Evernight flashed a wicked smile, her crimson eyes standing out in the darkness like burning coals:
"Of course. I understand where your fear comes from."
She casually raised a hand, dark crimson glimmers curling around her fingertips.
The floating red jellyfish-like Memory Spirit tentacles around them began to dance excitedly as though commanded, radiating an even stronger mental pressure.
"[Evernight] is the natural enemy of memes. With a flick of my finger, they can swallow you whole."
"And I—" she openly declared, her voice echoing through the cavernous tomb, "am the enemy of the Garden of Recollection. I have never concealed that."
At this, Black Swan drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the unease in her heart as she tried to keep her voice steady:
"I must say, Miss Evernight, your method of choosing [Preservation] is quite unique."
She attempted to find a flaw in her opponent's defenses:
"Yan Huan has already been taken away, yet you do not seem anxious in the slightest..."
"So what?" Evernight seemed to have seen through everything already, her tone utterly calm:
"They would not truly harm me, just as I would not harm them."
"The three of us can remain here for as long as it takes, until they come to their senses."
Her words carried a strange confidence.
"But you..."
"As I said before, I am an enemy of the Garden of Recollection, while you are one of its people."
"Have you thought of your last words?"
"..." Black Swan looked at Evernight with a complicated expression.
"...Peering into someone else's heart is hardly an elegant thing to do." She did her best to maintain her composure and poise, unwilling to show weakness.
"Before dealing with this [beautiful Memokeeper], could you at least clear up a few of my doubts?"
Evernight smiled