"What are you saying?" The monster stopped laughing and, rather than attacking, fixed Lucian with a completely straight face.
Lucian adjusted his monocle. "'Archangel' Metatron is Thanos's avatar, and the six Seraphim were forged from the six Legendary Archmages. So putting all the clues together, we can draw a preliminary conclusion — the mastermind pulling the strings is the first one to disappear: Viken, the 'Disaster Sovereign.'"
"Disaster Sovereign" — Viken's Legendary-class title, and also his epithet, describing the catastrophe he brought upon the world, upon life, and upon the hearts of men.
"And then?" The monster seemed genuinely willing to hear Lucian's reasoning out.
"Since the important relic Thanos left behind — the 'Platinum Scepter' — ended up in the Pope's hands rather than remaining in the 'World of the Gate,' that means someone did leave this place, taking the Platinum Scepter and the key to wielding the Heavenly Mountain's power with them." Rhein picked up seamlessly where Lucian left off.
Lucian gave a slight nod. "So, with no other leads, we can temporarily treat the Pope as this 'mastermind' Viken. And this is where we reach a very contradictory point."
"Oh? What's that?" The monster asked with remarkable cooperativeness, showing not the slightest sign of attacking.
"As the victor back then — the Disaster Sovereign who forged all six Legendary Archmages into Seraphim — to be betrayed by the 'Archangel,' betrayed by Saer de... what does that tell us? It means He cannot effectively control the Heavenly Mountain, cannot control the 'World of the Gate.'" Lucian used "He" in place of Viken's name — barring any surprises, He was now a genuine quasi-god!
"For Viken to lose control of the Heavenly Mountain when He had the situation completely in hand means something else must have been going on at the time. It also means there was an existence here powerful enough to stand against Him, one that made Him unwilling to set foot lightly in the 'World of the Gate.' Without frequent visits, His control over the 'Archangel' and the Seraphim would naturally erode over time — and with that opposing being exerting influence on the 'Archangel' as well, betrayal was all but inevitable."
Lucian spoke with effortless confidence, as though this were not a battlefield where life hung by a thread, but a lecture podium.
"You mean that being in the Netherworld?" The monster actually chuckled.
Lucian smiled at it. "No — the one waiting in the Corridor of Immortality for revival clearly isn't capable of shouldering such a responsibility. I'm talking about you. You're the one who made Viken too afraid to set foot in the 'World of the Gate' again!"
Before the monster could respond, and under Rhein's slightly startled gaze, Lucian raised his right hand and pointed at the monster. "If not you — then why were the paper fragments, the puppet components, the Magic Notes, and the experimental records here all preserved? Why weren't they destroyed by Viken?"
"If not you — then why did we stumble upon one clue after another so effortlessly and conveniently after entering?"
"If not you — how could Saer de have happened to encounter the 'Archangel'?"
"If not you — how was he able to leave the World of the Gate safely?"
"If not you — where did the mysterious fragment inside Saer de come from? And why go out of your way to lure us here and show us the Magic Circle in operation?"
"If not you — then why do you always waste time rambling every time we fight, giving us a chance to escape?"
One suspicious coincidence could be dismissed as mere chance — but two, three, four, five of them? There had to be something else going on behind the scenes!
Rhein caught on and looked at the monster. "You left all of this here so we would uncover Viken's true identity and become allies against Him?"
The monster fell into a rare silence, saying nothing.
Lucian regarded it with a solemn gaze. "I believe you are not guarding the 'World of the Gate' of your own free will. You were controlled by Viken and bound with all manner of restrictions, which is why you cannot leave this place — and why you need outside help."
"I believe that when Mr. Maskelyne and the others refined you using those strange and uncanny spirits, it wasn't an experiment gone wrong. Rather, Viken secretly tampered with the process using the demonic transformation method he inherited from the 'Sun King' Thanos. As a result, after you came into being, you had no choice but to follow His orders — and assist Him in capturing the other six Legendary Archmages."
"I believe you were another resurrection method left behind by the 'Sun King' Thanos — but Viken saw through it. That is why you exist at the quasi-god level, and that is why you could 'assist' Saer de in casting the Divine Descent Art!"
"I imagine that since we are both beings of the quasi-god level, Vicen's restrictions on you certainly had quite a few loopholes. That's how you managed to partially break free of His constraints while He was away from the 'World of the Gate,' out spreading the Gospel of Truth. However, the restrictions still persisted — you had no choice but to attack and kill every living being that entered the 'World of the Gate,' and you couldn't reveal the truth to us directly. So, you found other ways to warn us, offering chances to escape through seemingly pointless chatter and mockery."
Lucian stared at the monster, each sentence landing like a cannonball: "I believe the traces of the battle at Thanos's laboratory were left by the confrontation between the returning Vicen and you. You didn't lose, and neither did He win — which is why you were able to preserve part of the experimental records!"
"That is why Mr. Maskelyne and MacLeod were warned by you, and why, in the final moments, they understood who the true culprit was. That is also why he told me that sometimes, the ones we think are our enemies might actually be our greatest allies!"
"Am I right, Mr. Monster?"
The monster fell silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled: "A few things are wrong. For instance, before you discovered Thanos's laboratory and tracked Vicen down, I could only display strength one stage to half a stage above my target's level. Any more, and I would lose the ability to probe memories and mimic — essentially a weakened version of the 'Thanos Demon' ability. That is an innate limitation."
"So, you're admitting it, Mr. Monster?" Lucian said with a smile.
The monster laughed twice: "You're very clever, but unfortunately, I still have to kill you."
There was simply no other way about it.