haven't tried it, so I can't speak recklessly. But there is a most basic fact, something the strong often overlook—I'm just 'a' person."

"A towering mountain peak reaching the sky, insurmountable, rendering any other mountains insignificant in comparison. But they only seem insignificant, it doesn't mean they're truly unimportant. I'm a mage, no other title can cover up the most basic fact. Stripped of the decoration of power, all I have is a soul."

"How can one soul have the qualification to represent the countless souls of the world and decide everything for them?"

Lynch stepped back two steps, slightly bowed, and then let out a long breath: "I'm just a small figure, not now, nor will I become a god. I would rather experience all this life in adversity, rather than try to grasp the sand by the sea with my hands and forcibly mold it into the statue I want."

"Lynch, I have considered many possibilities, but never thought you would be a stubborn, conservative guy," said the Great Serpent loudly, pointing to everything behind him. "Isn't all of this a better future?"

"I have never denied this fact. If I had really done that, I wouldn't have been so troubled, so indecisive." Lynch nodded, gripping tightly the Arcane Wand in his hand, because from now on, it signaled that he would never stand on the same side as the Great Serpent.

"Great Serpent," the mage finally said, "just as you said, I am just a mortal, not knowing whether what I'm doing is right or wrong. Am I a stumbling block in history, an foolish log trying to obstruct the tide of history? I don't know. All I know is only one thing."

The Great Serpent frowned and asked, "What do you know?"

"War, no matter what reason it is waged for, brings innocent sacrifice," Lynch said. "Stripping away all the dignified reasons, I know only one thing: the war in the Anriel World wasn't started by me. You brought all this. I'm just a variable, a sudden factor on your path forward, increasingly affecting the balance of victory and defeat. This is the only reason I am here now, nothing else."

"I don't believe you knew before the war that I would appear, nor do I believe you could foresee that I, a mere mage apprentice, could eventually become what I am now. Because of this, what I said to you about why you chose war is meaningless."

Lynch placed the Arcane Wand horizontally in front of his chest, the light of magic shining at his summoning. With a voice louder than the Great Serpent's previous speech, he shook Heaven Mountain, impacting the Great Serpent's domain of divine power: "What I want to do is to end the war that destroys the peace of the entire Anriel World, Great Serpent. You can choose to understand here, or in another place—that's your choice."

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