Unlike Wayne’s rousing desire, Veronica felt such a powerful fear of the Gate of Truth that the fear overcame her madness and cleared her mind. She unleashed what little mana remained in her to recover control over her body.
“Stop right there!” she shouted at the sky. “The Gate of Truth is taboo. Your mind cannot endure the weight of the world. You can still stop it now.”
She didn’t care about Mike, but she cared about her and her companions getting dragged in. All legitimate mages avoided the Gate of Truth like the plague; she had never met someone as stubbornly reckless as Mike.
“You know nothing, girl. You’ll buy anything the academy tells you. Do you understand the true value of knowledge? Do you know how many mages crave this moment like I do?”
Mike sneered with madness glinting in his eyes. “The Nelsons have been waiting for this day to hold a ritual and open the Gate of Truth, thus becoming legendary mages with all the knowledge in the world. For that, I will give everything, even the clarity of my mind.”
The priest had believed that Mike returned to Klofron to finish what his family started and return the townspeople to peace; perhaps there was also an element of him seeking revenge to reconcile with the past. Veronica had thought that Mike was sacrificing the town to the Goddess of Death, and in pleasing Death, acquired extraordinary power.
Neither got it right!
The Nelson family had never entertained the idea. They followed Death, but they weren’t pious followers devoting their all; they had only knelt before Death in exchange for power. If and when a better source of power appeared, they wouldn’t hesitate to change allegiance, dropping to their knees for another deity.
Gods are defined by humans. Whatever humans need their gods to be, they will be!
Such was the doctrine the Nelsons held. Mike, as their descendant, stayed true to that belief and considered the deities suppliers of goods. Whether a god was good or evil, they sought faith, and humans gave them faith by going through the proper processes. It was an exchange, no more, no less. There was no reason to get hung up on good or evil.
Which came first: faith, or magic?
Mages weren’t fools. There were others like the Nelsons who only devoted themselves to a god because they couldn’t find a better one to serve.
The strange curse inflicted on Klofron was the key. One day, a strange space descended from the sky, and the town was never the same. An extraordinary power killed the townspeople and made them believe that they were still alive—no, ‘kill’ wasn’t the right word for it. Their lifeform had been transformed instantly into an eternal death that would never know peace.
After studying the phenomenon and testing their hypothesis, the Nelsons concluded that a great treasure had fallen from the sky: a Law. Use it as a tribute with a golden triangle, and the mythical Gate of Truth would open.
Mages who had peeked into the Gate of Truth would gain all knowledge in the world and transcend their mortal skins, acquiring the seed of divinity that would lead them to legendary status. The chance to become as powerful as gods was right within their reach, which explained why they went on a killing spree that night.
Unfortunately, they were too weak and lost to the townspeople led by the priest. The branch of the family that bore Mike was the only one that luckily escaped the same fate.
It was pouring rain that day, causing a delay in their trip. When those members of the Nelson family arrived at Klofron, the investigation team from Londan had already arrived and closed the case.
Fifty years passed. Mike, having acquired power from Death, finally brought the plan to fruition with the priest leading the way.
Difficulties are the prelude to success, Mike thought, breaking into loud laughter. He didn’t care what Veronica was yelling down there.
“You got it wrong. It isn’t that mages who enter the Gate will become legends, but that only legendary mages have the right to enter the Gate!” Veronica shouted. When Mike didn’t react at all, she grabbed William and Monica, running for safety.
She didn’t know if they could run away, but they had to try!
After taking two steps, she looked down at a trembling Wayne—a three-meter-tall, monstrous... monster. She couldn’t figure out what magic this was. Perhaps his magic had mutated from corrupted thoughts due to his inexperience.
After some hesitation, she went up to him, planning to take the deadweight with them. They would leave together. And if they were to die... She hoped she would be able to throw him as far as possible!
The giant round moon had vanished from the sky, replaced by a starry cosmos. The void connected the mortal realm and the truth of the world. The Gate of Truth had opened.
Veronica reached out to pick up Wayne, but her fingers sank into grey flesh as soft as mud. She pulled back in shock. That almost sucked her in.
“What monster is this? Why is it so disgusting?”
She winced in disgust and tried again, but then Wayne’s monstrous figure shrank gradually, and the new growths of his body shifted to his back, morphing into a mutated pair of bat wings, lifting him off the ground.
The strange white bird soared straight toward the Gate of Truth, triggering Mike’s wrath. The black fleshy sphere plunged toward him. The two monsters collided before falling from the sky.
Under the influence of the Book of Greed, Wayne could think of nothing but the Gate of Truth. Mike’s intervention enraged him. His grey arms transformed into two long blades, thrusting at the black sphere.
The texture of the blades was similar to cuticles. The back of the blades consisted of soft, mushy flesh with visible pulsing veins, while the sharp edges glinted with cold metallic shine, making them incredibly deadly.
Two gashes split the sphere, making viscous black fluid gush out and fall like rain, drenching Wayne in black.
It was the physical manifestation of the Law that had prevented the townspeople from meeting a peaceful death. A mere touch would assimilate one into the strange space the town inhabited and make one a part of the black sphere.
Wayne ignored the chorus of whispers. His bumpy skin soon absorbed the thick black fluid.
Now who’s cursing whom?
Veronica felt her stomach churn as the two clumps of flesh wrestled. She didn’t care if Wayne would die. She ran with William and Monica on her shoulders.
The Gate of Truth in the air shrank dramatically until it could stand on the tip of a needle, then it expanded just as quickly. The resulting darkness enveloped the land, covering the entire Klofron.
So cold, so much pain. The torment made her tremble in the air. The same pain had woken William and Monica as well. Waves of incredible information slammed into their minds, making a mess of their thoughts and drowning out their rationalities. Their faces twisted beyond what should be possible.
There was joy, but also pain and struggle.
The Gate of Truth shattered their curses. Monica returned to her true form, a young woman with platinum blonde hair framing an angelic, gentle face, a stark contrast from her voluptuous figure, exposed due to her lack of clothes.
On the other hand, William was shrinking. Her blond twintails remained, making much more sense with her now fair, delicate face. She was a little more petite than Monica, standing half a head shorter. The oversized clothes draped on her like a robe.
The three academy students had all transformed due to their curses. Veronica’s mana was sealed. ‘William’ turned into a burly man with her mana locked away. And Monica fared the worst. She turned into a cat, and a male cat at that.
With her curse lifted, Veronica had access to her mana once more. Under the tremendous impact of the disorderly knowledge, her mind blurred and frayed. She reached out to her best friends, but could only watch as they drifted away. She couldn’t hold onto anything.
Her blank eyes gradually dimmed, and a piercing coldness overwhelmed her. She finally allowed her heavy eyelids to fall. Tears of frustration quietly fell. Her struggle was in vain, and death would soon come knocking.
Suddenly, a warm hand slapped onto her waist and drove away the chill. Lifting her by the waistband of her pants, the hand hoisted her onto a shoulder.
Eyes red, he stumbled over while panting heavily, buck naked. Pain and toil burned in his eyes. Every step led to a pinprick pain that shot through his body, but he managed to retain some of his mental faculty thanks to the Book of Greed, allowing him to form simple thoughts:
Black cat, gay guy, young lady. Leave.
With his severely limited intelligence, he wondered where the black cat had gone. Seeing the naked platinum blonde girl, he didn’t even spare her a glance before tucking her under his arm. Then he lifted the girl with twintails by holding her shirt between his teeth. He walked toward the light one step after another.
“Stop crying. It’s not over!”