--
"I see. That's very clever of you." Cedric replied after hearing the method Deliora used to infiltrate Azure Terra.
"Thanks, I try," Deliora replied, seemingly proud of himself.
"And why build a cult of all things? If you ask me, you could used a different approach if you wanted to destroy us from within."
Deliora's face turned weird upon hearing this question.
"The establishment of the cult wasn't my idea. It's the idiot you just killed who did it." He shook his head in helplessness. "I simply wanted to poison your waters to make it easier for us to finally conquer your race and claim this world. I didn't want him worshipping me and I certainly didn't promise him or them, anything.
They were the ones who gave up themselves in exchange for my favors, who am I to say no to that?"
"Understandable," Cedric replied with a bland expression. "There are a lot of us who have been driven to a corner, one promise of salvation - even though false, is enough to start an upheaval. I'm not surprised at all."
"Though, I am curious about something you just said..."
"What is it?" Deliora's ghost sat down and asked him curiously.
"You said 'finally conquering your race and claiming this world'. Why is your race so fixated on this tiny planet? As far as I know, we don't have anything of value to you. Your race is way too advanced. We're primitives compared to you. I'm sure you've encountered other worlds, realms, or dimensions, that are far more developed and have richer resources than ours, so why come here?
Why us? Why this world?"
"Ah, that..." Deliora trailed off. He wore a smile on his face and said: "It's because your world has an Innate Spirituality."
Cedric's eyes flashed with understanding.
"Acala...you want her."
"Yep! Gosh, I like you more than my previous host. That one's an idiot, you aren't." Deliora giggled, "But yeah, we're after her."
"See, worlds that have an inherent spirituality are extremely rare." He started, "Like one in a billion rare. You're correct, we've been through numerous worlds, realms, dimensions...even straight-up galaxies. But this is the first time in a very long while that we've sensed a world that has Innate Spirituality."
"Wonderful! Ahahaha! How very wonderful! You've certainly made the right choice, Young Man!" He cackled madly, "Now, allow me to—...AAARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!"
He couldn't even finish whatever he wanted to say before flames ignited from Cedric's hand and immediately swallowed him whole. Deliora thrashed in pain and tried to pry his hand away from Cedric's grasp, but the disguised young man held him tightly.
"W-what...is the meaning...of this!! Aarrggghhh!!!" Deliora snarled in between due to the scalding heat scorching him.
"I hope it's not too late for me to tell you that lying doesn't work on me." Cedric calmly said while maintaining a tight grip on Deliora's hand. "It never works and will never work, period."
"Your statement about how you infiltrated this continent, your reason for doing so, the establishment of your cult, Acala and her value, including how huge the universe truly was...those are true." Cedric continued, "As for how advanced your race's civilization was, the riches, glory, rebirth, treasures...even your promise that I won't regret it if I extended my hand to you...all of those are lies."
"Lies that you spouted to tempt me into joining you and making me your next chess piece. You are wary of me, the Sun Sage. You want to nip me in the bud before I turn into your race's mortal enemy. That is a very smart plan...a valid one at that. Sadly, you've severely underestimated me."
"Y-you...? Become a mortal enemy of our...race? H-ha! Don't make me...laugh! Y-you're un...qualified!" Deliora snarled despite the pain.
"Am I?" Cedric smiled in disdain, "When you came to this world and forced your Demon King to swallow our sun, it's because the sun's harmful to you. Back then that was an 'ordinary sun', Superhumans didn't exist back then, yet even that ordinary sun was already enough to threaten your kind."
"I am this generation's Sage. More importantly, the Sun Sage. If I were to...say, create a new Sun for this world, one that contains all my understanding about it. Do you honestly think that your Demon King could swallow it once more?"
"Grrr...kghhh!!" Deliora couldn't retort.
Cedric got him on this part. Actually, Cedric had him right from the very beginning. Deliora never stood a chance.
"D-don't be so...confident, Sun Sage!" Delioran growled angrily at him despite his pain, "D-Do you honestly think that we can't kill you? Don't make me...laugh! Y-you're a hundred years...too early to be...our match."
"Is that so?" Cedric asked in an amused tone. "Well, isn't it just nice that I could live longer than that? By then, I should be old enough to face you right? Alas, you wouldn't be there to see it, how lamentable."
"H-ha! Y-you think...this paltry flames would kill me...? N-naive! This is just a piece of my soul—...!"
"Right, you are," Cedric replied with a wide smile on his face. "This is indeed just a piece of your soul. But you can't deny that it's a part of you, no? Also, how sure are you that the thing you're calling 'paltry flames' is just that?"
"...!" Deliora looked downright horrified at the implications.
"Oops, I might've said too much. That's no good. Anyway, Acala would for sure enjoy eating you so...goodbye. It's been nice knowing you."