After consuming the potion, Silas's senses became acutely sharp.
His hearing in particular improved dramatically, with all the surrounding sounds flooding clearly into his ears.
The sound of airflow passing through his nasal cavity and windpipe as he breathed, the sound of clothes rubbing against skin, muscles squirming and bones colliding, the buzzing of flying insects in the room, Cecilia's anxious pacing downstairs, more sounds inside and outside the house, and across from him, the sounds belonging to Ms. M.
Strange, there's something off about her sounds.
Ms. M's flesh and blood constantly emitted sticky sounds of separation and fusion.
Her heart beat sluggishly, like an elderly person in their twilight years. With each breath, her flesh made tearing sounds.
It was as if Ms. M was merely a broken doll temporarily pieced together.
Could she be seriously injured? Silas thought. Does that mean I might have a chance to ambush her later?
But very soon, he had no mind to consider such things.
Because he heard even more sounds.
In the darkness, high above, at the top of the sequences beyond the mortal world, a great existence sensed the change in his sequence and cast an indifferent gaze toward him.
A voice followed, ringing in his ears.
It was a filthy sound that should not belong to the mortal world, like frenzied ravings emerging from the most deranged dreams.
The voice was filled with evil and agony, like the desperate cries of the dying, or like the foolish sleep-talk of the insane.
The voice was saturated with extreme emotions and terrible corruption.
The moment Silas heard even a little of it, his head felt as if countless red-hot molten iron had been poured into it, while someone forcibly grabbed his head and shook it back and forth!
Especially since his ears had become extremely sensitive at this moment, the impact hit him with tremendous force.
"Ahh!"
Silas felt pain as if his very soul was being torn apart.
Beyond the curses, the voice also carried forbidden and corrupt knowledge, forcibly infusing it into his mind.
The "blessing" from the True Creator!
Upon becoming a Listener, one would receive unique, powerful, and twisted abilities bestowed by the True Creator.
"Whoosh..."
Finally, just as his spirit was on the verge of collapse, the phantom sound of ocean tides finally rang out, protecting his fragile mind.
The sound of the tides and the ravings canceled each other out.
What ultimately flowed into Silas's mind was only the pure bestowal, without the True Creator's mental influence.
Perhaps because he had completely digested the previous potion, Silas withstood the initial impact of the ravings and held on until his advantage arrived.
That phantom ocean tide sound continued until the ravings ended, then slowly receded.
I survived...
Silas felt his consciousness slowly return to his body.
Opening his eyes, he found his forehead covered in sweat.
Ms. M's face suddenly appeared before him. She had moved extremely close to Silas, staring at him intently.
Silas could even see his own face reflected in her golden pupils.
Her eyes showed fanaticism and... greed.
"What are you doing?!"
Silas took a step back, frowning.
"You rejected the Lord's holy words, yet still received the Lord's blessing... Very interesting."
Ms. M made no attempt to hide her attitude, still staring fixedly at Silas.
That gaze was like she wanted to devour him alive, making his scalp tingle.
Fortunately, after a while, she finally changed the subject. "I'm very curious what kind of ability the Lord bestowed upon you."
"Want me to demonstrate?"
Hearing her say this, Silas raised his head and asked somewhat provocatively.
"Go ahead."
Ms. M nodded.
"Alright then, go die."
Silas spoke in Hermes.
The smile hadn't yet faded from Ms. M's face when her own hand moved like lightning, reaching for her own throat. With a "crack," she snapped her own cervical vertebrae.
At the same time, dark bluish-black veins rose across the skin of her face, like protruding, terrifying tree roots.
Only now did a hint of surprise show in Ms. M's beautiful eyes. In that instant, her hand had seemed to possess its own will, actively carrying out Silas's command.
"Profane Words, is it? Very nice."
Ms. M said with her head tilted. Her hand forcefully twisted at her neck. After a crisp sound, her head returned to its proper position.
As expected, not so easy to kill.
Silas cursed inwardly, feeling the massive drain of spirituality within his body.
The ability he'd received from the True Creator was called "Profane Words."
It could bring powerful cursing effects to targets, polluting their minds and destroying their lives.
As a price, this ability consumed large amounts of spirituality. Moreover, against a powerful being like Ms. M, the effect seemed less than obvious.
Probably because he'd consumed so much spirituality right after advancing, Silas felt his vision darkening. He quickly sat down to meditate for a moment and recover.
Ms. M waited quietly for him.
"Starting tomorrow, try to act as a Listener and strive to fully digest it as soon as possible.
During this time, continue working normally. Don't let your colleagues notice anything unusual about you."
She told the awakened Silas.
Silas frowned, increasingly feeling that something was off about Ms. M. Compared to the Ms. M from Enmat Port, who had been a fanatic believer of the True Creator, she now seemed to have more personal will.
"What exactly do you want? Don't give me those false lines about wanting to help me. You know I don't believe that."
"Fine, I'll tell you."
Ms. M looked at Silas. "You destroyed all my arrangements in Enmat Port.
My forces, my ambitions... I want to start over in Tingen, and as punishment, you're going to help me rebuild my organization."
"My current requirement for you is to digest the potion as quickly as possible and become my reliable tool as soon as you can.
Don't worry, I'll guide you. If you do things well, I might consider sparing your sibling and continue providing you with higher-level potions."
Ms. M said, both placating Silas and dangling a carrot before him.
Although this reason was more reasonable than before, Silas didn't believe it.
Ms. M's physical condition, the greedy look in her eyes toward him... Moreover, even when she mentioned her past operations, she carried an indifferent attitude that completely contradicted her explanation.
"I understand. I hope you'll keep your promise."
Silas could only maintain his vigilance while pretending to temporarily accept this reason.
Rather than trusting Ms. M, it would be more reliable to eliminate her as soon as possible.
After tidying up the bedroom, Silas carried his things and walked out the door.
"Brother!"
Cecilia, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately rushed over with a worried expression.
"It's alright now."
Silas smiled reassuringly at her and returned the pot to the kitchen.
Regardless of everything else, he had safely advanced to Sequence 8 and gained new abilities, even if they were still nothing worth mentioning to Ms. M.
He'd also discovered that Ms. M's body seemed to have problems, which warranted continued observation.
That night, he slept much more soundly.
---
Early the next morning, the siblings went out as usual.
"I'm on duty at the company today. I won't be coming home tonight."
Silas told Ms. M.
"I know. Your colleague mentioned it." Ms. M, sharing his vision, said indifferently.
May the Goddess bless me and let me kill her soon.
Silas prayed to the Goddess in his heart, for once with a degree of genuine devotion.