With a thought from Evernight's Moon, a white 'jellyfish' materialized beside her, gradually taking shape as if being painted into existence.
This jellyfish was Evernight's 'Memosprite,' or, more plainly, her summoned creature.
Gazing at the little creature beside her, Evernight tilted her head slightly, reached out with her right hand, and gently poked the jellyfish with her index finger.
The spot where she poked the jellyfish indented slightly, ripples spreading across its surface like water. To Evernight, the jellyfish felt icy cold and soft like mochi. She found herself inexplicably drawn to the little thing's cuteness.
But don't be fooled by its adorable appearance. This jellyfish is actually quite formidable. With another thought from Evernight, it swiftly transformed from white to crimson red.
These jellyfish possess three primary attack methods. The first is 'physical attack,' where they simply charge at enemies and explode. The second is 'magical attack,' allowing them to summon and manipulate ice for ranged strikes. The third is 'special attack,' where they latch onto enemies and slowly devour their memories.
At first glance, these jellyfish might not seem particularly formidable. After all, Pollux could self-destruct with far greater destructive power, and its "magical attacks"—like its sky-scorching Divine Flame Breath—were clearly more threatening than the ice summoned by these creatures.
As for special attacks, Pollux possessed the instant-death Touch-and-Die attribute, which was far more lethal than the jellyfish's slow memory-devouring process.
The problem, however, was that Pollux was unique, while Evernight could summon these jellyfish in near-limitless numbers. When their quantity reached critical mass, a qualitative shift occurred, making their combined combat power rival even Pollux's.
Moreover, these jellyfish served many purposes beyond combat. They acted as Evernight's spies, capable of infiltrating and concealing themselves within memories, making them far harder to detect than ordinary Invisibility. Evernight could share their Vision, use them for communication, and even transmit messages through them to others.
Having explained the jellyfish summons, Evernight revealed her own formidable combat abilities. While she herself couldn't self-destruct like her summons, both her magical Ice Control and her special ability, Devour Memory, far surpassed the capabilities of the jellyfish.
If a jellyfish were to devour a person's memories, it might consume one or two years' worth in a couple of minutes. For an eighty-year-old man, the jellyfish would need forty to fifty minutes to erase his entire life's memories.
After all, an eighty-year-old man wouldn't actually have eighty years of memories.
But if Evernight took over, a mere touch could instantly wipe away all of a person's memories—not just the target's own memories, but also everyone else's memories of that person.
This was far more terrifying than death itself, almost akin to fundamentally erasing a person's existence.
As the saying goes, humans experience three deaths: the first is physical death when the heart stops beating; the second is social death, when family and friends hold the funeral, declaring the person's complete disappearance from society.
The third death is the death of being forgotten—when everyone forgets a person's existence, that is true death, complete and utter annihilation!
Evernight can instantly bring someone to this third death, making them "completely disappear."
However, her memory-related abilities are far more complex than this simple application. Evernight poked her cheek, creating a charming little dimple in her soft, round face. She gazed thoughtfully at the jellyfish before her with blood-red eyes.
Unlike Mydei's straightforward power, Evernight's memory-related abilities are far more complex, requiring considerably more time to study and understand.
Evernight remained frozen in this pose, while Tribios stared at the other version of herself before her. If anyone else were to make such a gesture—Castorice, Hyacine, or even Tribios herself—it would likely appear exceedingly adorable.
But Evernight, with her slightly yandere, icy-cold face, performing such a distinctly feminine gesture, created an overwhelming sense of contrast, resulting in a uniquely endearing charm.
It reminded her of those short clip videos from her previous life.
Tribios couldn't resist. She stepped forward, pinched Evernight's cheeks, and kneaded them up and down. "Mmm~ I'm so cute~"
Evernight offered no resistance whatsoever. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the process, whether she was doing the kneading or being kneaded. Why would she resist?
Not content with just pinching her cheeks, Tribios leaned in and rubbed her own cheek against Evernight's. After about ten minutes of this playful torment, even the pink hair atop Evernight's head was a mess, strands sticking out in every direction. Only then did Tribios slowly release her grasp on her other self.
During this time, Evernight had also devised a new application for her Authority over Memory. Now it was her turn to gaze at Tribios. She took a deep breath, her crimson eyes, as still as a stagnant pool, fixed silently on Tribios before activating her ability.
From Tribios's perspective, Evernight simply vanished into thin air. But for Evernight, she found herself in a tunnel-like space, hurtling forward at breakneck speed. Triangular, glass-like shards brushed past her on all sides.
Upon closer inspection, each shard reflected a person or a scene—precisely the memories from Tribios's mind.
As Evernight advanced, she gradually slowed to a halt after reaching a certain point. Sizing up a nearby "glass shard," she stepped leisurely inside.
Instantly, the scene before her transformed dramatically. Gone was Tribios's impeccably neat Okhema office, replaced by a small, open-air tavern where four figures sat around a small wooden table, chatting and dining.
These were Olivia, Jay, Tide, and Tribios herself, from three centuries past. This wasn't some time-traveling Authority; what Evernight witnessed were merely the memories of the current "Tribios."
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Spy-The chaps in this volume end up being alot shorter as the Author got really sick during new years and has not recovered for at least a month after.