Chapter 157

Hallucination

“Honestly, I’m not really sure.”

I calmly brought those words up.

It was the first thing I said after coming into a private room with Rania, who had suggested we conduct a detailed examination.

“……Even if I’ve stepped beyond being human, I don’t really know what’s different right now.”

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t heard similar things before. But honestly, shouldn’t I at least feel something for there to be a sense of crisis?

Even after hearing me out, Rania merely gave a small shrug.

“It’s not something that hits you all at once in a clear, definite way.”

“Huh?”

“Do you realize that the experiences you’ve gone through so far are, taken as a whole, things that would be impossible if you were human?”

“…….”

…Hmm.

When she put it like that, it did feel hard to argue.

Seeing the form of a god that others couldn’t properly perceive, or gathering up the souls of the dead while defying the natural order and keeping them all……

Beyond the advantage of being able to tear apart and acquire various skills through Affection Level, even I was aware that the scope of abilities I could wield was anything but ordinary.

It wasn’t simply about being strong or weak. It felt as though the very domain I could ‘touch’ was fundamentally different from that of other humans.

“Putting everything else aside, how long did it take you to grow from someone who couldn’t even throw a proper punch—literally an empty shell—to this level?”

“…….”

If she went that far, saying anything back would only make me look foolish.

As I stared at her blankly, Rania let out a small snort and thumped several objects down in front of me.

“…Oh, a crystal ball.”

The moment I saw the object placed on the small table, that word came to mind instinctively.

With Rania dressed in clothing that strongly evoked a primitive civilization, the addition of a crystal ball really did give her the aura of some mysterious fortune-teller……

“Well, I am a priestess.”

“…….”

Whenever I talked with this person, I always felt the same thing—she had a knack for cutting off my words so I had nothing to say.

While I tilted my head slightly, Rania stroked the crystal ball and removed her eyepatch.

I had seen those eyes once before, but even inside the dim tent, the way they emitted their own light was still astonishing.

As I quietly gazed into those glowing eyes, I suddenly noticed something strange and tilted my head again.

“Priestess.”

“Mm?”

“Were your irises always golden?”

“…….”

At my question, Rania froze and looked at me intently.

“……Gold has always been the color that symbolizes the Pantheon.”

She held her gaze on him for a long moment after bringing that up.

“This might be more serious than I thought.”

“Pardon?”

“Put it up here.”

But as if she had no intention of answering the follow-up question, Rania abruptly grabbed my wrist and placed it on top of the crystal ball.

She let out a deep sigh herself as she covered my hands with both of hers.

Sensing the regret and concern in that sigh, I tilted my head and asked,

“What are you trying to do?”

“I’ll be honest. I’m sorry.”

“…What?”

“I don’t like doing this either.”

The moment I felt that something had gone wrong was probably right then.

My consciousness began to rise.

But simply saying that it rose would be somewhat misleading.

The world I perceived began to shift and churn in an instant.

“-…!”

I could clearly and painfully recognize that my awareness was entering something transcendent.

A silent yet violently rotating spiral.

The song of droplets bursting forth between waves dyed in a piercing blue and pure white foam.

I perceived the lines of currents, the touch of wind, the stones resting in place, and the infinite potential of all things within time and space.

If I had to compare it to a similar experience, it would be the sensations I felt while repeatedly dying and reviving during my battle with Meyer in the Mental World. However, the place Rania was now ‘taking’ me to was on an entirely different level.

After realizing that my consciousness had traversed space and time and fully arrived somewhere,

it did not take long for a vivid image to form.

“…People.”

I murmured that word as I scanned the things ‘spread out’ around me.

People, people, people—countless figures endlessly surrounded me.

All of them emitted a dazzling light so bright that I couldn’t make out their faces. But one thing was certain: their number was immense.

And among them, there were a few that stood out unmistakably.

Gigantic figures.

Giants looking down at me.

Unlike the others, I could clearly see their faces.

Noel, Katya, and—

“…….”

Huh?

Why on earth is that here?

As I blinked in confusion at the unexpected sight, another figure descending from the sky among those giant forms came into view.

But this time,

unlike before, a horrifying chill ran down my spine.

It was the instinctive sense that my safety was being threatened.

Something black.

If I had to describe it, it resembled smoke, but it was more accurate to call it a formless darkness, like an abyss without shape.

It stood out starkly among the surrounding divine figures that were all radiating light.

Just looking at it was enough to make me nauseous—like tar stuck to the ground, like pitch-black soot.

It was rushing toward me at a terrifying speed.

Aimed directly at me, it reached out its hand.

“-!”

If it touched me,

something horrific would happen.

That instinctive realization made my body stiffen.

And before I could even react to it,

my consciousness was violently pulled back.

“……—Huff—”

I was back inside the tent with Rania.

The moment my mind recognized that fact, my body collapsed.

Cold sweat drenched my entire body.

Just the aftereffects of encountering that ‘thing’ had left me in this state.

‘…What was that…?’

I truly couldn’t do anything.

If Rania hadn’t pulled me out, I might have been devoured on the spot.

“As I thought, you’re already being perceived.”

Leaving me gasping for breath, Rania clicked her tongue and spoke.

“…What do you mean?”

“It means you’re already clearly marked as a person of interest in the Pantheon.”

…So that place I just went to was the Pantheon.

The experience had been so surreal that I couldn’t fully grasp what had happened, but it was certain that it was something along those lines.

That only deepened my confusion.

“Then… that black thing that came down at the end…?”

“…….”

“Could that be the Outsider that granted me my power?”

Rania fell silent.

“…I don’t know. Not yet. It could be. But other possibilities are still open.”

“What?”

“Being perceived by gods is a double-edged sword. It’s not only the Outsider who granted you power that can come looking for you. It could be the one who empowered you—or it could be another Outsider entirely.”

“…….”

I was being targeted by a god.

The identity of the Outsider who gave me my power was still unknown, but regardless of whether it was that one or not, there was an Outsider aiming to bring something ‘horrible’ upon me.

“Either way, you need to take proper measures, Aiden Kellermain.”

At that point, I finally understood why Rania had come to see me so urgently.

“Otherwise, you’re really going to be in serious trouble.”

She was trying to help me.

Had Rania ever expressed her intentions this clearly before?

A chill of alarm ran down my spine.

“…….”

It was also clear that I had no other choice.

Even from my perspective, it was obvious that I had drawn the attention of something extraordinarily unusual.

As I quietly nodded, Rania fiddled with the pipe in her mouth and asked again,

“By the way, how many were there?”

“Pardon?”

“Besides that thing, you must have seen others too. Weren’t there other people?”

There were.

A great many of them.

So when she asked how many there were, it was actually difficult for me to answer.

“…I’m not sure. I couldn’t even see their faces properly to begin with.”

There were simply too many to count one by one.

As I replied while still catching my breath, the priestess gave no response.

“…Is that a bad thing?”

The moment I asked that, I got smacked on the head.

“…….”

“…….”

I looked at Rania with aggrieved eyes, but she returned a cold stare without the slightest concern.

“It’s probably a future that’s already set in stone, so saying this may be meaningless, but show some restraint.”

“…Pardon?”

“Don’t you feel sorry for Lionhearted? That one is only looking at you.”

“…….”

…As usual, the priestess offered no explanation, but this time I felt like I roughly understood what she meant.

It was also clear why she had chosen to do this alone with me somewhere other than where Noel was.

“Are those, by any chance, the number of women who are attracted to me?”

I got hit on the head again.

…This time, I didn’t feel particularly wronged.

“Well, the fact that you couldn’t see their faces means you’re at least filtering them out to some extent… but if you weren’t leaving room for them in the first place, that many wouldn’t gather around you.”

After saying that, Rania picked up the pipe she had set aside and exhaled deeply.

“Besides that, anything else?”

“…There were also some really huge figures. I could clearly see their faces.”

The experience itself still felt incomprehensible, but there were certain details that remained vivid.

“There was one person who was incredibly large—so much so that they stood out distinctly from the others.”

Rania’s eyebrows curved with interest.

“Really? Who was there?”

…The fact that she specifically asked who suggested that she already knew the faces of those figures would be clearly visible.

“Dame Noel, Katya, and…”

I suddenly shut my mouth.

Seeing that I was unable to continue, Rania frowned.

“Why. Who was it?”

“…….”

Rania bit down hard on her pipe, irritation and anger evident.

“Hey. I came here to help you.” 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“…….”

“I don’t know why you’re too embarrassed to answer, but if you don’t tell me things like this, it makes it harder for me to—”

“It was you, Priestess.”

“…What?”

“There was someone with your face there.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…Are you serious?”

“…Why would I lie about something like that?”

“…….”

A heavy silence fell between us, neither of us knowing what to say.

Rania stared at me with a stiff, expressionless face. It was hard to tell whether she was displeased or simply deep in thought.

What was certain was that the silence alone felt suffocating, as if my blood were drying up.

“…Let’s talk about that later.”

With that, Rania stepped out of the tent, her movements noticeably stiffer than before. I nodded in agreement as I watched her leave.

…In truth, we really did need to talk about it again later.

I hadn’t asked everything I wanted to.

‘Why were there two of them?’

…That was something I simply couldn’t bring myself to ask.