The Villain Rising: Ascension of Arcane Trickster.-Chapter 231: Chat with the Trickster [1]

"What the actual fuck was that...?"

Rael cursed as he watched Trickster erase or whatever the hell that was to the countless divine beings.

Meanwhile, completely ignoring Rael’s dumbfounded state, Trickster moved with purpose. The shadow of his body split, moved toward Winter’s corpse and Eidolon, while the real him appeared casually in front of Rael.

"So... my dear successor, ready to have a chat?"

He spoke lightly, followed by a childish chuckle, then snapped his fingers as a table and two chairs materialized between them.

He gestured for Rael to sit as he took one of the chairs himself.

Rael didn’t protest as he sat down and asked directly, skipping any greeting or hesitation. "How exactly are you here? And what the hell did you just do?"

The Trickster chuckled. "Slow down a bit, my dear successor. First, tell me, what will you have? Tea? Coffee? Or something spicy?"

Rael looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Just give me what you’re supposed to give as a responsible Predecessor, will you?"

And that is information...

Rael kept the latter part to himself, hoping Trickster would understand without him calling it out loudly.

The Trickster burst out laughing. "Yeah, true. But haven’t I already given you enough that any predecessor should?"

A vein throbbed on Rael’s temple as he was about to argue.

He had met this bastard twice before and both times all he had received were useless riddles and half-assed prophecies and this guy had the gall to say he had done enough...

But before Rael could even begin, Trickster cut him off.

"As any responsible and great predecessor, I made sure to cause as much chaos as I could and left you with enemies strong enough to make even greater gods hesitate just so you could grow faster. What else was I supposed to do?" He even puffed out his chest as if it were some grand accomplishment.

Calm down, Rael. Calm down.

You can’t murder him.

He is already dead and even then he is far too strong to deal with, he just erased millions of beings like it was nothing...

Rael tried to steady himself as his smile slowly widened.

"I was talking about information, you bastard."

But alas, anger wasn’t something he could control at this moment especially in front of Trickster. Even he didn’t know why, but there was a very specific aura about Trickster that made him want to trust him... to feel at ease around him as if something deep within already knew he could.

It was a strange feeling.

Rael even wondered if it had something to do with the myths or skills surrounding Trickster but he couldn’t be sure.

Because of all that, Rael, who could normally control his expressions and emotions perfectly, couldn’t keep them in check in front of this guy.

The Trickster chuckled. "I cannot share what cannot be shared. I am but a mere tool made to laugh at fate but never to surpass it and even I have rules I must follow. So I couldn’t share anything, even if I wanted to."

Rael sighed. He knew there were some restrictions but that didn’t mean he was leaving this space without any gain. He had all the intention to rip as much information as he could from this guy.

"At least tell me what you can share then. Let’s start with what the hell you’re doing here." Rael muttered softly.

The Trickster stopped laughing for a moment and looked into Rael’s eyes.

Rael couldn’t see his face clearly but the slight twitch of his lips was enough to tell him something had shifted.

"I suppose, as whimsical as I am, I shouldn’t act like the irresponsible one who taught me everything I know." He muttered softly.

"Well," the Trickster continued his explanation lightly, "I’m not exactly sure which numbered meeting this is for us... but you should already know I am capable of leaving behind sentient fragments of myself."

He lazily twirled a finger in the air.

"So I left one inside Eidolon’s memories, knowing this exact outcome would occur one day."

His smile deepened.

"And since I wanted to observe my successor’s growth... and perhaps offer a few tips..."

He shrugged.

"I arranged this little setup."

He spoke as Rael smirked slightly, noticing there were no riddles in his words this time.

Good...

Rael had many more questions he planned to ask like who the hell those gigantic stalker eyes were or how Trickster knew about the novel and whether he also knew about other Transmigrators...?

Or maybe... was he one of them as well?

Countless theories swirled in his mind, waiting to be confirmed but before any of that, there was one question he simply couldn’t resist asking.

"How...? How exactly did you erase that many divine beings at once? And will I be able to do that someday too?"

He didn’t even know why that question had surfaced in his mind but ever since he witnessed that scene, it was all he could think about.

Trickster matched Rael’s smirk.

"Well, you will know which path you’ll follow when the time comes."

He continued calmly.

"Tch..."

Rael clicked his tongue as the environment around them started shifting. His gaze snapped toward Winter’s corpse, where the shadow Trickster had sent now held the dead boy in one hand, the other resting atop Eidolon’s head.

Rael watched as life slowly drained from Eidolon... and then Winter’s fingers began to twitch.

At that sight, Rael quickly turned back to Trickster.

"Hey. If we’re inside Eidolon’s memories and he dies at this point, wouldn’t the memory collapse? Wouldn’t I be thrown out and you cease to exist before I can ask anything important?"

Trickster chuckled.

"Normally, that would be the case but the reason you are here is tied to what happens afterward. So we have approximately ten minutes before I vanish... which means you would better be quick and ask what you want, my dear successor."

His smile thinned slightly.

"Because even I cannot predict what will happen after this point... as everything has already shifted beyond my control."

Rael understood the seriousness behind the playful demeanour and asked his first question... without wasting any more time.