Chapter 163: The Heretic’s Gambit The camp was quiet when they crested the dune. Thalia, Himothy, Yara and Ailin sat around a small, carefully shielded fire that provided just enough heat for warmth, but not enough light to be seen from the settlement. Tavian had clearly already delivered his brief report from before. The team’s alert posture was telling. "What’s the latest," Thalia said immediately as the five scouts materialized from the darkness. Deacon took the lead, explaining everything succinctly: the shattered statue, the religious fracturing, the secret Radiant One believers organizing, the priests’ internal collapse, the timeline accelerating toward crisis... "Within twenty-four hours," Deacon concluded, "this settlement will either convert to The Radiant One or descend into religious civil war. Possibly both." "What’s the total population?" Thalia asked. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂 "Two hundred forty-seven confirmed," Osric replied. "No magic users. No Transcendent-level threats. The town only has mundane humans dependent on divine intervention." "Which means when actual Gods show up — this Radiant One they keep mentioning — these people have zero defense," Yara said grimly. "The worm we killed was their only protection," Keeva added. "Now they’re vulnerable." "So this could have been a chance for us to see two Gods clash in action, but we went and killed the opponent..." Thalia hissed in slight frustration, thinking from a different angle. "Himothy killed the opponent," Deacon corrected. "But yes. Killing the Guardian destabilized the entire settlement’s power structure and ruined our chance to observe Gods in action more closely." Himothy shrugged unapologetically. "How was I supposed to know it was their God? It attacked first." "You sure it attacked first?" Someone muttered in sarcasm. But Himothy continued unabated: "It’s already dead anyway," he waved a hand dismissively. "So what’s next? We observe the town convert to this Radiant One and call it a day?" "That’s exactly what we’ll do," Thalia confirmed. "We’ll observe and document everything we can about this God and what he is capable of. It would help us understand how to proceed." "Feels like we should do more," Yara muttered. "We’re not here to engage or expand," Thalia said firmly. "We’re here to understand divine mechanics so we can protect our own world." It was pragmatic. Logical. Exactly what Finn would normally advocate. But this time, he found himself calculating differently. "What if we could learn more by engaging?" Finn asked carefully. Everyone looked at him. Thalia’s expression was skeptical. "Define ’engaging.’" "The settlement is in chaos," Finn said. "Believers are desperate, emotional, willing to talk about things they’d normally keep secret. If we entered as travelers, as neutral parties, we could gather information about divine power that distant observation won’t reveal." "Such as?" Thalia pressed. "How faith actually transfers between Gods," Finn said, thinking fast. "Whether believers can resist divine influence. What happens to a God’s power when it dies? Does it dissipate, or can it be... claimed somehow?" That last part was the real question Finn needed answered, but he phrased it as general curiosity. "It’s riskier than pure observation," Ailin noted. "But more efficient," Deacon added, surprising Finn. "Close observation could compress months of intelligence gathering into days. The chaos provides perfect cover. Everyone’s too distracted to scrutinize strangers." Thalia considered this. "We’d need solid cover stories. And we maintain strict non-intervention protocols. No taking sides or influencing outcomes." "We can pose as desert travelers separated in a sandstorm," Deacon supplied. "Keeva, can you adjust our appearances to match the locals?" Thalia asked. "Easily," Keeva confirmed. Thalia nodded slowly. "We move at dawn. Low profile only. Observe and document. No heroics." She looked directly at Himothy when she said that last part. He grinned. "When have I ever been heroic?" "You literally challenged a giant worm hours ago," Yara pointed out. "That was glorious, not heroic. Totally different." Despite the tension, a few people smiled. "Get some rest," Thalia ordered. "Dawn comes early. Finn, Deacon, you’re on third watch together." Finn’s pulse quickened slightly, but he kept his expression neutral. Third watch. With Deacon. The Truth bearer who was already suspicious. This was intentional. Thalia was giving Deacon time to observe him and probe deeper into whatever he was sensing. "Understood," Finn said. The team settled in for sleep and rotated positions to watch just in case of a new development. Finn lay still with his eyes closed, but his mind raced. He had gotten approval to enter the settlement openly. That was good. But being paired with Deacon for watch meant confrontation was inevitable. The Truth bearer would press and sense hidden intentions. Finn would need to be very careful. Or very honest. . . Soon, it was time for the third watch. Finn and Deacon took positions on opposite sides of the camp and maintained sight lines in all directions. The stars overhead were brilliant. Unfamiliar constellations that emphasized just how alien this world truly was. For the first twenty minutes, neither of them spoke. Until finally... the Truth bearer spoke. "You’re planning something beyond observation." Finn didn’t bother denying it. "I’m always planning. That’s what I do." "No. This is different. This is something daring," Deacon said with certainty, staring Finn dead in the eye. Finn hesitated for a second, thinking of how to proceed. But then he decided on a partial truth. "You can see the mana seeping into this world from ours constantly, right?" Finn started. Deacon frowned slightly, but nodded. Finn continued, "I don’t know how these Gods work. But I know it has something to do with faith," he said. "What if the same way they are stealing mana from our world, we can also steal faith from theirs?" Finn was winging it on the go. He knew he needed to persuade at least one person from the group. Someone who would agree to some extent with his daring idea. And if this person could be Deacon... "The Guardian’s death created a power vacuum," Finn continued. "The Radiant One is moving to fill it. But the believers are desperate. They want their God back, not a foreign deity forced on them." "So?" Deacon prompted. "So what if their God could return?" Finn said. "Changed. Transformed. Evolved into something stronger." Deacon’s eyes widened slightly. "You want to impersonate their dead God." "No. I want to test out my theory and find out for myself how divine power works," Finn whispered fervently. As the words flowed out, it seemed to make more and more sense to him. "I control the concept of Error. You control the concept of Truth. We could subvert the identity of the dead God in the minds of these believers and insert ourselves." "Our-selves?" Deacon raised a brow. "Are you alright, Finn. This isn’t like you." That statement seemed to make Finn pause for a second as he realized what he had just said. A slight frown flickered on his face before he schooled it and leaned back where he sat, thinking. Was he actually okay? This urge to make use of this opportunity. Was it solely from him? Or was he being driven by something else too? He fell into deep thought analyzing internally for anything he might have missed. But Deacon’s next words brought him out of his reverie. "Alright... What do you need from me?" Finn looked up in surprise, then nodded after a short beat, pushing his analyzing thoughts to the back of his mind. "Translation," Finn said. "Their language is completely foreign. I can use Error to create effects and impressions, but I need you to convey meaning. Intent. Make sure what I’m showing them is understood the way it needs to be." "I can do that," Deacon said. "Truth transcends language. I can read intent and convey meaning directly to their minds." "Then tomorrow," Finn said, "we find the most devout believer we can. Someone desperate enough to accept a miracle. And we give them one." "A fake miracle," Deacon clarified. "A real miracle that happens to serve our purposes," Finn corrected with a smile. Deacon shook his head, but he was still smiling slightly. "Thalia isn’t going to like it." "Yes," Finn agreed. "But we have to do it regardless... We’ll learn so much in the process." They fell silent after that. Each lost in their own thoughts. Besides his earlier thoughts from before, Finn also found himself reassessing Deacon entirely. For his initial dissent, the Truth Bearer had given in to his idea fairly easily. There were two possibilities that came to mind. One was that Deacon had been waiting for someone to propose something this audacious. Like he had seen something with those eyes of his and was waiting for someone to act before he would then aid. Perhaps it was a boon of his concept. Seeing things but not being able to act himself. Waiting for an initiator to begin the action before he could do anything. That, or the Truth bearer was weaving a grand scheme. A truth manipulation on a scale that affected Finn and every other Transcendent to the point where they couldn’t sense anything. That would align with Finn’s earlier analysis of whether he was being spurred by something other than just his desire to make use of this opportunity. ...But Finn doubted this possibility was likely. While he was wary of the Truth Bearer’s magic, he doubted Deacon was powerful enough to influence his truth without him or any other Transcendent knowing. Finn was much more powerful as a Transcendent than when Deacon had shown him the first use of a Paradigm State... And since then, Finn had also developed some counter measures that would trigger a dissonance if a truth were to be enforced on him. What those measures were, remained a secret for now, though... . . . Eventually, Finn and Deacon’s watch ended. Thalia, Himothy, and Ailin took over, and Finn was finally able to lay down. But sleep was impossible. Tomorrow, he would make his move. With Deacon’s help, he would attempt something unprecedented. Claiming a dead God’s identity through manufactured miracle and stolen faith.