Early the next morning.
After washing up, Edward summoned Phoenix and had it deliver a letter to Bernadette, informing her of his plan to hand the Box of the Great Old Ones over to the Church.
By noon, she arrived in person, carrying the Box.
"As far as I know, Backlund's Saint Samuel Cathedral only has a Sequence 3 archbishop," she said, placing the ornate box on the table. "Are you sure he can deal with an avatar of the King of Angels?"
Edward replied calmly, "That's why I plan to appeal directly to the Goddess."
"???"
A flicker of surprise crossed her face. "You're…a Blessed of the Evernight Goddess?"
"Uh…maybe?"
Bernadette nodded in sudden understanding. "In that case, it should be fine. When's your next round of acting?"
"In a few days. I need time to recover."
She raised an eyebrow. "You remember, don't you? You still owe me a story in Intis."
"…Fine."
——
Afterwards, Edward headed to Saint Samuel Cathedral again. To his surprise, Saint Anthony was still absent. Upon asking the bishop, he learned the high-ranking priest had departed for the Church's headquarters—the Cathedral of Serenity—just the day before.
Had Anthony gone against the Goddess's will and been disciplined?
Edward silently reminded himself: Never truly trust the Evernight Goddess as if she were "Mommy Evernight." When your interests align, she won't mind treating you kindly. But once they diverge…
Just look at what happened to the almost-wiped-out Demonic Wolf family.
Lighting candles and sprinkling various oils, Edward clasped his hands in prayer:
"I pray for the power of the Night.
I pray for the power of Secrecy.
I pray for the Goddess's gaze—"
Just as he finished the third line, a violent gust of wind erupted in the room, scattering everything. Even Edward himself staggered backwards.
Moments later, a line of glowing script appeared on the floor:
"The Box of the Great Old Ones is tainted by the pollution from the stars."
…So even the Evernight Goddess couldn't hold it?
Edward stood amid the chaos, frowning. He then tried asking, "What should I do with Amon's avatar trapped inside?"
Unfortunately, there was no further response from the Goddess.
He glanced at the ornate jewellery box on the ground. "Well, great. Guess I'll have to deal with it myself. Which means both the Box of the Great Old Ones and my painting frame are unusable for now…"
What a shame.
In the original timeline, the Box was already a rather awkward Sealed Artifact. But when combined with the Frame, the two formed a deadly combo that could produce surprise kills under the right conditions.
Now? All scrapped thanks to one Amon.
As for the Box's second layer—"Exile"—it could teleport both the user and the Box to an unknown location. But it was far too random and relied too heavily on luck.
And the third layer?
Sure, I'm not afraid of corruption myself—but if I open the third layer and that "stellar pollution" spreads…who knows what irreversible catastrophe might result?
So the best bet was to contact someone from the Abraham family and trade the Box for another item.
In the original story, they offered two Sealed Artifacts: one was some kind of painting scroll—not even worth mentioning; the other was the Staff of the Stars.
Even if it overlapped somewhat with Edward's current powers, the Staff of the Stars still represented the Beyonder characteristic of a Sequence 2 Planeswalker—undeniably valuable.
But the problem was: Fors still hadn't encountered the Abrahams in this timeline. So where was he supposed to find them?
Tch. Christine, maybe?
Either way, until that happened, he'd let Bernadette keep the Box for now.
——
Fog Sea
The Golden Dream rocked gently as it sailed into a reef-filled region of the Fog Sea. Any further, and even the newest steel ships from Loen would crash and sink—let alone this wooden vessel.
The sailors worked the winches, slowly lowering a small rowboat into the water. There was only one passenger aboard: Christine—the girl who, after a brutal battle with Vice Admiral Dusk, had been found clinging to an enormous key deep in an underwater ruin.
Standing at the ship's edge, Vice Admiral Iceberg, Edwina, asked again, "Christine, are you sure you want to disembark here?"
Christine nodded firmly. "The rest of the path…I have to walk alone."
"Where are you going?"
"I…don't know."
Her eyes held a trace of confusion.
She had first gone to sea chasing clues about the long-sunken Laurel. After tracking those hints across many months, she finally found something.
Using a certain Sealed Artifact, she had descended into the ocean's depths—and truly discovered the legendary ship.
But only part of it.
What she found was just the midsection of the Laurel's cabin. The bow and stern were missing—cut off cleanly, as if sliced by an impossibly sharp blade.
This wasn't wreckage from a crash, or something gradually corroded by time—it had been severed.
Christine scoured the surviving cabin, but found none of what she was looking for. Only at the bottom did she discover an enormous key, the size of a seven-string harp.
That was when the Sealed Artifact's side effects kicked in. Stripped of its protection, she quickly blacked out from the water pressure and lack of air.
Yet somehow…she didn't die.
Drifting in unconsciousness, she slowly became aware—she had not perished.
It wasn't until the Golden Dream hauled her back up that she finally regained consciousness.
And in that moment, memories came rushing back.
Wait…Didn't I already die, years ago?
The pain of her final moments…the despair as she drew her last breath…the suffocating darkness of the coffin…the silent burial underground…All of it came flooding back.
And with it, a single, overwhelming fear:
Why am I not dead?
Why can't I die?
What happened to me?
Christine began frantically using astrology to divine her own fate. After several failed attempts, she finally discovered a faint trace. Using the massive key she had found as payment, she persuaded the Golden Dream to ferry her to the location she'd divined.
"We'll wait nearby for one day," said Edwina, turning to head back to the captain's cabin.
As she walked, she glanced down at the enormous black key in Christine's hands and fell into silent thought. After a while, she began to arrange a ritual.
"I summon…the messenger belonging exclusively to Edward…in my name."
With a sharp screech, Phoenix cut through the air and flew out.
——
Meanwhile, Christine rowed her small boat with difficulty, navigating through the reef-filled waters. When she turned back, the Golden Dream was already out of sight.
At that moment, a thick mist rose up from the surrounding waters. She dropped the oars and stood up. Faintly through the veil of fog, she saw a massive island, half-concealed in haze.
———
[Backlund, Empress Borough—A Small Villa]
When Edward returned from the cathedral, Lilith dashed toward him like a bolt, eyes shining as she shouted with excitement and pride:
"Edward! I've finished digesting the Potion of Instigator!"
"I can officially advance to Sequence 7!"
Her wagging tail and glittering sapphire-like eyes radiated joy and anticipation—but also a hint of nervousness.
Edward scooped her up in one swift motion. "Wow! Lilith, you're amazing! You're incredible!"
"Of course!" She raised her chin proudly and nodded emphatically.
"That means our dear Miss Lilith is finally ready to become…a catgirl!"
Lilith tilted her head. "What's a catgirl?"
"It's, uh…a girl who's a cat."
"Ohhh~"
She nodded as if having gained profound insight, then confidently extrapolated: "Then a girl who's a mouse is a mouse-girl, and a girl who's a dog is a dog-girl, and a woman is a…human-girl!"
Edward patted her head. "Well…if it makes you happy."
Lilith looked up at Edward and asked in her usual crisp voice, "When do we get to become a catgirl?"
"In just a bit."
He set her down. "I'll go call Audrey over right now so we can brew your potion."
"Okay~!"
Lilith obediently plopped onto the sofa and started licking her little paws. "Come back quick~"
"Right away!"
With that, his figure blurred and vanished on the spot.
——
Not long after Edward left, Lilith's ears twitched. She leapt up to the windowsill and opened the window. Looking outside, she called out:
"Krismona, what are you doing here?"
A girl in a long black dress faded into view from invisibility. She smiled gently at Lilith and said, "I came to tell you—I'll be leaving Backlund for a while."
"Huh? Why?"
"Mother has awakened from her slumber. I need to go take care of her."
"Oh, okay then."
Lilith raised her little paw and patted Krismona's shoulder with an air of maturity. "Go on, go on."
Suddenly, she remembered something and beamed. "Oh! Miss Lilith is going to advance to Sequence 7 soon!"
Krismona's eyes lit up. "Congratulations, Miss Lilith!"
"Mm."
Lilith twitched her whiskers, but then a trace of concern crept into her eyes. "But…you said before that becoming more human might make me unhappy."
"But being unhappy is only…temporary," Krismona replied gently. "There's much more happiness than sadness."
"Really?"
"Truly," she said, looking her straight in the eyes.
"Then I'll believe you!"
Lilith reached into the small pendant hanging from her neck and pulled out a piece of dried mouse meat. She handed it over, "Here, for the road."
Krismona accepted it naturally. "Thank you, Miss Lilith~ Goodbye."
The next second, she vanished.
Just then, Edward's voice rang through the villa:
"Lilith, we're back!"
"Coming~!"
Susie bounded in energetically, tail wagging high, beaming with pride. "Miss Lilith, you're amazing! Advancing to Sequence 7 so soon!"
"That's right!" Lilith responded instinctively, but then narrowed her eyes at Susie. "You're being fake!"
"Huh?" Susie looked like she'd just been struck by lightning.
"You already advanced to Sequence 7 long ago!"
"But…I also took the potion earlier than you," Susie explained. "So from a timing standpoint, Miss Lilith is actually the better one!"
"Oh! That's true!"
Lilith's face instantly lit up, grinning ear to ear.
Audrey, watching Edward's doting smile, gave him a little poke and whispered, "You really shouldn't spoil Lilith this much in the future."
Edward blinked. "Why not?"
"She's way too easy to coax…too quick to trust others…She's going to be tricked someday."
He immediately placed a solemn hand on Audrey's shoulder:
"Then the task of being the stern mother…is yours, Audrey!"
———
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