NOVEL WEB Chapter 30: Chapter 26: The Name That Wasn’t
Chapter 26: The Name That Wasn't
Perspective: Velkaris
I stared into the Echo-Mirror of the Fated Fool, watching the gray fog swirl like the breath of a sleeping god.
He wasn't here yet.
But his name... would arrive long before he did.
And that name would carry weight. Mystery. Worship. Power.
Which meant if I corrupted it now — even slightly — his entire foundation would be tainted.
But there was a problem.
If I simply declared "The Fool is evil!", I'd set off a thousand silent alarms.
The True Creator might notice.
The great Sephirotic Wills might stir.
Even Adam, wherever he hides, might laugh and intervene.
"No... I can't lie too loudly," I murmured.
A lie that screams becomes a target.
But a lie that whispers… becomes a belief.
So I needed something subtle.
Plausible.
Familiar.
That's when I remembered the name buried beneath dusty texts and suppressed doctrines.
Antigonus.
A being once feared. Once worshipped.
A Sequence 1 from the Fool pathway… maybe more.
And more importantly?
The world already feared him.
They called him a demonic wolf.
A madman. A devourer of men.
Sealed, not slain, by Evernight herself.
"Perfect," I whispered.
What if…
The whispers said:
"Antigonus never died."
"He sleeps beneath the ruins."
"He is returning… under a new name."
"He calls himself… the Fool."
What if I didn't touch the Fool's name directly?
What if I let Antigonus wear it first?
That way, when Zhou Mingrui finally becomes the Fool, the world will already recoil.
The divinities won't react.
They'll assume it's just old fear resurfacing.
The Church of Evernight will believe Antigonus has returned.
But it won't be the demonic wolf.
It will be him.
The real Fool. The boy who hasn't died yet.
"A lie that wears a truth," I grinned.
"A mask built from history's scraps."
I reached into the Mirror Shrine and conjured a sealed scroll — my first divine rumor.
On its parchment, written in ash-ink:
"The Wolf of the Depths walks again.
He wears a jester's name.
He eats truth beneath the moonlight.
He is the Fool reborn."
I released the scroll into the whisper-channels.
Sent it spiraling into forgotten books, drunken ramblings, cultist dreams, and old priest suspicions.
[DING: QUEST PROGRESS — 34% COMPLETE]
World Response: Dormant.
Subconscious Reactions: Increasing.
Narrative Instability: Stable.
Status: Lie accepted as possible truth.
"One lie placed," I said softly.
"And now… let's wait for the world to breathe it in."
End of Chapter 26: The Name That Wasn't