I threw up a [Minor Ward (B-Rank)], reinforcing it with my mana, but Silas's [Abyssal] wave smashed into it like a physical hammer. I skidded backward, my heels carving grooves into the stone floor.
What is happening? I thought, my mind reeling.
It wasn't just the attack. It was the story.
Silas remembering a past that never happened? The Goddess fabricating a romantic backstory for a villain just to bind him to me?
She's not just directing the play anymore, I realized with dawning horror. She's rewriting the character sheets in real-time. She gave Silas a fake memory to counter my interference. If she can do that... what is real? Is my memory even real?
I looked around the chaotic chapel.
Duke Bastian was on the balcony, screaming orders to kill the traitors. Jean Alef and Lucien were back-to-back, fighting off a swarm of Royal Guards who were convinced they were assassins.
Amaryllis was shielding Rosalie and Thomas with a wall of ice.
