"Buff?"
Will frowned. "Hmm…the more I talk to you, the more I believe you really do have a close relationship with Lilith. You people always manage to come up with such strange words. Anyway—ask away."
"It's about that thing you mentioned last time—'Lilith taking all the benefits.' I still have a few questions."
Edward continued, "That 'self-satisfied fool' you mentioned…you meant Vermonda Sauron of the Sauron family, right?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"You said he carefully planned and executed a grand scheme that ended up ruining both himself and his descendants. Was that whole thing orchestrated by Ada—uh, Amon's brother?"
Will shook his head. "Adam? At most, he just nudged things along—seized the opportunity to fulfil a few of his own goals. I'll admit, he's a terrifying spectator. But in the end, he's still only a Sequence 1. It's impossible for him to casually manipulate another Sequence 1 at will."
Edward, however, disagreed with that assessment. The "Russian priest" wasn't an ordinary Sequence 1. He was someone who had once grasped the Chaos Sea—a half-pillar-level Sequence 1. Maybe he couldn't yet control a god, but another Sequence 1? That might not be so far-fetched.
Will went on, "The situation beneath Intis runs very deep. On the surface, it just looks like Vermonda's madness, but the Seven Gods' gaze has been fixed there for a long time. Under those circumstances, even if Adam had the ability to meddle, he wouldn't dare act too openly."
Edward was stunned. "The Seven Gods? Why would what's under Trier have anything to do with them?"
"You don't know?" Will looked slightly surprised. "Beneath Trier lies the ruins of the Tudor Empire's capital—buried remnants that hold countless ancient secrets. The biggest of them, without question, is the conspiracy between the Primordial Demoness, Cheek, and Alista Tudor."
"Cheek…seems to have always been carrying out some kind of dreadful, incomprehensible plan—so terrible that even the Seven Gods must constantly stay on guard against it. And this time, Lilith set up her trap using her own body as bait—and sure enough, she lured Cheek's descent."
Edward's heart skipped a beat. "Cheek descended?"
Little Snake Will suddenly smacked his lips. "My mouth's dry. Don't wanna talk anymore."
"…"
Edward's eye twitched. Good thing I came prepared.
He reached into his spatial pocket and pulled out a large box of ice cream, handing it over. Will glanced around warily to make sure no one was watching, then opened the box and happily started eating.
"Now talk—what exactly happened?"
Will licked a bit of cream from the corner of his mouth before speaking. "Strictly speaking, it wasn't a full descent—just a partial one. Cheek used blood and flesh as a medium to channel a fragment of her power. Think of it like how the Evernight Goddess can manifest through certain sealed artifacts in her church. It's far weaker than a true descent, of course, but still far beyond the strength of a Sequence 1."
Even though Edward knew Lilith had ultimately come out on top, he still couldn't help asking, "Then what about Lilith?"
Will smiled. "Didn't I say before? Lilith managed to seize a portion of the Primordial Demoness' authority through some method of her own. So, taking down a flesh descent of Cheek wasn't beyond her means." His smile faded into a frown. "But what I didn't expect was that Cheek actually collaborated with the Mother Goddess of Depravity."
"???"
"She used the Mother Goddess's power of corruption to invade that descended vessel, coating it entirely in pollution from the Mother Goddess—forcing Lilith into an impossible situation."
Will scooped another spoonful of ice cream and added, "Fortunately, for some reason, the Mother Goddess suddenly cut off her corruption midway, giving Lilith the perfect opening to deliver the killing blow."
Edward's eyes narrowed. "When?"
"Hm?"
"When did the Mother Goddess stop her corruption?"
"Uh, let me think." Will lowered his head, considering for a moment. "Roughly two or three hours after you sent me that paper crane asking for help."
It lines up!
That was almost exactly the time he'd been in the City of Calamity—destroying the wooden door and unleashing [Rebuke] across the distance against the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
So the reason she stopped corrupting Cheek's vessel… was because I hit her with Rebuke?
For a moment, Edward's emotions tangled between awe and unease.
Awe—because this meant that, unknowingly, he and Lilith had actually teamed up.
Unease—because what if this, too, was part of that Russian priest's grand design?
He had thought that the "Intis commission" and the "truth" that the king had spoken of were shocking enough. But compared to what lay behind all of this, that "truth" was only the surface. The real truth was far more astonishing.
What exactly was Cheek trying to do—daring to collaborate with the Fallen Mother Goddess? Was the reason the Mother Goddess could borrow the "Door's" power to invade the City of Calamity because of Cheek?
But then…why didn't the Seven Gods punish Cheek for such blatant treachery?
Will only shrugged. "The Seven Gods have their reasons. I'm just a lowly Sequence 1—how could I possibly fathom their thoughts? Still, Cheek didn't push things too far. Maybe the Seven are still counting on her to help maintain the barrier. Not to mention, there's plenty of dirty laundry among the Seven themselves."
Edward fell silent at that.
The world's ending, and you people are still playing politics.
Sure enough, infighting was the eternal nature of humanity—and even gods, for all their divinity, couldn't escape it.
At that moment, Edward's spirituality stirred with a faint resonance—the subtle feedback of his Deconstruction Scholar potion's digestion.
Unfortunately, the progress was still…painfully limited.
The good news was, his speculation that "uncovering the truth behind unknown events could aid in digesting the potion" seemed at least partially correct.
The bad news was that even after digging up the involvement of the Seven Gods, Cheek, and the Mother Goddess of Depravity, he still wasn't close to the final truth of the "Intis Incident."
Bloody hell, this is insane!
Edward couldn't help recalling Will's earlier description of Vermonda Sauron —"a self-satisfied idiot." That idiot only wanted to trick a few people and free himself from the seal beneath Trier's underground tomb. So why did things behind it keep getting messier and deeper by the second?
Wouldn't all of this end up dumped squarely on his head in the end?
"Will, dinner's ready!"
A gentle voice drifted over from the direction of the villa—Will's mother calling him.
The little snake quickly shoved the remaining ice cream back into Edward's hands, then called out, "Coming, Mama~!"
After that, he turned back to Edward. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
"Wait."
Edward suddenly remembered something. "I've already sent that die to Oravi for you."
"Yeah, I know. What about it?"
"There's just one small thing I wanted to ask." Edward continued, "That woman who took the die—what's her situation? She said she was a failed alchemical product abandoned by the Church of Earth Mother. Why did she end up joining your Life School of Thought?"
Will tilted his head, puzzled. "Our Life School of Thought has always been open to everyone. As long as someone agrees with our ideals, they can join."
"But…"
Edward's curiosity stemmed from the pattern—why did the Earth Mother keep producing 'failed creations,' and why did those 'failures' always end up joining the Life School of Thought? But that was connected to future events, and he wasn't sure how to bring it up.
Will stuffed his hands into his pockets and hummed. "Remember how I told you last time that Lilith's condition is worse than an evil spirit's?"
"I remember…"
"She seems to have once asked the Earth Mother for help through human-body alchemy—to create a vessel that could contain her soul. But it failed every time. The one in Oravi was one of those failed products. However, by some coincidence, she developed self-awareness. Lilith couldn't bear to see her destroyed by the Church, so she tossed her my way."
Edward froze for a moment, not expecting that kind of answer.
"But the details, I'm not too sure either," Will said, waving his hand. "You could ask Lilith yourself, or the Church of Earth Mother. Anyway, I'm going to eat."
He turned and jogged back toward the villa.
Ask the Earth Mother's Church?
Wasn't that basically asking the Earth Mother—the Sanguine Ancestor—directly?
But according to what that vampire duke had said last time, his Lilith and the vampires didn't have the best relationship. After all, who wouldn't be furious to discover someone had been impersonating their ancestor for centuries, commanding the entire race and squandering countless resources in her name? The real ancestor would definitely not take that well either.
Yet, Will had just said that Lilith once sought help from the Church of Earth Mother for body-forging…
So what exactly was the relationship between these two "Liliths"?
Also, was the Harvest Church in Backlund established yet? If so, praying to the Earth Mother there shouldn't be a big problem…right?
His Lilith…
Edward's mind involuntarily conjured the image of that black-dressed woman. He had to find a way to approach her again, to probe a little deeper. After all, her reaction last time had already confirmed she definitely had some kind of connection with Lilith—though whether that connection was friendly or hostile remained to be seen.
Huh?
He suddenly thought of something.
After his visit two nights ago…could that black-robed woman have simply moved away?
Edward quickly flicked out a gold coin. "The black-robed woman is still residing at 15 Emerald Street."
The coin spun out of his hand and fell to the ground—
Failure.
Whether it was because of anti-divination interference or insufficient clues, he couldn't tell.
So he'd have to check in person, huh?
But even if she was still there, if he went knocking again so soon, wouldn't that risk alerting her?
He needed a way to test the waters first…
———
Outside 15 Emerald Street.
A chubby-cheeked little boy ran down the street, gleefully kicking a leather ball along the way. As he passed No. 15, he swung his leg a bit too hard—thwack! The ball traced a perfect arc through the air and crash! shattered one of the front windowpanes.
The boy froze, panic flooding his face. He immediately spun around and bolted, ducking behind a tree some seven or eight meters away. Peeking out, he nervously watched the villa.
After a few minutes, the boy cautiously crept out from behind the tree and inched his way back toward the house. He pushed the gate slightly—it wasn't locked.
So, he hunched his shoulders, tiptoed through the yard, and crept toward the broken window.
His face was taut, his eyes darting warily in every direction. When he reached the spot, he spoke in a trembling, timid voice:
"E-excuse me…the ball just now—it was me who kicked it in. Is…is anyone home?"
No response came from inside.
Swallowing hard, the boy stammered again, "I—I'm willing to pay for it. This is my pocket money."
He pulled a 10-Felkin note from his pocket, hesitated a few seconds, then placed it carefully at the doorstep, pressing it down with a small stone.
"I'll…I'll leave it here then. G-goodbye."
He turned and was about to run—
When suddenly, the door creaked open from inside.
A gentle, amused voice called out, "Aren't you forgetting your ball?"
The boy—Edward—froze mid-step and turned around sharply.
Standing at the doorway was a young woman in a black dress, holding the leather ball in her hands, a faint smile on her face.
She tossed the ball lightly toward him.
"Here you go."
"Thank you."
Edward caught the ball and quickly bowed. Then, remembering something, he pointed to the note on the ground and said earnestly, "The payment for the broken window…it's right there. That should be enough, right?"
Krismona smiled and nodded. "It's enough."
She took a few slow steps forward, her eyes soft yet inquisitive. "Which family are you from, little one? What brings you here?"
Edward hastily replied, "I—I live on the next street over. My family runs a spice shop. My name's Will Onstine."
—Yes, he was currently using the appearance of the little snake, Will.
———
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