After Michiōs finished speaking, he watched Kallen closely, hoping for some response. Clearly, however, he was disappointed.
Kallen merely nodded calmly, so simply... as though his response was nothing more than: oh, understood.
Michiōs found this somewhat incomprehensible, but he did not dare peer directly into Kallen's mind. Even though he possessed that ability, he feared that he might get in but never get out.
As a divine artifact once wielded by the God of Eternity, he knew perfectly well how terrifying a deity... no, an epoch's overlord could be.
So he decided to take the most direct and sincere approach, asking:
"Don't you find it surprising?"
"I could foresee it."
"Don't you feel disappointed?"
"I can understand it."
"Don't you feel angry?"
"I can accept it."
Michiōs spread his hands. "But I can't understand it. Or did he deceive me? Few people in this world can deceive me, but he is one of them. After all, he is Tyranus's inheritor."
"He is Norton."
Michiōs smiled. "In that respect, you two are very alike. I can sense that neither of you acknowledges the identity behind you. That runs completely counter to what ordinary people would choose.
"For ordinary people, their ancestor's name always comes first, followed by a whole series of identities, ranks, and honorifics. Only then do they themselves come last."
"That's childish."
"Childish? Those are divine honorifics."
"But they aren't you, after all. As you said earlier, you can't understand Norton, but I can. You can't understand this recognition of one's own identity, but I still can.
"He is the High Priest of the Order God Church, and I am Sequence 2 of the Order God Church's Whip of Order.
"My perspective isn't as far-reaching or comprehensive as his, but we look at the church and the world