There were two people in the room.
I was already somewhat familiar with the Cardinal from the Church of Oracleus as he sat on one of the seats, his expression hazy as he looked at me. I paid him no mind and looked towards the young man who sat at the end of the table, his expression at ease.
“…..”
My steps paused as I looked at him.
Something about that smile of his… It just felt so irritating to stare at.
The emotions I had barely managed to keep under control nearly exploded all at once in that moment. Bust just barely… just barely, I managed to maintain my composure as I sat down on the opposite end.
At the same time, I turned my attention towards the Cardinal, who merely smiled and stood up before walking up towards the guard who had escorted me all the way here.
“Please lead me to another room. I’ll let these two talk.”
“…Understood.”
Given his position, the guard had no choice but to obey, leaving with the Cardinal and closing the door behind him.
Clank!
The silence returned.
More stifling than ever as I sat down and stared at the man on the opposite end of the table.
The entire time, his lips were pulled into a smile.
But eventually, the silence was broken.
“I know what you’re worried about, and you don’t have to be too worried.”
My brow raised then.
What was he talking about?
I opened my mouth to speak, but just as I did so, I saw his eyes start to change. They suddenly turned hollow, almost empty, as they started to spin.
What sort of situation is this!?
Before I could make sense of what he was trying to say, the world around me began to spin. Stunned, I fought against whatever was happening to me, but the force pulling me away was overwhelming.
“….!?”
Eventually, I lost sight of everything—the colors faded, and my world plunged into darkness.
“Hua!”
By the time I recovered my sight, I found myself standing in a white world.
I hastily looked around me to see the place devoid of anything, and when my eyes eventually fell on the familiar figure, it all clicked.
“Mind space…”
This wasn’t a place I hadn’t been to before.
In fact, I had been here before—during my fight against Caius at the Summit. This place was familiar.
But for someone to enter such a space…
‘Don’t tell me he’s also an emotive mage?’
“I’m not an Emotive Mage, and within this place, you don’t have to worry about anyone eavesdropping on our conversation.”
Jackal’s voice echoed throughout the empty space, his expression seemingly always at ease.
I held my breath while staring in his general direction.
With both hands behind his back, Jackal calmly walked around the space.
“To enter the mind space, you don’t necessarily need to be an Emotive Magic. What you need to be is an exceptional individual within the [Mind] category.”
Moving one hand next to his temple and tapping on it, he looked at me.
“…And that should be a given to those that inherited ‘his’ legacies.”
His legacies…?
I understood immediately who he was talking about.
Oracleus.
“To wield his power, you need an exceptional mind. If your mind is too weak, you’re likely to crumble under the weight of the visions and abilities. That’s why only those with a certain level of mental strength can handle them.”
Coming to a pause, Jackal’s eyes narrowed as he looked at me.
“Why do you think I’ve waited for so long to meet you? Did you think it was because I was too lazy to deal with you?”
He shook his head with a smile.
“…Of course not.”
He pressed his fingers against his temple again.
“It simply came down to the fact that my mind couldn’t handle inheriting ‘his’ powers. I needed to adjust my mind to inherit his powers, and the time has finally come.”
Extending both of his hands in my direction, his smile turned a little more gentle.
“The time has finally come for me to inherit his legacy and fully become whole. So I hope that you don’t resist and let me inherit what rightfully belongs to me.”
I stood in silence, staring at Jackal with my jaw slackened.
This guy…?
‘He’s totally lost it, hasn’t he?’
Seeing his expression and seeing just how self-assured he was about his delusion gave me second-hand embarrassment.
But more importantly, I found myself musing over his words.
‘To be able to fully inherit Oracleus’s powers, I need a mind strong enough to do it?’
A thought suddenly struck my mind as I unconsciously found myself looking at the four-leaf clover on my right arm.
Could it be that the first leaf was granted to strengthen my mind and Emotive abilities to prepare me for the moment I fully inherit Oracleus’s powers?
The more I thought along those lines, the more I felt I was onto something.
But still, there were a few things that didn’t make sense.
Raising my head, I stared in Jackal’s direction.
“How do you… How do you know all of this?”
“Hah.”
Jackal chuckled then, lowering his hands.
“Of course you wouldn’t know. I expected nothing less from a fake like you.”
I frowned then. Just as I was about to open my mouth to speak, he cut me off.
“What do you think about the seven gods?”
“What…”
“Do you think we worship the gods because of their strength?”
Is that not the case?
As far as I understood, the gods weren’t really gods. They were merely seven strong individuals who came from the old Earth and were trapped in the Mirror Dimension.
For them to be gods…
‘They’re anything but gods.’
“It looks like you don’t see them as gods.”
Jackal laughed, his head shaking in what looked to be disappointment.
“The reason why we worship the gods isn’t because of their strength. Sure, they were indeed some of the most powerful people of their time, but would that mean we’d have to worship every strong individual into a god?”
I had nothing to refute him with.
Then…?
“The reason why we worship them as gods is because they were the seven who managed to gain access to the ‘source’.”
Source?
“What—”
Jackal suddenly covered half of his face, his hand pinching his face as he almost seemed to be depressing himself.
“As a fake, you wouldn’t understand, but I’ve seen the source. I’ve managed to tap into it once, and in that moment, I almost felt like I was starting to lose sight of myself. If not for the fact that my mental strength was just barely strong enough to keep me from losing myself, I probably wouldn’t be here any longer. I’d be…”
Jackal stopped then, his expression turning a little pale. His chest rose and fell a couple of times before he shifted his attention back to me.
“… Never mind all of that. Seeing how you’ve never caught a glimpse of the ‘source’, I can say that I’m not surprised. In that case, I’d like to make things easier for the two of us. Give me my blood back and I won’t bother you any longer.”
“That sounds tempting…”
I licked my lips. Of course, the tempting part was merely him not bothering me any longer. Regarding the blood, I couldn’t give it to him.
It was far too important for me.
…It was the only way for me to see Noel and everything.
Whatever this thing called ‘source’ was, I knew I’d eventually get in touch with it. I was curious, but not desperate.
But at the same time, it made me curious.
This was a new piece of information.
‘If the reason they’re called gods is because they manage to get in touch with this strange ‘source’, then does that mean there’s a higher realm compared to the Zenith?’
I thought about it, but soon shook my head.
If there were, Sithrus would most likely be in that realm. I didn’t think that was the case.
Whatever this ‘source’ was, it most likely was something else. Whatever it was, I’d be able to figure more of it out when the time came.
For now, there were more pressing matters at hand.
“Are you tempted? In that case, why don’t you just allow me to absorb everything? Either way, this is better than having the entire force of the church attack you, right? Regardless of how powerful you are, there’s no way you can fight against the churches.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Yes, it is.”
Jackal smiled and didn’t deny it. Staring at his eyes, I could see they were serious. Indeed, if by the end of this little ‘conversation’ of ours, I didn’t agree to hand over the blood, I was sure he’d get the churches to do something against me.
“Alright.”
“Alright? Are you—”
“No.”
I shook my head and snapped my fingers.
Crash!
The white space shattered apart, under Jackal’s stunned expression, as the white world faded, and we found ourselves back in the same room as before.
Adjusting my clothes, I stood up while pressing my hand against the cold metal table.
I had gotten all I needed from this conversation.
Now, it was time for me to leave.
“Let the churches come for me.”
I didn’t turn back while saying this, heading directly for the door and opening it. Just as I was about to stop, I paused.
“You’ve called me fake more times than I care to count. I never bothered to respond because it was irrelevant. Fake, real—it’s meaningless. A man obsessed with such distinctions is someone trapped within their own sight. I care nothing for those who can’t see beyond the limit of their own mind. And right now, I see a lot of things…”
Most of all.
“…I see that you’re going to have a hard time getting out of this one. After all, you may have the church backing you, but it’s not like I’m without backers.”
“Uh?”
Jackal’s face changed then, but it was already too late.
“What does that—”
Clank!
I closed the door before he could get his words out.
That was when it started.
Bang, Bang, Bang—
The muffled thud of chairs crashing, punctuated by screams echoing from the depths of the room.
I laughed then.