IRNDGL – Chapter 174: Michael

Michael didn’t give a care to the two feeble lifeforms that he passed by.

Even though these weak fellows seemed wary of him, just like a human doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a bug, he overlooked these harmless creatures.

In his eyes, these lower lifeforms couldn’t hide any secret from him.

With his ‘Eyes of Insight’, whether it was one’s inner thoughts, race, identity, abilities, or even past experiences or future trajectory, all of these could be instantly seen.

This was the massive gulf between beings of different levels.

Perhaps when Michael first ascended to such a realm, he might have been excited and even curious about seeing and even manipulating the fates of others.

But as he encountered more and more people and saw tens of thousands of lives, viewing other’s fate with disdain became a daily occurrence and he started to lose interest.

He realized that these people were actually not much different from ants.

Their fates were nothing more than ants bustling about in a nest, with only a few possibilities when making choices. And when the basis was enlarged, the degree of coincidence of their fates would also be vastly multiplied.

For a long time, he had thought the world to be so dull.

But one day, he suddenly discovered another kind of possibility in this world. Within dreams was a place of infinite possibilities that no one had ever stepped foot in before.

A long-lost hope was rekindled in Michael’s long dead heart.

However, the dream realms were sealed off by the Wall of Fog, and the prowess of the Four Primordial Witches was so immense that Michael could only exclaim in amazement. Only when unstable would small cracks appear which allowed dream beasts to escape.

It was this that led to the creation of Hunter Organizations to hunt down these beasts.

These people feared dreams as much as they feared wild bests and reckoned the dream realm was the source of evil. However, Michael begged to differ.

Within the treacherous appearance of dreams, lay a hidden path that didn’t exist.

A path that was boundless and close to origin.

And to do so, he needed to tear down the barrier of the dream realm, something he couldn’t do by himself—Although he prides himself on being a superior being, it was only in the aspect of intelligence, and this was the gulf between realms.

In short, this was how the ‘Path of the Flaming Sword’ came about.

They were a group of like-minded individuals who came together in pursuit of common goals and ideals.

But of course, the ‘Path of the Flaming Sword’ wasn’t just these few. In the umpteen years since inception, they had expanded all sorts of downlines.

Included amongst them was the owner of that human skin book, ‘Blood Curse Mage’, Zuikaku.

Originally, Zuikaku was supposed to be a liaison with Congreve to control the most capable young people in the Ash Chamber of Commerce.

Although Cherry popped up out of nowhere and investigations showed that she had links with Lin Jie, it didn’t really affect their plans.

Congreve was just a supplementary aid. The core of their true plan was the Church of the Dome.

But before they knew it, a traitor had unknowingly emerged within the Church of the Dome and caused great chaos.

And on investigations, that bookstore owner by the name of Lin Jie was involved.

If not for their plans being disrupted twice… no, thrice, and intel had reported that this bookstore owner was ‘omniscient’, Michael wouldn’t have acted in person.

To Michael, plans being ruined wasn’t too important. It was this fellow’s so-called ‘omniscience’ that made him feel like laughing.

Even Michael himself didn’t dare call himself ‘omniscient’, yet this Supreme-rank being who had mysteriously popped up dared to brazenly claim so.

—While this description was given by others, most of the time, it was with the acquiescence of the person involved.

Let me see what gives you the right to be called ‘omniscient’. If it doesn’t amuse me, then I’ll have your fate end here.

Michael smiled slightly as he pushed open the door to the bookstore and drew his sword from the cross sheath.

As a matter of fact, he had already felt somewhat disappointed ever since he started observing in secret.

Cherry and Bella bringing the human skin book here was at the ‘Path of the Flaming Sword’s’ behest.

Firstly, despite trying, they simply had no way of locating this bookstore via other ordinary or magical means, as if the bookstore was shrouded by a fog. This was also one of the reasons it intrigued them.

So, they had gotten Zuikaku to gain control of the mole by Congreve’s side and gotten this human skin book which had the ability of being traced over to Cherry.

The two ladies would simply treat this book full of ancient writing as some important evidence they couldn’t understand and thus, hand it over to the person pulling strings from behind the curtains, which would be Lin Jie.

This was all part of the plan.

At the same time, informants from within the Truth Union that had been monitoring the majority of Church of the Dome followers via the aetheric surveillance system had passed on intel that some of these followers were gathering beside the bookstore.

The heretic Vincent might have likely gotten instructions from Lin Jie to start a new faith and overthrow the Church of the Dome.

While they had warned Rodney not to view the church with too much importance, they still couldn’t let the chaos continue on.

What disappointed Michael was that Lin Jie hadn’t even noticed that the human skin book had the ability to be traced, nor even foresaw his arrival.

Otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t let Cherry and Bella walk out just like that.

Seems like your omniscience is nothing more than a joke.

So, today, I shall teach you a lesson, and let you understand what it means to be powerless.

And while Michael’s expression lit up, Zuikaku would lead his magician corps and thoroughly destroy the book cafe next door as well as everyone in it.

I hope this fellow’s expression of pain will bring me some joy.

As Michael thought to himself, he noticed the figure standing behind the counter turn over. In the dimly lit bookstore, a single golden pupil full of violence and rage glowed brightly.

Only half of that man’s face in the darkness was illuminated by the light. Dark scales glistened, alongside a sinister smile and fine white teeth, making him seem like a monster that devoured humans.

Heavy and thunderous heartbeats caused the aether all around to undulate, but seemingly contained by the unremarkable bookstore.

Michael’s expression froze, as he suddenly experienced a familiar shudder he hadn’t experienced in a long time. The terror of being cowered by great wings that blocked out the sky.

—A dragon’s might!

The eye opened and closed, as its gaze fell onto Michael’s sword.

Lin Jie’s face suddenly darkened.

This person seems to have ill intentions, is he trying to murder me?!