180 Chapter 93: Master of Deception (Part 2)

Ethan: "So, what's this about?"

He asked, confused as to why the Spirit-user of their faction had asked him to meet her alone and without telling anyone else.

Ethan: "Don't tell me your heart is starting to waver because of my badassery! If that happened, I'd feel really bad for Kais."

Sona: "If you don't want a second asshole, shut up!"

Ethan: "E-ek!"

Sona: "Now, the reason I asked you to be here - it's simply because I have a question that I need answered, and I don't think asking it in front of Kais would be a good idea."

With a serious and contemplating glance at the house they were residing in, and maybe at the people residing within it as well, Sona asked Ethan,

Sona: "Back in the tomb, what did you mean when you said Kais is the 'master of deception'?"

Hearing that question, Ethan couldn't help but smile.

It was nighttime and the streets were mostly quiet, allowing for better concentration for any supernatural trying to use some ability. Hence, there didn't seem to be a way with which he can force his way out of the situation, much less dodge it.

So,

Ethan: "Hah!"

He sighed, and answered,

Ethan: "There is something deeply tragic about a man who can't live without deceiving himself."

For him, who had lived the past 12 years of his life with the philosophy of never lying to himself and always facing the truth head-on, self-deception was truly something very special.

Sona: "I … suppose."

And for her, who had lived the past 12 years of her life consumed with rage and hate and never tried to even look at the truth because in some recess of her mind, she had realized that the truth would hurt a lot more, self-deception was also truly something very special, though for completely opposite reasons.

Ethan: "Ha!"

For the one who had never deceived himself and for the one who had grown past deceiving herself after doing so for most of her life, there was someone really important to both of their causes whose case was very special to both of them.

Ethan: "We live in a world where believing means a lot. As long as people believe, even an asshole deserving to be called the devil can become a 'God'."

Believing - this was a concept he had faced himself far too many times, so he knew despite not being a supernatural that -

Ethan: "If a supernatural believes they are weak, they will probably become weak. And conversely, if they believe they are strong, they will probably become stronger than they are at least. It's just how the Potential of supernatural abilities work, and even more so for Psychics than anyone else."

And so, something so tragic and foolish as self-deception can become something far too great.

Ethan: "For him, a man capable of constantly deceiving himself into thinking whatever is convenient, this is probably both a blessing and a curse."

Hearing so, Sona looks back at the mansion with a distant and sad look.

Sona: "Does … does all his power emerge just because he can deceive himself into thinking he has that power?"

Ethan: "..."

Sona: "Does he not have anything of his own?"

It was saddening to hear that the only childhood friend of hers lives by constantly deceiving himself. So, it was only natural she wondered about that, wishing for the answer to be the more positive one.

Ethan: "Well, I am sure there is something inside him that is not just present because of his self-deception. But, whatever it is, it's present so deep inside him that even I can't see it."

There was a genuine uneasiness in the air from the start.

Sona: "Uh …"

And it had grown worse.

Ethan: "If we want to bring that something out of him, we'll need to remove many layers of defensive mechanisms. It's definitely not going to be easy."

Sona: "But, we don't have a choice, do we?"

She said, not even really asking but just stating.

Sona: "We'll have to do it. We are the only ones who can."

Ethan sighed, and said simply,

Ethan: "Yes, indeed. But, until we are able to do it, he will remain a mystery to himself, a mystery that is so simple but will always appear complicated because of who he is."

That's all Ethan Kales sees in Kais. That's all he thinks of him. And, maybe, that IS all there is to think about him.

Ethan: "He will never be able to understand himself. Because, well, if he did, he will not be able to continue deceiving himself. But, because of his nature, he will continue to try to understand himself. And if we don't do something, this spiral will be the entirety of his existence."

And so, they have to do something.

They have to, somehow, pull the hero out from the deepest pits of his dark mind, make him stop being a hero by doing that, and then pull him up even higher, so he can be a hero again, but this time a true one.

Ethan: "What a pain!"

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Sona: "Damn!"

The words and reactions just come out without intending to as she notices the zenith of self-deception right in front of her eyes.

The Hellfire, Ross Green, attacks him.

Within a second, the Hellfire uses many, many combinations of moves - from flaming his opponent with Pyrokinesis and strengthening the fire by Aerokinesis to trapping him in a vortex of wind and rocks through Aero and Geokinesis respectively and then releasing tons of energy right into the vortex to make it a hundred times more destructive.

But, each time,

Ross: "N-no!!!"

His opponent comes out of the attack with his injuries healing completely, after which he waits for the Hellfire to make his next move.

Obviously, the waiting is to mock him as if to say that no matter what the Hellfire tries, he would be able to do nothing.

Sona: "This … this is … wrong!"

One would expect her to be happy that her friend and comrade is defeating the enemy in front of her and so easily at that, but there's just no way a true friend could be happy for him when his power comes not from his true heart but from the deal he has made with the devil that is the deep and dark recess of his mind.

Ross: "Just die already!"

The Hellfire shouts and lounges at his opponent, who, having grown bored of constantly healing, stops the Hellfire's fists with his grip and twists his arm around like it's made of soft plastic.

Ross: "AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!"

The Hellfire screams in pain obviously but the pain experienced is a lot less than the terror felt by him.

Sona: "Master of deception? No, master of self-deception. Yes, that is truly who you are."

She says with a sad voice and a shaking resolve, realizing that trying to bring him out of his cage might be harder than she thought and could potentially damage their friendship as well.

Meanwhile, the Hellfire finds his arms detached from his body.

Ross: "AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!"

And, before he gets a chance to heal, his opponent rips off his legs as well.

Ross: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The sight was like a butcher handling a hard-to-kill chicken, just a lot more sadistic and a lot less opportunistic.

So,

Sona: "Kais!"

She screams, unable to continue just staring at that sight.

Sona: "Just kill him already!"

Just kill him and be done with it, stop letting your inner demons take over, stop letting them drag you deeper into your mind.

That's what she meant to say.

But,

Kais: "Don't worry! He won't be able to fight back anymore!"

To him, it may have just sounded like nothing more than a comrade of his cheering for him to win and maybe somewhat worried about the opponent fighting back.

Kais: "He's done!"

So, he said that and continued the torture as he proceeded to heal his opponent himself, even going as far as to reattach his limbs, only so he can tear them out again, but this time inducing much more pain than before.

Sona: "N-no …!"

One's own mind is a great place to visit. It is capable of giving respite, counteracting situations and even getting over pain and suffering.

But, all of that can be achieved by nothing more than the surface of one's mind, and so one should only go as far as that.

Everything beneath the surface, the layers upon layers of darkness, depression, depravity, deceit and danger - one must never traverse into those parts of one's mind.

That abyss of darkness is for the devil to reside in - a human should not touch it, because if one does, he might never be able to break away and only fall further and further into that endless pit, into that chasm of darkness - that abyss.

Kais: "Well,"

Standing up, covered in the dead Hellfire's blood, the supposed 'hero' of the story says.

Kais: "That was fun!"

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