If the Sefirah Castle truly had no master, then that was an earth-shaking piece of good news. But the man before him—Pallez strongly suspected that he might not be a "person" at all, but rather the Sefirah Castle's own consciousness that had gained sentience.
Of course, there was also a slim chance that some "old friend" had beaten everyone to the prize and quietly seized the Sefirah Castle.
Whichever the case, both spelled trouble.
If he were his old self from before being wounded by Amon, he might have risked it—fought for a chance at claiming the Sefirot. But now, he was far too injured.
At the same time, Edward was also conflicted. He did want to ask Pallez about Lilith, but meeting him here, in the Sefirah Castle of all places, was the last thing he wanted.
After all, when the Sefirah Castle was involved—especially with its ties to the three Coward families—no matter how much "conscience" a Marauder might claim to have left, he could never be trusted completely.
Yet if he killed Pallez outright, wouldn't that wreak havoc on Leonard's timeline?
He knew, after all, that in the future he had interacted with Pallez, even seen him take action. That confirmed the existence of a Marauder angel parasitising Leonard's body.
If he wanted to "patch up" the timeline the same way as before, he would have to find another Marauder angel to replace Pallez and have them parasitise Leonard instead…which was, to say the least, a daunting task.
But could he really just let him go?
Edward flicked a coin idly across his fingers, then asked after a brief pause, "Do you know Lilith? Not the Sanguine Ancestor, but the other Lilith—the one on the Witch pathway."
The sudden change of subject left Pallez momentarily puzzled, before he frowned and replied, "I've heard of her, but I never had any direct dealings with her."
"Tell me what you know."
"When I first heard her name, she had already fallen. They said she died in a battle against Cheek for godhood. Originally, this Lilith was believed to be one step closer to the Primordial Demoness. Cheek…you could say she was her 'subordinate god.' But then, one day, Cheek suddenly ascended to Sequence 0, and she perished as a result."
Edward frowned in thought. Pallez's account matched Medici's, though Medici had known more details.
"Ah, yes," Pallez added, "I also heard that later, when Cheek cooperated with the Underworld Emperor, he once tried to trace someone's whereabouts. At the time, no one knew who he was searching for, but some said it was that very Lilith."
As expected.
Lilith had survived the war for Sequence 0 by some unknown means, and Cheek had been searching for her ever since—until the day she was forced to appear in the future.
"Pallez Zoroast," Edward said evenly, his gaze steady, "what do you think I should do with an uninvited guest like you?"
"Keeping me alive is far more useful than a mere Sequence 1 characteristic," Pallez answered coolly. "After all, Amon must always keep part of His attention fixed on finding me—unless, of course, you have already completely mastered this place and no longer fear Him."
Though there was a note of probing in his words, Pallez was also stating what he believed to be his greatest value.
Edward tapped the tabletop lightly. A sheet of parchment materialised out of thin air and floated into Pallez's hands.
"Read these three sentences in Hermes."
Pallez glanced down. Without much hesitation, he recited calmly:
"The Eternal Sovereign Above Dimensions.
The Deconstructor of Endless Stories.
The Transcender of Past and Future."
As he finished the triad, a crimson star representing Pallez flared to life in the depths of the grey fog. Edward extended his spirituality into it, instantly forging a link between Pallez and the Sefirah Castle.
Edward then tossed a coin, invoking Madman to the Right to reinforce it:
From now on, with just a thought, he could drag Pallez directly into the Castle. And once inside, Edward would have complete control over him through Madman to the Right.
As someone who had once been the Trojan Horse of Destiny, Pallez immediately sensed the shift in his destiny. But instead of fear, relief washed over him—this meant that, at least for now, his life was no longer in imminent danger.
"Alright, you can leave now," Edward said.
"Wait."
Pallez quickly called out, "I…I hope you'll erase my memories of this place."
The request was obviously meant to make Edward feel more at ease.
"…"
Edward merely replied coolly, "No need. We may well meet again soon."
"I understand."
Edward waved his hand. A spectral portal appeared, a gust of wind sweeping Pallez away along with that discarded Sequence 4 characteristic.
"Pallez, old man," Edward muttered to himself, "you've really left me with quite the headache."
——
On the other side.
Pallez felt the grayish-white fog rolling before his eyes, and in a daze he had already left that little garden, returning to the streets of a city.
Almost instantly, an overwhelming weakness surged through him.
Back when he was fleeing Amon's relentless hunt, he had continuously split off and discarded Beyonder characteristics like a lizard shedding its tail. By the time he was trapped in the mausoleum, he had even split away the very last one besides his Sequence 1 characteristic—this Sequence 4 characteristic he had just reclaimed.
That was why he was so feeble now.
He gently tossed out the Sequence 4 characteristic. Behind him, the ancient stone bell turned, drawing the characteristic in. His condition immediately stabilised somewhat.
"Sigh…I still need to find someone to parasitise. But if I end up with another stubborn mule like last time, I'd rather not parasitise at all."
The descendants of the Abraham family were far too stupid. Knowing it was Amon's trap, they still insisted on throwing themselves in. Next time, he would have to keep well away from such people.
He was still brooding when, suddenly, he sensed someone walking toward him and frowned.
———
"Huh?"
Both the Secrets Sorcerer and Spiritcaster potions advanced in digestion again.
For the Secrets Sorcerer, this was no surprise. Even though Edward hadn't gone out of his way to act mysterious in front of Pallez, just sitting upon the Sefirah Castle's throne was already enough to count as "mystery" to him. And since Pallez would never dare spread today's events around, that also triggered the "keeping secrets" aspect.
The Secrets Sorcerer potion's digestion progress had now surpassed halfway.
But what truly startled Edward was that the Spiritcaster potion had also digested—just a little.
Edward rubbed his forehead in frustration. "What the hell did I do this time that caused digestion?"
He replayed everything that had happened before the digestion over and over in his mind, then conjured a quill and parchment to write it down:
Known: Using "False Reality" can promote digestion.
Also, after his encounters with Medici, Reinette, and Pallez, digestion had occurred—even when he hadn't used False Reality.
What else…?
Edward pressed harder on his temples, combing through every detail he knew about the Spiritcaster: its characteristics, its ritual, its abilities, and even the information regarding its Sequence 3 advancement.
Then, like a spark, something he had overlooked surfaced: the description during his advancement to Spiritcaster—
"Memory immortal, spirit undying."
Memory…memory?!
His pen froze, then realisation struck. "All these times the potion digested, they had one thing in common: it was my first meeting with them, and I left an impression—something that ensured they would remember me."
He quickly scribbled on the parchment:
So the Spiritcaster's acting principle is to make others remember you!
To carve yourself deeply into someone's memory—so that your existence becomes "immortal," and your spirit "undying."
If that was the case, why did False Reality also count toward digestion?
He understood at once: False Reality was essentially a form of manipulating or implanting memory (or consciousness).
But then another question emerged—
If that were so, why had his two encounters with Medici, a former King of Angel, not yielded as much digestion as this single encounter with Pallez?
Clearly, there was still a missing piece.
And that piece, most likely, had something to do with False Reality.
The problem was, he hadn't used False Reality on Pallez this time.
He racked his brain for a long while but found no answer.
"Looks like I just don't have enough experimental data yet."
But if his guess was correct, the Spiritcaster's role presented a troubling paradox:
His journeys into the past required him to keep as low a profile as possible—so as not to alter the flow of history.
Yet the Spiritcaster demanded he leave behind vivid, lasting impressions.
The two were in conflict.
This would not be easy to resolve.
———
Future, Year 1349.
Backlund.
Leonard strolled casually along the street, following a hooded figure while speaking inwardly to Pallez, "Old man, I keep feeling like there's something off about Miss Daly lately."
"Heh, and you just figured that out?"
"Haven't you noticed? She's not wearing that strange makeup anymore. She's become so much more cheerful."
"Isn't that a good thing? What, boy—are you falling for her?"
Leonard instantly denied it. "Impossible! Miss Daly and the Captain…you're the one who told me about their relationship. How could I…"
At the mention of Captain Dunn, his mood instantly sank.
"She's happier now. Isn't that good?"
"It is good, but…it feels hard to accept. You said yourself, she and the Captain never confessed, but their bond was deep. And now…it's like she's forgotten her hatred, forgotten her grief."
Pallez said evenly, "Do you think people should remain forever trapped in the past, chained to hatred, never stepping forward to embrace a new life?"
"…"
Leonard fell silent.
The logic was sound. But his heart still resisted—because it felt as though no one else cared about the Captain or Klein anymore. No one thought of vengeance. Gradually, no one even remembered them.
The old man had said it more than once:
Forgetting is the truest form of death.
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.