Chronowalker's Evil Eye

Vaguely, Jiang Lin heard a notification from the system.

【Quest Completed】

【Jie jie jie, a mere evil god dares to clamor before this Demon Lord? Successfully survived the assassination attempt by the Evil God · Chronowalker · Aionnus and counter-killed his lackey.】

【Obtained Rewards: One designated skill upgraded to max level, extraction of partial talent abilities from the Evil God · Chronowalker · Aionnus for adaptive fusion.】

【Adaptive fusion in progress...】

【Obtained Talent: Chronowalker's Evil Eye】

【Chronowalker's Evil Eye: A growth-type talent. Hunting the Evil God · Chronowalker · Aionnus can upgrade the evil eye to max level.】

In the next moment, a sharp pain struck again. Jiang Lin felt as if his right eye were burning, causing him to scream out in agony:

"AAAAAGH!"

His scream echoed through the Temple's treatment area, startling the priest on duty. The priest rushed over to check on Jiang Lin, immediately casting 【High-level Restoration】.

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Lin’s eyelids fluttered, and he slowly woke up.

What greeted his eyes was an unfamiliar, high-vaulted ceiling adorned with colorful stained glass. Faint sunlight filtered through the windows, and the air was filled with the tranquil scent of soothing incense.

"You're awake?"

Forest, who had been waiting by his side, spoke up.

Jiang Lin looked over dazed, only to find that he was seeing double.

He tried hard to focus his eyes, but the afterimages remained.

"Don't rush, your body is still very weak."

Seeing that Jiang Lin was fully conscious, Forest called over a nearby priest and asked him to pass on a message.

"Jiang Lin is awake. Go inform Lord Salas."

Seeing Jiang Lin staring at him blankly, Forest gave a gentle smile:

"It’s all over now. That cultist has been dealt with. After an investigation, we have a rough idea of what happened, though we still need you to provide some information to verify certain clues."

Jiang Lin just nodded dumbly and rubbed his eyes.

The afterimages were still there, but they seemed limited to people in motion—like Forest or the priest who had just run out of the treatment room.

Little Black was also at the head of the bed, currently pretending to be a pet cat and licking its paws.

Where did it get the nerve? As an evil god, it actually dared to hang around the Temple's treatment room?

However, Jiang Lin didn't have the energy to deal with the furball right now. Since it hadn't been discovered after all this time, it was probably fine.

He opened the system to check his rewards.

Soon, his gaze settled on the 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】.

Could these afterimages be caused by this talent?

Jiang Lin observed the double images carefully and finally found the answer.

The afterimages he saw seemed to be projections of these people's future movements!

In other words, this talent he had obtained allowed him to see briefly into the future?!

And according to the system description, this skill could evolve by hunting that evil god?

Now, Jiang Lin had another reason to target that deity.

'I, Jiang Lin, was born to be a man of ambition, to establish a heart for heaven and earth and a mission for the people! You wretched evil god, just you wait. Once I get stronger, you'll be the first one I hunt!!'

At that moment, the door to the treatment room was pushed open. Jiang Lin saw a tall young man with golden hair, golden eyes, and a neatly trimmed short beard.

He wore a golden badge on his chest, marking him as an elite of the Temple at the same level as the gold badge knight who had saved him.

"Lord Salas!"

Forest saluted Salas with a knight's salute.

"At ease, sit down."

The Temple’s hierarchy was quite clear; Salas was a gold badge, while Forest was a silver badge, meaning Forest had to follow his orders.

As he spoke, Salas took out a thick stack of documents and sat on the edge of Jiang Lin's bed.

"You performed quite well. Being able to remain calm in that situation and use such highly proficient skills... your talent in swordsmanship is above mine."

Salas didn't get straight to business, instead exchanging pleasantries with Jiang Lin first.

Judging by the man's tone and voice, Jiang Lin determined that this was indeed the gold badge knight who had saved him.

"Not at all. It was all thanks to you, Lord Salas. Otherwise, I would have been killed by that damn cultist."

Through the previous exchange, Jiang Lin learned the gold badge knight's name—Salas.

"Haha, I'm just a few years older than you. I believe with your talent, it won't be long before you surpass an old-timer like me."

"You're too kind, my lord. You're still so young and already have rank-4 strength; your future is limitless."

Jiang Lin played along, though he suddenly felt the other man's words were strangely familiar.

Wasn't this the same trash talk he had used on Kenan yesterday?

Had that incident been uncovered during the interrogation too?

Jiang Lin felt a bit awkward but didn't show it. Instead, he sat up and looked directly at the gold badge knight who had come to visit him.

At the same time, he grabbed Little Black, who was still playing the part of a pet cat, and began fiddling with it like a stress ball.

Since there were outsiders watching, Little Black could only hiss powerlessly without lashing out.

"We investigated the information on that cultist. Are you interested in hearing about it? It's said you two didn't have much interaction before."

Jiang Lin nodded:

"Of course, I'm all ears."

Salas flipped through the thick documents and cleared his throat:

"That student's name was Matthew Hoffman, a mage. He was consistently ranked fourth at the Holy Light Junior Magic Academy. His home address is 17 Oak Street, East District of Boulder City. There were no abnormal records in his school files; he had excellent grades, but in the interpersonal evaluation column, his homeroom teacher noted: 'Somewhat solitary character, highly competitive'...

"We searched his residence. No one answered the door, so we forced entry. We eventually discovered an altar, idols, and ritual supplies for the secret cult he worshipped in his basement. Since his parents were traveling merchants who were away for long periods, their absence didn't arouse any suspicion from the neighbors."

At this point, Salas paused before continuing:

"But by the time we found them, his parents had already been dead in the basement for some time. It seems Matthew Hoffman used them as sacrifices to the evil god he worshipped."

Hearing this, Jiang Lin's eyebrows twitched.

'Good grief, this kid killed his own parents just to worship an evil god. He's absolutely monstrous!'

"It is understood that the target disappeared from school yesterday afternoon. He likely made contact with the evil god during that time, and the evil god possessed him in the process. Our forensic team has produced a similar report; he indeed hadn't been possessed for very long.

"However, we found no evidence of any grudge between him and you, so we need to confirm the information on your end."

As he spoke, Salas radiated a majestic aura, scrutinizing Jiang Lin as he lay on the bed.

"Are you certain you had no past grievances with him?"

Jiang Lin felt helpless:

"I'm certain. I remember he wanted to challenge me yesterday, but I ended up skipping class for a long time. When I finally returned to the classroom, I was suspected of being a cultist and taken away for questioning, so I missed the time to spar with him.

"If there has to be a grievance, it's probably that he was jealous of my hard work and talent, as well as my outstanding looks and brilliance."

Seeing that Jiang Lin's gaze didn't flicker and was straightforward and frank, Salas nodded and took another look at Jiang Lin’s handsome face.

"Hmm, you're quite confident."

After a pause, he continued:

"However, since you had no grievances but he deliberately targeted you, there are two possibilities.

"First, his mind was extremely dark, and he harbored resentment toward any prominent or shining figure. After being possessed by the evil god, he completely lost his sanity, leaving only rage toward you in his mind, so he wholeheartedly wanted to kill you.

"Second, the evil god of their secret cult... wanted to target you."

Jiang Lin listened thoughtfully. He felt the first possibility was quite reasonable; after all, it was normal for a degenerate who would kill his own parents to have a warped personality.

He had recently become famous in his grade and was getting close to a school beauty like Anya, so the other boy might have developed a sense of jealousy because of that.

But hearing the second possibility, he almost couldn't keep a straight face.

"Wait, why would the evil god of their secret cult want to target me?"

Salas shrugged:

"We aren't sure about that either, which is why I came to ask if you’ve ever had any run-ins with this evil god."

He paused and added:

"By the way, we had no prior records of the secret cult led by this evil god. It’s a newly discovered one. But for the deity to make such a high-profile appearance by possessing a follower right from the start is quite unusual.

"You should know that many nascent evil gods slowly develop their influence first. It's very, very rare—almost unheard of—for an evil god to show its head before even gathering a few followers.

"Furthermore, different evil god factions generally don't interfere with one another. We just wiped out a nascent secret cult hideout in Boulder City recently, so logically, no new evil god should have set its sights on Boulder City so soon.

"Therefore, this evil god's actions are quite abnormal."

Jiang Lin listened thoughtfully, realizing that the master of the cult Salas mentioned being wiped out was likely Little Black, his own secret cult's evil god.

Currently being fiddled with by Jiang Lin, Little Black’s mood was naturally quite unpleasant upon hearing this.

And being handled like this only made its mood worse.

Jiang Lin shook his head:

"I've had no chance to come into contact with these secret cults, let alone know anything about evil gods. I think the first possibility is more likely."

However, Salas then said:

"The Temple Master has also gotten involved in this matter. She has already packaged the situation here and sent it to her superiors. People from headquarters might come to investigate in a while, so be prepared at any time."

Jiang Lin nodded in response:

"No problem."

At this, Salas said somewhat mysteriously:

"Well, the above is the official explanation for this incident, and the final report will likely be based on the first guess. However, I have some personal speculations. Would you like to hear them?"

Jiang Lin was surprised:

"I'd be delighted."

Salas cleared his throat and said:

"This evil god's power is related to controlling time. Do you think it might have prophesied that your future self would pose a threat to it, so it sent its subordinate to hunt you down now?

"Normally, if there were no accidents, it would have been easy for it to kill you after possessing that student, given your school's security measures. But because of your report, the Temple was sent on a mission to screen for cultists, which brought extraordinary combat personnel like me into your school, ultimately causing its plan to fail."

Jiang Lin immediately fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

"By the way, weren't you reported as a cultist before? The person who reported you was that very classmate, Matthew Hoffman.

"Didn't you say he wanted to spar with you? I suspect that perhaps he wanted to use the match to frame you with items related to the evil god or stain you with its aura so you would be judged by the Temple.

"However, your truancy exceeded his plan, which saved you from being framed. At the time he reported you, he probably hadn't been possessed by the evil god yet."

After finishing his speculation, Salas stopped to give Jiang Lin time to think.

Seeing Jiang Lin dazed by his guess, Salas lamented:

"A cultist reporting someone else as a cultist... how dramatic, haha."

Looking at the lamenting Salas, Jiang Lin really wanted to say:

'Actually, the paladin in front of you is also a cultist, and as a cultist, he also went and reported other cultists.'

Of course, he only thought it; there was no way he would say it out loud.

However, after hearing the man's words, he felt the speculation made a lot of sense.

After all, with the talent 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】, if he had the strength and the opportunity to hunt the evil god named Chronowalker · Aionnus, he definitely would.

Maybe he really would pose a threat to it?

Although he wasn't quite used to the existence of this evil eye yet, the ability to see the future was already quite broken.

With this ability, he would be almost invincible in battles against those of the same rank, and he would even stand a chance against those at higher levels.

If it could still grow, he might even be able to develop time-reversal abilities like that evil god!

When that time came, he could use 【Low-level Strengthening · Jetting Aura】, and once it took effect, use time reversal to bring the enemy back to the moment the 【Jetting Aura】 just triggered...

Who could even tell the difference between him and Satan then?

However, this also gave rise to another question.

If the other party hadn't provoked him, he shouldn't have ended up in a feud with them.

If they didn't provoke him, his future self shouldn't have bothered with some random evil god, right?

Jiang Lin shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

This time-related stuff was too complicated; one could easily fall into a loop like the Grandfather Paradox.

Regardless, if he had the ability, he would definitely seek them out in the future. He just didn't know what had caused the other party's actions this time.

But after this near-death experience, the arrogance he previously felt about being invincible at his level had faded slightly.

He was still too weak; any random evil god from the roadside could come over and kick him.

'No! Getting stronger as fast as possible is the right path!!'

"But if the other party could prophesy that I would threaten it in the future, why couldn't it prophesy that today's assassination plan would fail?"

Jiang Lin found a loophole in this theory.

Salas nodded:

"Exactly, that's where this hypothesis fails to hold up.

"After all, with such a heaven-defying ability as prophecy... you're still so weak, yet the other party could foresee you threatening it. Why wouldn't it pick a perfect opportunity to assassinate you instead of taking a risk like this and ultimately failing?

"So, this is ultimately just my personal speculation; you don't need to take it to heart. The Temple will continue to investigate the specific reasons in depth."

However, despite the loophole, Jiang Lin felt that the man's words still made a lot of sense.

If the other party's prophecy wasn't very accurate or had usage restrictions that limited the information it could lock onto, then this hypothesis was completely plausible.

Moreover, the tactic of playing dirty while he was still weak seemed quite logical.

Jiang Lin felt that with the system, his progress would be astonishingly fast, and he would soon bid farewell to this period of being weak and defenseless.

Then, he asked a question that almost caused everyone present to drop their jaws:

"To hunt an evil god... roughly what rank do I need to reach?"