My setting is above yours!

Chapter 82 If he can write it, why can't I? (5k1)

This is the best way Ron could think of to betray the Silver Knight!
Originally, he intended to directly attack and backstab the Silver Knight, but after seeing the words written by the hunchbacked old man, he had a new idea.

Since the hunchbacked old man is manipulating the course of events, interrupting him is far more important than backstabbing the Silver Knight!

The Silver Knight's strength is unfathomable. Even Father Suer, relying on the Ritual of Pursuit of Fire and the mask of a Sequence Four demigod containment object, was manipulated at will. It's likely that even with [Blood Thorns], he wouldn't be able to harm the Silver Knight...

But the hunched old man who has always remained hidden, writing prophecies from behind the scenes, may not be able to withstand the sharp edge of the [Blood Thorns]—

This is a genuine Sequence 4 containment item!

Even Ron could recognize the importance of the hunchbacked old man, so how could the Silver Knight not care about his safety?
He immediately turned away, completely ignoring Father Sull, with whom he had just been engaged in a "bloody battle".

The spiraling longsword was pulled from his lower abdomen, leaving a hole that was still burning with sparks, but no blood was flowing out and no internal organs were visible.

The dim light filled the wounds, but the sparks gnawed at the edges of the wounds like a persistent leech, and for a moment they were locked in a stalemate with the dim light.

But the injury did not affect the Silver Knight's movements. He held the spear that was as tall as a man and swung it cleanly and neatly. The tip of the spear was about to slice through Ron's neck, sending a head flying into the air!

This spear's speed almost exceeded human limits; its force and speed far surpassed the limits of Lv.3's endurance, and its strength far exceeded that of Minister Alder in the [Experiment of Knowledge]...

But Ron remained calm and unhurried.

[Omniscient Domain - Fake]!
The moment the spear was swung, Ron, relying on [Omniscient Domain - Pseudo], knew its trajectory. He activated [Vector Manipulation] at full power, immediately reversing the spear's movement and dodging to the side—

The spear tip swept across his neck, and Ron felt a slight sting and a chilling coldness. A small wound opened on his neck, from which fine beads of blood flowed.

But that's about it.

Ron even felt a little strange... The moment he saw the Silver Knight stop acting and attack him, he was already prepared to pay the price.

Whether it's [Illusion Dissolution], [Ability Overload], or the spirit form loaded with [Extraordinary Loss of Control]... he's ready to use them all!

But he never expected that none of his prepared methods would be needed; he simply used his [Omniscient Domain - Pseudo] ability to judge the movement of matter to evade the Silver Knight's spear strike.

How strange!
While the Silver Knight is indeed powerful, he doesn't actually reach the incomprehensible level of power of Lv.5... it would even be a stretch to call him Lv.4.

Could it be that this Silver Knight is truly Sequence Six... and he wasn't hiding his true abilities?

Or was it simply because the pressure was too great, and he could only rely on his physical abilities to throw a spear without using his supernatural powers?

A hint of doubt flashed through Ron's mind, but the weaker the enemy, the better, and he wouldn't dwell on this matter.

The Silver Knight hadn't expected to finish off Ron with a single spear thrust. Suddenly, the silver spear shone brightly, its dense patterns glowing.

He spoke, quickly uttering a single word in Old Rodland:
"Confusion!"

In an instant, a dull gleam, like paint sprayed from a can, sticky and heavy, emerged from the tip of the Silver Knight's spear and smeared onto Ron with a flick of his wrist.

At that moment, Ron suddenly felt his consciousness become sluggish and dull...

Everything in front of me seemed to be shrouded in mystery, making it impossible to see its true form.

Even the knowledge in his memory began to be forgotten at this moment. Ron's concepts of language and numbers became blurred in an instant, and his eyes became holy again.

Without hesitation, the Silver Knight thrust his spears at Ron several more times, poised to pierce his throat and heart in the next instant—

But the [Omniscient Domain - False] is still operating!
Ron's consciousness was hazy, but the computing power brought by the imprinted rules of the [Ability Formula] remained unchanged.

Thanks to the computational power granted by the [Ability Formula], Ron, though not fully conscious, was still able to recall the countermeasures he had prepared beforehand.

[Disillusion dispelled!]
In an instant, the dim light seemed to be erased by the great hand of God with an eraser, disappearing without a trace.

Ron used [Omniscient Domain - Pseudo] to dodge wildly again. Although he had several more wounds on his body, none of them were life-threatening... He dodged the Silver Knight's attack once more!

The Silver Knight was immediately shocked and couldn't understand how Ron had managed to do this.

This is a Sequence 5 extraordinary ability!
How could a mere Sequence 7 "medium" remain unaffected...? Apart from the [Blood Thorn], he didn't even have a single containment item on him!
Is he truly a chosen one of angels?
That's impossible! That person never mentioned this to me!

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind as the Silver Knight tried to stop Ron, but it was too late; there was no chance left.

Because at this moment... Ron had already stood in front of the hunchbacked old man!
The hunched old man still stood there, seemingly oblivious to Ron, continuing to silently write his prophecy...

He held the Bloodthorn aloft. Under normal circumstances, without the Potion Sequence loaded and unable to use magic or spirituality, it would be absolutely impossible for him to use this containment object.

But who made the hunchbacked old man write such a prophecy: "[Blood Thorns] has recognized the will of each of them, and for the time being, no further conditions are needed for its use. Simply holding it will grant one the powerful force from the [War] sequence."
An inanimate object cannot escape the control of this prophecy like Ron!
As he gripped the Bloodthorn tightly, the dense thorn patterns on the intricately patterned longsword immediately glowed with a scarlet light.

Just like Idrila in the version's PV, as the light from the blade shone, Ron's body inexplicably began to break open with one slash after another...

But Ron won't suffer the same fate as Idrila, dying together with her...

No matter how powerful the side effects of [Bloodthorn] are, it is ultimately a kind of "mystical influence"!
[Disillusion dispelled!]
In an instant, the damage that had appeared out of nowhere disappeared after only one or two minor cuts were made on Ron's body.

A notification immediately popped up on the Dimensional Update Manual:

[The "Setting: Fantasy Dissolution" is being eroded by excessive "occult influences."]

[Performance impairment: 51% → 61% → 71%...]

Just now, in order to neutralize the Silver Knight's extraordinary abilities, [Illusion Dissolve] had its durability reduced by 51%.

However, holding [Bloodthorn] requires [Illusion Dissolve] to lose 10% of its durability every second, in order to counteract the side effects of [Bloodthorn]...

But five seconds is enough!
Seeing the hunched old man's indifferent attitude towards him, Ron couldn't help but sneer:
"I'll fucking make you write it!"

Ron slashed down fiercely with the Bloodthorn, and crimson light bloomed like flowers on the hunchbacked old man's body, instantly cleaving him in two and causing him to vanish like a fleeting bubble...

What's going on... Although it hit something, why does it seem like it didn't hit a real person?
Ron frowned. The hunchbacked old man had indeed vanished under his sword, but he had a feeling that he hadn't killed a real person, but a soulless corpse, a phantom sketching a prophecy with a pen...

But he doesn't have time to think about the hunchbacked old man anymore.

At that moment, as the [Blood Thorns] slashed down, the red light shot into the sky just like in the version's PV.

Ron immediately sensed that the Blood Thorn in his hand was about to slip out of his control, and the Illusion Dissolved completely collapsed the moment the Blood Thorn struck, leaving Ron alone to face this Sequence 4 containment object...

If Ron continues to wield the Bloodthorn, he will repeat the same mistake, recreating the scene from the version's promotional video, turning the entire Scorched Sanctuary into ruins!

But Ron isn't the completely manipulated Idrila from the version's promotional video...

What else is there to say? I just won't use it, right?
He immediately released his grip, and the Bloodthorn fell to the ground with a clatter. The dazzling red light that had been shining on it froze for a moment before inevitably dimming and failing to emit any more light.

As the light faded, Ron saw the last "relic" left behind by the "hunchbacked old man"...

An ordinary-looking quill pen and an extremely ordinary-looking notebook.

Clearly, all the actions the hunchbacked old man had just taken, his attempts to control events by writing down prophecies, were all accomplished using this quill pen and notebook…

This is definitely a very high-sequence containment object!
The moment Ron saw this thing, he was struck by a sudden flash of inspiration, and many things came to mind—

'A quill pen... a notebook... how many people have I seen carrying this thing?!'

'Charles, the gatekeeper of the Society of Truth; Baron Hall's old butler; the coachman of President Elvis's chariot... and President Elvis himself!'

'They all used this pen to write something...back then they were already manipulating things based on the prophecies they wrote down!'

Thinking this, he immediately grabbed the quill pen and notebook hanging in mid-air, right in front of him, and held them tightly in his hands. A burning sensation immediately spread across his chest, almost scalding Ron's skin—

That was the feedback from "Introduction to Mysticism" because of this quill pen and notebook!
'Feedback on the introduction to mysticism... Could this thing not be a containment object, but simply a potion ingredient?!'

'What kind of potion must this be to require something like this?!'

Ron was momentarily stunned by the thought that flashed through his mind.

But the next moment, he heard an urgent shout in his ear:
"Ron! Get out of the way!!"

—Idlila is speaking?
'She regained consciousness after I took away her quill and notebook!'

Ron immediately snapped out of his daze, and [Omniscient Domain - Pseudo] promptly told him the reason for his need to dodge...

With a face so dark it could drip water, the Silver Knight, his mind brimming with rage, charged toward Ron, the tip of his pure silver spear already aimed at his heart!

Because it was so close, Ron caught a glimpse of it and, with great effort, managed to make out what the spear was.

It was formed from flowing silver mist, and the dense patterns on it seemed to be alive as they flowed with the ripples. Upon closer inspection, one could vaguely make out that it was written in the ancient language of Rodland!

Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, Ron still recognized the familiar characters on it—

'【Mysterious】, 【Mithril】...and 【Confusion】?'

A thought flashed through Ron's mind, but the spearhead had already pierced his clothes and was about to pierce his heart. He had no time to recognize it...

Luckily, he was prepared!
Switch back to the [Potion Sequence] and load [Out of Control]...

Then, [become a spirit]!
In an instant, Ron's spirituality was released as if water had been drained away, and he became transparent, leaving only a semi-illusory shadow...

The spear pierced Ron's heart at that moment without any resistance, and did not actually hurt Ron.

He hurriedly retreated rapidly, canceling his spirit form as he did so, returning to his normal appearance. His face turned extremely pale, and his body temperature seemed to have been drained away in that instant.

[Spirit Transformation], as the strongest method of "medium," is almost stronger than the Sequence Seven level, allowing Ron to successfully evade the Silver Knight's attack...

However, the corresponding cost is also enormous.

In that brief moment, Ron had a quarter of his spiritual energy drained away, and death seeped into his very bones...

Although there are no major problems yet, if Ron continues like this and uses [Spirit Transformation] repeatedly, he will inevitably suffer serious injuries and even lose control, turning into a semi-ethereal undead!
But just this once is enough.

Ron watched as the Silver Knight charged at him with his spear once again. He switched back to [Superpower] and [Vector Manipulation] and quickly retreated to create distance, gritting his teeth fiercely.

In fact, he could have left now and gone straight back to Ideal City, thus avoiding this crisis.

Afterwards, when he returns in another era and has risen to a higher rank, able to defeat the Silver Knight, this life-or-death crisis will be immediately resolved, and there will be no more threat whatsoever.

but……

Given the absolute power disparity, all of Ron's abilities at Lv.3 were only enough to keep the Silver Knight occupied, but he couldn't actually harm him.

Unable to return to Ideal City to fix the settings, he repeatedly fought the Silver Knights using only his Lv.3 abilities.

Only by advancing to a higher rank will he have a chance to defeat the Silver Knight.

But how long will that take?
One year? Five years? Ten years?
Without the assistance of the "Potion Age," Ron would visibly struggle to make any progress in Ideal City... He couldn't possibly complete Prometheus's "Experiment of Knowledge" all by himself!
Moreover, even if one does reach Lv.5, entering the "Potion Era" will mean losing the computing power support of the [Central AI]...

Will we be able to truly defeat the Silver Knight by then?

Ron didn't know.

It takes a long time and the returns are unstable...

The saying goes, "A gentleman takes his revenge tonight." Ron was unwilling to suffer indignation and then cower in Ideal City for who knows how long, thinking every day about defeating this mere Silver Knight.

That's because my thoughts are not clear!

Therefore, if given the chance, Ron would rather make this bastard who tried to scheme against him and then tried to kill him pay the price on the spot!

—And now, he happens to have a means and opportunity to try and counter the Silver Knight!

Thinking of this, Ron looked at the quill pen and notebook in his hand and immediately grinned.

The old man wrote prophecies on it with a quill pen, and those prophecies are about to come true, right?
...If he can write it, why can't I?!
Even if things go terribly, I can still return to my ideal city after failing!

With that thought in mind, Ron opened his notebook and switched back to the [Potion Sequence].

It is covered with ancient Rodelan script, as well as some areas that have been erased or blackened...

But Ron didn't have time to look at those things. Instead, he gripped his quill pen tightly, found a blank space, and began to write.

Seeing Ron's actions, the Silver Knight was immediately terrified and accelerated without hesitation, trying to stop Ron...

But it was too late.

As Ron put pen to paper, the quill pen immediately became like a bottomless pit, frantically draining Ron's spiritual energy, far more than when Ron had used his [spiritual form] before!
In just a moment, Ron's spirituality was completely drained, leaving almost nothing behind...

But enough is enough!

Right now, Ron certainly has no ability to harm the Silver Knight; even using his spirituality as ink, he can barely write a single sentence in the notebook.

But that one sentence was enough to change his current situation!
After all... his ultimate goal was simply to save Idrila and live on with her...

So, if someone can stop the current Silver Knight and give Ron and Idrila a chance to escape this dangerous place—

Is there any hope for a turnaround in all of this?
As Ron's mind raced, he glanced at Father Sue, who was standing there dumbfounded.

You got off easy, old man!

The strategy of using one wolf to devour another... is perfect for this situation!
With that thought in mind, Ron mustered all his strength and wrote a sentence in his notebook:

Father Sur received an even stronger blessing during the fire-chasing ceremony.

Although Ron didn't know why the Silver Knight wanted to kill Father Suer... he knew that as long as Father Suer had the power to fight back, he would not sit idly by and wait to die!

Thick gray mist transformed into ink, which was drawn into hazy characters by the tip of the pen.

Father Suer, who had been staring at the Silver Knight with hatred as he gradually recalled what had happened due to the loss of control, suddenly burst into extremely intense flames. The blazing fire surged over his body and instantly turned him into a burning, charred corpse!

but……

He did not die as a result.

"The heart of strife... has once again set me ablaze!"
"I...I have everything I need now!!"

Father Suer laughed heartily and cheered, turning his gaze to the Silver Knight, his eyes flashing with hatred.

The next moment, without Ron's prophecy or anyone's prompting...

Father Suer put on his mask, picked up his spiral longsword, and stood in front of the Silver Knight without hesitation!
At this moment, through his own skillful maneuvering, Ron managed to carve out a temporary path to escape from this seemingly inescapable predicament!
(End of this chapter)