Monarch of Gluttony: System of Sin

"Why didn't the tower give him a system right at the start when he had just entered? And most of all, why would he go through all that he did, even losing the person he treated like mother in the process? You can't forget all those while making an assumption," she continued. "And lastly, didn't you say that a human can't create a tower like this, right?"

"That is true, but what if he isn't a human?" Raphael asked. "I know there are many questions. The ones you asked also make me wonder about my assumption, but I still have a feeling like I am right. If that old man isn't the Creator of this tower, then it must be the person he was treating like an equal."

He turned to Azekiel. "And that means Azekiel. So, am I right? Did you create this tower?"

"If I say no, would you believe me?" Azekiel looked back in confusion. "You seem quite convinced with your assumption."

"If you say no, I will believe you." Raphael firmly stated. "I believed you when you said it wasn't the old man. I'll believe if you say it's not you either. Now, you can tell me the truth, or you can lie. I'll believe both..."

"Alright. Let's play a game to lighten the mood. You're both becoming really serious.  I'll tell you two things. One of the two statements is true, and the other one is false. I'll leave it to you to decide what's here and what's false."

"The first statement is that you were right." Azekiel spread his arms. "I am the creator of this Tower. The majestic Tower that you see is the creation of mine and only mine! The god that you talked about? That is me... I'm the God of this tower."

"The second statement is that you were wrong," he stated. "I am not the creator of this tower. I'm not strong enough to create something like this. I'm also like the old man that you saw. We both know who created this tower, but we can't get to him either. And it's my goal to kill that person for what he did to me!"

Azekiel told both the statements with such great conviction that it made it hard to decipher just which of the two statements was true and which was a lie. Even Raphael, who was the most perceptive out of the two, failed to see just which was the truth.

The first statement was what he wanted to believe, but the second one was also highly likely since he remembered the old man trying to persuade Azekiel to stop. It could be because he wanted to kill the real Creator of the Tower, which was dangerous.

Both the statements had the potential of being true, yet only one could be true.

Lia looked even more confused than Raphael, but she believed the second possibility. Azekiel went through a lot in the tower and outside. There was no way he was the owner of this Tower. It must be someone else.

That could explain why Azekiel went through so much. Moreover, in Azekiel's eyes, she could also see anger when he talked about revenge.

"I believe the second statement is true," She declared.

Raphael was still silent, just observing Azekiel's expressions for even the slightest of clues. Unfortunately for him, Azekiel had a poker face which made it impossible to call out his bluff. Ever since he recovered his memories, it became even harder to read his face.

Previously, whatever Azekiel thought was easily visible on his face, but not now. Now his face was like an empty slate.

"Which one is the truth?" Raphael asked ultimately, finding it impossible to guess now.

"Hey, I can't tell you, can I? I already told you that it's a game. I can't help you cheat. Take your time. You have all the time in the World to decide which one is the truth. Until then, shall we get going? We've wasted quite a lot of time here. We need to check more things as well before I start getting hungry again."

Just as Azekiel had stated before, he left the decision on Raphael to distinguish between the truth and the lie. He started leaving, telling the others to follow him.

"It's impossible to find the truth and the lie between these two statements." Raphael followed Azekiel.

"It's not impossible. You just need the right perspective to see the truth," Azekiel responded. "You don't have that perspective for now, but you'll get it soon hopefully."

"I'll wait for your answer. I'm really curious to see just what option you'll go with. Will you be right? Or will you be wrong? It'll be fun to see."

****

Back near the pond, the old man was still sitting. He sent all the fishes inside the water, still lost in some deep thought.

"Select a side, huh." Azekiel's words were still floating in his head, where he was told to pick a side before it was too late.

"Picking your side will be stupid. You have no chance... But picking the other side will mean going against you, which I don't want to do. It seems I'll once again stay out of it. Though I do wish you luck... Old friend."

The old man stood up, prepared to leave, but just as he was about to leave, he felt a powerful aura around him again.

He turned around, noticing a young man standing behind him. The young man was dressed in complete white. A beautiful dragon circled around the young man who floated in the air with his arms around his chest.

"So he remembered?" He asked. "That's a pity..."

"Did you expect him to not remember? It was just a matter of time. And now that he remembered, it seems something else is just a matter of time now." The old man rolled his eyes.

The young smiled innocently. "Times are different... The outcome will be different as well."

"Who knows?" The old man shrugged. "We will see how everything goes…."