Ivan...? I frowned. The na felt unfamiliar yet familiar at the sa ti. However, I didn't have much ti to dwell on it considering the situation that I was in.
"You aren't showing much of a reaction. Do you perhaps not know who I am?"
"...Should I?"
While I wasn't entirely familiar with the person in front of , I more or less had a hunch. Few people could enter my mind space without alerting Delilah and Atlas who stood outside.
"Mhh, I guess not."
The man called Ivan said, shaking his head faintly.
"In fact, it doesn't even matter if you don't know. That's not important, is it?"
As he said those words, his eyes paused on the trapped Julien. With the chains biding his body, he was still showing a struggle.
Staring in his direction, I shook my head.
"No, it isn't."
I already knew all that I needed to know. Since it was highly unlikely that he was from the Inverted Sky or the Academy, the only possibility that crossed my mind was that he was so sort of higher-up sent in order to free the Keeper.
Given that the Keeper was already strong enough, this person's ability was probably even higher.
'Perhaps he's Tier 8 or even higher...'
If it was higher than I was possibly dealing with one of the Seven Monarchs.
Surprisingly, the thought didn't panic .
I was feeling a lot calr than I anticipated. Was it because I had been spending so much ti with Delilah?
Who knew?
"I'm curious about sothing."
While I relished the calmness of my mind, Ivan started to speak once again. As he alternated his gaze between Julien and , a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Between the two of you, which one is the real one?"
"Pardon?"
My brows ca to a furrow.
Was he able to tell sothing? Was it Julien who had told him? Or was it sothing else that led him to believe this?
"At first I was confused at how you could be possessed given that Matthias isn't capable of executing such rituals, but now that I'm here, I think I have an idea."
I suddenly held my breath.
What did he find out?
His next words made my heart pause.
"You were possessed to begin with, weren't you?"
|||||
My silence seed to give him an answer as a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Yes, that would make sense."
He snapped his fingers and the chains binding Julien shattered.
"Huak!"
Imdiately, he dropped to the ground, falling on all fours. As his chest rose and fell, he raised his head to glare at us.
"Wow, calm down."
Ivan seed to relish Julien's expression.
"I'm not here to harm you, don't worry. In fact, I can even help you."
"....huh?"
Julien's expression paused and his head turned to face Ivan. My fist silently clenched at the
scene.
"This is not good.'
I started thinking of all the ways to escape this situation.
Yet again, things had turned out in a way that I hadn't expected. While I knew that soone from high up was going to co, I didn't expect them to be bold enough to do sothing to in the process of the Cleric's ritual. Especially now that I am aware that Atlas and Delilah are both present.
'With all attention focused on , it's highly likely that he did sothing to the Cleric to get to .'
It was a bold plan considering who he was dealing with, but it looked like he succeeded.
Thankfully, I knew he couldn't do anything to .
Still, that was the least of my worries.
"You...? Help ?"
Overhearing Julien's haggard voice, I noticed that he had finally cald down and processed the situation. It didn't take a genius to understand that this Ivan man wasn't on my side.
Hope kindled in Julien's eyes as his eyes flicked in my direction.
"Will you really help ?"
"....Of course, I can."
Ivan's smile grew and he turned to look at .
Addressing , he alternated his attention between the two of us. Holding his chin, he started to talk,
"If my guess is correct, this person right here is the real Julien. You're rely a proxy that was used to infiltrate this Academy for the Inverted Sky. You were also probably ordered by the Inverted Sky to kill the Pope and frad Matthias to shift the bla on him. After all, given your strength, it seems unlikely that you can kill him, no?"
From how confident he seed with his words, I almost found myself believing his nonsense. It was just that it was so far from the truth that it almost seed laughable.
"Then again, it's not like I can tell the Pope killed himself and that the one that likely planted my soul into Julien's body was most likely myself.'
His made-up conclusion seed less made up than mine.
'How troubleso.'
"Judging from your silence, I'm not far off from the truth, right?"
"....I don't know what you're talking about."
In this case, the most appropriate thing was to deny my involvent in the situation and
continue to feign ignorance.
"What is the Inverted Sky?"
"Ha."
A chuckle escaped Ivan's lips while he looked at .
"Yes, of course, you're not going to admit it. It only makes sense you wouldn't but—"
"Hey, do you know what's the Inverted Sky?"
Cutting Ivan off, I addressed Julien directly. If looks could kill, he'd probably have killed
many tis over.
"What are you talking about?"
"What he said. Sothing about the Inverted Sky. Do you know anything about it?"
"...No."
I raised my brow.
'Looks like he isn't as stupid as I thought.'
In his anger, he was still able to remain rational enough to understand what was happening.
I'd originally thought he'd spill the beans, but he didn't. That made things sowhat more
annoying to deal with.
It was just a pity that...
Snap!
With a snap of my fingers, Julien's eyes suddenly turned listless. The changes were caught by
Ivan but I spoke before he could say anything.
"Let ask again, do you know anything about the Inverted Sky?"
Julien remained silent at first, his mouth trembling slightly. However, it was a few seconds
after that his voice rang.
"Yes."
His voice was quiet, but it rang loud enough for the two of us to hear.
Only then did I look at Ivan whose smile faded from his face.
"What did you do to him?"
"....Nothing of real importance. I'm sure soone of your stature can tell that he isn't lying."
One of the main features of the Ring of Nothingness was that it could turn anyone who was subjected to the 'Trials of Forgotten Minds' into becoming a loyal servant who would do anything that the wearer asked of them.
While Julien's mind hadn't eroded to the point where he would listen to all I had to say, the past few days in which he had been in the ring were enough for it to affect him.
'... It's a pity that I can't maintain this for long.'
My original plan was for him to stay in the ring long enough for him to beco my puppet,
but the circumstances made that impossible.
Furthermore, I also didn't think I could fully convert Julien using the Ring.
There was sothing that was preventing from doing so. Nonetheless, this was good
enough.
|| ||
A strange silence engulfed the space as Ivan's eyes narrowed.
I proceeded to ask Julien another question.
"Were you the one who joined the Inverted Sky?"
"....Yes."
"Hmm, so am I part of the Inverted Sky?"
"Not to my knowledge."
I shifted my attention towards Ivan. While his answer wasn't exactly what I wanted, I didn't
tamper with his words since I was sure he'd be able to tell if I forced him into telling lies.
11
"....."
Ivan's eyes were incredibly narrow and his expression was hard to read.
I stopped asking Julien any more questions, knowing that my link with him was growing
weaker. In the end, Julien's eyes returned to normal and his head snapped back up.
"What happened?"
His eyes flicked in my direction.
"What did you do to ?!"
And his voice bellowed in the space around us as he glared at .
"You did sothing to , didn't you? How dare you!?"
"Shh."
I pressed my finger onto my lip as Ivan stared in Julien's direction. Snapping my fingers again,
Julien's head flicked down. Keeping him conscious was a risk. I couldn't let him speak
anymore.
"...."
Perhaps seeing just how unstable Julien was, Ivan started to doubt his previous conclusion. However, in the end, his eyes regained their clarity as he shook his head.
"Never mind, the truth doesn't matter."
"Hm?"
It was my turn to frown.
The atmosphere grew suddenly oppressive, closing in like an invisible weight. When Ivan
turned to look at , a trace of vitality seed to drain from his eyes, leaving them dim and
lifeless.
"Whether I'm right or wrong, it doesn't matter. What matters is what you've done to Matthias
and the Pope. Regardless of your origins, you're the one who was responsible for this entire ss. I know you are."
Pressing his hand against his chest, he calmly spoke,
"My job is to clean up this ss and make the one responsible for all of this pay the
consequences of touching us. The mont you touched Matthias was the mont you ssed up."
As his voice stopped there, the pressure that surrounded felt even more suffocating. And that was despite my high ntal strength.
I felt my expression change at the sudden turn of events but still forced myself to remain
calm.
"Atlas and Delilah are both present outside. Are you sure it's safe for you to act given those circumstances?"
"...It doesn't matter."
Ivan dismissed my words with a wave of his hand.
"Regardless of how much the two can care for you, they won't be able to stop if I want to
do sothing. But don't worry, I'm not here to kill you. I'm rely here to grab your soul. I'll be able to get the answers that I want once I do."
My eyes constricted at the sudden piece of information, but before I even had the chance to do
sothing, Ivan raised his open palm and I felt a powerful suction force.
It was incredibly powerful and sucked directly into it.
In re monts, I had already found myself next to him. I hardly had any ti to react
before finding my face near the palm.
.... And just as I thought things were about to turn for the worse, the suction force stopped.
"Tsk."
What followed after was a faint click of the tongue as Ivan raised his head to look up. His gaze
eventually fell on as he shook his head.
"Count yourself lucky."
His figure faded shortly after that.
I stared at the spot where he was previously present with an open mouth.
Just...
Just what in the world happened?
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