The Deceitful One



"I am the creator of a new Path, my own Path!"

A brief period of silence ensued after Bryan declared his bold statement. Everyone at the gathering was visibly moved. They all stared intently at Bryan, their expressions varying. Some were shocked, while others were skeptical.

Solomon was the most shocked out of them all. He looked at Bryan incredulously and asked, "Kiddo… are you serious?"

However it wasn't Bryan that replied, but Lady Fate. "Our youngest has achieved something that hasn't been done in thousands of years. Wise sages of the past have tried and failed, but none of them could create their own Paths."

She then looked at Bryan and profoundly smiled, "Bryan here has not only created his own Path but has also begun embarking on it. The last Transcendent to achieve such a feat was Medici, the Blasphemer."

At once, there was a commotion amongst the people at the round table. Although none of them ever believed that Bryan would dare to lie here, the fact that Lady Fate had even confirmed it was a very big thing.

While everyone was shocked out of their wits, Bryan looked at Lady Fate and cursed inwardly, 'Fuck! Does she know!?' All this while he was under the impression that the Lady didn't know of his heritage.

But what she just said now, and what she implied, meant that she definitely knew Bryan was a Medici. But Bryan was also relieved because of the fact that she hadn't disclosed this to the others.

Suddenly, he realized something and thought inwardly, 'How stupid of me! How can a deity not know the secrets of a mere mortal?'

As he was thinking about just how much the Lady knew about him, suddenly Solomon patted him on the shoulder and snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I knew everyone who'd have the capital to be at this gathering was definitely special…. But never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined for one of us to be a creator of a new Path!" Solomon looked at him with incredulity, his eyes shining with immense admiration.

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When he saw the look in the founding emperor's eyes, Bryan couldn't help but be filled with pride. After all, growing up as a poor kid, he had looked up to Emperor Solomon as his role model, and now this very person was looking at him full of respect.

Bryan chuckled, "Hehe, thank you…."

All of a sudden, Victoria grabbed him by the shoulders and spoke in excitement. "Bryan! Can you tell me just what Path you've created?"

Bryan was silent for a moment. He felt that it wouldn't be detrimental to him if he disclosed his Path. He then looked at Victoria and answered, "Dream Path."

Once again, silence ensued at the table. The Transcendents present were very knowledgeable and within moments they could understand just what the implications of this new Path could be.

However, all of them were wise and polite enough to not ask any further. Just the fact that Bryan had disclosed the name of his Path was enough.

"Young man, you're quite the prodigy to have been able to achieve so much at such a young age. If I'm ever in Nadir, I would love to discuss with you the art of mysticism." Hymmnos said with a warm smile.

Bryan turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with white hair tied behind his head, and a long white beard reaching to his chest. When Bryan found that it was the creator of the Hymmnos language who had just spoken to him, he was elated.

He respectfully replied, "It would be my honor."

The next moment, Tarek looked at Bryan and inquired, "You said you used divination? And this divination is related to dreams?"

Bryan nodded solemnly, "Yes, I call it Dream Divination." Of course, he wasn't going to divulge more information regarding it actually being an innate ability of his dream creature physique.

Tarek asked again, "Just what did you find? Can you tell me in detail?"

Bryan nodded and then recounted everything that happened. From raiding a Holy Blood Sect base to finding out those precious documents inside the warden's safe in his office. Suddenly, Tarek interrupted, "Hold on a second…. You killed a Rank 3 Blood Path all by yourself?"

Bryan replied nonchalantly, "I caught him off guard by using Illusion Path spells. That's how I managed to kill him."

The way Tarek now viewed Bryan changed. He wasn't all that impressed earlier when he learned that Bryan had created a new Path. But now that he learned that Bryan was able to fight across ranks and even kill a Transcendent a rank higher than him, he was genuinely amazed.

He looked at Bryan and nodded in approval. "You're good."

"Oh?" Hymmnos looked at Tarek and chuckled, "So the shadow kid is indeed capable of handing out praises." This elicited a round of laughter from everyone at the table who knew Tarek. They knew that this comrade of theirs was a man of few words and rarely ever complimented others.

Bryan was also able to glean an important detail from this, and that was that Tarek might very well be a Transcendent of the Shadow Path.

Tarek simply snorted at Hymmnos's comment, he then looked at Bryan and gestured. "Continue."

Bryan nodded. "I performed dream divination on the whereabouts of the person whose name was written on the document. And the vision I was shown was the royal palace in Nadir."

Solomon asked with a pensive expression. "How sure are you that the divination results were accurate?" He had to make sure of this intel, after all, if it were true then this could possibly mean that the Belize Kingdom was staging a mutiny.

Bryan remained silent for a long time. The revelations he received from the Dreamworld were precise, to say the least. But his answer could very well affect the political landscape of the entire continent. Hence, he wanted to choose his words carefully.

Suddenly, he looked at the convener of the gathering and wondered just why she wasn't able to lend a helping hand. After all, for her, this should be a simple flick of the finger.

Solomon realized what Bryan was thinking and explained, "All the deities of this world have formed a pact to never directly involve themselves in the matters relating to the mortal world."

Bryan came to a realization. He found this reasonable, for if one deity chose to participate in the mortal world, that would mean other deities would then too. Then it would become a direct battle between deities with the mortals taking collateral damage.

He had also realized why a high-ranking Wisdom Path Transcendent such as Victoria was unable to divine any crucial information. It was because there were already artifacts especially catered towards countering their divination.

But the type of divination that Bryan performed was completely new and unheard of. Hence, there weren't any safety guards against it. That was the reason why he was able to divine the involvement of the Belize Kingdom whereas Victoria hadn't.

After realizing all of this, he once again felt the weight on his shoulders increase. He looked at Solomon and solemnly answered. "I can't tell you for sure that the results of my divination are correct. But I can guarantee that they aren't wrong."

Although Bryan knew that the results were correct, he was cautious with his answer. Solomon looked at him and then nodded. He thought for a long time and then heaved a deep sigh.

"Thank you, kiddo." Solomon was grateful. If it wasn't for Bryan, he would have forever remained in the dark regarding the possible schemes of the Belize Kingdom.

Of course, as a member of the Illuminatos, Lady Fate would have given him a hint sooner or later. But who knew if it would have been too late by then? Hence, he greatly appreciated Bryan's help.

"No problem," Bryan smiled. Suddenly he recalled something and asked, "Emperor, I needed a little help from you."

"Whatever you want, kiddo." Solomon grinned. Naturally, he was more than happy to Help out Bryan.

"So, it's like this…" Bryan proceeded to tell him about his conversation with Nicholas and how he might get the help of the intelligence agency of the Belize Kingdom to deal with him. He told him everything except for the fact that he was planning on robbing the Tenant Telephone Company.

After he finished speaking, Victoria was amused, "Oh? So, it's that man who invented the telephone, is it? I remember he joined the research institute a few months back. Do you want me to deal with him?"

"No, no, please," Bryan hurriedly waved his hands. "I still have a lot of use for him."

Victoria began to chuckle while covering her mouth, "Looks like you're quite the little schemer."

Meanwhile, Solomon was deep in thought. He wasn't contemplating whether to help Bryan or not, he had long since decided to forge a healthy relationship with this new member of the Illuminatos. And even more so after he found out that Bryan was actually a prodigy who created his own Path.

And now that Bryan had even helped him by informing him about the plot of the Belize Kingdom, it was just a matter of how sincere he had to be in his approach. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and a bright smile formed on his face.

He patted Bryan on the shoulder. "Don't worry, kiddo. I'll send one of my descendants, one I'm the proudest of, to help you out. She'll also be actively investigating into the matter of the Belize royal family."

Bryan felt goosebumps looking at the emperor's wide smile. "T-Thank you…." However, inwardly he wondered, 'Just what is this guy planning?'