The water within that illusory river wasn't the true water of the River of Eternal Darkness, but merely the aura diffusing from it… After all, even with this "Gate" designed by Roselle, it was impossible to break the Sefirah Castle seal that isolated the other Sefirots. That was something even the joint effort of Lord of Doors and the Night Emperor could not achieve.
Right now, the reason Ebner could borrow the faint runoff that seeped through the seal of the River of Eternal Darkness, allowing him to draw forth a trace of aura close to reality, was because the Viscount of Souls—Vicente, and both the previous and the next Death Gods, were tied to him. Add to that the fact that this lifetime's Cognizer was best at prying leverage points of power—only then was this possible.
Even so, the "Abyss," which had likewise not fully entered reality, still could not withstand the backflow of the River of Eternal Darkness' phantom tide. Thus, Farbauti decisively terminated this descent and discarded the entire region of the Abyss's first layer that had infiltrated Trier.
In an instant, deprived of its source of "filth," the Abyss collapsed under the wash of the phantom river tide, rapidly reconstituting itself into a human silhouette.
That figure bore a faint resemblance to Prime Minister Charlie Delien, but far more of him embodied the "divine abomination" that had descended upon him—Nois Farbauti.
That Devil Monarch abandoned even his own direct descendant and designed an escape vessel without hesitation. His coldness and ruthlessness were absolute.
After Nois regained his own consciousness, he attempted to flee using the Spirit World… but even the river tide's aura was part of a Sefirah—something a mere Sequence 1 could not escape.
Within the phantom tide, Charlie's figure suddenly surfaced—his complexion pale, his entire body dripping, like a drowned specter.
The moment he appeared, he seized Nois's ankle and dragged him back into the phantom tide. No matter how Nois struggled, it was entirely futile.
Gradually, Nois Farbauti felt his body growing colder and colder, his thoughts sinking into silence. His vision dimmed until the only thing he could see was the flickering, lightless waves.
He died… yet did not become an evil spirit, nor enter the Underworld. Instead, he was bound by the River of Eternal Darkness, sinking eternally into its phantom depths.
Immediately after, Nois' physical vessel left in reality rotted at an astonishing speed, turning to dust within seconds, leaving behind only a strangely peaceful, dim "divine abomination characteristic," which "Rhine" raised a hand to retrieve.
"With Tolzna returning to complete the 'Angel King' puzzle… Though it's tainted by something dangerous, I'll still have to go seek Evernight's help. Mm… I'll let him worry about this."
Occupying "Rhine's" projection, Lilith stored the characteristic away after briefly contemplating.
Then her full attention shifted toward the Arc de Triomphe, whose inner chamber was still filled with drifting gray fog. She murmured with faint emotion:
"So that's how it is… though it's useless to me."
…
Atop another tall building beside the Tulip Central Avenue, an Angel of the Aurora Order lay prone on the ground. Behind him, a faint, nearly transparent curtain of shadow materialized—within it, a pair of maddened eyes stared at the mysteries hidden within the Arc de Triomphe.
…
Meanwhile, the earth suddenly shook. A massive mech, no less than fifty meters tall, steam gushing from its back, burst up from underground.
This was the God of Steam and Machinery's divine descent vessel. Earlier, far too much time had been spent preheating and initializing it—so it ultimately arrived a step too late.
The enormous steam mech first erupted with the Light of Civilization, purging all Abyssal pollution afflicting every person and object—including Bernadette—before turning its head toward the Arc de Triomphe, where layers of mysterious "knowledge" flickered faintly. It seemed to glean something from it.
At that moment, the sunlight suddenly intensified, piercing through the dense clouds accumulated during the arrival of the River of Eternal Darkness. It shone upon the ruins of the destroyed White House and upon the central avenue, purging the shadows and negative emotions in all who were touched by its light—and even subtly modifying their memories.
…
At the same time, across the astral world, the spirit world, and the physical world, countless entities who had laid plans surrounding the Delien family were, through their dependents and believers, turning their gazes toward Trier—toward the Arc de Triomphe.
Unfortunately, they were all a step too late.
After repelling the Abyss, Ebner barely had time to redirect a tiny portion of the phantom tide toward the Yellow Saintess, Natalya, at the Delien family estate—before he could no longer sustain the state and retreated from the underground chamber's "Gate."
The Book of the Dead in his hand had by then turned into a completely ordinary book. Its parchment pages rapidly decayed, ready to crumble to dust with the slightest touch.
And his "transformation" ended as well.
Rubbing his temple slightly to ease his mental exhaustion, Ebner immediately looked toward the so-called "Delien family ancestor"—formerly Madam Julia—standing beside the Gate. Eagerly he asked:
"Did Roselle build the Arc de Triomphe in order to use the Sefirah's power to counteract his own pollution?"
"Julia" nodded.
"Yes… He once received from the former Elven Queen a soul stone condensed from the special soul of the Elven King.
"That soul stone could serve as a medium to reach the Sefirah City of Calamity… Unfortunately, he seemed greatly affected at the time—sometimes valuing this wonder greatly, sometimes treating it with indifference. As a result, it was never completed before his death…
"But I promised him I would finish the Arc de Triomphe, so I had the Delien family fund its construction until it was finally done."
So the Elven King's soul stone is with Yaloran?
No—no wonder. Since Roselle could find Yaloran for a deal, borrowing the soul stone was hardly a problem… Yaloran never valued it much anyway.
And so Roselle originally intended to connect to the City of Calamity… Was that influenced by the Calamity Seal?
While these thoughts churned, Ebner asked again:
"When you finished building the Gate, you attempted to open it—this is how you ended up in your current state? Bound here?"
Though phrased as a question, his tone was certain. After all, while controlling the Arc de Triomphe, he had Cognized a great deal of information from within.
"Yes. I have long been dead… because I touched something I should never have touched…"
"Julia" let out a bitter laugh.
"And I fear Roselle had long anticipated I would do it—that's why he entrusted the Arc de Triomphe's construction to me…
"Otherwise he would not have told me the name 'Liu Bo', nor asked me to wait here for you…
"Heh, had I not attempted to open that Gate, I would never have been able to wait here for you!
"In his later years, he truly was ruthless. Everything he did was filled with calculation!"
Old Huang (Roselle) truly was full of schemes in his final years…
But since he arranged for you to wait for me… that means he still left you a final chance at survival. After all, besides the future Fool, only I can resolve your condition.
Just then Ebner felt the ground tremble. He knew the Arc de Triomphe, having endured the phantom tide of the River of Eternal Darkness, had reached its "end point" and was about to collapse.
So he seized the fleeting time and asked the one question he had never managed to "Cognize":
"What did you use as the 'medium' to open that Gate?"
(End of Chapter)