It's Not You I Trust, but the Watcher

Even after leaving the Void Realm, Yaxiu was still feeling dizzy and dazed, unable to figure out what had happened. Just what had the Sword Princess understood? This dazed state persisted right until the trial began. When a knight clad in silver armor and wielding a double-ended sword charged toward him, he drew his sword and parried by physical instinct alone. Yet the arcs traced by the double-ended sword erupted into blazing flames, forcing him to dodge in a fluster. "Careful now," came the crisp, melodious voice from behind the fox mask. "He's the commander of the Silver Fire Knights, a battle-hardened Two-Winged Sorcerer who's well-versed in killing and burning bodies. The merchant caravans and towns he pillaged often turned into seas of fire. If you stay half-asleep like this, he'll serve you up a permanent dirt-nap combo." Foresight Slash! The moment the knight slashed down with his double-ended sword, Yaxiu drew his blade and struck at the weak point along the weapon's length, pinning the double-ended sword to the ground. Youlan did not let the opportunity he created go to waste. Diving at the knight from above, her chain-clad wondrous hands were poised to strike right through his helmet and pulverize the knight's pituitary gland! With a roar of flames, the double-ended sword swept along with the momentum, conjuring a blazing curtain of sword-light that enveloped nearly the knight's entire body. In this state, neither of them had an opening to strike and were even forced to retreat to avoid the impending fiery explosion of the curtain! "There aren't many Calamitous Fire believers in my memories," Yaxiu said. "He's a replica drawn from my memories," Youlan said in a breezy tone. "Frank, commander of the Silver Fire Knights. Not like you'd know him anyway." As it happened, Yaxiu actually did know him. He had vaguely glimpsed Silver Lantern's rise to prominence in the sorcerer manual before, and this person was part of it. "The one who once competed with you for the status of Calamitous Fire Seed? Then lost his seed candidacy because he had an intimate relationship with a member of his squad?" "Oh?" Youlan blinked. "You actually knew... But you're wrong on one point." "Hm?" Yaxiu knew there had to be gaps and errors. After all, what he had read wasn't the sorcerer manual of Frank or Silver Lantern, but of an outsider, which naturally contained plenty of subjective assumptions. "Frank was framed," came a light laugh from behind the fox mask. "By Roberta and me." As if overhearing their conversation, phantom Frank's fiery curtain detonated with a crash, and he charged toward the two, swathed in boiling flames! "Wait, weren't there actual proofs of Frank's misconduct found—" "Humans can never grasp absolute truth," Youlan dodged phantom Frank's slash with airy grace, her chain-clad wondrous hands slamming into the side of his helmet. "Instead, they choose to believe one layer of the truth, choose to favor one facet of reality, fabricating an illusion they can accept. "When you need a certain conclusion, you will naturally dig up evidence that supports it. Even if that evidence represents only one percent of the truth, in your narrative, it can become a hundred percent." Catching an opening, Yaxiu lunged forward with a swift thrust, the tip of his sword slipping through a gap in the flames and piercing phantom Frank's gorget with pinpoint accuracy. Yet steam and fire suddenly erupted from within Frank's armor, his body turning into boiling magma—Frank was actually a berserker knight who cultivated swordsmanship, pyromancy, and mortification all at once! Yaxiu caught onto a discrepancy. "No, wait. The ones providing the clues weren't you stakeholders with vested interests; it was other people in the Holy Temple of Calamitous Fire—" "Because of suffering, because of inclinations, because of illusions." Youlan dodged phantom Frank's heavy flaming strike and said, "The Holy Temple of Calamitous Fire demands asceticism from its believers, and we truly do practice strict abstinence. With environmental oppression from without and ascetic vows from within, all the thoughts and desires of the believers naturally become fuel for the grand laws. That is why the Holy Temple of Calamitous Fire could sustain five grand laws. "But it's too bitter, Yaxiu. Do you understand? A life like that is simply too agonizing," she said. "The grand laws are vessels in which believers escape reality and anchor their souls, but over time, people inevitably grow weary. So the moment another vessel appears, they can't wait to crawl inside, joining together to construct an illusion that offers brief pleasure. "Everyone is looking up at the stars, forgetting that they are wallowing in the gutter. "Of the rumors about Frank, only ten percent were true; the other ninety percent were artistic embellishments born from others' imaginations. Roberta gathered those rumors together, and they became incontrovertible evidence of guilt. "So rather than saying Frank was framed by Roberta..." Youlan grabbed phantom Frank's wrist and struck hard at the web between thumb and forefinger until he released the double-ended sword. "...it would be more accurate to say he was framed by the entire Holy Temple of Calamitous Fire," Youlan said. "He became the illusion." Even after losing his sword, phantom Frank's momentum did not waver. The armor across his body suddenly burst open, turning him into a hulking magma behemoth. Clasping his fists together, he brought them down to smash Youlan into paste— *Clang.* With a piercing screech of a blade, a shockwave of cloud-like vapor burst from phantom Frank's throat. Then his head flew into the air, blazing blood spouting from the severed neck as if on fire. Facing an enemy he didn't know, Yaxiu naturally felt no psychological burden whatsoever. *Thud!* Phantom Frank crashed to the ground, smoldering down into a heap of black charcoal. From within, two wisps of flame rose and flew into the two of them. Yet Yaxiu paid no heed to the increase in his physical attributes. Instead, he stared thoughtfully at Youlan. "You two clearly caused his death," Yaxiu said seriously. "Silver Lantern, who sees reality as an illusion, would never shirk that kind of responsibility." "I'm not Silver Lantern; I'm the Mirror Master. This habit of bringing up another lady in front of a lady isn't very gentlemanly, you know," Youlan feigned annoyance. "Still, you don't really understand our way of thinking. "Reality is a fleeting illusion. Not only is reality an illusion, but more importantly, people are constantly pursuing illusions. "Nobody cares about the truth at all. Everyone just wants to drown in the illusions they create for themselves. A knight commander who broke his vows, lofty ideals, grand laws... they're all the same. "Yet hope without outcome is a poisonous illusion," Youlan's voice was gentle. "The more resolute the will, the deeper the poison seeps. In the end, illusions become shackles, and eternity naturally turns into a cage." If Silver Lantern's tone conveyed a pure, boiling, intense pitch-blackness, then the Mirror Master's words emanated a murky, settled, ethereal gloom. Though phrased differently, they arrived at the same destination. Yet Yaxiu felt that while the Mirror Master endorsed Silver Lantern's philosophy, she didn't care about Silver Lantern's pursuits. Silver Lantern was like a child still gazing up at the starry sky, shrouded in the blazing brilliance of a star, whereas the Mirror Master had already lowered her head to watch the path beneath her feet. The dim starlight in her eyes seemed to stem from stars that had already died out. Seeming to sense Yaxiu's strangeness, Youlan let out a silvery laugh. "Did you only just realize I'm a dangerous element as well? In the upcoming battles, would you prefer it if I stood in front of you?" Snapping back to his senses, Yaxiu realized this problem had reached a point where it had to be resolved. Without the protection of the cicada cocoon, the Mirror Master could strike him down with lethal force at any moment. So during the trial, just how much trust should he place in the Mirror Master, and how much vigilance should he keep? Could he truly trust his own judgment completely? He had to remember that his life no longer belonged solely to himself; it could not be squandered lightly. In Nightfall, Igola and the others were definitely trying to find a way to save him; in Gospel, he had promised to return and see Lisi. In the Void Realm, there was someone waiting for him. "Mirror Master," Yaxiu pondered for a long time before finally saying, "you refuse to take off your mask, our worldviews are far too different, we've spent too little time together, and there's a direct conflict of interest between us... Frankly, I cannot place my trust in you." Youlan sighed, yet seemed slightly relieved. "I understand." "However." Yaxiu extended a hand toward her. "I trust the Watcher's judgment." Youlan blinked. "What does this have to do with him?" "The combat prowess you displayed just now, though slightly superior to mine, is still no match for the Watcher," Yaxiu said. "In that case, the claim that you and the Watcher didn't fight last night should be true. If you had actually fought, there's no way you'd have walked away without a scratch. "The fact that you didn't fight only proves that the Watcher doesn't see you as an enemy." Youlan shook her head. "Couldn't it be that he and I made a private deal? For instance, what if we replicas discussed replacing our originals together? Or what if he's actually a closet pervert, and a little honey trap was all it took to—" "I don't like that way of thinking," Yaxiu chuckled. "'Does someone who likes me have an ulterior motive? Does someone who approaches me want to harm me?' If you look at every person and every situation that way, it's far too bothersome and exhausting. "If the whole world is nothing but conspiracies and schemes, it would only mean I'm proudly pitting myself against the entire world. "Maybe you're right that everyone is indulging in their own illusions," he winked at Youlan, "but the Watcher and I are complementary twins. There's no way we'd share the exact same delusion!" In truth, Youlan had already prepared an alternative plan. For example, they could divide the battlefield: against ranged opponents, one in the air and one on the ground; against melee combatants, one facing the enemy's front and one behind, so neither would have to worry about a teammate's betrayal. After several battles, they could gradually improve their coordination within safe bounds... Yet looking at Yaxiu, she suddenly felt she had been outplayed. When they went back, she was bound to be blamed by the Watcher. After all, if they had fought properly in the Cicada Hall, Yaxiu wouldn't have spotted this loophole... "What if both you and the Watcher judged wrong?" Youlan said. "Or what if I suddenly have a change of heart, simply because I find you irritating?" Yaxiu said nothing, but a smile showed in his eyes as if he had seen right through her fierce bark and cowardly bite. "Hmph." Youlan took his hand and uttered a truth: "No one who has ever worked with me hasn't regretted it."