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92.92% A Psychic's Scarlet Dream / Chapter 180: Chapter 93: Master of Deception (Part 2)

Chapter 180: Chapter 93: Master of Deception (Part 2)

Ethan: "So, what's this about?"

He asked, confused as to why the Spirit-user of their faction had asked him to meet her alone and without telling anyone else.

Ethan: "Don't tell me your heart is starting to waver because of my badassery! If that happened, I'd feel really bad for Kais."

Sona: "If you don't want a second asshole, shut up!"

Ethan: "E-ek!"

Sona: "Now, the reason I asked you to be here - it's simply because I have a question that I need answered, and I don't think asking it in front of Kais would be a good idea."

With a serious and contemplating glance at the house they were residing in, and maybe at the people residing within it as well, Sona asked Ethan,

Sona: "Back in the tomb, what did you mean when you said Kais is the 'master of deception'?"

Hearing that question, Ethan couldn't help but smile.

It was nighttime and the streets were mostly quiet, allowing for better concentration for any supernatural trying to use some ability. Hence, there didn't seem to be a way with which he can force his way out of the situation, much less dodge it.

So,

Ethan: "Hah!"

He sighed, and answered,

Ethan: "There is something deeply tragic about a man who can't live without deceiving himself."

For him, who had lived the past 12 years of his life with the philosophy of never lying to himself and always facing the truth head-on, self-deception was truly something very special.

Sona: "I … suppose."

And for her, who had lived the past 12 years of her life consumed with rage and hate and never tried to even look at the truth because in some recess of her mind, she had realized that the truth would hurt a lot more, self-deception was also truly something very special, though for completely opposite reasons.

Ethan: "Ha!"

For the one who had never deceived himself and for the one who had grown past deceiving herself after doing so for most of her life, there was someone really important to both of their causes whose case was very special to both of them.

Ethan: "We live in a world where believing means a lot. As long as people believe, even an asshole deserving to be called the devil can become a 'God'."

Believing - this was a concept he had faced himself far too many times, so he knew despite not being a supernatural that -

Ethan: "If a supernatural believes they are weak, they will probably become weak. And conversely, if they believe they are strong, they will probably become stronger than they are at least. It's just how the Potential of supernatural abilities work, and even more so for Psychics than anyone else."

And so, something so tragic and foolish as self-deception can become something far too great.

Ethan: "For him, a man capable of constantly deceiving himself into thinking whatever is convenient, this is probably both a blessing and a curse."

Hearing so, Sona looks back at the mansion with a distant and sad look.

Sona: "Does … does all his power emerge just because he can deceive himself into thinking he has that power?"

Ethan: "..."

Sona: "Does he not have anything of his own?"

It was saddening to hear that the only childhood friend of hers lives by constantly deceiving himself. So, it was only natural she wondered about that, wishing for the answer to be the more positive one.

Ethan: "Well, I am sure there is something inside him that is not just present because of his self-deception. But, whatever it is, it's present so deep inside him that even I can't see it."

There was a genuine uneasiness in the air from the start.

Sona: "Uh …"

And it had grown worse.

Ethan: "If we want to bring that something out of him, we'll need to remove many layers of defensive mechanisms. It's definitely not going to be easy."

Sona: "But, we don't have a choice, do we?"

She said, not even really asking but just stating.

Sona: "We'll have to do it. We are the only ones who can."

Ethan sighed, and said simply,

Ethan: "Yes, indeed. But, until we are able to do it, he will remain a mystery to himself, a mystery that is so simple but will always appear complicated because of who he is."

That's all Ethan Kales sees in Kais. That's all he thinks of him. And, maybe, that IS all there is to think about him.

Ethan: "He will never be able to understand himself. Because, well, if he did, he will not be able to continue deceiving himself. But, because of his nature, he will continue to try to understand himself. And if we don't do something, this spiral will be the entirety of his existence."

And so, they have to do something.

They have to, somehow, pull the hero out from the deepest pits of his dark mind, make him stop being a hero by doing that, and then pull him up even higher, so he can be a hero again, but this time a true one.

Ethan: "What a pain!"

*******************************

Sona: "Damn!"

The words and reactions just come out without intending to as she notices the zenith of self-deception right in front of her eyes.

The Hellfire, Ross Green, attacks him.

Within a second, the Hellfire uses many, many combinations of moves - from flaming his opponent with Pyrokinesis and strengthening the fire by Aerokinesis to trapping him in a vortex of wind and rocks through Aero and Geokinesis respectively and then releasing tons of energy right into the vortex to make it a hundred times more destructive.

But, each time,

Ross: "N-no!!!"

His opponent comes out of the attack with his injuries healing completely, after which he waits for the Hellfire to make his next move.

Obviously, the waiting is to mock him as if to say that no matter what the Hellfire tries, he would be able to do nothing.

Sona: "This … this is … wrong!"

One would expect her to be happy that her friend and comrade is defeating the enemy in front of her and so easily at that, but there's just no way a true friend could be happy for him when his power comes not from his true heart but from the deal he has made with the devil that is the deep and dark recess of his mind.

Ross: "Just die already!"

The Hellfire shouts and lounges at his opponent, who, having grown bored of constantly healing, stops the Hellfire's fists with his grip and twists his arm around like it's made of soft plastic.

Ross: "AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!"

The Hellfire screams in pain obviously but the pain experienced is a lot less than the terror felt by him.

Sona: "Master of deception? No, master of self-deception. Yes, that is truly who you are."

She says with a sad voice and a shaking resolve, realizing that trying to bring him out of his cage might be harder than she thought and could potentially damage their friendship as well.

Meanwhile, the Hellfire finds his arms detached from his body.

Ross: "AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!"

And, before he gets a chance to heal, his opponent rips off his legs as well.

Ross: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The sight was like a butcher handling a hard-to-kill chicken, just a lot more sadistic and a lot less opportunistic.

So,

Sona: "Kais!"

She screams, unable to continue just staring at that sight.

Sona: "Just kill him already!"

Just kill him and be done with it, stop letting your inner demons take over, stop letting them drag you deeper into your mind.

That's what she meant to say.

But,

Kais: "Don't worry! He won't be able to fight back anymore!"

To him, it may have just sounded like nothing more than a comrade of his cheering for him to win and maybe somewhat worried about the opponent fighting back.

Kais: "He's done!"

So, he said that and continued the torture as he proceeded to heal his opponent himself, even going as far as to reattach his limbs, only so he can tear them out again, but this time inducing much more pain than before.

Sona: "N-no …!"

One's own mind is a great place to visit. It is capable of giving respite, counteracting situations and even getting over pain and suffering.

But, all of that can be achieved by nothing more than the surface of one's mind, and so one should only go as far as that.

Everything beneath the surface, the layers upon layers of darkness, depression, depravity, deceit and danger - one must never traverse into those parts of one's mind.

That abyss of darkness is for the devil to reside in - a human should not touch it, because if one does, he might never be able to break away and only fall further and further into that endless pit, into that chasm of darkness - that abyss.

Kais: "Well,"

Standing up, covered in the dead Hellfire's blood, the supposed 'hero' of the story says.

Kais: "That was fun!"

*******************************


Chapter 181: Chapter 94: When Friends And Enemies Meet (Part 1)

Abyss: "..."

Silence befalls the 'devil' as he witnesses the blood of the Hellfire, Ross Green, spewing about.

With complete disregard to humanity, the one whose body he inhabits has murdered a Hellfire in the most brutal way possible.

More than horrifying or surprising, this is saddening.

Abyss: "..."

And yet, he can't put it into words why.

When looked at from a logical perspective, Kais has defeated his enemy, healed himself and temporarily even has the power to reattach Sona's arms, basically nullifying all the damage the two of them have taken in defeating two ridiculously powerful opponents.

So, shouldn't he be happy?

They are winning, after all. That should make any ally of them happy.

As far as brutality goes, this is nothing new for him either. He has seen much more vicious things in his life, some so horrible that they could give nausea to Ethan Kales. The brutality displayed while killing Ross Green pales in comparison to everything he has witnessed in his life.

So, that shouldn't be a bother either.

Yet, there's something - something that is not right.

Abyss: "... Tsk!"

He cannot quite put his finger on it but there's something really wrong with Kais defeating Ross like that.

And, whether it's the fact that he can't understand what it is or whatever it is is so powerful that it affects him regardless, he feels sad about it.

*******************************

Rosevelt: "Ha!"

A scoff - that's all the Phoenix's reaction is as he realizes that two of his Hellfires have died.

Rosevelt: "How stupid!"

He doesn't feel any grief whatsoever. All he feels is disappointment upon the fact that they battled and died when he wasn't watching.

Rosevelt: "Such a waste!"

There's no point in them dying when they don't even provide any new information that could give him an advantage over those who defeated them.

After a life of stupidity, the flames on his wings are dying out in the stupidest and most useless fashion as well.

Rosevelt: "Well, if nothing else, I guess I know that they can defeat those idiots."

Perhaps the only redeeming factor of the situation is that he can at least infer the third faction is capable of taking down two Hellfires, albeit the weaker ones.

Rosevelt: "Huh?"

Walking through the darkness of the night as his wounds continue to heal constantly, the Phoenix feels no fear of uncertainty as he gladly walks back towards the battlefield he was thrown out of.

Still, even though their individual deaths have had no effect on him, the same can't be said about the big picture.

Rosevelt: "Well, they have been cut to almost half now, huh?"

The ten Hellfires have now been reduced to six.

And surely, the number is going to decrease even more.

So,

Rosevelt: "Maybe it's not a pipe dream, after all. Maybe, it's possible."

For this to be an indication from fate that his time is up, for this to be a message from death that the march is coming towards him - it's certainly possible.

And, with all he has got, he hopes he isn't disappointed, he hopes that his death does come finally.

But,

Rosevelt: "Before any of that though, there's a score I have to settle."

He mumbles to himself, thinking about the 'God' who thought blasting him away was a good idea and made him miss the death of two Hellfires already.

There's a score to settle there indeed.

"Going somewhere?"

A voice calls out to him, a voice that seems like it belongs to a 16-year-old, but it is still a voice that seems to hold a lot of firmness within it.

Turning back, the Phoenix sees the owner of that voice standing there as if it's the most normal thing to do.

Rosevelt: "Grisham? Or, shall I call you The Reaper? What are you doing here?"

The Phoenix asks with a shallow grin, to which The Reaper replies with a smile.

Grisham: "Well, I came to sate my curiosity."

Rosevelt: "Ha, your curiosity? And what's that all about?"

Grisham: "It's about you, Phoenix. It's all about you."

Elated by seeing the Phoenix get surprised, The Reaper continues.

Grisham: "I have been curious about your stance in this war, about why you seem to take everything so carelessly, about why you are indifferent to so many secrets of the world."

As he says so, he walks over to Rosevelt and offers him his support. Rosevelt, still yet to fully heal, accepts the support.

Grisham: "I have been curious as to why you seem to not care about the results of anyone's actions, about why you seem so indifferent towards consequence and why the many mysteries in this world that have the whole world running here and there have no effect on you."

Hearing all of it, Rosevelt chuckles.

Rosevelt: "So you left your duty as The Reaper and come here because you were curious about all that?"

In a sardonic tone, Rosevelt asks.

Grisham: "You sent your Hellfires on a mission you knew they were likely to fail and die at. Furthermore, the purpose of this mission doesn't even seem to be anything THAT important. So, you are the last person who gets to mock me about my actions as a leader."

Rosevelt: "Well, I guess that's not a bad retort."

Rosevelt, throughout the conversation, keeps a smirk on his face, owing to the realization that something unpredictable like this can only happen by sheer stupidity, but it can happen at least.

Rosevelt: "You want to know why I am indifferent to the world's 'mysteries'?"

He can't help but feel a tinge of excitement for how The Reaper would react when he hears the answer.

Rosevelt: "It's because I know the answers to all of them."

Says the Phoenix casually.

Rosevelt: "There's nothing you people call 'a mystery' that I refer to the same way. Those questions that have the whole world running here and there are merely trivia to me."

Grisham: "...?"

Rosevelt: "Surprised? Or, are you doubting me? In either case, that is the truth."

For the moment at least, the leader of the Ghost Nation has been put at a loss for words.

Rosevelt: "I suppose this all began when you saw me not inquiring about your Nation's stupid secrets, like how you people have been trying to build up Angels and Demons or how you were able to keep it all a secret for so long? Or, maybe it happened when you saw me not inquiring about how those Dragons have been keeping their existence hidden from the common folk when their appearance clearly is hard to hide?"

Even if it was anything else that had sparked his interest, it didn't matter. The answer would remain the same - The Phoenix knew the answer, so he felt no drive to try to inquire about it.

Well, if speaking from the perspective of Vermilion, it may have been better to at least act like he was curious so no unprecedented attention is given to him, but then there comes the disregard for the consequence and the general disregard for anything that happens - following the idea that everything is just a meaningless epilogue.

Grisham: "Well,"

Sighing once,

Grisham: "I don't know what to say. I thought my interest would end when you answer my questions."

Grisham says with a scowl on his face.

Grisham: "In contrast, it has grown."

And so, The Reaper does not yet reach for the blade he has prepared to kill the Phoenix, and the Phoenix, as usual, does not even care.

*******************************


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