When Ivan met Gastens, he was standing in front of the window of the conference room used to be used by the council, looking at the reveling people and warriors in the square. The glow of pyroxene shone through the window on his face, casting patterns on his tired, haggard face. In the small conference room, the usual few council members did not show up. Ivan hesitated at the door for a moment and walked in with Zink.

"Ivan?!"

Gastens heard the noise and turned back, only to see a man he thought was long dead. His eyes widened for a moment, and he strode forward to hug his brother with a tired face and a somewhat hesitant expression.

"I thought you were dead! You're alive! It's good to be alive! It's good to be alive!! ”

Ivan hesitated, then reached out and hugged Gastens. Compared to Gastens's joy at seeing him, Ivan's mood was a little gloomy and hesitant. This emotion was not only perceived by Zinke, but also by Garstens.

"What's wrong? Out of sorts? If there is anything upset, say it and I'll help you solve it! ”

Gastens also seemed a little excited that he had finally won the battle. He reached out and patted Ivan on the shoulder, the joy in his eyes visceral and palpable.

"It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive, we've already killed too many people, really."

"Boss."

Ivan turned his head and looked at Gastens with a very serious expression.

"Are you a Magister?"

"I'm not", Gastens looked at Ivan like this, and vaguely guessed the reason for his low mood, "I'm not a magister, I'm just a coincidence and can use a forbidden spell spell, that's all." ”

Ivan was silent, he stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the people who were partying outside the window. They were dancing around a huge pyroxene lamppost, three times inside and three times outside, almost all of them with happy smiles on their faces. Many young men and women even kissed under the gaze of everyone, and received bursts of applause and coaxing.

"Chief", Ivan spoke, with his back to Gastens and hid the expression on his face.

"This time you took us out to fight, and we didn't win, and I never blamed you. I have followed you from the very beginning, I have watched you create one miracle after another, and I have watched you build communism from scratch and make it what it is now. Even if I lose that battle, even if I die, as long as I can let you live, as long as I can keep Elena alive, I think it's worth it! Like you said, you can't escape death, but we can choose how we die, don't we? ”

Ivan's tone was heavy, even with a hint of anger. Both Gastens and Zink noticed his anger and didn't speak. Hinkyan raised his hand and tried to say something, but was stopped by Gastens. He suppressed Zink's intention to speak, looked at the back in front of the window, and waited for him to continue talking.

"Chief, do you know, you are gone, and when we broke off on the mountain, I really thought about dying. Six thousand, six thousand, were left out by us. Berranch, Larenz, Rivi, Cavlet, Krens, Hetwa, so many people died, died quietly, we can't even find their bodies! We can't even give them a decent burial!! I feel uncomfortable, I watch them die, some of them are my comrades-in-arms, some of them are soldiers I brought out, I watch them die, I can't do anything, I want to die for them!!! ”

Ivan's hand on the window frame clenched into a fist, and the veins bloomed with his anger. Zink looked at his companion who had come out of the 19th death squad with him, and rubbed his eyes gently.

"But!" Ivan turned and looked directly at Gastens, "But I can't die!" I must live because you are alive! I must live because Elena is still there! I must live, because the revolution has not yet won! I know I'm going to die someday, I know I'm going to die at any time, I'm willing, I'm willing. The road to victory of the revolution will eventually be paved with blood and life, and this is what you said, and I remember it clearly! ”

Gastens stood up and looked at Ivan with a pained expression. He crossed his hands and placed them in front of his lower abdomen, stirring in pain.

"Along the way, we were chased like dogs. So many people are dying and fucking dead to keep you alive!! Me too, I'm also ready to die, the seven hundred and twenty-three people we left behind are all ready to die! We are willing, we are glorious, and we are proud because this death is meaningful!! ”

Zink stepped forward and tried to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything. Ivan looked at him, then at Gastens, and finally said the problem.

"But, but, if you're really a Magister, if you can really cast a forbidden spell once, why didn't you put it sooner? Why would you want to watch your brothers die, but not want to cast that magic? You know they don't have to die, do you? You know you can kill all those enemies alone, right? You know, you know! You know it!!!!! ”

As he spoke, Ivan went from statement to roar, and from roar to crying. He was a big man, just standing there, looking at Gastens and looking at Zink, with tears in his eyes, and his words were filled with sadness and anger.

"They all say you're the Grand Magister! The Archmage can do anything! When I came back, I saw the corpses, all dead! Enemies, hundreds of thousands, all fucking dead by one of your spells! If you can easily kill so many people, why do you want us to fight so hard?! If you're the Grand Magus, why do you want us to help you achieve communism! With your strength, you don't need so many sacrifices at all, you don't need so many lives at all, you can make the revolution victorious! You're still watching us die, watching them die! What the hell do you think, Garstens?!!!! Are you fucking playing with us?! What the are you talking about!!! ”

"Ivan!!!!"

Zink couldn't take it anymore, and Ivan's thoughts pierced the most secret suspicions in his heart. He had the same question about this question, but he didn't even dare to think about it. He didn't expect that Ivan would put this matter directly on the table. You know, even if Gastens himself admits that he can only release this one magic, there is no shortage of cases in history where the idle archmage pretends that he can't release magic to lure enemies or game people. Whether Gastens can really only release magic once, or whether he is a fake magister from beginning to end, in the game world, with their group of bitter people to play with revolution, Zink himself is not sure. However, according to Zink's character, even if he has doubts, he will choose a suitable time and a suitable way to communicate with someone who may be the Grand Magus, instead of forcing himself and Gastens to a dead end like Ivan.

"Don't talk!"

Ivan glared at Zink, the anger in his eyes startling Zink. It had been a long time since he had seen Ivan so angry, and the object of his anger was still a man who might be the Grand Magus. Even if that man had crawled out of the death squad they had crawled from the bottom of society, from the army, everything had changed when he had added the prefix to the archmage. The once intimate revolutionary friendship of life and death has cracked with that magic, and the rift is deeply buried in the hearts of many people, quietly growing and spreading, and has become a chasm. And on the side of the chasm is the man who Zink thinks he has understood, but finds that he has never seen clearly.

Gastens.

"Ivan", Gastens finally spoke, his tone low and obviously not emotional.

"It's complicated to explain, and there are things that I can't tell you right now. But, with my life and the future of Elena, I have never, ever despised your sacrifice and dedication, the dedication of each of you, the loss of each of your lives, I remember, I know! I have never, and never will, 'play' with you, as you say! ”

Ivan gasped and glared at Gastens. The crowd outside the window had begun to call out Gastens in unison, and every time they shouted Gastens's name, they shouted again, Archmage. The sound was heavy and heavy, and heavy and heavy, hitting the window lattice and entering the house, making the three people in this room a little embarrassed.

"And I'm not going to lie to you! I can use magic once, but only if I wear a special robe. I don't have it, but Luna Brewster does! When I saw her, I knew that she had brought one with me from the Mage Tower, and I took her in to keep a backup for myself. However, in order to avoid unnecessary suspicion on her part, I never took the robe from her hand. And until I pulled the robe out of her chest, I didn't decide whether to release the magic or not! Unleashing this magic is not as easy as you think—"

Despite his emotion, Gastens stopped suddenly. There were things he couldn't say, things he couldn't reveal. Even in the face of comrades who question themselves, doubt themselves, and no longer trust themselves so much, he must, can only hold back those things and hide them deep in his heart.

"It's not that I didn't see your sacrifices, it's because I saw your sacrifices, because I saw everything you gave for Elena, that I decided, I decided, not to fucking guerrillas! Don't go on a fucking long march! Since Lao Tzu has a magic, why the fuck shouldn't Lao Tzu! ”

There was a deep sadness and a hint of heaviness in Gastens's voice, but neither Zink nor Ivan could understand Gastens's heaviness, just as they couldn't understand what kind of choice the word Long March meant. They just remained silent, looking at the angry Gastens, waiting for his explanation.

"I'm determined not to let you die in vain! I'm determined not to let everyone's sacrifice go in vain! I've decided not to let the Elena we've worked so hard to build just give it away! That's why I went to find Luna, and, as I guessed, her robes were still there! I took the robe from her, put it on, and put the magic outside. Moreover, you say that I deliberately watched you die without magic, which is even more impossible! Before I put on that robe, when I went to war with you, I was just like you, I was an ordinary person, I would be injured and I would die! I, like you, am risking my life in the future of Bo Elena! ”

Garstens' voice stopped, he wiped the corners of his eyes, turned around, looked at the Communist manifesto on the wall, and continued.

"As for why I didn't use magic earlier, it's because relying on magic, relying on magic that can only be used once, can't make the revolution win at all! No matter how powerful a forbidden spell is, how big can it be? I've killed more than 200,000 people today, which is already the maximum effectiveness of this magic. And for the revolution to win, how many people do you think will have to be killed? You tell me, can killing 200,000 people make the revolution victorious? If only 200,000 people were killed to make the revolution victorious, do you think I would not do it? Do you think I'm going to take a shortcut and put myself and you in danger? ”

Ivan shook his head slightly, rubbing his hands together in silence. He is angry, but anger is not unreasonable. Gastens broke the truth and said, he could understand.

"And, even if I'm the Grand Magister, I can cast forbidden spells without limit, but so what? Magisters have a long lifespan, but they can only last for a hundred or two hundred years. One or two hundred years later, when I die, what will happen to the revolution? The revolution that relies on the will of the Archmage alone, when the Archmage dies, will it be wiped out? If the ashes are gone, what is the point of me wanting such a revolutionary victory? I have told you before, and I myself have always felt that the victory of the revolution must be created by the people themselves, and only the revolution created by the people themselves can be sustained, have the strongest vitality, and survive! ”

"Adult ......"

Although he didn't understand some parts of what Gastens said, Ivan could sense Gastens' sincerity. He rubbed his hands crampedly and wiped the corners of his eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm a little excited......"

"I know," Gastens shrugged helplessly, "if it were me, I would have been excited." After all, magic is too mysterious. Moreover, after the third great demon tide, it is impossible for a mage to exist in the first place, and I can put it this time, it is also a coincidence, and it is impossible to reproduce. ”

"So what do we do next?" , Zink interjected, and the answer Gastens gave to Ivan, although it answered the doubts in his heart, did not completely eliminate the rift. However, after having an acceptable explanation, he decided to focus his attention more on the next step.

After all, Elena now has a lot to deal with.

Ivan looked at Zink and knew that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He himself felt that the anger he had just made seemed a little unreasonable. Although most of the doubts in his heart had been dispelled, he also knew that now was not a good time to delve into the issue, so he followed Zink's words.

"That's right, you used forbidden spell magic to kill so many people in the Negru Republic and Paul Gibson combined, and all countries will definitely get moved, what should we do?"

Ivan also realizes that the battle came to an abrupt end because of a magic, and that a sudden victory doesn't mean that Elena can rest easy. What to do next still requires them to work together.

"I've thought about this—"

Gastens had just spoken, but was interrupted by a guard who suddenly broke through the door. The man was Zink's intelligence officer, and he was looking anxiously at Gastens and Zink in the room.

"Chairman, Director Zink, Daisy-sama has found you!"

"Found it? Where is she? Why don't you come and see me? Gastens stepped forward, a little excited. There are too many things that have happened today, although he has never found Daisy, and he has no time to find Daisy, but in his heart, he has always been worried about her.

"Daisy-sama, she-", the man glanced at Zink, hesitated, and uttered an answer that nearly broke Gastens.

"—she's already sacrificed."