Chapter 297 Hatred is also selfish
Lux's words were truly heartbreaking.
The reason why Silas' previous extreme remarks resonated so much among the mages was not because of how reasonable what he said was or how impeccable his theory of "physically eliminating the exploiting class" was.
But because:
Silas and everyone else are brothers who have been in prison together, fellow mages, and brothers of the same class.
It is their common identity and common experiences that enable them to form common ideas and concepts .
Now:
"Let me get this straight, Mr. Silas." Lux immediately exposed his true colors: "You work for General Eldred, the commander of the Demon Seekers, right?"
"What?!" There was an uproar at the scene.
After hearing this, the mages looked at Silas with something strange in their eyes.
The Demon Hunter Corps, what the hell are those bastards!
If the mages' hatred towards the royal family and nobles of Demacia, the Crownguard family and Lux is 10.
Then their hatred for the Demon Hunter Corps is 10 to the power of 10.
They hated the Demacia so much that when they heard about the Demon Seekers and the name of Commander Eldred, they would immediately activate their highland bloodline, stack up five layers of blood rage, and transform from mages into Demacian berserkers.
But you, Silas, actually:
"You're actually working for the Demon Hunter Corps?!"
The mages glared at Silas.
"I..." Silas was speechless for a moment. He wanted to explain, but he couldn't.
The remote control device in his hand, which could only have been obtained from the Demon Hunter Corps, already explained many problems.
At this time, without waiting for him to organize his words, the mages spontaneously figured out many questions based on his suddenly exposed "true identity": "Yes... before Silas was imprisoned, he was a lackey working for the Demon Hunter Corps, wasn't he?"
"What did you say?!" Silas looked over angrily.
Yes, he worked for the Demon Seekers.
But those are all old news from more than ten years ago!
Moreover, he was reported by his parents when he was young and was captured by the Demon Hunter Corps. If he didn't work for the Demon Hunter Corps, what else could he do? What choice did he have?
This is the truth.
But once everyone starts discussing the issue away from the issue itself and starts talking about background and checking class background, no one will calm down and reason.
"Yeah..." Not only did the mages not believe him, they even raised more pointed questions to him: "Now that I think about it, there's something wrong with this Silas guy."
"Most people who enter the Forbidden Magic Tower will die within two or three years due to the long-term exhaustion of magic power. Even if they don't die of illness, they will be tortured to death by those magic hunters."
"But this guy, how come he has lived there for more than ten years without any problem?"
The doubts are growing louder and louder, and are becoming more and more groundless and unfounded.
Even Silas's tragic experience of being taken out of the cell by the jailers and thrown into the execution room for torture and beating could be interpreted as "cooperating with the Demon Hunter Corps in secret operations and quietly leaving the prison to carry out the mission."
As they chatted, Silas' image almost became that of a lackey of the Demacian nobles and a loyal servant of the Demon Hunter Corps.
"No! It's not that!" Silas's forehead veins popped when he heard that.
He looked at Lux who looked smug, and roared angrily, "Don't, don't listen to this woman's nonsense! Don't forget——"
"She is a crown guard, a Demacia noble! Eldred is even her future uncle!"
"And... just a few days ago, she had a dragon bird eat our mage brother alive right in front of us!"
"Oh?" Lux interrupted him with a smile.
She was waiting for Celesti to say this: "Are you talking about those mages I killed?"
As she spoke, Lux turned her head and looked at the "Magic Swamp Frog" that was ignored by everyone with a flattering look:
"Mr. Tam, please."
"Humph!" The big toad grinned unhappily, "For the last time, little blonde girl."
"You want me to do everything. Do you think I'm a steam robot? Also, your leaders have become more and more timid recently. They don't dare to do anything big."
"The Noxian army is in Piltover, and there are a lot of gold and money waiting across the canal. Why doesn't anyone become a traitor? Alas... I'm just wondering, what are you afraid of?"
"All they caught were petty thieves. It's ok to just eat their hair and nails, but the offenders were shallow believers on the periphery of the organization... They don't taste good in the first place, and they won't taste good even if they fall into depravity."
"Look, I haven't had a good meal lately, and I still have to work for you for free..."
Tam grumbled with an unhappy look on his face, but under Lux's carefully flattering gaze, he reluctantly stuck out his long tongue and drew a circle on the ground.
This invisible circle soon became visible and turned into a strange puddle that appeared out of nowhere on the ground.
The other side of the puddle seemed to be connected to another space. Ripples were seen on the water surface... and several living people crawled out from the "bottom of the water".
They were the mages who were eaten by the so-called "devil bird" a few days ago.
And now, they are all standing here peacefully.
"At that time, Eldred used military law to force me to kill people, so I had no choice but to 'kill' them." Facing the mages ' surprised eyes, Lux explained in a timely manner.
"But in fact, I don't have any pet dragon bird. The so-called dragon bird at that time was conjured by Mr. Tam using magic."
"Of course these mages are not dead. They have been in Zaun for the past few days, resting and well fed."
Now the pressure is completely on Silas.
After Lux explained it clearly, she looked at him and asked, "Mr. Silas, do you have anything else to say now?"
"I can prove that I didn't kill anyone. But can you guarantee that you are not working for the Demon Hunter Corps?"
"..." Silas's forehead was covered with cold sweat and he was speechless for a moment.
Half of the reason is because I was scared.
Because he had realized how terrifying the "Magic Swamp Frog" was, which could cast magic in front of him but made him unable to sense any magical fluctuations.
The other half of the reason was that he didn't know how to explain it.
Is he working for the Demon Seekers now?
It’s true.
“But…” Facing everyone’s gazes of hatred, Silas could only bite the bullet and explain: “I am just cooperating with the Demon Hunters and taking this opportunity to save everyone.”
That is indeed the truth.
He did not betray his fellow mages, nor was he a lackey of the demon hunters. Although the two sides cooperated, it was at most a relationship of mutual exploitation.
But no one cares about this anymore.
Everyone only cares about the fact that Silas admitted that he cooperated with the demon hunters, and only cares about his "composition":
"What else do you have to say, you bastard? You are just a dog sent by the demon hunter. Do you think we will still believe you?!"
Silas: “…”
Now he couldn't explain it at all.
He previously advocated that everything should be judged by class background, believing that people from hostile classes must be enemies.
Even Levi, the head of a council, was caught and .
Now, all the mages have learned how to check ingredients from him.
Once Silas's identity as a "running dog of the demon hunter" is exposed, no one will listen to him calmly anymore.
"Mr. Silas, is this what you want to see?" Lux slowed down her tone and asked seriously, "Everyone doesn't talk about faith, right or wrong, but only uses origin and composition to distinguish between friends and enemies?"
"Do you still think this is good now?"
Silas was speechless.
When he kept saying that he was attacking class enemies, he never thought that he himself would be labeled as a class enemy.
"Actually, I understand you, Mr. Silas."
“When President Levi was educating us, he told us:”
“It may be irrational to talk about origin and class status first. But it is precisely the result of irreconcilable class contradictions. It is precisely because everyone has suffered enough from the exploiting class in the past that everyone will be extremely repulsive to our class enemies.”
"So he understands why you do this."
If it were a world without magic, Levi would have no way to deal with this phenomenon.
But this is Runeterra:
"We are all followers of Goddess Jana."
"We can put aside gender, age, race, nationality, class, and any other external characteristics that indicate identity, and gather together from all over the world for a common treasure—"
"That is our belief!"
As she spoke, Lux spread out her palms and gathered a breeze.
Threads of faith were also drawn out from her, Sona, Silas, and many people present.
Leaders do not need any external identity.
As long as they share the same beliefs, they can be comrades who can share life and death together.
"No..." Silas still couldn't accept it.
Because he was shocked to find that his thread of faith was even weaker than those of Sona and Belax, the two noble ladies.
The thread of faith between Sona and Lux is as bright as a meteor across the sky.
However, the thread of his faith was flickering and looming, and seemed to disappear at any time.
"No! This is impossible!"
Silas didn't believe that these two spoiled noble ladies could be more of a leader than he was.
It is obvious that he is the oppressed one who grew up in misery and should be favored by the Goddess Gana.
"I told you, the leader doesn't look at one's background." Lux sighed, "Your faith is weak, I'm afraid it's because... you still have selfish motives."
"Selfish?" Silas could not accept such an accusation: "How could I be selfish? I have never thought of pursuing privileges or personal enjoyment like the nobles!"
"It's not just the pursuit of enjoyment that is considered selfish." Lux asked pointedly:
"Silas, do you really believe from the bottom of your heart that your theory is absolutely correct? Or are you blinded by hatred and choose to believe it?"
"I..." Silas' face flushed.
"Hatred is also a form of selfishness."
"Mr. Silas, when you give up thinking and rationality for hatred, you are no longer a qualified leader."
