Chapter 679 Is that a Paradox?
BACK TO THE WELCOMING CEREOMONY.
TIME BEFORE THE CEREMONY STARTS: 10 SECONDS.
"Huhuhu, why do I even have to do this thing? If I was just stronger, I would have stayed home already! Huhuhu…. I"m scared…"
With the support that Beatrice, Android 679, and Fairy d.u.c.h.ess Matilda had for him, there should be no problems for Xavier in regards to his current situation. He should be safe whatever he means to do next, as his allies will be there to save him.
But instead of feeling secured from his allies, all that Xavier can only feel at this point was fear, as he was unsure on what his allies might do to him.
"Huhuhu, if Beatrice was just a little nicer to me, then my life as a Traveler will be great. But it seems that I got the worst pick in the lottery since I got a Beatrice with a toxic att.i.tude…." With his mouth completely shut closed from fear, Xavier can only give Beatrice a small glance before he pulled his head back quickly.
He tried to look back at Beatrice one more time, but the glare from the latter was enough to stifle his desires.
"…."
At this point, Xavier seemed to have lost his courage to even face Beatrice directly, so he just focused his attention on what would happen next in regards to their plan.
"Huhuhu… since my companions do not listen to me at all, they might do something unexpected. And that is bad, since it could hurt me too…."
Xavier did not show any signs of it on his face, but he was feeling extremely suspicious of his companions right now, especially Beatrice, who looked like she was about to do something drastic.
It could be just his hunch, but Beatrice could be planning to perform an action different from their plan, which given Beatrice"s personality, is possible for her to do.
It was rare for Beatrice or even Xavier"s companions to perform actions that deviated from their plan, but it has actually happened on two planets that they had visited before.
These plan deviations allowed Xavier to succeed on the Main Mission, but it was at the expense of Xavier"s own well-being.
In fact, these deviations brought Xavier extremely close to death, and the only reason that he survived was due to his own luck.
"Sigh, I wish that Beatrice and Matilda won"t be that petty today. I hope they will not really mess things up, since I have no way to stop them at all…"
Of course Xavier cannot just interrogate Beatrice about this, as he will just receive another beating from her.
"Even if my companions are really planning to do something different, what can I even do against it? Complaining will just make me look pathetic, while attempting to stop them might just incur their wrath…"
Xavier tried to think of a possible method that will allow him to talk sense to his allies, but no matter what he did, he realized that due to his weaker power, he was doomed to be dragged along with his Companions.
No struggle from Xavier will work, as all that it will give to him was more punishment from Beatrice herself…
"Huhuhu, am I really doomed to stay like this for forever? Am I just doomed to serve my Companions for the rest of my life?"
"Huhuhu, I don"t want this to happen at all, but what can I do about it?
"As long as I am weak, I am doomed to be their slave…"
"Yes, as of now, I am nothing more but their lowly slave… A slave who has no chance of usurping his master…."
With the sight of his bleak future visible from his eyes, all the hope and enthusiasm that Xavier had for this world was quickly gone.
Why would he even hope for an optimistic time in this world, when all that he will just do is serve his Companions?
Instead of wasting his time looking out for himself and finding a possible way to retaliate, it will be better for the weaker Xavier to properly serve his stronger and scarier Companions…
That will allow Xavier to succeed on his Main Mission, and it will also spare him from the pains of being beaten up.
Xavier of course still had some resistance about accepting his current state, but in face of Beatrice"s might, all of Xavier"s reasoning was of no use.
Fighting back for his rights will just result on Xavier getting punished, and there will be no one defending him, not even his own Guide.
Such kind of drastic treatment is enough to make Xavier know what his place should be, and nothing else can change that.
Just like what he said earlier, the current him was nothing more but a slave to his Companions. A slave which as of now, also had no chance of usurping them…
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With his heart now fully accepting his role, the emotionally exhausted Xavier did not dare let his mind linger on rebelling against his companions.
Instead, he just focused on the "job" that he"s about to do now.
This is after all, the reason why Xavier was here, so there is nothing else that he should focus on aside from his "job".
Failing will just worsen Xavier"s current state, which is something that he does not want to occur.
"Sigh, there"s only one second left before the ceremony starts. I hope the Church of Wisdom will follow their schedule well. That way, my attack will hit its target perfectly…" Xavier muttered to himself as he observed the area around him. "But since this is the Church of Wisdom, I"m sure they"re not the type that will make mistakes…"
He did not sound confident at all while saying this, and he seemed to be more nervous rather than normal.
" Tsk, why am I even acting scared here? With Beatrice by my side, I should have no problems setting up my abilities!"
Xavier was actually still calm when he arrived at this venue, but right after he used his Fate Magic to scan the whole venue, all of what remained of his bravado was replaced by panic.
"!!!"
There is no way that Xavier can keep calm right now, as his Fate Magic had detected that the whole area around him was full of dangers that can end his life!
The ground below his feet, the structures standing around him, and even the air floating on the venue were filled with signs of bad luck and calamity, all which are powerful enough to kill Xavier.
Xavier has no idea on what these dangers really are, but he knew for the fact that they are dangerous to him, and that one wrong move of his can lead to his death.
Of course there is a chance that what Xavier detected with his Fate Magic were just all flukes, but since his strands of Fate were quivering right now in this place, the danger that he detected was undoubtedly real!
"Huhuhuhu, this whole place is filled with freaking danger! Even if I try my best to be careful, it is inevitable for me to trigger at least one danger here…. Huhuhu, why would it be this dangerous? Shouldn"t this be a little easier? Come on, this is just a Welcoming Ceremony!"
If it were just the objects and the place itself that were filled with danger, Xavier actually could have used his powers to deal with them easily.
Just a little application of "Paradoxical Concepts" can invalidate these dangers for a short time, which is enough to let him and his companions start their attack.
However, Xavier"s Fate Magic did not just detect danger from the man-made and natural objects.
Xavier also detected danger from a number of people around him, which is not a good thing for his plan!
"Argh! By using a "Mobius Strip" or a "Moving Arrow Paradox", I can delay the effects of the runes, weapons, and traps laid all over the area. But as for the dangerous people around me, using these abilities are not enough! I have to use more of my power, which is not good at all!"
If Xavier"s deductions were right, there is a high possibility that most of the dangerous people that he detected were Travelers and their Companions, all who could be interested on the Divine Maiden too.
For them to be here in the Welcoming Ceremony was actually of no surprise at all, since the Divine Maiden left clues that states her status as someone related to another Traveler.
What surprised Xavier however was the fact that many Travelers aside from him dared to come at this place.
There are 4 Travelers aside from Xavier that are in this venue, and all of them showed a level of power that someone like Xavier can only look with awe!
Such amount of Travelers is enough to make Xavier worry, and quite frankly, he was actually close to fainting right now.
The only thing that kept Xavier standing was his great fear to his Companions, as he knew that they won"t let him mess up the plan…
"Huhuhu, if I want to use my Fate Magic to slow down 4 Travelers at once, I might have to use a lot of my reserves in order to do it." Xavier muttered unwillingly to himself as he began edging himself away from Beatrice. "In fact, all of my reserves for today might even be used up. But that is fine. If I can delay all my opponents for a few seconds, that will be a victory for us already!"
Xavier was moving ever so slowly away from Beatrice, that one might think that he was no moving at all.
But he was moving, and along with it came a slow acc.u.mulation of power inside his chest.
"Thurm…."
The acc.u.mulation of this power was something that Xavier did not stop. He encouraged it to continue, even when he felt the hostile gazes of the other Travelers and the guards focusing on him.
"An "Event Loop" or a "True-False Paradox" is the best magic that I can use against the Travelers and the guards. That could throw them off the tracks and some of them could even be brought temporarily insane…" Xavier thought as he did his best to ignore the stares that are full of killing intent.
"H-hey, a "Number Divided by Zero Paradox" is feasible too, as long as the events will line up!"
A few more second pa.s.sed by like this, and Xavier began to feel a suffocating pressure from the sudden build-up of energy inside his body.
This pressure made him want to puke and roll on the ground in agony, but Xavier held himself in as he knew that he must not stop what he was doing right now.
He is currently casting a powerful spell from his Fate Magic, and there is no way that he can stop at this point.
Fate Magic was a kind of magic that has strict conditions for it to be activated, which meant that once he had started casting it, Xavier cannot stop midway.
Doing so will bring ma.s.sive backlash to him, and in Xavier"s case, being interrupted will lead to his death!
"Fine, I-I will just use the "Theseus s.h.i.+p Paradox or the World Line Divergence! They can stop my opponents for around… 10 seconds!"