Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 404 The Tower of Lies, the City of Sorrow

There is no true truth in the world; people crave to believe lies because the truth is too cruel.

"What I seek is nothing more than the ultimate power of endless sorrow when all the lies in the world are finally shattered."

—Excerpt from "The Lamenter of Fate, The Book of Star-Solved Sorrow, Prologue"

The Tower of Sacred Chastity stands alone in the darkest corner of the Areston Palace.
Like a sharp blade piercing the sky, deep and cold, sharp yet silent, it is full of the mysteries and sins etched by time.

The tower walls are covered with mottled and twisted vines, like thousands of withered bones clinging to them, as if telling the endless sorrow and despair of those who are imprisoned.

Liseria curled up quietly on the damp, cold stone bed, the faint moonlight seeping in through the narrow window and illuminating her pale, sculpted face.

Faint tear stains gleamed with a cold, silvery light on her cheeks, making her look like a holy statue on the verge of collapse—beautiful yet sorrowful, fragile yet desolate.

She stared blankly at the heavy, cold iron door, her muttered words like thin ice about to break:
"Why...why did you all choose to betray me?"

A whisper of despair and loneliness filled the air. Those students and people she had so carefully taught and genuinely cared for...

At this moment, however, he raised his finger without hesitation, accusing her, abandoning her, trampling her trust and tenderness underfoot, and letting them turn to ashes.

She slowly hugged her knees, shrinking herself even smaller, and a tear silently fell from the corner of her eye to the ground.
Like a sparkling crystal shattering into millions of fragments, it made a barely audible yet extremely piercing sound on the cold and heavy ground.

Heavy, mechanical footsteps echoed outside the tower, and a guard spoke in a cold, lifeless voice:

"Your Highness, please get some rest. The nights here are still long."

The iron gate slammed shut, the cold sound of chains clanging against each other echoing for a long time.

It was as if some invisible iron chain had bound her soul firmly deep within the tower, preventing her from breaking free.

Liseria lowered her head and wept, her slender shoulders trembling slightly, as if all hope had been extinguished.

But in just a few seconds, she suddenly stopped crying, slowly raised her head, and the sadness that had risen in her eyes receded like the rapidly receding tide, leaving only a chilling coldness and emptiness.

"Has it finally... come to this?"

A faint, cold smile played on her lips, as if her previous helpless and vulnerable demeanor was merely a pre-prepared mask.
Only now did she truly shed her disguise and reveal her true appearance.

Liseria raised her hand and gently wiped away the tears on her cheeks, a faint self-mockery and coldness appearing in her eyes:
"It turns out that even I almost got so caught up in this drama that I almost forgot who I really am..."

She slowly rose, her bare feet stepping onto the cold ground as if treading on the blade of fate.

She walked silently to the narrow window, gazing at Alleston bathed in the blood-red moonlight, her expression calm and indifferent, and sighed softly:
“Si Ming, you once told me that every gamble of fate is a carefully planned performance, and I finally understand how to play my own part well.”

Her gaze gradually sharpened, revealing a glint of cunning, like a blade hidden beneath a gentle exterior, ready to pierce the veil of pretense at any moment.

"Sister, your lie seems flawless, but unfortunately, you've forgotten the most important thing—"

Her voice was low, yet it carried an undisguised hint of pleasure and anticipation:
"On the true stage of this city of destiny, there has always been only one protagonist, and that person is definitely not you."

She slowly opened her palm, as if to touch the boundless darkness and blood-red mist outside the window:

"Now prepare yourselves for the grandest tragedy I have woven for you... The sorrow of Alleston has only just begun."

A deathly silence fell over the tower once more, with only the faint moonlight slowly seeping in.

That frail figure, like a ghost born from stillness, stood quietly in the very center of the stage of destiny.

The smile on her lips remained faint and alluring, but her eyes were devoid of warmth, like a frozen abyss, reflecting the city's impending fate and madness.

The Tower of Sacred Chastity was shrouded in the boundless night. The moonlight struggled to penetrate the thick clouds, but like the pale hand of a dying person, it ultimately fell helplessly into the deeper shadows.

The cramped room gradually fell into silence and cold, as if even time had frozen in this despairing darkness.

Liseria stood silently by the window, her once bright eyes now as dark and lifeless as a deep pool. Those once gentle and clear eyes...
At this moment, a chilling emptiness and coldness pervades, as if all pretense of warmth and softness has been completely stripped away.

She slowly closed her eyes, letting her consciousness sink into the abyss of her heart. At that moment, she heard Si Ming's familiar yet ethereal whisper once again:

"The human heart is the easiest thing to manipulate in this world."

The voice, like a ghost haunting the void, entered her mind with a cold yet clear quality.
A barely perceptible hint of mockery and contempt flickered across the corners of her mouth.

"Yes, Si Ming..." Liseria murmured to herself.
"At this moment, I finally understand what you mean completely."

So-called loyalty, trust, and goodwill are nothing but false illusions woven before our eyes by fate. Only lies and tragedy are the true reality, the essence that governs all things.

Her slender, pale fingers gently slipped inside her collar and removed a mysterious card that emitted a faint blue glow from her neck.

The card trembled slightly, like a beating heart, emitting a deep and sorrowful murmur.

"The lamenter of fate..." she murmured, reciting the name etched with destiny, her tone devout and dreamlike, filled with a chilling reverence and longing.

"From the first time I met you, I knew that I was destined to be with you."

My dear sister thought she saw through my heart, that I was still that fragile, powerless little princess who could only compromise and submit.

Little did I know, I had already transformed in the shadow of fate…

Liseria raised her head, staring at a point in the void, her eyes revealing a strange joy and coldness:
“In every class at the Door Mirror Academy, on every starlit night, I quietly sowed the seeds of lies in their pure hearts.”

Those seemingly beautiful and heartwarming little stories, and the seemingly harmless fables, have already silently seeped into their souls like threads.
"Waiting for the right moment to utterly destroy this innocence."

The corners of her lips curled up, revealing a chilling, sinister arc:
"And this trial—this grand performance that I meticulously orchestrated, yet which you see as justice and betrayal—is the perfect catalyst."

Your fears, your regrets, your despair and pain will all converge into a potent offering, leading me to the altar that fate has forged for me.

Liseria slowly raised the card in her hand, her fingertips lightly touching the cold surface. In an instant, the air in the room became heavy and suffocating.
It was as if countless unseen shadows slowly seeped out from the four walls, weaving together an endless expanse of phantom tombstones.

Each tombstone is inscribed with intricate and poignant words, representing unfulfilled wishes, indelible sorrow, and regret.

Her whispers turned into a low, eerie chant, as if she were reciting a blasphemous prayer:

When your heart is filled with sorrow,

When your hope turns to ashes,
I will descend from the darkness.
Drink up your sorrowful tears,

Accept the sacrifice of your tragedy.
It will become a lament for your fate.

The shadows in the room moved slowly, as if in response to her chanting, while the smile on Liseria's lips grew colder and more ruthless.
"Sister, your so-called blood sacrifice is nothing but a vulgar and superficial performance."

You will never understand that the truly powerful lie is not bloodshed and violence, but the sorrow and regret buried deep within people's hearts.

She gently put the cards away again, looked up at the city of Areston shrouded in dark clouds outside the window, and a cold emptiness gradually spread in her eyes.
It was as if she had completely erased all life, emotions, and memories of this city:
"Then prepare yourself for the most magnificent tragedy of fate, for the true elegy of this city has only just begun..."

Dark clouds completely obscured the sky, and the stars, like blind eyes, could no longer see the suffering of the world.

Liseria stood in the darkness, her expression calm and indifferent, as if she had long been prepared to welcome the opening of the curtain on her impending destiny.

The shadows in the tower gradually rose, like eerie and invisible tentacles, wrapping around her slender body and pushing her toward an indescribable celestial calamity and a mysterious abyss.

Inside the tower, the darkness grew ever thicker, like an endless vortex that completely swallowed up the last remaining glimmer of light.

Liseria stood quietly in the center of the room, her slender figure gradually blending into the surrounding shadows, like a statue born from darkness.

Her head was lowered, her long, dark hair falling like silk threads, obscuring half her face in shadow. Only a secret and eerie smile played at the corners of her mouth, a smile that was both morbid and inexplicably unsettling.

Slowly, she raised her head, her once clear, star-like eyes now gleaming with an eerie, ghostly blue light.
Like a mysterious star twinkling in the deepest part of the starry sea, it carries an unsettling attraction, inspiring awe and making one feel as if trapped in an endless abyss from which there is no escape.

Under the interplay of shadow and moonlight, her face seemed to be slowly kneaded and distorted by an invisible hand, and her once gentle and pure face began to show a strange and terrifying appearance.

Beneath her pale skin, countless tiny, writhing worms seemed to slowly crawl, densely outlining indistinct, eerie patterns that hinted at the presence of something inhuman. Liseria's body trembled slightly, as if she were enduring intense pain.

However, her expression was eerily calm, even revealing a chilling pleasure and satisfaction amidst this soul-wrenching pain.

"Finally... I can finally take off these fake masks and embrace my true self."

She whispered, her tone cold and ethereal, as if it did not come from human vocal cords, but from a more ancient, blasphemous murmur from beyond the stars:

“My dear sister, Medici…you think you have reached the pinnacle of the extraordinary, but you have no idea what the true truth is hidden at the end of the Path of Cataclysm.”

When you become immersed in the vortex of power and obsessed with blood sacrifices, you only touch the edge of the extraordinary.

Liseria slowly opened her arms, as if embracing the darkness and despair rising from the abyss in a devout yet blasphemous gesture.

Centered on her, countless writhing shadows spread outwards from her feet like tentacles, weaving into a huge net that completely enveloped the entire tower.

These shadows, like whispering ghosts, spoke of endless sorrow, regret, and unfulfilled wishes, as if offering the most revered and devout sacrifice to Liseria.

She closed her eyes in rapt attention, listening intently to the endless cries of anguish, a cruel yet tender smile playing on her lips:

"People fear sorrow and pain, yet they never understand that true power lies precisely in these emotions that they have abandoned."

My body will become a vessel for your sorrow; all your unfulfilled dreams and eternal grief will be the most precious offerings for me on my journey to the Holy Cataclysm.

Liseria's voice gradually faded, like the most exquisite mournful song, each line carrying a sweet poison that unconsciously drew the listener in:

"The path I have chosen is called 'The Lamenter of Despair,' which the world sees as the embodiment of despair and depression."
But in my view, this path is the most authentic and purest way of existence. Because only sorrow is the truest face of fate.

She smiled slightly, her face shifting constantly in the interplay of darkness and eerie light, sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, sometimes terrifyingly grotesque, making it impossible to discern which aspect was real and which was illusion.
"It was your betrayal, sister, your coldness and cruelty that pushed me to the gates of the abyss."

You should be proud; you created me with your own hands, you made me who I truly am.

She slowly walked towards the window, each step accompanied by the surging and whispering of shadows, as if the entire tower trembled under her control.

She finally stood atop the tower, looking down at the slumbering city of Areston below, her smile growing increasingly cold and cruel.
"Be sad, despair, this is your true fate."

"Alleston, the tragedy and despair you are about to witness will far exceed the limits of your imagination."

The dark clouds gradually dispersed, and the pale moonlight once again shone on her distorted face.

Her eyes had long since lost all human emotion and warmth, leaving only a chilling emptiness and madness.

Her whispers rang out again, eerie and lingering, like an ancient elegy echoing at the end of time and space:
"Fate has already begun its prelude, and all the sorrow and pain in this world are my true sacrifice..."

The shadows gradually engulfed every corner of the tower, and an eerie blue halo surged slowly like a tide, enveloping the entire room in a chilling glow.

Countless distant and low whispers echoed all around, sorrow and regret intertwined into deep murmurs, like departed souls whispering their unfulfilled wishes in Liseria's ear.

Liseria stood alone in the center of the darkness, her expression calm to the point of being indifferent.

She closed her eyes slightly, letting the sorrow and pain slowly seep into the depths of her soul, and a cold and cruel smile gradually appeared on her lips.

“Sister, you always thought you controlled Alleston and manipulated everyone’s fate, but you never understood where true power comes from.”

She murmured softly, her voice sweet and gentle, yet as venomous as poison:

“Sadness and regret are the truth of the world. People yearn for happiness all their lives, but they never see through it. What truly fascinates and intoxicates them is the pain they cannot escape.”

Liseria slowly opened her eyes, her deep blue pupils seemingly filled with profound emptiness and madness:

"From the very first day I embarked on the path of the Cataclysmic Disaster, I fully understood—the essence of the 'Lamenter of Despair' is not self-indulgence at all."
Instead, it draws upon the endless sorrow and regret of all living beings, using this as a stepping stone to climb to the pinnacle of the celestial calamity.

She gracefully raised her arm and, like a conductor, waved it lightly into the shadows; in an instant, the darkness within the tower abruptly dissipated.
Countless illusory souls appeared and disappeared on the wall, whispering their unfulfilled wishes and hidden regrets from their previous lives:
"Please save my child..."

"I'm so scared of dying alone..."

“Tell him that I have never stopped loving…”

Liseria listened to these lamentations with rapt attention, a faint, almost morbid smile playing on her lips:

"Sorrow is the most exquisite melody in the world. The purer and deeper it is, the more it can awaken the cosmic calamity hidden deep within the soul."

She walked slowly to the center of the room, her slender fingertips lightly tracing invisible symbols in the air, as if weaving a web of sorrow that bound everyone within it:

“Sister, you once laughed at my naivety and mocked my innocence, mistakenly believing that I placed my hopes on the hypocrisy of the nobility and the loyalty of the common people.”

Little did I know, those things were never my support, but merely nutrients used to catalyze tragedy and nourish sorrow.

"Their betrayal and self-blame, their regret and pain, are what I truly crave."

Every tear, every sigh, will build me a ladder to the pinnacle of the celestial calamity.

Liseria closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and seemed to feel the negative emotions slowly gathering from every corner of the city.
Gradually, it nourished her soul. Her voice grew deeper, yet contained an irresistible magic:

"The path of the lamenter is destined to be accompanied by melancholy and despair, and with each step I take, I become more and more alienated from humanity."

Ultimately, I will relinquish all false human emotions, transforming myself into pure sorrow and nothingness.

Her whispers drifted slowly and clearly into the ears of those souls in the darkness:

"Sister, thank you for personally constructing this most perfect stage for my tragedy."

Liseria raised her head, opened her eyes again, and her gaze was devoid of any human emotion, only a burning flame of emptiness and madness:
"The curtain has been raised on tragedy, and Alleston is about to become the altar for my ascension to the Cataclysm."

The night was as dark as ink, and the crimson blood moon gradually rose into the sky, shrouding the entire city in an eerie atmosphere of oppression and unease.

The thick fog, like an invisible curtain, shrouded everything in an unspeakable fear.

At the top of the tower, Liseria stood by the window, overlooking the tragic city she had meticulously planned. She raised her head, as elegant and composed as a singer standing center stage:
"Alleston, do you hear it? The elegy I play for you has begun. This is your tragedy, and my feast."

Her voice was sweet and soft, yet it carried a chilling madness and determination, as if she were whispering to the soul of the city.

"My dear sister, you thought you had everything under control, but in reality you had already fallen into my script and become my most loyal actress."

The fates of all have long been woven into a tragic song, and now, this elegy has finally begun.

Liseria closed her eyes, her expression one of fervor and obsession:
"Mortals spend their entire lives pursuing happiness, but fate never favors those who are happy."

Sorrow and regret are the true gifts of fate, and I merely submitted to its guidance.

The darkness in the tower gradually gathered, forming a phantom and towering shadow behind her. The shadow slowly spread its arms, like an invisible conductor, preparing to play the elegy of fate.

Liseria turned and gazed at this strange yet real version of herself, a cold and eerie smile playing on her lips:

"Now, I am the one who truly controls the fate of Areston. I will awaken the deepest sorrow and despair within them."
Leading them into true darkness and nothingness. This grand tragedy is about to officially begin.

She turned around, her voice gradually rising, as if announcing to the entire city:
"Sing out my dirge, awaken the slumbering sorrow and regret; weep, my people, your tears will pave the way for my ascent to the summit of the planetary catastrophe."

Under the moonlight, her figure gradually became ethereal, but her voice drifted into every corner of the city, seeping into the depths of everyone's soul:
"Sister Medici, enjoy this. This is the ending you directed yourself."

The tragedy of Alleston has already begun.

"People always think that their fate is in their own hands, but they don't realize that they have already become sad puppets."

"Hope in this world is nothing but the prelude to despair; so-called truth is nothing but the deepest lie."

—Excerpt from "Elegy for Fate: Final Chapter - Revelation"

(End of this chapter)