Authority of the Illusory Sea

East Borough, 8 Hawes Street.

Luther, holding a sleeping black kitten in his arms, pushed open the door of the row house.

"Mr. Anderson, you're back?"

Emily was sitting at the dining table in the living room doing her homework when she heard the noise at the door. She looked up and greeted him, "Where did you go today? I came back and the house was empty."

Luther did not respond; he hadn't heard the other person's voice at all, and instinctively looked towards the kitchen.

In a daze, he seemed to see a slender figure busily preparing dinner.

He looked again at the fireplace, where a fire was burning. Cecilia seemed to be sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace, gazing at the firelight in a daze. Noticing his gaze, she turned around and gave him a bright smile—a smile illuminated by the firelight.

On the sofa, in the stairwell, at the dining table, memories of the days he spent with his sister flooded back, replaying before his eyes.

No, even that girl was nothing more than a fake made from my Flesh.

Luther closed his eyes.

"Mr. Anderson?"

The darkness surrounding him blocked out his painful Illusion until his landlady Emily, called out anxiously, "You look strange. Is something wrong, Miss Cecilia?"

Luther opened his eyes and looked at the other person. He tried to appear normal, smiled, and said, "My sister is still outside; I'm the only one who came back first."

"Oh, I see."

Emily said, somewhat confused.

"Also, we're leaving the East Borough today."

He continued.

"Huh? You're not staying here anymore?"

The landlady was taken aback at first, then said urgently, "Why? Don't we get along very well? I'm not even asking you for rent anymore. Isn't it good to live together?"

Because Luther couldn't explain his sister's disappearance, and this familiar place reminded him of the details of living with his fake sister, causing him even more pain.

He wants to leave and move on to a new environment.

"Because we've saved up some money, we plan to leave the East Borough and move to a better place. Without us, you can rent it out to others, and it's always good to earn more money."

Luther explained to the worried landlord.

"But."

Before Emily could say anything more, a phantom female figure silently appeared behind her. A golden light flashed in the red-haired woman's eyes, and Emily's expression became dazed as she said, "I understand."

After saying that, she turned around and went back to the dining table to continue her studies.

"Isn't it unnecessary to explain so much to an ordinary person?"

Luther saw his other personality laughing as he spoke.

"It's none of your business."

He said coldly, turned and walked up the stairs into his bedroom, then carried the little black cat inside. After placing the sleeping cat on the mat, he slowly leaned against the headboard, like a statue, remaining motionless for a long time.

Today was supposed to be a meeting with the Psychology Alchemists for therapy. However, this is the unexpected outcome.

"Come out."

Luther suddenly spoke calmly to the air.

"Brush."

A red-haired, blonde woman appeared at his call, her voluptuous body wrapped in a white robe, her delicate face bearing a gentle yet dangerous smile, like honey soaked in poison, or like an inorganic sculpture.

Luther looked her up and down.

This was the first time he had seriously observed her instead of immediately pulling out a knife to kill her. After looking her over carefully, he had to admit that she looked almost exactly like the original Ms. M.

She was someone I Consciousness created in a moment of madness; in other words, I instinctively felt that Ms. M was the most suitable person in my knowledge to manipulate people's hearts.

Luther shook his head and said to her:

How would you like me to address you?

From an outsider's perspective, Luther was simply talking to himself.

Keep it simple, just use M.

The other party replied.

Because it was created based on Ms. M's image, is it simply called M?

"Whatever you want."

Luther remained noncommittal. "So, you really are a split personality of mine?"

"Of course it's true. The original Ms. M was already mentally destroyed after gazing directly at that sea. If I weren't a part of you, I wouldn't have been able to avoid being rejected by it, let alone use its authority."

M, with red hair and golden eyes, explained.

Oh, and that sea!

What exactly is that sea?

Luther asked.

"I don't know."

M shook his head.

"You do not know?"

Luther was somewhat suspicious, "You can use the relevant abilities, yet you still don't know?"

"You are the one who owns that sea, the one who holds the power. I am merely a fragment of you; how could I possibly know what you do not know?"

M countered with a question.

Luther listened, seemingly lost in thought.

How do I get there?

He asked.

Currently, he can only roughly summon the Tide; if he goes inside, he might learn more.

"Summon it, then imagine it surging out of your body and engulfing you."

M said softly.

Luther did as instructed.

"Whoosh--"

Soon, he saw thick, ethereal black liquid surge in from all directions like a tidal wave, engulfing Luther. Countless frenzied, Distortion murmurs and roars were hidden deep within the black liquid, as if trying to seep into his body.

Luther plummeted into the sea until the surroundings suddenly lightened, and the Phantom Tide rose. The viscous water lapped at his feet, and Fog hung over the endless horizon. He and M stood on this water, the only difference in this monotonous world.

He couldn't help but look into the distance, remembering clearly that across the Fog and sea, stood that towering, upside-down, imposing figure.

Just then, M spoke.

"Compared to you in reality, I'm just closer to it, so I'm more familiar with it and can use it roughly."

She created ripples with her feet, and her figure appeared incredibly solid on the sea, as if it were truly there.

"So you know at least a little bit about it, right?"

Luther pressed for more information.

"From what I can tell, this seawater possesses an extremely high level of power, capable of resisting spiritual Corrosion —you surely know this better than I do. Furthermore, this sea also holds the authority of the 'Spectator' Pathway; without it, Cecilia's personality wouldn't be as..."

"Don't bring up what happened before."

Luther immediately interrupted.

". clear."

M paused for a moment, then shrugged and said, "Apart from that, I'm not sure about the other powers; I'll need to study them gradually."

"I see."

Luther said calmly.

He thought for a moment, then asked another question, "Is there a way to temporarily sever the connection to this sea?"

In order to enter the gathering organized by Mr. Fool, he must block out the automatic resistance of the Tide when the mysterious being calls upon him.

"Blocking the connection, what are you going to do?"

M asked.