CHAPTER 1286: CHAPTER 314: THE SILENT GUARDIAN

That was a very ordinary voice.

Neither hoarse nor crisp... it matched the impression of Saint Peter, conveying a sense of steadiness.

But at the moment that voice sounded.

Those words were like sharp blades or swift magical bullets, piercing into the hearts of everyone present.

And on the "path of fate" they had yet to traverse, it carved a deep trajectory. If no other forces intervened, they would naturally fall into this altered future.

The executives and officials of various nations, saints and deities, as well as those players closest to Annan—

And destiny is the wheel of the Celestial Chariot.

As the master of the Book of the Celestial Chariot, Annan clearly felt that all who heard Saint Peter’s words now shared an additional thread of fate with him.

These freshly spun threads of fate intertwined, forming a dense web.

Of course, this power was not meant to influence Annan’s own fate.

——Even the power of a saint cannot alter Annan’s "fate." For destiny is the wheel of the Celestial Chariot, and in this domain, Annan possesses absolute dominance and priority.

In truth, although Saint Peter’s words seemed addressed to Annan... they actually transformed the fates of all the guests attending the wedding who heard them. The excess Power of Truth continued to spread, cascading through the webs of human relationships, eventually altering the entire world.

Just uttering a single sentence was enough to instantly overturn the future of the entire world.

Even by the standards of saints, this power was overwhelmingly mighty...

"...Is this the reason you haven’t spoken a word for over 120 years?"

Annan’s tone unconsciously grew a touch more respectful.

And the "Silent Unspeakable" merely sank back into silence again, lowering his gaze without a word.

His appearance began to age visibly and rapidly.

From his youthful visage of barely over twenty years old, he aged twenty or thirty years in the blink of an eye. Wrinkles emerged at the corners of his eyes, and faint creases lined his face. His once-clear pupils turned cloudy.

He neither reacted nor argued nor explained; he merely nodded slightly at Annan and silently retreated to a corner to sit down. It was as if the scene of him speaking earlier had been a mere illusion.

"You guessed correctly, Annan."

What Annan hadn’t expected was that the one to respond to his inquiry was the grandmother standing nearby.

She sighed softly and said, "This was indeed the reason Peter has remained silent for 120 years.

"He was gathering his strength—the Power of Truth born from 120 years of unwavering ’honesty,’ to use at the most critical moment."

"What does ’Skull of Honesty’ truly signify?"

Annan asked quietly.

He was aware of the "Silent Unspeakable"’s history.

From the moment Saint Peter, the Pope, acquired the sacred relic 120 years ago, he had fallen silent.

Over these hundred-plus years, he had neither spoken nor taken a stand, nor sought entertainment. He never prayed openly nor conducted any religious ceremonies. Not even on festivals or his own birthdays had anyone seen him celebrate.

"He’s not entirely what you’d call a ’mute,’ turned into someone utterly incapable of speech."

The grandmother explained, "In the Hall of Purity or at Bode’s cardinal council, he would still voice opinions—like when his secretary had finished summarizing the meeting and asked him, ’Do you agree?’ He would succinctly reply with ’Yes’ or ’Not yet.’

"He could still express his stance on matters after listening—not how he felt about the issue, but what actions they should take. Beyond that, he would never hastily make judgments about anything.

"This is precisely because the Skull of Honesty harbors an immense Power of Truth tied to the principle of [Honesty], capable of effortlessly reshaping the past and future.

"But ’honesty’ permits no second choices. Even the smallest falsehood, the tiniest malice, disqualifies honesty—the so-called [honesty], as mandated by the sacred relic, means that his actions must genuinely reflect his inner truth, rooted in a benevolent heart.

"The sacred vow he declared is: [I shall speak no words that are incomplete or untrue]. This is why those ignorant masses mock him as the ’Silent Saint’..."

Grandmother said softly, "But in truth, anything he says, people can only believe to be the truth.

"Because, for him, every word spoken has only one possibility: that it is the [true word]. Even a lie can become reality... at the cost of his own soul.

"The ’skull’ is tied to the eyes, expressions, tongue, teeth, and brain. The sacred relic ignites his soul as a cost to activate, continuously consuming the liquid Power of Truth stored in his brain to alter the history of the past and fate of the future. As long as it isn’t the ’observable’ reality but pertains to the unnoticed ’past’ or ’future,’ it can conform to his wish to become real.

"One might say it’s akin to the abilities described in ’Fourth Historiography.’ Yet, while Fourth Historiography describes the imaginary history—the Fourth History—this relic allows him to directly enter it, altering the first history’s beginning and end.

"It seems an omnipotent ability to alter anything. If the accumulated power is sufficient, it could even be used to erase younger deities—who exist as creatures of the Second History, immune to erasure even through temporal paradoxes. But [Skull of Honesty], it can achieve this.

"This realization is why the first Honest Saint determined that they must never ascend to godhood. However, the Skull of Honesty has a major limitation—the restriction imposed by the Honest Saint themselves. Each time the current saint uses this ability, they neither know whether they can successfully complete the alteration nor what the altered past or future would look like.

"If the alteration succeeds, people will remain completely unaware he ever told a lie. But if the stored Power of Truth and soul are insufficient to complete the alteration, then his attempts to reshape history and the future will fail.

"But this failure won’t instantly kill him. Instead, the parts of the past and future he tried to alter will develop irreconcilable errors.

"Suppose he says, ’The Elven Empire does not exist.’ Then people would no longer be able to unearth any evidence proving the existence of the Elven Empire, and everyone who remembered it would forget.

"But if people, through logical means and without relying on direct evidence, become aware there’s an error in this blank history... his words will be exposed as lies. No need for public disclosure—if even one person becomes fully aware that his statement was false and has proof, Peter will perish for violating the sacred vow.

"Similarly, if his accumulated strength is insufficient to complete the fabrication, some memories might fail to be erased, or some records and relics might resist annihilation. The likelihood of his lie being discovered and exposed thus increases, making it more probable he’d die for breaking the vow."

——From the moment Saint Peter obtained the [Skull of Honesty].

Peter sensed the terrifying nature of this power.

He mustn’t use it recklessly, for it would invite immense chaos. A flawed lie would inevitably require more lies to patch over... he could either fabricate an unprovable, heaven-spanning falsehood or never tell a lie at all.

Peter believed the price of using this power to alter the past was far greater than using it to reshape the future.

So, if he must use this power, it must be at a pivotal moment concerning the world’s survival—eliminating an error or guiding towards a specific future.

Even if his accumulated strength wasn’t sufficient to fully complete the lie... achieving only partial success would still provide some relief.

——This was something only he could do.

For this reason, he resolved that unless absolutely necessary, he would never use the sacred relic.

Moreover... he had to ensure his own survival. Because he couldn’t predict what horrors might unfold if this relic fell into the hands of malicious individuals.

Indeed, merely keeping the relic from being misused already signified his guardianship over the world.

Thus, though insulted and mocked, Peter never sought to defend himself.

He never thought to vindicate himself, nor offered any explanations... only an extremely small number of ancient beings knew what burden he bore.

Even as a True God, even the grandmother held Saint Peter’s resilience in reverence.

"’Silent Unspeakable’ doesn’t merely mean being mute like someone under a martial monk’s vow of silence."

The grandmother remarked, "Babbling nonsensically, gesturing, employing signals, or simply writing words—none of these differ from speaking aloud.

To truly ensure oneself [utter no incomplete or untrue words] to store the causal power of this vow, even polite small talk, blessings, and reminiscing could not exist.

This required disconnecting entirely from human society.

For this moment, to utter such words here, Peter waited a full 120 years.

A full 120 years of solitude.

Not merely physical isolation.

But dwelling amidst a bustling world, presiding over councils... as all eyes are fixed upon him, as all can reach him, as he sees, hears, and feels everything—and yet, he still chooses silence without reason, never explaining.

He had no family, no friends, no love, no children, not even reliable successors to inherit this mission.

The grandchildren of his old friends had aged and died. For him, the world was no longer familiar in any way—

Yet he still guarded this world, even though no one could understand him.

Even though no one would ever overturn his silence... for the next Honest Saint would continue to guard this secret.

This near-omnipotent wish-granting machine’s power must remain unknown to mortals.

Because almost every person harbors "regret." Everyone hopes for some past event "to not have happened," yet even burning through an Honest Saint’s very soul couldn’t rewrite every personal tragedy; such power wasn’t theirs to wield.

He couldn’t possibly predict if removing some insignificant nail might lead to an empire’s collapse. Even the most brilliant prophetic wizard wouldn’t dare wager they fully understood the secrets of time itself.

Thus, the best approach... is to change nothing before unalterable disaster arrives.

Like a complex machine no one fully comprehends.

If the machine can still function, one shouldn’t attempt to fix it. Because no one knows whether the repairs might leave it in worse condition.

And destiny is the most intricate machine.

By doing nothing, saying nothing, he is already safeguarding this world.

At this moment, Annan raised his gaze to meet the now-aged Peter’s eyes.

Peter sat down just then, lifting his gaze to see Annan looking over.

The two saints exchanged a glance, neither nodding nor making a show of acknowledgment, and courteously shifted their gazes away.

Yet both subtly smiled.

They simultaneously understood each other’s thoughts:

——I have done all that I could; the rest is up to you.

——As you wish.

I will bring back true hope.

Annan stood there for a moment in thought.

Then, he clapped his hands to redirect everyone’s attention away from the "Silent Unspeakable."

"Ladies and gentlemen, my wedding with Kafney is about to begin."

Annan’s voice was gentle as he said, "Honored guests, please find your seats."