Lamia… Isn't that the name of Lilith's avatar? Could it be that She personally came to visit?
Ebner immediately lost his composure internally, even feeling a bit flattered.
Still, in front of the servant, he maintained a calm expression and instructed her to invite the visitor into the living room. He then changed out of his morning clothes and put on formal attire.
Meeting a deity required at least a little formality…
Of course, Ebner was also carrying a faint, inexplicable excitement in his heart. After all, he possessed all the memories of "Giuseppe Castiya," and his feelings toward Lamia were inevitably different.
However, when he left the bedroom, walked through the corridor, entered the living room, and saw "Lamia" sitting on the sofa sipping Duke's black tea, he suddenly felt disappointed.
—Though the appearance was identical and the aura nearly the same, Ebner instantly recognized that she was not the one from his memory…
The "Lamia" before him was merely a "skin" shaped by "Rhine."
Sensing the subtle shift in Ebner's emotions, "Lamia"—or rather, Lilith—put down her teacup and smiled.
"What's wrong? Are you not happy to see me visiting?"
"No, I just didn't expect you to come personally…" Ebner regained himself and gave a casual excuse.
But this was also true. He had indeed never expected the deity's "vessel" to personally seek him out… he had always gone to the Harvest Church on his own initiative.
"You should understand, Rhine's body is now the 'Goddess of Beauty.' If I went out with Her true appearance, it would definitely cause unnecessary trouble… And while Lamia's appearance is also quite good, she doesn't embody the concept of 'beauty.' That's why I borrowed her form…" Lilith explained, then dispelled the illusion around her.
In an instant, the devastating beauty of the "Goddess of Beauty" was revealed. She continued:
"As for 'Lamia'… I remember telling you she was killed by Suah, and her body was taken by him. If you want to retrieve her, you'll have to work for it."
That I know. Although Lamia was once your avatar, she had no related memories. So when she encountered Suah, she had no way of resisting…
And Lamia's essence was a special tree, similar to Miss "Plants." The fact that Suah ultimately took her was very likely part of the so-called "Silver Moon" plan!
Heh. The Mother Tree of Desire and the Tenebrous World are intertwined, the "Dark Side of the Universe" was just filled with water from the "River of Eternal Darkness" by me, Danitz-turned-Sealed-Artifact "1-025" has returned to the Chained God's body, and Suah has probably seized a problematic special "plant"…
No matter how I look at it, the time for the final confrontation isn't far away.
Perhaps once Suah finishes digesting the "Abomination" characteristic Tolzna left inside his body, the showdown will begin!
It's a pity that Danitz's memories still had a missing section. Otherwise, I might've been able to "Discern"—no, "Cognize"—the general plan…
But that may actually be for the best. If I could cognize it, the Mother Tree of Desire would probably sense something as well.
While thinking, Ebner naturally sat on the sofa opposite Lilith, pondering as he asked:
"You came to see me—do you have something important to instruct me?"
Lilith shook her head with a smile and replied:
"Isn't you the one who had something to ask me?"
Every movement of the "Goddess of Beauty," every small expression, carried ultimate "beauty." Even a simple shake of the head made Ebner stare for several seconds before regaining his senses.
It's not that I'm lustful… not even lusting after my own former body… This is simply the influence of the Goddess of Beauty!
After some mental adjustment, Ebner recalled Lilith's meaning:
Right. The reason I didn't cancel the projection that day, even though my spirituality was nearly exhausted, was that I wanted to ask Lilith something…
But she had only told him to seek her out. He hadn't expected a deity to "stoop down" and come to him instead…
He lifted the cup of red tea prepared by the servant, drank a sip to collect his thoughts, and then carefully asked:
"You said that since I've passed the Sequence 3 'threshold,' you no longer need to avoid me. What did you mean by that?"
Although reading Roselle's final diary gave Ebner some guesses, he still wanted confirmation from Lilith.
Hearing this, Lilith's smile faded. She spoke seriously:
"When you advanced to Sequence 3, you should have sensed the 'Unknown'… If the Evernight Goddess hadn't immediately forced you into 'slumber,' the Unknown would have silently assimilated your mind.
"Of course, calling it assimilation isn't quite accurate. You are originally one with It. 'Integration' or 'merging' might be more appropriate.
"Back then, when you directly possessed the bodies of Sequence 3 individuals, it was… well, using the phrase you taught me—'skipping straight to the finish line.'
"As for me, Herabergen, Amanises, and even Vera and Yarolan—each of us is connected to the Unknown and even contaminated by It… hm, only Amanises is slightly better…
"So if I hadn't avoided you before, I might've accidentally exposed Amanises's plan, allowing It to prepare for your Sequence 3 advancement… If that happened, you would probably have ended up like your previous iterations, stuck before Sequence 1 and never daring to advance again."
Hearing this, Ebner frowned and asked in confusion:
"Isn't the 'Unknown' asleep? How could It make preparations?"
"Never underestimate a Great Being. Even if Its primary consciousness is truly asleep, Its scattered spirit can still handle many things…
"It's the same as the Primordial Demoness. She is also 'asleep' now and unable to respond to most requests, but She has left contingency mechanisms for many important matters!
"If even She is like this, then what about the Unknown?" Lilith replied meaningfully.
Why do I feel like you're subtly mocking me for capturing a few Demonesses…
Ebner grumbled inwardly. Still, he more or less understood Lilith's point. He then deliberately shifted the topic:
"So what you're saying is… the time I encountered the 'Saintess of Black' at the Hall family banquet wasn't just simple 'bad luck' or a mere convergence effect…"
As he spoke, he suddenly realized something. He shook his head and murmured to himself:
"No… If you wanted to hide this from the Unknown, then it had to be simple 'bad luck' and convergence. Only then would my advancement into 'Cognizer' within the Goddess's domain appear 'reasonable'…
"The reason I was 'unlucky' was because I had no choice but to use the uniqueness of the 'Wheel of Fortune' to snatch that one slim chance in my fight with the 'Glory'…
"And the reason I confronted the 'Glory' was Adam's arrangement, with the approval of the Goddess and you… On the surface, the purpose was helping me fully digest the Seer potion.
"But beneath that, it may also involve the identity and origins of the 'Glory,' the layout of the Calamity Seal, and other deep secrets… In short, every hidden layer is worth exploring…
"But the core goal of the Goddess and you… may simply have been to give me a 'Bad Luck' negative effect?
"I was wondering why the Church of the Storms suddenly had a 'Kraken Extermination Battle' that didn't exist in the original story…
"So it turns out that this seemingly insignificant negative effect… was actually the key to an enormous plan involving multiple major factions and countless hidden truths!"
(End of Chapter)