Chapter 145: The Devil "One," Prisoner of Fate

When faced with Wang Yu's calm gaze, "Charles" stopped pretending to be distressed by the cola. Instead, he adopted a composed expression—rare for the usually boisterous Charles. He sat down in the chair by the desk, facing Wang Yu, who was seated on Charles's bed.

"I didn't expect you to know Charles better than I do. Time changes everyone, I suppose. He's not the same as he was when he was younger."

"Charles" picked up a small notebook from the desk. The handwriting inside was neat, and Wang Yu recognized it as Charles's. Despite his personality, Charles had surprisingly good penmanship, far better than Wang Yu's own scribbles.

"A diary?" Wang Yu asked casually.

"Yes. He keeps quite detailed records. His assessment of you is that you're reliable and won't trick him like Edward does... I didn't expect you to use something as disgusting as 'cola' to figure out the difference between me and Charles."

"Edward tricks people?" Wang Yu wondered if Charles, himself a consummate trickster himself, had fabricated stories in his diary to make others seem more like him.

After careful thought, however, Wang Yu recalled that Edward did seem to have a knack for making Charles yell in strange, seemingly harmless ways—when Edward carried Charles under his arm when visiting Wang Yu, for example. Was Edward actually a prankster in disguise?

"Cola is actually supposed to taste good. It's something from my hometown that Aleisterre doesn't have, but I don't have enough void energy to recreate a full cup, so I had to make do with cola syrup mixed with water—a failure, apparently. Can you describe the taste?"

"It's very sweet, with a rather strange quality characteristic of inferior drinks. Also, bubbles kept rising from my throat, making me want to throw up." "Charles" made a disgusted face again as he described the experience in detail.

"...In a way, I got close to my goal. Still, the final product doesn't seem quite right. I'm still too inexperienced with the void. What do you think?"

Wang Yu shrugged. It seemed the void had indeed replicated the characteristics of cheap cola syrup, but the result was far from ideal.

"Where exactly is your hometown? How could you like such a strange drink? But as you said, if you can't even recreate a drink from your memory, then you really don't deserve the title of 'wizard.'"

"Charles" teased Wang Yu's void manipulation. Strangely enough, their conversation did resemble a casual chat between friends.

"Well, I'm not a native of the void, so I can hardly compare to a devil from hell like you. Just how did you end up being involved in all this business with Aleisterre?"

Wang Yu abruptly shifted the tone of the conversation, moving from casual banter to the serious topic of "Charles's" identity.

Although the peculiar aura emanating from "Charles" was faint, with his ripples, Wang Yu could confirm that the entity inhabiting Charles's body had the same origin as the devil that had once possessed Pernia Ryder.

"...How surprising. I hadn't revealed anything about myself, but you saw through my disguise immediately," "Charles" looked at Wang Yu with deeper astonishment than before.

"Alright. I'll admit it: I am a devil, the first devil, though that's no indicator of strength. You can call me 'One,'" "Charles" pointed to his chest.

"The first devil? Forget it, I don't understand. How are you connected to Charles and what's happening in Aleisterre now? Get to the point. I have a lot to do and I'm still weak. I don't have time to waste on idle chatter."

Wang Yu briefly searched his memory for information about devils. After having encountering one previously, he had reported the situation to Sieg and Hugin and looked up more information.

However, the Nightblades and the royal archives had limited records on these elusive, manipulative beings.

Wang Yu's understanding of devils was still limited to their cunning, love of chaos, and tendency to cause trouble.

Wang Yu certainly had no love lost for them. The only reason he could maintain a neutral attitude toward "One" was due to his unbiased nature. After all, in this incident, "One" had helped Charles and, by extension, Wang Yu.

"Aren't you even a little afraid or awed by the fact that I'm a devil? To be honest, I don't like it when people speak to me in such a commanding tone.

"Devils are beloved by the void. Moreover, any intelligent being is inherently subservient to a devil. You're no exception. I may not be the strongest, but that doesn't mean I'm weak."

"One" expressed dissatisfaction with Wang Yu's unflappable attitude. As it spoke, the light in Charles's room noticeably dimmed. Something seemed to have enveloped the room.

Wang Yu's ripples detected a thin but dense layer of void energy surrounding the room, trapping him inside. This barrier felt familiar—similar to the one the Undying Lord had used to encase the manor. As expected of someone favored by the void...

"Don't threaten me—it's pointless. Your skill at wizardry far surpasses mine, but if I want to leave, you can't stop me," Wang Yu remained unfazed by the void energy barrier.

Darkness spread from his back, enveloping his body like water. The gentle embrace of the Lady of the Night's power shielded him. As Wang Yu had said, "One" couldn't hold him here.

"As for my mind? If you want to try, go ahead," Wang Yu's calm eyes now carried a dangerous glint.

Wang Yu rarely displayed such an expression because he wasn't skilled at using his gaze to exert pressure—but at that moment, his slightly disdainful yet utterly confident look made his presence overwhelmingly imposing.

"One" shuddered. He wasn't entirely surprised to see the Lady of the Night's power appear around Wang Yu, given that Wang Yu was her archbishop.

But when Wang Yu next spoke, that look in his eyes made "One" realize that Wang Yu truly did pose a threat. A premonition of certain annihilation sent an uncontrollable shiver through "One."

Wang Yu was a rather strange combatant. Given his lack of fighting spirit, but also his wizardry and the Spellweaver's Tome, he was roughly at the level of an intermediate knight. An advanced knight would likely be able to defeat Wang Yu by outlasting his Bloodburn Drive.

But in certain domains—the mental realm where devils excelled, for instance—Wang Yu was an absurdly strong combatant given his impossible immunity to mental compulsion.

If an enemy were to rashly enter Wang Yu's mindscape, that enemy might well perish at the hands of an otherwise insignificant foe.

"One" was briefly silent, and the dense void energy surrounding the room gradually dissipated. Clearly, "One" had backed down.

Its instinctive premonition left "One" with a paralyzing fear against Wang Yu. Moreover, its own personality wasn't particularly domineering.

"I apologize for my rudeness and testing. I just wanted to see if the person Charles considers a variable, someone capable of changing a predetermined future, truly lives up to his expectations. Now I'm convinced. I still don't think it's likely, but you might well succeed."

"One" no longer used its deliberately haughty tone nor showed any further signs of hostility. Wang Yu, too, returned to his usual calmness. The Lady of the Night's power slowly receded into the void from whence it came.

"Let me first explain my relationship with Charles. Otherwise, I doubt you'll trust me..."

"One" cleared its throat, preparing to recount its history with Charles to earn Wang Yu's trust.

"Stop. Why does everyone who talks to me feel the need to tell me their life story? I've been wondering about this for a long time. Do I look like a great listener?"

"One" had barely started when Wang Yu interrupted, kneading his forehead.

"Listen, I don't have the time or interest to hear your story. I don't know if what you're saying is true or not—how could I really trust you that easily? It's easy to scatter a few lies in with the truth. What matters isn't what you say, but what you do.

"You undoubtedly helped me during this incident, and I suspect you were responsible for the tarot card Charles hid too. It would have been nearly impossible for me to break into the academy otherwise.

"I don't know what your motives are, but I'm willing to extend a certain level of trust to you for the time being. And since Charles chose to trust you, as his friend, I'll also choose to trust you temporarily."

Wang Yu bluntly stated that he had no interest in hearing a story from someone he'd known for less than half a day.

This left "One" momentarily speechless. Wang Yu's directness was jarring for a cunning being like a devil, but it couldn't deny the logic in his words.

"Very well. Let me explain what I know." "One" focused on key information, as Wang Yu had requested.

"There are many irregularities about the war between Aleisterre and Selwyn. Have you noticed any of them?"

"Some, but not many," Wang Yu admitted. He wasn't a native of this world, and while he had a general understanding of the political landscape between the kingdoms, deeper intrigue was beyond him. All he could say was that Selwyn's decision to go to war had been too sudden and lacked sufficient justification.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"The war between the two kingdoms came out of nowhere. Minor conflicts and tensions suddenly escalated into full-scale war. Selwyn, or rather certain individuals within Selwyn, initiated the war. Their goal wasn't merely about territory or resources. What they sought was something they considered more important than wealth or even power.

"I know this information because of the ability I granted to the Ryders. You're aware of their unique trait—their ability to foresee the future.

"By communicating with the void, I can, under certain limitations, see the future within a specific timeframe. However, this future is... extremely difficult to change.

"The Ryders have an incomplete version of my power, and what they see are only fragmented glimpses. I didn't expect that they would learn to extract and analyze information from these fragments to make predictions that mimic my own, allowing them to avoid disasters.

"And even among the Ryders, Charles is particularly skilled. The issue is that he simply often refuses to use this ability to peek into the future.

"My observations of the future are relatively clear, and I can see the outcomes and timelines of many events. Unusually, my senses have been obscured with regards to the outcome of this war. All I know is that Aleisterre will suffer—in the worst-case scenario, it may be destroyed completely.

"The fuzzier the outcome I see, the less I can influence it. I suspect that this war was brought about by powers at play far beyond what I can comprehend.

"I didn't want Charles to get involved in the war because he wouldn't have been able to do anything, but he refuses to give up. That's just how he is—I can't dissuade him.

"You were a variable I noticed. Nothing in my glimpses of the future involve you, and Charles can't detect you either. You may have the ability to change this otherwise predetermined future—but at least for now, you're too weak. It would be far too easy for the truly wise and powerful to manipulate you. Your current influence on the future is minimal. I don't believe you can change this future—a future that might well be the start of an era, one that begins with Aleisterre's downfall."

"One" spoke of a future it had seen, a vague but grim one. This was the most important message it wanted to convey to Wang Yu.

"It sounds bad, but even without me, I doubt the future you're describing is set in stone," Wang Yu replied, his tone even.

"In my hometown, there's a game called 'tabletop role-playing.' It's a text-based role-playing game, kind of like a play with variables. The game master holds the 'script' and guides the players, steering the story in the direction they want.

"But often, even with a 'script,' the game master can't control the direction of the story. The players take it in unexpected directions, leading to outcomes no one could have predicted.

"In reality, who has a 'script'? No one. If even a story with a script can go off the rails, how can a future without one be impossible to change?

"Most importantly, the kind of prophecy and prognostication you're talking about would be a joke in the Stevenson Academy of Magic. Honestly, I don't even think you're as good as the Ryders in this regard.

"At least they analyze situations from fragmented visions rather than blindly believing in them—ignoring the ones who have gone mad, of course. Charles certainly doesn't trust them implicitly.

"Have you ever questioned the nature of your ability? Have you ever sought the source of your future sight? Have you ever doubted whether these visions are deliberately guiding you?

"From what you've said, it seems that the answer is no. The future is the future precisely because it hasn't happened yet.

"Believing everything you see is exactly what the scammers in the capital love. Before you gamble, they show you their so-called predictions and make you think you can foresee the future—only to leave you drowning in debt.

"If you gave this ability to the professors of Stevenson Academy of Magic, they would undoubtedly exhaust every effort to analyze its principles and figure out how to use it. But have you yourself ever truly thought about the principles behind how your ability functions?

"The future reflected in the void—can you honestly say you fully understand what the void is? If you truly understood it, I doubt you'd be wasting time talking to me. Even Roland, the most powerful wizard in human history, couldn't make that claim.

"In my opinion, this ability to foresee the future isn't so much your power as it is your prison. You're nothing more than a prisoner of fate."