"Angel! Ancestor's favor?"
Upon hearing those words, Dorian Gray could no longer maintain his guarded expression. His mental defenses crumbled immediately.
He never could have expected that this being calling himself Nimrod was actually an angel walking on earth—one who claimed to have obtained the ancestor's favor, no less.
This was equivalent to the Pope and Patriarch of the seven orthodox divine churches combined! In the more distant ancient times, angels were beings who could be called subsidiary gods. If they wished, and no other extraordinary forces blocked them, it wouldn't take long to destroy all life and environment across the entire North and South continents, causing the complete extinction of civilization.
After a long silence, Dorian Gray loosened his clenched fists, took a deep breath, and asked in a low voice:
"Then, Lord Nimrod, have you seen the ancestor?"
Now knowing the other party was an angel, Dorian Gray abandoned the idea of using the powerful sealed artifact he still carried to escape. He no longer cared whether this was really the "Nimrod" he once knew.
He wanted to know only one thing—news about the ancestor of the Abraham family, "Mr. Door" Bethel Abraham. He needed to understand whether the nightmare that had entangled the Abraham family for thousands of years had any connection to their disappeared ancestor.
"Of course. I know what you want to ask," Nimrod smiled as he spoke the truth that Dorian had already guessed but waited for confirmation. "I can tell you very clearly—the curse rooted in our bloodline comes from the ancestor himself."
"This... why is this? Why would He do this?"
Dorian Gray Abraham's mouth fell open slightly, forgetting to close it as if he had lost all movement. Chaotic and twisted points of starlight overflowed from his body, illuminating the anger and confusion on his face.
The nightmare rooted in bloodline that had entangled the Abraham family for thousands of years actually came from the source of their bloodline and all their pride—from their own ancestor.
This revelation nearly caused his mind to lose its defenses, showing signs of losing control.
"No, this isn't good. Yesterday's curse made my body even weaker. After learning the truth, I'm actually showing signs of losing control. The potion—yes, I must take the potion first."
With the overflow of starlight points, Dorian Gray's thoughts became chaotic and twisted, his body sluggish. He couldn't even reach into his jacket pocket to retrieve the potion.
Just as he fell into despair, waiting for final loss of control, a beam of starlight enveloped his body, suppressing the signs and allowing him to regain his thoughts.
Dispersing the starlight from his right hand, Nimrod looked at the now-calmed Dorian Gray and said:
"This was not his original intention. For a traveler lost in eternal darkness, blocked by lightning and storms, all the ancestor could do was call for help and summon aid.
Moreover, as a member of the Abraham family who has mastered extensive mystical knowledge, you should understand that even a normal angel—even one able to walk freely on earth and do as they please without additional battles—might gradually be affected by extraordinary characteristics, becoming unlike themselves, even appearing half-mad.
The ancestor, during more than one thousand years of exile and sealing, didn't even have communication partners. The higher the sequence, the heavier the pollution. As an Angel King, the fact that the ancestor hasn't died already shows he is both strong enough and lucky enough.
But the corresponding price is that the ancestor has already gone mad. He cannot restrain his survival instincts. In his sealed state, he can only rely on his connection to bloodline and his own pathway to exert influence on the real world.
Moreover, every time the full moon comes, the ancestor's mad part strengthens, making him unable to control himself—only able to continuously call for help."
At this point, he looked at the now-silent Dorian Gray and sighed:
"For these beings standing at the extraordinary peak, those not reaching high sequences are truly too fragile. Their life levels differ too greatly. Perhaps he just breathes normally, and the resulting storm can tear you to pieces. Perhaps he just looks at you once, and you will die on the spot."
"If we can help the ancestor return to the real world, will the curse be lifted? You have obtained the ancestor's favor—you must know the ritual to help him return."
Dorian looked at Nimrod silently, speaking his thoughts only after several seconds.
"I naturally know the ritual to help the ancestor return. But, my dear Uncle Dorian..." Nimrod, sitting in the high-backed chair, put away his smile as he looked at this middle-aged man who seemed to have aged many years in an instant:
"Do you understand the consequences of having a mad Angel King descend to reality? Do you want the humans of the North Continent to go extinct? Do you want the family to be completely destroyed?
Not to mention whether the ancestor still has enough anchors to fight madness—even if the ancestor escaped madness and had sufficient anchors to balance his state, the Seven Gods would absolutely not allow Him to descend."
As an astrologer with deep mystical knowledge, Dorian Gray naturally understood the consequences of releasing a mad Angel King back to reality. That would definitely cause massive casualties on the North Continent, just like the Pale Disaster of years past.
During years of fleeing, family members had gradually decreased. After experiencing Boutis's rebellion, their numbers had dropped even more sharply. There simply weren't enough anchors to help the ancestor recover to normal. The major churches had always maintained only one attitude toward the spread of hidden beliefs—elimination.
Thinking of this, he suddenly asked: "Why would the Seven Gods stop it?"
Dorian didn't understand why the Seven Gods would prevent the ancestor's return.
"Because they won't accept one more deity appearing. Don't hope for someone else to share their believers and anchors." Smoothing the wrinkles on his classical robe, Nimrod continued: "Of course, there's also a simpler reason—they don't want an enemy to appear, because those who sealed the ancestor back then were Night and Storm."
"Goddess of Night, Lord of Storms... yes, in the Fourth Epoch, these deities supported the Trunsoest Empire, while the ancestor supported the Blood Emperor. No wonder He disappeared in the War of Four Emperors and no longer responds to our prayers..."
Dorian Gray took a deep breath. Now he had finally solved the problem that had long troubled him. After this, what he needed to find was a way to lift the family's curse.
As for helping the ancestor return to the real world, he temporarily had no such plans, because he had a premonition that would be the true beginning of the Abrahams' nightmare.
"Thank you for your answer. But Nimrod—please forgive my directness, I'll just call you Nimrod. What exactly do you want to accomplish by telling me so much? Or rather, what purpose do you have for our Abraham family?"