SWNOVELXO Chapter 290: The Best a Man Could Ask For
James stared intently at the new question before him:
[Do you regret killing the creatures you killed?]
He paused for a few seconds when he saw this question and waited as if he realized that this time he had something to think about.
He could have chosen to forgive the person Sopdu had sponsored instead of killing her, but he had decided to kill her as a warning to everyone.
He could have chosen to simply throw the female vampire he had killed out of the arena, but he had indeed decided to burn her alive instead.
Now that he thought about it, he had indeed taken two lives for no reason. Even if the people whose lives he had taken were not perfect or even good people, at least they were not major criminals.
That's why James stepped into the cloud just to his left, the one with the answer yes, and it became clear that he was telling the truth.
Every single person who saw this was deeply saddened. Many of them had heard what James was like and even what he had done on the 27th floor. Now to see that he had chosen such an option seemed to twist every one of them.
Even for the gods and goddesses watching him.
[And would you choose in your current state of mind and intelligence to forgive the creatures you killed just before you killed them?]
James' expression changed the moment he read that question. It was clear that he had not thought about it. He paused where he was, frowning and scratching his head, thinking the answer would be yes.
However, just as he was about to take a step towards the small piece of cloud on the left, he paused and took a step back.
He knew in his heart that the answer was no. Every cell in his brain, every memory he had stored and every sensation tingling in his body told him so.
What he had done was something that had to happen. He had taken two lives for no reason, but in doing so, even the warriors from the floors above had changed their attitudes towards what he considered precious.
Which meant that the answer was really no.
With that, James stepped into the small patch of cloud to the right and appeared before the other question under everyone's astonished gaze:
[Do you regret choosing to save billions of lives instead of saving her soul?]
James' eyes seemed to widen as he heard this question. The curiosity of those around and watching what was happening in the palace of Olympus turned to James at a great level.
From Zeus to Odin, who had come to watch what was happening and had learned the necessary things, from Odin to Uranus, the greatest of the Titans, everyone turned their attention to him.
Of course, the onlookers did not know who the man called [him] was, but it seems that every single person in the hall of Olympus more or less understood what was going on.
The fact that the tower was asking such a question meant something, especially to Nyx, Erebus and each of the Titans.
James had chosen billions of lives over the soul of his ancestor Desmond.
Minutes passed and minutes became hours, James had been standing on that cloud for half a day, doing nothing.
After all that waiting, he took a deep breath and let it out, his face contorted with regret, but no one thought about what he was going to do despite his expression.
James stepped into the little cloud on the right, the one with the no option. With that, he said a few words:
"I could choose to save my ancestor's soul, but then I would have lost the 27th floor, where thousands of races live together. If I did that, how could I look my maternal ancestor and the rest of my ancestors in the face? How could I go to my only wife and tell her that I sacrificed everyone? How could I look Ariel and Nyx, who I consider my mothers, in the face without shame? How could I pat my own daughter Miracle's head when so many children had died? Of course, the answer is no!"
Immediately after he uttered those words, the cloud beneath him shifted and the template for the next question was formed. To everyone's surprise, James was indeed following his heart.
Still, no one could wait for the next question.
[What if you had one more chance? If the Creator Himself brought you back to that moment, would your choice be to save the soul of your ancestor, or would you choose to save billions of lives in the same way, by partially imprisoning one of your own blood?]
With that, two clouds formed again, one on the left and one on the right.
The cloud on the left had an answer choice that he would choose the same option and the cloud on the right the opposite.
James was no longer even surprised, yet his heart was pounding, it was really hard for him to come up with an answer, even if his mind wasn't tiring, even if his Mind Palace ability was keeping his mind calm and healthy.
He sat down on the cloud and held his head with both hands without thinking. It looked like his stress level was starting to rise.
The tower itself had blocked every single message from the outside. The tower self wanted all of James' answers to come from his own heart. In short, no one should interfere with James' answers.
If he was telling the truth he would live, if he was lying he would die.
After all, the tower was as fair as it was cruel.
James stayed carefully where he was and tried to clear his mind as much as possible. It was... not an easy thing to do.
He still had a choice to make, and even if he had an answer in his mind, it was whether that answer would be true and whether he would die for choosing it that was the real danger.
But that choice had to be made, as quickly as possible.
James stood up and then, without a second thought, took a deep breath and stepped into the small cloud, indicating an answer that he would make the same choice again.
"If I could go back to that moment, that moment when I could have your help and you gave me two choices, I would make the same choice. My ancestor has already saved so many people, but he has caused the extinction of so many races. I am not my ancestor, I stand for the coexistence of all races and the survival of the tower. If my soul was at stake, let alone my ancestor's, I would still make the same choice. Billions of lives are worth far more than my soul or my ancestor's."
James uttered these words the moment he stepped into the small piece of cloud. With that, the little piece of cloud he stepped on grew and then became a door, and above the door was the last question of the floor:
[Are you happy with the life you lead?]
As James read this question, he saw a key hanging on the left and right side of the door. The one on the left said yes and the one on the right said no, James had to make his choice.
With that, James took another deep breath and then closed his eyes. In his mind, he seemed to go through every memory that he had stored in the Mind Palace, one by one. Every single moment of his life, before and after he lost his family, the moment he entered the tower and all the pain he had experienced.
He was very sad, but these were not the only memories that were stored inside the Mind Palace.
Discover stories with My Virtual Library Empire
That's exactly why the remaining memories came into play.
James had seen his beloved wife, Nemesis, who was truly the love of his life and the person he loved most in his life. He saw Miracle, his only daughter, and Ruby, whom he considered his grandmother. He saw Ariel, whom he considered his mother, and Nyx.
Then, starting from Erebus, he began to see all the Chaos-Born, including the Titans, and he managed to see all the gods and goddesses, from those he knew a little to those he knew a lot.
He also saw Archangel Michael and Fallen Angel Lucifer, who were of great help to him.
He also saw Vladimir, Vlad, Abby, Ezra and Emily, his ancestors.
When he saw all these memories, his choice became clear.
Without thinking twice, he put his hand on the left key and uttered these words:
"I couldn't ask for a better family. Full of love and hope, even the people I respect less take care of each other, even the people who can be my enemies becoming my allies. Chaos-Borns, Titans, Olympus, Asgard, Heavenly and Hellish powers...My dear daughter Miracle, my Gran Gran Ruby."
With these words, she inserted the key into the lock and when she realized that the cloud beneath her had not dissipated, she turned the key in the lock and opened the door, saw the bright and green landscape behind the door and said the following before moving to the other side of the door:
"And finally...Nemesis, my beloved wife, the most precious person in my life, the woman I would agree to die for, the woman I would sacrifice everything for, the woman I would want to have children with and have the biggest wedding with in the future. I ask you, tower...don't you think I have the most perfect family?"
James passed through the door and the cloudy field disappeared, leaving a huge system notification that James could not see, and which was visible to all the gods and goddesses in the sky, visible to all climbers with their naked eyes:
[Yes, it is the most perfect family that can exist.]