Although the Wild Hunt medal from the City of Dawn had formed naturally, I had already fully analyzed its structure through the Pure White Eye, and the simulation in the White Tower showed no issues.
So why didn't it produce the mythical form directly—and instead condensed the body of Despair Nightingale Panatia?
Moreover, this Panatia was stiff and lifeless, lacking the fluidity of a historical projection. She was like a puppet, moving only when controlled—
—but the problem was, my simulated "spiritual threads" couldn't actually manipulate her.
She belonged to a different system—one controlled through the Language of the Dead.
So where did I go wrong? Was it because the spirit lingering in the Wild Hunt had some peculiarity from the Demon Hunter? Or was it something innate to Panatia herself?
After carefully studying the Despair Nightingale and comparing both artifacts piece by piece, Ebner suddenly had a flash of insight.
"Panatia… she was killed by the Pale Flame breathed out when the Lord of the Dead Vincente Miranda transformed into the Feathered Serpent…
"Ordinary souls of the dead go to the Underworld as their final resting place—but those slain by Vincente's Pale Flame might not.
"Panatia's soul may have been trapped deep beneath Calderon City, near a tributary of the River of Eternal Darkness.
"That means, while reproducing the artifact, every step of mine was correct—except when I reached the part that required contacting the remnant spirit of the corresponding dead soul within the Underworld…
"Because Panatia's soul never returned to the Underworld!
"In simpler terms—it's like searching the Underworld's database and getting no data entry back, only a broken hyperlink…
"So the system couldn't reverse-build the full 'mythical creature form,' and instead only printed her soul's shell based on the basic template data.
"But this shell is nearly useless!
"While it can perform extraordinary acts through external control, its intelligence is limited. The Language of the Dead can only express so much—it can't execute complex functions.
"And since both the spirituality and divinity that power the shell come from me, she can't transform into her Incomplete Mythical Form—
"Unless I already possess the knowledge of the Demoness Pathway's Incomplete Mythical Form myself.
"But the very reason I wanted to trigger her transformation was to learn that knowledge in the first place…
"That's a complete paradox!"
Letting out a sigh, Ebner was about to accept the experiment's failure—
—when his gaze fell upon the black gemstone hanging over his chest, a gift from the Goddess. And suddenly, several daring, even mad thoughts began surfacing in his mind.
"Vincente Miranda, the Death Archon, and Alwin Abraham, the Wanderer, both had ties to the Goddess…
"These two 'me's pathways are also connected to the Phoenix Ancestor Gregari.
"Vincente's mythical form—the Feathered Serpent—bears the traits of a Phoenix. I once speculated that he might have been a resurrection fallback for the Phoenix Ancestor, who was then used by the Death God Salinger as his own contingency… until I took that body for myself.
"But after learning much about the God of Luck from Yaloran, I no longer believe that was mere coincidence.
"After all, the teleportation tunnel beneath the Fragrant Manor implies that the God of Luck had a close relationship with the Phoenix Ancestor.
"And 'Count Silver Eye' Rhine once collaborated with the Emperor of the Underworld on research as well…
"So perhaps Vincente's lifetime was actually part of a controlled transmigration experiment—and a successful one at that.
"Regardless, Vincente's state is clearly special. From the fact that he slumbers deep beneath Calderon City, I suspect he's connected to one of the River of Eternal Darkness's tributaries.
"With the Goddess's intellect—if she knows of my existence and of Vincente's uniqueness—she couldn't possibly resist scheming around it.
"She may have already meddled with the Death pathway, seizing some minor authority over a tributary of the River of Eternal Darkness.
"She must have found a way to hide it all from the God of War's perception."
If my guess is right, and cross-referencing the events in the original timeline—the Goddess will soon leak that information 'accidentally' to lure the God of War into her trap.
"Then if I pray to her now, asking her to temporarily release Panatia's soul—would she agree?
"She would likely need to do it through Vincente's body… and Vincente was slain by the God of War's High Priest—the God of War cannot possibly ignore his movements.
"That would be the perfect bait."
Wait… when I entered the Land of Night, I happened to control Alwin once. By chance, I summoned Vincente's historical projection—the one with the highest compatibility—and even used the Pale Flame to kill Panatia…
And now, I just happen to need her soul's data.
Could this all really have been arranged beforehand?
It seems unlikely. Many of those decisions were my own will—choosing to study the Demoness pathway's Incomplete Mythical Form, for instance. Panatia wasn't my only possible target…
But with so many coincidences stacked together, it's hard not to suspect something more.
If this truly is the Goddess's calculation—how far does her understanding of me go? How deeply does she know me—to predict every one of my choices so precisely?
I need to confirm this.
After much hesitation, Ebner finally made up his mind. He began arranging a ritual and offered his prayer:
"O Goddess of the Evernight, higher than the stars, older than eternity,
I beseech Your gaze.
I beseech the power of crimson,
I beseech the power of calamity and terror,
I beseech the power of darkness and death.
I pray You free Panatia's soul—let her briefly escape the grasp of endless night."
.....
Deep beneath Calderon City, within the colossal underground hall supported by towering bone-carved pillars and adorned with fragments of corpses, a figure lying inside a stone coffin suddenly trembled.
Moments later, ripples spread across the illusory river flowing in the depths below, and a woman wandering along its bank split—an identical copy of herself formed in an instant.
The "copy" vanished swiftly, while the original continued to linger by the shore.
.....
In Feysac, within the Dusk Cathedral outside St. Millon City—
A high-ranking archbishop who had been preaching suddenly paused for several seconds. Then he bowed deeply toward the holy emblem of the God of War and intoned reverently:
"Thy will be done."
He immediately summoned a senior deacon and instructed solemnly:
"Gather all our brethren of the Sleepless and Corpse Collector pathways.
Send forth their spirits to locate Calderon City—and capture every extraordinary being who approaches it.
This is the will of God.
May the Glory of Dusk ever shine."
"May the Glory of Dusk ever shine," the deacon echoed, bowing.
After finalizing the details, he left the cathedral and returned to the Demon Hunter office.
There, a stack of new documents awaited him—transfer orders and employment papers for the Forger couple, recently reassigned from Upor to St. Millon.
Flipping through the files, the deacon noted that one of them was from the Sleepless pathway and the other from the Corpse Collector pathway—both mid-sequence, powerful Sequence 5s.
After brief thought, he wrote a new line on the document:
"Transfer revised—Forger couple to be placed in the Special Operations Unit."
.....
At the docks of Bayam, the "City of Generosity," Dunn and Daly had just arrived by ship. Receiving their infiltration documents, they read the assigned aliases aloud.
"The Forger couple…
Code name… Dusk?"
.....
Back in Backlund, within Mr. Surrey's old workshop—
As the ritual concluded, the shell of the Despair Nightingale visibly came alive. Her eyes turned vibrant, her gaze toward Ebner growing increasingly dangerous.
Ebner, without hesitation, resealed the artifact he had created. Panatia's form faded away, leaving only agitated, furious emotions echoing from within the medal.
"It really worked… The Goddess truly has touched the Death pathway!
"Besides Vincente, she probably holds the Phoenix Ancestor's special soul stone too… Her ability to influence the River of Eternal Darkness might rely on those relics.
"And since she responded to my plea—either I've become important enough in her eyes, or her game against the God of War has officially begun.
"Or perhaps… both."
Ebner frowned slightly.
"If everything is within the Goddess's calculations… then just how well does she know me?
"To know me this deeply—can that truly be harmless? After all, I am not ordinary; the more you know, the stronger the pollution.
"Even with my permission suppressing the backlash—doesn't she worry about the risk?
"Honestly, seeing Flora's state—utterly lost in devotion—it scares me."
After a moment of silent thought, Ebner sighed and looked down at the imitation medal before him.
Sensing the emotions emanating from it, he murmured to himself:
"With Panatia's soul within, this is no different from a living sealed artifact now.
"If I release her, she should be able to manifest her Incomplete Mythical Form.
"She's just a little… disobedient."
A faint, mischievous smile tugged at his lips.
"But that's fine. I'm very good at—negotiating with living sealed artifacts."
And as that wicked grin deepened, the workshop fell into a hush, the black gemstone at his chest gleaming faintly under the dim light.
(End of Chapter)