After the two of them finished their bath, Elizabeth put on her nightdress again.
Arnold finished putting on his pajamas and was about to head to the other side of the room.
Seeing this, Elizabeth asked.
"Aren't you coming to bed…?" it was as if her earlier tantrum never happened. She was back to her old self. Looking down at her, he just couldn't overlap that innocent expression with the demon that appeared in the bathroom.
"I'll sleep on my own bed tonight."
He won't be able to withstand his urges if he sleeps next to her tonight. Any other night when she's not sore down there is fine but he tends to get handsy and go even further even when the girls are sleeping. It happened many times before and he doesn't think tonight will be different.
Sleeping next to Ceru is fine since she's just an eyeball with wings now. When she's tired, she tends to revert right back to that form.
Elizabeth pouted, "I thought we could cuddle..."
Arnold could feel someone's else pair of eyes (or eye) glare at him.
"Maybe tomorrow, Elizabeth." He sat on the bed beside her and gently rubbed her hand.
"Uhm, call me Liz…"
"Huh?"
"W-Well, I call you Al, right? Shouldn't we have nicknames for each other?" eyes droopy, she said as she squeezed his hand.
"…Alright, Liz."
Smile plastered on her face, she closed her eyes and soon her quiet breaths could be heard.
Arnold sat there for a few minutes looking down at her beautiful sleeping face. Pride welled up inside him but concern soon took over.
Ceru then came up to him before he could have doubts about his relationship with Liz.
She stared at Liz for a second before speaking, "I thought Papa was in danger. Her killing intent was almost inhuman."
"She can't control her own emotions. That tends to release her power subconsciously. But it's nothing I can't handle."
He had no confidence in his own words. Sure, it might seem so now but there's no telling how she will change over the years. She won't feel happy constantly watching how her soulmate embraces other women.
"What did you argue about?"
"She got jealous of Rachel, which turned into her accusing me of loving them more than I love her. Even if I told her otherwise, she might still act hostile towards Siana and the others."
"Are you worried she might hurt them?"
"Yeah."
"But you're confident you can control her, right?"
"More or less… All I need to do is threaten that I'll leave her if she won't listen to logic."
"And if that fails?"
He sighed. Ceru probably also saw Liz as an unstable threat.
He clutched the necklace around his neck:
"It wouldn't be impossible to seal her powers away until she behaves herself…"
"But placing another stigma on your soul is going to be dangerous. Not even Gods have attempted to do this. They always break the first seal before establishing another."
"Did the Cardinals tell them the risks?"
Truth be told, he doesn't know what happens if you place a second stigma on yourself in order to use the artifact.
Ceru shook her head, "What I'm certain of is that, no matter who you might be, the artifact's stigma must not be stacked unless between different people."
"If I chose to take the last resort, I would need to remove the stigma I created for Guinevere."
"Why did Papa do that anyway…?"
"Guinevere was being sucked dry by some strange divine tree. It kept her alive using a blessing for hundreds of years. Since the tree vanished and the blessing was crumbling, I offered to be her God, as I am a Martial God candidate."
"…So out of kindness?"
"…No, I wanted to make her indebted to me and become a temporary ally. She knew this beforehand but still accepted my help anyway even after she tried to kill me."
Ceru looked confused. Yeah, anyone would find that explanation strange. How did they go from killing each other to becoming allies?
"Did you reveal yourself to Guinevere?" he changed the subject.
She shook her head, "I thought that would be bad… There were also other people there…"
"If you were a bit higher in level, I would have asked you to go help Guinevere. She might need a divine magician as backup. And who better but a Pure Angel. Speaking of which, how do you even level up?"
"Uhm, I don't know… On every reincarnation, my mama… biological Mama takes me across the nine realms while pregnant. I'm level cap the moment I am conceived."
'And Selia summoned her right from her mother's womb. How does that even work?'
The pure angels are pretty mysterious but maybe the system knows?
-….
It told him it doesn't have that information. It seems the developers implemented the mechanic but the writers didn't bother to explain it. That's not surprising since the game was just too big to write down everything and implement that logically into the story. Sometimes a few descriptions can break the lore so the writers have to skim through all of it over and over to ensure they can safely add even one line to the lore.
"Yorm or Guinevere will probably know. Your mom doesn't travel the nine realms alone, right?"
"Yes, she is always with other demigods and gods. Disguises aren't always the only form of defense against any who would try to harm her. She is very weak during her pregnancy so she needs support from others."
"Okay, once I convince Sylphiala to help break that portal, I want you to go with her and ask Guinevere about your leveling trials."
As a former High Valkyrie, she was probably told how it works.
"Un!" she gave an energetic reply. It seems she's also looking forward to becoming stronger.
Arnold's hand went through Liz's hand and he stood up. He then pushed Ceru towards the bed, "Go to sleep now. We can talk again tomorrow."
She had no objections and fell asleep almost instantly after he put her to bed. She's really like a toddler. Maybe she'll whine one of these days for him to read her bedtime stories.
Picture that… A grown woman with a mature body crying about some kiddy story and clapping along with the happy tales in the books.
Anyway, just because there's now a possibility that Ceru might regain her full power doesn't mean he is planning on changing anything in the arrangements made for the fight with Oriel.
It will still be him as vanguard, Mian Xi with her spirit powers as backup and Angelica as the divine magician rearguard.
An unbalanced team but enough to take down a demon lord on their own.
While he was watching the cute little eyeball with wings peacefully snore on his pillow, he felt a sense of dread coming from the other side of the room. In particular, coming from right beside Elizabeth.
He slowly got up and approached that side, his Aether coiling around his hand like a blade ready to cut it down.
He saw a woman's porcelain back, slender neck, tied up jet-black hair, draped in a dress that exuded a dark mist. It looked as if her body was mixing with the shadows that the moonlight couldn't touch.
"Long time no see… Tanaera." His Aether blade vanished.
As if her hair was underwater, it flowed gently when there was no wind as she turned slowly. Her expression was flat and her eyes looked at him with indifference. She looked back at Elizabeth without greeting back.
"This must be the girl you wanted me to train, the very reason you chose to become allies with me."
"Yeah. She might be a talented dark magician but she has no idea of what she can do with all her powers."
At this rate, it would take her years to learn everything unless she has a master. A school professor won't do since they deliberately leave out many things in the curriculum. No, what Liz needs is someone who would teach under the pretense that they would lose their teaching license.
Human body necromancy isn't the only thing that's banned officially. There are many other twisted spells, including mind control, that Liz is capable of but society wouldn't allow her to study through normal means.
"Her very presence feels inhuman. But," she glanced back, "I suppose she is not the only person who feels inhuman in this room."
He wondered if she was referring to Ceru or him.
"How did you find me?" he asked while staring at her weird dress that seems like the shadows itself had clothed her. The collar was so low that you could see the bumps of her small chest. This gave him some eye candy but he tried his best not to look as this would set him off.
"That necklace you're wearing has my mana, which I'm able to track. So, what did you use it for?"
"I used it to make a powerful ally."
"And? Do you feel the side effects of having a stigma on your body?"
"Funnily enough, there are none that I notice."
"I see. The nature or purpose of this particular stigma must be the reason. Despite there being no signs of its side effects, you must still remember that as long as the artifact holds and stays on your person, the stigma won't be too severe."
"Yeah, that's why I always wear it."
There was an uncomfortable silence. Tanaera just kept staring at Liz with a mysterious glint in her eyes.
Is that… envy? Arnold has no doubt that she was previously the greatest dark magician in all the nine realms. But then Elizabeth took her crown through her incarnation factor.
Then again, maybe Tanaera just never had a junior before so the prospect of teaching a fledgling how to control their power was very strange but interesting.
"Have you found a place for yourself in this world yet?" he broke the silence, recalling how their parting went.
"No. I have decided to linger in this empire for a little while, observing the nations. I'm not at all surprised that conflicts continue to rise among your people. Demihumans are keeping humans in cages, eating the human children and men and raping the women. Inquisitors are torturing Elves, thinking they are in cahoots with the demihumans. Villages are being burnt down and raided as victory prizes. It's all so barbaric… but not at all different from that tribe I used to live with."
He shrugged, "That's how we mortals are. We can't always agree on things sometimes so we turn to unsheathing our weapons and fighting to the death or we let our desires run wild when we think there will be no repercussions."
"Is that so? What would your reaction be to me rejecting your request of teaching this girl?"
"There's nothing I can do to force you."
"You would give up just like that?" for the first time, her eyes widened slightly.
"I'm not in a hurry to expect Elizabeth to learn all her powers."
As long as she can use a revival spell, he will take care of the rest or find other ways to fill in the gap. The Skeleton Merchant said he would appear when Arnold needs his goods most so there's that too.
There's no doubt that jack-of-all-trades will have something Arnold would need.
Then again, an overpowered dark magician helping him in the fight against Oriel is also very welcome but not a requirement. He also won't force Liz to fight with him.
"I would like to travel the country first. Once I am done, I will have an answer for you." As if that's all she came here to say, Tanaera walked towards the window. The whole wall suddenly turned transparent when she stood in front of it. Arnold could see a trail of black mist stretching far into the sky that connected to Tanaera's shadow.
She turned, noticing his confused expression.
"What is it?"
"…With how our last interaction went, I didn't expect this. I thought you would go find your own home."
"I still am, though?"
"…You know what I mean…"
Tanaera stepped onto the dark mist, "I wanted to see how you would change before I made up my mind. My first impression of you was that you would do anything for power, even at the expense of the lives of your allies or your own body and soul." she looked up at the moon and muttered, "But my observation was wrong. Swearing to kill the very demon that poisoned your soul in exchange for power, fearing what he might do if he gains control, is very noble."
"How did you—"
"You have a piece of me with you." She pointed at his chest, "Normally experiencing how others live is something only Gods can do but I learned that hatred can open windows for dark magicians like me if it transcends any normal sort of hatred."
"…Due to the hatred, you were able to spy on me?"
"Nothing of the sort. I was experiencing your thoughts and hatred. So before you could utter the words—that you would kill someone—I was the first to hear them. A spiritual connection was opened by that artifact. You might curse the sky tomorrow and I would know about it before you open your eyes to start the new day."
"If you know what I'm going through and thinking, has your opinion of me changed then?"
As if mulling over her answer, she went quiet for a moment.
He wouldn't say he's changed. Normally, humans wouldn't notice themselves change, only the perspective of others can confirm that.
But he knows his opinion on strength, life and his goals remain the same. He thinks that's what defines him as a person.
Maybe Tanaera's perspective is different?
"My worries are still there but I am still interested in seeing what will replace that hatred inside your heart." She gave a vague answer, "Will it change you? Will you seek a new target to unleash that hatred on? Or will it consume you?"
"I—"
"You have too much confidence in yourself, something I assume has been with you since birth. But that confidence did not help you when that demon inside you took over your body."
He frowned slightly.
She was saying all the right things that he didn't want to hear but still knew.
"This is goodbye for now, Arnold."
"Are you not even going to tell me a little bit about what you think of me now?" he appeared right in front of her in an instant and grabbed her arm, "You ran away last time like scared prey, thinking it will be caught in a bloody battle."
She responded calmly, "I am still that same cowardly rabbit who knows she will only be placed in danger if she stays on friendly terms with the wolf. One day this wolf might be in a territorial battle with other wolves and she, trying to help the wolf, will be hunted by the other enemy wolves. Yet at the same time, she knows that this wolf will lead her to a farm where crops grow infinitely. This rabbit is willing to stick around but will stay on the sidelines, not involving herself with the wolves."
"So this rabbit stays near enough to follow the scent of harvest, but far enough to flee if the wolves begin to fight"
"Yes."
"You are not only cowardly but greedy as well."
She didn't say anything back, just narrowed her eyes slightly.
"How do you know I'll lead you to great rewards?"
"It's not often that those who make it seem they know more about the universe than anyone else actually back it up. You are that exception, I think." She suddenly began to float along the dark mist's path. "One last thing," she turned, "My mana will always be with you so my eavesdropping won't stop until that window closes or you confront that hatred."
Her back was now getting smaller and smaller.
He wanted to shout for her to wait but he was left wondering something instead:
What makes him so important that she would trust this hunch of hers? Could the connection they share, due to her mana, really be that strong that she could subconsciously believe in him?
The wall suddenly began to close so he stepped back. The dark mist also vanished and so did Tanaera's signature.
He could always find her with the system and ask but he really wanted to know what's going inside her mind right now. Being left in the dark while the other party could eavesdrop on his thoughts and impulses is very annoying but it can't be helped.
He's convinced even Tanaera doesn't know what she wants from him. How could she if she doesn't even know what knowledge is inside his head?
Maybe she wanted him to show her what he could give her?
He looked back at the slumbering princess.
'She mentioned something about using Liz.'
The question now is: what does the second strongest dark sorcerer desire?
After climbing into his own bed after carefully moving the pillow Ceru was on, Arnold closed his eyes as that thought lingered in his mind.