"Do you have doubts?"
The "Dragon King" wearing Hvin Rambis's "skin," or rather, Adam, could naturally guess what Ebner was thinking. With a faint smile, He spoke meaningfully:
"This time, the 'gifts' I brought are only 'Pride' and 'Greed.' As for the rest, we can talk about them the next time the Supreme Council of the Psychology Alchemists convenes."
As He said this, He even stood up and offered a formal bow:
"Thank you for your assistance. It allowed me to seize '0-08' from that one's hands and successfully return to the rank of Sequence 1."
You're really committed to the role…
Yes, that makes sense. What's standing in front of me is only the 'Dragon King.' The reward He could give at most would be 'Pride' and 'Greed'; it certainly wouldn't include the chairman of the Psychology Alchemists. That would be unreasonable.
Realization dawned on Ebner. He then cooperated with Adam's performance, offered a few modest words, and asked with feigned curiosity:
"After advancing to Sequence 1, which god's protection did you accept? The God of Combat?"
After all, aside from the Two-Five Dragon and the Evernight Goddess—and Lilith—other gods did not know that the "Dragon King" had already been absorbed by Adam. For Him to seek the protection of a god would be the normal course of events.
Hvin Rambis chuckled softly.
"No. The Eternal Blazing Sun."
The Eternal Blazing Sun? In that case, Aucuses is probably going to suffer a heavy loss… And because of me, His condition wasn't very good to begin with…
Ebner nodded thoughtfully and did not ask further. He was well aware that this matter must involve Adam's schemes, and the other party would not casually tell him.
"In a moment, I will erase all the virtual personalities of 'Pride,' Hvin Rambis, leaving behind only a blank personality to be configured as you see fit.
"Of course, if you don't feel at ease, you may do it yourself… I believe that with your current methods, controlling a demigod should not be difficult.
"Additionally, I have implanted within 'Greed's' mind a personality that recognizes you as her master. With this, you can command her to obey every one of your orders."
As Hvin Rambis spoke, his gaze gradually went vacant. By the time he finished speaking, his entire body had fallen into a dazed state, as if his soul had departed.
At the same time, the at-least-angel-level "psychological invisibility" shrouding him completely dissipated, allowing the "Greed" and "Sloth" upstairs to instantly notice this uninvited guest.
In the blink of an eye, both ladies appeared in the living room.
"Who is this?"
"Sloth," Clossfia, swept her gaze over Hvin Rambis, who sat motionless on the chair like a doll, and asked.
Meanwhile, "Greed," Ksenia, glanced helplessly at Ebner. Unwilling yet powerless, she called out softly:
"Master…"
Ebner first nodded to the two of them, then replied:
"He is 'Pride.'
"One of the 'gifts' sent to me by a certain existence who benefited from the previous incident."
"One of them?"
Clossfia looked at "Pride" Hvin, then at "Greed" Ksenia, and a knowing smile appeared on her face.
"Greed" had clearly guessed who the gift-giver was as well. Her gaze toward "Pride" grew complicated, and she couldn't help but ask:
"How do you plan to 'deal with' this gift?"
Ebner narrowed his eyes, as if pondering. A moment later, he directly had the "Miracle Invoker" Alvin, hidden in the shadows, act—transforming "Pride," Hvin Rambis, into a marionette.
Ebner did not trust Adam in the slightest. There was no way he would really follow His suggestion and fill in some "virtual personality." Turning him into a marionette was far more convenient.
When Miss "Justice" needed it in the future, he could then extract the characteristic and sell it, completely ending Hvin's mission as "Pride."
Come to think of it, because of me, 'Justice' and 'World' have had a smoother journey than in the original story. They haven't really encountered any true life-and-death crises…
Perhaps I should use the identity of 'Pride' to temper them a bit.
First, it would stabilize George III, preventing him from noticing any cracks or sensing danger.
Second, from the feedback of the 'River of Fate,' I can vaguely tell that such actions would benefit my future.
As his thoughts turned, "Hvin Rambis" had already risen from the sofa and bowed to Ebner and to the ladies "Greed" and "Sloth":
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. 'Lust,' Miss 'Sloth,' Lady 'Greed.'"
The process of marionettization unfolded right before their eyes. Naturally, the two ladies could sense the change occurring within "Pride." While observing with interest, "Sloth," Clossfia, even lifted her skirt slightly and returned the bow.
But "Greed," Ksenia, felt a touch of the fox mourning the rabbit. The look in her eyes as she gazed at Ebner shifted from complexity to faint fear.
Of course, her worry was unnecessary. Ebner had no intention of turning her into a marionette as well.
After all, Lady "Greed" had helped him quite a bit in practice and also served concurrently as the chief executive officer of Bryan Film Company's Feysac branch.
Such a capable person, and one with ties of sentiment, was someone Ebner would neither emotionally nor logically act against.
However, Lady "Greed" did know far too many of his secrets—especially matters related to Vera. To prevent any leaks, Ebner still made use of the "authority" Adam had set and issued Ksenia the sole command:
"Recite my name!"
In the next moment, Ksenia was "moved" to tears and devoutly recited:
"An ignorant traveler from the unknown;
"The Blessed of night, moon, knowledge, and mystery;
"The Agent of the All-Seeing Eye and the Pure White Angel;
"The heroic detective of Backlund;
"The erudite Ebner Bryan.
"I pray to become your believer.
"I pray to become your Blessed…"
This entire process had already been tested many times on the "Red Saintess" and on Monica, who occupied the body of the "Blue Saintess." Ebner was very familiar with it, so he quickly caused Lady "Greed" to completely transform into one of his believers.
At the same time, unlike with the "Red Saintess," Ebner did not forcibly impose new suggestions upon Ksenia. He even removed the virtual personality Adam had implanted, preserving Lady "Greed's" sense of self to the greatest extent possible.
For this, "Greed," Ksenia, was deeply moved and offered up her "faith" with heartfelt sincerity.
This kind of secret art for developing believers, executed with the power of the 'Unknown Land,' really is extraordinarily effective…
In the past, my understanding was shallow and I never thought deeply about it. But now that I think about it, perhaps what the 'Unknown' deployed—before the 'God of Luck'—that 'Liu Bo' once brought back included authority related to 'control' or 'enslavement'…
Hmm… it might also be 'corruption'…
Heh. After all, 'I' was once the great 'Father of Succubi, Lord of Desire, Source of Corruption'!
(End of chapter)