"The Queen of Mystic was actually this adorable when she was little? And she only just now realized Emperor Roselle was cheating… That's so slow! It doesn't match her current image of being free-spirited and elegant at all…
"Humans truly are complex creatures. I never thought the noble and aloof Queen of Mystic would have such a side—I didn't even read that from her expressions earlier…
"No, no, I didn't mean that! Nor did I describe you that way, Your Majesty the Queen of Mystic! Really! Please don't misunderstand me!"
As her real thoughts kept surfacing, Audrey could no longer suppress herself. Her lips twitched upward despite her hands still covering her mouth.
"Hahaha…" Ebner let out a laugh at just the right time, deliberately releasing his own amusement and allowing part of his thoughts to echo through the hall:
"How did you know I was connected to the 'Seal of Calamity'? Ah, I see—it must've been that talkative lion, Leon, who told you. That means some of the 'assistance' I received in Trier was actually arranged by you."
Bernadette could only look helplessly at the pair laughing in front of her. Even with her power as a Clairvoyant and all her mental disciplines, she couldn't completely suppress her own thoughts, and her voice began to echo in the vast hall as well:
"This young lady really is like me when I was her age—so lively in mind and heart… Maybe that's a trait shared by all children who grew up loved by their parents?
"Wait—why am I thinking about that? I'm not even two hundred yet; that doesn't count as old… No, forget what I just said… Fine. Focus. Focus!
"Hmm, Detective Bryan, yes—I did send someone to offer you some help…"
"Two hundred… No, Audrey, don't think about such impolite topics! A lady's age—especially one of a certain age—is a forbidden subject. You discovered that already when helping your mother with therapy, didn't you?
"Wait… I think I just said my own name out loud…"
Hearing her own thoughts and Ebner's laughter echoing as background noise, Audrey shot him a deadly glare, then glanced nervously at the Queen of Mystic—who looked on the verge of losing composure herself.
Ebner was already full of 'delight' when he came to get me earlier, and he's clearly been here before. He must've known exactly what would happen!
And yet he didn't say a word! He definitely planned to watch me embarrass myself!
How awful. I need to warn Fors and Xio to stay far away from this man!
As that thought crossed Audrey's mind, the Queen of Mystic Bernadette gradually calmed herself and began to control her own spirit again. Her steady inner voice resonated next:
"Now that I think about it, Gehrman Sparrow's expression back then wasn't quite right either!
"I'll have to tell Cattleya to limit her contact with him…"
After a few more moments, even Audrey—the lowest Sequence among them—managed to learn how to suppress her mind's voice. Only then did Ebner, slightly regretful that the fun had ended, lead the two ladies on a tour through the hall.
For the record, all the small objects Ebner had left behind here during his earlier "research" on Bianca and Abby's secrets had already been removed before this visit. The last thing he wanted was to be mistaken for someone indecent.
Eventually, Ebner and the two women reached the passage behind the throne, where they beheld the inverted tower that pierced through the "collective subconscious sea" behind the City of Miracles.
"The Adra Great Lighthouse… It's been moved here…"
Looking at the "marvel" that had once driven a wedge between her and her father, Bernadette's blue eyes misted over with emotion.
Under normal circumstances, she would never reveal her feelings so easily—but after what had just happened in the Hall of Honesty, she had already lost enough face before these two juniors that she no longer cared to hide it.
The Adra Great Lighthouse—the legendary wonder built at the cost of countless lives, only to vanish suddenly one day…
So, it truly was the prototype for the Dream Labyrinth Tower!
As Ebner sighed at the revelation, he suddenly heard Bernadette let out a low groan. Dark, viscous blood trickled from her eyes, and spectral white swan feathers began sprouting from her back.
At the same moment, Audrey's own body shimmered with the projection of an angelic figure that embraced her protectively.
Huang Beibei, you're just like Huang Jiajia—always daring to peek at everything with that "Eye of Mystery Prying"!
If you hadn't quickly used your fairytale spell "Ugly Duckling" to imitate a Mythical Creature form, you'd have already lost control by now!
Realizing what had happened, Ebner's mind raced. Seeing the black-mud shadows around the Dream Labyrinth Tower begin to stir, he wasted no time—grabbing Audrey with one hand and Bernadette with the other, he activated "Dream Traversal" and brought them straight back to where Groselle's team was.
As for the King of the North still left in the Hall of Honesty?
That didn't need concern—after all, it was merely a product of imagination. As long as Groselle's story continued, even if it perished, it would manifest again.
…
Back in the underground ritual chamber of the Surry family's ancestral estate, Bernadette had already used the "Savant's Diadem" to completely cleanse the corruption. Closing her eyes briefly, she then spoke sincerely to Ebner and Audrey:
"I'm deeply sorry… I will make amends for my rash behavior.
"Fortunately, no irreversible consequences occurred."
Audrey was still shaken. If she hadn't prayed to Mr. Fool for protection beforehand, witnessing a Mythical Creature would have been enough to turn her into a monster.
She had been angry at first—but seeing the lofty Queen of Mystic lower herself so humbly and apologize with genuine remorse softened her heart.
Just as she was about to respond, Bernadette continued:
"Miss Audrey, you're a Beyonder of the Spectator pathway, aren't you? As compensation, I can offer you a 'Dreamwalker' Beyonder characteristic."
Then she turned to Ebner, hesitated for a moment, and summoned a servant to bring forth a sealed card.
"In this card," she said, "is imprisoned the Beyonder characteristic of a strange creature at demigod level. It does not belong to any of the known Twenty-Two pathways, yet its abilities were extremely troublesome—it could ignore most extraordinary powers.
"I foresaw that it might be of use to you."
Not part of the Twenty-Two pathways… that means it might come from the stars beyond the sky.
Wait—able to ignore beyonder powers?
In the second half of 'Feast of Blood,' there's mention of a secret art called the 'Black Domain Technique,' which requires materials from stellar monsters…
And the effect of that technique is precisely to render one immune to nearly all extraordinary attacks except physical ones—authority-based powers being the only exception.
As these thoughts spun through his mind, Ebner remembered the "laboratory" where he, Solomon, and the Emperor of Death had once conducted experiments back in Rhine.
Unable to restrain his curiosity, he asked, "Madam, where did you obtain this characteristic?"
(End of this chapter)