Odyssey of the Blind God

Nial just said that he was human because he was not actually sure what kind of race he belonged to. His appearance and the number of abilities he could bind to his Mana core were still the same as an origin human's after all!

However, neither Dilan nor the Oracle believed his words completely.

Dilan was most surprised that the Oracle seemed oblivious to Nial's true origin but that only showed him how little the Oracle truly knew about the Fate Changers.

This was both confusing and somewhat reassuring because it told him that he could keep secrets from the Oracle and possibly even the entire Universe.

It made him feel weird to think like that, but there was no reason for him to feel guilty.

"Let's just leave it at that. Your origin is not exactly our biggest problem, I presume," Dilan concluded after he saw Nial's repeated attempts to prove that he was born and raised in Jundra.

There were a few missing links Nial seemed to hide but the most important statement was that he felt like a human.

"It's more problematic to think that Hoert was able to call and connect to the Eternal Darkness through the walls of the void within the Forgotten Time Realm," The Oracle mumbled after they had finished discussing the previous topic, and she finally turned to Nial, "When Kaeldur was defeated, your mind was in a temporary shocked state, which Hoert must have used to influence you…and cause…that…"

'That' was the activation of the Awakening of the Prymal ability, combined with the use of the seemingly infinite amount of mana within the City of Trials, which Nial was able to control, coincidentally.

In Dilan's opinion, there were too many coincidences, but he could tell that it was not Nial's fault. Rather, he was pretty sure that the Oracle and the Origin had messed up big time with this.

They pulled Nial inside Forgotten Time Realm while knowing very well that only one living being, and not two Fate Changers, were supposed to be inside it at the same time.

"By the way, when will I get my reward… the highest quality True Destruction Trait, to be exact, please!" Dilan tried to joke at the end, but he was too exhausted to smile craftily or tease anyone, right now.

He kept lying on the ground, without a care in the world.

Spending one or two additional days inside the City of Trials wouldn't really change anything. If one year inside the City of Trial was equivalent to one day, a day or two inside the City of Trials were merely a handful of minutes outside it.

"You can receive the second portion of your reward at any time, but I would recommend you to bind Oricalm to your Soul before leaving," The Oracle replied, her voice sounding rather cold and emotionless once again.

She looked over to him and recalled the outlines she had been able to see whenever his True Undying Essence was activated.

'Looks like this old grumpy lady is back…that's more to my liking than this weird clingy fangirl.'

"I already bound it to my Soul, otherwise, you would probably see Oricalm lying somewhere in the arena, don't you think?" Dilan merely responded wearily before he closed his eyes once again.

He yawned and felt a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over him once again. However, this time, it was not Nial's doing that made him feel weak all over again but his weakened Origin ability.

"In that case, you can receive your reward immediately. But be warned, your body might revolt against the upgrade of your Ring of Infinite Elements Constitution. Though, I don't think that you will feel as much pain as you did in the last few decades when your body will be cleansed and adjusted, so it will be fine, I guess," The Oracle shrugged her shoulders, not really caring whether Dilan will be hurt or not.

Her expression only changed when she looked over to Nial, whom she smiled lovingly.

However, Nial was in no mood to chitchat.

Not only had he failed to defeat Dilan, which was what he had planned to do, but it was his mistake that almost led to the destruction of the Forgotten Time Realm and everyone's death.

Though, it was not like it was completely his fault because Hoert, the Devourer of the Universe, had infiltrated his body and mind but it was not as if he was completely innocent.

"You won this time…if I wouldn't have lost my reasoning and control of my body, you would have defeated me in the next few days…" Nial said slowly as if it cost him lots of effort to acknowledge that Dilan was superior to him.

His pride was hurt because Dilan was not stronger in terms of combat prowess, and that was exactly what riled Nial the most. He was stronger, yet, he couldn't defeat Dilan, not matter how hard he tried!

"I might have won against you if the mission was not only for 100 days but a few more days, but I don't really think that the mission was fair towards you, to begin with," Dilan replied honestly. Thinking about something, he decided to continue, "Had your mission not required you to kill me in order to receive the biggest boon, you would have locked my main body somewhere and thrown me in the pits of hell, the abyss, or into space, somewhere people cannot find me easily, that would have been enough to defeat me…"

"Your Oracle girl, or whatever she is to you, said that there is an Eternal Prison or something like that. Throwing me there would have been more than enough to 'defeat' me, even if you cannot actually kill me…you are stronger than me, while I'm just a little bit more resilient!" Dilan said, acknowledging something he didn't really want to speak out loud at first.

Everyone had told Dilan that the Eternal Darkness was stronger than him, that he wouldn't have to worry about anything with someone like Nial as his fellow Fate Changer. It irked Dilan, and he had wanted to show everyone that they were wrong.

Unfortunately, their words had been nothing but the bitter truth.

Dilan was weaker than Nial and it was only obvious that he should accept this truth after they fought for 100 days.

If he couldn't accept reality even then, he would be the biggest hypocrite in the vast Universe…not that he was not a hypocrite, just not the biggest…

At the end of the day, both Nial and Dilan learned a lot from fighting each other for a hundred days. They matured a lot, figured out several tricks and they grew fond of each other.

Fighting nonstop for 100 days was more than enough to learn a lot about their opponent. The two Fate Changers had grown much closer to each other. Both respected one another a great deal, but there was also a tinge of fear in the deeper parts of their hearts, knowing deep down what kind of monster the other one was.

Nonetheless, their time in the City of Trials was over. Dilan finished his preparations, while Nial finished his second godly mission.

"It's time to say goodbye," Nial finally said when a pitch-black portal opened not too far away from him. He used all his willpower to get up from the ground.

"We will see each other again, whether we want or not!" He said, extending his hand to Dilan, whose body began to regenerate rapidly once again.

It took only a moment for him to heal completely and for his body to be overflowing with vigor.

Dilan got up from the ground as well. He looked at Nial and his stretched-out hand for a second before he grasped it tightly.

"Whether we want or not…that's how it is…"