"Let’s cut to the chase," Annan said leisurely, "Any Great Calamity Curio, while possessing the great power to counterbalance a True God, must also pay a price of equivalent magnitude."
Just as using the Mirror of Smoke seals one within the painting; the holder of the Siren of the Thirds suffers from perpetual triple debuffs; the user of the Fourth History must bear fourfold curses.
Then, the curse of Black Mammoni—what price must one pay to use this Great Calamity Curio?
"So, I’ve been thinking," Annan pointed at his temple with the "Forgiveness of the Bone Picker," squinting his eyes at Vladimir, "Could it be... that your ability to be immune to divine intervention is not an ability of this Great Calamity Curio.
"—But its price?"
Not "being exiled and invulnerable when attacked by soone of higher rank."
But "being untouchable by any god."
Indeed, this would allow him to escape the chastisent of the Absolver, but it also ans... he couldn’t avail himself of divine blessings.
"If this effect is absolute, then you are actually not just immune to divine attacks—you are also unable to be healed by Divine Arts, unable to receive divine blessings. After death, you can’t be ’Buried’ to rest in peace, your body can’t be ’Decomposed,’ no one can create ’Strife’ with you, nor can there be any ’Trade’ with you.
"You cannot wield the power of frost, nor can you ignite fire. You cannot use Tradition and the law to protect yourself or constrain others, cannot perform any rituals, create, or gain desires from certain aspirations, let alone be ’blessed by Lady Haoyun’ to attain good fortune...
"For you have rejected all divine intervention—and this cannot possibly be the main ability that cos with this Great Calamity Curio."
For the disadvantages of this ability far outweigh its advantages.
It seems more like a side effect of using the Curio.
To exploit this side effect is indeed a talent.
"But you can still use sches, and you can conspire to kill . So this cost might not be as absolute as I imagined... but it definitely separates you from the gods. In this era, to have no contact with ’Supports of the Current World’ would essentially an being exiled by the world.
"That is why Selicia has never been able to find you. Not because you’re hiding sowhere, but because you were essentially ’The Unobservable Man!’"
Annan stated this with certainty, even though it was rely speculation.
He had no evidence, but the more he spoke, the more confident he beca.
As his thoughts progressed... his "understanding" of Vladimir also deepened.
"Without one-sided intervention, the powers of gods cannot affect you, which also ans you cannot interfere with gods. For a Great Calamity Curio, this obviously does not et the special requirent of ’counterbalancing a True God.’
"Drawing a parallel from another interpretation of the Mirror of Smoke—only the Pale Daughter can use it without any cost. I speculate that ’Black Mammoni’ also requires a specific Siren to be used properly... like ’Clear Tune.’"
"Clear Tune" Ligeia, among the three Sirens, corresponds to "The Soul of Sinners."
Her ability is to cleanse the mories, emotions, ethical and moral concepts, and all other acquired attributes from the listener’s heart, returning everything to their most primal and pure state.
Comparing the ability of the Pale Daughter with the Mirror of Smoke, Annan cos to a speculation: Perhaps Clear Tune is also related to the true ability of Black Mammoni.
"So, to reverse the proposition—if Black Mammoni’s ability is not to prevent you from being killed by stronger enemies. I now have a new conjecture," Annan said slowly, "Do you know? If we translate the na ’Black Mammoni,’ it refers to ’Universal Fate.’"
At these words, the expression on Vladimir’s face changed for the first ti.
He was obviously unaware of this.
He had never even heard that na before.
"In a certain philosophical context where ’Black Mammoni’ cos from, it describes an impedint. ’My’ spirit cos from a perfect universe, but this world is full of sin, ignorance, error, and imperfection, which is why I suffer from the entanglent of fate—because ’my’ spirit should not belong to this world..."
Here, Annan paused suddenly.
He went silent for a mont, then casually continued: "This represents a ’dualistic’ concept explaining the relationship between man and universe, light and dark, Wisdom and ignorance. It believes that the material world itself is a vast prison, and each person’s body is but shackles... ’Universal Fate,’ or ’Black Mammoni,’ is just the black cloth that blinds the ’spirit’ of every person, causing them to fall into this dark world, to be toyed with by the evil rules of fate for their entire lives—this is so-called Gnosticism."
Resentnt. Fear. Despair.
Curses. Wailing. Weeping.
This is the pessimistic and hateful attitude that Gnostics hold towards the universe.
"—Just like you."
Annan gazed deeply at Vladimir.
In other words.
"Black Mammoni, is the shackles themselves. It’s the black veil that binds humankind with ’fate,’ blinding their spirit..."
At the mont Annan uttered these words.
There was a bright light in his heart.
That light even pierced through his skin, illuminating the entire "Dream" around him, turning the world around into a realm of light.
It was the light of "Understanding."
One step away from the truth, he crossed the "Wall of Ignorance" and suddenly understood everything.
What he knew in his heart, what he was about to say, even exceeded his imagination.
It was not he who thought, reasoned, and then spoke through his mouth.
Instead, his mouth didn’t stop, kept narrating sothing on its own—
"If I’m not mistaken," Annan continued slowly, "your ability to see the fate of others... should co from ’Black Mammoni,’ not from any boon of The Worm."
"...This doesn’t conflict, nor have I deceived you."
Annan said this, and Vladimir finally spoke, responding to Annan’s speculation for the first ti: "Because ’Black Mammoni’ was given to by The Worm.
"It indeed allows to see ’a certain possibility’ of the future..."
"Or rather, a certain ’possibility of fate.’"
Annan narrowed his eyes, asserting strongly, "Why did you try to mislead before? How did you know that my Siren of the Third had the power to control your mind? There’s only one possibility—
"That you have already seen a future on so thread of fate where ’I will use the Siren of the Third to alter your mind!’"
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