Vice Admiral Deep Sea was a cautious, calm, and decisive man, lacking the usual Sailor pathway temper of volatility and impulsiveness. So, upon realizing that immediate escape was impossible, he simply sat down and even accepted the glass of "Highland Black" that the other had somehow produced.
Hal Constantine poured himself a drink, downed a mouthful in a deliberately rough manner, and then asked in a deep tone, "Your Excellency, Divine Emissary, it's a pleasure to see you again—and I truly appreciate your hospitality. May I ask why you've called me back?"
At that moment, Ebner felt slightly disappointed. Through a little "seasoning" he had added to the Highland Black as a test, he had already confirmed that the Hal Constantine before him bore no blood relation to Oliver Constantine, the God of Luck.
In other words, this man was not his and Yaloran's descendant.
Still, there were questions that needed to be asked.
With that thought, Ebner paused to consider his phrasing before saying, "I want to ask you a few things. If you can answer honestly, I can guarantee that Miss Gwen, Miss Lydia, and young Terance will not trouble you."
After all, Miss Gwen hadn't truly suffered harm, and her uncle had been well cared for by Vice Admiral Deep Sea on the island. With his own influence, Ebner was confident his word would hold weight.
Upon hearing that, Vice Admiral Deep Sea straightened, spirits lifting. After a moment's thought, he declared, "As long as it's within my knowledge, I'll give you a satisfactory answer."
"Excellent." Ebner smiled and nodded. Then, with deliberate gravity, he said, "First question—why did you change your surname to 'Constantine'?"
Hal, as a bastard son, had been forbidden from using the name "Delien." But according to Seyro's reports, his father had given him the surname "Segust" to align him with the Kraken bloodline.
At the question, Hal fell silent for a time before sighing softly. "Constantine was the surname of that Segust Kraken… She—yes, she—treated me quite well at first. For a time, I truly regarded her as family, as my second mother. That's why I took her name.
"Unfortunately, she already had dealings with the Delien family. Though I knew the Deliens were up to something vile and warned her several times… she wouldn't believe me. Or rather, she couldn't break free—she'd already fallen into the schemes of the Deliens and demons alike."
As expected… That Kraken must have obtained a separated characteristic from the God of Luck and inherited fragments of his residual consciousness, leading her to believe herself one of Oliver Constantine's descendants.
That means Vice Admiral Deep Sea's betrayal of the Kraken, beyond self-preservation, was likely also to prevent her from falling into the Deliens' hands—even if it meant her death.
Back then, I wasn't sure. But now, I can almost confirm it: whether it was you, the Deliens and the demons, or even the "Mother Tree of Desire," all of you were, in the end, outplayed by the Goddess—by me.
I just don't know which incarnation of "me" arranged this… It doesn't feel like the work of the God of Luck. This sort of layered scheme is probably something only the me of the Fifth Epoch could have done.
The me of the Second to Fourth Epochs was much more… straightforward.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Ebner was about to ask his second question when Hal Constantine suddenly countered, "You're seeking information about the Constantine family, aren't you?"
Ebner swallowed back his prepared words and instead asked, "You know of them?"
Vice Admiral Deep Sea nodded, then took another long gulp of Highland Black to moisten his dry throat before saying, "Because of the name 'Constantine,' I once did some research. I suppose I've gathered a bit of understanding."
Having regained his calm, Hal no longer spoke with emotion. He once again referred to the Kraken as "it." Pausing to organize his thoughts, he continued:
"During the Solomon Empire…"
He had only gotten this far when Ebner interrupted, "Do you mean the First Solomon Empire or the Second?"
Vice Admiral Deep Sea froze, clearly unaware there had been two Solomon Empires. But since the Divine Emissary's correction couldn't be wrong, he thought briefly and replied, "The period when Einhorn, Augustus, Castiya, and Sauron all served under Solomon."
"That should be the First Empire," Ebner nodded slightly. "Go on."
The First Solomon Empire, then… Hal thought for a moment before continuing,
"During the First Solomon Empire, apart from the three great demon families of the Blood Worship Cult—who believed the Abyss would inevitably erode and corrupt the material world and destroy all creation—there existed another secret organization that spread disaster and ruin: the Demoness Family. They were the predecessors of what is now known as the Demoness Sect.
"In the early Fourth Epoch, there were two main families within the Demoness line—the Constantine family was one of them, and the other was the Succubus family.
"The Constantines allowed only women to become Demonesses. Men were of extremely low status, essentially treated as slaves.
"Later, something happened—no one knows what exactly. In any case, the 'Primordial Demoness' rose to power. The Demonesses of the Constantine family were slaughtered to extinction, and the patriarch of the Succubus family vanished.
"You know the rest. The Demoness lineage was left with only one family, which no longer allowed women to become Demonesses. Over time, that line became the modern Demoness Sect.
"Oh, and those later Demonesses who were transformed from men abandoned the name 'Constantine.' No one uses it anymore."
He still had other speculations—for instance, that the "Primordial Demoness" was likely a male member of the Constantine family, which would explain why, upon becoming a god, she forbade women from taking the title of Demoness. But such thoughts involved divine secrets; Vice Admiral Deep Sea dared not speak them aloud.
After all, saying this much was surely enough for the Divine Emissary to infer the rest.
On the other side, Ebner indeed reached the same conclusion—and even went further. He knew that the reason the Succubus family had also been annihilated was likely because the "Primordial Demoness," Cheek, had taken their ancestor's characteristic to complete her ascension.
And if the Constantine family had once stood on equal footing with the Succubi, then they too must have possessed at least one Sequence 1, an Apocalyptic Demoness!
But even if Cheek had obtained the final Sequence 1 and the uniqueness of the path, hunting down two other archangels of the same level shouldn't have been easy…
Unless she had help. Could it have been the Death God? That would explain their later alliance—why Cheek would so resolutely stand with Death, even daring to challenge the Seven Gods and bring about the Pale Disaster.
Still, idle speculation doesn't help me find the descendants of the Constantine family. Better focus on what matters…
Hmm… since the original Constantine Demonesses were exterminated, and the later male-transformed Demonesses changed their surnames…
Then why would the current "Red Saintess," Margaret, call herself a Constantine before the "Black Man" Red Heart One?
(End of Chapter)