The deofol within the range of the Descent of the Silent Night perished inside the world of ice within seconds.
That wasn't the problem.
"???"
What turned out to be the problem, though, was that Rotsard suddenly found himself back in the room that looked similar to his father's office.
He immediately recognized the atmosphere and realized he had found himself in the presence of Arch Deofol!
Only that, instead of the being of light that the Arch Deofol presented itself to him the first time, something else was sitting behind the desk as if waiting for him to compose himself enough to talk…
Something…
Or rather, someone.
Because the one waiting for Rotsard, was some blond-haired man with a rough yet handsome face.
Dressed plainly as if to bring more attention to his physique of a seasoned warrior, the blond-haired man was looking calmly at the increasingly confused white-haired young man.
"..."
Rotsard, who wasn't there in the disguise, but in his real form, furrowed his brows and tilted his head while looking at the blond-haired man.
There was something familiar about him, but it was more of a fleeting feeling and not an actual memory.
But, at the same time, it was a gnawing feeling despite appearing insignificant at first glance.
As if…
As if a part of him deep within his subconsciousness knew the man so well that he was an irreplaceable existence.
"What in the…?"
"...~"
Rotsard mumbled, leaning back, his eyes widening.
"You… You are,,, {}^%|<...!"
"Bravo~! Indeed, I knew no matter what, you would never forget me~"
Rotsard gasped in utter disbelief, causing the blond-haired man to smile brightly and straighten his back, greatly satisfied by the reaction.
Only that Rotsar was experiencing a bit of a crisis himself.
He put his hand to his mouth, looking to the side in confusion.
"What did I just say? I meant to say {}^%|<. No! Not {}^%|<...! I wanted to say {}^%|
Rotsard muttered and scoffed before calling out and repeating the unfamiliar sounds that did not translate into any language he was aware of.
"Do not panic. Both my looks and name are simply out of the limits of your comprehension. You being able to repeat my name so many times is already quite the feat~!"
"...?"
The blond-haired man waved his hand dismissively before pointing out, causing the towering white-haired youth to raise his brows in utter confusion.
"Wait a second, does that mean that you looking like a blond-haired man in plain clothes is some sort of a disguise…?"
"!?!?"
Rotsard asked, as the blond-haired man froze up with his eyes widened in shock.
"Someone has been preparing quite a bit…!"
The blond-haired man then leaned back in his chair and exclaimed with a laughter of amazement.
"So, it's just my name that's obstructed? You can see, well, me?"
"As long as you don't have any inhuman features that are indeed obstructed, then, yes. I can see you."
The man was particularly amazed, in fact, as he waved his hand as if to showcase himself, prompting Rotsard to raise his brow and nod slowly.
"This is amazing~! And while saying {}^%|<, you actually know who you're talking about?"
The blond-haired man gasped and leaned forward, staring right at the towering white-haired youth.
"Yes! That's why I'm confused as all hel! What is going on?! You are definitively {}^%|<, but you are not THE {}^%|< that I know!"
Rotsard responded in annoyance, glaring back at the man with his beastly yellow eyes.
"Ha~! It's been ages since I felt that glare! You should visit me more often."
"???"
The blond-haired man then chuckled and said something that did not make any sense, causing Rotsard to lean back in bewilderment.
"A-anyhow, what is going on? Why am I even here with you in the first place?"
Rotsard was given enough time to compose himself to the point where he was able to figure out what questions were worth asking in the situation.
"Did I die…?"
…or maybe not…
"Pffft! You? No, not at all. You annihilated that pesky deofol eyeing out the throne of an Arch with Descent of the Silent Night… and I snatched you away before your mana ended the spell."
The blond-haired man snorted and waved his hand dismissively with a big grin.
"...why did you do that, though…?"
"Well, because we're almost at the end of this farce of a story… and I owe you an explanation."
Rotsard asked in confusion, and the blond-haired man shrugged while keeping up the same smile.
"What?! No! What are you talking about? Isn't the timeline aligning with the beginning of volume 3 of Nordenthele Kingdom Hero's Anthology?! Things did change, but not enough to warrant the end of humanity!"
The youth shook his head and called out in a heated voice.
"End of humanity…? No! No, no, noooo."
"???"
The blond-haired man tilted his head in confusion before shaking his head as he denied the claim.
"Then what is going on here, exactly?"
"That's what I wanted to talk with you about."
Rotsard breathed out, staring at the easy-going blond-haired man.
"The Nordenthele Kingdom Hero's Anthology…"
The blond-haired man spoke up, putting one hand to the side, and a thick book appeared within his palm.
"Never existed…"
"!?!?"
The blond-haired man declared, and the book simply turned into a whisk of light, causing Rotsard to quite literally jump up and back off, glaring between the blond-haired man's face and empty hand.
"While I don't deny that a version of reality that would be word-for-word equivalent to it has a chance of happening, the one I presented to you… Well, I made up to stir you up."
The blond-haired man revealed, shrugging his shoulders with slight awkwardness.
"..."
But, interestingly enough, that revelation did not have any visible effect on the towering, white-haired youth.
"..."
"Huh…? Umm… Hello? Are you still with me…?"
Only that it turned out that Rotsard's reaction was so big that his brain simply short-circuited, completely cutting off most motor functions, which the blond-haired man caught on to and called out.
"I… I think I am… But… How did you do that…? Deofols cannot…"
"Deofols cannot lie, right?"
It took him a moment, but eventually Rotsard managed to ask, bringing back a smile on the blond-haired man's face.
"Well, that's because I'm something else. Something other than a deofol."
"!?"
The blond-haired man declared and instantly raised his hand to stop the white-haired youth from asking questions he was going to answer anyway.
"I told you. Arch Deofol throne is a position, a title of the ruler of all deofols. A rule stating that only a deofol can seize it wasn't ever established, and so, I made use of this oversight and took it."
"I am a human who achieved godhood and rose above all the lifeforms of this world, which granted me the rights and all responsibilities involved."
The blond-haired man revealed, but Rotsard's reaction couldn't be described by any other word than lukewarm.
He merely tilted his head to the side and waited.
"A god is an existence that stands above even all the Grand Faes combined."
"!!!"
The blond-haired man added after a brief pause, finally receiving a reaction more fitting for the revelation he bestowed.
"The thing is. Achieving godhood comes with a certain backlash. Your previous existence ceases to be, and the world treats you as if you were always its god… It makes you live through its own creation as if you were a god. I did not understand what that meant, and ended up failing in establishing myself properly in the consciousness of the intelligent races. Luckily, the faith energy… wait, that's not something remotely connected with what you wish to know, let me skip it…"
The blond-haired man said, leaning back into his chair as his expression turned somber.
"What I want to say is, I have already put an end to the actual deofol invasion back when I was still human. It was a cataclysmic event that established this world as a mine instead of a wasteland... ummm, forget that last part… The thing is, deofols are outsiders and therefore are outside of the god's influence. I have established myself as their Arch to make things better. The deofols in the world that I knew as a human were far worse than the ones you know… You see, I was the one who established the rules that bind them now. The one about inability to tell lies, for example. All me. And I could only instate it because the former Arch Deofol had already imposed it on himself just to make things more interesting… He was so capable even with such limitations that he became the object of envy for all deofols, therefore, when I proposed it to become a rule for all of them. All those prideful fools agreed without a single objection, taking it as an opportunity to prove themselves as just as powerful as their previous ruler."
"!!!"
The revelations were becoming more and more outrageous… even if they came from a being that could lie.
"Arch Deofol is a position… like a throne, the title of the king, but one that's up for grabs for anyone strong enough to defeat the previous one. It grants certain benefits and authority, but it isn't absolute. Still, I would say that, in comparison, I managed to create a much more peaceful world than the one I lived in."
"...!"
The blond-haired man looked to the side and sighed, sharing a fact that made Rotsard shudder.
Deofols were already such an enormous threat to the world… what if they COULD openly lie and deceive…?
The amount of lies lost would be several hundred… no… Several thousand-fold of what he knew of…!
"How can I know that you're telling the truth… You proved to me that you can lie."
The white-haired youth swallowed his saliva and asked, greatly disturbed.
"I give you my word as this world's god. And unlike the last time we talked, I have no reason to deceive you."
The blond-haired man straightened his back and declared, becoming completely serious for the first time.
"What was the reason last time…?"
"..."
Rotsard's follow-up question seemed to trouble the blond-haired man a little…
"You are… a special existence."
"???"
When he finally decided to answer, it was something rather ominous-sounding.
"The world must stay in balance. When a fae fully dies, a new one is born. Since my human self ceased to exist when I became a god, a brand-new soul was created. I couldn't have watched over you as much as I wanted because of the rules all gods have to follow, but when I noticed you straying into a horrible path, I decided to give you direction. You had such outrageous pride that, I realized, could be used to shape you into the world's protector. I just had to stir you up the right way."
"You…!"
The blond-haired man revealed, causing Rotsard to growl and curl up his clawed fingers, fully committed to fight the god.
"I had no involvement in the death of your mother or anything that happened during your childhood. My actual involvement began when I first pulled your consciousness here and presented you the made-up Nordenthele Kingdom Hero's Anthology. I had no hand in the deaths of your loved ones. Although, I pay my respect to them as they helped to shape you into who you are now."
"...haaaa…"
The blond-haired man hurriedly raised his hand and explained, causing Rotsard to flinch and breathe out in annoyance as he forced himself to relax his arms.
"That's messed up… But! Let's say I see a shred of logic in that. Is this what you wanted to tell me? That you want me to become the protector of our world in your stead."
"My proxy. Yes."
Rotsard shook his head and asked, to which the blond-haired man nodded.
"Fine, I guess… But, there is one thing I cannot figure out."
"That is?"
The youth scoffed in annoyance before saying, getting the blond-haired man's attention.
"How come there I know {}^%|< if your human self ceased to be?"
"...~"
Rotsard pointed out, causing the bond-haired man to smile again.
"That's because you weren't the only person I interacted with. Contacting you was actually the most troublesome, and I ended up doing it last. There are three other humans I shared the fake story with to make sure things would go as smoothly as possible."
"What!? Who!?"
The blond-haired man revealed, causing Rotsard to call out.
"Amelia Edemsworth. Demi-Leigh Nordenthele. And, Mira Vultress. In that exact order, each a few years apart."
"!!!"
The revelation was certainly shocking.
"To be honest, only Mira Vultress did what I had expected of her. I contacted her mere months before I managed to talk with you, but she managed to re-discover the cleansing potion as well as many other recipes lost in time just to help you as her attempt to prevent you from dying."
The blond-haired man said with an approving nod.
"Amelia Edmesworth… The one I knew, at least, was a capable commander and someone who always had my back. But… now I see that I made a mistake of contacting her too early in her life. The one I knew would never accept making preventable sacrifices. I believed giving her more time to prepare would only benefit everyone, but instead of focusing on saving lives, she decided to nurture a hero of her own. She tried to follow the story instead of going against it, as the one I knew would have done."
The blond-haired man pointed out, before breathing out in shame.
"And finally, Demi-Leigh Nordenthele. Her… I should have never contacted in the first place."
"Why…?"
He sighed, making Rotsard frown and ask.
"This is the second reason I summoned you here. It seems that your time together influenced her far more than I could ever expect. That's why, when I managed to contact her, and she learned what fate your character met, she became… warped. Obsessed even. As we speak, she has brought forth the greatest danger that this version of the world has faced in an attempt to save you…."
"!"
The blond-haired man stood up from his seat and looked up at the towering youth.
"I want to give you your first mission as my proxy. Save Demi-Leigh Nordenthele and stop the corruption she unleashed onto the world!"
He commanded, reaching out his hand with all the godly authority…!
"That said, I am not going to just send you off without compensation… Which brings me to the third reason I summoned you."
…but then he immediately turned around and walked towards the window that provided the light without actually showing the outside world… if there even was an outside world in the space they were in…
"During the summoning ceremony in your second year… You do know what you were actually going to summon, don't you?"
"...!"
The blond-haired man asked while peeking out of the window.
"...that… that was the Grand White Wolf Fae, wasn't it…? And it was apologizing to me…"
Rotsard went silent for a moment before mumbling under his breath.
"Correct. Do you know why it was apologizing?"
The blond-haired man nodded and asked.
"Because… Because it claimed that it was meant to be my contracted fae, and ended up scaring all the other faes. That's why no fae came to my mother's aid back then. Because of me. Because no fae wanted to encroach on the bond the Grand fae and I were to share. It apologized, because it became polluted with gedwyld and couldn't control itself. It felt remorse because it blamed itself for my mother's death and that it couldn't protect me…"
Rotsard looked to the side and spat through his teeth.
"Are you willing to let go of your hatred towards faefolk and become its contractor, for the good of the world?"
"!!!"
The blond-haired man asked, causing the white-haired youth to flinch and tense up.
"If it's for the sake of the world, then… Still, there's… there is its gedwyld pollution…!"
The white-haired youth slouched and scoffed
"You will receive a forward payment for the first mission as my proxy. A power to cleanse gedwyld pollution… but unfortunately only pollution, not corruption. That said, as a faefolk, the Grand White Wolf Fae would have died if it became corrupted. Since it's still alive, it means that it is only polluted."
The blond-haired man announced, beckoning Rotsard to approach him.
"And since I'm a generous god, I will also grant you an opportunity to cleanse and make a contract with it."
The blond-haired man said while motioning at Rotsard to look out of the window.
"Th-that's…!"
As the youth followed, his beastly yellow eyes widened, and he gasped.