Sitting on a bench in the manor, Meredith, with a serious expression, stared at Sutherland and asked, "Why didn't you tell me these things before?"
Sutherland looked at his daughter: "What do you want to tell you? I've found your mother and siblings?"
Meredith raised her voice: "I have the right to know all this!"
Sutherland: "Sometimes, the more you know, the more painful it is."
Meredith gritted her teeth and said, "You have no right to say such things! If you really weren't going to tell me, then why did you bring me here in the first place?"
Sutherland didn't argue with her anymore, but turned her attention to Todd: "Time is running out, and you still haven't changed your mind?"
Todd said in a deep voice, "The answer will not change, and I will not abandon my people."
As if he had anticipated this outcome, Sutherland did not pursue the matter further.
He looked up at the distant sky, where bright sunshine and dark clouds appeared simultaneously, seemingly separated by only a thin line.
Sutherland murmured, "The undead are coming."
Meredith followed Sutherland's gaze and looked into the distance, asking in confusion, "Necromancers?"
Sutherland explained to Meredith, “This body is made of plague necromancy, and my soul and the will of the necromancy are like twin flowers growing together on this body.”
"There is a constant struggle between me and the undead for control of this body, but as the undead grows stronger, I will gradually lose the final dominance."
Meredith was taken aback: "Loss control? You mean, this body will eventually be controlled by the undead, and your soul will be devoured by the undead?"
Sutherland nodded: "Meredis, you know everything about the War of the Chosen. Only by constantly strengthening this body can I win the War of the Chosen; only by winning the War of the Chosen can I obtain the power of the gods; only by obtaining the power of the gods can I open the teleportation gate of the Beacon Tower and teleport all the aliens to a new world."
"After this body becomes a god, the will of the necromancer will accelerate its erosion of my soul. I must do my best to resist the necromancer's erosion before all the alien species complete their teleportation."
"In case... the necromancy is almost complete before the teleportation ends, then I must find someone I can trust to forcibly end the monster's life before that happens."
Meredith understood the unspoken message in Sutherland's words: "You want... me to kill you in the end?"
Sutherland: "Strictly speaking, this body is inhabited by both my soul and the will of the dead, so you only ended this body, not my soul... But you're not wrong to say that, I hope you kill me in the end."
Meredith stood up and exclaimed, "This is insane! I admit I've wanted to kill you countless times, but never under these circumstances!"
Sutherland advised, "Once the necromancy is complete, this body will become a mindless, irrational evil god that will devour everything in the world. No one wants to see that happen. So, Meredith, you must do it."
"Moreover, you don't need to worry about me, Spria, your sister, and your brother at all. When my body perishes, as a soul memory holder, my soul space will take them into the next cycle of reincarnation."
"This is one of the benefits of having soul memories. In Todd's original world, people like us were called reborn."
Meredith trembled slightly, her anger flickering in her words: "So, you brought me in here not to let me see my family. You just need an assassin, a sharp blade."
Sutherland frowned and said, "Meredis, don't you think the reason I entrusted this task to you is because I trust you?"
Meredith's rage finally erupted: "Trust me?! If you trusted me, you wouldn't have abandoned us and left me to watch my family be tortured to death!"
“If you trusted me, you wouldn’t have pretended to be deaf and dumb all these years in the Presbyterian Council, making me believe that my father was a mad monster!”
"If you trusted me, you wouldn't have hidden my mother, sister, and brother here, leaving me to wander alone for a thousand years!"
"A hero of a different species?! A wise sage from the past?!"
"No, you are the most selfish and shameless liar! You are the worst father in the world!"
Watching Meredith rush out of the manor, Sutherland, after a brief moment of astonishment, looked as if he had aged considerably.
He gripped the armrest of the bench shakily, slowly lowered his body, and slumped into the chair, remaining silent for a long time.
Sutherland's wife, Spriya, nodded slightly to the crowd and chased after Meredith as she ran out of the manor.
Sutherland looked up at Todd, who was standing not far away, and asked in a low voice, "Did I... really do something wrong?"
Todd: "You already knew the answer."
Sutherland: "In this life I have been reborn, Meredith is the child I am most proud of. She is intelligent, kind, and persevering... If it weren't for the suffering over the years that has caused her to become cynical and misanthropic, she would have been the most suitable leader to lead the alien race."
Todd walked over to Sutherland and slowly sat down: "All the pain you've caused Meredith will only push her further away from you."
Sutherland rubbed his forehead and said, “Perhaps Meredith is right. I really was a terrible father. During Ragnarok thousands of years ago, my rash and reckless actions directly led to the collapse of the entire divine realm… My most beloved sons, one died from the poison of Jormungandr, and the other from the mouth of Gam.”
Upon hearing this, Ivy, who was standing to the side, widened her eyes and showed an expression of disbelief on her face.
Upon hearing Sutherland mention Ragnarok, which occurred thousands of years ago, Todd asked, "I once heard you say that the world collapsed because the Beacon Tower mechanism was triggered, and the Beacon Tower mechanism was triggered because you tried to force your way into the tower?"
Sutherland: "Ever since Crystal refused to restore the resource balance, in order to enter the Beacon Tower and activate the portal, I secretly gathered all the dwarven craftsmen of Asgard and forcibly opened a hole about half the size of a person in the outer shell of the Beacon Tower."
"When I crawled through that hole, I saw a sight I had never seen before."
"Countless transparent pipes, colorful flashing signals, and complex and difficult-to-understand graphics."
Todd asked, "Did you find the beacon tower's teleportation device later?"
Sutherland: "No, the beacon tower's mechanism was triggered as soon as I entered the tower. The entire tower began to shake violently and made a huge roar. In the panic, I lost my footing and fell off the beacon tower. When I climbed back up, I found that the hole that I had painstakingly opened... had disappeared."
Todd: "It doesn't sound like there's anything of value to be found."
Sutherland: "No, before I crashed out of the beacon tower, I broke some transparent pipes in the chaos and grabbed onto something inside."
Todd: "What's inside?"
Sutherland: "You've seen that thing before. It's the resurrection worm used in the Elder Council for soul transfer rituals."
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