Outside the abandoned chapel in the center of Williams Street, Ebner didn't leave immediately after tossing the sealed box over the vine-covered wall onto the rubble- and weed-strewn floor. Instead, he decided to wait a few minutes to observe any reactions.
What he hadn't expected was that the moment the box touched the ground, its many seals began to undo themselves on their own. Then the lid sprang open, and a swirl of black-and-white mist surged out, immediately seeping into the underground passage previously buried by Miss "Temperance."
What is this... With the "Pure White Eye" still active, Ebner instantly sensed that the portion of the chapel above that buried tunnel radiated an intense power of order, while the area below teemed with chaos.
Under the effect of such extreme order, many previously hidden and deliberately erased traces began to reappear—this time with exceptional clarity.
Noting this, Ebner's mind stirred. He vaguely realized this might be the "benefit" Princess Vera had promised him. So he began to "extract" the auras, "analyze" their origins, and "reconstruct" the scene.
Soon, a dynamic image appeared before his eyes:
A black-haired, blue-eyed woman of ethereal beauty, dressed in a sacred white robe, led a hooded man bound by spider silk into the chapel. She spoke softly, "Lord Medici, I've brought the 'Gatekeeper' as promised."
Soon after she spoke, the hooded man's eye sockets ignited with two crimson flames—entirely different from before.
"Well done," the hooded man said as the spider silk on him was devoured by suddenly flaring flames.
"Lord Medici, can you now remove the 'God of Lost Minds' power that person imposed on me?" The white-robed woman—none other than the "White Saintess" Katarina—smiled faintly, her eyes gleaming.
"Give me your blood and recite my honorific name. I can immediately expel the power imprisoning your mind... but are you willing? Would you really trade being his puppet for being mine?" Medici glanced at her, the corner of his mouth slowly curving upward. "Of course, you could also recite my Lord's honorific name and pray for His gaze. That might work too."
Katarina's expression froze at his words, unable to hide her reaction. It took several seconds for her to recover, after which she tentatively asked, "Is there really no other way?"
"You could try obtaining a 'Grade 0' Sealed Artifact and leverage its angel-level authority to break free—just like how you're able to stand beside me now." Medici chuckled. "But let's be honest, not only are those artifacts nearly impossible to get, even if you leave my proximity, would your body still follow your mind's command? That's a gamble."
Katarina's expression darkened, but she clearly hadn't given up. In a pleading tone, she asked again, "Is there really no other way? I'm willing to do anything for you."
As she spoke, she deliberately took a few steps closer, subtly displaying her alluring figure in front of Medici.
Sauron Einhorn Medici raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "What, trying to seduce me? Under the right circumstances, I wouldn't say no—but now's not a good time..."
As he said this, he materialized an image of the "Red Priest" card and continued, "Still, your sincerity moves me. If you can find and bring me the blood of direct descendants from the Sauron, Einhorn, and Medici families, I'll give you this card. You should know what it is. Though it lacks any supernatural traits, its rank rivals that of angels. It should help you."
Katarina's expression turned serious and solemn. She nodded slowly."I understand... Thank you for the opportunity, Lord Medici."
With that, she turned and entered the chapel through a shattered stained-glass window, vanishing somewhere within the layered illusion of the mirror world.
As the demoness disappeared, a mouth split open on the left side of the hooded man's face, remarking, "That demoness is quite the theatrical actress. She deliberately makes herself seem like someone who's bad at hiding emotions, a little too restless, and not quite clever enough—like someone easy to read."
"Exactly. She clearly doesn't trust you, Medici," added another jagged, bloody mouth opening on the right side of his face. "She's more likely to intentionally show flaws in front of the demigod who holds the 'God of Lost Minds' Sealed Artifact, lure him here, and use us to kill him. At the same time, she might use that person to damage the 'Gatekeeper's' body—forcing us back into a sealed state."
"Tch. Demonesses really are cunning," Medici muttered. Then, after a short pause, the regular corner of his mouth curled again, and he added, "But I never actually expected her to bring me that blood. Don't you two have any thoughts about that demoness? If you were to obtain her trait, it might not be a bad thing for you."
"Shut up!" the mouths on both sides of Medici's cheeks shouted in unison.
A vague, inscrutable smile also appeared on Medici's face.
The scene from the "retrospective" ended there.
That woman in the white robe—the one who killed Mr. Surry as shown by Arrodes—was the same person. She had to be the "White Saintess" Katarina.
She had actually been controlled by the power of the "God of Heartlessness" and even turned to Medici for help, bringing him the "Gatekeeper"... This had already deviated completely from the plot of the original novel, hadn't it?
Owen was a member of the Delian family, and the Delians had ties to the Sea King... So was the sealed item of the "God of Heartlessness" on him from the Sea King, or was the Sea King using that item to control Admiral Deep Sea?
Of course, it could also be that the two sources were unrelated, only gathered into the same family because of the Convergence Effect...
Thinking of this, Ebner turned his gaze toward the buried tunnel again. He could sense that the chaos below had already subsided, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
After that black-and-white mist scrubbed the chaotic part underground, the power that restrained the Red Angel is likely gone as well... He's completely free now!
Recalling how Vera had set a deadline of before dawn for Xio's mission, Ebner quietly performed a "prophecy" and then, through divine insight, analyzed part of Her Highness's intentions:
The result of the prophecy is that Owen will come here to investigate after midnight upon noticing the flaw Katarina deliberately revealed...
And Vera released Medici ahead of time... She doesn't want Owen to run into Medici?
Hmm... This intention likely doesn't come from her. She probably just lent a helping hand casually... After all, there was no guarantee Xio would actually come to complete the mission...
As for why they didn't want Medici to encounter Owen, Ebner had a rough guess—someone was using Medici to carry out a plan targeting Adam, and naturally didn't want one of Adam's subordinates to cross paths with him.
But this method is rather crude... It definitely couldn't have come from the God of Knowledge and Wisdom...
Who could it be then? The Dragon King?
Hmm... Come to think of it, Xio once served as a pawn for the Imaginary Dragon and a Tamara family member in East Chester County...
Now Vera also seems to be helping that Dragon King patch up holes in the plan...
And Xio did say before that Her Highness Vera is very familiar with the Tamara family... She even has a 'Grade 1' sealed artifact from them...
Narrowing his eyes, Ebner glanced at his watch, then stopped lingering any longer. Under the cover of "Ivins's Hidden Barrier," he took Xio with him and headed toward Mr. Surry's villa, which was also in the West Borough.
—After all, he had promised to craft Beyonder items for Klein and Fors, and would naturally need to borrow a workshop.
…
Shortly after Ebner left, the Red Angel evil spirit finally returned to the underground ruins on Williams Street. The crack on the left side of his face twitched slightly in response and exclaimed in disbelief, "This is Tamara's aura... She actually still exists?"
"What is this? Compassion? A show of power?" The crack on the other side echoed.
"She was worse off than us back then—barely saved from complete madness thanks to Rhine's help... and yet she recovered!" Medici said in surprise.
"No, with you around, we were worse off than her!" the other two mouths spoke in unison.
"But with you two, I find things so much more entertaining!" Medici laughed instead of getting angry, mocking their lack of provocation skills compared to his own.
As they ridiculed each other, they had the possessed "Gatekeeper" re-enter the spirit world... But this time, they would not be coming back.
At that moment, the clock's hands pointed precisely to midnight.
(End of Chapter)