Even as Ren approached, the woman seemed completely unaware. She knelt quietly within the cell, like a devout nun, hands clasped tightly before her chest in silent prayer.
It was hard to imagine that the master of the Deep End, the most dangerous place in the Elysian Realm, could be such a seemingly gentle woman.
"Aren't you going to end this farce?" Without looking directly at her, Ren scanned the peculiar cell. He reached out, lightly touching the bars. They were incredibly sturdy; even using his full strength, Ren couldn't break them.
The woman didn't answer, merely bowing her head, engrossed in prayer. Her pious appearance was so convincing that if Ren hadn't known she'd just tried to manipulate him into leaving [Original: 'kill him'], he might have actually been fooled.
But unfortunately for her, she was dealing with Ren.
"Heh." A soft scoff escaped him, a mocking smile curling his lips. He raised his hand and punched the cell bars directly.
The next second, golden threads spread from his fist, covering the cell like cracks in glass.
Crack.
Simultaneously, the cell emitted an actual cracking sound. Then, the surrounding space began to shatter like glass, fragmenting and flaking away.
Clearly, this cell wasn't the true Deep End, just another illusion crafted by her Discipline.
"Using your own inner world to construct an inescapable prison... trapping others inside while simultaneously partitioning off your own darkness." Ren picked up a fragment of the broken space. Reflected upon it was the image of him endlessly wandering the corridors earlier.
In other words, from the moment he stepped into the Deep End, he had already been within the illusion she constructed. The prison cell in the darkness was merely a projection of her own consciousness.
As the illusion collapsed, bright light gradually replaced the darkness, and melodious hymns echoed in his ears. Ren looked around, realizing he wasn't in a claustrophobic, gloomy black cell at all, but a vast, magnificent auditorium.
Though he felt he had walked in darkness for a very long time, in reality, he had merely been standing in place. Her control over consciousness was indeed formidable; even Ren hadn't realized he was in a mental space until the very end.
He looked up towards the center of the hall. The woman still knelt in the same pose, but now, trickles of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. Clearly, Ren forcefully tearing apart her mental space had exceeded her control.
"Lost traveler, this is not a place you should be."
The moment her words fell, a powerful suggestion surged into Ren's mind, urging him to leave. However, Ren just smiled faintly, and the influence of the Discipline vanished without a trace.
"Give it up. You can't control me."
"This isn't control. It is merely the hope that you will realize your error and turn back."
"You don't even know who I am. We've never even met. How can you speak of me being lost?"
"Because I have foreseen your imminent death. If you continue forward, you will only hasten your own demise." The woman's voice was filled with compassion, like a divine being walking the earth who had already glimpsed Ren's fate.
"And what if I insist on doing so?"
"Then your journey will likely meet its end within this Elysian Realm." The woman lifted her head. Golden light streamed down from the dome ceiling, bathing her in radiance. Ren, standing at the edge, was shrouded in shadow. In that moment, he looked every bit like a man marked for death.
"Hm, in a way, you're not wrong," Ren nodded in mock agreement. "If I let myself be bluffed and leave now, I might live a few more days. If I don't leave, you'll kill me. Is that the gist of it?"
"..." The woman fell silent.
Ren chuckled, spreading his hands nonchalantly as he walked towards the center, stopping right in front of the woman, completely bathed in sunlight now. At this moment, his future looked blindingly bright.
"When it comes to playing mind games, I'm not much worse than you."
As he spoke, his eyes became completely filled with gold. He lowered his head, his gaze turning icy cold.
"Aponia, hand her over!"
Hearing Ren call her name, Aponia's expression flickered with surprise, but she quickly masked it. "It seems your understanding of the Elysian Realm is deeper than I imagined."
"Enough. Why waste time on pointless chatter? Since you can foresee my death, you surely know my purpose as well."
Ren naturally didn't have intimate knowledge of the Elysian Realm's data, but he'd had ample time to learn. While Mei underwent her trials, he had been lurking within the Realm's database, searching not only for information on the Flame-Chasers but also for answers about himself.
Unfortunately, neither the memories he gained from observing parallel worlds nor the Elysian Realm's database held any records of his own past. Unable to find answers about himself for the time being, only one objective remained: rescuing Kiana.
Back during the incident in the Pacific Ocean, Ren had made a deal with Kevin. He would help Kevin deal with the Tonatiuh, and in return, Kevin would help him save Kiana. Kiana had been saved, but she was sent into the Elysian Realm, with Aponia put in charge of awakening her.
Ren had sensed signs of Kiana awakening long ago, but even after entering the Elysian Realm, he couldn't find any data related to her. The only possibility was that someone had interfered with her awakening, or perhaps hidden her away.
He sifted through all the available data, ultimately narrowing down the possible keepers of this secret to two individuals: Elysia, and Aponia, wielder of the Discipline. Judging by Aponia's strong aversion to his presence, he had likely found the right person.
"I see. You came for that girl." Aponia's brow furrowed slightly, her gaze towards Ren growing colder. "Apologies. According to the guidance fate has shown me, that girl will cause casualties numbering in the hundreds of millions after leaving the Elysian Realm. I cannot allow such a catastrophe to occur. Therefore, keeping her within the Elysian Realm is the best choice." Her tone was firm, completely different from when she was trying to trick Ren into leaving earlier.
She had genuinely foreseen a future disaster.
"I have no interest in your prophecies. Hand her over to me, and I can spare you. If you insist on refusing, I don't mind sinking this entire Elysian Realm."
Aponia's foresight wasn't actually wrong. Finality was approaching, and disaster was inevitable. For Project Stigma to succeed, for Kiana to ascend to her throne, large-scale bloodshed was bound to occur.
And Ren knew full well that the source of it all... would be himself.
However, because Aponia couldn't see through him, couldn't base her so-called prophecy on his true thoughts, she mistakenly identified Kiana as the agent of the foreseen destruction.
"..."
Aponia didn't answer, but the intensifying holy light radiating from behind her made her choice clear.
"Fate cannot be changed, and I follow its path closely. God is merciful and forgives the sins of humanity. But you show no remorse. Therefore, please allow me to grant you salvation."