Before long, several elders entered through a door at the rear side of the temple.
One of them reverently held up a book with a pitch-black cover.
He approached Eros, his expression solemn and his tone respectful. "Honored artifact spirit, please conceal this child's fate."
As his words fell, the black book held in his hands suddenly rose into the air.
It flew straight to Eros and opened before him, its pages rustling and turning without any wind until they reached a page with some blank space left on it.
Eros looked at the page. Quite a few names were already written there, including his father's and Estelle's true names.
What puzzled him, however, was that none of the names bore the surname North. Instead, they all used Night. And there was no pen-how was he supposed to write his name?
Seemingly noticing his confusion, the elder explained, "Since we intended to change our identities and go into hiding, we naturally couldn't continue using our old surname."
"North was the new surname our ancestors chose back then, but our true surname remains Night. As for recording your name, simply press your finger against the page and speak your true name."
Understanding dawned on Eros, and he did as instructed. Soon, a name appeared clearly in the blank space on the page: Eros Renka Night.
Just as Eros was about to withdraw his hand, a beam of black light suddenly shot out of the page and plunged straight into his mind.
Everyone around him seemed accustomed to the sight, showing no surprise at all.
After the black light entered his mind, Eros felt a voice begin playing over and over inside his head.
It told him to remain loyal to his family, loyal to his bloodline, and loyal to the Goddess of the Night. He must not defy her, grow lax, or forget.
The voice echoed endlessly in his mind, gradually penetrating the depths of his soul, as though trying to forcibly engrave those words upon it.
Just then, the solemn, mysterious statue of their ancestor at the head of the hall trembled slightly.
Another beam of black light shot from the statue's eyes, plunged straight into Eros's mind, and shattered the endlessly repeating whisper.
It happened so unbelievably fast that no one even realized anything had occurred.
Once the voice dissipated, Eros felt his soul relax. Then he could hold on no longer and lost consciousness.
His final thought before passing out was that there was a reason the Goddess of the Night was called an evil goddess.
Forcible brainwashing like that certainly wasn't something a benevolent deity would do.
Seeing Eros collapse, the open Book of the Night slowly closed and settled back into the elder's hands.
The others looked at Eros, whom Estelle was now supporting in her arms, with some puzzlement.
There had never been a case of someone fainting while having their fate concealed before.
But after checking his vital signs and finding nothing wrong, they relaxed, assuming his soul had simply been overworked.
After all, it was perfectly normal for his soul to feel exhausted after such a long bloodline baptism.
Supporting Eros, Estelle spoke softly to the elders of the family:
"Since everything is finished, I'll take Eros out and let him get some proper rest."
Naturally, no one would refuse that request. One of them said:
"Go on, go on! Let the child rest properly. He's been through a lot today."
"As for us, we still need to discuss how to teach this child from now on. How extraordinary must his talent be for a great being to take notice of him and personally baptize him? It seems our family's resurgence isn't far off."
That day, every servant in the duke's mansion received another bonus for some inexplicable reason. Apparently, His Grace was in a good mood again today.
Great gods above, may the generous duke be this happy every day.
After an unknown amount of time, Eros slowly opened his eyes and saw the familiar gray mist before him.
He froze for a moment. Wasn't the baptism already over? Why am I back here?
Then a tentacle emerged from behind Eros's neck and bent around, turning the eye at its tip toward him. Eros shuddered in fright, his heart almost stopping.
He sprang up and ran, not daring to look back, terrified that he would see that enormous eyeball covered in tentacles if he did.
What the hell is going on? Why is that giant eyeball monster's tentacle here?
Fuck, fuck, fuck! he screamed inwardly as he ran, until he simply couldn't run anymore.
He turned to see whether the tentacle was still behind him, only to discover that it was a short section extending out of thin air, rather than the enormous body he had seen before.
But even that was terrifying enough. Short section or not, it was as thick as his arm and several times as long as he was tall.
Eros braced his hands on his knees and gasped for breath, his eyes fixed on the tentacle. From the looks of things, he wasn't going to escape.
He also knew that this damned thing was beyond his ability to handle. After all, it belonged to something capable of confronting a deity. No matter how he looked at it, it was hardly a pushover.
Even if this was only a section of that being's tentacle, it was far beyond someone like him, who had only just encountered the supernatural world.
But even a cornered rabbit would bite. Since he couldn't escape, he might as well fight to the death. Fuck you! I'll splatter blood all over your face!
He stared fiercely at the tentacle, while the tentacle held up the eyeball at its tip and stared right back at him. The two remained at an impasse as silence gradually settled over them.
Finally, Eros couldn't stand it any longer and snapped, "If you're going to attack, get on with it!"
The tentacle opposite him tilted its eyeball, conveying a sense of confusion.
And Eros could sense that emotion. What the hell? How can I tell that a tentacle is confused?
He was baffled too, but he could genuinely sense the emotions the tentacle expressed.
After a long while, the tentacle still hadn't moved and was merely staring at him. Eros cautiously ventured in a low voice:
"You're not here to kill me?"
Then, sure enough, he sensed the tentacle's emotion again, bizarre as that was. This time, it was expressing curiosity.
Although he remained somewhat wary, he sensed that the tentacle seemed to harbor no murderous intent toward him, only curiosity.
His heart finally settled, and his body went limp as he slumped to the ground.
Before you continue