usatvline Chapter 246 Word Game
Chapter 246 Word Game
Although Mei's expression still didn't change significantly, Howard and Gloria could sense that this bean sprout was serious through the subtle differences in her eyebrows and facial muscles.
"Fear monster? What is that?" Gloria couldn't help but ask after hearing this word. Logically, she had decided to remain silent in this conversation, but Mei's expression still made her feel that this matter was no trivial matter.
Howard looked at Gloria in surprise and said, "You fight Chaos every day, but you don't know what a Fear Demon is?"
"My instructor said we don't need to understand the enemy, we just need to understand that our weapons can kill the enemy." Gloria answered straightforwardly.
Well, that's a statement that fits the person's identity.
So Howard looked at May again, "Tell her...it should be okay, right?"
Mei nodded slightly.
Howard then looked back at Gloria. "A horror demon is a low-level demon. In most cases, its role isn't combat, but rather scout or record-keeper."
Gloria still looked confused. It was not uncommon for a few demons to sneak in and take advantage of the chaos between humans and orcs. She didn't understand why this mortal and this elf took it so seriously.
"Because the appearance of the Horror Demon means that the most cunning and difficult enemy in the Warp has extended its tentacles here." Howard explained as he took out a knife. "...Don't be nervous. I pulled out the knife mainly because I was worried that if I talked too much, you would suddenly go crazy, so I could take your blood to save you... Let's get back to the topic just now...This enemy is best at lies and deception. He is keen to toy with the fate of mortals. He loves to see those who are too smart get trapped in their own abyss. He likes to give hope to the desperate, then watch them struggle in vain, their souls sinking deeper and deeper..."
Howard shrugged nonchalantly. "For example, someone like me...if we assume that everything we've encountered along the way is a setup by this enemy, then a lot of those coincidences can be explained."
"But if there's a being in this world orchestrating all the conspiracies and intrigues, then it's very easy to recognize its existence when something goes wrong." Howard's gaze sharpened, even without him noticing. "...But the most difficult and crucial point is to understand its motives, and I have no idea about that."
"Don't you have a soul?" Gloria said after hearing this. "Didn't that... Miss Mei say that the gods can't shape your fate?"
"Oh my, oh my!" Howard clapped his hands. "You can speak human language now! Congratulations! Congratulations!"
The nun glared at Howard and turned away.
"It's just a joke, don't be angry," Howard said quickly, then said, "Controlling fate doesn't necessarily require some illusory thread of destiny. Imagine throwing a little mouse into a maze. Although the mouse chooses the direction of each turn, its only possible outcome is to exit from the designated exit or die in the maze. If the maze is large enough, so large that the mouse can't perceive it, perhaps it will even develop the illusion of freedom."
The traditional rats in this universe had long been extinct, but after the extinction of rats, new, more cunning and ferocious rodents filled the ecological niche left by rats. So when Howard said the word "rat", both the nuns and the elves could understand what Howard wanted to express.
"The mice can dig holes to get out," said the nun.
Howard was so choked that he almost couldn't breathe. He quickly raised his hand to smooth his chest, but after he calmed down, he decided not to bother with her.
The nun guessed from Howard's reaction that he had said something inappropriate, so she changed the question and asked, "How did you realize this?"
"Maybe I'm just smarter, or maybe He deliberately revealed a flaw for me to discover," Howard said. "Of course, it's more likely that this is all my imagination, and there's no one secretly controlling everything. I'm just like the person I mentioned earlier, trying to be smart but only getting caught in a trap."
"So everything you said might be nonsense?!" Gloria was shocked.
"It's not all nonsense. It's just to give you a new perspective and way of thinking about this matter." Howard added, "But after listening to this, don't approach the issue with the assumption that someone is playing dirty. Once you have a predetermined outcome in mind, you'll subconsciously bias everything else towards that outcome."
"Now that you've said this, it's hard for us not to presuppose this outcome." Gloria shook her head repeatedly, "You might as well not say it."
"There's no other way. That's why I say this enemy is the most difficult to deal with. You can't not defend against him, but defending against him is even more difficult."
"Then do you know how to deal with this enemy?" Mei asked sincerely.
Oh, it doesn’t matter. Just deal with Him the same way you deal with other evil gods. Anyway, this scheming guy often makes trouble for himself and then insists that everything is part of the plan.
But when Howard saw the expectation in May's eyes, which was well hidden but still revealed a hint of expectation, he suddenly realized the weight of this question.
He is a soulless time traveler who is beyond fate, but Mei is not. She and her race are like flies hanging on the web of fate, facing the threat of extinction at all times.
So Howard fell into deep thought.
Guiding the fate of other races, does that mean I am gradually becoming a great figure?
After a moment's thought Howard said, "I can't answer that question."
The expectation in Mei's eyes disappeared silently. Perhaps she shouldn't seek answers in such a false place.
But Howard's answer went beyond that. He then said, "But for you... for your race, I do have some..."
Howard chose his words carefully: "...opinion? Or rather, suggestion."
May waited for Howard to continue.
“Don’t try to resist fate. The more you resist, the more your fate will develop in the worst direction.”
"If fate has doomed us to destruction, can't we resist?" Mei asked puzzledly. "If our resistance leads to the worst possible outcome, it will only be destruction."
This question is beyond the scope of my understanding. Who do you think I am? A wise man? A prophet? Or some bullshit Messiah? I'm just a good young man who traveled through time to the 21st century!
Howard roared in his heart.
However, even though he was complaining in his heart, Howard's brain was still working at full speed to find a way to answer.
"Destruction is the inevitable fate of a race," Howard said. "When time is stretched long enough, nothing is eternal."
"When I say don't fight fate, I don't mean you should give up completely," Howard said. "There's a story from my hometown: a king had a son, but a wizard predicted the child's fate: he would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid this fate, the king decided to abandon the child."
"But the abandoned child didn't die. He grew up, completely unaware of his own past. So, under these circumstances, he overthrew the king, killed him, and married the queen. At this moment, the prophecy and tragedy were complete." Howard stared into May's eyes and said, "I believe you understand better than I do. Similar plots have been played out time and time again within your race. Actions taken to resist fate ultimately become the catalyst for its fulfillment."
"After learning this story, I began to wonder: if the king hadn't abandoned his children in defiance of fate, would the outcome have been the same? Perhaps the so-called killing the father and marrying the mother would have ended with the family playing four-player chess, with the son and mother teaming up to checkmate the father. Then the prophecy would have been complete at this point, but it wouldn't have ended in tragedy."
Mei fell into deep thought after hearing this. Howard looked away from Mei and continued, "So-called prophecies, fate, and contracts, in my opinion, are all malicious word games. Trying to change the contents of prophecies and contracts will only lead to falling into a trap. The correct approach is to participate in this word game and use word games to fight word games. Otherwise, no matter how powerful you are, you will still be a pawn of fate."
"As for the existence of those who manipulate fate, I've said before that nothing can escape destruction. Those who toy with fate will eventually be slain by it."
After delivering his disguised prophecy, Howard looked at the nun again. "Sister, this is why I've been trying to ease our relationship all along. I've been trying to communicate with you. It's not because I'm afraid of you or that you're important to me, but simply because I don't want any unnecessary misunderstandings between us. I'm tired of the clichéd plot of misunderstandings and tragedies caused by ineffective communication. Do you understand? We have never been enemies."
Howard sat back straight and crossed his arms. "That's all I have to say. Now it's your turn."