They all call me an Outer God.

There is a worst-case scenario.

The gate will descend through this body.

Therefore, Ria actually regarded this body as his ultimate weapon, and he would not have done so if he had not been forced to.

Most of the things that happen can be resolved by Ria's own abilities, and if she can't, she can use her divine power. But this time, Ria wants to use Ivand's body and the Key to the Gate.

"Omniscient and omnipotent ruler, ancient sage, this time, I may not be able to resolve this on my own, and I can only drag you down with me..."

Lia smiled slightly, dissipated all her strength, and let herself fall into the sea.

Something was calling to him; he needed to go, and he had to go.

For the first time, Ria felt uneasy, and this familiar feeling of returning home made him forcefully pull Schwarz out of his body.

"You stay here. Something seems to have happened underwater, and I need to take care of it... Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Delos watched with a complicated expression as Ria communicated with the dark creature, which blinked its eyes as if trying to grab Ria's hand.

However, countless tentacles suddenly appeared from the depths of the sea, grabbed the young man, and pulled him directly into the deep sea.

Ria's gaze gradually became cloudy, but she was still smiling.

"It's hard not to be hooked by this long-lost feeling, but using such methods is just too despicable."

What's on the seabed?
As far as Ria knows, there is nothing at all.

Then, the seal was broken, and the remnants of the past and the underwater city were revived.

Then, the slumbering deity and the Yellow-Robed Lord resided together at the bottom of the sea.

And then……

Ria saw a face she should never have seen.

A child with black hair and black eyes, wearing a black and white school uniform and glasses, stood smiling before the ruins of an underwater city and said to Ria—

"Welcome home."

"who are you?"

Ria raised the scythe at the child, who laughed heartily: "You should know, you can tell just by looking at my face."

"I am the master of this deep-sea utopia, bestowing upon everyone the purest fantasy, presenting the most beautiful memories deep within your mind. Isn't that enough to make you feel a sense of belonging here?"

"The Master is so kind; He wants everyone to return to the sea, to their most primordial home. I hope you will not disappoint such good intentions."

“Lia Kercha… no, Lia, I am yourself, it is yourself calling you. Stop worrying about those things that are troubling you. You are a normal person! You don’t need to be manipulated by others, you don’t need to put yourself in any danger.”

His voice seemed to be trembling with tears: "If even you don't acknowledge your true self, then what will you become? You are not anyone's continuation, not anyone's puppet. It's all a conspiracy, a nightmare! Wake up!!!"

"We're already exhausted, why should we bother with so much nonsense? Yes, nobody has that right."

"I'm so tired. I don't want to do anything anymore, and I don't want to think about anything... I hate them. I want to go home."

After saying that, the boy immediately ran towards Ria and hugged him tightly.

Ria's hands trembled slightly. When he woke up again, he found that his field of vision had become very low and that he was wearing a black and white school uniform.

The underwater ruins before him had transformed into a bustling city, cars passing him by one after another. Ria couldn't help but cover his head; he knew something was wrong, that it was all an old trick, but he didn't want to break free, nor did he have any reason to.

After all, in the previous dreams, I always saw the same city that I couldn't leave, but now everything in front of me is different.

What does this mean?
"This is also an illusion, but it is different from a dream."

“Most importantly, this is a memory from my primary school days, and I have returned to that time... I remember that during this period, I received a grant that prevented me from having to drop out of school due to insufficient family financial resources. The grant was so large that it even allowed my parents to have a place to live in the city.”

"But the sponsor had one condition: my grades had to be better than everyone else's. I did that, and everyone was happy for me."

Thinking of this, Ria couldn't help but smile. Perhaps she was indeed living a very good life at this time, but the illusion overlooked one thing.

Every act of giving comes at a price.

The sponsor did this for his own son, to cure his son who was born with a mental disability. He heard about some folk remedy from somewhere, tricked the smart children into believing it, and then used it to get organ transplants for his son.

As for what constitutes intelligence, it's hard to define. In any case, this person believes that intelligence is about getting the least likely person to do the least likely thing.

Seeing a child filled with joy yet filled with fear is probably a sinful predilection of the wealthy.

At that time, the man took Ria to his home and let Ria see his mentally challenged son.

Lia couldn't quite remember what the child looked like, but the only thing she was sure of was that he must have been extremely ugly.

The child giggled and pointed at Ria's head, and then his father said he would replace his son's brain with Ria's.

"And then what happened... Damn, I can't remember."

Ria felt a headache coming on. Even though the Yellow King had arrived at the bottom of the sea, the illusion still appeared.

Was Hastur also forced into hallucinations?

It was hard for Ria to imagine that He could fall into a hallucination, and it was also hard to imagine what kind of hallucination could trap Him.

The more powerful a being is, the more severe the supernatural corruption it encounters. Perhaps that being also has something in its heart that could be exploited.

Lia shook his head and continued walking forward. Relying on his memory, he made his way to the school, found his class, and his seat.

Today is the parents' meeting. When Ria turned around, her parents were not there, but the hypocritical sponsor was standing there, looking at Ria with great satisfaction.

"How come I never noticed before? The way he looks at me is like he's appraising a piece of merchandise he likes."

"You're Li Ya's parent, right? Li Ya has always been an outstanding student at school, and we're all very proud of him. If he continues on this path, getting into a prestigious university in the future is definitely not a dream."

"Thank you, teacher. It's all thanks to your excellent teaching."

The man proudly scanned the people around him before walking over to Ria and patting his head: "Smart kids are always likable."

"But aren't you being a little too quiet? Sometimes, it's the crying child who gets the treat."

After the parent-teacher meeting ended, the man left with Ria, who had a stack of certificates of merit in her hand.

The man simply took the certificate and used the pen in his pocket to change the name on it to another one.

(End of this chapter)