Beatrix frowned at Athena and her absurd claim. It was ridiculous to believe that the innocent-looking Cromwell heir was the most evil dark lord from prophecy. The boy was a harmless darling who couldn't hurt a fly!
"Can I talk to you for a second?" she mumbled to her colleague.
"Of course," Athena replied, walking with Beatrix to the other side of the maple tree. However, her sharp and murderous gaze never left Ethan.
Ethan was somewhat perplexed by the uncanny sequence of events. First, his System proclaimed Athena a nemesis. Now, the female warrior declared him Asmodeus. What was going on?
Ethan recalled Asmodeus' backstory, which Velma had explained. The legend was as follows: in ancient times, the otherworldly dark lord, or dark lady to be accurate—Lucifer, arrived in Promiscua to establish her dominion. Also known as the Chaste Devil, she clashed against her nemesis, Alaric, the chosen one.
Alaric overwhelmed Lucifer in the ultimate battle but was so smitten by his opponent's beauty that he impregnated her. Out of their forbidden mating, Asmodeus was born, fated to walk on his mother's dark path. However, Cassandra, the most powerful witch in the world, reversed the child's birth.
Prophecy had it that Asmodeus would be reborn among humans to fulfill the Chaste Devil's incomplete goals. He would enslave all races and establish his brutal rule all over Promiscua.
"What's wrong with you?" Beatrix asked her friend in a suppressed tone. She hoped her words would be out of earshot for Ethan. However, being downwind, the latter could easily overhear what they were talking about.
"Nothing is wrong with me…" Athena mumbled. "I just-"
"Then why are you trying to sabotage our only paying job in three months?! Have you forgotten we are homeless and bankrupt? Do you want us to starve to death?"
Athena sighed and lowered her eyes, but the little witch piled on the discipline relentlessly. "You keep helping out commoners without payment, and wouldn't even let me steal food with magic. If you are so inclined towards charitable acts, at least let go of your stupid knightly code of conduct!"
"Either let me steal! Or, let us complete an honest job together? The Countess of Fondel promised us food and lodging along with gold! What madness possessed you that you're trying to get us thrown out? Did the pond water enter your brains or something?"
Athena looked deeply apologetic, but her eyes were still adamant. "I understand our poor conditions, Bea. We must work to survive. However, in this case, please trust me! The boy is an impostor! I saw it with my divine sight!"
The words 'divine sight' gave Ethan pause. He recalled the system description for his invisibility pills and navigated to that panel.
[Invisibility pill: Become invisible for three minutes. Not effective on witches with mystic vision. Not effective on warriors with divine vision.]
Divine vision appeared to be an overpowered skill. Who was Athena really?
The greed and exasperation on Beatrix's face disappeared. She watched Ethan from the corner of her eyes. "Why was your divine vision active anyway?" she asked Athena. "It depletes your MP rapidly."
"Well, I swam to the bottom of the pond chasing a fish," the female warrior mumbled with guilt. "It was dark in there, and I couldn't see with normal eyes."
The little witch facepalmed herself, exhaled heavily, and turned towards Ethan. The duo nodded at each other and approached him slowly.
"Young Count…" Beatrix began. "My colleague suspects you are somebody evil. Do you have anything to say about it? Does the name Asmodeus mean anything to you?"
Ethan had no answer to offer, so he posed the same question to his internal System.
'Why does Athena's divine vision see me as Asmodeus?'
[Processing…]
[System advice: Unknown terms—Athena, Asmodeus]
'Well, that was disappointing,' the boy thought. 'I had hoped my System would be like Wikipedia—a simple search browser to know everything. I guess knowledge can only be gained through books in Promiscua.'
[System advice: Known term—Divine vision]
'Oh? You know what it is? Tell me more...'
[Divine vision: A skill granted by the archangel contract to blessed warriors. Rarity is one in a million. The user can see in the dark, penetrate opaque objects, and zoom in on distant targets. Leveling up the skill may help see through magical illusion and camouflage. A maxed-out divine vision may offer glimpses into the past and the future]
Ethan raised an eyebrow in admiration. Divine vision was indeed an overpowered skill, which meant Athena was a special character in his story. No wonder the System recognized her as a nemesis.
Divine Vision's applications offered theories why the female warrior confused him with Asmodeus. The Chaste Devil, Lucifer, was an otherworldly invader. Therefore, her child would naturally have alien signatures.
Ethan was a reincarnated individual, not truly belonging to Promiscua. Athena's divine vision might detect an alien's outsider signature. Mired with misinterpretation and superstition, her conclusion had reached absurd extremes. However, the boy could not present the same argument to the warrior and the witch.
"All I have to say is I am deeply offended," Ethan replied to Beatrix's question authoritatively. "You come to my castle and threaten to kill me? Do you know who I am? I'll have you rot in the dungeons!"
The witch and the warrior felt a pang of fear and exchanged anxious glances. Beatrix stepped forward and spoke up. "Young Count, I apologize for my colleague's behavior. Her divine vision is deeply flawed. She may have mistaken you for something else from a distance."
Athena opened her mouth to protest, but a nudge from her friend made the woman shut up.
Ethan sighed. "If that is the case, I will let her offense slide—"
"Now that we are in close proximity," Beatrix interrupted him. "She will scrutinize you with her divine vision again and see the truth. After which, I will make her apologize to you profusely."
"I assure you I am not a dark lord," Ethan added with a nervous chuckle. "I can barely arm wrestle my sisters."
"Weak constitutions are common among men," the witch replied. "Still, let us go ahead with Athena's confirmation. It won't take a minute…"
"That is unnecessary-" Ethan objected. However, a faint glow in the area indicated that Athena had already activated her divine vision. Her eyes were already starting to glow.
Ethan looked around for guards nervously. What were the two playing at? If they inferred he was an outsider, would they use it as an excuse to kill him? At this point, the boy's System splashed emergency prompts in his mind.
[Warning! Danger!]
[Nemesis confrontation imminent]
[System advice: Divine vision can see through reincarnated body to realize user's true identity]
'So it will reveal to Athena that I am from another world?' Ethan asked. 'That will be the worst imaginable situation! The hulking woman will naturally mistake me for Asmodeus and kill me! What should I do? Use an invisibility pill?'
He did not need the System's answer to realize the obvious. 'The invisibility pill does not work under divine vision! Damn it!'
[System advice: Run!]
'I can't run!' Ethan exclaimed in his mind. 'It will make me appear guilty! Besides, both the witch and the warrior are too powerful. They can easily smite a running human. It will be like shooting a chicken!'
[Processing…]
[System advice: Use Grimorium Lustra]
Even that idea posed a bigger problem. 'If I whip out an ancient-looking grimoire, wouldn't that alarm Athena and Beatrix? They already suspect me to be evil. They will tear me to pieces before I can navigate and find a spell in the book!'
[Processing…]
[System advice: User may grant autonomy and free access to System]
'Oh? Can the System open and read Grimorium Lustra for me in digital form? That would be convenient! What do I have to do?'
[Requesting autonomy and free access for the following time period—forever]
'What? Why would you need access forever? No way!'
[Processing…]
[Requesting autonomy and free access for the following period—one year]
'Why does it look like you are bargaining with me at a flea market? The answer is still no!'
[Requesting autonomy and free access for the following time period—one month]
"No! Stop asking for autonomy and help me instead!"
[Requesting autonomy and free access for the following time period—ten seconds]
Ethan sighed. At the moment, when his life was in severe danger, a ten-second autonomy to his System wouldn't hurt. "Umm… Just for ten seconds? Hmm… Fine… Go ahead."
[System: Autonomous mode] [Access: Free without restrictions] [Time: 00:00:00:00:10]
'Don't do anything weird! Just help me out!'
[System: Accessing inventory]
[System: Hacking into Grimorium Lustra]
'What? Why would you want to consume the book? Cancel! Cancel!'
[User command inapplicable]
[System: Autonomous mode] [Access: Free without restrictions] [Time: 00:00:00:00:07]
[System: Hacking into Grimorium Lustra]
[Failed! Magic too strong]
Ethan breathed an internal sigh of relief. Did the System just try to overwhelm a spell book? That was rather unheard of.
'Rogue System! Give me back control!'
[User command inapplicable]
[Retry!] [System: Hacking into Grimorium Lustra]
[Failed! Error! Magic too strong]
'Stop fucking around and help me instead!'
[Processing…]
[System: Reading Grimorium Lustra] [Success!]
[Spell found: Hero Cycle Revision]
[Executing spell…]
[Aborted!] [System: Access denied!]
[System: Autonomous mode] [Access: Free without restrictions] [Time: 00:00:00:00:00]
[Processing…]
[System: User mode] [Access: User command] [Time: NA]
'Phew! Looks like I have control again,' Ethan told himself. The System went rogue for a while, greedily going for the most powerful object in his inventory. What would have happened if it successfully hacked into Grimorium Lustra?
It was a thought experiment for another day. Right now, Ethan had a new spell in Witchspeak, hovering in his sight. He looked up to see Athena's eyes almost scintillating as brightly as the last time. Beside the female warrior, the little Beatrix glared at Ethan with a mix of anxiety and suspicion.
The boy took a deep breath and spoke the spell words under his breath. "Periroas kiklae mutatium…"