Chapter 146: The Great Witness |
Massive amounts of silver-white electric light crackled down, denser than falling rain.
Every single one of Greed's avatars met hundreds upon thousands of lightning bolts.
Throughout this battle, Greed was probing Samuel, and Samuel was equally deceiving Greed.
Nine-tenths of Samuel's abilities stemmed from his two basic skills: Illusion Magic and turning illusions into reality.
But with his most fundamental ability prohibited by the opponent, Samuel found himself fighting with his hands tied, unable to truly let loose.
So Samuel did all those things to try and interfere with Greed's "silence" on him.
Though he didn't know exactly how Greed controlled the magnetic field, the general idea was to just crank up the electricity.
Samuel actually had a pretty low education level. Sure, he had a photographic memory, but he'd never so much as glanced at those knowledge books.
Still, he had at least some basic common sense.
He couldn't create lightning out of thin air, but he had no shortage of toys.
Samuel guessed that since Greed was a Law Seeker of "Ultimate Wisdom" and claimed to be "collecting data," he likely had some kind of analysis or deduction ability.
Under the bolstering effect of a Law Inscriber's rank, this would naturally become stronger and more incomprehensible—likely requiring no research, no equipment, just a single glance to understand the effects and limitations of most Extraordinary Items.
So Samuel proposed they "play a game."
The effects of the first few cartridges were meant to let Greed "get used to" his nonsensical abilities, so he wouldn't be too suspicious of the second-to-last cartridge Samuel pulled out.
And from the "Tetris blocks" game, Samuel roughly confirmed that the Greed here was just an avatar—one that could easily create countless data clones on a whim.
This was the most critical point of the entire deception.
When Samuel pulled out the gang-beating cartridge, he was certain Greed would analyze it and discover its effects and weaknesses.
Namely: as long as your side outnumbered the opponent, the gang-beating cartridge's effect would fail.
Moreover, in their earlier exchanges, Samuel had fully displayed a "do whatever comes to mind, act on every whim" personality, leading Greed astray.
Greed would assume this attack also came from a "sudden flash of inspiration."
This was a conclusion Greed had reached through his own analysis of Samuel.
To deceive a smart person, you had to let them figure it out on their own.
Smart people are always wary of others, but they have unwavering faith in their own judgments.
And as a "Singularity of Absurdity" and an "Absurdity Clown,"
Samuel's mastery over the "Actor" Law Mark far surpassed any Law Seeker, Law Contemplator, or even Law Inscriber of [Absurdity].
Whatever appearance he wanted to project, that was exactly what Greed's analytical ability would perceive.
So Greed, just as Samuel had anticipated, created countless avatars of himself.
This was a strike aimed at the concept of 'family.'
And in this world, no one was closer family than 'oneself.'
Therefore, when one Greed looked at the screen, every Greed present was locked onto by lightning.
The more Greed there were, the more lightning bolts would fall.
The total number of lightning bolts exceeded 220,000.
Throughout all this, Samuel hadn't even borrowed Celt's and Evina's extraordinary abilities, hadn't used the "Morning Star's" guiding ability, hadn't actively pulled fate toward his side, and hadn't used the "Gambler's" cheating ability to increase his chances of success.
He was worried that using these extraordinary abilities would be analyzed by Greed, revealing his deception.
He maintained the image of a completely impulsive airhead the entire time.
"So lively." Evina put her hand above her eyebrows, making a "gazing into the distance" gesture.
"Yeah, the lightning hitting them sure is lively and noisy." Samuel nodded in agreement.
"Now you can adjust the probabilities," Samuel reminded Evina, "Help me increase the odds of breaking through the magnetic field."
"I'm not sure I can succeed." Evina maintained her "gazing" gesture as she replied, a hint of light gray dyeing her pinkish-blue eyes.
Samuel turned to look at Celt on the other side.
"I originally planned to prank you with this, but it's coming in handy now." Samuel waved the handheld console at Celt.
"No, no, no, even for a prank, this kind of thing is way too much..." Celt questioned, "And are you sure this 'attack on family' won't lock onto you?"
Samuel crossed his hands over his chest in an X shape.
"I used up all my family bonds playing Val, so there's no connection between us."
"What Val in this world?" Celt retorted.
"Maybe he's been improving the steam engine lately." Evina answered while adjusting the probabilities.
"I meant this 'Val'!"
Samuel laughed, then turned the X into a cross, casually aiming it at a random Greed.
"Specium Ray."
Immediately, fine rays shot out from his hand, blowing up one of Greed's avatars.
"Aha, my ability's back." Samuel had just made the joyful sound when he saw the light ray slowly shrink and finally disappear.
"Ah, it's gone again."
"Ew~, so weak." Evina made a disgusted face. "That didn't even last three seconds."
Samuel didn't bicker with Evina. Instead, he looked at the handheld console in his hand.
"That's not right." He pressed the buttons on the console. "I clearly set it to repeat on a loop."
With "repeat on a loop" set, the lightning summoned by the console shouldn't stop even if all targets were killed. It should keep falling aimlessly, maintaining the previous frequency.
And that's exactly what was happening.
220,000 lightning bolts fell continuously in a loop.
Logically, the magnetic field here should have been a complete mess by now.
"Simple." A new voice joined the conversation. "There's a new variable. I just calculated it in."
A new Greed appeared, arms crossed over his chest, leaning in close to Samuel's ear.
"Your hair is poking me." Samuel pushed his face away in disgust.
The two of them now looked like old buddies—completely belying the fact that Samuel had just been zapping Greed with lightning.
Greed docilely let himself be pushed away.
"Please, continue." Greed said. "The data is still a bit lacking."
"Don't worry, I won't go all out against you."
He raised a finger, pointing upward.
"As you can see, the intensity of a fight between Law Inscribers can't exceed a certain threshold. If you use your full power, I'll have to temporarily avoid you and can't go all out either."
"Otherwise, something up there will look down."
"And I have no interest in that thing. I don't want to be targeted."
"That thing?" Samuel looked up at the sky, at the part that was the proto-Divine Realm's sky. "So what exactly is that thing?"
"No one ever explained it to me."
Samuel realized that during the time he'd been "playing games" with Greed, there'd been quite a change in the sky above.
The suddenly appearing eye had drooped downward a bit, pulled by a thick, viscous fluid.
Growing out of this fluid were more and more eyes, looking like a bunch of black grapes. Except these grapes were made of countless dense black eyes and black fluid.
Those eyes kept blinking, the fluid flowing over its surface, sometimes curling back, sometimes forming whirlpools.
"You mean Him?" Greed also looked up. "No idea."
"Him?" Samuel's tone rose.
Perhaps because Samuel was currently in Liastan, Greed was speaking to him in Liastanian.
And in Liastanian, the words for masculine "he," feminine "she," and divine "Him" were three completely different pronunciations.
"That's right, Him." Greed put on a smile. "But why would I explain it to you?"
Obviously, he had deliberately used the word "Him."
"We're enemies, you know. Trying to trade with me is way too ridiculous." Samuel's tone remained cheerful.
"There are no eternal friends in this world, nor eternal enemies. Only eternal interests." Greed said without any pretense.
"If we trade, then we become friends."
"You should be able to take off your head, right?" Greed said. "I've seen the replay of your fight with [Conquest]."
"I want one of your heads."
Samuel stared at him, saying nothing.
"Well... a dead one will do too?" Greed haggled.
"Do you think this value is equivalent?" Samuel asked with a puzzled look, his eyes seeming to question whether Greed's mind was working properly.
"Of course," Greed said matter-of-factly. "This is an enormous secret."
"But isn't this common knowledge among all Law Inscribers?" Samuel spread his hands.
"That's correct, yes." Greed nodded.
"Then why can't I just go ask Mr. Pride later? Or the Priest of the Continuity Church?" Samuel asked.
"Ah, that is indeed a problem." Greed pushed up his glasses, his tone sounding troubled. "So, what price do you think is fair for me to ask?"
"One strand of hair."
"Deal."
"This secret is way too cheap!"
Greed raised a finger and shook it.
"No, not just any hair."
"I want one strand of hair that maintains its activity."
"Oh?" Samuel raised an eyebrow. "You mean?"
"I mean, the hair you give me can't be dead. It has to be alive, infused with Spirituality."
"You want it for cloning?" Samuel tilted his head in question.
"That's meaningless." Greed shook his head. "A Singularity is unique."
"Then what do you want my hair for?" Samuel asked suspiciously.
"Sigh..." Greed let out a long sigh. "The last time a 'Singularity' appeared in the world, I was still just a Law Contemplator."
"I had absolutely no qualification to compete for it."
"So, I've always wanted to find a piece of a Singularity's limb that still retained its activity, for research purposes."
"If that's not possible, hair would also be acceptable."
"And," his eyes behind the lenses stared straight at Samuel, "your 'Calamity' still hasn't appeared yet."
"I'm very curious."
Samuel looked at him, then after a long moment, let out a soft laugh.
"Heh."
He raised his hand, pinched one of his own hairs, pulled it out, infused it with Spirituality, and extended it to Greed.
"You really live up to your name." Samuel said. "I can't guarantee how long it'll store Spirituality. You preserve it yourself."
Greed immediately took out a test tube he'd prepared long ago, took the hair, and placed it inside.
"Don't you worry I'll use it against you?" He said as he put it away.
Samuel smiled and said something Greed didn't understand.
"Why would anyone cut off a side quest for fear of future plot consequences?"
"Though those were unfamiliar words..." Greed put away the test tube. "I roughly understood."
"Games..."
"In your perception, games always seem to be tied to machinery." Greed adjusted his glasses.
"'Singularities of Absurdity' always seem to know all sorts of strange things," Greed said with a smile. "I really envy you all."
Strange things?
Were all other Singularities of Absurdity also transmigrators?
Samuel raised an eyebrow but didn't answer.
He pointed to the sky.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"What exactly is He."
Greed looked up, also gazing at the eye in the sky.
"Simple." He replied.
"He is a balancer. He has existed for... I don't know how long. We call Him the Great Witness."
"Mhm, go on." Samuel nodded.
Greed continued.
"He restricts all Law Inscribers, preventing them from going all out. If they exceed the limit He has set, He will deliver punishment."
"The intensity of the punishment depends on the degree of excess from both Law Inscribers combined, split evenly between the two."
"That's so unfair?" Samuel said.
"Yeah, not fair at all." Greed replied. "But He has the bigger fists, so we have to listen to Him."
"Oh... bigger eyes." He corrected himself meticulously.
"So why call Him the Great Witness?" Samuel pressed on.
"Because He appears at every major event in history."
"Even if no Law Inscribers cross the line, He still shows up."
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple."