While Owen was "audiencing" George III, Ebner's main body used the illusory "Pure White Angel" within the "Land of the Unknown" to very easily determine the location of the "Black Knight" Sero Delien, then "teleported" to his hiding place in Trier—inside an abandoned warehouse.
As the penultimate Pope of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, Sero Delien—or rather, Olbach—was different from Richelieu, the final Pope of the Eternal Blazing Sun within the "Magic Mirror," who was a naturally born mythical creature. Sero had originated as an ascetic monk, and thus did not care much about his living environment.
However, among the so-called "Three Sacred Artifacts of Sword, Mirror, and Seal" that Ebner had entrusted to him for safekeeping, the "Divine Sword" possessed a personality that favored luxury. It found this place unsightly no matter how it looked at it and had lodged protests many times, all of which were unfortunately ignored by Sero.
"Sero, you brat—how are you even more stubborn than Charlie? With your 'Black Knight' abilities, as long as you pasture a 'Faceless One,' you can change your appearance at will. You're not lacking money either, so why insist on living in such a filthy, damp place?"
Faced with the incessant nagging of the "Divine Sword"—that is, the wraith of Andre, former Patriarch of the Church of the God of Combat—Sero had long grown accustomed to it and had not intended to pay it any attention. However, he suddenly sensed something, hastily stood up, and looked toward the doorway.
Immediately afterward, Ebner's figure entered his field of vision.
"My Lord," Sero stood and saluted.
At the same time, the "Divine Sword" cried out as if it had seen a "savior," "You've finally come!"
Ebner first nodded to Sero, then looked toward the "Divine Sword," feeling that it seemed far more restless than when he had first encountered it.
"Your subordinate is far too quiet. These past days, he hasn't spoken more than ten sentences!" the complaints of the "Divine Sword" followed.
So that's it—you were 'bottled up'? Could it be that this former Patriarch of the Church of the God of Combat was actually a chatterbox?
Mm, that could very well be the more 'profound' part of his humanity. It's understandable that a 'Glory Bearer' wouldn't like silence…
As his thoughts turned, Ebner felt that since this thing loved "chatting" so much, he really should teach it the summoning ritual for Arodes and let it chat with Arodes instead—that would be truly exciting.
Ebner ignored its complaints and directly asked, "Do you know the purpose behind Roselle forging the three items—Sword, Mirror, and Seal?"
He had asked this question before to the "Magic Mirror" Richelieu after its "full unsealing." Asking the "Divine Sword" again here was to see whether it knew more.
"It was nothing more than a part of the 'Knowledge Emperor' ritual… however…" The "Divine Sword's" answer was exactly the same as the "Magic Mirror's," but its tone clearly suggested there was more to say.
"However what?" Ebner pressed.
The "Divine Sword" answered irrelevantly: "I want to change to a more comfortable place… and when I followed Charlie back then, there were beautiful young ladies wiping my blade every single day."
This thing's demands are quite high… Ebner's mouth twitched slightly. Then he narrowed his eyes and smiled, saying, "Alright, then—we'll change places…"
As he spoke, he opened the Pure White Eyes. At the same time, the "Yellow Demoness" Natalia flew out of nowhere and lifted the blade of the "Divine Sword."
"That's more like it…" Just as the "Divine Sword" was feeling smug, it suddenly sensed something was wrong—because the beauty holding it seemed to be flying toward that young man's pure white eyes.
…
Several hours later, the "Divine Sword" manifested a vague humanoid figure and bowed to Ebner, saying, "Master…"
Although its tone was respectful, the violently fluctuating emotional colors revealed the anger, unwillingness, and helplessness hidden deep within it.
Ebner casually nodded, but inwardly thought:
Angels that have fallen into "wraiths" lack the necessary protection for their spiritual bodies, so comparatively speaking, they are easier to corrupt… but even so, after several hours, only a preliminary "Unknown" brand was imprinted into its soul. It is merely forced into submission now, not a fanatical believer like the "Parasite" Flora.
As for normal angelic existences, they most likely can isolate themselves from knowledge related to "Liu Bo," so shouting "Liu Bo" on the battlefield probably won't have much effect on angels—unless they actively choose to "understand" it, just like Amon's previous avatar and the "Primordial Moon" that explored Roselle's memories.
Of course, in theory, deities and subsidiary gods like Lilith and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom were also likely "corrupted" through exploring the "Unknown."
This should be the special nature of the "Unknown" itself… The "Unknown" cannot be understood, and attempting to explore it must bring "calamity"?
If this truly is the intrinsic property of the "Unknown," and if the "Unknown," as Adam showed me, was born from the "Original One" witnessing Liu Bo's transmigration and forming the thought of "Unknown"…
Then when the "Original One" saw Liu Bo and tried to understand this "Unknown" phenomenon, something truly terrifying must have happened… Otherwise, exploring the "Unknown" wouldn't have such horrific consequences—so horrific that Amon would rather let himself be killed by me and abandon a Sequence 2 characteristic than allow those memories of exploration to flow back to his main body.
At this point, Ebner stopped his train of thought. Although he himself was also "Liu Bo," at this stage, deeply exploring the "Unknown" would likely result in "misfortune" as well. This was not a spiritual warning, but knowledge derived from the memories of Alvin and his other past selves.
Coming back to his senses, Ebner looked at the "Divine Sword," which was displaying a "humble" posture, and asked once more, "Tell me everything you know about 'Sword, Mirror, and Seal.'"
"Yes… We items were not only part of Roselle's 'Knowledge Emperor' ascension ritual. Later on, it is highly likely that we were also endowed with the power of 'knowledge.'
"That is an authority of the 'Knowledge Emperor.' Only when Sword, Mirror, and Seal are gathered together, and all specific conditions are met, can the effect be triggered," the "Divine Sword" answered honestly.
The authority of the Knowledge Emperor? Like how Bernadette used an improvised story to grant the "Holy Sword · Bernadette" the attribute of "Abyss Nemesis"?
Thinking this inwardly, Ebner outwardly pressed on:
"What exactly are the conditions?"
"I don't know… I only vaguely sensed, through the 'Demon-Hunting Eye,' that I had been endowed with the power of knowledge, but what exactly it is, I have no idea at all…" the "Divine Sword" replied with difficulty.
"So you only know this much, yet you dared to negotiate terms with me just now?" Ebner glanced at it sideways. Although through the brand he knew it wasn't lying, he still said coldly, "Think again. See if you've missed anything!"
The "Divine Sword" was now filled with regret. Had it known earlier that the being before it was this terrifying, how would it ever have dared to raise conditions? And to end up losing itself entirely just to improve its living conditions—this was far too much of a loss…
But no matter what, it could not refuse its "master's" question. After racking its memory for a long time, the "Divine Sword" finally said uncertainly, "Roselle seems to have created a storybook for the three items—Sword, Mirror, and Seal… but where it is, or what exactly is written inside, I truly don't know."
A storybook about Sword, Mirror, and Seal? Did Old Huang really "copy" the story of the Three Sacred Artifacts?
What exactly was he trying to do? Deal with the "Great Serpent"?
If that's the case, then who does the "Great Serpent" refer to?
The Angel of Fate Ouroboros? The Earth Mother? Or… the Primordial Demoness?
Mm, blind guessing is meaningless. I still need to find Old Huang's book…
I can ask Bernadette, Bornova, and "Lion" Leon… Maybe I can find some clues.
After briefly thinking it over, Ebner directly tossed the "Divine Sword" into Alvin's Traveling Palace… This was also its own request. After all, the Traveling Palace was resplendent with gold and jade, and it even had the administrator—the Goddess of Wealth—regularly maintaining the collections, perfectly matching the conditions it had just proposed.
What more could it complain about?
(End of chapter)