Chapter 308 Dilemma
As Alex logged out from the ancient world, his mind was in complete chaos as the story told by Ahrimon had stirred up a storm of questions, shrouding his mind under an overwhelming cloud of uncertainty.
So, without any delay, Alex sat in a meditation position, emptied his mind, and then picked a few questions that he wanted answers to.
The first thing that Alex did was to relive the past few minutes of his life, hearing Ahrimon talk without the influence of surprise or emotions, to not miss any detail.
After a few minutes, Alex started to analyze the story from two points of view, knowing it was either completely true or it was true but mixed with such lies that they could not be confirmed or debunked with certainty, giving the story credibility.
Alex was almost certain that Ahrimon, a being with immense power and cunning, wouldn't craft a story that could be debunked or refuted.
The reason Alex was certain that there should be a lot of credibility to Ahrimon's story was because if his true goal was to convince him to relinquish his position as the Malefis Domain Ruler, the story needed to be extremely convening with little to no proven lies.
After spending a few minutes analyzing the story, Alex understood that he could only make assumptions about what was true and what could be a lie, but the credibility of the tale could only be confirmed by the Domain Guardians or other powerful individuals like the clan leaders within the Malefis Domain.
This made Alex question if he could even trust the Domain Guardians or those who held positions of power within the Malefis Domain because, according to Ahrimon, they were the executioners loyal to whoever was responsible for the Ruler system.
Alex had always thought that the Ruler system was controlled by Zero, like the game system and galactic shop, but if Ahrimon was to be believed, then that was not the case.
Alex moved to the question of why Zero let him hear the story of Ahrimon and didn't just stop him from hearing it.
Did he not do it because he had nothing to do with the Ruler system and whatever its purpose is, and the other entity didn't do it because she didn't have influence similar to Zero?
Alex had various other questions, like whether Ahrimon's purpose was just to remove him from being a Domain Ruler so he could destroy it or it was something else entirely.
Alex also wanted to know what else Ahrimon knew about the VR and Earth and, more importantly, how he even found out about such things.
The more Alex thought, the more he felt helpless as he had tens of questions, but he didn't have answers to any of them and understood that the worst-case scenario was dreadful and was like a rabbit hole that had no end.
To put the worst-case scenario into perspective, Alex understood that he would be leaving his position as the Domain Ruler, but that was the least bad thing.
Because after leaving, he would need to join Ahrimon's side if the entity behind the Ruler system wants him dead, and worst, if she had an understanding with Zero and wanted him dead in real life, then there would be no place to run.
If he stays a Domain Ruler and the thing about killing your loved one is not true, then that bastard Ahrimon would come for his life.
Even in the most favorable scenario, things didn't appear promising unless Ahrimon's entire narrative was just a lie, but the chances of that didn't seem very likely.
After spending close to an hour thinking and eliminating multiple possible solutions, Alex came to the conclusion that if things truly went downhill, then there was little he could do to save himself.
Alex was aware that he might be taking his thoughts to an extreme, but he preferred to overthink and be prepared in the comfort of his own mind rather than confirm them unprepared and have the world come caving in on him and do something stupid in those moments of distress.
After understanding his options and what he would do depending on the situation, Alex spent the next few minutes reliving the previous few months of his life as they were like a dream to him and the best time of his life in a long time.
After returning in time, Alex acquired happiness, strength, and wealth, and now he could stand alongside the world's titans and attain whatever he desired.
However, as much as he relished these newfound achievements, he held no deep attachment to them and was prepared to relinquish them all if it meant safeguarding his family.
Alex went to sleep for a few hours as it was a few hours before sunrise, and he wanted to spend some time with his family and be mentally fresh before he went back to the ancient world and confirmed how bad of a situation he was in.
In the morning, Alex felt much calmer and at peace with his emotions in control, and after taking a bath, he went to the ground floor and, like every morning, found his father watching the news, sitting ready to leave for his office.
Alex spent some time talking to his father before they were joined by Sophiea, who, like last time, wanted some help related to the ancient world, and he was happy to help.
Sophie wanted to help with summoning magic as she told him how she had gained knowledge about a summoning circle, but no matter how many times she drew it, it never worked.
When Alex inquired about the origin of her knowledge regarding the summoning circle and how big and complicated it was, her response left him astonished.
She simply stated that the information of the summoning circle just came to her mind one day, and she could summon a pet using it and to draw it, she needed a land area of over a hundred feet, and it had eighteen interconnected big and small circles with hundreds of wired symbols in each of them.
Alex was startled because he knew that such a large and intricate magic circle should be at least a mid-grade, but what surprised him more was that Sophie had enough mana to draw it completely and enough talent to complete the circle, which should not be possible for someone like her who was not even a first Rank.
Alex followed with a few questions, and after getting their answers, he was certain she was completing the magic circle and it was being fully activated.
Alex had no clue what was wrong with the magic circle, and he told Sophie as such, who looked quite let down by his answer, so to cheer her up, he promised her that he would take her to the big Zoo for a whole day in few days which placed a bright smile on her face.
After breakfast, Alex returned to his room, his anticipation mounting as he prepared to re-enter the ancient world. He felt a surge of anxiety, hoping to meet with Zero, as he always did after every significant event.
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