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Heir of the White Lotus (Web Novel) - Chapter 1816 Greatest Sin
Chapter 1816 Greatest Sin
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The colossal floating island continued to cut across the waters of the Galestine.In the distance, the faint outline of Mabi, the Land of the First Magi, slowly became visible.
A gust of wind blew through the coral forest as Adam's words echoed in Wagner's ears.
His eyes trembled ever so slightly at that accusation. But only a moment later, they turned cold and ruthless.
"You know nothing, Constantine."
Adam raised his head slightly and said in an earnest voice, "Then tell me…"
He paused briefly as he lowered his leg. Then, as he got to his feet, he continued:
"I've read your journals. Most of them. So I know you were not always like this. You were a good man, an honorable man. I know it in my soul. Because you were the one I looked up to. So, please… tell me. Was it the corruption? Or was it the book of the devil that changed you?"
I know it in my soul…
Those words reverberated in Wagner's mind.His eyes flashed with a peculiar light.
"You know about the book of the devil?" He asked in a solemn voice.
"It was mentioned in your journal," Adam replied truthfully.
A dry chuckle escaped Wagner's lips. "It was so long ago… I barely remember what I penned down on those pages. Those private entries were a direct gateway to my mind, my beliefs, my thoughts… and you… you weaponized it."
"I don't care for a fair fight," Adam said frankly. "In my soul, I knew I couldn't beat you in one. I had to use every trick."
His expression turned solemn. "Now tell me… why did you do it? Why did you kill your best friend?"
Wagner deeply looked at the raven-haired youth, his expression unreadable. He heaved a long, deep sigh and said:
"After I returned from the Dark Valley, I… I had convinced myself that dying was the only way to stop my corruption from spreading. I didn't know whether it was contagious or not. But I did not want others to get corrupted. So I was prepared to die."
"So then why didn't you?" Adam said in a grim voice. "Why didn't you just kill yourself?"
Wagner turned his gaze toward the sky. "I met Bartholomew, and he told me he had found a way to leave this world."
He turned back to the youth and continued, "If you've read my journals, then you already know my greatest wish was to reunite with my family."
Wagner turned his gaze toward the sky. "I met Bartholomew, and he told me he had found a way to leave this world."
He turned back to the youth and continued, "If you've read my journals, then you already know my greatest wish was to reunite with my family."
"The way to leave this world…" Adam murmured. "It was in the book of the devil."
Wagner silently nodded. He raised his hands and slowly clenched them into fists. "Bartholomew… he had sworn a mana oath and could not read the book's contents. But I could. And when I did… a seed of evil took root in my mind that had already gone mad."
"So you killed your best friend." Adam finished the words for him. A trace of undisguised contempt oozed in his voice.
Aldo Wagner chuckled. "So I did… I had to."
That was the turning point for Wagner. After that, everything spiralled further into the abyss.
Lichdom stripped a person of empathy and moral emotions. Once the soul was bound to a phylactery, compassion, love, guilt, and fear gradually faded away, leaving only cold intellect and obsession.
If a person wasn't evil before turning into a lich, then they were slowly tainted. Sustaining undeath eroded their humanity until life became meaningless to them. Cruelty and immoral actions became inevitable because they no longer understood why it was wrong.
"Do you think your family would have liked what you did? What you've become?" Adam asked in an even voice.
"Do not mention them, boy." A wave of cold and deathly mana erupted from Wagner and struck Adam head-on.
But Adam was unmoved by the display of intimidation. He did not back down. Instead, he pressed even more.
"You became a lich to live long enough for the planetary alignment to arrive," he said. "Everything you did, you did it for them… your wife and kids. But thousands of years have passed. Do you think you can still reunite with them?"
For a moment, Wagner was taken aback.
And then he burst into laughter.
"Is that what you think is about?" He shook his head, sneering.
"Yes, in the beginning, reuniting with them was indeed my goal. But now…"
His expression gradually turned solemn and fierce.
"Now I simply wish to leave this wretched world and pursue the higher arcane arts. So what if my family is dead? Once I'm powerful enough, I will find them."
His gaze turned sharp as it flickered with madness.
"And then I will reanimate them."
Adam deeply looked at Wagner's face. The man he once looked up to… reduced to such a pitiful state. The youth's eyelids drooped, and he softly said:
"Your greatest sin is that you betrayed yourself… and it was all for nothing."
Wagner's expression twisted in rage. "What do you know, boy! What do you know anything about me and what I've been through? The things that I've sacrificed. The madness that I've endured! You know nothing!"
Adam shook his head dejectedly. He was not even mad. Just… disappointed.
"My soul aches realizing that the man I once looked up to has been reduced to such a sorry state," he said softly.
"Looked up to me?" Wagner scoffed. "You never knew me, boy. You barely knew the man I used to be. And that man… he died a long time ago."
A hint of mockery entered his voice, and he continued, "And spare me your pity. I've made my choice, and I've paid the price. And if I had to do it all over again, then I'd walk the same path without hesitation."
"Is that so?" Adam was truly saddened to hear those words.
His eyelids narrowed, and his pupils gleamed with a sharp light. "Then we have nothing to talk about."
The youth turned toward the distant silhouette of Mabi and gestured in its direction.
"Follow me there," he said. "I will not drag Lord Tebu into our conflict."
With that said, Adam cast [Flight] and slowly soared toward the distant landmass.
He did not look back.
Nor was he worried that Wagner might flee.
No. Adam was confident the man would follow him.
After all, he had already dangled enough bait to draw the man in.
