Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The infamous disasters in Egypt: the mirages!

It was not just a natural optical phenomenon caused by the refraction of light. In Egypt, a mirage was more like a sign that Osiris’ army had descended upon the mundane world again, a sign of a bloodbath!

The old herdsman was slightly knowledgeable. He had read about the major incidents across the world in some books. For some reason, the story felt unusually real, just like there was actually a Qiqige who sacrificed her body to melt the ice.

“What do you think? Is Khonsu more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, or your Qiqige?” the young man asked with a smile.

“Well… I still think our Qiqige is more impressive,” the old herdsman said.

“HAHAHA, but your Qiqige is only well-known in such a small place here. Meanwhile, Khonsu has been the nickname for evil women in Egypt for centuries! The truth is, people are more likely to remember bad things that are wildly spread for a long time. By the way, have you heard about the strength of faith?” the young man seemed quite interested in talking with the old herdsman.

The old herdsman nodded. He was clearly not an ignorant old man.

“There are many deities in this world. Their power is stronger when the numbers of their believers are higher, and their believers are more sincere. As a result, in the past, lots of the deities were willing to do meaningful things for humans so they could acquire more power through their believers’ faith. The respect, sincerity, and loyalty that the believers showed to the deities became the strength of faith and floated to the realm of the gods, making them stronger,” the young man told him.

“Yes, we do believe in ideas like that,” the old herdsman agreed.

“But do you know there’s more to the strength of faith, that isn’t so wildly spread?” the young man inquired.

“More to it?” the old herdsman was confused.

“If respect, worship, and loyalty from humans give the deities the strength of faith, what about the detest, hatred, and disgust from humans toward the devils? Will they give the devils power, too?” the young man said.

The old herdsman was startled. He did not know the answer to that question.

If the faith of humans could make deities stronger, wouldn’t the hatred they accumulated make devils stronger, too?

“So, do you reckon there are more people like Qiqige or Khonsu in this world?” the young man inquired.

The old herdsman was left speechless.

The truth was, there were too many people like Khonsu. She was the depiction of human nature!

“If the deities are grouped into kind and wicked, and if we are to determine the strength of each side based on the strength of faith they receive, it’s pretty obvious that the evil deities possess more power than the kind gods!” the young man said.

“I can’t find any reason to disagree with you,” the old herdsman said.

“That goes without saying; how do you even disagree with the truth?” the young man said proudly.

“I don’t understand, why would you know all this? It’s not something someone of your age would know, right?” the old herdsman asked in confusion.

“Why would I know this?” The young man suddenly burst out laughing. He patted the old herdsman on the shoulder and said, “Old man, it’s because we are the worshipers of the evil deities. The world spurns our church and hates our disciples. The more they hate the evil gods we believe in, the stronger we are!”

The old herdsman looked at the young man in disbelief. He said after some time, “Son, there might be a misunderstanding. It shouldn’t be like that.”

“Human leaders keep coming up with countless ideas of utopias and stories like Qiqige to restrain the nature of humans, thus restraining the power of evil gods, but can humans really stop their hatred and anger? Can a person really not have any negative thoughts after being mistreated, being looked down at, and suffering torture?” the young man went on.

“It’s possible, son. There are still many kind and innocent people like Qiqige,” the old herdsman did not sound as confident.

“I guess so. Why don’t we have a bet between us?” the young man said.

“A bet? On what?” The old herdsman was confused again.

“This is your hometown, right? We just went past your house and saw your daughter, your wife, and your mother, who’s still healthy even though she’s over eighty years old. She even gave me a straw ring, didn’t she?” the young man said.

“Yes, my mother is very fond of you. She says your purple eyes are beautiful, like those of a fairy,” the old herdsman said.

“Your neighbors are very friendly, too. I met them. They are optimistic, even though they are poor. They are very hospitable too, right?” the young man added.

“Yeah, they are good neighbors,” the old herdsman said.

“Because of the legend of Qiqige, the people here are kind, friendly, and passionate. They are respectful of young women, too. It’s a tribe that deserves to be complimented,” the young man said.

“Of course, our Qiqige Tribe is well regarded by the outside world too,” the old herdsman smiled proudly.

The young man turned to the glamorous woman behind her. He smiled when he noticed she was done with the preparations, “Then why don’t we use it as our stake?”

“I don’t quite understand,” the old herdsman said.

“You win if you don’t hate me or detest me. I will give up on my role as a Red Cardinal, and I give you my promise that I’ll be a kind person like Qiqige!” the young man smiled. It was a warm smile, yet there were evil and hypocrisy underneath!

“Why would I do that? Your ideas might be strange, but you are a polite kid after all…” the old herdsman was still confused.

“Being polite is part of my manners, but doing evil is my nature,” the young man said.

“You are really a strange kid.” The old herdsman shook his head helplessly. He realized he could not convince the young man. His thought process and knowledge were more advanced than an old herdsman like him.

He turned to the glamorous woman and asked, “Aren’t you going to give your brother a piece of advice? He keeps having these troubling thoughts.”

“You’ve misunderstood. He isn’t my brother, he’s my master… mm, our relationship is similar to Khonsu and her slave. I’m his slave,” the glamorous woman smiled.

“What…” The old herdsman was lost for words. He was about to say something when he saw the woman pointing her finger at the statue of Qiqige!

The white statue broke into dust scattering in the air and falling onto the grass. The old herdsman was immediately enraged.

“What do you think you are doing!?” the old herdsman shouted.

“I’m setting our landmark here,” the woman replied, as if it was meant to be.

“Old man, you’re already mad? I’m afraid you’re going to lose the bet,” the young man said.

“I’m not mad, we can always rebuild the statue! But you shouldn’t be doing this, it’s disrespectful to us… what are you holding?” the old herdsman asked haltingly.

The woman lifted a delicate, exquisite triangular device and asked, “Are you referring to this?”

“Yes,” the old herdsman confrimed.

“It’s something precious,” the young man explained. “It took Salan and I great efforts to steal an important component to complete it. Do you remember the Triangle Dimensional Mirror I mentioned?”

“I do; didn’t you say it was shattered by a lightning strike?” the old herdsman answered.

“Oh, that wasn’t the real Triangle Dimensional Mirror. The Triangle Dimensional Mirror that Khonsu had was just a replica. It was only useful for refracting light. It’s more suitable to call it the Triangle Void Mirror. It somehow ended up in Egypt, and Khonsu managed to get her hands on it. This one here is the real Triangle Dimensional Mirror. You will soon witness its marvelous power,” the young man said.

The old herdsman was stunned.

If the legend about Egypt was real, the Triangle Dimensional Mirror was capable of refracting the images of the pyramids. It was definitely not good news!

“Master Cold Prince, I’m ready,” the woman smiled.

“Mm, time to show the old man what we have!” the young man said.

—

The Triangle Dimensional Mirror was placed on the remains of Qiqige’s statue. A few of the Cold Prince’s subordinates infused a special energy into the device. The Triangle Dimensional Mirror suddenly emitted an icy light, like the cold brilliance of the moon.

The light soared and left a boundary in the vast blue sky, as if it had become another dimension!

The boundary across the sky was emitted by just one of the Triangle Dimensional Mirror’s surfaces.

Another horizontal line soon swept across the vast grassland into the horizon, the remnants of Qiqige’s statue at its center.

Another line perpendicular to the second line appeared and swept into the distance. It had split the land in four. If anyone was looking down from the sky, they would have seen the spectacular sight of the land being split into four!

A line soaring into the sky!

Two horizontal lines perpendicular to one another extending into the horizon!

The three lines crossed paths at specific coordinates. A unique icy glow filled the area. It was supposed to be a clear day in the afternoon, with a bright sun, but the whole place suddenly turned gloomy and cold!

“Behold, the most beautiful moment is about to arrive!” The young man’s eyes were filled with passion.

The old herdsman was in disbelief. He had never seen anything like it!

“What exactly is this?” the old herdsman asked faintly.