One-Eyed Monster

Upon hearing this voice, Igor finally allowed the nerve he had kept taut to relax. It had finally come. All that effort had not been in vain. Immediately, however, Igor tensed up again, for what followed was the true test. Whether they could save this entity would depend on their next move.

Not only Igor but Kadi also sensed this peculiar shift. They were about to face the Dark Force head-on. Although it would be through Storytelling, bloodshed would inevitably follow. Kadi didn’t understand Igor’s rescue plan; all he knew was that a confrontation was imminent. He was unsure of Igor’s approach—whether it would be the gentle tactic of boiling a frog in warm water to defeat the enemy or a more aggressive, head-on assault.

Kadi wasn’t worried that Igor might lose; to him, Igor’s defeat seemed highly unlikely. In the past, he and the Granny of the Scale of Faith, who was manifest on Igor, had jointly dealt with this Dark Force. Perhaps what they faced then was merely a fragment or avatar of the Dark Force, but regardless, this entity was not particularly adept at Storytelling.

Admittedly, the Dark Force knew numerous stories, their content vast and intricate. In this respect, no one could compare. After all, the immense span of ages the Dark Force had traversed was undeniable; in such a long existence, any path it had walked could yield countless tales. They fell short in this regard.

But why had Kadi managed to win that time? The reason was somewhat comical. Of course, a significant factor in Kadi’s victory in that Storytelling Contest was the Granny of the Scale of Faith’s rich repertoire of stories.

Kadi vaguely recalled the scene. By then, his Fire Tree Silver Flower had been fully established, and he had returned to help Igor. But as soon as he stepped into Igor’s realm, he was assailed by intense Soundwaves—the result of the Granny of the Scale of Faith and the Dark Force competing through their stories. The Granny of the Scale of Faith spoke kindly, narrating her stories methodically and clearly. Meanwhile, the Dark Force seemed rather impatient, most of the Soundwave oppression coming from its torrential outpourings.

At that time, the Dark Force was desperate to prove one thing: that there was no story in the world it hadn’t heard. This arrogance, this conceit, stemmed from its absolute self-confidence. The Granny of the Scale of Faith tried to persuade it as one would a young person, gently and earnestly, attempting to make the Dark Force shed its insufferable pride. However, how could bad habits, ingrained over so many eons, be discarded so easily? The Granny’s persuasion required a process, but the Dark Force was aggressive. For every story the Granny told, it would find a similar one, so every moral she tried to impart was interrupted by its analogous tales.

It seemed the Granny was at a disadvantage then, but everyone knew that emotional stability was paramount in a prolonged battle. The Granny’s calm demeanor had already proven she didn’t view this opponent as an enemy at all. She considered it a lost child. It was just that this child wouldn’t listen to the Granny...

Kadi’s arrival then was perfectly timed. It couldn’t be considered meddling, nor was it direct help; his appearance was purely coincidental. Yet, under this coincidence, the Granny’s persuasion surprisingly took effect.

At that moment, Kadi, also a story enthusiast, felt deeply uncomfortable listening to the Dark Force’s haughty pronouncements. The claim that someone had heard *all* stories grated on him, making him very upset. Claiming to know many stories? That’s fine; it’s undoubtedly true. But claiming to have heard *all* stories? That’s a bit of a stretch. So Kadi joined the debate then and there, and it didn’t seem abrupt at all. It was like a bystander, initially just watching the spectacle, who couldn’t resist joining the discussion.

To debunk the Dark Force’s claim of having heard all stories, Kadi recounted five or six tales in quick succession, all from his experiences on Guru Mountain. However, given the Dark Force’s vast experience, Kadi’s relatively common stories were no match for it. They were quickly overshadowed by the Dark Force’s similar, yet more vividly told, narratives. It had to be admitted, the Dark Force’s stories were more compelling.

But Kadi was stubborn. He delved deeper into his memories, eventually unearthing a tale about a princess and a mouse, told to him by Kevin when he was very young. It was a very old-fashioned fairy tale, simply about a princess saving a mouse, and the mouse later repaying her kindness. Yet, this simple, timeworn fairy tale stunned the Dark Force, the one who claimed to have heard all stories.

It hadn’t heard this kind of story... There’s actually a story like this! A mouse can talk! For the Dark Force, this was almost unbelievable. The stories it knew were filled with hidden daggers behind smiles, intricate schemes, and brutal life-and-death struggles, or perhaps tales of gratifying vengeance and repaid favors from ages past... It had never come across a story where a mouse could talk...

It became agitated. ”What kind of story is this? This story is fake!”

How can a story be fake? Kadi couldn’t stomach the accusation and retorted angrily, ”This is a story known to children! Just because you don’t know it doesn’t mean it’s fake!”

Then the old Granny chimed in, gravely delivering another blow, ”This is a fairy tale that has circulated in this world for centuries...”

The impact on the Dark Force was immense. It retreated in a huff. As it departed, it grumbled resentfully, ”I will verify this! If what you’ve said turns out to be true, then I lose this time. But it’s undeniable that I know more stories than you do...”

That was how the Dark Force had retreated then—flustered, exasperated, and deeply resentful.

From that moment, Kadi understood one thing: the Dark Force was not unbeatable. In terms of Storytelling, they need not fear. Moreover, the Granny had also served Igor a reminder at that time: there are different kinds of stories. Although they, as Spirits, had experienced vast stretches of time, there was still much about this world that remained unknown to them. Kadi felt that as long as Igor told fairy tales to the Dark Force, they wouldn’t lose.

Naturally, Igor understood the meaning behind the old Granny’s final words. He wasn’t in a hurry now that his opponent had arrived. Whatever he did next had to be done one step at a time, with thoroughness, to be effective. Kadi had previously told him about the storytelling confrontation with the Dark Force, and he had mastered the details. He had been laying the groundwork for so long; he didn’t mind preparing a little more. For Igor, persuasion was the ultimate goal. Like the old Granny, he wished to guide this lost entity back onto the correct path.