Shang sighed.

"Yes, it was the God that killed Lucin and Queen Primordium," Shang answered.

Silence.

"Tell me in detail," the Lightning Emperor said.

Shang couldn't sense what the Lightning Emperor was feeling at this moment.

Shang retold everything that had happened.

The God had read Shang's mind and saw that Shang doubted the God's power.

So, the God killed Lucin and made Shang kill Queen Primordium.

Shang told the Lightning Emperor everything.

After Shang was done, the Lightning Emperor remained silent for several seconds.

This time, Shang could sense what the Lightning Emperor was feeling.

The Lightning Emperor was angry.

Truly angry.

When the Lightning Emperor asked the question, Shang knew that there was no way out. The Lightning Emperor could easily tell if Shang was lying. He probably wouldn't even need to pay any attention to the conversation to know that.

This meant that the truth would come out either way.

So, the best way was to be honest.

"Why didn't you tell me?" the Lightning Emperor asked in a serious voice.

"I was afraid that you would kill me," Shang said.

Silence.

And then, the Lightning Emperor's rage exploded.

"Kill you?!" he shouted. "Do you think I'm a monster?!"

Shang didn't move or say anything.

"This God put you through one of the worst experiences imaginable! You were forced to kill your own teacher!"

"You are not the perpetrator! You are the victim!"

"You were the one that suffered the most in this situation!"

"You were helpless in front of a higher power that wanted to torture you as much as possible!"

"I can't imagine how much pain you must have been in while you were killing your own teacher!"

"Why would I ever want to kill you for that?!"

Shang remained silent for a while.

This was not the reaction Shang had expected.

Wasn't the Lightning Emperor able to see Shang's personality?

Pain?

When Shang killed Queen Primordium, he exclusively thought about how to hide his involvement and how hard it would be to get more resources.

Sure, Shang wouldn't have killed Queen Primordium if he had a choice, but it also wasn't really important if he did or not.

The difference in emotional magnitude was comparable to whether one wanted to go to the end of a street and cross or cross it now and then go to the end of the street.

On top of that, Shang's thoughts had resulted in the death of a Mage King. Whether it was intentional or not, Shang was involved in the death.

Lastly, Shang's silence on the matter had resulted in the death of several Mage Kings, the death of a Mage Emperor, and this entire war.

If Shang had simply been honest, all of this could have been avoided.

And yet, the Lightning Emperor made it very clear that Shang didn't do anything wrong, which was madness.

"I was scared for my life," Shang said again.

Shang heard the Lightning Emperor sigh.

"I get it. You've been involved with powers far beyond your comprehension. You lost control over your emotions and made a mistake."

"Shang, we all make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn from these mistakes and don't repeat them."

"I understand," Shang said. "Sorry."

Deep inside, Shang had difficulty accepting reality.

The Lightning Emperor acted like Shang had accidentally knocked over a vase instead of being the reason the entire world was in a huge war now.

"It's fine," the Lightning Emperor said. "I'm also still in shock. I've accepted that this God is real, but only now do I truly realize it."

"He killed one of my Mage Kings."

"Essentially directly beside me."

"And he was the one that killed Lucius."

"And he is also the one that you want to kill."

Silence.

"You really have a difficult task ahead of yourself."

"Yes," Shang said.

Silence.

"To think that Kali actually didn't do anything and that Adam essentially died due to a misunderstanding."

"Tragic."

Shang looked at his pin for a while.

Shang had thought that he knew the Lightning Emperor's personality, but all of that had proven to be false in this conversation.

Shang had expected the Lightning Emperor to be furious at Shang but still let him be part of the Lightning Manor.

And yet, the Lightning Emperor just accepted it and didn't blame Shang at all.

In fact, he even sympathized with Shang and said that he was the victim.

Sure, in the initial act, Shang could be considered a victim, but Shang's silence after that was his own doing.

Since Shang had no idea how the Lightning Emperor actually ticked now, it became very difficult for him to find a good way to continue the conversation.

Shang had no idea how the Lightning Emperor would react to any of his statements.

Some seconds later, Shang finally made his decision.

"I'm sorry that you killed one of your friends due to a misunderstanding," Shang said.

"It's fine," the Lightning Emperor answered. "I made a mistake, just like you. Like I said earlier, mistakes happen. We just have to make sure that we don't repeat them."

"We should stop talking about these depressing things. Listen, I'm glad that you called me and all, but I have to get back to dealing with this contract. Can we talk sometime else?" he asked.

Shang was still uncertain about what to say. The Lightning Emperor's demeanor was very confusing to Shang.

"What about the books?" Shang asked. "That was the reason why I called."

"What about them?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

"Don't you want them back?" Shang asked.

"No, I gave them to you. They're yours. Why would I take back a present?" the Lightning Emperor asked in a confused voice.

"Oh," Shang said. "I didn't know."

"I have enough books as is," the Lightning Emperor said. "I don't need so many. If you need any other books, just call, but keep in mind that I'm busy with this entire contract thing."

"Of course," Shang said. "Thank you."

"No problem. See you later!" the Lightning Emperor said.

"See you," Shang said.

And then, the connection was cut.

Shang just looked at his pin for a while.

Too many things had happened.