Right before reentering the exam room, which was Madam Renna's office, Aurora used [Kuro] two times to instill two lies in his mind, becoming truths he believed:
First, he was a cousin of Simon.
Second, [Kuro]'s Remnant Art was related to Spell Mastery.
He knew an interrogation was inevitable, an establishment as prestigious as the Grand Noctis Academy had to be on alert daily to prevent those with ill intentions from harming the student.
Although Aurora wasn't thinking of harming anyone, if they had found out he was not related to Simon and his Remnant Art had the ability to instill lies, they would question where the recommendation letter had come from.
A little bit of this and that, they'll soon realise Simon and his army were murdered, and the culprit was standing right in front of them.
It was a risky, yet smart decision. It would've been a suicide attempt if he tried to use [Kuro] on any of the board members present, so his only option was to use his Remnant Art on himself.
He wasn't sure if it would work, but the moment the lies were instilled, he subconsciously believed in the false reality.
A person under manipulation won't realise that fact, Aurora too, had no memories of the actual reality when [Kuro] had taken effect. It was only when exposed to such a powerful spell detecting truth, had the lies on the brink of collapsing, and consciousness returned.
'[Kuro] has a limit…' Aurora hurried his footstep, avoiding the attention of others.
'I didn't realise it when I used it on Simon or that Queen beast, since once activated, it won't require any more resonance to stabilise the lies.'
'But… as expected of a headmaster, her truth detection spell was so exquisite, so powerful. Not only was it so painful resisting it, it even nearly exceeded the limit of [Kuro].'
'If it was able to detect the absolute truth, then I would've been busted right on the spot.'
Indeed, there was a difference between truth believed by someone and the absolute truth. And for a normal truth detection spell, no matter how high its tier, cannot spot the distinction between the two.
For example, if Aurora had said he was the God of Calamity, then it would've come back as "Truth" for the spell, assuming no other tricks were involved. However, was he actually the God of Calamity in reality, or just some psycho who believed he was?
Only through the spell that could've detected absolute truth, would the String Master realise Aurora would in fact be the God of Calamity. However, Renna's spell only sought the truth, thus she failed to identify that Aurora's "truth" was only something he temporarily believed in, a lie instilled, not absolute.
The only reason why the lies were falling apart and Aurora was receiving such agony in his mind, was due to the sheer disparity of power level in the spell Renna had used against [Kuro]. If the spell was a tier higher, it wouldn't matter if it's the believed or absolute truth, [Kuro] would fall apart before Aurora's brain melts into butter.
However, a truth detection spell would cause no harm to a normal person; in fact, it wouldn't even have caused harm to Aurora if it weren't for [Kuro]. By instilling a lie, it acted as an opposite force, so the pain he felt was simply the two forces clashing together in his mind. Then again, if it weren't for [Kuro], then he would've told the absolute truth. So in a way, what's killing him was also saving him.
'Now that the first meeting is over, she might still have her suspicions... But to establish trust with her employees, she probably won't use a truth detection spell on me again…'
After a few minutes of walking, Aurora sat on a bench inside a park, relaxed as the fresh, winter air swept his discomfort away.
Seeing no one was looking at his direction, he took out a note, and burned it using a spell.
That was the note he had prepared for himself, on it, it had written the absolute truth of Aurora's identity and Remnant Art of [Kuro].
A believed truth instilled from a lie might be resistant from outside forces, but it's much easier to collapse from within. Along with the two lies he had instilled, Aurora added a slight command to read this note once he was alone.
Since Renna nearly shattered the lies with her spell, and he was able to regain consciousness, he didn't really have a use for the note. But if she didn't, Aurora hoped dearly that [Kuro] would lose its effect upon him reading this note.
'I am never doing that again…'
It wasn't his first time doing an experiment on himself, but it sure was the first time he did it alone. Kael had always been there to save him if anything went wrong, no, if Aurora was honest to himself, he wouldn't even try anything he wasn't 100% certain of if his friend hadn't been there.
He had always been cautious, but during their journey, that caution soon shifted from self-preservation to protecting them both. Similarly, when times were hard, battles came challenging, Kael was there, becoming his blade.
'But… he is not here anymore.' Aurora finally had realised, since the beginning of his return, he had been rushing things.
His heart had long searched for something, like a bird flying, flying endlessly for a home. His family was his first home, Kael was the second. When he was around them, he felt like he could rest, he no longer needed to fly.
Purpose… Kael became his purpose. Now, one hundred thousand years into the future, his last purpose had been lifted off his shoulder.
No… to be more precise, Aurora, he was his last purpose, supposedly.
But then came a question he had asked himself countless times — who is he?
He was the God of Calamity, Lord of the Dark Strings.
He was the best friend, greatest companion of Kael.
He had his own hobbies, living, eating, and Tuning…
Nevertheless, he felt something was missing—
It was "purpose".
And he was determined to find the answer in this life, right here, right now.