After being pinned beneath the Five Finger Mountain, Russell, whose mind was already slipping into confusion, prepared to unleash his Incomplete Mythical Form in a desperate bid to break free.
But before he could even act, he suddenly forgot what he was about to do. When he regained clarity and tried to resist again, it was already too late.
By then, even his spirit had been sealed by the Five Finger Mountain, and his consciousness sank into complete oblivion.
From the moment Russell transformed into his demonic form and tried to flee, to the instant he was utterly subdued and sealed — the entire process, though seemingly complex, had taken less than a minute!
In Daphne Priestley's eyes, the silver-haired, red-eyed angel had simply spoken a short incantation. Her fair hand turned into an invisible spatial construct that enveloped the transformed demon. No matter how he struggled or tried to escape, he couldn't fly out of that angel's palm.
In the end, he was caught and imprisoned within a mysterious pocket dimension.
And since the "door" to that mysterious space appeared right upon the glass window of her own living room, Daphne had been able to witness Russell's final struggle from beginning to end.
Not only did She steal his thoughts, She also seemed to seize control of his spirit threads… Though She didn't even go all the way. If I had faced this angel myself, my fate wouldn't have been any better than Russell's…
Thank goodness I converted when I did, Daphne thought, trembling in both awe and relief. She couldn't help but take this as a divine warning from the angel herself.
Without hesitation, she offered a prayer to the great Pure White Eye, Lord of Destiny, Emperor of Knowledge and Machinery.
Ebner ignored the Scholar of Yore's devout prayer and instead walked up to the glass window that served as the "door." There, he began to invade Russell's mind using a "Virtual Personality."
"Friend of Intis Republic's Prime Minister, Charlie Delien;
"Devout follower of the Bloody Archduke, Ayr von Nois;
"Masquerades as an 'upright yet pedantic' inspector to toy with others' hearts;
"Lord Ayr took some interest in Detective Ebner Bryan, so I sent my conquered slave girl, Bianca, to his side to keep watch… Unfortunately, I never obtained any useful intelligence. I was about to advance then, so I didn't pay much attention to it either.
"Lord Ayr suddenly vanished, and Charlie grew restless — well, unlike me, he was merely a creation of the Lord's whim. Without divine favor, his power wanes and mutates. Still, as an ally, I helped him stabilize his state… In return, he promised to push my candidate, the female parliamentarian Carrie, into the Council.
"But that proposal was vetoed by Alice Camp… that damned woman!
"Recently, Charlie's obsession with eliciting a response from Lord Ayr has driven him to a series of insane acts and policies, drawing the Church's attention. I must start distancing myself from that lunatic.
"I must admit, Ebner Bryan's film was remarkable. It reminded me of my youthful days adventuring upon the sea…
"Not long after, while I was reminiscing about the ocean, Rena — with whom I once shared a passionate voyage — came to me again. She wanted me to help her investigate information on Owen Delien while hiding from her daughter…
"I agreed to her request, but I made one of my own: to have her assassinate a female parliamentarian. She accepted without hesitation.
"After spending a romantic day with her, I kept my word and reached out to Charlie.
"To my surprise, his condition seemed to have improved. He claimed that his efforts had finally been rewarded — Lord Ayr had answered him and assigned him a mission. Oddly enough, he didn't seem surprised by my arrival…
"Two days have passed… I wonder if Rena succeeded or not."
Using a secret art based on his Manipulator abilities, Ebner skimmed through the sealed devil's memories as easily as flipping through a diary.
— Perhaps due to the uniqueness of the Wheel of Fate, many of Ebner's self-developed secret arts presented information in the form of concise reports or bullet points.
It seems Russell wasn't directly involved in the attack on Owen, nor does he know who orchestrated it behind the scenes, Ebner mused.
But from his memories, it's obvious there's something wrong with that Prime Minister… He claims to have received another order from Ayr von Nois a few days ago? That's impossible — at that time, Ayr was still in the Rhosid Archipelago, and after Yaloran tore off his wings, he would need a long period to recover. There's no way he could've responded to his follower's prayers.
So then… who issued that "response"? The true mastermind, perhaps?
And so, Russell sent Bianca to spy on me — not just out of personal spite, but under Ayr von Nois's command!
Makes sense, though. My identity as Ebner Bryan was already on record with the Mother Tree since I took out those Lust Apostles from the Berrier family. For Him to send a disposable pawn to monitor me is perfectly reasonable.
Ha. And this idiot thought he'd "conquered" Bianca? Does he really not understand what sort of "control methods" he used?
Unfortunately for him, Bianca's body carries Source-quality corruption — none of those methods could've lasted long. She likely broke free ages ago and has been idling in my home ever since.
In the end, it was probably Bianca's… unique "traits" that caused Russell to stumble right into my hands so conveniently.
After mulling it over, Ebner turned to Daphne, who had been waiting obediently at his side, and said,
"Turn him into a marionette. I trust you can handle the aftermath — ensure this 'righteous inspector' dies under perfectly reasonable circumstances, without arousing official suspicion."
"Please leave it to me, Divine Emissary," Daphne replied reverently. She bowed first, then looked through the window at the seemingly slumbering Russell. Within seconds, she nodded lightly and said, "It's done."
At her words, Ebner sensed that Russell's spiritual island had completely collapsed. Concealing his intent, he quietly recalled Yaloran into the depths of his own eyes, and the Five Finger Mountain vanished instantly, restoring Russell's freedom.
Daphne manipulated the marionette Russell to bow respectfully toward Ebner. Then she severed her connection to it, offering it to him sincerely:
"This is your and the angel's trophy, my lord. Please accept it."
For a brief moment, Ebner was taken aback — then realization dawned. He chuckled and used a card to seal Russell's body, planning to later extract his Beyonder characteristic and harvest the devil's extraordinary materials.
— For a Scholar of Yore, any marionette that has belonged to them, even for just a second, forever remains theirs. They can always "pluck" it back from history later to clean up loose ends.
When all was done, and seeing that noon was approaching, Daphne erased her servants' and butler's memories, instructed them to prepare lunch, and warmly invited Ebner to dine with her.
Ebner, still having some questions left unanswered, accepted the offer without hesitation.
"Tell me about yourself," he said casually, cutting a piece of steak and placing it into his mouth. "Why are you so interested in the Phantom Empire?"
After thinking for a moment, Daphne replied softly,
"The Priestley family I belong to actually has certain connections to the Emperor of the Night…"
(End of Chapter)