Chapter 148: Invaders (8)
“What’s going on, alone here?”
“Eve is not that young anymore.”
“Hmm, it’s a bit unsettling.”
“…”
I couldn’t respond to her approaching words. After all, while I wasn’t by her side, Eve had gotten herself into quite a few minor troubles.
There were always conflicts or clashes with someone, and her usual arrogant words and actions had been exposed to the public enough to create controversy, which had almost become familiar.
But that didn’t mean it was good for us to stick together all the time. Not for others’ eyes, and not for me either. So we had to maintain some distance.
And anyway, Eve was currently occupied with coaxing the commander of the Rebel Alliance, Liam, leaving her own body quietly seated in the room.
In a situation like this, I could also sit here in a chair in the hotel corridor and have a bit of free time.
“But what brings the Sacred Lady here?”
“Why are you so on guard?”
“Well…”
I was dumbfounded when I looked at Isabel’s nonchalant face.
She had spent her time in her room, whining and begging me and Eve to teach her the resonance law every time she returned from the battlefield.
At times, Eve would avoid her like the plague.
So naturally, I had to be on guard. Moreover, at the moment, there was no Eve beside me to growl at Isabel. In fact, Eve couldn’t even share my senses right now.
I had recently strongly insisted that I take control of the connection to the Collective Consciousness that linked us.
If it had been the old Eve, obsessed and single-minded, she would have never allowed me to sever that link, but the current Eve was capable of thinking in various directions.
Above all, after successfully venturing into the Universe and confirming her own latent power, she had become remarkably laid-back.
Now, Eve was no longer obsessively attached to me. She had become one with her essence. She was just instinctively concerned about me.
The price of using my last card, Unification, was harsh.
“I won’t throw a tantrum today.”
“Honestly, I can’t believe that. Last time you were hiding upside down in the training hall ceiling.”
“I’m not that clueless to cling to someone who is being erased in real-time.”
I tried to smooth things over with a smile, but unlike before, she wiped any trace of laughter from her face and plopped down next to me.
“I think your relationship is special. As if you’re one… Even though there’s clearly no blood relation.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Actually, I have a rather unremarkable talent.”
Isabel turned her head to look at me, her eyes shining in a soft golden hue. It felt almost piercing.
I sensed that her Formancy had moved but realized it wasn’t hostile towards me, so I just raised my guard.
“The power given by the deity does exist. The power of insight granted by Him allows one to pierce the essence of a subject.”
“What do you see in me?”
I chuckled weakly. I had fought alongside her kin and those from the demonic realm numerous times.
The holy knights who fought while shouting the name of the goddess Ratel.
Their divine power was indeed a wondrous power, healing wounds and lightening their bodies to enable them to fight like zombies. But to me, it seemed more like a type of Formancy rather than divine power.
I foolishly thought that a game system that could manipulate the lives of countless worlds might be closer to a god.
“I can see various things. Including the fact that you are currently empty.”
But still, Isabel’s one statement harbored a divine quality.
“When you’re together, you can’t see it. Eve, her existence is so immense that you are simply overwhelmed and erased. But it seems that the reason is not just a difference in presence.”
“What exactly are you seeing?”
“You are being drawn in—body, mind, soul, and even faith—to her.”
Isabel continued to make bombshell statements as if it were nothing. For a moment, I pondered whether to connect with Eve’s consciousness.
Does she really see through our identities?
“On paper, it states you recently rescued Eve in the middle of the battlefield. However, the relationship I see between you two now is certainly not one that could be formed in just a few months. If I dare say this, it might be blasphemy, but your relationship is even closer than mine with Ratel from the moment I was born.”
“Why are you suddenly bringing up the Sacred Lady and her deity?”
“That’s because I’ve devoted everything for Lady Ratel as a devout believer and chosen sacred lady. But even I haven’t given everything to you as you have. What exactly is Eve to you? Is she some sort of god? A god that you can give everything to?”
Isabel’s words shook my mind.
If… if I had heard these words yesterday, no, just a few hours ago, I might have brushed it off.
But now, I could see how much Eve had grown by witnessing the process of coaxing Liam, the commander of the Rebel Alliance.
What happened today wasn’t just adding another submind with ties to the Legion.
Eve, who had shown signs since subduing Reina, had begun to understand and empathize with humans and, furthermore, to use that to her advantage. Could she not do the same with other races?
Eve was getting closer to perfection. Contrary to my thoughts, Eve showed neither limits nor deficiencies. Even if such aspects existed, she was evolving and growing to fill them.
Eve would feel no inadequacy. Because she was perfect. So, she would try to cover this entire Universe as herself.
Like when she was helpless against the bombardment of the Rebel Alliance, the plan I had crafted to seek cooperation and coexistence with others when I encountered my limits and felt my deficiencies was ultimately consumed by Eve’s limitless capabilities.
“God…”
I muttered blankly.
I hadn’t believed in a god before, nor did I now. Though Isabel, as a sacred lady, demonstrated divine power, her god was not my god.
Eve as a god. It didn’t seem too far from the truth. Perhaps the one closest to being a being who could be called a god was Eve.
The little entity from the underground labyrinth that once saw me as its god was no longer there. Instead, I had reached a point where I should look up to it.
“This relationship—was it what you desired?”
Isabel’s words pierced through my dazed mind. I shook my head unknowingly.
“I knew it. Just looking at your actions led me to guess. You were merely an ordinary individual in this world, but after experiencing certain events, you gained a bit of power. Then, as you went through the battlefield, you began to grow stronger gradually. Up to this point is a growth that anyone can experience. However, there was a point where that growth surged unbelievably.”
“The resonance law is originally such a power. If you truly believe in each other and stand together, it amplifies that power exponentially.”
“That alone isn’t truly yours.”
“…”
I couldn’t refute everything Isabel said. For a moment, an overwhelming sense of emptiness overwhelmed me, unlike anything I had felt before.
The length of the path I had struggled to carve out became invisible now. Was this it? Per Isabel’s words, would I no longer be able to stand on equal footing with Eve?
“If you’ve made up your mind, contact me.”
“…What do you mean by ‘make up your mind’?”
“No god can exist without believers. True faith is not about entrusting one’s thoughts and heart to a god. If that happens, it becomes fatal to the god who drives away even its own believers. I can help you shake off that misguided faith. All you need is the right mindset. Think it over well. I don’t think the path you’ve walked until now is shallower than that of Eve.”
Isabel left me with her final words as I could no longer hide my emotions.
For a moment, I didn’t understand her words. What she said implied that I could still compete with Eve.
[A trivial choice divides paths. There is no correct answer. The choice is yours.]
“…Having already used the card of Unification for Eve’s growth, I can’t control her. I am powerless.”
[Choices certainly exist.]
“You know something.”
I scratched my head vigorously at the words that now flickered even with my eyes closed.
As a Seer, it never speaks directly. But there were times when it surely made gestures to convey its intentions.
[You still have power. There are multiple forces that Eve, the Unit, can never handle. Your soul is not Eve’s. There’s still a chance to try again. The choice is yours.]
“…”
Once while in Unification with Eve. And then once handing over the initiative to Eve.
Having already failed twice, could there be a chance again? Perhaps it might be possible.
Eve and I are one now. That is, Eve is ultimately one with me. Meaning, as Eve grows stronger, I also grow stronger. If Eve could use the powers of a player that I couldn’t control.
“Then, I guess I’ll have to negotiate one last time. Betting on myself. And for myself.”
I murmured as I looked around the shop that I hadn’t opened in a long time. The gold Eve had brought back was in abundance.
