The "Memory Theater" was suspected to originate from the pathway of the Outer Deity "High-Dimensional Overseer," a mystical item manifested from its authority.
There was a high probability that it had been brought back to the "Unknown Land" by some "Liu Bo" prior to the "God of Luck." After all, from the name "High-Dimensional Overseer," one could tell that its authority was highly compatible with transmigrators, making them natural priority choices.
And because the "Memory Theater" was located deep within the "Unknown Land," with Ebner's current strength, he couldn't reach it without being contaminated. Therefore, under normal circumstances, he was unable to make use of its abilities.
In fact, the first time Ebner even learned of its existence was when Bernadette, after advancing to an angel, used the power of "Pale Death" to explore Liu Bo's secrets, accidentally triggering it.
And now, for some reason, Aglea's method of transmitting memories had once again caused the "Memory Theater" to react.
When Ebner's consciousness became clear, he immediately understood his situation, as he had experienced it once before.
Moreover, his real body was still being managed by various "Eyes of Insight," so he wasn't too worried about being trapped here.
"It's just… why am I a corpse in this 'script'?
"And I can't control it at all… do I have to be a 'vegetative' state until the 'theater' ends?
"Mm, it should be that the 'Memory Theater' hasn't been fully 'activated,' so I can only 'play' the role most closely related to myself.
"And as the 'Source of Depravity,' being the corpse that Liu Bo once inhabited, it's naturally the closest to me…"
Ebner lay motionless inside a pitch-black coffin, idly letting his thoughts wander.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard approaching footsteps, followed by a male voice:
"So this is the place Mr. Door mentioned? As expected, it's contamination at the level of Sefirot…
"And the contamination on this 'Father of Succubi, Lord of Desire, Source of Depravity' has a certain similarity to mine, yet is also somewhat different…
"As for another type, it feels quite similar to Adam's at certain times.
"Tsk, it seems that before His death, He likely accommodated both the 'Tenebrous World' and the 'Brood Hive'! Even if He hadn't been killed by that 'Omniscient and Omnipotent One,' He would have gone completely mad sooner or later.
"Aglea, what do you think? Why would Liu Bo… oh, that is, Rhine at the time, place such a corpse in the ritual room?"
Although he couldn't see, the speaker was undoubtedly Roselle—Ebner was absolutely certain.
"I'm not entirely sure either. Perhaps it was to set up some important ritual?" Aglea hesitated at first, but her speech became smoother as she continued.
However, Roselle didn't seem to find this contrast strange at all and simply continued, "I guess He wanted to use the Sefirot aura on that corpse, and with Mr. Door's power, connect to the corresponding Sefirot, transforming His own soul into a special state to indirectly gain the power of the Sefirot…
"But He doesn't seem to have succeeded… hehe, Vincent probably sabotaged it.
"Forget it, knowing this is useless—it has nothing to do with us!
"We only have two purposes in coming here. First, to find you a place where you can maintain the level of your spirit body;
"Second, to use the ritual here to make some preparations in advance, to make up for the mistake I made on the moon."
Hearing this, Ebner immediately understood that Aglea was also being played by an "actor," and most likely herself.
Her earlier deliberate contrast in attitude was to inform him of this, and also to "point out" a rule of the "Memory Theater."
That is, as long as one's "acting" didn't deviate too much, the "plot" would continue to follow the "memory," or rather "history," without resulting in an "NG."
"Mm, the 'theater' Bernadette triggered last time seemed to work the same way… her earlier performance must have differed somewhat from history, but it didn't cause any consequences. Only when she asked about the meaning of 'hometown' did it lead to the collapse of the theater.
"But even after the collapse, it didn't seem to affect anything…"
While Ebner was thinking, Roselle had already left the castle to prepare the materials for the ritual, while Aglea remained behind.
After a moment of silence, the former "Apocalypse Demoness" took the initiative to speak: "I didn't expect you to be Father's reincarnation… you should have told me earlier. Otherwise, it wouldn't have come to this.
"However, your wish to understand the cause and effect can now be fulfilled—you can watch it unfold directly on-site… but for a while, neither of us will be able to leave, since this matter spans more than a hundred years."
At this point, she seemed to recall something and added, "Oh right, although this 'theater' is constructed based on my 'memory' as a blueprint, it will also draw corresponding information from the spirit world and from the River of Destiny to fill in the 'plot.' Therefore, the 'protagonists' of the story will definitely not be you or me, and the 'cameraman's' main perspective will not be following us right now. So you don't need to worry about the scene collapsing—you can speak.
"Mm, according to what Father said back then, the 'Memory Theater' comes from the 'Cameraman' pathway of the Outer Deity 'High-Dimensional Overseer,' and is the manifested form of the 'uniqueness' of that pathway.
"As for what a 'cameraman' is, Father said it's a 'profession' that will only exist in the future… you should be able to understand now, right?"
I do understand, but how is a corpse supposed to speak? Ebner complained inwardly, then tried to control this body. Unexpectedly, he found that it wasn't completely immobile like before.
Although his limbs still couldn't move, he could barely control his facial features. So Ebner tried to vibrate the air and asked with difficulty, "If we actively make changes and cause a collapse… wouldn't we be able to return immediately?"
"The problem is, the 'Memory Theater' isn't just simple 'acting'… once the changes to the 'script' exceed a certain limit, all altered events will overwrite reality in the form of 'information,' and the resulting impact would absolutely reach the level of a 'continental disaster.'
"For example, if you kill one more person in the 'Memory Theater' than in actual history, then when that 'information' overwrites reality, everyone related will remember that person being killed. Newspapers and other media will also contain that record, and even the spirit world will have a record of their death.
"Although history itself hasn't changed, and that person hasn't truly died in reality… when everyone believes they are dead, when all records show they are dead, and even they themselves believe it and live the rest of their life as a 'dead person'…
"Except for existences that cannot be fully overwritten by information—such as King of Angels, true gods, and Great Old Ones—history is essentially rewritten.
"Of course, a change involving just one person wouldn't reach the threshold for the 'Memory Theater' to activate 'information overwrite'… so if the 'theater' collapses, just how much of history must have been altered? The consequences are terrifying just to think about.
"It would definitely attract the attention of true gods and Great Old Ones.
"If you could control the 'Memory Theater,' it would be one thing—but clearly, you can't do that right now." Aglea used both examples and metaphors, as if afraid Ebner didn't fully understand how terrifying the "Memory Theater" was.
A Grade "0" Sealed Artifact could already cause disasters at the national or even continental level. If the "Memory Theater" truly was a manifestation of uniqueness, then such effects weren't surprising…
But Aglea, you're an "Apocalypse Demoness." Shouldn't you be delighted to cause such disasters? Why are you even more afraid than me of this so-called "changing history"?
Also, the "script" Bernadette triggered before ended in "collapse," yet no information overwrite occurred in reality…
Thinking this, Ebner voiced the question.
Hearing "Father's" question, Aglea fell silent for a moment before sighing and saying:
"Alright, I admit that the consequences of a theater collapse aren't always as severe as I described… because if the changes involve high-level existences, it can also cause collapse… but that 'history' cannot be rewritten, because the 'Memory Theater' isn't capable of that.
"However, as the price of the collapse, 'I' would become a 'formal actor' of the 'theater,' required to periodically perform according to its 'script'…
"This wouldn't be too bad, since there are ways to escape the control of uniqueness.
"But… you should know, it has been offered to the 'Unknown'… and once one becomes its 'actor,' it means being tainted by the power of the 'Unknown.'"
(End of Chapter)