Even after losing most of his extraordinary abilities, Mr. Gluttony showed no fear or despair. He merely looked calmly at Ebner — who was wearing a woman's beautiful face — and asked in a deep voice,
"Who exactly are you?"
— The face Ebner wore wasn't Fors' real one, but the one she had imagined for herself, slightly more attractive than reality. According to her, it was modeled after "Miss Cissy," the heroine of Wuthering Heights.
Ebner ignored the question. He immediately unleashed a combined Manipulation + Enchantment ability, intending to seize full control of the man before him.
He had no plan to chat before finishing the job. After all, villains always died because they talked too much… and although he was a very "upright" person, that was one cliché he preferred to avoid.
Seeing this, Mr. Gluttony realized he couldn't extract any more information. He sighed lightly — and then his "existence" began to thin, fading like mist under sunlight.
No! He's just a fragment — a projection of a "Virtual Personality"!
Ebner immediately noticed something was wrong. Without hesitation, he tore through the man's mental defenses and simulated the Theft ability, attempting to salvage some of his "memories."
At the same time, he injected fragments of knowledge about "Liu Bo" directly into that mind.
Moments later, Ebner watched as the new "spot" in the Unknown Land dimmed and disappeared. He exhaled slowly, musing:
"So the 'Mr. Gluttony' in Conston was just a split-off Virtual Personality… just like Miss Justice's Odelya in the original work. The difference is, his version was much stronger — demigod level!"
"The Dark Domain I created through the 'Antimancer' trait can suppress most powers below Sequence 2… but some fall outside its reach — for example, Virtual Personality projections. Otherwise, my technique should've erased him directly, not let him withdraw voluntarily."
"Looks like I can't rely too blindly on 'Antimagic' effects. Just like an 'Arbiter's' Decree Prohibition, there must always be loopholes."
"Same goes for the River of Destiny. I can't place too much faith in it either — this time, Mr. Gluttony's fate completely escaped my observation!"
"Also… judging from that brief psychic feedback, his true body must be somewhere on the Feysac side of the Jianhai coast. Most likely Indor Port."
After this round of deduction and decryption, Ebner turned his focus to the last thing he'd gained — the memories he'd stolen from Mr. Gluttony's mind.
"Alien Sequence: Gourmand.
Gains ancestral powers by devouring the flesh and soul of high-sequence descendants.
A week ago, sensed danger through the 'Andariel' bloodline and left Conston, leaving behind this Virtual Personality.
Orchestrating trade conflict between Feysac and Loen…
Recently discovered that animals in Conston, when traced back by bloodline, connect to powerful beings. From a sewer rat, I obtained a mix of Thief and Criminal abilities — to steal others' thoughts, plant seeds of desire inside them, then return them — thus creating a puppet of 'Desire.' Pity the rat tasted terrible.
I've gotten used to the flavor of rats… maybe I should try cockroaches next?
No, I mustn't indulge in feeding. My goal is to study their minds!
During my lectures, I subtly disseminate a particular sigil — fulfilling the requirements of the sealed artifact 'Heavenly Banquet'..."
Ebner frowned at the chaotic stream of thoughts. After sorting them for several minutes, he finally pieced together the truth:
"Mr. Gluttony possesses a sealed artifact from an extraterrestrial pathway called Heavenly Banquet. The associated path begins at Sequence 9 as Gourmand. By consuming a creature's bloodline, it can trace it back to the source and gain the power of that ancestor."
"The exact sequence of this artifact is unknown, but it's certainly high-rank."
"Tsk, why do I keep running into alien pathways lately? And this one — with its 'devouring' and 'origin-tracing' themes — is obviously tied to the Primordial Hunger."
"Right — Alvin's Puzzle Labyrinth was made from an angelic characteristic of the Wealth or Fortune pathway, which might also originate from Primordial Hunger's line. Hah, is this becoming a supernatural convergence?"
"Anyway, back to the main issue. Based on the traces of Silica's aura at the manhole, I can boldly deduce that Azik's daughter was most likely slain by Mr. Gluttony through the Heavenly Banquet. He didn't just devour her body — he consumed part of her soul. That's why the current undead Silica lost her memories and cannot advance further."
"This also explains how he's lived for centuries — if he devoured a vampire, he'd automatically 'trace back' and gain longevity."
"Finally, it seems Heavenly Banquet has already connected with the Outer God Primordial Hunger. That's why it demanded he spread a sigil to thin the barrier — letting its power seep into the world."
"Mr. Gluttony clearly doesn't realize what an Outer God truly is. He probably thinks it's just a condition imposed by the artifact itself."
"Heh… looks like even the 'pollution' I left on him was probably cleansed by Primordial Hunger personally. My influence was too shallow — nothing compared to the corruption already in him."
Realizing no one had come back to investigate, Ebner sighed in mild disappointment.
He'd planned to exploit the criminal instinct of "returning to the scene" — hoping Mr. Gluttony would come for a second look. Unfortunately, his enemy wasn't that reckless.
Next, Ebner searched the villa. Apart from some gold and antiques, he only confirmed one thing — Mr. Gluttony's public identity in Conston: Gresham Osmond, the owner of an upscale restaurant.
"Sure, opening a restaurant suits a glutton," he muttered, "but somehow that just makes it creepier…"
He then organized his next steps:
"First — everything here traces back only to the Virtual Personality, so it's useless for tracking his real body.
"Second — the identity 'Gresham Osmond' is probably already discarded. He won't use it again soon.
"So, aside from knowing he's somewhere along the Jianhai coast, my leads are basically dead.
"Maybe I can probe a bit during the Psychological Alchemy Society's Council meeting on Friday?"
As his thoughts turned, Ebner glanced at the Spirit World passage crafted with Silica's power — and suddenly had an epiphany.
"Wait… Azik's commission was just to find Silica's killer, not to capture him.
"Now that I've practically confirmed the culprit… this should be for Mr. Azik and Karen to handle, right?
"They're her father and lover respectively — it's only proper they avenge her.
"I, an outsider, don't really need to intervene further."
Decision made, Ebner took a pen and paper from the villa and wrote a letter. He summoned his Demon Wolf messenger to deliver it.
After that, he entered Alvin's Puzzle Labyrinth and woke the still-hypnotized Fors.
Where am I… what happened… Her eyes refocused. After a moment's confusion, she blinked at Ebner — and suddenly widened her eyes.
"Is… is it over?" she asked.
But before Ebner could answer, her gaze fell downward, and she blurted,
"Wait — why are you wearing my clothes?"
…
(End of Chapter)