South of Indore Port City, at the golf club.
After a good night's sleep, Ebner was enjoying breakfast with Jane and the lion, Leon.
As for Mr. Azik, he had left his room early in the morning, destination unknown.
Just as Ebner finished his special order of Desi Pie and was about to take a sip of coffee, he suddenly noticed something odd about the atmosphere at the table.
Jane seemed distracted, barely focused on her breakfast, frequently glancing at Leon. Meanwhile, the lion was also sneaking peeks at her, as if waiting for something.
What's going on? Ebner found it strange. After a brief moment of thought, he tactfully asked, "Is the Desi Pie not to your liking?"
Hearing his question, Jane snapped back to reality. She hurriedly cut a piece of pie with her fork and knife, took a bite, and then smiled as she replied, "It's quite good—better than what I had in Backlund!"
Well, of course. This is a top-tier club, and the chefs here are on a whole different level.
Taking a sip of coffee, Ebner exchanged a few more casual words with Jane before bringing up the topic from yesterday. "I mentioned inviting you to explore the offshore ruins tonight. What do you think?"
By now, Jane had adjusted her mood. She pondered for a moment before asking for more details about the ruins and Ebner's deal with Lady Closfia.
Ebner knew she was assessing the risks, which was a necessary step for any seasoned Beyonder before taking action. He provided all the information he could share.
After listening, Jane nodded and smiled. "I'd love to see what the depths of the Subconscious Sea look like… It's an honor to receive your invitation.
"Come to think of it, Ebner, this is the first time you've invited me out since you left the academy…"
Why does that make me sound like some heartless scoundrel? Ebner simply replied, "Well, I'm making up for it now," then turned to Leon, shifting the topic. "How about you? Want to come along?"
Before the lion could answer, Jane quickly interjected, "No! Don't let him go!"
After speaking, she shot Leon a glance, then turned to Ebner and added, "You should avoid spending too much time with him in the future!"
For a moment, Ebner almost thought his secret—having learned Leon's Underwear Theft Technique—had been exposed. But he quickly dismissed the idea.
Instead, he noticed the lion's utterly confused expression and asked Jane, "Why do you say that?"
"I had a dream yesterday… No, I received an omen… I can't really describe it to you, but just stay away from him, or he'll lead you astray!" Jane answered hesitantly.
A dream? An omen? Could it be that when Closfia left last night, she entered Jane's dream and planted some kind of suggestion? Ebner opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.
Though Closfia, as a demigod, likely didn't care about mundane gossip, it was still best not to mention that she had left his bedroom in the middle of the night. That could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings…
Meanwhile, Leon was utterly bewildered. This wasn't how things were supposed to go at all! Shouldn't that little lady's omen have been about that brat sneaking off to meet a woman at night? How did it turn into me leading him astray? What the hell went wrong?
But he quickly lost interest in figuring it out and simply shook his massive head. "I won't go. I've heard Roselle and the Calamity Seal talk about that place before. Other than its unusual environment, there's really nothing valuable there."
Ebner's heart stirred at those words. He recalled the scenes he had glimpsed in his nightmare and the intelligence revealed by the Giant Lord. Without hesitation, he asked, "Then do you know why Roselle took an angel-fallen-into-an-evil-spirit from that place?"
Based on the lion's usual eagerness to "leak secrets," Ebner figured he wouldn't be stingy with the information.
Sure enough, Leon only glanced at him before saying, "I can tell you… but you have to do something for me first."
"What is it?" Ebner and Jane asked simultaneously.
The former asked out of caution, while the latter was more wary.
"Give me some money and help me open a newspaper agency in Trier, Intis," the lion said, swaying its large head.
Hearing this, Ebner was momentarily stunned, but he quickly figured out the reason and said somewhat helplessly, "You still haven't given up on tarnishing Roselle's reputation, have you?"
Although the lion held a deep grudge against Roselle, it was also quite petty. If it didn't get this grievance off its chest, it would probably keep holding a grudge against Roselle.
"How is that tarnishing? According to the 'Calamity Seal,' it's called exposing the truth!" Leon said, shaking its head.
"Calamity Seal"... Senior time-traveler, you really told this lion everything, didn't you? Also, Emperor, this isn't my fault. If your image collapses in the future, don't blame me!
While thinking this, Ebner quickly calculated and then shook his head, bargaining, "I don't yet know the value of the information you're offering, and a newspaper agency isn't cheap."
"I understand, but I know a lot of things. You can always come back to ask me more questions in the future. Eventually, it'll add up to the price of a newspaper agency," Leon said nonchalantly.
"Alright then." Ebner felt he was actually getting a good deal. After all, this lion could casually leak the acting rules of a "Mysticism Magister." It was practically a living treasure trove! Trading a newspaper agency for its knowledge was definitely worth it!
Only Jane was feeling troubled, as she felt the revelation from her dream last night was coming true. But she couldn't bring herself to stop it...
After agreeing to the terms, Leon quickly finished its breakfast, wiped its mouth with a napkin, took a sip of tea to rinse its mouth, and then leisurely said:
"The Emperor... no, Roselle, seemed to have taken the 'Calamity Seal's' bad advice. He planned to use three fallen angel spirits, combined with different characteristics, to create three mystical items. These items would have abilities reaching the '0' level but with a danger level only at '1.'"
"Three fallen angel spirits?" Ebner was astonished, thinking Roselle was truly going all out. But where did he get so many fallen spirits?
Hmm, from the Giant Lord in the nightmare, he probably obtained the fallen spirit of an angel from the Church of the God of Combat.
Additionally, Roselle's diary mentioned that during his rise to power as the Grand Consul of the White Maple Palace, he allied with an angel from the Church of Steam and, with the secret help of the "Calamity Seal," defeated the last pillar of the Sauron family—a nearly out-of-control angel in terrible condition. Perhaps its fallen spirit also ended up in Roselle's hands.
But who was the third one?
As Ebner's thoughts raced, Leon continued:
"You already know about the 'Glorious One' from the Church of the God of Combat. After being sealed, it was forged into a sword.
"Also, the fallen spirit of the Sauron family's angel was secretly hidden away by Roselle. It was eventually crafted into a seal, which became the national seal of the Gustave Dynasty after the 'Calamity Seal' went missing. Now, it might have returned to the Sauron family.
"The last one was a fallen angel spirit from the Church of the Eternal Sun during the Fourth Epoch, which the 'Calamity Seal' somehow obtained... For this, Roselle even consulted someone about that period of history. But apart from learning that the Church of the Eternal Sun had indeed lost several angels during the Fourth Epoch, he found nothing else.
"This Sun pathway fallen angel spirit was the most corrupted. Roselle eventually turned it into a mirror—a mirror that could bewitch people, lead them to corruption, and even feed on its master to gain some of their abilities!
"Fortunately, the spirit in the mirror had long been eroded to the point of losing its intelligence, acting only on instinct. With a bit of caution, it wasn't too dangerous. Although it was the most dangerous of the three items, it still didn't reach the '0' level.
"Who knows which unlucky soul ended up with that mirror now?"
As Leon spoke, it couldn't help but gloat a little.
Wow, he's gathered the three divine artifacts: the sword, the mirror, and the seal... Roselle, "Calamity Seal," you guys really know how to have fun!
Ebner couldn't help but lampooned, though he couldn't help but ask with some confusion:
"What was Roselle's purpose in creating these three items?"
Surely it wasn't to seal some giant snake, right? There's no such thing in "The Mysteries"...
Wait... Before the First Epoch, some of the legends from the old nations might have actually happened... The story of the three divine artifacts might not be fake...
Could Roselle have been planning to use them to complete some special ritual, and then use "Mystery Reappearance" to achieve some incredible goal?
(End of Chapter)