Back on earth, a portal opened inside a majestic Mansion. A man stepped out of the portal, carrying a small vial in his hand.
As soon as Ryder entered the room, he noticed Caen who was having a hard time even breathing. Even with the help of time, Janus couldn't protect Caen anymore.
From the looks of it, it was clear that Caen could die at any moment.
Ryder didn't have time to explain anything. He opened the vial, moving Janus aside.
He opened Caen's lips and poured the liquid inside Caen's mouth, before using his Divine Energy to help Caen absorb the effects of the liquid.
Even with the cure completely being absorbed, Caen's condition didn't improve. He was still suffocating, his skin almost breaking apart. His entire body had turned darker, as if he was turning demonic, his divinity slowly being devoured.
At this moment, he barely had any divinity, and that too was barely holding on.
"Is it not working?"
At this moment, Janus didn't ask how Ryder managed to get the cure or if it was actually even a cure in the first place.
Ryder also had a frown. He was certain this was a cure, but strangely enough, this hadn't healed Caen. He placed his hand on Caen's forehead and tried to probe the condition of the young man.
After some time, he finally sighed.
"It is working, albeit slowly. Since his body has been completely infiltrated by the Poison, it can't be cured in an instant, but I can see it's working. At this rate, it should take him a few weeks to heal completely," he explained.
Hearing the explanation, Janus sighed in relief. With Ryder's confirmation, he could finally put his worries down. His nephew was going to be saved.
Still, he also stepped forward and checked for himself, just to be sure. He also confirmed that it was working. Moreover, by now, Caen's breathing had also improved, albeit still not completely. His heartbeat was still all over the place.
"How did you get the cure so soon?" With his other concern over, he finally paid attention to Ryder. "Did you fight them?"
Ryder shook his head. "I didn't fight. Even if I had fought, there was no way to prevent them from destroying the cure if there was any. The risk was too big. On top of that, you already know about my oath."
Ryder walked over to a chair and took a seat. "You were there as well after all."
Janus lowered his head. He never wanted Ryder to be forced to take an oath like that, but there was no other choice at that moment. Still, that oath wasn't completely binding.
Someone like Ryder could easily free himself from an oath like that. But if he wasn't doing that, it just meant he didn't want to.
"How did you convince them to hand over the cure? I doubt you were able to scare Ezekiel with just words," Janus inquired. Even now, his thoughts were in confusion.
"I made him a promise. That I'll leave the control of the Realm of Gods to him, and that neither you, nor Caen will target him again," Ryder told the negotiations he had, all to solve this matter with peace.
"You did what?" Janus exclaimed in disbelief. "Did you forget what they did? Do you expect me to let them live freely?"
"As I said, I made a deal that I made," Ryder couldn't respond to Janus in any other way.
He also knew that Janus was emotional. In fact, he was also unhappy about what Ezekiel did. But he also knew that further fights weren't beneficial for anyone.
If he was to side with Janus, then Gabriel had to die, who was related to Chaos. And if he was to stay out of it, then Caen was going to die. And at worst, even Earth could be pulled into a war, life here completely destroyed.
He wasn't afraid of fighting, but he wanted to save as many people as he could. As far as Caen's mother was concerned, he was certain that they could find a way to bring her back to life.
She was the Goddess of Reincarnation. Even if her soul was completely destroyed, there were still ways for her to be brought back to life. That's how Chaos had also brought her back to life. All they had to do was find the Sword in which Chaos was sealed.
"At this point, you should know your priorities well. Find the sword... Everything else can be corrected after that. But if you attacked them with just the two of you, you'll lose," Ryder further stated.
"But if you joined us-"
Janus tried speaking, only for Ryder to cut his words.
"Even if I joined you, can you say for sure that we'll be able to kill him? When someone wants to escape, it's much harder to stop them. I'm strong, but if you want to escape from a battle with me, even I'll find it hard to stop you. Are you certain Ezekiel won't have any such methods?"
As Ryder spoke, he tried to be as rational as he could. What worried him wasn't a battle with Ezekiel, but the aftermath. Even if he won the war, if he failed to kill Ezekiel, then things were going to get messy on earth. And there was an even bigger concern that he hadn't told Janus.
From what he heard, Ezekiel used to be a mortal who was at the mercy of the gods. For him to become an Immortal that even someone like Chaos couldn't kill, it wasn't a simple matter. It was certain that someone or something was behind this.
Any impulsive action was foolish, at least until the secrets were uncovered. He had a guess as to what was behind Ezekiel's immortality, but he couldn't investigate further as it was dangerous even for him.
That's why he wanted the Sword to be found so that Chaos could be freed. Until then, he wanted to maintain the status quo.
