Nightmare Mythos

Chapter 116: Final Showdown (10)

"A deal… again?" Deceit seemed to chuckle as he added, "What could u possibly give me now? I've seen anything you have from your pockets. Artifact? Information? Yourself? Come on, entertain me again, Cesar. Just so you know, The Void is right behind our tails. The more you waited, the nearer our common enemy to us is,"

"…"

Cesar had this one solid plan inside his head. This plan, something he had been thinking right at the start the moment he heard this voice, continued to develop as he continuously scratched any idea he came up with if it wasn't probable right at the end of his journey, here in this particular room.

All things come into play such as questions 'what is Cedeit', 'where is Cedeit', 'how is Cedeit', and 'Who is Cedeit'?

What is Cedeit?

He's the voice that met up when he was going through the hallway. At first, he thought he was a literal figure that appears to be a human but he's just a Nightmare that became the Eyes of Deceit, a literal eyeball.

Where is Cedeit?

He's the same eyeball that was trapped in the heart of the library, the place where every hallway ends up if they continuously and persistently made their way out of the hallways. Because of The Void that held the Mansion hostage, he was finding someone to use at his bidding which made Cesar perfect candidate.

How is Cedeit?

Cedeit, who turns out to be, Deceit himself seems to be very unstable. More like he was desperate to find a host since he was an eye himself. He found him almost dying after all.

Cesar, who appears at the right time and in the right place, who somehow got a connection with Deceit, was the perfect guy to possess.

In fact, that was the weirdest thing of all. Without the connection that brought these two together, Deceit and Cesar wouldn't have met each other.

That's why Cesar rewinds back his thinking, prior to even entering the City of Wheels itself, even way before he entered Harden City.

He came back from the start where he received memories from his Facet after drinking his Nightmare Potion.

If he was searching for something that connected him to Deceit, this was the only link he had, even though there was no any type of mention of the Nightmare there.

That's when he realized he was referring to that moment, the memory where he was talking about an unrecorded name Apathy.

That was the connection and 'how' Cesar and Cedeit were able to communicate with each other since he literally heard him speak from that time.

Finally, who is Cedeit?

He's a Nightmare.

An Origin Entity, a different class from the normal species such as Lesser, Intermediate, and Higher Nightmare Creatures. A creature that can trick and deceive, just as his name suggests.

Cedeit is also the Architect of the Mansion, the one who designed the hallways and the library itself.

For what?

The only thing Cesar could think of was for his protection.

Cesar knew he and Cedeit thought alike. He's the type of person who would carefully think up a plan if there's any chance to. That's what Cesar would do if he was in his position.

The library is probably designed if everything goes haywire, it will be a last resort solution to come hide and recuperate his strength which didn't go as planned and made him become a dying eyeball.

All this realization knew he was being deceived right from the very start… and he just concluded this at this instant right now.

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Cedeit deliberately saved, taught, and controlled Cesar to make him come to the Elusive Door. The Nightmare used emotions and chances to get what he wanted and now he was on the verge of doing it.

All this thinking happened in just a couple of seconds inside Cesar's mind. Not really half a minute passed in the current time in the Library and he was just connecting the dots up to this point.

"Deceit, I know that if you can, you would've already done something to take over me. I'm certain it is related to completely controlling my whole being… and the eyeball seems to be the last key to do it but didn't work. All of this happened because of that 'connection'"

"…"

"Remember when you said you are resting because the 'connection' you had with me is minimal? I think that's almost the exact wording or not…? Oh god, the pain I'm enduring is probably not making my thinking straight but… I think is similar in a kind of way and are just telling the truth there,"

Cesar paused, "Why do that? Because you are waiting for the right time to do it. The right time where you could slowly make your way towards me and that was the time when I had no option but to rely on you to defeat Nicotara."

Cesar struggled to let out the words before successfully doing so, "Do you remember what happened next there? Your minute reply interval became fast that you can almost reply any time after. Me giving away my Subconsciousness to you probably strengthened the 'connection' you had with me,"

Cesar chuckled, "But that still didn't work. And, probably the single thing, I can come up with is because… I'm a damn persistent brat. The pain I'm feeling is probably you forcing yourself in towards me and gaining some control but not the entirety of it. Let's say, in a ratio, I still hold the 6 over your 4 control over this body."

Cesar stood proudly at his position before laughing loudly as if it was the funniest conclusion he could come up with in this godforsaken scenario.

"Which is why I think your threats earlier are nothing but mere words to scare off a kid who didn't know anything. Sadly, I'm not one of those kids."

Deceit seemed to be stricken in surprise as he was speechless and didn't comment for nearly a whole minute before he brought back his composure.

"I wasn't wrong when I said The Void will kill everyone and no one getting out of here,"

Cesar heard it once and nodded, "At least I'm correct at everything else… which is why I'm proposing yet another deal. I've just given you my conclusion at everything I've gathered myself so that you wouldn't call it a bluff,"

Deceit, who seemed to have been seen through, chuckled and seemed to give up convincing Cesar who was dead set on performing a deal.

"Look, I'll give you half of control with my body as an advance payment. I'll give you whole control… when you get everyone here alive," Cesar paused, "When I make sure that you hold your part of the deal, you can do whatever you want,"

Deceit contemplated for a brief moment before retorting, "I never thought of you as a sacrificial figure but your choices are yours. I'm just here to benefit from what you offer to me and by the looks of it, you are very persistent about this deal,"

Deceit then added, "But I want a 6:4 ratio instead of 5:5. You do this, you have a deal,"

Cesar clicked his tongue at the counteroffer, though it wasn't part of his plan. In the end, however, he had no choice but to agree. Realizing he had no other leeway, he gave in and muttered.

"You have a deal,"

Cesar who was resisting anything he could to avoid Deceit taking control of the entirety of his being seemed to slightly stop defending and gave off a percentage of his control of his body.

"Ahhh…! Fuck!"

But it comes with the price of a really painful sensation.