Golden hair and blue eyes, a proud figure, a wreath on her head, draped in a transparent yellow veil—the Yellow Saintess Natalia.
Dignified and holy, mature yet light and delicate like a young maiden, wearing only a simple white robe—the White Saintess Katerina.
Red hair like fire, alluring and seductive, adorned with expensive jewelry and dressed in a red gown—the Red Saintess Margaret.
Round-cheeked, petite, with her iconic deep-blue hair and an elegant temperament—the Blue Saintess Veranica…
Ebner was not unfamiliar with the four Demonesses surrounding him. Even Veranica, whom he had never met in person, he had seen before through the "historical projection" provided by the Scholar of Yore Daphne.
Not to mention Katerina, whom he had once controlled…
Margaret, whom he had knocked unconscious and drawn blood from…
And Natalia, whom he had fought on Sunia Island just last week…
Vera warned me earlier—they came to seek revenge on "Owen"!
And this time, Margaret didn't go join Daphne and the "Black-Clothed Man" as he expected. Instead, she came straight for him!
Of course… Natalia is a Demoness of Catastrophe. Wherever she appears, disaster is highly likely to erupt…
And since I intend to prevent that "disaster," fate will naturally pull us into meeting…
Not to mention, I carry two items formed from "Conqueror" characteristics. For a Sequence 2 of an adjacent pathway, my presence naturally has a "converging" effect.
His thoughts flashed as Ebner made his move without any hesitation.
He immediately had the "Owen Delien" clone transform into a dragon, and at the same time activated both the Wild Hunt Badge and the Nightingale Badge, releasing the incomplete mythic creature from the Hunter pathway, as well as the Despair Nightingale Panatia.
—The Wild Hunt badge came from the floating city in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
—The Nightingale badge was a replica, and when Ebner created it and summoned Panatia's wraith, he had indirectly helped the Goddess reveal Her attempts to grasp the authority of the "Death God."
If it were any other time, Ebner wouldn't mind exchanging a few jokes before fighting.
But now, every second wasted was irresponsible to Bernadette, who was fighting for her life.
So he seized the initiative immediately.
Neither the dragonized Owen nor the Wild Hunt nor the Despair Nightingale could truly defeat an "Unaging Demoness." But holding them off for a minute or two was definitely possible.
Furthermore, Ebner had given Owen the "False Echo of Faith" created when the Impersonation Mentor incarnation of "Hearts 1" from the Black-Clothed organization died.
When necessary, he could use it to broadcast a "Liu Bo" message.
Although broadcasting in the real world was far weaker than "live" inside the mind, since Demonesses could pre-emptively block sound when sensing danger, it would still create significant trouble for the Red, Blue, and White Saintesses.
As for the Book of Virtue, it required prior preparation and was not suitable for sudden encounters, so Ebner didn't use it.
In an instant—
Countless black lines erupted around the Blue Saintess Veranica, twining toward the descending Wild Hunt Giant.
The White Saintess Katerina blocked the Despair Nightingale's black flame with her own black fire, smiling meaningfully:
"So you were captured by Owen too…"
And the Red Saintess Margaret suddenly went blank.
The next second her mind was invaded by Owen—
Last time she was captured, Ebner had not only implanted false memories into her, but also tampered with her mental island and left behind subtle triggers.
Thus in just one exchange, Owen gained a decisive advantage.
At that moment, Ebner's true body flashed out from Alvin's Question Labyrinth, only to be blocked by the woman draped in the transparent yellow veil—the one who had never intended to join the other battlefields, as though she had been waiting for him all along:
The Demoness of Catastrophe, the Yellow Saintess Natalia.
Ebner's heart sank, but he had already anticipated this. He didn't waste time.
He immediately took out his ever-present Magic Mirror, and drew on the power of the Pure White Angel within the Eye of Pure White, releasing all three remaining layers of its sealing at once!
When he first obtained the Magic Mirror, Ebner already knew it was created using the Extraordinary characteristic of the Shepherd pathway's Sequence 4 Black Knight.
Because the mirror sealed a fallen angel of the Sun pathway, the artifact's essence was extremely high.
If fully unsealed, it could unleash the power of a 0-rated Sealed Artifact—but only briefly.
However, the mirror's creator had set four layers of seals inside it.
Once all four were undone, the angelic evil spirit within would recover its memories from when it was still an angel.
At that point, it would no longer be a "sealed" angelic specter, but something comparable to a revived angel containing the Black Knight characteristic.
And once fully freed, that angel would also gain complete autonomy.
It would follow only one final command from the holder under the "rules," then do whatever it wished…
It might even attack the holder.
But Ebner was not worried.
After such a long period together, the evil spirit's form had long been shaped into that of the Pure White Angel in his "Land of the Unknown."
Given the example of another angelic specter—Cero Delien—who had merged with him before, betrayal was extremely unlikely.
And even if it did rebel, Ebner could forcibly reshape it into another "Flora Jacob."
Their connection ran too deep.
With the Magic Mirror fully unsealed, a golden figure—its features blurred and gender unidentifiable—suddenly appeared.
The illusory chains binding it shattered one by one, and its four pairs of wings, tinged with black, unfolded behind it.
"Kissellieu… the Eternal Blazing Sun Church's third fallen Pontiff… Rumored to be a Solar Divine Bird…"
The White Saintess Katerina, while engaged with the Despair Nightingale, couldn't help exclaiming.
Having lived through the "War of Four Emperors," she was the oldest and most experienced among the four Demonesses.
Yet despite Kissellieu's intimidating appearance, Ebner knew well that this specter only possessed an angel's level of rank, not the true power of one.
Even with support from the Black Knight characteristic, it could burst into angel-level combat only briefly—and was still not enough to defeat a Demoness of Catastrophe.
So, while Kissellieu rose to engage Natalia, Ebner—
—took out a Reenactment of Yesterday talisman created by Klein using Sefirah Castle, and teleported it into the Magic Mirror's possession.
—then took the pair of wings containing the fluid-manipulation authority, inherited from "Grand Duke of Blood" El Nors, and handed them to his Yalolan double, summoned from within the Eye of Pure White, so it could assist from the side.
All of this sounded complex—
but in reality, less than a single second had passed.
Naturally, Natalia would not wait idly.
She used this same second to seal the surrounding space and unleash a horrifying catastrophe that drove one's body, spirituality, mind, lifespan, and will toward simultaneous decay and destruction!
Disaster was not only external calamity.
The collapse of the self was disaster as well.
In the span of a heartbeat, Ebner felt his body age several years, countless ailments erupting within him.
His spirit wilted, and even his will to save others eroded.
So this is a Demoness of Catastrophe? A fusion of the authorities of "Time" and "Catastrophe"?
When the body dies, spirituality fades, lifespan extinguishes, mind withers, and will dissolves, one becomes "stone"…
The mythic form of the Demoness is Medusa—so does their petrification originate from this?
Disaster… calamity… In Buddhist scriptures, a "kalpa" is indeed tied to time.
Birth, existence, destruction, emptiness—that is a kalpa…
And decay of body, spirit, mind, lifespan, will… this feels like the "Five Weaknesses of Heaven and Man" from myth…
Even as he rammed through wild associations, Ebner activated the Eye of Pure White, using the Pure White Angel's authority to erase these abnormalities.
Only authority could counter authority.
Seeing Kissellieu—temporarily restored to peak state through the Reenactment of Yesterday—successfully entangle Natalia with Yalolan's cover, Ebner wasted no time.
He quietly gripped a strange crown—rusted, foul with dried blood.
Then—
With the authority of the Conqueror, which shattered all obstruction, Ebner manifested a flaming warhorse beneath him, condensed a blazing spear into his hand, and charged toward the weak point he had "insighted," unstoppable.
Where the spear pointed, all obstacles broke.
This was the ascended form of the Reaper's power!
The only pity was that he had no army of his own; he could not lead a legion to charge with him and unite their strength into one.
Otherwise, this blow would have been even stronger.
Yet even as a "low-spec version," enhanced by the Conqueror-derived Sealed Artifact, this thrust could not be stopped by the temporary seal constructed by the Yellow Saintess—especially since Ebner had targeted its weakest node.
Thus, as expected, the seal was pierced instantly.
Ice and black flame were in turn burned away by his blazing spear, and Natalia—locked in combat with Kissellieu—momentarily felt her mind blur.
And Kissellieu naturally seized the opening.
The brilliance of the Sun-Chaser shone down upon the Yellow Saintess, immediately weakening her abilities by a tenth.
Meanwhile, Yalolan took the chance to use Mystic Reenactment – Perseus's Sword and Mystic Reenactment – Athena's Shield, causing the sword and shield to appear directly in Kissellieu's hands.
(End of Chapter)