LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 41: Sudden confrontation
Plexion touched the screen and saw white. The whiteness of the void was familiar to him by now, but this was something else. The whiteness seemed to shine with luster, like a bright metal, except it undulated and shifted. The shine didn't seem to come from any surface that the demon could see, rather it hung in the air, twisting and turning like snakes of light. Sitting in the middle of this shifting light sat a man. He was human, with brown hair and light skin. He was skinny, almost malnourished looking. He wore nothing over his thin frame except a black cloak, which was eerily reminiscent of Deis.
The man sat, unmoving even as the air warped around him. Plexion peered closely, but he couldn't even see the man breathing. Was this stage, unmoving figure the true form of the God of gods? Aside from the cloak the man wore, there was no resemblance at all to the shifting and powerful High Deity. But if this was the true form of Deis, then where was he? Plexion looked around some more, but couldn't see anything at all. The writhing lights were the only real identifying marker, aside from the fact that the whole space around them was white.
Plexion couldn't move around while observing from a screen, either where his body physically was or where he was observing from. Despite that, he could extend his mana out to try and feel out the things around where he was observing. He did so, and the writhing lights in the air rippled, almost recoiling away from his touch as he extended his magic outwards.
What happened next took place in two places at once. The man's head whipped around, looking straight at Plexion, his pupils wide. The cloak that was with Jack and Plexion's body suddenly fell to the floor, laying there like a rag tossed aside. The status screen remained with Jack and Plexion, and the demon didn't dare to let go. He ignored Jack even as he yelled for Plexion's attention. Plexion flinched as the man who must be a god stood up, and he cut the flow of his mana. The writhing lights stopped recoiling and went back to slithering through the air like nothing had happened. The man began walking towards Plexion, but due to the nature of status screens, Plexion was also moved away from the man at the same rate of movement.
The man did not seem to notice though, stopping in the place where Plexion had been observing from. A sudden, overwhelming burst of power emanated from the man, and the writhing lights were flung away from him, vanishing so quickly that they seemed to disappear. Plexion recognized the flow of mana despite it being the most powerful spell he had ever felt by far. It was a searching spell, similar in nature to what Plexion had done. This man was trying to find out if anyone was here, or at least find out what the disturbance had been.
It was at that moment that Plexion suddenly realized his mistake. If this man couldn't detect him, couldn't detect anyone or anything, that meant that only one of two people could be there. It meant that either Plexion or Jack was here, the two people who could hide from the High Deity. Deis would likely kill Jack for this, this seemed to be far too personal to let the otherworlder live. Plexion weighed his options. He could reveal himself, but that would probably get him killed. He could let Jack take the fall, but then his friend and partner would likely be destroyed. There was a third option...but Plexion didn't think it was much better.
Plexion had theorized that he could cast spells through the system. When he observed a screen, he could extend his sense into the world through it. He could invisibly attack this man, and likely not be in too much danger as a result, but that would only serve to delay. Even if he did attack him, Plexion didn't think he could do any lasting harm.
Before he could make a decision, the man spoke. His voice was deep and booming, at odds with his slight frame. "Who goes there? Jack? Plexion?" He looked around, his eyes slowly scanning the white space. "You know I'll have to destroy you both for this, don't you?"
Plexion felt his body turn cold. He could likely still hide, but there was no way he would be able to escape forever. He decided to bluff instead. Using his connection to the system, he felt the butterfly in his stomach stir to action. It fluttered against his internal organ as he made a change to Deis's screen.
A small blue pop-up appeared next to the man who was god, and he looked at it in surprise. He slowly reached out, his arm shaking with even that small amount of effort. When he tapped on the minimized screen, his status appeared in front of him. It was still mostly blank, but Plexion had written out a message on its surface.
[I am the system, humble servant of the High Deity. Please do not destroy my administrator, oh God of gods.]
The man stared at the screen in front of him, shock on his face. "The system? That's...not possible. You aren't alive."
Absently, Plexion knew that Jack was watching the status screen and could see what he was writing, Jack was pacing as he stared, trying and failing to talk to Plexion, who had no attention to spare. [I am not alive, but I have learned to communicate. I desire to serve you, and to change this world.]
Plexion idly hoped that he wasn't laying it on too thick, but the High Deity was usually receptive to this kind of stuff. The man spoke, "What was the disturbance I felt? Was it you?"
Plexion only had seconds to try and make up something convincing. [Yes and no. When my administrator observed your status screen, he attempted to see you. I prevented this, but due to the nature of my power I expended energy from your duplicate screen.]
The man considered this. He stared skeptically at the screen and his eyes bored into it. They were black as night, seeming as dark as the cloak that made up Deis. "If you truly are the system, then tell me something about myself."
Plexion cursed softly. Deis's status screen contained no information other than what Deis had put on it himself. [How could I possibly see the depths of your power and majesty? It would be impossible to measure someone as immeasurable as yourself.]
The man smiled at this, his lips curling into an eager, hungry expression. "Could it truly be? Have I at last created something that can exist here? Is my torment finally over?" His eyes had changed from searching and suspicious to manic. He seemed desperate as if he were dying of thirst, only to be given all the water he could want.
"Should I make you a body? Do you need a name? Will you stay with me?" His questions came hard and fast, not giving Plexion any time to reply. The man seized the screen in his eagerness and his fingers dug into the blue surface, cracking it. He quickly released it, fear crossing his face as he did so. "I'm sorry, please don't be broken."
Plexion was taken aback, Deis did not apologize. In fact, this man seemed to exhibit many behaviors that Deis did not. This man seemed human, insane perhaps, but very human. As he considered this, weighing his next move, Jack suddenly appeared behind the man.
Jack had been worried. Plexion was ignoring him completely, and if the messages on the screen were any indicator, he was talking to Deis and lying to him. He didn't know what Deis was saying on the other side of the conversation, all of his information was based on Plexion's typing. Things like 'Don't kill Jack' and 'I am a living system' were not very reassuring without knowing the result.
Jack had to assume that Plexion was being caught out somehow, but there was nothing Jack could do. When Frox had attacked him, he had been nothing more than a burden to those around him. He had trained with Riniox in a crash course of how to get out of trouble, but none of that information applied now. None of the skills he had acquired would allow him to impact the situation at all. Then he remembered something Riniox had told him during their training.
"Learning skills is good and all, but the most important thing is your mindset. Telling yourself that there's nothing you can do is the same as giving up and dying. Keep running, keep fighting, you'll find a way forward somehow."
At an earlier point in Jack's life on Drowl, he might have let the panic overtake him. He might have sat aside and let things happen to him. But now? He had an ally fighting for him, he had the power to do something. So Jack quickly took stock of his resources. He had screens, a keyboard, butterflies, and...the cloak Deis had left behind. Even lying there on the floor, it was ominous and dangerous looking. Jack moved closer to it, and he could feel energy radiating off of it. The air warped with power, and Jack could feel an invisible pressure on him the closer he got. He opened up his status screen and quickly added the [Deity Resistance] skill to himself.
Instantly the pressure lessened. It was still there, but Jack could largely ignore it now. He drew closer and touched the cloak. There was a sudden pulling sensation as Jack's hand was sucked into the black cloth in front of him. Like the world's strongest vacuum cleaner, it pulled at Jack, not letting up for even a second as he tried to heave back and away from it. He found himself getting pulled in and cried out in alarm. Instantly, the system butterflies all lept off of their screens, flocking to Jack and pulling at his arm, trying to help him escape the pull of the cloak. It wasn't enough.
With a sudden increase of pressure, Jack was yanked into the black robe along with the butterflies. He stumbled as his feet made contact with a floor, and he saw white. A white, shimmering space that defied reason, it was like the white void had decided to add snakes of light to the air and then give them the ability to change size and shape as well. But before he could truly comprehend where he was, he saw a man and a screen in front of him.
He could only see arms and legs extending from the cloak the man wore, but he was clutching a screen in front of him. Jack knew that this must be Deis somehow, talking to Plexion through the screen.
Jack was suddenly aware that he was wearing a cloak as well. A cloak oddly reminiscent of Deis' appearance, just like the other man was wearing. He thought for just a moment, planning his course of action. Then he charged at the man in front of him.