As if she had stepped in from the next frame of a film, a figure silently appeared.
She was an ordinary-looking woman with loose black hair cascading down her back.
She wore a simple linen robe patched in several places, with a cord resembling twisted tree bark tied around her waist.
She had neither shoes nor socks. Her bare feet rested directly on the ground, covered in dust and scars.
At first glance, her clothing bore some resemblance to Ouroboros's. The difference was that Ouroboros had carried an unmistakably divine, otherworldly air, while this woman seemed completely unremarkable.
Of course, she was anything but ordinary.
Even setting aside her sudden appearance, her mere presence filled Silas with a profound sense of calm and peace.
The alarm and vigilance that should have risen within him were strangely muted, unable to disturb the steady calm beneath his emotions.
Shhk!
Antia moved in an instant, stepping between Silas and the woman.
Her entire posture was guarded, as though she had already determined that the newcomer was a formidable opponent.
"Please, be at ease. I mean you no harm."
The woman regarded them with dark, tranquil eyes, her expression serene.
"May I ask who you are, my lady?"
Silas asked, maintaining his composure. If Antia had reacted this strongly, then the woman before them had to be at least Sequence 2, perhaps even higher. He needed to proceed with caution.
Then again, had angels become this common lately?
Silas could not help feeling a little exasperated.
In the brief time he had spent atop Bansy Island, he had already encountered three high-Sequence beings in succession: Ouroboros, the black-robed woman who had driven him away, and now this composed woman standing before him.
The higher the Sequence, the rarer a Beyonder was supposed to be. Yet here, the opposite seemed true.
As the thought crossed his mind, the woman gave a slight nod.
"Arianna, Servant of Concealment."
Servant of Concealment... Arianna...
Silas's eyes widened slightly.
As a former Nighthawk, he knew both the title and the name well.
The abbess of the Evernight Monastery, foremost among the Thirteen Archbishops, and perhaps even the future Pope.
All those identities belonged to the woman before him. Within the religious and mystical circles of the Northern Continent, her name was practically common knowledge.
And now, someone of her stature was standing directly in front of him?
After giving it some thought, Silas found that it made a certain amount of sense. Her Sequence was clearly extremely high, and the abilities she had displayed aligned with the Evernight Pathway.
If she truly was the Servant of Concealment, then that also confirmed something else. The overwhelming presence that had briefly descended and driven Ouroboros away had belonged to the Evernight Goddess herself.
After spending several seconds sorting through these thoughts, Silas reached out and placed a hand on Antia's shoulder. He then stepped forward and bowed slightly.
"Good afternoon, Your Excellency Arianna."
He addressed her with the honorific reserved for angels.
From the potion formula recorded on Roselle's Profane Words card, Silas had learned an important fact.
If a Pathway possessed a Sequence 0, then it could have no remaining Sequence 1 Beyonders.
The primary ingredients for a Sequence 0 potion consisted of three Sequence 1 characteristics, and any single Pathway could contain no more than three Sequence 1 characteristics in total.
That meant the woman before him was unquestionably a Sequence 2 angel.
Arianna made the devout gesture of prayer.
"May the Goddess watch over you," she said.
Ah... The Goddess really did watch over me. Is she reminding me of that?
Understanding dawned on Silas. He returned the gesture and said, "My thanks to the Goddess."
He had never been particularly devout, but since the Goddess had genuinely saved his life, thanking her was only appropriate.
It had been so long since he had served as a Nighthawk that the motions of prayer felt somewhat unfamiliar.
Even while expressing his gratitude, however, Silas remained wary.
The Goddess was hardly a charitable being who gave without expecting anything in return.
He still remembered what had happened in Tingen. When he had faced Ma'am M's threat, the Evernight Goddess had offered only limited assistance.
He had been forced to prove his worth before she decided he deserved further investment.
Now, it appeared that a similar situation was unfolding.
Sure enough, Arianna looked at him calmly before speaking in a measured voice.
"Silas Londor. Once a Nighthawk, now a Blood Reverend and the Blood Sovereign. May your faith remain within your heart, and may you forever rest beneath the Goddess's peaceful gaze."
She's trying to flatter me.
"My faith is like a polished mirror, faithfully reflecting the Goddess's divine radiance," Silas replied.
Don't try to win me over with talk of faith.
If you have something to say, then say it. Whatever help I receive, I'll repay in equal measure. Beyond that, don't expect me to become a true believer.
Arianna's expression remained perfectly serene, revealing no reaction to his words.
After a brief silence, she spoke again.
"Silas, have you considered returning to the Church?"
Silas froze.
She wants to recruit me? She wants me to return to the Church and become a Nighthawk again?
"There is currently a vacant position among the Church's nine Deacons," Arianna continued. "Given your Sequence and abilities, you would be more than qualified to fill it."
"I've built up quite a notorious reputation, yet I still have a chance to rejoin the Church and become a Nighthawk again?"
Once the meaning of her words sank in, Silas almost found the situation amusing.
"You may regard it as an act of the Goddess's mercy," Arianna said. "Naturally, you would need to enter the Church under a new identity..."
In other words, this was the Goddess's will.
That made sense. Without a divine revelation, the Church's officials would sooner let a curly-haired baboon crush their heads beneath its red backside than propose something this outrageous.
"And we have also prepared this for you."
As she spoke, the Servant of Concealment turned over her right hand, revealing an object.
It was a terrifying, blood-red skull. Several hollow black eye sockets marred its front, as though the creature it had belonged to had possessed multiple pairs of eyes.
Despite the bright daylight and the considerable distance between them, the skull seemed to swallow the surrounding light, plunging everything nearby into shadow.
At the same time, a thick, bloody odor spread through the air, as if seeking to consume the life force of every living creature around it.
"!"
Silas's gaze was drawn toward it against his will.
The instant the blood-red skull appeared, the spirituality within him began to seethe. The instinct of Amalgamation surged through his body, urging him to devour it.
There's no doubt about it. This is...
"The Sequence 3 characteristic of the Secrets Suppliant Pathway, the Trinity Templar?"
"Correct," Arianna confirmed. "The corresponding potion formula is included as well."
Silas could not help drawing a deep breath.
He had searched tirelessly for this very thing and still failed to find it.
And now, it had simply appeared before him.