Another streak of thunder split the heavens, its glare momentarily lighting the Eternal Garden as Kaelith and Mauriss stood locked in their standoff, neither willing to yield so much as an inch.
Raymond swallowed hard, his throat dry as he stood beside his father, mortified at what might unfold next.
'I was going to disappear to some obscure planet and lie low for a few years until Mauriss's temper cooled... but no. The lunatic just had to come barging in here today before I even had the chance to run....'
He cursed bitterly, unable to believe that his luck could be so cursed.
Had Mauriss arrived even a few hours later, he would already have been gone from the Eternal Garden, far from this suffocating confrontation.
But now, escape seemed impossible.
Yet even as he blamed fate for trapping him here, a sharper unease gnawed at him, an unease that made him wonder as to why Mauriss suspected him at all?
He could have sworn no one in the universe knew his secret.
He had never once boasted about being a Demi-God, never even whispered about it to his wife.
His aura concealment was flawless, impenetrable, refined to the point even Kaelith could not sense his true tier.
And he had been careful, painstakingly careful to never cross blades with another Demi-God, so that he never drew attention to the power he concealed.
So how?
How in all the stars had Mauriss sniffed out the truth?
'What do I do now? Do I make a run for it? Do I stand? Will father take my side? Or will he strike me down himself?' Raymond wondered, as suddenly he saw a thousand golden threads of fate untangling right before him.
The threads of fate that started from him, connected Mauriss and Kaelith too, all in one big chapter of destiny, as what they chose to do from here, could literally shape the future of the universe.
'If I run, I'll look guilty. If I don't run, I might get killed.....
What do I even do here?"
Raymond wondered helplessly, as he realized that despite being a Demi-God, he was powerless in the presence of ancient powerhouses like his father and Mauriss.
"Is it true? Boy? Are you a Demi-God?"
Kaelith asked at last, as another streak of lightning illuminated the sky, briefly casting purple light across their faces.
Raymond gulped hard again, his face extremely nervous, while Mauriss shifted his gaze from Kaelith to Raymond, his pointed teeth bare like that of a primal predator.
"Don't you dare lie boy, I will consider sparing your life if you tell the truth, but if you lie, I swear I'll kill you right here and now—" Mauriss pressured, as Raymond began to feel his heart pounding out of his chest.
Sweat began to roll down his forehead, as he realized that this was easily the most tense situation he had been in his entire life.
'What do I do here? Do I believe in my father's love for me and trust him to protect me even if I lie?
Or do I believe in the Deceiver's promise and tell the truth? Hoping that he will spare me if I do?' Raymond wondered, as the seconds continued to tick by without any of them moving a muscle.
In Raymond's head, he was busy weighing the pros and cons of both situations, however, in Mauriss's head, this was the final proof he needed to make sure that Raymond was indeed a Demi-God, for if he were not, he would not have hesitated this long to answer.
Coming here, he still had a margin for error in his speculation, as he had no proof of Raymond being a Demi-God except his speculation, however, the longer Raymond took to answer, the more confident he got of his hypothesis.
"Give it up boy, spill the truth, the fact that it took you this long to answer already tells me you're guilty.
So just come clean, and I swear with Kaelith before me as my witness, that I won't kill you and won't report this matter to Helmuth." Mauriss said, as once again he pressured Raymond to admit the truth.
'What do I do here father, please, just please give me a hint....'
Raymond pleaded, his eyes flicking desperately toward his father's face, as he hoped against all odds for even the faintest hint, the smallest sign of which path to take—
Yet, much to his dismay Kaelith's expression remained stone cold as though carved from marble that neither storm nor plea could ever move.
Despite being his father by blood, Kaelith had always made it clear that if the day ever came when Raymond's identity as a Demi-God was exposed... That he would not intervene, for the pact with Helmuth and Mauriss bound him tighter than any filial tie ever could.
And today, it was precisely because of such past statements made by Kaelith, that Raymond had no faith in his father to take his side should things really go wrong.
Hence, even though every nerve in his body screamed against it, even though his pride howled that yielding meant shackling himself to Mauriss forever, he decided, however reluctantly, that it was safer to trust the Deceiver's offer of mercy than pray for his father's protection.
His heart pounded so violently it drowned out the thunder overhead, sweat dripping down his temple as his lips parted but no sound escaped.
'Is this truly the end of my life as a free man? Will Mauriss lie and expose me to Helmuth anyways? Will they leverage me as a pawn and blackmail my father? No... no, I cannot think of that now... I must survive this moment first, and pray that the rest can be solved with time.'
He swallowed hard, his voice catching in his throat before finally forcing itself out, rugged and unsteady.
"Yes... it is true. I am a Demi-God."
He admitted, as immediately, the temperature inside the Eternal Garden dropped below the freezing point.
(More chapters in Buyers club for TMT)