"The Adamantite Behemoth Zone and Empress Cobra Zone will be under Duke Torrent's rule from now on."
Shang looked at his Communication Crystal as he heard these words.
"That's the Duke to the east of the Zones, correct?" he asked.
"Correct," Duke Whirlwind answered.
"That means that Duke Mithril is left with the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone, the Volcano Wyrm Zone, and the Thunder Horse Zone, right?"
"Right."
Shang furrowed his brows. He had hoped that Duke Whirlwind would get something back, but that thought had obviously been naïve.
"What's your relationship with Duke Torrent?" he asked.
"Duke Torrent and I have been good friends for a long while, but she follows the Council's orders perfectly. Our old friendship doesn't matter at this point since she will go against us just like Duke Mithril," Duke Whirlwind answered.
When Shang heard the word "us", he felt a bit strange.
Was this a feeling of companionship?
He wasn't sure.
"What do we do now?" Shang asked.
"For now, we need to lay low," Duke Whirlwind answered. "If any Abominations appear in the Storm Eagle Zone, don't stop them, but it would be better if they appeared in the wild or near Warrior's Paradise. The Farm Line is also not easy to attack, but many people will still die."
"But we also need to be attacked by the Abominations to make it seem like we have nothing to do with this attack."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Shang answered.
"Good," Duke Whirlwind said. "For now, keep training. Your armor is already done, but I will only give it to you when you officially return. I've already made it seem like it's a present for George, and you will just be the benefactor of a coincidence."
"Thank you," Shang answered.
"No problem."
After Duke Whirlwind said that, a couple of seconds of silence happened.
"You weren't responsible for the manner in which things went down, right?" Duke Whirlwind suddenly asked.
Shang's insides shook a bit, but they tensed immediately as Shang repressed these feelings. "I can only somewhat control where they appear. I can't tell them what to do," Shang lied.
"I thought so," Duke Whirlwind answered. "According to the witness, the Abominations appeared near Duke Mithril's castle, which was what we agreed on. However, it also makes sense that the Abominations would attack the place with the densest Mana, which would be the horn of the Adamantite Behemoth."
"I should have thought of that while we were planning," Duke Whirlwind said, and Shang could hear a sigh through the Communication Crystal.
"Shang, I just want you to know that this was not your fault."
Shang's insides shook again.
"You only diverted a calamity from your home to a different location, and whatever happened was not in your control."
"I should have considered the Abominations' nature while we were planning."
"If I had known that they would attack the Adamantite Behemoth's horn, I would have told you to summon them west of the town, not around it."
"I know that this probably weighs heavily on your mind, and I know that you are probably blaming yourself for how things turned out. After all, we only wanted to weaken Duke Mithril's forces, not doom over a thousand people to die."
"Just, don't blame yourself, okay?"
"You were not to blame."
"This was not your doing."
"Okay?"
Shang knew that Duke Whirlwind was blaming himself, and he wanted to do nothing but protest.
It had been him!
Duke Whirlwind had been the one that had no control over anything!
Shang had planned to do that ever since he had arrived back at the Skythunder Kingdom!
He had concocted these schemes, and even if Duke Whirlwind had told Shang not to do anything, he would still have done it!
Yet…
"We just had bad luck," Shang said as he tried to sound as normal as always. "There's nothing that we could have done."
"You're right," Duke Whirlwind answered, "but as the more experienced one and the one that came up with that plan, it was my duty to know better."
"You had nothing to do with it, okay?" he repeated.
Shang gritted his teeth.
"I know," he said. "Sorry, but I don't want to talk about that right now. I need to train to distract my mind."
"Understandable," Duke Whirlwind said. "I'll leave you to it. If you have any news regarding the appearance of the next wave of Abominations in my territory, tell me."
"I will," Shang answered.
"Good. Later."
"Later."
And then, the connection was cut.
Shang immediately put the Communication Crystal away.
He feared, if he kept it inside his hand, that he would throw it against a wall and destroy it.
"It's not you! It's me!" Shang shouted inside the cave.
"But I've done the right thing!"
"It was the right thing to do!"
"My enemies must die!"
"Leniency is weakness!"
Shang breathed heavily as rage swallowed all his other emotions.
"It was the right thing to do," Shang repeated calmer.
For the past couple of days, Shang had been fully immersed in training.
When there was a quiet moment, Shang's insides churned, which was why he avoided all quiet moments.
He had done the right thing!
Why was his preconceived and faulty notion of morality from Earth making so many issues for him?!
He was supposed to feel happy for finally dealing such a heavy hit to his enemy!
Yet, there was nothing positive about this!
He only felt angry!
'I hate it!'
'I hate this feeling of weakness!'
'I hate it!"
Shang quickly grabbed Sword and charged deeper into the cave.
'Only strength can cure me of this weakness!'
'I can't keep wasting my time pondering over these useless things!'
'I have to train!'
After a while, Shang found his next opponent, and his saber quickly attacked it.
As soon as the fight became dangerous, Shang's mind calmed down and turned to tranquility.
His mind knew that it had to fully focus on the fight, or things might go badly.
His mind was only calm when he was in danger.
