Look Directly At Me

Chapter 43: Look Directly At Me

Volg, a Mind Mage who claimed to "deceive even gods," one of the Truth Society's Twelve Stars, ranked sixth.

He was the most adept at "propagating" the True Lord's faith within the Truth Society. Wherever he appeared, it signified that the area had been designated a "Patriarchate Zone" by the Truth Society, earning him the moniker "Gospel of the Nether Sea."

In the original plot of the "Kingdom of Heavenly Principles," he was supposed to make his formal debut in Chapter 3, stirring up one bizarre storm after another. However, Linton hadn't expected to encounter this behind-the-scenes manipulator, who shouldn't have appeared yet, before the story had even begun.

"This is truly beyond my expectations, sir."

Volg's voice emerged faintly from the shadows. "Although the Eye of Transience showed me someone would intrude upon my experiment site, it neither informed me who was coming nor that the visitor would know my identity."

With a wave of his hand, a chair covered in luxurious fur appeared opposite the desk.

"Please, have a seat."

Linton frowned slightly.

"You won't refuse me," Volg seemed to be smiling. "Because you're eager for me to tell you a story, aren't you?"

"That's right," Linton suddenly smiled, revealing his white teeth.

He sat down in the chair, his expression relaxed, even casually crossing his legs.

"I'm very eager."

"I hope I can provide you with the response you need," Volg said calmly. "Then, let's get down to business."

"You are the guest, you ask first. I will tell you everything you wish to know."

"I don't want to know anything," Linton said lazily, resting his head on his hand. "Didn't you already write down the entire process and outcome? I understand it all, there's nothing I need to ask."

"Sir, your heart must not feel that way, surely?" Volg said leisurely. "Don't be willful like those annoying children, will you?"

"Oh?"

Linton raised an eyebrow. "What do you think I should be thinking?"

"..."

Volg was silent for a moment, and his voice suddenly gained a hint of amusement.

"Sir, you are truly interesting."

"Apologies, but my Miss Knight has a different opinion on your assessment."

"Heh heh," Volg chuckled, then continued on his own.

"When my experiment was about to be declared a failure, I tried to find a way to salvage it using the Eye of Transience. It was then that I saw you amidst countless future illusions. And then, something strange happened."

"Before I saw you, all the illusions pointed to different futures. Regardless of whether the outcomes were the same, the processes varied to some extent. But after seeing you, only one possibility remained in all the visions."

"—You would know everything that happened in this land."

"The Eye of Transience told me that you seem to have an extraordinary fondness for young children and would be enraged and resentful because of my experiments." He seemed immersed in his own performance, his voice suddenly rising.

"True Lord above, what pure resentment! What elegant anger! From the moment I gained consciousness, it was the first time I had witnessed such pure emotion."

"Great, superior, and unique."

"And so..." Volg abruptly calmed down again, acting like a schizophrenic. "I chose a future from the illusions guided by the Eye of Transience that would most intensely agitate your emotions."

"After meeting Bella, you would be influenced by the 'goodness' of those experimental subjects, and then, step by step, bit by bit, you would uncover the essence of the abnormality."

"When you read my notes, discover that all the 'goodness' was a facade, discover that Bella was an 'embodiment of malice' deliberately created, discover that someone was carelessly toying with fragile lives..."

"You would fall into an unbelievably extreme emotional state, and then, I would stand before you and tell you..."

"—That's right, it's all true!"

Volg's voice fluctuated, sometimes calm and still, other times soaring like a singer in a theater.

However, as his performance concluded, he did not hear the expected applause from his audience.

Linton's expression was a half-smile.

"And then?"

He received no response, and the room suddenly fell silent.

Volg's face, hidden in the shadows, was indiscernible, but it was clear that the current situation was not unfolding as he had imagined.

Linton leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table, fingers interlaced before his eyes.

"It seems you've misunderstood something?" he said. "Firstly, even through the 'Six Degrees of Separation,' I couldn't possibly find any connection with the villagers. Secondly, while I do like children, I haven't even known Bella for a full day, so how can you talk about 'liking' her?"

"Oh? Sir, you seem unwilling to face the facts..."

"Really?" Linton grinned. "Aren't you a Mind Mage? Why don't you try to probe my emotions?"

"See if I have any feelings of 'liking' towards Bella?"

Volg was silent for a moment. "This is a matter of fact, there's no need..."

"Is there really no need?" Linton's eyes held a hint of depth. "What are you running from? Could it be..."

"—You're afraid of me?"

Volg fell silent once more.

Linton smiled, "From the moment you spoke, I felt something was off."

"You're a Mind Mage of extraordinary power, and I'm just a tiny ant whose fur you couldn't even compare to. Why would you be so polite to me?"

"As a Mind Mage, you stopped trying to trick me after a simple test. That doesn't fit your usual behavior, Mr. Volg."

Volg still didn't say anything.

"Let me guess," Linton's smile widened, but his deep eyes grew colder. "You said you couldn't see my identity through the Eye of Transience? Am I right—but that's absolutely impossible."

The Eye of Transience was a unique skill of the Truth Society, said to be the manifestation of the True Lord's power. Believers could sacrifice their devotion to the True Lord and gain the opportunity to glimpse the future.

—This was the information the player Linton had learned during the third chapter of the story.

Now, as a member of the Truth Society, he understood it even more clearly.

If the Book of True Names recorded the past and present, then the Eye of Transience saw possible futures.

The Knights of the Knights Order were protected by the Lord of Blossoms, so perhaps the Eye of Transience couldn't predict them; but as a member of the Truth Society who had undergone the true Baptism, it was impossible for Linton to avoid being spied upon by it.

"Let me guess, what did you see?"

Linton closed his eyes, as if imagining a scene.

"The boundary between heaven and the mortal world was quietly destroyed, the bones of seven supreme deities were forged into a dark throne, Heavenly Principles and humanity could not stop the world's collapse, and the flames scorching the earth came from the eternal Abyss."

"—And I, standing on the highest mountain, composed an obituary for the end of the world."

"This is what you saw, my future, right?"

The next moment, the man opened his eyes, and a shadow of darkness flowed from them.

"Now, look at me!!"

—At this moment, the man who, in Miss Knight's memory, always deceived the world with a calm demeanor, had an imposing presence in his eyes, like that of a celestial god.