Father of Succubi, Lord of Desire, Source of Corruption…
The thing on the top floor might be His body…
It was summoned from the Spirit World into reality by Rhine using the abilities of a "High Summoner"…
Repeating the words left behind by Vicente Miranda, Ebner couldn't help but frown.
In truth, Ebner was not unfamiliar with the honorific name "Father of Succubi, Lord of Desire, Source of Corruption." Previously, in the "Ghost Empire," he had heard the "Succubus Progenitor" Monica mention this former identity of his.
However, Monica herself didn't know much about her so-called "Father God." She only knew that the "Source of Corruption" had already fallen during the First Epoch.
"So His body was exiled into the Spirit World?
"But even if Rhine unintentionally summoned it into reality because of the 'convergence' effect, why place it in the ritual chamber on the top floor?
"And what does this body have to do with the experiment from eleven years ago…"
As his thoughts turned, Ebner once again shifted his gaze toward the illusory Vicente Miranda, waiting for his further explanation.
—After saying that earlier statement, the figure had fallen silent, seemingly leaving time for Ebner to think.
About ten seconds later, the "mimicry" dead spirit spoke again.
"I guess you must be full of questions right now. I was the same at first… I didn't really understand what Rhine intended to do.
"But later I put myself in his position to think about it, and everything suddenly became clear.
"I asked myself—if I were about to die, most of the arrangements I left behind definitely wouldn't be charity for the later 'me.' More likely they would be preparations for 'resurrection.'
"And as far as I know, Rhine deliberately left the body that was about to become the 'Goddess of Beauty' to Lilith, using it to scheme against Her in a huge way…
"Yeah, that's also the reason I still don't really dare go ask Lilith about things.
"Anyway, Rhine had already lost his body. Even if he had transferred his real 'Soul Stone' ahead of time through various arrangements, he still couldn't reclaim that body which had already completed the 'Goddess of Beauty' ritual.
"And I guess he wouldn't choose to take it back anyway. After all, once you become the 'Goddess of Beauty,' you turn into a lady. Personally, I'm very resistant to that outcome. I imagine he feels the same.
"So I guess the body of the 'Source of Corruption' was placed here by Rhine to serve as the vessel for his 'resurrection.'
"After all, the 'me's before the God of Luck didn't have the so-called 'Soul Stone' system. The mechanism of reincarnation was also completely different from now…
"In other words, when 'Liu Bo' from before 'Luck' transmigrated, death meant real death. His soul and characteristics would all return together to the 'Unknown Land.' There was no such thing as not being completely dead.
"Also, in the message Rhine left behind to 'scare' me, he said that after he summoned that body into reality, he was locked onto by the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' and was very likely hunted down by Him.
"At the time I just wanted to say, 'You guessed right'… Unfortunately, just like me, he only left a 'recording,' so there's no way to communicate."
At this point, "Vicente Miranda" paused again, returning to a stiff and mechanical posture.
Seeing this, Ebner knew the guy had once again left him time to "fill in the blanks." While activating his Insight ability, he pondered:
Rhine summoned the so-called "Father of Succubi, Lord of Desire, Source of Corruption," and then he was sensed by the Eternal Blazing Sun?
So the main reason Rhine was hunted down was actually this… not, as I previously guessed, God's desire for the "Unknown."
Thinking about it carefully, someone who could use the honorific "Father of Succubi, Lord of Desire, Source of Corruption" must have already obtained the corresponding authority at that time.
With both "desire" and "corruption," and even creating an entire race… combined with the phrase "marinated" that Vicente mentioned…
That version of me probably had already mastered the "Tenebrous World." If I make a bold guess, he might even have indirectly controlled the "Brood Hive," which would explain why he could claim such an exaggerated honorific.
Logically speaking, once that "Source of Corruption" died, his soul and the Sefirah he had obtained should have returned to the "Unknown."
But in reality, both the "Tenebrous World" and the "Brood Hive" still exist on Earth and were not taken away…
The only explanation is that the existence who killed that "Source of Corruption" had the ability to intercept the Sefirah being sent back to the "Unknown."
And the only ones capable of doing that are God and the Celestial Worthy.
Combining this with the fact that God created the "Box of the Great Old Ones," which both disrupted the Celestial Worthy's resurrection methods and allowed the "God of Luck" to awaken self-awareness—and then used the special soul structure inside the Box as a reference to create the later "Soul Stone" reincarnation system…
God is the most suspicious!
Right—within God's Chaos Sea there is also the authority of "corruption." Him hunting the "Source of Corruption" and seizing the "Tenebrous World" would be an entirely reasonable action.
Furthermore, God's consciousness had already partially awakened within the Eternal Blazing Sun. Once He sensed Rhine summoning back the body of the "Source of Corruption" and realized he was the new "Unknown," choosing to hunt him down would be a completely logical development.
Hmm… the pursuit might only have been superficial. His true objective was probably later sending that awakened fragment of consciousness inside the Eternal Blazing Sun—along with a Sequence 2 "Lightseeker" characteristic—into the Unknown Land, turning it into that illusory "sun."
And with that "sun" there, not only could the later versions of "me" more easily open passages to the Unknown Land—namely the Pure White Eye—but its presence also blocked the path for characteristics returning to the Unknown.
At the very least, the "Seal of Calamity," which was most deeply eroded by the Unknown, failed to carry that Conqueror characteristic deep into the Unknown Land. It was stopped near the entrance by the illusory sun.
At the same time, it was precisely because that "sun" existed that I could use the power of various things gathered in the Unknown Land even at low sequences without being eroded by them…
Because the overflowing contamination was likewise blocked by the illusory sun.
Heh. The "Eye of Omniscience" created by that traitorous dragon probably went too deep—crossing the sun's defensive line—and was therefore contaminated by the Unknown through the connection!
In short, God not only suppressed the Celestial Worthy's coffin lid, but also deliberately created trouble and opponents for the Unknown…
As expected of the "Omniscient and Omnipotent." Even though He cannot understand the Unknown, He still made so many arrangements.
As for the Celestial Worthy, He probably also has corresponding measures against the Unknown… For example, I've known for a long time that Sefirah Castle and the Unknown Land are fundamentally incompatible.
Thinking this, although there wasn't much solid evidence, Ebner had little doubt about his deductions.
After all, inferring sufficient conclusions from insufficient conditions was itself an application of the Insight ability…
And when that ability is elevated—
—it becomes Omniscience.
(End of Chapter)