Aldrian looked slightly upward, where he could finally see a man with handso face standing atop the castle. He had a burly, tall build, and his long black hair, tied in a ponytail, swept in the wind. His red irises stared down at Aldrian with a calm gaze. He wore a robe styled like those from the demon territory, which added a certain charm to his appearance.
Even though Aldrian had never seen him before and didn’t know who he was, he instinctively guessed the man’s identity. After all the chaos he had caused in the devil territory, there was one person who would likely already be waiting for his arrival.
"The devil lord," he murmured.
As he looked at the man, he also tried to see his information using the Eyes of the Heaven. The mont he activated them, the information appeared as usual.
However, before he could read the contents, he froze and couldn’t help but slightly widen his eyes in shock as he looked in the devil lord’s direction. What shocked him wasn’t the information or anything like that, it was what he saw in front of the devil lord.
"He has sothing like ?!" Aldrian thought, genuinely stunned by what appeared before the devil lord.
What he saw was a kind of screen, the sa type of transparent screen that had always appeared in front of him. The only difference was that the screen in front of the devil lord was blue, while his had always been green.
That screen had been with him since he was a child. It had always been a constant presence, a sign that he was different from everyone else. It showed him many things and even helped him in certain situations.
And now, he was seeing the sa thing, but this ti, it was in front of the devil lord.
But then he noticed that the devil lord also showed a shocked expression. To Aldrian, it was clear that the devil lord was just as surprised when he saw him. Was he shocked because he could see his screen? Or was he surprised that he had the sa kind of screen as him?
Unbeknown to Aldrian, this was the first ti the devil lord had ever shown such a reaction to anyone, though his reason was different. The devil lord carried a secret that no one knew except his god and a few others. It was a secret granted by his god, one that could only be seen by him and a select few.
If he wanted to reveal it to soone else, he could only do so to those who possessed the sa thing. It was a power that had guided him throughout his life and helped shape him into who he was today. To him, it was a divine blessing—one that had truly changed his life.
It was a secret that he and the few others who knew of it called a "System."
But at this mont, for the first ti in his life, the secret he had always depended on was failing him. It could not help him see through Aldrian at all.
He had a habit whenever he encountered soone new. He would use one of the functions of his system, a feature like a cheat to him. It allowed him to look into another person’s secrets: their na, age, strength, emotions, desires, and more.
This function was one of the most useful tools he had, and it had played a major role in elevating him to his current status. With it, he could find a person’s weakness or any detail he could exploit for his own goals.
Initially, he wanted to look into Aldrian’s information, he wanted to know what secrets he held. He wanted to understand how Aldrian was capable of doing all that he had done, how he had achieved so much.
But when he activated one of his system’s functions to uncover Aldrian’s secrets—
-------------------------
??? = ???////???
&*()???#########
??? = ???////???
??? = ???////???
()???#########
??? = ???////???
??? = ???////???
-------------------------
This was all the system returned. These garbled symbols were the only thing he received, a clear sign that the system could not read anything about Aldrian.
Then, without warning, his screen began to buzz. A monotone voice echoed in his mind, one that only he could hear.
"System error. System error. Cannot read the target’s information. System error."
The devil lord truly shocked.
"How is that possible? I’ve already t with so of the apostles from various gods, and I was able to see their information because of the agreent between the gods. This was sothing they all accepted to avoid breaking each other’s trust, to show goodwill in their cooperation."
"Then how can I not see his information? How did the system fail? Why?"
The devil lord’s thoughts raced, and a deep sense of unease settled in his chest. Although he had not t every apostle from every god, this situation was unlike anything he had ever faced. It was truly confusing, and it only made him more anxious. For the first ti, the system granted to him by a god was unable to read soone’s information.
And then, his mind arrived at one conclusion.
"Is he from that side? From those rebellious gods who are challenging our gods’ side? Could they really have done sothing here, even while being besieged by so many gods from our side? Does Aldrian have a system from one of them?"
That was the only explanation that made sense to him, and he quickly accepted it as the truth. If that was the case, then perhaps those rebellious gods had given Aldrian so kind of protection, sothing that made it impossible for other systems to read his information.
"Yes, that must be the truth. That must be it," he reassured himself as he took a deep breath.
He parted his lips, about to ask Aldrian a question, but Aldrian’s voice ca first.
"So your na is Zhang Haoran. I have many questions I want to ask. To think that you also have sothing similar to . However, I think yours is broken, since it didn’t show anything."
Hearing Aldrian, the devil lord or now revealed as Zhang Haoran, widened his eyes in shock once again. Aldrian knew his real na! He imdiately understood that it must have been the work of the system. It seed Aldrian had already activated one of his system’s functions at that mont.
However, he did not see the system’s screen active in front of Aldrian! There was nothing there. For system users, it was normal to see the screens of others who shared the sa gift.
That was the most basic sign of soone possessing a system, the screen that appeared in front of each user.
But he could not see anything in front of Aldrian. If Aldrian truly was a system user, there should have been a visible screen that he, too, could see. This strange inconsistency made him want to tear his hair out. Aldrian’s existence was overturning everything he thought he knew.
Was this also the work of those gods? Had they developed a way to hide Aldrian’s screen, making it invisible to other system users from his side?
Also, with this encounter, a fact gnawed at him. Aldrian could use his system’s functions on him, but he could not do the sa in return. His own secrets were completely exposed to Aldrian, but Aldrian’s remained completely hidden from him.
Zhang Haoran, who was on the verge of losing his composure, looked at Aldrian with a wary expression. But behind his eyes, there was also a flicker of anxiety. He then asked,
"You... are you from the side of the rebellious gods? Did you receive your system from them?"
Hearing Zhang Haoran’s question, Aldrian narrowed his eyes. Rebellious gods? Was he referring to his followers? A surge of fury rose in his chest. Did he just call the ones who had done so much for him the rebellious gods? Were those invaders, the ones who brought destruction to this universe, the ones calling his people the rebels?
He could not stop the fury that boiled within him. His aura burst forth, and the space around him trembled under the sheer pressure.
Zhang Haoran, sensing the sudden burst of aura, was truly shaken. For the first ti, he felt the unique yet overbearing energy radiating from Aldrian. Just by releasing his aura alone, Aldrian already felt like a higher being, so overwhelming that even his soul trembled, instinctively urging him to prostrate.
He knew that Aldrian possessed a unique energy, but this ti, he could feel it directly from the source. It was entirely different from what he had sensed two days ago, when it appeared in the form of a sword technique. This was sothing that rivaled, or might even surpassed, the energy of his own god that he can sensed from the crystal of divinity.
Aldrian, having lost his composure, quickly withdrew his aura. He cald himself and looked at Zhang Haoran with narrowed eyes. Although fury still burned in his gaze, he had also caught sothing from what Zhang Haoran had said.
"Are you calling this transparent screen a system?" he asked.
All this ti, he had never known its na. He had simply called it the Eyes of the Heaven, since the screen allowed him to uncover many things.
Zhang Haoran frowned. From the way Aldrian spoke, it was clear he was a system user, and he was actively using it now. But for him not to know what it was called... had his god never told him?
"You didn’t know what it was all this ti?" Zhang Haoran asked, still frowning. "How could you not know the very thing that made you so powerful? Are you truly that stupid—"
But then, a thought suddenly struck him.
"Wait... you’ve never communicated with your god?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers