As expected, Medici—who had been standing with arms crossed, sneering in disdain—finally lost his composure. Even though he knew the so-called visions of the future were questionable, the moment they involved Adam, he couldn't endure it at all.
Damn that bastard Adam!
You're deliberately targeting me, aren't you?!
Just wait. Once I get out of here, I'll tear the world apart and send your so-called trend of times straight to hell!
Medici's crack in composure immediately drew Roselle's and Reinette's curiosity. Really? Isn't it just getting captured? At worst it's death. When you talked about being tricked and turned into a potion earlier, didn't you act like it was nothing?
At this moment, Roselle even thought—maybe he actually had a chance of winning this Misery Contest!
As Medici's vision dissipated, Edward announced, "Alright, now that everyone has a general understanding of Mr. Not-Quite-Dead and Mr. Didn't-Live-Properly's circumstances, the two of you will each have one last chance to defend yourselves—state why you are the more miserable one, and try to earn everyone's vote."
"Please, go ahead."
Roselle's expression twisted strangely.He suddenly recalled that scene from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, where Quasimodo, despite all his suffering, forces himself to appear even more monstrous to elicit sympathy.
Are we supposed to start hurting ourselves on the spot to look more pathetic?
"Hell, even my beloved daughter grows to despise and hate me—how's that not miserable enough?"
He really wanted to say that, but it felt unconvincing.
Medici, on the other hand, sat dark-faced and silent. If not for knowing he couldn't overpower this so-called "Chairman," he would've grabbed him by the throat and forced him to explain everything right now!
"Alright then," Edward smiled faintly, "it seems our members are as reserved as ever. Just like last time, no one's fighting for that final chance to campaign for themselves. Well, no need to force it. Since that's the case, let's proceed to the vote."
Before each of them appeared a pen and a slip of paper.
Pallez didn't even hesitate—he immediately wrote down his choice.
Reinette considered both Medici and Roselle for a moment, then also began to scribble.
But Roselle and Medici both delayed. Logically, they should have each voted for themselves without hesitation. Yet they both worried that if the others' votes split evenly, their self-votes might result in a tie.
And a tie meant no rewards. Which meant all the frustration and humiliation of tonight's "breaking defences" would have to be swallowed with nothing to show for it.
Medici cracked his knuckles, forcing himself to clear away his inner turmoil. He raised his head and asked, "Mr. No-Characteristic, Miss No-Head—who did you vote for?"
Seeing that Edward didn't forbid them from speaking, Pallez replied calmly: "You."
"Really?"
"Of course. I know your hatred for that one. Everything that's happened to you stems from Him. That's why I think you're more miserable. Truly. Utterly miserable."
Medici's eye twitched. Was that a compliment? Or an insult?
Reinette said softly, "I voted for Mr. Didn't-Live-Properly."
Roselle hurriedly bowed, "Thank you, thank you!"
"No need," Reinette answered. "I simply think that being hated by your own family is even more tragic."
Roselle: "…"
Medici turned to him coldly. "Kid, if they're telling the truth, then the two of us are left with two options: vote for ourselves—or vote for each other. Otherwise, the two votes they cast could force a tie."
He sneered. "I see it now. Whether or not our Chairman really is Lil Raven, he's the same kind of person. He doesn't care about the result. He doesn't care who's more miserable. What he wants is to savour joy from other people's wounds. So if there's even a chance, he'll make sure a tie happens."
Roselle frowned. "So what?"
"So," Medici said, "whoever wins, the prize itself can still be steered by us."
He leaned closer, voice low. "If you win, give the reward to me. Let me out of this seal, and I'll repay you a hundredfold."
Pallez chuckled faintly. "Mr. Not-Quite-Dead, a reminder: from my last experience, the reward's contents aren't named by you. The Chairman offers you a few options to choose from instead."
"Heh. Expected as much. Still, one has to grab at every chance."
Edward didn't interfere, just propped his chin on one hand, watching them with amusement.
Roselle thought for a while, then wrote his own name on the slip. "Let's wait for the result."
Medici also stopped talking and wrote his own name.
"Excellent," Edward said cheerfully. "It seems everyone has made their choice. Now let's reveal the results—with bated breath."
He picked up the first slip of paper.
"The first vote: Mr. Not-Quite-Dead."
He then picked up the second slip of paper.
"The second one—Mr. Not-Quite-Dead."
Medici merely leaned back in his chair and sneered.
Edward proceeded to pick up the remaining two slips in turn. After a glance, he shook his head and sighed. "Ah, as expected, all of them are 'Mr. Didn't-Live-Properly.' Truly boring. Not a trace of surprise or accident in it."
He looked at the four. "Honestly, I don't want to be the deciding hand here. No matter whom I choose, one side will be left dissatisfied."
Edward pinched his chin, thought for a moment, then said, "Here's what we'll do. I'll give up the two votes in my hand, contribute them to Miss No-Head and Mr. No-Characteristic, and let the two of you hold a second round of voting to decide the final winner."
"This way, no matter what the result is, none of you can blame me, right?"
The four: "..."
No sooner had his words fallen than another sheet of parchment and quill appeared before Pallez and Reinette.
"The two of you must seize this last chance to campaign for yourselves, hm?"
Edward turned to Roselle with a smile. "Mr. Didn't-Live-Properly, if you win, you may obtain from me more revelations of the future, and perhaps use them to try and overturn events that have yet to occur."
He then turned to Medici. "Mr. Not-Quite-Dead, you will not only have a chance to alter the future held in the hands of those you despise, but also to ask me questions about the past—secrets that have troubled you for years. For instance: what truly became of the Ancient Sun God? Was the True Creator really Him? That grand Banquet of Betrayal—was the truth really as you saw it? Do you truly understand certain people as well as you think?"
Medici abruptly sprang to his feet.
"Who the hell are you?! Why do you know these things?"
"Sit."
With a single word, Medici once again felt the sickening weight of another's control and was forced back into his seat.
Edward's tone held a trace of amusement. "Think about it. Someone who rules this place, knows the truths and secrets behind ancient history, and even toys with you by playing such little games…who could that be?"
Medici pressed both hands to the table, his expression shifting from shadow to gloom and back again.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"You're…the Lord of Mysteries?!"
In that instant, the grey fog within the Sefirah Castle surged and boiled.
It was not the words "Lord of Mysteries" that stirred the Sefirot, but rather—Edward's two potions had, at that very moment, dissolved completely.
The Secrets Sorcerer potion had long been on the verge; that was only natural.
But why had the final third of the Spiritcaster suddenly digested—precisely when Medici assumed he was the Lord of Mysteries?
Edward's mind raced, and after a long moment, sudden clarity dawned:
So this was False Reality!
When a falsehood is believed by others, the more they believe it, the more real it becomes, until falsehood and reality blur.
The master of this place—the Sefirah Castle—is the Lord of Mysteries.
That is both false and true.
False in the present, true in the future.
So…this had been a False Reality spanning nearly two hundred years?
No wonder he had struggled so hard, dancing around in front of multiple angels, leaving memories aplenty, yet finding the potion's digestion always limited.
Memory was merely the foundation. The true act of role-playing required fulfilling the False Reality!
If he had realised this earlier, with so many angels present, digestion would've been a matter of minutes.
The "rioting" of the gray-white fog within the Sefirah Castle put all but Medici on edge.
Pallez, in particular…He had only suspected this being was the Sefirah Castle incarnate, or perhaps an "old friend" who had quietly advanced to the Fool. But Medici had blurted out "Lord of Mysteries"?
Yet Amon wasn't dead. The Marauder pathway's Sequence 1 characteristic was still in His and Amon's possession. How could the Chairman have ascended to Lord of Mysteries?
Unless…Medici spoke of the previous one, who had been resurrected within someone's body?
Yes! At the last gathering, the Chairman had mentioned he was still no match for the Mother Tree of Desire. If this being truly was the resurrected Lord of Mysteries, then once He reclaimed the Uniquenesses and Beyonder characteristics of the three pathways, His strength would naturally leap above that of the Mother Tree!
Pallez felt a tremor of alarm. If this were true, it would spell ill not only for the Beyonders of the three 'coward' families, but for the entire world. Yet he quickly calmed—what did it matter to him?
After all, if the sky fell, the Seven Gods would be the first to bear it.
Reinette did not share the same depth of understanding of the Lord of Mysteries as Medici and Pallez. She only remembered her teacher once telling her that He was an existence even more terrifying than the Outer Gods, whose coming always heralded calamity and misfortune.
Roselle, meanwhile, was utterly baffled. He had no idea why the others were shaken to the core. But seeing a being who had nearly become a god so utterly unsettled…the entity above the grey fog might be even more dreadful than he imagined.
Knock, knock, knock.
Edward did not answer Medici, but tapped the table instead.
"In the future, this place will indeed give birth to 'Mysteries,' but not yet. As for who I am—you will learn in time."
Medici sneered darkly. "I almost hope you are Him. Then Amon and Adam would truly be in for grave misfortune."
The resurrected Lord of Mysteries would inevitably reclaim the three families' characteristics. No matter how cunning Amon was, he could never best Him. And Adam, who always sought to ascend as the new God Almighty, would be stopped by "Old Mysteries" himself!
"If no one wishes to campaign further, then let us vote."
Pallez finally reacted. He immediately looked toward Reinette, and the two of them exchanged a nod. With consensus reached, they each put pen to parchment.
Two slips appeared before Edward. He blinked, then turned them over—
On Reinette's parchment, Roselle's name had been replaced with Medici's.
On Pallez's parchment, Medici's name had been replaced with Roselle's.
The two turned to each other in stunned disbelief, their expressions saying: Why did you switch?
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.