Edward was slightly startled. "The suppression of lower Sequences by higher ones on the Death pathway?"
Phoenix nodded. "Exactly."
"Alright then, I'll leave the ring with you for now. This guy's yours to handle."
Once Klein advanced to Sequence 5, he could just sell the man to him as a Puppet. In a way, that would be "returning him to his rightful owner."
"For now, help check if there's anyone still alive on those three ships."
Edward rubbed his temples as he glanced at the corpses and wreckage floating around. If not for Ludwell barging in out of nowhere, he'd already be halfway through launching his next "education campaign."
All he wanted was a few pirates to help digest his potion. Why did a Pirate Admiral have to show up himself? If Ludwell had brought along seven or eight ships full of pirates like Senor did, that would've been fine—but this guy didn't even bring a single living crew mber!
Wasn't that just screwing things up?
"Hmm?"
He suddenly froze. Arianna had left just monts ago—and Ludwell showed up right after.
That couldn't be a coincidence, right?
Edward's gaze returned to the black Death Ring. This was, after all, one of the keys to entering Death's mausoleum in the Berserk Sea.
Only when Azik entered the tomb would the Evernight Goddess have a chance to seize control of the Artificial Death (i.e., the uniqueness of the Death Pathway).
And only by gaining that uniqueness could she feign weakness after absorbing Death's Authority, thereby luring the God of Combat into launching a divine war.
Once the God of Combat made his move, the Goddess could unite with Lilith to slay him and seize the God of Combat's Authority.
A chain reaction—each link triggering the next.
But with Priscilla's appearance, Azik seed to be on a different trajectory than in the original tiline. Would he still et Ludwell and obtain the Death Ring as before? Would he still enter the tomb?
So…was all this orchestrated by the Goddess?
But she wasn't of the Spectator pathway...
Could it be…the Russian Priest?
That's it.
The Russian Priest's so-called "tide of the era" was a continent-sweeping war—and the eventual fall of the God of Combat!
Feysac's final decision to start a full-scale war wouldn't just be about geopolitical tension. It was also the God of Combat trying to shake the Evernight Goddess's anchor, thus initiating a divine battle.
The imdiate trigger for the God of Combat was the Goddess seizing the uniqueness of Death Pathway—realising that if he didn't strike soon, there'd be no second chance.
Now, everything seed to be happening ahead of schedule.
Which ant the Goddess would also need to obtain Death's uniqueness earlier.
Thinking about this gave Edward a headache. He'd long accepted the idea of being manipulated by the Russian Priest, but when it actually happened, it still left a bitter taste. No one liked being soone else's puppet.
Looking back over the past few days—long stretches of inexplicable calm, sudden intrusions, bizarre coincidences—was soone following him the whole ti, laying these plans?
But wasn't this kind of plotting…a little too rough compared to before?
It all ca back to power.
Power was the only solution.
Before long, all the surviving pirates had been gathered onto a single ship. Out of the original hundred or so across the three vessels, only thirty-sothing remained. Not a single captain survived.
Edward winced. Over a hundred precious XP bags…all gone!
Having witnessed Edward casually kill Admiral Hell Ludwell, the remaining pirates were as obedient as lambs, kneeling on deck in perfect silence and awaiting their fate.
"Phoenix, take him back to the Spirit World for now."
"Alright."
The bird grabbed the unconscious Ludwell and disappeared into the Spirit World.
Half an hour later, Red-Hair's ship arrived and pulled up alongside them. The mont he saw the jet-black tulip emblazoned on the sails, his heart sank.
That was the symbol of the Hell Admiral's flagship.
And the only one standing on deck was Gehrman Sparrow.
That could only an one thing.
Another pirate admiral had fallen at Gehrman Sparrow's hands—and this ti, it was the strongest of them all!
"Get them on your ship," Edward ordered.
"Yes, sir."
Back aboard, Lilith was sitting cross-legged on the railing, waving at him.
"Edward~ Miss Lilith watched over them very carefully for you! They're still exactly the sa as when you left."
A bunch of pirates knelt frozen on the deck, literally.
With a glance, Edward saw they'd all been hit with a Full-Body Petrification Charm. Moving? Yeah right.
The newly arrived pirates, having no idea what was going on, simply mimicked the others—kneeling without daring to breathe too loudly.
"Mr. Sparrow…"
Red-Hair approached cautiously. "That black tulip ship…how should we handle it?"
Edward gave it a mont's thought, then activated his spirituality to cast a Shrinking Charm, shrinking the Black Tulip into palm-sized scale and stuffing it into his suitcase.
It was a Pirate Admiral's flagship, after all. Should fetch a good price, right?
Wait a second—if he ever ran into a naval battle again, there'd be no need to burn enemy ships with Fiendfyre. Just shrink them. Quick and clean.
This divine act of magic left all the surrounding pirates gaping in awe. Edward dusted off his hands like he'd just done sothing trivial, then smiled at them.
"Alright, everyone—today's mystical knowledge lecture begins now."
———
[Backlund—Hillston Borough, 13 Somnolence Street]
With Annie's support, Audrey descended gracefully from her family's luxurious carriage.
She was here today to attend the salon that Glaint had invited her to a few days earlier. Based on past experience, such salons were typically attended by noble sons and daughters, so Audrey had reluctantly donned an elaborate ball gown. Beautiful, no doubt—but sowhat stifling and cumberso.
Glaint was already waiting at the door. He gently took her hand and offered a formal air-kiss, smiling warmly. "Welco, Audrey."
"Good evening, Glaint."
He led her and Annie through a corridor to a lavish reception room at the rear of the house. A good number of guests had already arrived, speaking in hushed tones. The conversations revolved around only two things—the great smog and the assassination.
Audrey's arrival drew many turning heads. This ti, however, it wasn't solely because of her beauty.
As one of the few major figures to survive the assassination unscathed, Earl Hall—her father—had quickly beco one of His Majesty's most trusted and relied-upon individuals, faintly rising to beco one of the most powerful n in Loen.
Audrey smiled graciously as she exchanged greetings with the other guests. Taking a glass of juice from Glaint, she asked with a hint of curiosity, "What's today's salon the? Music? Painting? Or just casual gossip?"
Glaint clinked his glass lightly against hers, grinning. "Today, I wanted to explore sothing new. Sothing more aningful."
"Oh? What is it?"
He took a sip of red wine and replied, "Psychology."
Audrey froze. The smile on her face vanished. "What?"
Glaint didn't notice the subtle change in her expression and continued enthusiastically, "Last week I visited Backlund University and t a lady there—an expert in psychology. She demonstrated so rather fascinating aspects of the discipline, and I thought, why not invite her to host a psychology-thed salon?"
"…"
Audrey was silent for a mont. "Pardon , I'd like to visit the lavatory."
"That way…" Glaint pointed hurriedly.
Audrey handed her glass to Annie and walked away, neither fast nor slow.
At that mont, she felt a gaze fall upon her. To be fair, many people had their eyes on her—but this one stood out.
It was distinctly probing.
She turned and saw a woman standing by the window with a glass of red wine in hand. She wore a deep violet dress, her soft brown hair slightly curled and cascading over her shoulders. Her features were exquisitely refined.
She looked to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven. A languid air clung to her like a veil—her entire deanour radiating weariness and lethargy. Even her deep-blue eyes shimred with fatigue, as though she might fall asleep at any mont.
She…looks like Miss Fors?
The thought surfaced unbidden in Audrey's mind. But almost imdiately, she sensed a fundantal difference between the two.
Fors' laziness was simply that—plain "sloth." As Edward would say, she was a salted fish content to lie flat.
But this woman before her exuded a very different kind of indolence—one born of existential ennui, the apathy of soone who had seen through everything and lost interest in it all.
At that mont, the woman yawned and walked lazily toward her.
"Miss Audrey Hall?"
Audrey nodded politely. "I am. May I ask who you are?"
"Just call Althea. My current identity is…" She pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and began to read off it, expression flat:
"Graduate student in Psychology at Backlund University. Born into a rchant family in Feynapotter. Recently moved to Backlund for academic reasons. Residing in the North Borough—"
She paused, as if suddenly aware of how ridiculous it sounded. "No need to go through the rest."
"…"
Audrey was montarily dumbfounded.
"Oh, right."
The woman—Althea—patted her forehead lightly. "Almost forgot. I'm the new regional coordinator for the Psychology Alchemists here in Backlund. I'm currently trying to reassemble the mbers recruited or absorbed by my predecessor."
"But so far, I've found that ninety percent of them are either in prison or under house arrest. You're only the second one I've managed to locate."
"Ugh," she sighed. "What a pain."
Audrey kept her mind as blank as possible and said apologetically, "I'm very sorry, Miss Althea—"
"Just Althea. The word 'Miss' makes it sound like I'm getting old."
"…Althea," Audrey corrected herself. "My forr tutor, Miss Escalante, did ntion the Psychology Alchemists to , but she never actually invited to join." She hesitated, then added, "She disappeared a few days ago. I tried looking for her, but found no trace."
Althea smiled faintly. "Regrettably, she's dead. And before she died, she left behind quite the ss for the Psychology Alchemists."
She paused. Though her gaze appeared drowsy, it suddenly sharpened and locked onto Audrey.
"But you said…you haven't joined us?"
"No, I haven't," Audrey confird.
In the next instant, Althea took a step closer.
Her half-lidded eyes grew faintly oppressive as she stared down at her.
"Then tell —why are you already a Beyonder?"
———
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