Soren sat before the marble round table, his frown illuminated by the radiant shine of own soul. The flame flickered unevenly—even it could not resist feeling absolutely astonished at what just occurred.
In front of him, a lonesome golden window pane showcasing Julie’s hotel room reflected in his eyes. For the past hour or so, he had been probing on the girl without her knowing.
Did it make him feel like a creep? Yes.
Were his actions necessary? Y-yes… Well, maybe?...
I swear I had a good reason!
Regardless of his justifications, he did manage to obtain a ton of useful information. For one, Julie belongs to an organization that seems to have the goal of exterminating or capturing supernatural entities. No doubt, Soren’s involvement with scribe-of-worlds.com would have also drawn their attention.
The organization also seems to have forces embedded in most countries, judging by how they’re able to operate within the closed off walls of the Vatican… Their forces—at least the ones working directly with Julie—are made up mostly of Phantasms and Sentinels. And the supernatural entities on Earth are referred to as ‘Irregular Runic Entities.’ Whether they are similar in nature to the Spirit Beasts and Hexes Soren knew of in Yarian still remained a mystery.
And as for how this random brooklyn girl managed to get acquainted with such a terrifying faction… He wasn’t sure, but he was certain of one thing, and that it was most likely his fault.
The fates of all anchors connected to him through this enigmatic space were intertwined with his. If his trajectory in fate was one that involved the Mysterious World, then so too would his anchors be involved in such dealings. Julie’s orbits would have likely followed this logic, leading to her current predicament.
It was because of this that a part of him felt responsible for her circumstances. At the very least, we wanted to assist her in surviving in the most indirect ways… After all, if he were to involve her even more, would that not have the opposite effect?
That was his logic at least, until… Solomon arrived…
Soren gazed through the [Fictionalization] screen—golden butterflies swimming within his eyes. Eerily, Julie who was now once again being controlled by the entity inside her gazed back at him, breaking the fourth wall in the process. The enigmatic being used Julie’s body to smile at Soren, as if to acknowledge his existence.
“Interesting…”
The flame flickered unevenly, “What will you do?”
Soren stayed silent and observed the chilling scene a bit more. “Judging by His title, it should be fair to assume He is at the level of an Archmage or higher… He should also be a Phantasm, but we still haven’t seen what his Soul Weapon is. If He was our enemy, we would stand no chance.”
“Agreed.”
He sighed, “Then the most logical option would be to just… Watch and see what happens. However, His detection is truly terrifying. He was also able to reverse engineer the mark inside Julie and use it to His own advantage… We still have no idea what His capabilities are, but I assume that if He had more information on us, He might be able to completely hijack this space.”
The Records replied, “Should I sever the connection to the anchor?”
Soren shook his head, “No, that will make us look weak. Right now, He is probably operating under the assumption that I am a god. If we were to back away, that would only ruin our chances.”
The flame felt apprehensive yet excited. “What are your orders then?”
A sinister grin took over his face as Soren licked his lips in excitement. “If He’s asking for a god, we should just give Him one.”
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Julie looked up at the ceiling of the hotel room—her lips curling up into a brilliant smile. To the casual observer, it would look as if she was staring at nothing. They might even see it as a sign to finally admit the poor girl into a mental asylum.
However, Solomon was staring at something very specific. Something that most mortals wouldn’t even dare to gaze upon.
A god.
He placed His hand over Julie’s chest and bowed ceremoniously.
“Celestial high above, may you grace me with your name? I am Solomon, the Sorcerer King. I worship the Origin of Secrets—the one referred to as the Nameless Monarch. May I know if you are His acquaintance? Were you the one who assisted me?”
The room was flooded in silence. Julie frowned, “Does He wish not to communicate?”
But then, a voice entered their minds from within the Fairy Ring. “Make as many assumptions as you wish.”
Solomon’s eyes widened. “So Indeed it was you…” He bowed deeply. “I apologize deeply for my insolence. As the one called the Father of Grimoires, suppressing my curiosity can be… impossible at times. I will refrain from making too many assumptions in the future.
“But in the meantime, I beseech thee—lead me toward the light… How may I once more enter the lord’s embrace? The Age of Regression has certainly reached its climax, and yet the prophecy has yet to show its guiding principle…”
Inside the marble canopy, Soren stared up at the flame in confusion. “What the hell is this fool talking about? Prophecy? Age of Regression? Huh?”
The flame flickered unevenly, “Perhaps this was a bad idea all along.”
Soren clicked his tongue, “Hindsight can be better than [Eyes of the Fairy] most of the time.”
“[Eyes of the Fairy] already provides you with hindsight. Also, you’re the one in control, not me. If you want to give up that right, I will welcome it at any time.”
Soren rolled his eyes. His gaze trailed back toward the golden window screen.
How should I approach this…
He now had two options. Either to continue lying and making shit up, or admitting he wasn’t as omniscient as Solomon assumed him to be. Both options had their negatives and positives, but only one showed their positives earlier than the other.
Lying is also a thrill, isn’t it? Let’s see how long it will take this ancient being to realize He’s conversing with a fraud…
But what was also more important was the opportunity this presented him. If he played his cards right, Soren could accomplish a lot with just his next set of words…
Within the hotel room, Solomon waited patiently for the enigmatic deity to reply. He couldn’t help but smile—the wisdom imparted upon Him was truly crucial:
“Find the one who calls himself Mr. Unknown. He shall hold the answers you seek. The child you currently inhabit—she too is a victim of his machinations. Rid this world from his mired existence.”
Soren’s voice roared within Solomon’s mind. This was not just a revelation, but a divine commandment. The ancient being stood in silence—contemplating His next words carefully.
At the same time, the very “god” that imparted such a commandment sat before the round table with his face covered beneath his hands. Holding in his laughter was becoming impossible by the second…
Holy shit this is hilarious… Mr. Unknown, I hope you enjoy the gift I am sending you!~
Even the enchanted flame looked at him disgustingly. The sparks that flew with every one of its flickers changed into a dark shade of gold, as if to showcase its emotions to him directly.
Solomon, on the other hand, bowed deeply. “Your wisdom is worth a thousand temples, and your benevolence is higher than the stars themselves. I will repay this favor to you one day.”
Hearing this, Soren leaned back against his chair and sighed.
“Close the connection.”
As he commanded, the golden window pane swiftly shrunk before disintegrating into thousands of tiny butterflies. Soren watched them all fly and scatter across the Faerie Court. Some headed toward the distant crayon-colored night sky, while others vanished in between the countless overlapping layers of space this dimension holds…
Noticing the subtle mood change, The Records decided to ask, “What are you thinking so deeply about?”
Soren didn’t answer. He couldn’t answer even if he wanted to. After all, his thoughts at the moment were a jumbled heap of contradicting decisions. Solomon’s arrival had truly thrown a wrench in his future plans.
Before His arrival, Soren wanted to try probing Earth meticulously through a more careful approach. After all, the forces hiding beneath the surface were nothing less than strange. He had lived in that world for more than twenty years, and yet, the matters of the supernatural had remained nothing more than a myth.
Even the Phantasms of Yarian didn’t hide their traces this cleanly… It was as if they were doing it out of desperation rather than careful planning.
As if… they were hiding from something…
“Flame,” He spoke with his eyes closed. “You know what the Dark Forest theory is, right?”
The enchanted flame didn’t answer immediately. It stared at the owner of this enigmatic space for a few moments, as if to try and probe for an answer it already knows.
“That contact with aliens has not happened yet because all extraterrestrial species have learned to hide themselves from each other… That there exists something within the dark oceans of space that poses a danger to those who expose themselves out in the open.”
Soren nodded. “Doesn’t that idea kinda remind you of something?”
The silence was deafening, until Soren continued, “The Human Preservation Project… the goal is in the name, isn’t it?”