"And thus although I have taken a few premeditated measures that in the short term do not serve the purpose of Paradise. I have done every action to benefit Paradise and nothing more." Karsus completed.
The Council was silent by the sheer passion by which Karsus ended his defence.
Ebenzer was quiet as if waiting for something.
Suddenly a smirk appeared on his face.
"I presume then Karsus that all these rely on the fact that Wilhelm will serve as an appropriate investment, if that is not the case then what is to occur?" Ebenzer questioned.
"If that were to occur then I will willingly accept all punishments that is to be delivered upon me." Karsus answered.
"Very well, I've sent a Kanaan there to verify the strength of your investment!" Ebenzer revealed.
However in place of shock was just determination and passion.
"If that is what your Deputy Minister suggests then so be it!" Karsus replied.
Ebenzer was silent.
"If your investment is incorrect then the following charges will be applied. You will be assigned to The Paradise Retaliation Department where you will spend the rest of your life!" Ebenzer spoke with such intensity as if he were thunder itself.
"I shall accept them with open arms if I am wrong!" Karsus replied with the same degree of intensity.
"As for Wilhelm, in case of his failure, his Soul will be directly sent to Miss for healing and digging up whatever is there that the Deities need. The Ethereal and Conceptual Aether shall be taken of which the Ethereal Aether will be transferred to Lower Mansion for dispersal and the Conceptual Aether will be taken by the Upper Mansion for use."
"We agree with the judgement!" The Council's hall resounded.
"Very well then, let us see how your investment is doing." the senses of The Council immediately sent out for the End Space which they perceived instantly.
Purging the boundary that separated it from the outside world, they were able to completely view it so well that they could perceive even the flow of Ethereal and Conceptual Aether.
They saw two individuals, a woman and a man with the woman laying her head in the man's lap.
—--------------------------------
I saw her on the floor.
Against all odds, she had managed to heavily injure the creature but in response her body was mangled beyond recognition.
I didn't know why but as I saw her in this state I felt the urge to vomit.
Gradually I calmed down.
Nothing Mattered.
She wouldn't truly die.
Her Soul would be reincarnated for use later.
Why was I worrying?
I saw her body twitch, I didn't know what took over me but I ran.
I ran towards her.
Grabbing her exposed skull, I gently laid it on my lap.
"Don't worry, you'll never die, they'll bring you back. I promise." I calmed her down.
I couldn't fathom the pain she felt or whether at this point she could even feel it.
Why was I promising her such a thing?
If Nothing Mattered then why did I even care for her?
No, I understand.
I cared for her as a companion — and because of that, I could not accept the notion that I had proposed to myself.
Something mattered and I believed in it no matter how much I deny it.
"I can help you. Give me your body and I shall avenge all of you." Polaris's voice echoed in my mind.
Finally it seems he has acted.
I knew he was a parasite, that the chances of him upholding his promise was incredibly slim.
But for a mortal like me what choice was there.
I was weak and was destined to be such.
I could never hope to control my fate let alone surpass it.
Slowly I gave up my will to Polaris.
I could hear his laughter.
"Well I think we'll be unable to see each other next time." I spoke to Rachel.
"Perhaps but there is a way."
I knew that voice far too well.
That voice filled to the brim with such irritation, that a person couldn't help but pop a capillary in their forehead.
Mortis.
"It's been a long time." I spoke, from the corner of my eye I saw the Saint slowly healing.
"Well that insect had been searching for any trace of any other being in your mind for a long time after you 'woke up' I had to hide."
"Lies." I didn't know why I said that but I knew Mortis had lied.
There was no response for a few moments.
Thus Wilhelm posed a question.
"Tell me Mortis, when Siegfried had first analyzed the ring, it had said that it's current owner was Mortis, I wondered then why it had said so. Then came the day when I 'woke up'"
"Truth is only truth from a certain perspective and is subject to change upon observing from another angle."
There was another way to look at it.
Suppose there were two objects lined horizontally and incredibly similar to each other. The observer now marks them when seeing from one angle to be 1 and 2.
1 is only considered 1 when looked from its front, if one were to look at it from its back and observe the second object first, then two is one as well.
All this mental turmoil from the reveal that Wilhelm was always within The Western Academy to Polaris being a parasite had given him enough pessimism to realise that he wasn't Wilhelm at all.
Wilhelm was what was created by Polaris and thus was able to trust him that well and also was affected by Polaris, otherwise no sane person would've just infected 25 undead just to create a show.
Thus Wilhelm in fact was the Second Thought of Mortis, who was merely a few years old.
The Second Thought's process of understanding would always fight with the thought process of the First Thought and thus Mortis had weaved the lie of him being the Second Thought of Wilhelm which was technically true due to their natural opposition.
"You were originally meant to awaken but Polaris intervened and this resulted in you hiding which led Polaris to think that you had died and thus was able to create me." I spoke softly.
As if a door had opened, memories flooded inside
Among them was a single one that revealed everything to Wilhelm.
It was a simple pocket watch which had only two hands, the hour and the minute hand.
The second hand never existed.
I, no, Wilhelm started laughing.
It all made sense.
Mortis had been manipulating my perception at a far greater length than I could possibly imagine.
"I know you are not a nihilist, you have not seen true nothingness yet, so how about this, you let me regain my body and I will let you live out your fantasy with the girl." Mortis spoke up with quite a hurried tone.
"Does it truly matter if one has observed true nothingness or not? when one loses hope they've already become quite a nihilist.
"You're right but I'm not a nihilist Wilhelm, I believe in the only thing that can matter. Power. With true power, nothing will seem meaningless because you have achieved the only thing worth meaning. You will never be able to become a Deity but I can and not only that but among the strongest ones. Will that be enough to cleanse your nihilistic mind?" Mortis questioned.
I was silent before I sighed.
"I don't really want to die, it's dark and lonely. I won't be able to think nor understand.I really do not seek death." Once I accepted Mortis, as the First Thought, he would overwrite my consciousness completely, from there my existence would cease.
"However neither do I seek to exist without meaning."
Looking at Rachel's body which was close to death, I saw she was signalling me to get close to her.
Bending my head, she leaned forward quickly and planted a kiss on my lips.
"I guess a kiss ain't that bad." With that thought, Wilhelm let his grasp on life slip at last.
Wilhelm died.