Transmigrated as the Devil of the Meaningless

A faint anger settled into Seth's expression.

Betrayal was a part of life, but that didn't make it any less frightening.

If he hadn't reacted so quickly, if his thinking had been just a second slower, he would be dead.

Seth understood his ability well enough to know that not every death would trigger [Meaningful Resurrections].

There had to be meaning, a condition, a reason strong enough to justify it.

If that woman's shot had landed cleanly on his head, Seth doubted that [Meaningful Resurrection] would activate...

He fell silent, thinking through his options.

'I should tell Phoebe that people are trying to kill Rose,' he considered.

'They're close and Phoebe is quite protective of the people around her... And with the dangerous higher existence behind Phoebe, if she gets involved, Miss Brown and her group would definitely suffer. They might even be used as pawns...'

It was a tempting idea... using a bigger, more dangerous force to eliminate a threat.

But he shook his head, dismissing the plan.

'Too risky,' he concluded.

'I have no idea what that higher existence truly wants. Using its power is like playing with a live wire. I could just as easily get burned, or make everything worse.'

Seth looked out at the city stretching before him, its lights flickering in the growing dusk.

His expression was unreadable behind his mask.

A small, thoughtful smile touched his lips as he turned and walked off into the gathering shadows.

...

In the quiet living room, Phoebe sat alone.

Her eyes stared blankly at the wooden surface of the table, seeing nothing.

Her gaze drifted slowly before finally settling on the empty chair across from her.

"You came back."

She said, her voice flat and tired.

As her words left her mouth, the air in front of the chair distorted slightly.

A tall figure stepped forward, his presence solidifying as if he had always been there.

Black hair, sharp features, and a calm expression hidden behind restraint.

It was Seth.

"You aren't even hiding the fact that you can see me now."

He observed, his tone neutral.

Phoebe offered a weak, worn-out smile.

"It's only been lately that I could. I've... developed a strange condition. I can feel everything around me now..."

"The air on my skin, the dust in the light. I can even feel my own brain working, my own thoughts forming... It's like I'm aware of every single part of myself."

Seth fell silent for a moment, studying her.

'I wonder if this is a sign that her "cursed" condition is getting worse,'

He thought, his analysis cold and clinical.

"On my way here, I saw several officers, and one who was clearly a witch, stationed around your house. They're monitoring you."

He said, changing the subject.

Phoebe nodded, unsurprised.

"Yeah. They're probably going to come in and capture me soon."

"There's still a chance to escape," Seth stated.

"With the higher existence tangled in your fate, they likely wouldn't let you die so easily."

Phoebe smiled at him, a sad, knowing expression.

"So you even know about that..."

Seth simply nodded. He saw no point in denying it.

"Anyone with half a brain can guess it."

"I don't plan on escaping," Phoebe said, her voice growing firmer.

"Maybe by letting them take me, I can at least restrict that existence's ability to manipulate me. If I'm in with the Coven of Solance, the manipulator's options become limited."

Seth considered this.

"Is it Jake Williams? Is he the one manipulating your fate?"

Phoebe shook her head.

"No. In fact, he's the one who has been helping me."

She leaned backward slightly.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time. Why did Uncle Fredero's family use a spiritual disease on my mother and sister, but not me? If they wanted to deal with me directly, they could have."

"I spoke with my mentor," Phoebe said.

"After going through everything we knew, we came to a conclusion. Anthony… Uncle Fredero's son… is a witch. One with the sin of Prophesying."

She let that hang in the air for a second.

"Jake Williams... is also a witch from the Sin of Prophesying."

Seth connected the dots immediately.

"It is odd that within your Uncle Fredero's family, only Anthony isn't a witch with the sin of filth..."

"So you've concluded they're connected... That Anthony is a worker for Jake Williams?"

Phoebe shook her head again, a more decisive motion.

"No, it's not that."

She denied.

"After I gained this strange self-awareness, I started to see through my own memories. I found implanted ones... false scenes, emotions that weren't mine. After I untangled them and removed them, I finally remembered something else."

She paused, letting the weight of her next words settle.

"My uncle Fredero..."

She said slowly, her eyes locked on Seth's.

"He doesn't have a son named Anthony."

A cold, understanding chill ran down Seth's spine.

'So it's not that Anthony and Jake Williams are connected... it's that he's a fake person, a role played by Jake Williams from the very beginning...?'

Phoebe saw the realization in his eyes and continued, not needing to spell it out.

"It was most likely Jake Williams, posing as Anthony, who manipulated my uncle's family into creating the [Puppet of Disease]. He then guided the disease to only infect my mother and sister..."

"He probably also manipulated events so that you would walk into the room at the exact right time to find them and send them to the Coven of Solace before their condition became irreversible."

She took another shaky breath.

"And using their suffering as fuel, he stoked my anger, pushing me until I killed that vendor with my curse. He orchestrated my crime."

Seth fell into deep thought, rapidly fitting the new pieces into the puzzle.

He added details to what Phoebe had said.

"The reason for wanting me to send them to the Coven of Solace was to guarantee the Coven's attention would be on you..."

"They would investigate why your family was targeted by a [Puppet of Disease]. And by making you commit a supernatural murder, he guaranteed the Coven would find undeniable evidence of that you are a witch..."

He paused, the final, most crucial piece clicking into place.

"He wants you captured by the Coven of Solace. Not to harm you, but to... protect you?"

"To put you in a controlled environment, away from the greater existence that's truly manipulating you?"

She nodded slowly.

Seth exhaled.

The logic fit too well to be coincidence...

"If Jake Williams is also a prophet... then he likely foresaw what would happen if you stayed free. Surrendering yourself might be the only way to interfere with that future."

Phoebe smiled weakly.

"That's what I believe as well."

Seth looked around the room, his thoughts heavy.