Although the Church of the God of Combat and the Einhorn family chose to stand on Adam's side in this contest over "0-08," they clearly did not invest much strength.
Take, for example, the "Duke of Graycastle," Wimbledon Einhorn, who had summoned the power of the "Duke of Blood," Yaldabaoth, and Archbishop Ivan, who had allowed the projection of the Inquisition's Chief Judge, the "Glory" Boris, to descend before Ebner Bryan…
They—and the existences backing them—were themselves members of the "Twilight Hermit Order." They were double agents. Even if they were lost in this struggle, it would not be a major loss to the Church of the God of Combat or the Einhorn family.
As for the true core demigods and angels of the Church of the God of Combat and the Einhorn family, not a single one of them had come…
After all, the God of Combat personally stepping in to block the Lord of Storms was already a favor great enough.
But in truth, even Wimbledon and Ivan, along with the Yaldabaoth and Boris behind them, although members of the "Twilight Hermit Order" and nominally Adam's subordinates, likewise did not go all out.
On the surface, the projections of the "Sage" Bernadette and the "Black Saintess" Medea on Ebner Bryan's side seemed to be fighting fiercely with their opponents, but in reality both sides had a great "tacit understanding," only using "historical projections" to clash against "power phantoms"…
Ebner Bryan himself, just like Wimbledon and Ivan, was merely in a standoff.
The three of them even watched the "Avengers" besieging Ince Zangwill while chatting and commenting.
"The item in the chivalrous thief 'Black Emperor's' hand is 'Creeping Hunger,' right? Heh, it seems his true identity is Gehrman Sparrow!" Archbishop Ivan said. As someone who had originally been an Adjudication Knight of the Inquisition, he was naturally familiar with all kinds of intelligence, so he recognized Klein's disguise at a glance.
"That half-giant girl's outfit reminds me of Roselle… Mm, he once had similar designs… Don't look at me like that. The reason I know this is because, under Lord Yaldabaoth's introduction, I have some acquaintance with the 'King of the Five Seas,' Nast. I heard these things from him." Wimbledon Einhorn said this, then glanced at Ebner Bryan opposite him and continued, "Since we won't be able to decide a winner anytime soon anyway, why don't we guess who '0-08' will end up belonging to?"
It was precisely because they judged that it was impossible to defeat Ebner Bryan in a short time and break through this hall, whose rules had already been established by the "Hand of Order" that they were acting so "slack."
After all, even if they went all out and paid a price, they still would not catch up to the battle between the "Visionary Angel" and the "Angel of Fate," so why bother working hard? Might as well just lie flat!
—Of course, the above was Ebner Bryan summarizing their mentality for them.
Hearing Wimbledon's question, Ebner Bryan smiled and said, "Haven't you noticed? '0-08' has already been taken!"
"Huh? That's true!" Ivan reacted first. His "Demon-Hunting Eye" opened, and he immediately saw the figure under "psychological invisibility" who had quietly swapped the feather pen while Ince entered his "mythological form" and his mind fell into brief madness.
That figure then very quickly handed the "stolen" '0-08' to a "giant dragon" that had entered reality from the "Mind World"!
The giant dragon did not hesitate at all. The moment it obtained '0-08,' it swallowed it whole in one gulp.
"What is that…?" Wimbledon frowned and asked.
"That is the 'Dragon King,' the ancient god Ankewelt… While Adam was unable to spare attention, He swallowed '0-08,' advanced to Sequence 1, and will certainly seek refuge with an orthodox god afterward… Your plans this time have 'fallen through,'" Ebner Bryan said calmly, as if stating a simple fact.
However, he only said your plans had fallen through—he did not say that Adam's plans had.
"In that case… there's no longer any need for us to fight?" Wimbledon chuckled.
He did not feel much disappointment. After all, as a member of the Einhorn family, although he had joined the "Twilight Hermit Order," his heart still leaned more toward his own family.
Ivan was the same. He had come only because of a mission, and the enemy was indeed extremely strong. Every arrangement made by the chairman seemed to have been—thwarted—and failure could hardly be blamed on him.
Thus, the three exchanged a look and, with tacit understanding, withdrew their respective "angel-level" powers.
As Ebner Bryan let the projections dissipate, he looked at the figure who had offered '0-08' to the "Dragon King" Ankewelt and pondered inwardly:
So it was Miss "Greed" who made the move… She's been controlled by the "Dragon King"? Since when? No wonder she previously paid such close attention to Ince and to '0-08'.
Mm, most likely during that battle where "Lust" was set up…
Using Miss "Greed" to swap out the "Quill of Alzuhod"—perhaps that old dragon, after seeing the power hidden behind me, felt that having someone around me do this would have a higher success rate? Because many who know of my existence would give me some "face"…
Heh, that really is something that old dragon would do!
Of course, that's only on the surface—or rather, that's the misdirection given to others… As for the truth, hehe…
...
At the same time, after witnessing the "Dragon King" Ankewelt devour the "Quill of Alzuhod" and quickly leave the scene, "Greed" Ksenia suddenly looked toward the window of a nearby building, pursed her lips, and said:
"Closfia, come out!
"I know that starting from the exhibition hall, you've been following me the whole time."
A sigh sounded. Closfia lifted her "psychological invisibility," walked in front of Ksenia, and asked expressionlessly, "When did you break free of my control?"
Ksenia glanced at her and said irritably, "Switch personalities. You being this 'cold' makes me feel a bit uncomfortable!"
Only then did she answer Closfia's question:
"The personality you controlled has always been there… it's just that, with that lord's help, I replaced the main personality with a virtual personality.
"But whenever I was with you, I would temporarily switch back to the controlled personality… that's why you never noticed."
"So that's how it was!" Closfia nodded thoughtfully, then smoothly switched back to her own main personality. She curled her lips and congratulated her playfully, "Congratulations on gaining your freedom!"
"Freedom? What freedom do I have?" To her surprise, "Greed" Ksenia gave a bitter smile. "My current personality is still in a 'hypnotized' state…
"After this, I'll be given by that lord to Ebner Bryan… as a thank-you gift.
"I remember that I was already given to him once by you back then… and now it's happening again… this is really awful!"
(End of the chapter)