Chapter 185 (1): Omnipotent, Like a God

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Obed Windsor, Vice Minister of Magic.”

Obed’s elven appearance was incredibly handsome. He had good looks, grace, and—judging by his surname—royal blood; moreover, he was a legendary mage and Vice Minister of Magic, second only to the Minister. He was in the top one percent in the world.

No wonder Dorrin would fall head over heels for him and hang on his every word. The face could attract even men, and anyone would fall for his pillow talk.

“Wayne, I’ve noticed you a long time ago. I didn’t expect you to be this lucky.” Obed smiled gracefully, his good looks making the expression extra alluring. “The first time I noticed you was the incident with the Geocentrism Sect. Planck was involved, defeating Marshall after his return from the Astral Plane...”

The first time Obed noticed Wayne was because of Marshall, later called the Lord of the Void. Neither legendary mage wanted to enter a Divine Realm, hoping to forge a different path independent of the existing faiths.

Birds of a feather... The vile ones attracted each other, and they had made a few deals before. It was very much in line with the Windsor tradition for the Vice Minister of Magic, who made it his job to suppress the churches, to have under-the-table dealings with a legendary mage of the Church of Nature.

Marshall’s bold venture into the Astral Plane was in large part thanks to Obed, who often encouraged him to give it a try.

“Brother, just finish this wine and charge forward. It’s fine even if you fail. I’ll be right behind you.”

So Marshall charged in and met a dead end, while Obed reaped the benefits.

“The second time I noticed you was when the Blood Tyrant of Hell descended on Dragon Heart Island, resulting in the projection of an ancient god’s will. You were there...”

“Planck also left Londan for a while to meet you on a cruise ship. He’s not some philanthropist who just gives things away for no reason. The old madman never does anything that won’t benefit him. I spent a long time looking into it, and only today did I confirm that his antique silver coin is in your hand.”

Obed slowly explained how he came to focus on Wayne, from only learning about his existence to seeing his value.

“The third time was when the Thousand-Eyed Demon descended to the human world.” Obed turned to the demon in question and looked at him pitifully, as if looking at someone who was intellectually challenged. “Have you not figured it out, Thousand-Eyed Demon? He is Bruce.”

Silence stretched.

Wayne was already wary when Obed brought up the silver coin. The old foxes from the Ministry of Magic were something else. Planck was already tricky to deal with, but Obed was even more observant and keen. No wonder he was the Vice Minister. He had a good head on his shoulders.

Mona didn’t care about what Obed was saying. She raised her lance and guarded Wayne at his side. The legendary mage was trouble. He had been staring at Master with a lustful look since his appearance, and he was still doing it now.

So the lunatic wants the angel’s body?

Ha, you can’t take it even if you’re allowed to!

Filomina listened closely. She knew little about Wayne, and this was her best chance to glimpse into his secrets. Original bloodline, descendant of god, the first humans with endless possibilities, the blessings of an ancient god...

The words flashed through her mind and pieced together a disjointed storyline. Now, when she looked at Wayne’s unusual appearance, she almost drooled.

She could swing that way!

Goddess bless her. No matter what price she had to pay, she would return her young boyfriend to Her embrace.

Among them, the revelation hit the Thousand-Eyed Demon the hardest. He mumbled the names ‘Bruce’ and ‘Wayne’. When he heard Obed’s derisive laugh, he would like nothing more than to dig a hole and hide in it, feeling downright foolish.

No wonder Bruce suddenly vanished, no wonder the Church of Heavenly Father’s people arrived so unexpectedly, no wonder a clergywoman Bruce had supposedly broken could still gain the grace of an angel...

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Bruce—No, Wayne was a spy and had sold him out!

The thought twisted the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s face. Black smoke rose from his mouth and nose, and he roared at the top of his lungs, “Bruce, you traitor! I trusted you so much, but you betrayed your master!”

“I only call you my master. Why would you take it seriously?” Wayne huffed, turning to Mona. “Hey, call me ‘master’.”

“Master!” Mona called out without hesitation.

“Good.” Wayne nodded in satisfaction before continuing his taunting. “Heard that? ‘Master’ is nothing but a form of address, no different from ‘shithead’ or ‘idiot’. You thought I was calling you master, but I only ever saw you as an idiot shithead.”

“That’s not the case for me, Master,” Mona explained.

“Don’t interrupt.”

“Okay.”

Their banter was entirely based on truths, but the Thousand-Eyed Demon only heard mockery and jeers against him. They were rubbing salt in his wound and beating a dead demon!

He growled, almost losing his composure, but at the last moment, he remembered that he was a veteran demon and tamped down his rage. He said to Obed, “I hid among the tributes because I was worried someone would foil your plan. Our interests do not clash. You’ll have the traitor, but leave the divine child to me.”

He was suddenly being magnanimous!

Obed nodded with a smile, but then shot a ray of blazing sunlight to burn down the demon’s body, leaving him with no host. The demon wanted to find another human to possess, but Obed drove him away with magic. The black smoke growled helplessly, banished to a great distance away.

Obed no longer considered the Thousand-Eyed Demon useful. A partnership could only be formed when each party had what the other needed. Obed had needed the key to the gates of hell, but he had a better option now. Since the demon could no longer offer him anything, their partnership fell apart.

“I wondered why Planck was so curious about you, Wayne,” Obed said. “And I had tested you in the museum through other means. I didn’t notice anything special about you until now...”

He looked at Wayne’s monstrous body. “I believe the endless possibilities of your original bloodline are leaning toward the ancient gods. You encountered one of them, and so you tried to evolve into one.”

Mona frowned. What nonsense. Wayne was obviously an angel.

Filomina’s eyes lit up. She wanted nothing but to peel off Wayne’s clothes to study him. Ancient god. What an awe-inspiring existence. Her young boyfriend was evolving into one? She had to admit it was a higher form of existence than elves.

Sensing the gazes casting his way, Wayne shrugged and said resignedly, “Nothing escaped your notice. You discovered my well-concealed secret.”

“Hahaha—” Obed laughed haughtily, his gaze darkening. “You might have tried to conceal it, but you stand out too much. Hasn’t Auston taught you? Never put yourself in the center of a storm.”

Yeah, he had heard that before.

“You’ll be able to tap into your potential given enough time, Wayne. Unfortunately... I don’t have that time, so I’ll take over and do it for you!” Obed extended his five fingers and drew cascading darkness down.

Vitality field!

Wielding the sacred lance, Mona shielded Wayne with her body, while Filomina summoned the cards of moon phases to create a Moonlight barrier, defending against the vitality field.

Darkness morphed into a massive hand that could cover the sky. It feared no sacred flames and ignored the power of the moon, locking up all four of them.

Vitality field was the strongest ability in a legendary mage’s skillset, capable of resisting the corruption of the starry sky to allow a legendary mage to traverse the Astral Plane without being influenced by the vast knowledge.

In other words, Obed could freely enter the Gate of Truth without losing his thoughts to insanity.

A vitality field was in itself part of the Astral Plane. It was a projection that a legendary mage pulled from the Astral Plane with their thoughts, reshaped into a three-dimensional space with their knowledge.

It was a legendary mage’s world. Inside, they were omnipotent like God.

The moon cycled through different phases, driving away the darkness to bring in light. Filomina had summoned sacred moonlight with her mana and shaped it with her thoughts, creating a safe haven in the darkness.

The four cards were indeed treasures passed down by the Church of Moonlight. They allowed Filomina, a Gold-rank mage, to overcome rank difference and forged a domain in a legendary mage’s world.

However, the treasures were external forces at the end of the day, so without matching power, Filomina couldn’t defeat Obed with the cards. The most she could do was protect herself and her companions.

Filomina warily looked at the darkness around them. “A legendary mage’s world holds endless possibilities. We’ll see everything in the world, as well as things beyond our imagination. Remember, it’s all false. Nothing is real.”

As soon as she said that, she vanished from Wayne’s sight. When he turned around, Mona was gone, too.

He retracted his tentacles to pull Kristen closer to his back, casting his large chest eye to the center of the darkness and finding Obed.

The legendary mage was nocking an arrow to his bow. The heavy darkness seemed boundless, concealing the truth like thick mist. The sky was distinctively divided from the land, adorned with the infinite cosmos and the flowing Milky Way. A blinding sun and a moon reflecting cold light occupied the center of the starry sky. Standing below it, Wayne looked at the hill beneath his feet.

Vegetation stretched endlessly, and rivers weaved through the peaks and valleys. The behemoth trees formed an ocean of vibrant green. The overflowing vitality created the circle of life in this newborn world.

“The sun and moon in the sky together... It’s not impossible, but they shouldn’t be so close to each other, and they shouldn’t be the same size. It’s inaccurate in physics and nonsense in math.”

“I guess I’ll call it artistic!”