"People of my nation… I have long grown weary."
"The king will now fulfill his duty."
"I shall inherit the will of the former king and carry out the command of the Sage."
"If I succeed, the hidden danger will be completely eradicated."
"If I fail… then flee."
"Run as far away as you can."
"But I believe that in the midst of crisis, a new king will arise, gather the people again, and ensure the survival of Autran's civilization."
Lin Yi observed carefully.
The energy in the tower had changed dramatically.
"The massive Path energy from the first and lowest levels has disappeared."
"So the energy signatures from those two places were actually your distributed Path energy?"
He nodded slightly.
"So you were telling the truth."
"This black tower really is you."
Lin Yi examined Dekara more closely.
Then he began analyzing the composition of the immense Path energy surrounding him.
"Preservation."
"Order."
"Equilibrium."
"Erudition."
"Four different Path powers intertwined within your body?"
He paused.
"No… there's also Destruction."
"Destruction energy constantly emerges, but it is quickly converted into Preservation, Order, Equilibrium, and Erudition."
"Unbelievable."
Lin Yi had activated the Omniscient Lens and linked it to the Laplace Demon system.
Even a single-core Laplace Demon was barely sufficient for this level of analysis.
"Most of the energy has been converted into Preservation and Equilibrium."
"Is that power coming from the Stellaron?"
"So sitting on that throne was your way of accumulating strength?"
"The Equilibrium energy is stabilizing the conflicting Path energies inside your body."
"A clever design."
"But aside from Preservation…"
"…none of the other Path powers actually belong to you."
Lin Yi continued analyzing.
"You have astonishing willpower."
"You're controlling the Stellaron's power through sheer force of will."
"Your strength is now infinitely close to that of an Emanator."
"But…"
"Your essence is fading."
He tilted his head slightly.
"The essence of life."
"In simpler terms…"
"Your existence itself is disappearing."
"You don't have much time left."
"At any moment, you could completely lose your existence."
He added thoughtfully,
"When that happens… what will occur?"
"I honestly can't predict it."
"Will you fall into Nihility?"
"Would you mind if I observed when that happens?"
Dekara gave a bitter smile.
"This power is only temporary."
"The Great Curtain Tower is the masterpiece of our civilization's Sage."
"Once I leave the throne…"
"I probably have about three days left."
"What will happen after that…"
"I don't know."
"I only know I can maintain this state for three days."
Zhili quickly caught a key detail.
"A Sage?"
"Based on your earlier greeting…"
"Can I assume 'Sage' is what your people call Geniuses?"
"And when you said our civilization's Sage…"
"…does that mean your civilization once produced a member of the Genius Society?"
Before Dekara could respond—
Lin Yi immediately shook his head.
"Impossible."
"External information about Geniuses may be scarce…"
"But that only applies to outsiders."
"Inside the Genius Society, we maintain records of every Genius."
"The original collection was compiled by Elias Salas before his death."
"Afterward, Herta took over the task."
Lin Yi spoke confidently.
"I've never heard of any Genius connected to Autran or Glamoth."
Basic information like this simply couldn't be wrong.
The outside world might not know these details.
But Lin Yi did.
Even the Fictionologists would never be able to tamper with those archives.
If they could manipulate Genius Society records without anyone noticing—
The Society might as well disband immediately.
But Dekara said something unexpected.
"Our civilization did produce a Genius."
Lin Yi's eyes brightened.
"Oh?"
"Now you really have my attention."
"Go ahead."
"Tell me his name."
"And his number."
"Which Genius was he?"
But suddenly—
Dekara's expression twisted violently.
"I don't know…"
"I don't know…"
"I DON'T KNOW!!"
He screamed.
The young king collapsed to one knee.
One hand pressed against the floor.
The other slammed repeatedly against his head.
His face twisted in agony.
The previously stable Path energies began colliding violently.
Preservation.
Order.
Equilibrium.
Erudition.
All four forces spiraled into chaos.
The unstable energy amplified the Destruction power within him.
Zhili immediately noticed the danger.
"Be careful!"
"The Stellaron energy he absorbed is out of control!"
"He has such a strong soul… why would it suddenly collapse like this without warning?!"
The tower began shaking.
The structure tilted.
Broken cables sparked violently.
Purple-black energy spread everywhere, corrupting everything around it.
Through sheer willpower, Dekara briefly regained clarity.
His voice echoed again—hesitant, almost mad.
"Why…?"
"What is this…?"
"How strange…"
"A split world…"
"Why do my eyes see two completely different worlds?"
"My memories show two completely contradictory realities!"
Then the chaos swallowed him again.
His sanity collapsed completely.
Lin Yi sighed.
"So in the end we still have to fight a boss battle, huh?"
He glanced sideways.
"Qiqing."
"Don't waste the speaker and background music."
"Play it."
Even now, he still had the mood to joke.
"Hold back though."
"Don't damage him too badly."
He paused.
"…Wait."
"No."
"We actually can't beat him."
Lin Yi suddenly realized the problem.
"Maybe we should just run."
He glanced at his team.
Dongfang Qiqing — ordinary.
Zhili — a Memory Keeper with some experience.
And himself — merely a consciousness inhabiting a body.
Then he looked back at Dekara.
The violent surge of Path energy was growing stronger.
Dekara was literally trading his brain for muscle.
He had already been close to becoming an Emanator.
Now that he had lost control and stopped suppressing the Stellaron's power—
His raw strength was now that of a genuine Emanator.
Technically.
Of course—
He was still the weakest kind of Emanator.
Because someone without reason is never difficult to deal with.
Still—
Lin Yi sighed.
"The problem is…"
"He's a pseudo-Emanator."
"And I'm just a Genius."
"I'm not an Emanator of Erudition."
Not every Genius receives power from Nous.
Nous wasn't nearly as generous as Lan.
Even if Lin Yi's real body were here—
He still probably couldn't win a direct fight.
At best he could kite Dekara around and exploit his lack of intelligence.
And the ultimate technique Lin Yi had prepared earlier…
He had already used it while dealing with the Light Arrow.
Even if he hadn't—
He couldn't use it now.
Because if Dekara died—
All the truth inside his mind would vanish with him.
From the very beginning, Lin Yi's objective had been different.
He didn't want to kill Dekara.
He wanted to control him.
To force him to reveal everything he knew.
If he used a killing move now—
The entire investigation would be pointless.
At that point…
He might as well go home and lie down.
And simply wait for Dekara's existence to completely fade away on its own.
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