Annan’s feelings were complicated.
Regardless of whether Evelyn gave up on the ritual or completed it.
The difference was rely whether her body left Benjamin, or her soul left Benjamin...
Was Benjamin’s decision to go to Heath Tower of Black, beco a transformation wizard, and recruit a large number of apprentices and sell transformation products all because he believed it was because he failed to get the ointnt that year when Evelyn died?
...It seed plausible.
According to Salvatore, it was only in the past few decades that a large number of civilian transformation products began to appear in the Noah Kingdom.
"Flesh threads" that could stitch external wounds, "Witch’s Ointnt" that healed burns, "Panacea" that eased injuries caused by unknown reasons... they all had their prices drastically reduced by tens of tis due to improvents in synthesis thods. Additionally, there were glasses, artificial gemstones, high-quality gauze, and sails made using transformation technology.
Among these, the most famous and iconic was the "Green Fla" that had already entered thousands of households in Noah Kingdom and had almost completely replaced candles.
—And the improvents to the Panacea, Witch’s Ointnt, and Green Fla all ca from Benjamin’s hands. He was thus revered as "Master Benjamin."
The thought processes behind the improvents of these transformation products were completely consistent.
Rather than continuing to enhance their effects on Transcendents, he chose to significantly reduce costs and opted for a synthesis thod that didn’t use expensive materials, creating low-cost, easy-to-transform civilian versions.
...This was likely the obsession that Evelyn had left Benjamin with.
Evelyn died because she went out during the Pale Tide and watched the dance of the Pale Princess;
She was srized by the Pale Princess’s dance because of her obsession with dance;
Her obsession developed because she was disfigured in a fire;
She was disfigured because she couldn’t get the "Witch’s Ointnt" that could heal burns.
Evelyn’s background was not impoverished.
Not having to labor or farm, hands without callouses, being able to recognize Benjamin—all indicated that her lack of treatnt wasn’t due to poverty.
It was rely the arrogance of the wizards.
Salvatore had told Annan that during that era, the wizards’ technological monopoly was very severe.
Not rely ordinary people, even other types of Transcendents had difficulty buying anything from wizards. Wealth was useless—because wizards strictly prohibited selling transformation products to anyone outside of Black Tower.
They could use them for their own purposes but couldn’t sell them.
The goal was to prevent the transformation wizards of other towers from deciphering their transformation thods, imitating and producing better transformation products.
More than two decades later...
Whether due to Benjamin’s efforts, the situation had completely changed:
He improved many civilian versions of the "transformation products," using them to dominate the low-end market and helped Marshland Black Tower acquire huge funds. It also sparked competition among wizards in other countries, forcing them to lower their pride and research "transformation products for ordinary people."
It indirectly prompted the wizards of the whole world to share their technology with ordinary people.
This was an era that alchemists before the Wizard’s Unification War could have never imagined—
Benjamin was a transformation wizard who truly wanted to use transformation products that only transformation wizards could create, to benefit and help the public.
...But who could know that the beginning of an era was rely because of a dancer who was disfigured in a fire?
Annan pondered in silence.
He was a little worried... that Benjamin might not be willing to preside over the ritual for him.
But when Annan and Benjamin ca out from that swastika-shaped room, Annan faintly heard sothing.
The sound was very faint, very distant...
It was like... a very ethereal singing.
"...Did you hear any noise?"
Annan was struck with a thought and asked Benjamin in a low voice.
Benjamin paused, furrowed his brows and listened for a long ti before slowly shaking his head, "No, not at all. I’ll listen carefully—"
"No, don’t worry... I must have misheard."
Annan reassured softly.
But the singing in his ears beca clearer and clearer:
"Life is bright and beautiful, yet a prisoner’s cage;
"Love is fervent and dazzling, yet fire that misleads;
"The dancer who hovers between beauty and freedom—
"The Pale knows your intention,
"Sacrifice your broken soul and love to the Pale;
"Offer your head and blood to the Pale..."
The words were nearly identical to those Annan saw on the note in his dream.
...That was the voice coming from directly above him.
They were the Specters in the hall!
Annan realized at once—this was the inverted praise drifting out from the "reflection of the church in the lake" the first ti he arrived!
The mont he heard the praise clearly, Annan lost consciousness again.
When he woke up once more, he was still at the entrance to the prison—right back in the sa place.
"...Huh?"
Annan was taken aback.
Behind him, the prison door was wide open... but it was empty inside.
The chains that he had taken down were still properly hanging there.
He tried the lock on the door and found it still worked normally, not damaged by the lock being smashed.
...Was this at an even earlier ti?
Annan thought deeply, then headed straight to the left.
But this ti, Annan didn’t see the glow of a candle.
He kept walking until he was in the middle of the corridor, where he saw the table blocking the way to the "heading room."
Annan struck a match and lit the candle.
But the candlelight was dim.
At this distance, the light was barely enough to reach the start of the corridor... even reaching halfway was difficult.
The table had to be pulled to halfway for the light to suffice.
"...No rush."
Annan murmured, "First, let’s see if the letter is any different..."
While speaking, he skillfully tore open the envelope.
Annan’s movents paused slightly.
This strip of paper... it was much longer than what he had first seen!
"To the one loved by the Pale:
"In pursuit of unattainable love,
"Imprisoned within the shell of life,
"Following the elusive dancer of beauty and freedom—
"The Pale has acknowledged your purpose,
"Pass through this door,
"Offer your fragnted soul to the Pale,
"Offer your lover to freedom,
"Offer your head to the earth,
"And you shall receive the soul of solidity, the spirit of purity;
"Or depart from this place,
"Abide by the mortal rules, and return the fragnted soul to the earth—
"And you shall receive your beloved’s rembrance.
"The choice is yours,
"—but I already know your answer."
The slip of paper was very narrow, about the width of four fingers.
After reading the additional content on the note, Annan understood sothing.
He had made an assumption.
Because "Xitan Pulan" started off at level five when creating a character, Annan thought that the Clergy of Half-Death profession must start from level five as well.
But it might be because the profession the players received was a castrated version—or perhaps because Evelyn truly had a pure heart.
If she were willing to beco a Clergy of Half-Death, she could even start at the silver rank!
The upper limit for the clergy is basically the silver rank!
That is to say, Evelyn even had the talent of a Pope...
In that case, the identity of the nightmare’s master was undoubtedly certain.
—It was Evelyn, the Clergy of Half-Death who had already completed the transformation in the future!
But if Evelyn had completed the transformation, becoming an immortal with half-human and half-undead physique... why did she die?
If she really died, shouldn’t she have beco a specter following the Pale Princess?
—Could becoming a specter also generate nightmares?
Or could it be...
Another doubt arose in Annan’s mind:
Benjamin obviously had the desire to advance to gold rank.
But he had been stuck at the silver rank for over twenty years... Was it really because he couldn’t find the way to advance to gold rank?
Or was it because Benjamin’s original goal was to beco the "Mirror" Pope?
Annan suddenly rembered sothing.
He had told Benjamin in the "White Tower" that Gerald’s cause of death was being killed by Annan and Salvatore.
At that ti, Benjamin shouldn’t have known that Gerald would survive in the end and compete with him for the resurrection ritual of Michelangelo.
But at that ti Benjamin had muttered a sentence:
"—It’s pretty much what I expected."
This showed that Benjamin knew from the beginning that his future self would eventually harbor the intent to kill Gerald.
Then the answer was clear.
Benjamin and Michelangelo had known each other for a long ti.
The "pairing" back then was not Benjamin with Gerald, Michelangelo and lvin—Annan was still misled by Michelangelo in the end!
The counterpart to Michelangelo was really Benjamin, not lvin!
The lvin he killed was actually Gerald’s matched partner!
And Benjamin, who had seen through everything from the start, was not simply indifferent... but because not interfering with Michelangelo’s ritual was, in and of itself, to preside over his resurrection ritual in the future, helping Michelangelo achieve divinity!
As for his reasons—
"...I see."
Annan murmured.
He folded the top and bottom ends of the note in his hand and then slowly tore it up, to avoid misleading his past self... thereby achieving a perfect cycle.
Perhaps Benjamin had entered this nightmare at so point in the future and learned of the true fate of Evelyn back then.
Evelyn hadn’t beco a Clergy of Half-Death, so she hadn’t yet forgotten Benjamin;
But she didn’t truly die either, because her killer was her future self!
The true Clergy of Half-Death, forever trapped within the crevices of ti, unloved by anyone...
She acquired the transcendent power of the Clergy of Half-Death but succeeded in escaping the destiny of forgetting her loved one—the price was to fall into the "past" cycle.
From then on, Benjamin’s purpose never changed:
He aid to beco the Mirror Pope, to acquire the elents of mirror and ti.
—To deliberately trap himself in an infinite cycle to save Evelyn from the fate of offering her soul to the Pale Princess!
In front of Annan, the real main quest slowly erged:
[Main Quest: Form the Cycle]
Beneath this line of quest, three side quests slowly appeared:
[Witness the completion of the sacrifice ritual]
[Light the candle as the Clergy of Half-Death]
[Return to where it all began]
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