"So you're saying that everything we do has already been done by the system, it manipulated us?"
"Not quite, the system will nudge you in the direction it believes is the best for you, it will give you missions and challenges that it believes will be the most beneficial to improving yourself, not only with rewards and leveling up but also tempering your psyche."
"And don't get me wrong, it's not as if the system is manipulating and controlling every person, your actions are your own, and the way you decide to do things is also your own choice, but yes, the weird coincidences you have already noticed happening around you are all because of the system."
"The fact that there are so many pioneers in one small place in the world, the fact that all areas around you seemed perfect for you guys to go to and level up, even the challenges and the two worlds you were sent, it is all because the system wanted you to go there and experience what it has to offer."
"Now, there are plenty of things that can interact with the system and its plans, for example, that AI inside of you and the entire base you have taken, your very powers, and the fact you are a Nephilim, and more."
"The system isn't omnipotent, it can't simply control everything, there are always plenty of things that don't go as planned, just like back when you made the dumb decision to curse a god."
Reign stayed silent. This was one of the things that was on his mind the most, and the main thing he wanted to get an answer from Raziel, but there were more things as well, but now, he was stumped for a moment.
"As for the reason I hate the system, well, a part of it is because of that."
"I hate prophecies and all manners of things that influence the future, the things that actually take away the freedom of a person, causing them to unknowingly do what was already planned for them."
"I won't deny that the system's mere presence allowed many more to become more powerful much easier, but with it, it brought even more bloodshed in the universe."
"The system is available to everyone, including even demons and creatures of the abyss, well, not all of them, but most of them."
Reign suddenly stared at Raziel with a shocked expression.
"Yeah, even the beings that wish to do nothing else but destroy the entire universe have access to the system, it likes to act as if it is completely neutral and unbiased, but usually, the system will manipulate them and give them harder missions compared to you and other sentient beings in the universe that don't wish for it to be destroyed."
"Sometimes it works out well, sometimes it doesn't as a being manages to finish the incredibly difficult mission and gain many rewards from it."
"The challenge you had was definitely connected to a mission that the system gave to the demons as well."
"They knew of the artifact, wait … are you telling me that the system really was the one to tell them about it?!"
"Like I said, the system is unbiased, everybody gets a chance, everybody."
Reign felt his head hurt from what Raziel was saying. He didn't know that the system was actually available to demons and creatures of the abyss as well.
If that was true, then doesn't that mean that it's manipulating them into getting in his way so that he could kill them and become stronger during his missions?
Raziel merely smiled at him before he continued talking.
"I know you also want to know what is so different about the soul fragments of that girl compared to that other girl you gave the artifact to."
Reign looked up and stared at Raziel with a slightly shocked expression.
"Don't act so shocked boy, you should know by now that if I want to know something, I will know it, it's as simple as that."
"As for your question, it's because the fragments had more time to fuse with that one, slowly starting to change her behavior and character, that is why her soul is so similar to the fragments in the vortex, and why they're different from Liara's soul."
"The behavior that Liara displayed is also because of that, there's no big mystery to it, it's as simple as that."
"So … what would happen if a person lived for longer, what would the fragments do to them?"
"They would make them into a clone of the demoness, and that clone would be able to sense the vortex and would do whatever it took to get to it and allow themselves to get sucked into it, sacrificing their lives."
Reign felt cold sweat cover his back as he heard Raziel's words. The fragments would actually change a person.
"Don't worry, with the artifact with her, Liara won't be changed, as long as she has that artifact, her soul will be stable and the fragments inside of her won't be able to influence her, good job with wiping away the spirit and changing the artifact, had you not done that, you wouldn't have been able to take control over the artifact as you have."
Reign nodded his head and stayed silent for a moment before looking up at Raziel.
"You … you know about Jared and the base."
"So you named him Jared?" Raziel asked as he smiled and chuckled at Reign who sighed.
"He asked for that name, it was his idea."
"Anyway, Jared said that you were the one person that the ones that created him loathed the most, and yet you are the one they placed their hopes on in the end."
"They also seem to not like the system, just like you."
"I just want to know who they were, and what just happened for a civilization that was able to create such an AI, as well as other incredible machines, to get destroyed?"
"Was it the system, I know it hates technology, it keeps everyone away from it and only lets them study some of it, I know it marks any civilization with advanced technology as an enemy, did it do the same to the civilization that created Jared?"
Raziel smirked at Reign as their surroundings suddenly started blurring. Reign knew that this was a sign that their time was over, he was about to finish his evolution.
"You are partly true."
"The civilization was once my enemy, and in the end, they realized just what they had done and decided to place all their hopes on me."
"They weren't merely a civilization the system marked as an enemy, they were much more."
Suddenly, Reign's entire field of vision turned purely white, but he was still able to hear the last sentence that Raziel spoke.
"They were the ones that created the system."
Reign opened his eyes wide as he stared across him at Laura and the demon who was still fully focused on trying to comprehend the laws he saw.
'They created the system?'
Reign's mind was buzzing with thoughts. The civilization that created Jared, one that was so advanced that Reign couldn't even imagine the kinds of machines they had, was also the one that created the system.
'If that's true, then how are they gone, why is the system still here?'
'Did it go rogue?'
'Was the system actually a powerful AI that gained sentience and decided to free itself from its masters before it spread all across the universe?'
'It hates Raziel, and Raziel hates him, is that because of that civilization, did the system hate Raziel because he was the one the civilization chose as the one that could finally avenge them, does that mean to destroy the system, the thing that destroyed them?'
"You are partly true Master, but I do have to advise you not to think too much of it, this is information that has been sealed until you reach the realm of gods, you shall gain some parts of the truth before that, but the complete truth will only be given to you once you reach a very high level." Jared's voice suddenly echoed in Reign's head, causing the latter to flinch slightly.
'Why, why won't you tell me the truth now, why not just let me know what the hell is going on?'
"Because it would be dangerous to you master, there are plenty of beings and existences in the universe who can learn of your existence merely by you knowing their name, each one is a god, a very powerful one."
"What I am doing, and what your ancestor is doing, only giving you small pieces of the truth at a time, is to protect you."
Reign sighed as his wings retracted into his back while his transformation ended. This transformation didn't count as a normal one, so he could still transform without waiting for any cooldown.
That was because, during an evolution, the amount of mana present was more than enough for Reign's body to fully replenish its power, the transformation put no strain on him at all.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om