Chapter 1805: Astonishing Talent

In the town shrouded by thick fog under the night sky outside the window, the wretched howls of evil spirits made the deep night even more eerie. Yet the flickering firelight in the indoor fireplace failed to bring joy to the two people conversing.

Laplace Klein Howard, wearing a monocle, gazed at Xia De:

"So, are you truly Xia De Hamilton?" Xia De still did not answer:

"Is the 【All-Phenomena Impermanence · Space】 in your hands?" The diviner shook his head again:

"I am also searching for it, but without that honor, at least not yet... Shall we play a game of Luo De Pai?"

This sentence was usually spoken by Xia De to others.

"I came out this time to find someone and did not bring my own deck."

Actually, he had brought it, but whether using the spare blank deck or his true deck, it would expose his identity.

"You must tell him that the apocalypse is imminent and the world is beginning. That is not a ridiculous prophecy; that is reality."

The diviner signaled me to be patient:

"Surely no one guided him to walk the path of seeking the Chosen One. Perhaps when he stopped and retreated, he should have quickened his pace to think: did the one who first guided him point to the truly correct direction?"

"Does he know? Does he know?"

"You also know."

"He has no sense of humor."

He displayed the second card.

The crackling sound of burning flames was once again suppressed by the cries of the spatial distortion entity nearby inside the window; two pairs of eyes met listlessly:

"You merely believe your path is right and his is wrong. Perhaps he truly wishes to save the world, achieving that by becoming the Chosen One through the Edwardz Ascension Art, but you believe that method is correct. Without him, without his plans, you could achieve it yourself; the things he wishes to do..."

"... things."

The Outsider pointed to the sofa he sat upon:

"The King."

"You felt nothing of this at the Eighteenth Ring, but when you listened to the Truth from within the 【Door in the Bottle】, during those seven hundred years of ceaseless attempts to communicate across time and space, you unexpectedly made a discovery."

This diviner was still somewhat restrained; it was just that Xia De was unwilling to waste Divinity. Moreover, he could not rely on Divinity for everything; that was power outside the rules and should not interfere too much with this world. Besides, the path of Seventeen Divinities Sublimation was still far from its end, and the Outsider possessed that caution.

"I know he has his thoughts, but you also have yours. I will not speak words like 'sacrifice is necessary,' which only villains in stories say, but does he truly believe that change cannot occur without sacrifice, that saving our world requires nothing to be given? He does not seem like such a saint."

"Twenty-one. You win."

The diviner was not disappointed and tossed his hand onto the table:

He continued speaking, looking at Xia De with an inquisitive gaze, seemingly trying to discern something from his expression:

"You..."

The Seventh Era, according to recorded data, lasted 5,793 years. This is an accepted fact by the Seven Gods Church and the Eight Great Academies; even if there is an error, it would not be large;

"You do not wish to tell me that the Seventh Era still continues, do you? If that is truly the case, are the two of us actually Demon Men?"

Did those departed Ancient Gods and Old Gods truly only go to sleep? I know very little; precisely because I know so little, I cannot stop. I must do something. I must, I must..."

What I said was half-true and half-false. Laplace Klein Howard shook his head in some disappointment:

My voice grew lower and lower until it was drowned out by the crackling of the flames in the fireplace.

Both sides fell silent. After a long while, Xia De suddenly spoke:

"I have seen many Chosen Ones; I have seen people of all kinds. Do you know? Although I have always participated in all things, I still sit upon the stage. I could have quietly watched everything happen; I could have done nothing and sold my most valuable possessions to enjoy life in this era. But I saw stories I disliked, so I must change them. Even if I cannot change them completely, I absolutely cannot let those tragedies continue to occur."

I looked at Xia De. There was no trace of madness in my eyes, so I was absolutely not an ordinary madman:

I deliberately paused. Xia De sat there looking at me. The crackling of the flames was so obvious under such circumstances. That pause was long, very long, but Xia De waited patiently.

"There is one piece of information I hope you can know."

"As long as you give up becoming the Chosen One of Space and give up merging with your predecessors, I can consider cooperating with you. You know many things, and that is also what I need."

"If my crazy and unprovable viewpoint is correct, then it means someone has made attempts before, but unfortunately failed, which is why there is this seventh chance. The coming End Day cannot be reversed by one person's power, nor can it be solved by completing the verses of the Whispering Poem."

"Between you and me, after you and I were born, preparations for the final day were already underway. Those who can know the future are not just us; those willing to pay and sacrifice, and who have already taken action, are also not just us. The Ringmasters pride themselves on seeing more than ordinary people, yet they do not know that what they see is merely the surface of the lake. We are the ones who can see the truth of the world."

Xia De then drew three cards:

"Hmm... So, you are actually the Chosen One of Time?"

My words continued:

Continuing to trace backward, the chaotic White Dark Era, the Seventh Era. The Prophecy Association's most secret data usually describes this tragic yet heroic age of legends as lasting 'ten thousand years';

The diviner nodded:

"However, one can indeed say something substantial... Do you feel that it is truly the Eighth Era now?"

"Yes, and it is not just us, but everyone. The safety of the future requires everyone to share the burden. And my ritual, the Edwardz Ascension Art, will be my most important attempt."

"Howard, today's conversation has changed your impression of him somewhat, but I do not agree with him, and I certainly will not admit his path."

The two exchanged no words, merely squinting at the suits of their hands.

"Although he seems to have said much, there is no substantial content in any of it. I play cards with him not to hear him say those things. Please tell me specifically: what preparations did the people of the past make? What exactly is special about Princess Lei Lei Qianya?"

Xia De said nothing. The other party had said this sentence once on the night of hunting demons, but Xia De would not be like Luvia. Even if Luvia seemed not to know everything, facing this person, he certainly did not know everything either.

Xia De looked at me. His eyes were very sharp, yet his expression showed no change whatsoever:

"I do have some talent. Of course, it is also possible that because I defied fate and walked the path of the Chosen One, I saw more. However, I still cannot determine if this is an illusion, nor can I determine if I have truly gone mad."

I smiled a bit:

I once asked a demon friend nearby who had been captured by him. He was a slippery character who helped me yet guarded against me. Although he was unwilling to detail the times of the Eighth Era, he told me it was a vast expanse of time on the level of a hundred thousand years.

There was no need to shuffle or check each other; they placed the deck on the coffee table under the fireplace's glow and drew cards together.

"What kind of secret is that? You are not the first person I have met who believes they have seen through the future. The end of the world, of course, I have long heard of. The Chosen One of Knowledge and Wisdom who has gone mad now probably shares many topics with you."

Laplace Howard drew two cards and then stopped:

"You came here specifically to speak with me, was it not for this?"

The diviner laughed a bit due to Xia De's small joke:

The Eighth Epoch has now lasted 1,854 years, yet

shows no signs of decline;

He handed Xia De a deck of cards—none of them were special. Yet in his own deck, there were exactly thirteen special cards.

"So, he actually wants to cooperate with you?"

I revealed the Sun I, the Star X, and the Moon X.

"Then does he know exactly when this inevitable end will come?"

The Seventh Epoch is already verifiable; as for the First Epoch, the earliest age…………"

Zhong Yi asked fully:

"Those things you can still say—they're your leverage against him. People only think you're powerful, but they know that if he wishes, even if you're right before him, he can erase you completely."

"Look at his expression—he thinks you've truly gone mad. Do you have even a shred of evidence for the truth of time? Everything is based on imagination and intuition. You merely noticed, in one of your frequent visions, that between the Seventh Epoch and our current Epoch, there seems to be a remnant of spacetime that has not yet been erased."

"No one knows the exact time, but it's near—very near. Besides him and you, there are still others who have quietly prepared for this day. Even the world itself, at its final moment, gave birth to ordinary individuals like the Princess just now. Your existence is not the plot of any being or entity; your birth is merely the world's natural response to that final, inevitable choice."

"It's fine—I can lend you a deck. We play one round. No matter who wins, I'll tell you one piece of information."

Xia De frowned:

"Arrogance and haste are your original sins. People of the Path of Fate, I bless him with success, for his goal is the same as yours—whether either of you succeeds, it is your fortune. But I will prove to him that I am right: I have seen everything, and thus I know how naive his thoughts are."

"You never saw yourself as a savior, just as he doesn't seem to merely wish to change this world."

I stood up to leave, but as I looked down upon Xia De, still seated, I added two more words: