#117

I had absolutely no desire to meet a player who served the ‘Distorted One’ of all Othergods.

‘But I still need to gather information.’

“What kind of person is the Prophet?”

“He is an apostle of the Lord, entrusted with the mission to set this land right.”

I widened my eyes, pretending to be surprised.

“An apostle? May I ask what his name is?”

“…You will find out if the Prophet permits it.”

‘Even the name is a secret?’

Should I use Forced Persuasion to find out the name?

After a moment’s deliberation, I decided against it.

There was no guarantee that the name Andrea knew was the real one.

‘If I were in charge, I would have given fake information to a unit on an infiltration mission.’

That way, even if the unit were captured, the Main Body wouldn’t be tracked.

The most important thing in Conclude is the survival of the ‘Cult Leader Unit.’

If the ‘Cult Leader Unit’ dies, the game ends immediately, no matter how many other units are still alive.

Therefore, infiltration units are usually instructed to embrace martyrdom rather than return, even if the mission is successful.

‘The crazier the person trying to seriously win the game, the more pathologically they will pursue their own safety.’

With the Divine Power of Distortion, hiding one’s appearance is simple.

So, instead of the name or appearance, I needed to find out the contact method or the instructions.

If I could do that, I could roughly guess how many units had been deployed within the Capital Church and how they communicated with those units…

“The fact that he is an apostle must not be widely known. There are many wicked people in this Capital Church who seek to destroy Order. Athanas is one of them.”

Andrea continued with a serious expression.

“If such evil people were to learn his identity, they would do whatever it takes to kill him.”

‘Well, that’s because that bastard is a piece of shit.’

Andrea continued speaking while brushing a strand of hair away from my face.

“Therefore, Fabio, you must not tell anyone that you have been given the opportunity to meet him. Do you understand?”

It was a kind tone, sounding genuinely concerned for me.

I felt a bit nauseous.

“…I understand. I won’t say a word, no matter what.”

Andrea smiled softly, appearing relieved.

“I shall trust those words.”

At that moment, a notification window blocked my vision.

[Andrea’s words are highly trustworthy!

You resolve to keep the secret no matter what.

If a moment comes where you cannot keep the secret, you will choose death instead.]

[

SYSTEM

: Due to the effect of ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme,’ ‘Distortion’ is provided as text.]

‘…It’s telling me to commit suicide if I feel like I can’t keep the secret?’

Looking down, I saw a purple snake peeking its head out from Andrea’s sleeve.

‘Is Andrea under this kind of Distortion too?’

Security maintained by a suicidal impulse the moment one tries to reveal a secret.

Oblivion, which makes one forget they even knew something, felt more humane by comparison.

‘I shouldn’t use Forced Persuasion to pry it out.’

I decided to ask only the things that ‘Fabio’ would naturally be curious about.

“Exactly when will I meet him? I need a reason to be in that place at that time so as not to arouse Athanas’s suspicion.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. If you go about your business as usual, he will find you.”

“…He will come find me? Without letting me know in advance when he’ll arrive?”

“That is correct.”

‘Fuck.’

He’s just going to watch me and then suddenly appear?

‘How the hell do I avoid that?’

“How will I know that he is the Prophet?”

“He will tell you.”

‘And if he seems suspicious, I just act like I don’t know him and pass by?’

Thorough, if nothing else.

The problem is that for the person being tested, this method is absolutely nerve-wracking.

Because you can’t know in advance to avoid it.

“Fabio, there is no need to worry too much. No matter what form he takes when he finds you, you will surely be deeply impressed. Just as I was.”

‘…That’s not what I’m worried about right now.’

I just don’t want to receive the Distorted One’s Blessing.

However, I couldn’t let it be known that I didn’t want to meet the ‘Prophet.’

I lowered my head and spoke in a lacking-confidence voice.

“…What happens if I disappoint him? What if he decides I am not worthy of seeing the truth?”

“Then you must strive harder so that you may receive the Blessing next time.”

“What kind of effort should I make?”

“Just do what you can do right now.”

‘Useless.’

Still, I should consider it a relief that he told me the person would come.

If I had encountered them without knowing anything, I would have been screwed.

‘I didn’t get much meaningful information, but…’

It was enough to know that the person called the ‘Prophet’ would visit the Capital Church in the near future and that they were cautious enough not to reveal themselves first.

‘If the enemy is cautious, winning might be hard, but avoiding them is easy.’

Because the moment I have even a slight suspicion that it might be a trap, I’ll never talk to them.

‘Should I ask Casimir to have me interrogated for about a week?’

If I pretend to be questioned as a witness in some case by the Inquisition, they probably won’t even come near me.

The only question is whether a week would be enough…

“And the effort you can make right now is studying the Doctrine. Now, let us study.”

‘…I guess I can’t tell him I want to go back and sleep a bit more?’

* * *

After the lesson, instead of eating breakfast, I chose to return to my room to sleep a little more, but once I lay in bed, sleep wouldn’t come and my thoughts raced.

‘…It was a strange dream.’

Usually, dreams fade quickly after waking, but this felt as if it had actually happened. I even felt like if I searched the room thoroughly, I might find traces that Athanas had been there.

‘Dreams becoming excessively vivid isn’t usually a good sign.’

I closed my eyes, trying to stop my thoughts.

‘Fuck, I should have just eaten breakfast.’

In the end, without a wink of sleep, I headed to the prayer room.

‘…Everything will become clear once I see the real Athanas.’

I arrived about thirty minutes earlier than usual and waited; after a few minutes, the ‘real’ Athanas appeared.

“Fabio.”

Athanas looked at me and smiled softly.

“I missed you.”

Before I could even respond, Athanas pulled me into an embrace.

‘…Did I fall asleep?’

For a moment, I wondered, but I soon realized I hadn’t.

Valentine’s prayer room is a place for lovers.

That means I have to pretend to be lovers until we enter the prayer room.

Unlike last night, today there was a clear and logical reason for Athanas to act this way.

“What are you talking about? We saw each other yesterday.”

I pushed Athanas away and laughed awkwardly.

‘I almost accidentally mentioned last night.’

Of course, even if I had, Athanas would have thought I was just delivering a line for our ‘lover act’ and would have played along.

‘Get a grip.’

I felt embarrassed that I had momentarily forgotten that Athanas’s behavior was an act.

“…The time I spent without seeing you felt very long to me.”

Athanas reached out and stroked my left cheek.

A chill suddenly ran down my spine.

“S-stop saying embarrassing things and let’s just go in.”

Athanas let out a small laugh.

“I understand. You’re telling me to show you with actions instead of words, aren’t you?”

Athanas wrapped an arm around my waist.

‘…Were we always this close?’

Am I being too conscious of it because of the dream?

My heart was beating so fast that I felt slightly nauseous.

‘No, this feeling is just me being embarrassed.’

Once I realized that the Athanas in last night’s dream was exactly the same as the Athanas ‘acting as a lover,’ I felt so embarrassed I wanted to bang my head against the wall.

Doesn’t that mean a part of my subconscious was hoping Athanas’s act of being a lover was real?

Because then, no matter what truth I revealed, he wouldn’t leave…

“…Excuse me.”

As soon as the door closed, Athanas released the arm around my waist.

Hearing Athanas’s calm voice snapped me back to reality.

‘Right. Now is not the time to be thinking about delusions created by my subconscious.’

There was still the important matter of explaining to the ‘real’ Athanas what I had experienced yesterday.

Of course, there was the option of saying nothing, but I couldn’t choose that.

Athanas had requested my cooperation solely because he wanted to know about the approaching destruction of the Dark Realm.

If I hid facts I had learned just because I wanted to maintain my relationship with Athanas, it would become a deception toward him.

‘…Even if he learns the truth and is disappointed in me to the point that he can no longer cooperate, I must accept it.’

After realizing what I truly feared in the dream, I made a decision.

‘Let’s not be swayed by irrational emotions.’

Looking back, I had been acting with the highest priority being not to be hated by Athanas.

Now that I realized my mistake, I had to fix it.

‘But…’

When I actually faced Athanas, the words wouldn’t come easily.

“…Have you finished organizing your thoughts?”

“Huh? What thoughts?”

“You left first yesterday, saying you had things to organize.”

‘Ah.’

Come to think of it, that was yesterday.

The part where Athanas was invaded by ‘Oblivion’ and fainted while shedding tears of blood…

‘I’ve been through so much since then that it feels like days have passed.’

Fortunately, Athanas’s eyes were clear, with no trace of the burst capillaries.

“I should have asked if you were feeling okay first, but I forgot. Did you receive the Blessing of Healing after that?”

“I did.”

‘Then the maggots in the eyes…’

…Let’s not think about it.

I felt like the nightmare I had tried so hard to forget would come back.

“…Athanas, I told you not to investigate Oblivion.”

It was when I finally plucked up the courage to speak.

“I was actually intending to bring that up.”

“What do you mean?”

‘Don’t tell me he disobeyed me and looked into Oblivion?’

“If you’re saying you found out the name of Oblivion, then absolutely…”

“I found a way to resist Oblivion.”

‘…He found a way?’

How?

“To be precise, I obtained a Sacred Relic that increases mental resistance.”

“Where did you get that?”

“…I was able to obtain it by going to a place I saw in a dream.”

‘A dream?’

Chapter 118