Chapter 168 New Assessment

Chapter 168 New Assessment

"Greetings, examiner."

A dark shadow materialized from the endless white void. From his appearance, he seemed like an ordinary human—his features even carried a touch of feminine delicacy.

Charles looked him up and down. The figure wore a loosely tailored three-piece white suit, a quintessentially Edwardian-era style.

From Charles's perspective, this style was a bit too vintage, but he couldn't ignore the exquisite quality and attention to detail such suits demanded.

Anyone who'd choose this type of suit was either a stuffy old scholar, a wolf in gentleman's clothing, or a playboy who thought himself devastatingly handsome.

After mentally grumbling, Charles sized up the man before him once more. He immediately ruled out the first and third options—neither descriptor fit this person in the slightest.

"Hello, I'm Nyarlathotep." The man introduced himself.

Hearing that name, Charles raised an eyebrow slightly. As expected—a beast in a gentleman's clothing.

Though it seemed rude to judge an Outer God he'd just met this harshly, Charles knew full well that others' descriptions of it wouldn't be wrong. After all, nearly everyone described it as cunning and capricious, arrogant and contemptuous, brimming with malice.

If everyone said so, then its temperament truly wasn't as pleasant as the other deities.

Charles didn't dwell on these thoughts—they'd only occupied a fraction of a second before Nyarlathotep's voice came again.

"Human, according to protocol, shouldn't you introduce yourself now?" Nyarlathotep spoke with a smile, eyes curving into crescents, lips curling upward excessively—the effect utterly unsettling.

As an Outer God, its voice held no inflection, only an unnaturally deep timbre with a hint of ethereal echo.

Yet somehow, Charles could swear he detected a note of teeth-grinding irritation in those words.

Charles quickly pushed aside his thoughts and inclined his head slightly. "Hello, I'm Charles Jones."

Upon hearing the name, Nyarlathotep tilted its chin up, scrutinizing him with an even more condescending gaze. "You're Charles Jones?"

Seeing this attitude, Charles finally remembered why he'd come—to break a curse. And the deity who'd cast that curse was none other than the Outer God before him: Nyarlathotep.

Having finally encountered this deity, Charles certainly wouldn't pretend that nothing had happened. Moreover, since this god had already recognized him, playing dumb would just be stupid.

"That's right, I'm Charles Jones. Nyarlathotep, I've been looking for you for quite some time." Charles smiled, his tone holding not a trace of reverence or fear.

Nyarlathotep's expression immediately darkened. The whites of its eyes gradually turned black, and its already emotionless face became even more expression-free, like a statue.

The two locked eyes. The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive, as if heavy stones were pressing down, making it hard to breathe.

But Charles wasn't affected by this atmosphere. He tilted his head back slightly, his posture natural and neither servile nor overbearing, staring directly at Nyarlathotep.

This gaze, completely devoid of any reverence, carried an invisible edge of provocation.

The standoff continued.

Until Nyarlathotep gave a cold snort, finally breaking the suffocating tension.

It spoke, voice steady but deliberately drawing out each word: "Congratulations on passing the examination, Charles."

The deliberately elongated pronunciation, combined with those words, was exactly like human mockery and sarcasm.

Charles raised an eyebrow, suspecting Nyarlathotep was mimicking the human tone of derision.

But after finishing that sentence, it turned and walked back the way it came. As it stepped beyond the tower's rooftop space, standing upon the void itself, it looked back at Charles with a curled lip. "Keep up, my examiner."

With that, it walked toward the white void. After a few steps, it stopped again, half its form already swallowed by the white mist, silently watching Charles.

It seemed to be waiting for him.

But knowing its temperament, Charles understood—its old habits were acting up again.

Human collapse, despair, and other painful emotions would all entertain it, bringing it joy.

At this moment, it hoped to extract that pleasure from Charles.

Charles walked to the parapet. The wall wasn't high—he only needed to brace himself on the edge to climb up, and then he could step onto the void and reach Nyarlathotep's side.

But who could be certain humans could actually walk on this void?

"What's wrong, Charles? Are you afraid?" Up ahead, Nyarlathotep smiled and tilted its head questioningly.

That single sentence made Charles even more certain this was Nyarlathotep's cruel prank.

But he'd just passed the previous examination. According to Xavier, examinations and trials alike had rules—even if the other party was a deity, the rules still applied.

Charles took a deep breath and pulled himself up onto the parapet.

Standing on the stone bricks, only a third of his foot made contact with the surface.

Charles's body began swaying back and forth. He frowned, arms spread wide, knees slightly bent, struggling to maintain his balance.

Seeing this, Nyarlathotep's eyes widened with excitement. Its nostrils flared, but quickly stopped. Its entire face began to tighten, returning to calm. "You're not afraid."

It was a statement of fact.

Charles, having barely managed to regain his balance, spared it a glance. Seeing its expression darken, he smiled like someone who'd just tricked a child. "Looks like you can tell. No—you can smell it, can't you?"

Charles had noticed its slightly flared nostrils and understood.

Nyarlathotep raised an eyebrow, chin lifted, eyes narrowing slightly. With a casual wave of its hand, the white void surrounding the tower instantly receded.

Now Charles could finally see what lay beneath the tower, though he was currently standing on a parapet barely wide enough to keep his footing.

The tower was shockingly tall, as if standing at approximately thirty thousand feet above ground.

White mist still surrounded them—whether deliberately arranged by Nyarlathotep or not, combined with the bird's-eye view below, the mist looked exactly like high-altitude clouds, intensifying the impression of terrifying height.

Charles was actually afraid of heights, but with the Entropy Insects, his mind held no fear. Still, he could only glance down before immediately looking away—that seemed to be muscle memory by now.

This reaction clearly delighted Nyarlathotep.

"Now begins your formal examination." It smiled, eyes dancing with excitement. "Walk to my side—pass the examination. Be careful not to fall."