God of Tricksters

"What? I merged with all of them?!" Theo widened his eyes in shock.

This time, the God of Mischief broke his silence and asked Theo. "Why did you kill them? Why did you agree to interrogate them? Why did you want to try to trick them? Why did you shout 'Maya' instead of someone else at that time? Why did you reveal your Illusion Ability? And why did you come up with the plan of ambushing them?"

The God of Mischief raised his hands, showing eight separated illusions that looked like a movie.

In the first one, Theo killed the assassins like he did, but some escaped because he didn't take advantage of the surprise element to eliminate all of them. After all, he thought about capturing them.

The second one showed Theo interrogating them in front of everyone. Soon, his abilities were exposed, resulting in both Isaac and Mark finding out Theo's real identity.

The third illusion was Theo tricking them by putting on that mask. After getting the information, Theo suddenly turned back into his normal form, which revealed his illusion ability to everyone else.

Theo called Isaac and Mark's names on the fourth and fifth ones. While the sixth one showed how Theo underestimated his enemies and still hid that illusion power, resulting in him being severely injured.

The seventh illusion was when Theo used another strategy different from the ambush, while the last one was where Theo didn't even know they were getting ambushed.

Seeing these illusions made him realize what the God of Mischief tried to convey. Theo gasped as he said, "So, in those possibilities… No, in those realities, I have done all that. Now that we're combined, my body and feelings are mixed up while doing what I believe is the best?"

"Yes. You have done all that in those realities, but the current you are different. In this reality, you hadn't done anything, but your body and mind remembered that you did all that, resulting in your instinct to choose the best option. That's why you killed those assassins while using all that plan." The God of Mischief nodded while explaining the reason.

It turned out Theo had failed numerous times in those realities. That was why his body chose to kill the assassins in a way he could eliminate all of them. It wasn't the best option, but it was truly one with the least risk.

Theo fell silent for a moment, absorbing this knowledge. "Synergy… The Destiny Order showed the possibilities and my Reality Order turned them into reality… I see."

The God of Mischief sighed. "I was planning to teach you when you mastered Reality vs Illusion since you should be aware of multiple realities at that time… But now that you're already aware of it, I need to explain it to you so that you don't lose yourself in those numerous realities."

"Then, why didn't you warn me about this? I wouldn't take the energy if it could cause such a thing?" Theo asked.

The God of Mischief tilted his head in confusion before looking at Theo as if he was a fool. "Why should I? The energy will be beneficial for you, so there's no reason for you to reject it."

"But… now that I have been influenced by those possibilities, my judgment ability will…"

"That's your problem. The only thing you can do is to sort that thought out of your head, learning all those possibilities before denying them because there is only one reality. I can't do anything to help you other than give you some knowledge about them. The only one who can solve your Order is yourself." The God of Mischief shrugged his shoulders as though he didn't care about the problem Theo had.

Instead of reacting to his words, Theo looked down and fell into deep thought. After a while, there was a question in his head. "Now that I think about it, you don't seem to enjoy talking about Order… You didn't talk this whole time…"

"That's my reason." The God of Mischief pointed his finger at Theo. "You… You need to learn the Order yourself. Do you know why I haven't talked so much about Order despite knowing many things about it as an Authority? How about them? They were also Authorities in the past."

Theo shook his head. "I don't know."

"I simply want you to learn about your own Order. The way you use it, the way you learn it, the way you explore the possibilities, I want all of them to be original!" The God of Mischief sighed and asked, "What did you do when you learned about those Five Stages? The Magic Power Stage to Reality Realm Stage? You followed my words, right?

"What if I told you another way to understand the Order? You would certainly use it. That is why what you're going to have in the future will come from me. In other words, it won't be your Order, it's mine with you being my puppet. Do you understand that, Theodore Griffith?

"Have you ever thought that despite not lying, I have taught you something wrong? You haven't, right?" The God of Mischief couldn't help but rise in anger. He walked toward Theo and grabbed his shoulders.

For the first time in his life, Theo saw anger coming from his gaze.

The God of Mischief was truly angry this time.

"Remember this. I'm not your teacher nor your parents. I want to support you because I want to but never rely on me… never become dependent. If you don't know something, ask me. I will answer if I can do it. If I don't want to answer, I will remain silent. Why?

"It's simple. Just like how pressing your chest could make them arrive at a conclusion that something has happened to you, I want you to get your own answer. That answer might be wrong, might be more sophisticated than mine, or can even prove me wrong. That's the reason I don't talk much about Order and simply ask others to give the answer like that dragon." The God of Mischief pressed Theo's chest with his finger a few times.

"You are not my puppet. You are not a clone. You are my Joker, the one that no one can predict. You are Theodore Griffith. I want you to remain the original Theodore Griffith.

"You said you want to be freed from all the schemes that affect your life. Then, do it! Search for your answer; use that rationality of yours to get that answer. You have the Reality Order, so what is the Reality in your eyes? Is it something taught by others? Is it something guided by others? Or is it something you created by yourself? Prove it to me that you are nothing but Theodore Griffith!"