Chapter 182: Ishiki’s conjectures

Ishiki spent some more time inside his Soul space attempting different kind of things and practicing more with his weapons and vestiges.

Then he explored the shop once again… it was mainly to remove the [Hard Nub] from sale. It was a stroke of good luck that no one had yet brought the vestige or maybe no one was just interested in selling it.

At the same time he found someone selling a vestige which can record and reply things for a short period of time and can also change shape according to the users will… but the original owner has yet to figure out how it is done.

It was priced at 30,000 NC and was a rare rank vestige. It was not a very good price but Ishiki still brought it. It was because he had always craved a camera in this place and considering his next stop he might very well need one.

Still it stinged him very much to part with all the NC that he had managed to save after so much time.

After everything was done… Ishiki deactivated [Soul Archive] and came out of his Soul space.

Ishiki’s eyes snapped open in the villa.

He was still sitting in the chair, candle burning with the same intensity it had just moments ago, Crimson Moon watched everything through the window.

And just as he had expected… nothing seemed to be out of place here. It was as if he had gone and came back within a second. As if time had stopped here!

But he was sure of one thing and that was that the time had not stopped. It was clear from the fact that he was aware of his surrounding movements when he held the jian.

’This is really strange… what exactly happens when I go inside my Soul space.’ Putting the question aside, as it didn’t matter much right now.

Ishiki stood up, stretched his physical body, and walked to the window.

“I have quite a few Vestiges now… my arsenal has grown larger than it had ever been.”

“I have Aether Blade, Sorrow’s Edge, Berserkers Effigy, Winds Embrace and Eye of Ruin.” He grimaced as he spoke the last name.

It was a truly horrifying Vestige apart from Aether Blade that could phase through defenses and Sorrow’s Edge which could make anything disappear.

’Apart from those… I am level 16. I believe most of the players still haven’t reached past 12… we haven’t had enough encounters with the Withering beasts and Demons to raise our levels.’

On paper, it was impressive. He was sure that he was in the 10 strongest players in this place. But when he thought about the dragon and Yuki’s brother he couldn’t help but wince.

“It’s still not enough,” Ishiki said, clenching his fists. “Not nearly enough.”

He backed away from the window and began pacing, mind churning through plans.

’I need more clear information… first i need to find out as much as I can about my enemy and only then can I figure out his weakness and have a chance at defeating him.’

At that moment another question rose in Ishiki’s head. That was a much more potent and strange question by comparison to anything he had thought before.

Reconsidering the events that had happened there was a major problem with the scenario to begin with.

When the scenario started, the players were all transported to different parts surrounding the capital of Aethelburg and some of them were lucky enough to directly land in the middle of the running capital filled with people.

Then all of them faced hardships and finally reached this piece of land that was floating because of the power of an Angel. Also this place was filled with people that were not real and were a projection of the memories of the Angel.

Also the Emperor had long been dead and he was killed by the Angel. So in reality there existed no history after the death of the emperor? And it was all just an illusion created by the Angel to keep itself alive?

Or was it all planned by the Neural Matrix System. The moment they would realize that it was all fake? The moment when the demon would free the dragon, who was the true emperor of Aethelburg and his proclamation of being the new emperor?

Ishiki’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. He felt very uneasy and terrified about it.

Were they all moving according to some script that was already constructed by the System?

It was a thought terrifying enough to make his blood run cold… if so then what was Aethelburg?

This place has an history… it had people living here who were players like him too. The ancient people of this place had perished a long time ago and that was the reason the system chose it?

Well this train of thought was making him anxious so, Ishiki gave it up until he learned more about Aethelburg’s history. He was also very much interested in the history about the Demigod who was not talked about by anyone and the God himself as he was being mentioned as an outsider by the dragon again and again.

The journal. Kenji had mentioned finding a journal in a hidden chamber within the library—the big one near the eastern edge of the Inner Ring.

’That’s where he’s been hiding all this time and that’s where I need to go.’

Ishiki’s jaw tightened. Going to the library meant finding Kenji in person. Seeing the journal with his own eyes and getting answers to the questions that had been eating at him since their conversation.

’I can ask him directly why he’s been hiding his true abilities. Why his “measly bat skill” somehow let him survive when stronger Players died. Why he can create air clones sophisticated enough to fool Ghost Blade.’

But trust… that was the problem.

Ishiki couldn’t trust Kenji anymore. Not completely… there were too many inconsistencies and convenient explanations that raised more questions than they answered.

’Still, ’Ishiki thought grimly, ’I choose to believe what he said about Yuki’s brother. That Renji really is a monster who killed Jules without hesitation. That he stabbed the Angel’s heart and caused everyone to vanish.’

But why? Why would he brother do any of that?

What possible motivation could drive someone to such calculated violence? Did he know about everything?

“Power?” Ishiki muttered, resuming his pacing. “Control over the scenario? Or is there something else he wants?”

His thoughts spiraled deeper.

’And then there’s… that.’

The memory made his stomach twist.

If it really was Renji who stabbed the angel’s heart that night… then he was the person who had absorbed that weird energy from the heart.

’He might very well be as strong as an Angel! who knows.’

It was then that he noticed a figure in a hooded robe walking towards his door.

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