Chapter 1392: The Torchbearer Mission |
The perspective shifted once more — this time to the Fire Passing Hall.
Starting from some indeterminate moment, the Candle Man who had so often illuminated the Fire Passing Hall, joking and playing with the Torchbearers, had vanished. No one could find Him — not even Qin Xin.
But everyone knew He was still here, watching over the Torchbearers, never having left.
At first, Qin Xin had been puzzled, but once he considered that he himself was about to inherit a Divine Throne and become the new War, he seemed to understand the Flame of Hope's position.
When a true deity could shelter the Torchbearers beneath its sky, the Flame of Hope no longer needed to constantly cheer on its anxious charges.
Perhaps quietly illuminating some shadowed corner that needed light was what He truly wished to do.
And today, that corner held not only the Flame of Hope, but also a little bird.
Bai Ling.
The Audience Meeting had concluded. Regardless of how spectacular other faiths' audiences had been, regardless of what encouragement their attendees had received from their Benefactors, at least Deceit's Audience Meeting had been uneventful — no, "mysterious" was the better word.
Normally, those liars couldn't wait to attract the entire world's attention. The nonsense spewing from their mouths might not scare a person to death, but it could certainly make them die laughing.
Yet this time, not a single one of those apex fraudsters had breathed even a hint about what had happened inside the Audience Meeting!
Nobody knew what had transpired during Deceit's audience. The handful of liars who had been just a few points short of qualifying were going mad. They were convinced those bastards must have received some monumental boon inside — otherwise there was no way they'd be this united, all keeping their mouths shut without leaking a single detail.
Even close friends who had once fought side by side through life-and-death Trials couldn't pry out a single secret.
Did that seem right?
Absolutely not!
And so, every non-attending liar launched into wild speculation about that mysterious Audience Meeting. Some claimed the attendees had ascended to godhood; others said they'd become puppets of Deceit; still others insisted they'd touched a higher-dimensional world and no longer deigned to speak in the "newbie zone"... In short, the theories were as varied as they were outlandish.
Yet the actual participants were suffering in silence!
What could they possibly say?
That a group of apex fraudsters had been played by a single Fate Weaver at the Audience Meeting — played so thoroughly they'd been ejected from the Void without even laying eyes on their Benefactor?
Even if they said it, would anyone believe them?
Some might argue: never mind whether people believe you — just say it first!
Who said they hadn't tried?!
Someone had!
Old Eight, the Master of Trickery, simply couldn't stomach the "injustice." Using his perfected C-language skills, he laid out everything that had happened at the Audience Meeting in the mage channel — every last detail, complete and unabridged!
To emphasize authenticity, he even included the inner thoughts each person had experienced during the post-mortem review!
And then?
Then he was met with a torrent of furious rebukes from veteran mages, telling him that if he was going to fabricate a story, he should at least make it believable. Did he think apex fraudsters were idiots?
"..."
Weren't they, though?
He had no answer for that one.
What was even more infuriating was that someone actually accused him of being the Fate Weaver himself, disguising the boast to put gold on his own face.
'I got conned by the Fate Weaver, and now you're accusing me of being the Fate Weaver?!'
'The era of Void couldn't possibly be this absurd!!'
The Master of Trickery's composure shattered. He briefly considered breaking his oath and defecting to Silence.
It was amid all this clamor that Bai Ling quietly returned to the Fire Passing Hall.
She had gained much from the Audience Meeting. Not only had she untangled the knot of anxiety she'd always felt when facing the boss, she had actually "helped" him with something.
Though the boss had said she'd been "a huge help," Bai Ling figured he was just being polite and encouraging her at the same time. Still... even if it wasn't a "huge help," surely a "small help" counted?
That alone was enough to make her happy, but there was something even more joyful — she had finally confirmed the Flame of Hope's identity. It was the boss. It was Yu Xi!
What could be more heartwarming than learning that the same person who once helped her was also protecting a group of people just like her?
If anything could top that, it was being summoned by Him again after the Audience Meeting.
Like right now.
Bai Ling stood ramrod straight, outwardly calm, but her blinking eyes betrayed the emotions churning inside.
By contrast, the Candle Man facing her wore an expression far less relaxed. At the very least, this time He wasn't dangling upside-down from midair — He stood squarely before her.
He studied Bai Ling, seeming to have already seen through the source of her joy.
Yet He knew that the moment He opened His mouth, that joy would be stripped away.
So the Flame of Hope held His silence for a long while, until Bai Ling sensed something was off and asked in a small voice: "Boss?"
The Flame of Hope smiled. The face etched in flame arranged itself into Cheng Shi's signature grin.
"The Creator has visited."
"!!??"
Strictly speaking, only Fire Seekers and above within the Torchbearers were privy to that forbidden Divine Name. Ordinary Torchbearers would never know it.
Bai Ling knew, because she had already risen to the rank of City Breaker's Fire Seeker — otherwise she wouldn't have been qualified to recruit Xie Yang into the Torchbearers.
Her growth had ultimately earned the acknowledgment of all her comrades, and the blood on her arrowheads had shown Qin Xin her courage and resolve.
But no matter how brave or resolute a person was, hearing those two words — "the Creator" — would make them tremble. That was absolutely not something mortals were meant to face. It was the god above gods, the most remote existence there was.
The Flame of Hope gave her no time to catch her breath. He gently tapped her forehead, projecting a scene into the mind of this stalwart Torchbearer.
The instant she witnessed that image, the stalwart Torchbearer collapsed to the ground, her entire body shaking.
The Flame of Hope lifted her up, gripping her wrist tightly, channeling fire to dispel her terror, and spoke:
"This is a Torchbearer mission — highest classification. Apart from you and me, not even Qin Xin can know.
Remember this scene. Spread the word that He visited.
But remember — no Torchbearer must learn of the details."
Bai Ling was still trembling. The soul-piercing terror had drained nearly all her strength. She gasped for air in great heaving breaths, like a drowning person just hauled to shore.
A long time passed before she clawed her way out of that abyssal dread. Clenching her teeth, she looked up at the Flame of Hope — at the boss who had just delivered that devastating "blow" — and forced down her fear, replacing it with resolve:
"Alright. I know what to do.
But... boss, why did you, during the Audience Meeting earlier..."
The Flame of Hope knew what she was about to ask and sighed softly:
"I had no choice.
The Universe is not united. Some things cannot be said in His presence."
Bai Ling's eyes flew wide with disbelief. "Even Deceit can't be trusted?"
The flame swayed and flickered. The Candle Man's gaze was unfathomably deep.
"He is trustworthy. But me — no one trusts anymore.
Go. I will cover your tracks. Complete this as quickly as you can. Let the world know that He came."
Bai Ling was clever. As a follower of Deceit, she seemed to have already guessed the purpose behind spreading information on such a massive scale. But she didn't voice it, nor did she press further. She only paused at the threshold, lips pressed tightly together, and asked one final question:
"B-... Cheng Shi, will we ever see each other again?"
The Flame of Hope smiled:
"We will. Of course we will.
The new world we both dream of will come..."
Hearing that certain answer, Bai Ling's expression hardened with renewed determination. She nodded firmly and left the Fire Passing Hall.
After she was gone, watching that slender yet resolute silhouette recede, the Candle Man's tone shifted:
"...won't it?"
His voice was faint — as ethereal and formless as hope itself.
The words had barely faded when a figure stepped out of the darkness behind the flame.
The Flame of Hope spoke with His back to the figure, devoid of joy or sorrow:
"Knowing that He visited isn't enough. The world needs to understand just how merciless the Creator truly is.
Being abandoned... is still better than dying, or being imprisoned.
Go. Use your brilliance to make the world believe you."
The figure was silent for a long time before asking quietly:
"Why me?"
The Flame of Hope smiled. "I don't have many choices right now. Wei Mu and Jie Shu... aren't suitable. And they can't be used."
"I never imagined that getting close to you would lead to this."
"Regretting it?"
"No." The voice suddenly blazed with fervor and excitement. "Never. If the final act of an era's script contains a passage written by my own hand, I'll die without regret."
"But that contradicts your wish to become a god."
The figure suddenly burst into laughter — laughter that grew increasingly unhinged: "Become a god... How could that possibly be as interesting as killing one? Especially killing a god like this!"
The Flame of Hope's fire froze for an instant, then He slowly shook His head:
"Kill?
How could anyone kill Him?
Wishful thinking is no different from self-deception.
That He managed to come this far has already exceeded anything I could have predicted."
...