It had been quite some time since Thalion had last seen the Voice of the System, and he wondered what it was doing at a show like this.
"Greetings, everyone. I have come here as the messenger of the System itself," the Voice of the System began. "The Academy of Boundless Paths shall open soon. Entrance is permitted to everyone who has placed first in a system event rated at least at the fifth difficulty and is below level 200. This academy has existed longer than all the gods and is a key element in the Great Convergence of all four quadrants that is about to commence."
"The performance of the younglings within the academy will determine which gods gain a decisive advantage in the conflict. Over time, the academy will gradually open its gates to those of higher levels as well. Besides the implications for one's home, the participants may also earn unique titles while being trained in every aspect, depending on the paths they choose."
With those final words, the golden statue vanished, leaving behind an utterly stunned crowd that only slowly began to recover as the lights returned to normal. They had even forgotten the chants calling for Thalion's death.
"What the fuck!" Pinkype exclaimed, completely flabbergasted, mirroring the expressions of many of the others.
"Does anyone have any idea what this Convergence will be?" he asked aloud, but besides a few murmurs from the audience, no one had an answer.
Thalion, on the other hand, immediately saw his opportunity. He already knew something like this was coming since the Voice of the System had hinted at it before. Back then, it hadn't mentioned the academy or the Convergence. Instead, it had spoken about different parts of the System slowly merging together, eventually producing the strongest fighters before the Harvest would begin.
It would still take a very long time until the Harvest started, and by then Thalion would likely already be a god. Still, it looked as though the barriers between the quadrants would begin to fade much sooner. Thalion had been forbidden from telling anyone, but now that the Voice had revealed so much, it should be fine as long as he didn't mention the Harvest itself. The only question was whether he should say anything at all.
"Maybe it's something to ignite another war between the gods, just like at the beginning of this era," someone in the audience suggested, only to be quickly shut down by Pinkype, who was pacing in circles across the center of the studio.
"No, no, no. It has to be something far bigger and far more threatening. Well, well, well... I suppose the gods are going to have a lot to discuss about the future. The competition in fifth-difficulty system events is definitely about to increase dramatically."
Pinkype chuckled after his final remark.
"Just wow. What a show we have today. Normally, I would continue, but after this announcement I think we'll move on to the audience questions and end the show a little early. We have another show coming shortly after the third system event begins, so it won't be much of a loss. Besides, we'll all see each other again very soon. Yes, you there—the gentleman with the black beard."
As the questioning began, Thalion came to the conclusion that it would be best to keep what little he knew about the Convergence to himself. The crowd had already resumed chanting against him, and the gods had gone above and beyond to paint him as evil. If he revealed such valuable information now, it wouldn't improve his reputation in the slightest. It was better to tell Solan and Nyssa once he returned.
"Thalion, how can you lie to us without feeling any guilt?" a woman asked after the man with the black beard had questioned Zargaz about whether garlic actually worked against vampires.
Thalion didn't even bother answering. Instead, he looked at Pinkype, who, with an annoyed wave of his hand, teleported the woman out of the studio.
"Only sincere questions. This constant propaganda is getting quite annoying."
Thalion was glad that Pinkype had finally called it out. Hopefully, more of those watching outside the studio would begin to see it that way as well.
"Eric, it is very visible that you have made massive progress on your divine path. Are you confident in defeating the evil Thalion and his faction on your own?"
Thalion couldn't hold back a grin as he noticed Pinkype grinding his teeth.
Thalion found the whole situation utterly unfair and incredibly annoying. Why was all of this happening to him? Sure, he had done a few questionable things, but never to these people. The fact that his former friends had tried to kill him during the tutorial out of greed and because their gods had ordered them to wasn't exactly his fault either. Yet somehow he was the evil one, and it had all started because he had refused to die.
His thoughts were interrupted by Eric's answer, which sounded just a little too well prepared.
"Of course. I train day and night to become stronger because only through strength can I protect my people. Luckily, I am not alone and have so many fellow Chosen fighting beside me. No one in my faction has to fear Thalion. Every single one of our Chosen can easily destroy his faction, and I, especially, am eager to rid our race of this tumor once and for all."
The woman smiled brightly and bowed several times to Eric before Pinkype teleported her away with a grunt. Eric himself looked as though he had just delivered the most important speech of his entire life.
Thalion would have loved to comment because, from his perspective, he was the poor soul covered in tumors that were all trying to kill him. He would have been perfectly happy leaving the others alone, but instead he had been proclaimed the ultimate evil that needed to be erased.
"Zargaz, you and Thalion both have vampiric eyes. Could you imagine forming an alliance with this human?" a turtle standing on two legs with a long white beard asked the vampire.
It was such an unexpected question that it took the vampire a few seconds to answer.
"No. He is only nourishment to be consumed. Both he and the weak Blood Plant inside him."
His hissed reply sent a few murmurs through the crowd, which were quickly drowned out by loud chants.
"One voice! One cry! Thalion must die!"
The chant echoed over and over until Pinkype stepped in and muted a large part of the audience.
Next to ask a question was a vampiress with what appeared to be one blind eye.
"Thalion, Zargaz mentioned a Blood Plant. He isn't referring to the one created by Tenebrice, is he? Many vampires have tried to bind one to themselves, but it never worked. Either they were consumed, or the plant simply withered away."
That was quite a dangerous question, and Thalion honestly didn't know whether he should answer truthfully.
Pinkype must have noticed his discomfort because, with a wave of his tentacle, the vampiress disappeared.
"Next!" Pinkype shouted, sounding slightly annoyed now.
This time, some sort of half-human, half-octopus appeared wearing an extravagant golden suit.
"What a pleasure to meet you, Thalion. Quite the stunt with that little D-grade faction. But of course, I know why you did it." The half-octopus winked. "Yes, I know becoming famous is difficult, but staying famous is even harder. I, Roy, of course know all about the constant pain and hard work that comes with it. But slaughtering an entire faction? Come on, you can do better than that. There is still plenty of time to build a large audience, and at this stage of your career it definitely isn't necessary to go full murderhobo."
He proudly puffed out his chest.
"Of course, when you're as famous as I am—the magnificent Roy, author of the bestseller How to Burn Your Grandmother and Ten Ways to Drown a Fish, just to name a few—it all becomes much easier. Here, why don't you take a look at my newest creations? All signed, of course."
Over ten books landed on Thalion's platform, but since he was only a projection, he wouldn't have been able to touch a single one even if he had wanted to. Not that he wanted to in the first place. This fellow might have been even more annoying than the constant chanting.
"Yes, every arm is writing a different book. That's why—"
"OUT!" Pinkype shouted, and with a wave of his tentacle the fellow disappeared together with all of his books. "NEXT!"
Thankfully, the following questions weren't directed at Thalion, though at times he almost wished someone would ask him something instead of constantly questioning Eric or Ethan.
It was honestly impressive that neither of them turned red with all the theater.
"Oh, Eric, how many people did Thalion kill, and how many more will have to die before you can cleanse New Earth of this evil?"
"Ethan, I just wanted to congratulate you on your fiftieth D-grade kill. Very, very impressive. Fighting elves, vampires, and orcs to secure the survival of the human race. You are such an inspiration."
The positive side was that many of the newcomers sitting farther back were becoming increasingly amused. More and more of them exchanged entertained glances with Thalion.
Thalion could hear Pinkype paying less and less attention while constantly mumbling to himself about the four quadrants and the Convergence. He mostly teleported audience members in and out automatically while they asked Eric or Ethan ridiculous questions. Pinkype clearly wasn't really listening anymore and occasionally even teleported people away while Eric was still in the middle of answering.
After several annoyed shouts and with chants directed at Thalion gradually taking over the studio once again, Pinkype must have come to the conclusion that it was finally time to end the show.
"What a fantastic show this has been. So much new information... an academy, the Convergence, the four quadrants... We are all looking forward to seeing what happens next, and I wish every participant in the third system event the very best of luck. Hopefully, we'll all see each other here again in just a few weeks. Until then... Convergence... I wish you all the best. Bye."
Thalion had a hard time following Pinkype because the god's thoughts were clearly somewhere else entirely.
Nonetheless, Thalion returned to his real body, relieved that the show was finally over. Compared to the last one, it had been complete chaos, especially after the Voice of the System had made its announcement.
To his disappointment, Solan and Nyssa immediately appeared before him. Their expressions were unreadable, and Thalion couldn't help but wonder what they thought of the show. He had done his absolute best, and he didn't think the poor reception had been his fault. The human gods must have invested heavily in filling the audience with supporters.
But Solan and Nyssa would definitely be shocked when he told them what the Convergence actually was. Of that, he was certain.