Chereads / The Villain Can't Catch A Break / Chapter 26 - What Is Going On?

Chapter 26 - What Is Going On?

Iudicium and the old man met in the middle of the 2 suns that were drastically different in terms of aesthetics.

As the brains and leader of the 10 original gods of Klienova, it was only certain that he would test the waters with this other party that ended up coming to the galaxy they govern.

Iudicium made his way to the midpoint by walking in space and the old man made his way to the midpoint while laying on his sun lounger as it floated towards Iudicium.

Iudicium chose to start the conversation.

"Hello there respected sir, my name is Iudicium and I am the leader of the gods that this galaxy is governed by."

The old man, not looking directly at Iudicium and instead looking at Klienova replied, "Hey there youngling, I go by the name of Sun Wu. I am an Interstellar Traveller."

Iudicium immediately realised that this other party was not to be messed with.

An interstellar traveller is a God that has broken the chains that bound him to his galaxy with his sheer power and can now freely roam the universe causing havoc and chaos wherever he pleases.

"Well sir, may I ask what compelled you into coming to this galaxy and blessing us younglings with your presence?"

There was a tinge of sarcasm and mockery in that sentence. Old man Sun Wu noticed it but chose to ignore it, the displeasure of an ant meant nothing to him.

"The children were bored so I thought of taking them out for a picnic, that is all."

"So you came here only to be entertained?"

"Yes, the only reason for me to be here is for my entertainment and the children as well. I know you're worried that we might ruin this little game you're playing with that world but you don't have to worry about that."

Iudicium was shocked as this old man named Sun Wu managed to completely see through his intentions in only a few seconds of conversation.

"Ah yes thank you that's all I was curious about."

"Youngling I think you should tell your party to wake up. Something interesting is about to happen in that world."

Sun Wu said while pointing towards Klienova.

Iudicium looked at what was transpiring and realised all of the best young talents of the world were about to clash in the technological invention called simulacrum which creates a virtual world within which virtual versions of the participants can fight to the death without any consequences in reality.

The speedy change of the timeline made Iudicium speak his inner thoughts.

"Oh wasn't something like this supposed to happen after a year? Why is it happening now?"

"How would I know youngling? it's your script after all."

It was quite embarrassing for him to get a reply to something he didn't mean to speak in the first place.

He suspected that if the person beside him wasn't responsible for the changes in the timeline it must be that purple star.

"Sir, could you tell me if you have anything to do with that purple star?"

"Oh, that purple star? Looks like a germinating god to me. It wasn't here a few days ago. You woke up right after it formed into existence."

He couldn't pinpoint the source of this germinating god. In that world, he carefully cultivated as his very own personal theatre where he decides what happens and what doesn't, someone had the power to ruin all of his careful and long planning and scheming.

Getting these negative thoughts out of his head, he chose to wake up his comrades to commence the selection and blessing of the promising pawns in Klienova.

"Uhm alright, I will wake them all up."

As he was about to turn back the old man stood up and grabbed him by his shoulder and said, "How about we make a wager on who comes out on top?"

An intriguing proposition, one that could turn out quite profitable for Iudicium, especially because this wager is taking place in his home field.

"What would we wager with?"

"Causality energy of course."

Gaining causality from an Interstellar traveller was an absolute gain.

He knew the script inside out there was no way he could lose this wager.

"So what would we be wagering on?"

"You choose a young talent that is participating as your contender and then I chose one. After that whoever has their contender rank at the top of the school ranking wins."

"Alright, that's a deal how much are you willing to bet?"

"1 million causality energy."

"Well, then it's a deal."

With a shake of hands, the wager had been set.

As discussed Iudicium chose first.

"I will be going with the candidate Jake Kennedy. He is the son of a marquise with talented genes and also pre-contracted with the 2nd best guild in the world."

"Hmmm, a fine choice he shows a lot of potential. Well, I chose Adam Alastair Dacre."

Hearing a name that wasn't even mentioned in the script Iudicium moved his focus to all the information he could gather from the records maintained by the mortals.

The information he gained was that this Adam character was too inconsequential to mention he was weak, his potential was pathetic, and he couldn't even use magic correctly.

An interstellar traveller betting on such a terrible prospect made no sense unless of course he was bored and wanted to give away causality energy for free.

Regardless of the reason, Iudicium's curiosity was killing him.

"Sir, why did you choose him?"

"Oh him? Because he reminds me of how handsome I used to look as a youth back in my mortal days."

'Is this old man f*cking with me?'

"That's your reason???"

"Yup, that's my reason."

Iudicium couldn't believe it, it was as if everything coming out of the old man's mouth was a joke but his expression was nonchalant and serious so it didn't make much sense that he would be lying to someone like Iudicium.

Since the old man is so powerful it doesn't make sense to lie to someone inferior to him.

"Alright, then the wager is set I will go wake up my comrades."

Iudicium started walking back to his sun.

During that entire exchange, however, he didn't notice that Sun Wu had his fingers crossed the entire time.

Soon the rest of the 10 gods started to awaken.

The Goddess of Freedom: Luxuriant

The God of War: Proelium

The God of Purity: Improbus

The Goddess of Love: Caritas

The Goddess of Wealth: Opulentia

The God of Luck: Secundum

The Goddess of Wrath: Iracundia

The Goddess of Fairness: Perfidia

The God of Nothingness and Vanity: Nihil

The gods had all awakened.

Soon the entire sun was filled with the chatter of the gods.

"People have become so uptight and strict now.. let's make them loosen up those pants a little, hihihi!"

"IT'S FINALLY TIME FOR WAR! SPILL BLOOD ONTO THIS MORTAL PLANE UNTIL IT IS ALL RED!"

"I wonder how many virgin children will be sacrificed this time by the mortals to gain my blessing."

"This world has gotten too boring... I need to spread love all around it! A love so intense people will kill for it!"

"I wonder... after all these years... can a man still be coerced into gambling his house and his family away for money?"

"If I bless one, I ruin the life of another. I cannot wait to see what chaos I create this time around."

"THEY ALL DESERVE TO SUFFER! TO DIE MISERABLY PROTECTING SOMETHING THAT IS TOO FRAGILE TO EXIST WITHOUT THEM! THE SOLDIERS WILL DIE WRITIHING IN POISONOUS PAIN AND SO WILL THEIR FAMILIES OF FAMINE! SUCH IS THE FATE OF THESE INSECTLIKE BEINGS!"

"Everything in life is fair. Just like getting scammed, tricked or stabbed in the back... it is only fair that these dumb and stupid mortals have their wealth, women and life taken away by smarter mortals."

"Wealth means nothing, success means nothing, your family and your legacy means nothing. It will all soon turn to dust and into the dark and empty void for no one to remember."

Iudicium looked at the chatter on display.

His comrades were still as crazy as he could remember.

And so was he.

Far away from the sun, however, the old man Sun Wu looked at and heard the liveliness of that sub, he couldn't help but have a smirk with a hint of insanity in his expression.

'This picnic is going to be entertaining indeed.'

Back on Klienova, the dragon race had plans of their own.

Shaheen made her way to this ingenious contraption created by humans, the simulacrum pods.

She and her mother had a lengthy discussion about how they were going to look for mesmer.

It was decided in the end that Shaheen would take up her human form and infiltrate the academy to search for Mesmer since her mother said that a guy like Mesmer would surely be at such a lively place since he cannot help himself whenever fun is to be had.

She now went by the name Shaheen Draconia.

Now you would think she couldn't have chosen a more obvious name.

But what you don't realise is that dragons are a species that haven't been seen on the continent for over 500 years and thus only the elites of the human race knew that they still exist.

Cain Iglesias had already negotiated about her daughter joining the academy and had made preparations.

Nobody else knew that Shaheen was a dragon in human disguise.

Thus, she sat inside the pod and after closing the pod her consciousness connected to the simulacrum.

Adam awakened inside an arena owned by the academy with hundreds of thousands of onlookers as the audience, their physical forms were being projected in the flat ground along with the terrain that was generated in the simulacrum.

The entire event was recorded and telecasted in real time to the entire world.

Professor Ranthumbore, the Head of the teaching faculty and the one responsible for controlling the simulacrum made his way to the podium to announce the rules of the competition.

"I will now recite the rules of engagement.

1. All students have been divided in accordance to their potential and combat capabilities in a balanced manner in 8 sections.

2. Each section has its terrain and thus students will have to adapt in real-time to their surroundings to make the most out of their situation.

3. Rankings will be determined by the speed and efficiency at which students eliminate other students.

4. Everything is allowed except for personal artefacts, all weapons can be used that are provided by the simulacrum. All weapons provided this way are basic ones with no enchantments or special abilities. This applies to armour as well.

5. The academy is not responsible for any mental trauma or pain caused during the competition.

And now, without further ado, let's begin the competition!"

On that cue, the commentators on the announcer table got fired up to commentate over the tournament at display.

"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! We are witnessing a tournament like no other with the new generation of young talents from all over Klienova, these kids are the best at what they do and that is why they have made it to this point so without further ado let the games begin and let us witness their strength! "

After the energetic feminine tomboyish voice, a high-pitched yet masculine voice chimed in.

"And not to forget our introductions, I am Heinz Ratatosker and I am joined by none other than the energetic and enigmatic Sheryl Landow! For those who are hearing our names for the first time, we are the prime-time hosts at Echo Chamber News."

With that, the entire audience burst into cheers and shouts, such an environment was new to Adam, something he had never experienced before.

In his past watching competitive sports such as football, soccer, cricket and basketball were never really his thing and thus he never went to any matches nor watched them on TV.

Adam's philosophy was simple.

'Who the f*ck cares whether the red and black team wins or the blue and white team wins when either side winning has zero effect on his life whatsoever?'

In this case he was however, he understood the excitement of the audience.

Whether these kids do well or not determine the fate of the nations they are aligned with.

A weak generation of fighters or scholars will result in a future of despair for that specific nation.

On the top of the stadium staircases, gambling booths were set up by the church of Wealth for the audience to bet on the participants of the tournament.

Adam couldn't help but smirk at this shameless display of idiocy.

They were all going to loose their money.

He did regret not preparing for such an event to occur however, if Nikolai bet all of his money on Adam then they surely would have ended up rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Now, there was no way of contacting anyone outside now.

There was no point being sad over missed opportunities.

Adam looked at the observation booth of the administration faculty that overlooked the entire arena where the judges were present.

The dukes the marquises' and all nobles respected in their own trades were present as observers as well.

Cain himself looked down at the arena as he was the final judge that would determine the rankings after all judges had marked each participant.

All of a sudden a large golden halo appeared high above the stadium.

The entire stadium erupted into chaos and the audience devolved into joint hysteria.

"THE GODS! THE GODS ARE FINALLY BLESSING US WITH THEIR PRESENCE!"

"THE GODS HAVE FINALLY LOOKED AT US DIRECTLY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!"

"THESE YOUNG TALENTS ARE SO FORTUNATE THEY MIGHT BE BLESSED BY THE GODS DIRECTLY!"

"OH PLEASE GODDESS OF WEALTH, OPULENTIA, GOD OF LUCK, SECUNDUM! PLEASE BLESS ME SO THAT I WIN MY BET!"

The collective delirium that was at display was quite disgusting to Adam.

He could only think of one word as he looked at the hysteria at display.

'Idiots.'

Soon the announcers took heed of the sudden change as well, Sheryl just couldn't help herself but fan the flames of chaos.

"The gods are directly witnessing today's grand event and have chosen to bless the ones they deem worthy! There has never been an opportunity like this for over a 1000 years! Students give it your all do whatever it takes to gain the acknowledgement from our gods. Just a single blessing is enough to ensure that you are set as a pioneer in any industry of your choice for the rest of your life! "

For Adam, the gods observing this event was nothing but bad news. He now had to come out on top while hiding most of his abilities.

It was too soon for the gods to see him as a potential threat.