My Talent's Name Is Generator Chapter 1179: Aftermath 2

Macaco allowed the silence to linger for a few moments before clapping his hands together once, as though the matter had been settled.

"Well then, I suppose that brings us to the unpleasant part."

His cheerful tone immediately drew everyone’s attention. He adjusted his spectacles and glanced around the devastated battlefield before continuing.

"You have completed the Trial of the Twelfth, which means there is nothing more for any of you here. The trial has acknowledged your success, the Twelfth is no longer imprisoned, and I have fulfilled the purpose for which I was left behind." He smiled pleasantly.

"Under ordinary circumstances, this would be the point where I congratulate you, open the way home, and wish you a long and prosperous existence."

The way he emphasized made me narrow my eyes.

Macaco noticed and pointed at me with an approving smile. "Exactly. Lord Billion understands that our circumstances are unfortunately anything but ordinary."

The lightness in the atmosphere disappeared almost immediately.

Macaco clasped his hands behind his back and began walking leisurely through the air, his polished shoes somehow finding invisible footing with every step. "You see, freeing the Twelfth Soul Current is not a quiet event. It may appear quiet from where we are standing, especially after all that dreadful screaming, but the Null Realm itself will eventually recognize that one of its most important prisoners is no longer where she is supposed to be."

Gerald’s expression changed slightly. "The realm can detect that?"

"Oh, certainly." Macaco nodded. "Perhaps not immediately, and certainly not in the same manner that you or I perceive things, but the prison is part of the Null Realm. The moment the mechanisms maintaining the Twelfth’s confinement realize that their prisoner is gone, the realm will respond according to the laws governing it."

His smile remained unchanged, but his next words wiped away whatever relief had begun forming among the survivors.

"It will inform the Wardens."

I had heard the title before, but the reaction of the others told me far more than the name itself. Kaelra’s expression hardened instantly, while Gerald slowly straightened despite his injuries. Even Sue lifted her head from the ground.

Macaco glanced around at their faces and nodded sympathetically. "Yes, those Wardens."

Kaelra frowned. "How many?"

Macaco raised a finger and waved it gently. "That is entirely the wrong question."

Kaelra’s eyes narrowed.

"The correct question is whether you can survive even one."

His gaze eventually settled upon me.

"You cannot."

The answer came without hesitation.

I raised an eyebrow, but Macaco continued before I could respond.

"Please don’t misunderstand me. I have just watched you perform some thoroughly unreasonable things for a Saint. You fought the Twelfth, survived an artifact forged with authority far beyond your Realm, subdued her soul and then somehow stuffed the Soul Current into your inner world." He adjusted his glasses. "Frankly, your continued existence has become increasingly offensive to common sense."

"However, unreasonable strength is still strength within a boundary. Every Warden operating within the Null Realm possesses power at the Demigod Realm. The difference between a Saint and a Demigod is not something that can simply be compensated for by being exceptionally talented."

My expression became serious.

Macaco had watched the entire battle against Viserys. If someone with his knowledge was telling me that I couldn’t defeat a Warden, dismissing the warning would be foolish.

"And they’ll come specifically for me?" I asked.

"They will."

Macaco’s answer was immediate.

"You are the one who subdued the Twelfth. More importantly, you are a living being existing inside a realm whose inhabitants are supposed to be dead." For once, some of the humor disappeared from his expression. "That second matter may interest them almost as much as the first."

He stopped walking.

"The Wardens exist to maintain the order of this realm. Once they discover what you have done, they will hunt you. If they capture you, imprisonment is certainly possible. Killing you is equally possible, and from their perspective perhaps even preferable."

His amber eyes met mine.

"Because once you die here, Lord Billion, you cease being the troublesome living anomaly currently standing before me. You become a denizen of the Null Realm."

I understood immediately.

"And then the rules of this realm apply to me."

Macaco’s smile returned.

"Precisely."

The thought wasn’t particularly appealing.

"So," he continued, clapping his hands together again, "this leaves us with two choices."

Everyone became silent.

"The first is wonderfully straightforward. I open the exit, you leave this prison, and everyone goes on their merry way. Eventually the Null Realm discovers what happened, informs the Wardens, and several extremely powerful beings begin hunting you."

He paused before smiling brightly.

"I personally do not recommend this option."

Kaelra stared at him. "Then why offer it?"

"Because choice is important. The other option requires me to make certain... adjustments."

Something about the satisfaction in his expression made me suspicious.

"What kind of adjustments?"

Macaco looked around before leaning slightly closer, as though the Null Realm itself might be listening.

"I have connections."

There was a brief silence.

I stared at him.

"Come now, Lord Billion. Surely you didn’t believe I spent all these years sitting inside a library doing absolutely nothing."

"What can you do?"

"I can convince the trial that you failed."

Several expressions changed immediately.

"The Trial of the Twelfth is an ancient mechanism, and I happen to possess a considerable degree of administrative authority over it. I can temporarily falsify its conclusion. According to the prison, the challengers entered, attempted the trial and failed. The Twelfth remains confined, nothing unusual has occurred, and there is therefore no reason to alert the Wardens."

Gerald immediately caught the important word.

"Temporarily."

Macaco pointed at him approvingly. "Excellent hearing."

"How temporarily?"

"Twelve hours."

Nobody spoke.

Macaco’s smile faded slightly as he looked toward me.

"That is the longest I can conceal what happened without the Null Realm discovering the discrepancy on its own. After twelve hours, the prison will recognize that the Twelfth is gone regardless of what records I manipulate. The information will propagate through the realm, and the Wardens will know."

I glanced toward the others.

"So I have twelve hours."

Macaco shook his head.

"Not quite."

He stepped closer.

"You have twelve hours to leave the Null Realm."

His words immediately changed the weight of the situation.

"Do not misunderstand what I’m offering you. I am not giving you twelve hours to hide, nor twelve hours to find another settlement. There is nowhere inside this realm where a Warden cannot eventually reach you. Once the deception collapses, remaining anywhere within the Null Realm becomes extraordinarily dangerous."