Chapter 265: The Fragment's Blind Spot

If what had entered his soul was merely a fragment of a greater consciousness, then the power he was confronting was not the full might of the Golden Scriptures. It was only the portion that had managed to reach him through his reading of the inscriptions.

‘Which means getting rid of him might be possible without having to confront the source he belongs to.’

That was hardly a guarantee of survival, but it made his objective more specific… and easier.

He had been struggling against an invading consciousness whose origins and limitations remained largely unknown, and the intruder’s constant boasts had done little to clarify its true capabilities. Now, however, he had at least learned that the entity occupying his soul was not identical to the greater existence it claimed to represent.

Whether that distinction would be enough to help him eliminate it was another question.

For the moment, he had no intention of revealing that the information had given him a new perspective on their situation.

At the same time, the intruder’s explanation raised another question.

“If your knowledge is so extensive, what’s the problem with my book?”

A long silence followed.

Then the intruder answered.

“It doesn’t belong to any path I know.”

Ravian raised an eyebrow.

“Perhaps because it’s new.”

“I already told you that new paths don’t appear out of nowhere! Even if someone establishes rules that have never been used before, there must be origins that can be traced, Laws they drew upon, or modifications that can be identified.”

The enormous eye moved closer to the barrier surrounding the center of his soul.

“But this book contains nothing I can connect to anything I know. I cannot determine where its path begins, where it ends, or even the nature of the authority that allows it to exist in this form.”

Throughout the conversation, Sovereign Pride’s appearance remained unchanged. It showed no sign of being affected by the consciousness that continued attempting to intrude upon it.

The book simply floated in the void with a terrifying stillness, while everything around it moved and circled, trying in vain to reach it.

No matter how the black threads approached, they were repelled before making contact. The book did not appear to acknowledge their attempts, much less respond to the questions its presence had raised.

Nevertheless, the pressure it exerted over the area surrounding the center of Ravian’s soul remained constant, preventing the black threads from approaching.

That was Sovereign Pride, in both form and meaning.

“Do you know what that means?” the intruder asked.

“That your knowledge isn’t as complete as you thought?” Ravian mocked.

The intruder did not laugh this time.

Instead, it spoke quietly.

“It means there is a path I know absolutely nothing about.”

It paused briefly, seemingly displeased by the admission itself, before continuing.

“I am part of a record that has preserved the spiritual path since its beginnings. Our collective memory has witnessed the modifications made by the Taboos and the traces left by entities older than them, or comparable to them in power. And yet, I cannot identify a single origin for this book.”

Ravian continued looking at the enormous eye.

The entity’s reaction was becoming more interesting than its explanations. It had spent days treating him as an insignificant human whose resistance could only delay the inevitable, but now it was admitting that something within his soul lay beyond its understanding.

That did not necessarily mean Sovereign Pride was superior to everything recorded in the Golden Scriptures, and Ravian had no evidence to support such a conclusion.

What interested him was the intruder’s inability to reconcile the book’s existence with the knowledge it claimed to possess.

An idea occurred to him, and he smiled.

“Maybe the Taboos did something again to free themselves from relying on you?”

The entity within his consciousness seemed to hit an invisible wall upon hearing those words.

“Are you trying to provoke me? Do you think I’m stupid enough to fall for such a childish trick?”

“I don’t. Why would I do such a thing? It doesn’t give me any advantage in this situation, does it?”

The entity fell silent for a moment, as though checking something.

“Why do I feel like your thoughts are becoming harder to access?” it asked.

‘Heh. Looks like Absolute Focus is still a good way to keep my thoughts hidden,’ Ravian thought.

He was glad to discover that the ability remained useful even under these circumstances. The intruder had already demonstrated that it could interfere with his consciousness and reach parts of his memories, so any method that made his thoughts more difficult to examine was worth maintaining.

It did not mean the foreign presence had lost its ability to intrude upon him, of course. But the less it understood about what he was thinking, the more difficult it would be for it to anticipate his decisions.

Ravian had no intention of explaining that to his unwanted guest.

“Well, it seems today just isn’t your lucky day.”

“Don’t mock me!”

“And why shouldn’t I? You’ve spent days telling me you know things humans can’t even imagine, and now you’ve discovered there’s a single book you can’t understand.”

The black inscriptions suddenly surged upward, sending several threads toward the boundaries of the gray territory.

But Ravian was prepared.

He used a limited trace of the Law of Void to erase the threads closest to him, then withdrew further into the area protected by his Soul Crown.

He was not attempting to engage in a full confrontation. He merely wanted to prevent his opponent from exploiting the situation to expand its control.

The difference in their current strength was still too great for Ravian to act recklessly, regardless of how frustrated the intruder had become. He could defend the territory remaining to him, but attempting to reclaim everything at once would leave him exposed to the same dangers he had been struggling against throughout his isolation.

Provoking the entity was one thing. Allowing it to use that provocation to overwhelm his defenses was quite another.

After a few moments, the threads stopped advancing.

“I will uncover its true nature.”

The intruder’s voice had grown calmer, but Ravian found nothing reassuring about it.

“I’ll tear your soul apart if I have to, searching through every last piece until I discover the origin of that book.”

Ravian looked across the black territory covering most of his consciousness.

Then he replied, “You’re welcome to try, but I’d advise you to learn something from your previous attempts. Every time you try to take something from me by force, you only give me more reasons to get rid of you.”

The intruder laughed again.

This time, however, its laughter did not last long.

It had sensed something strange at the edge of the territory under its control.

A small black inscription had disappeared some time ago, and it had been unable to spread another one into the same position.

The loss was not significant yet. Compared to the vast territory it had already occupied, the missing inscription was almost negligible, and the intruder still possessed enough control to continue its attempts to invade the remaining portion of Ravian’s soul.

Nevertheless, the result was different from what it had experienced during Ravian’s previous attempts.

Before, the areas affected by his Law had generally become accessible again after the black inscriptions spread into them from neighboring territory. This time, however, the intruder had been unable to restore the inscription in its original position.

And Ravian had noticed it as well.

He had spent his recent attempts studying the distinction between erasing a portion of the invading force and interfering with the connection through which it maintained its presence. Although he was still far from understanding the full mechanism, the observation suggested that he had begun to make progress in the direction he wanted.

It was not enough to prove that he could remove the intruder itself, and he had no intention of drawing that conclusion from a single result.

But it was worth investigating.

When he later opened Sovereign Pride’s interface, he discovered that his comprehension of the Law had increased slightly.

[Law of Void — Comprehension: 0.00201%]

Ravian examined the number without allowing his satisfaction to distract him from the situation.

He was still nowhere near capable of confronting the intruder directly, and the increase in his comprehension did not change the overwhelming difference between them.

However, he was beginning to recognize the distinction between erasing a portion of the invading force and removing the connection that allowed that portion to remain within his soul.

It was a subtle difference, but one with potentially important consequences. The black inscriptions could be replaced as long as the connections sustaining them remained intact, whereas removing the appropriate connection might prevent the intruder from restoring its control in the same way.

He did not yet know how to apply that understanding safely on a larger scale, particularly when some of those connections had become intertwined with his own spiritual structure.

That was precisely what he intended to study over the coming days.

For now, the progress he had made was small, but it had given him something far more useful than another exchange of threats with the intruder.

He finally had a direction worth pursuing.