Chapter 266: The Spectator.
"I am the one you have been waiting to speak with." The woman’s distorted silhouette shifted slightly. "So... how about we have a small chat?"
I swear, whoever was writing my fate definitely had some kind of grudge out for me.
Did I somehow offend them? Or did they naturally hold a grudge against a handsome fellow like myself?
I could never understand it.
Because otherwise, it made absolutely no sense for some completely new shady character to barge into my room the moment I was prepared to rest and ask me for a chat of all things.
But oh well.
It was what it was.
I walked forward confidently as my cloak fluttered gracefully behind me. A single card slipped from my sleeve and moved downward quietly, clinging to the floor to not attract any useless attention.
It was my safety mechanism in case things went south.
I mean, I was sure that the people Morvana secretly sent to tail me throughout the academy were probably guarding me from somewhere nearby and if that wasn’t enough, Fiona was still downstairs.
So fear itself felt almost useless to have at this moment.
With that thought in my mind, I took a seat and looked toward the woman obscured by shadows.
"Nice to meet you, lady. So who the hell are you?"
I asked without hesitation. I mean, for all I knew, a woman hiding herself behind shadows could be almost anyone.
It could be an assassin, maybe Serafim, the leader of the Human Supremacist cult or perhaps just someone else I might have offended by my mere existence.
The woman oblivious to my thoughts opened her mouth and the same distorted voice echoed through the room once again.
"I am the one you were asking to meet. The one whose dear subordinates you killed and injured back in the divine treasury... and the one who knows you far better than you know yourself, Rael."
She let out a faint chuckle.
"Or should I call you... CEO Rael?"
Her voice was cheerful as if she was casually asking about the weather with an old friend she met after a long time.
"You know, you really gave me quite the trouble after getting my dear subordinate killed like that but well, I can understand your reasoning and in your position, I might have done the same thing."
My smile never wavered but inwardly, I already understood exactly who she was.
The leader of the Transmigrators.
Her.
The only thing I had ever heard was the title the other transmigrator used to refer to her and yet... Somehow, her presence alone made that title feel more than enough.
She continued speaking in the same pleasant tone as if understanding my thoughts.
"Oh my, how rude of me to not even introduce myself."
The temperature in the room suddenly plummeted down as the surrounding area darkened slightly.
"I am the Lady Beyond the Veil. The ruler of the Moonlit Marionettes but you may simply think of me as someone deeply interested in you..."
"...The Spectator."
As soon as she said those words, my very soul trembled but I couldn’t understand why. Something like this didn’t happen even when I met rulers of the Underworld like Vael’runn and Hel either.
And yet... It happened now.
My soul felt vulnerable. It was something that should have been impossible given my domain and the myths stacked upon it.
For the first time since entering the room, my smile froze for a few moments because I finally understood something very important.
I am in even deeper shit than I initially thought.
The name she said was something I never heard in the novel but it sounded exactly like the kind of title someone who had reached Godhood would have.
But that should be impossible.
A God could never interfere with the mortal world, let alone descend into it directly so casually so her standing right in front of me made absolutely no sense.
Which meant one thing.
Either my understanding of this world was incomplete... Or this woman herself was something beyond common sense.
So I cautiously opened my mouth.
"Why are you here?" I paused for a moment before narrowing my eyes further. "And what exactly are you?"
"As cautious as ever." She tilted her head slightly. "When will you ever learn to rest, dear Rael?"
A soft laugh echoed from beneath the shadows.
"And besides... why would it even matter what I am?" The darkness around her face flickered softly as she crossed one leg over the other. "But as you may have already guessed, I am, in some ways, a God."
Her voice sharpened slightly.
"Just not the kind you are familiar with. I am an unknown variable within this world... Just like you."
The room fell silent for a moment before she continued in the same calm and slightly mischievous tone.
"But none of that is particularly important right now because all I want for the moment... is a conversation with you and don’t worry. I have no intention of killing you now... nor anytime in the foreseeable future."
"After all, you make things rather interesting for me just by existing."
A God, but not in the traditional sense, the leader of the Transmigrators and despite me being a variable capable of very well ruining her entire plans, she was saying she had no intention of harming me.
Yeah...
This bitch is dangerous.
But just by the fact that even she had to rely on some weakened form just to infiltrate my room like this, she probably wasn’t much powerful in the traditional sense either.
Still, the mystery surrounding her felt suffocating but I already had more than enough enemies and I had no intention to turn someone who currently wasn’t trying to kill me into one.
But eventually... I would have to get rid of her because people like her, the ones who smiled politely instead of making open threats, were always far more dangerous than loud brutes.
My smile turned even more pleasant as I looked at her.
"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about with me, Ms. Spectator?"