Chapter 152: Its Will
“Worse than this?”
“Go on, I’d like to hear it—let’s see how much worse it can really get.”
Xu Zhi was intrigued. Things were already bad enough. How much worse could they possibly be?
[I inspected Ye Yan’s corpse. While you’ve already damaged the foundation of his Archbishop path, I was still able to detect faint residual traces.]
[Then I discovered that this aura from the “Pride” foundation—just like we discussed—is extremely… weak.]
“Is that because it’s already shattered?” Xu Zhi asked curiously.
[That’s partly why. But more importantly, it might be because it was never strong to begin with.]
Never strong to begin with?
“Why?”
[Because it was incomplete—a forged, artificial Archbishop foundation.]
Xu Zhi: ?
“What do you mean? Explain more clearly.”
[Just like the fragment you absorbed—yes, that fragment.]
(The narrator skipped over certain key words.)
[Ye Yan’s Archbishop foundation was also made from a piece of a real Archbishop foundation.]
[Rather than calling him a true Archbishop, it’d be more accurate to say he was a puppet imbued with a trace of real Archbishop aura.]
[Because the foundation was flawed, even though he held the rank of Archbishop, he could barely wield any of its actual power.]
[Even when I examined the foundation for authenticity, everything checked out. It looked like a true Archbishop path in every way—except for its feeble power and the weak core aura, which gave away that it was fake.]
“. . .There’s even something like that?”
[No—there wasn’t anything like that before. That’s why I think things may be worse than we imagined.]
[This is an enormous anomaly that cannot be ignored.]
[I fear it’s not just Ye Yan. The other Archbishops—Yu Shenwei, you, even the Little Aberrant who recently touched the Archbishop foundation—all of them may have received fakes.]
[No—not fakes. Defective products.]
Xu Zhi frowned. “But… why?”
[Exactly. Why? I’ve been pondering that too.]
[Whoever could do this must possess immense power, at least at the Archbishop level. But ever since the resurgence of supernatural forces, no real Archbishops have appeared. So this couldn’t have been done by one.]
[That leaves only one possibility: Them.]
Xu Zhi understood—Them referred to the Supreme Being associated with the [Cup] attribute, whom the narrator often mentioned.
[But why would They do this? What would They gain?]
[You angered Them with what you did in the city center. They want you dead. But why haven’t They sent a real Archbishop to eliminate you?]
[Is it because They can’t? Or because They have another agenda?]
“Wait—I thought I pissed off those things in the Midnight Realm?” Xu Zhi narrowed her eyes.
[…That’s something you’ll need to figure out for yourself. I can’t tell you directly. Secrets of this level can’t be spoken aloud—it would be dangerous.]
Supernatural powers offered convenience—but also many risks. Like this one.
Some secrets regarding ancient or powerful entities could not be spoken. If even one unintended person heard them, the originator of the secret might sense the breach.
And if it was a more potent secret, there could be an automatic backlash for revealing it.
So it wasn’t that the narrator wouldn’t speak—it was that they couldn’t.
At that moment, several possible explanations flashed through Xu Zhi’s mind. Regardless of which was correct, one fact was clear: Tearing open the Rift was extremely important to Them.
Why?
Was it to release something trapped inside?
Or did They simply need to link the Midnight Realm to the real world for some greater goal?
The narrator had said that the fake Archbishop foundations were being made even before Xu Zhi angered Them. That meant They had planned to fabricate false Archbishops from the very beginning.
But why?
What benefit could They gain?
The narrator was clearly pondering this too.
[Logically, They should have no reason to do this. Archbishops are vital followers of the Cup—they are a major source of power and Their voice in the mortal realm. So why create fake ones?]
The mystery stumped the narrator. Xu Zhi blinked, deep in thought. Clearly, They needed Archbishops. Otherwise, why go to the trouble of making even fake ones in advance?
So… They needed Archbishops, but refused to—or couldn’t—make real ones.
“Could there be a reason They couldn’t create real Archbishops?” Xu Zhi asked.
[Yes—and only one reason.]
[The real Archbishop paths are already occupied.]
“Ah…” Xu Zhi sighed. Before Yu Shenwei obtained the [Envy] path, a true [Envy] Archbishop must have already existed—so They were forced to make a fake. And then faked the others too?
But that seemed impossible.
“Could it be that the old Archbishops never truly died—and they’re still occupying their paths?”
[My knowledge is limited to what has happened in this world so far. But yes, They did fall once—and were sealed within—]
[You must understand: each attribute has its own Supreme Being. That Being may once have been human, or a mutated animal. But once They became Supreme, They ceased to be what They were—and became something close to a law of existence.]
[When They fall, so too does the law of the Cup. That’s why most of the Cup rituals today are broken, or in need of repair. That’s the reason.]
[And Archbishops, being closest to Them, cannot escape death either.]
“I see…”
Xu Zhi had learned something new.
[But since They are nearly the embodiment of a rule itself, They can never truly die. Over time, the rule reforms. And when it fully reconstructs, They will return.]
That line… sounded familiar.
She remembered the arcade machine saying something to her early on:
[All things revolve. Old orders and ancient gods are buried by time. Now, a new order has been born. Tell me—do you long to become the god of this new order?]
“Does the new order not have a new Supreme Being?”
[Of course it does. As long as someone stands at the same height before Them—and consumes Them.]
[Even among gods, the law is still survival of the fittest.]
“So They’re doing all of this—laying out this scheme—just to avoid being devoured? To prevent the birth of a new Supreme Being?” Xu Zhi’s eyes lit up. She felt she had finally reached the heart of the matter.
[Shhh.]
[Speak not carelessly.]
[But—who doesn’t wish to return? Even those beings trapped in the Midnight Realm long for resurrection.]
The narrator hadn’t answered directly, but that was as good as confirmation.
In that instant, Xu Zhi suddenly felt it.
A presence.
A fleeting gaze from a place far beyond reach—brushed lightly across her soul. That brief glance carried a chilling murderous intent that turned her blood to ice. Even her heartbeat stopped for a few beats.
She was certain: if that gaze had lingered even a second longer… it would have found her.
And ended her. Effortlessly.
