As Nimrod's words fell, the figure of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings before him clearly remained silent for a long moment. After a while, He opened His mouth to speak.
"You seem to have some misunderstandings and prejudices about me."
"Friend, your imitation of human appearance is truly exquisite. How did you manage to do it?"
TheCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings voice drifted around Nimrod's ears. His shadow seemed to come alive, stretching behind Him into an immensely huge and bizarre human silhouette.
This figure resembled an enlarged, deep dark robe. Beneath the robe, countless tentacles squirmed and drilled outward. Each tentacle bore evil patterns and slippery gleams.
The thought "one must not directly gaze upon gods" had just emerged in Nimrod's mind, but then he felt relieved:
If he were truly just an "ordinary person," he would have gone mad from directly gazing upon the Old One even while standing on "Sefirah Castle"!
With this realization, his tone gained some certainty as he spoke to theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings in a relatively peaceful manner:
"You can consider me just an ordinary human who simply woke up and found myself here."
Hearing Nimrod's words, the shadow behind the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings gradually retracted. He gazed at Nimrod with eyes formed of starlight for a moment, then split His white face into a friendly smile:
"If that's the case, you probably don't remember how you came to be here, my dear friend."
"During my struggle with the Lord for authority, we discovered that you had unfortunately wandered into this world. The Lord wanted to use you to defeat me, while I rescued you from the evil Lord's hands, unfortunately perishing together with it..."
Is there even half a word of truth in what you're saying, apart from the five words "evil Lord"?
Nimrod couldn't help but complain internally. Watching theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings who seemed ready to continue speaking eloquently, Nimrod simply responded indifferently:
"I can speak your name, so isn't there a possibility that I actually know the relationship between you and the Lord?"
TheCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings words suddenly stopped. His face once again formed into a smile:
"You should have said so earlier, friend. You made me say so much—what should I call you?"
As He spoke, theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings extended His right hand.
Nimrod pondered for a moment—from theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings verbal and physical probing just now, it seemed theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings was verifying whether he was truly a weak ordinary person, as well as his attitude.
"Imitating human appearance"... From this perspective, this "Celestial Worthy" appearing in the gray fog space didn't seem as weak as in the original work, not sleeping in the Fool's dream...
He appears unable to "read my mind," but who knows if this is His disguise? After all, the "Lord of Mysteries" has always been a deity who enjoys watching secret puppet shows...
Could He possibly think that I'm a deity from beyond the heavens, like those truly transcendent predecessors who became gods upon crossing over?
With this thought, Nimrod's face also showed a smile as he reached out to shake hands with theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings:
"Just call me Nimrod."
"...Nimrod?"
After theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings spoke, He released His palm and stepped back two paces. He lightly snapped His fingers, and the chaotic gray mist around Him quickly dispersed, forming two stone chairs of ancient craftsmanship.
He leaned against the stone chair He had just created and slowly spoke to Nimrod:
"This name sounds like the name of offspring spawned by the Original (the Lord). Do you have a relationship with the Lord?"
"Who knows?" Nimrod narrowed his eyes and sat on the chair theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings had created. The moment he sat down, theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings hooked His finger, and the originally substantial stone chair showed signs of collapsing into a phantom.
However, Nimrod sat steadily on the chair, causing theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings gaze to freeze slightly—He who had been preparing to test once more while playing a prank.
"Celestial Worthy," Nimrod said softly to theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings. "My understanding of this world is not deep, and it's even less possible for me to know why I came to this world—but I understand you. If you could seize my will, then it wouldn't be me standing here now."
Since the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings hadn't pervasively eroded his will like He had done to Klein in the original work, Nimrod was willing to gamble on one possibility: in theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings view, his status was equivalent to Theirs, unable to be eroded or easily suppressed.
If so, Nimrod didn't dare show weakness before this ancient deity. He could only follow the trend and disguise himself as an existence of equal status.
"...I don't understand what you're trying to say, but perhaps I can talk about our encounter." TheCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings said, His tone immediately returning to normal. "It's simple. When I was competing with the Lord for Sefirot, I discovered you, but you had no will whatsoever—do you know how rare this is?"
"Comrade, all things have divinity, but you don't. This means you are not a creation of the original Creator. You are a visitor from outside the world, the greatest 'error' that has ever appeared in this world."
"I originally intended to use you as my final resurrection backup, because your body is both special and dangerous..." TheCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings obviously didn't want to continue explaining the reasons. He simply produced a fan from somewhere and covered the lower half of His face:
"So, I hid you in the depths of 'Sefirah Castle,' preparing to awaken you after all resurrection backups had completely failed. But unfortunately..."
At this point, theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings sighed: "Look around you. The inheritor I found is truly a wastrel. It's not easy to find so many souls similar to mine at once..."
TheCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings was naturally referring to the surrounding Old One remnants originally suspended on "Sefirah Castle."
So after Klein released all the souls on Sefirah Castle, "I" was automatically awakened by "Sefirah Castle"?
Nimrod looked at theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings with some suspicion, always feeling that theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings was hiding something.
This explanation couldn't explain the reason for his crossing over, nor could it explain why he would be "placed" in Tingen City so long before this time point, at a time node barely different from when Klein crossed over.
"If that's the case, then why was I placed before the time when Klein Moretti liberated the souls of 'Sefirah Castle'?"
Nimrod narrowed his eyes:
"If I remember correctly, when I awakened... only 3 souls had been released from 'Sefirah Castle.'"
"You seem to have been lying all along,Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings."
"This is why I say you are a natural 'error.'" TheCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings lightly waved His fan: "That countdown on the back of your hand is not my masterpiece. After you awakened, I followed and awakened, only to discover that you had already experienced seven days at another time point—it was you who plundered the power of 'Sefirah Castle,' allowing the authority of the 'King of Space-Time' to exert unprecedented effects."
After hearing theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings finish, Nimrod said with half curiosity and half deliberation: "So you mean that as the 'King of Space-Time,' your mastery of time really isn't as good as the 'Decayed King,' and your mastery of space isn't as good as the 'High-Dimensional Overlooker'?"
TheCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings suddenly fell silent.
After a long while, theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings continued leisurely:
"We simply have different emphases in the authorities we master."
"But I must remind you that although you are equivalent to me in status and won't be polluted by the Old Ones' spirit and power, your body remains fragile—physical damage is sufficient to kill you, my comrade."
"I don't want you to die too unsightly, after all, besides Zhou Mingrui's side, you are also one of my hopes for resurrection."
As theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings words fell, the surrounding gray mist slowly rose like a curtain, making theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings body somewhat blurry. It seemed He was not prepared to answer Nimrod's questions.
Behind the gray curtain, theCelestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings voice became somewhat ethereal:
"Of course, I haven't lied. It's just that whether to believe or not... is in your hands."