More Divine Artifacts for Free?

He said nothing more, overcome by a swirl of emotions. This was not the first time he had seen one of his children off, but this time was different.

After all, Eros was the child he had placed his greatest hopes in, and the same was true of the entire family.

As he watched Eros surrounded by his elders, his gaze brimmed with hope. They should not have placed the burden of an entire family on a child's shoulders so early.

But the family was walking a tightrope. One wrong step would send them plunging into the abyss on either side, ending in the extermination of the entire family and the extinction of their bloodline.

And so the whole family had entrusted that faint glimmer of hope to a single child, hoping he could turn their fortunes around, hoping he would grow up as quickly as possible.

That way, even if they were exposed someday, he could at least preserve a few seeds of the family and keep their bloodline from dying out.

Meanwhile, Eros listened with helpless resignation as the old men fussed over him.

"Little Eros, listen to your great-uncle. Whatever happens, you mustn't act rashly. Keeping yourself safe comes before everything else."

"Yes, yes, I understand! I'll be sure to act carefully."

"Exactly, act carefully. You must remember that. Safety matters most. If you run into danger, get out of there. Forget about aristocratic dignity. There's no shame in saving your own life."

"All right, all right, I'll remember. I'll do exactly as you say. I absolutely won't be reckless. If I meet someone I can't beat, I'll run. I won't worry about dignity at all."

"Yes, yes, that's the way."

Only after Eros reassured them repeatedly did the gray-bearded old men reluctantly let go of his hands.

At last, Eros stepped onto the airship's deck.

The airship gave a low hum. Its propellers gradually picked up speed, and its hull slowly lifted off the ground and rose into the sky.

By now, Wendy had put her earlier doubts out of her mind. Leaning excitedly over the railing, she called out:

"Look, we're really flying!"

Eros glanced over and gave an indifferent "Oh." Wendy paid no attention to why her younger brother was so calm and continued leaning over the railing, exclaiming excitedly.

The airship climbed higher and higher, and the figures below grew smaller and smaller. As the view widened, even the vast Duke's Mansion shrank before their eyes.

Just then, Barbara's clear, pleasant voice suddenly rang out in Eros's mind. "Here they come!"

Eros froze for a moment, but in the next instant, two streaks of deep black light shot out of the Duke's Mansion, one after the other, and plunged straight into his body without resistance.

Eros was bewildered. What were those things?

But after the two streaks entered his body, he felt as though some mysterious connection had formed between him and two objects.

Yet the black light showed no sign of stopping after entering him. Instead, both streaks flew straight toward the skill orbs inside his body.

One sank into the skill orb named "Servant of Secrets," while the other plunged into "Divine Art: Eternal Night Judgment."

Then he saw the two black orbs swell in size. One slowly turned into a book with a pitch-black cover?

The other became a pitch-black crescent moon?

He had seen that book's design before. Wasn't that the Book of the Night? Then didn't that make the other one the Moon of Eternal Sleep?

Why had they both come to him?

Puzzled, he directed a sliver of his awareness toward the Book of the Night.

To his surprise, the name he sensed was not "Book of the Night," but "Divine Art: Lord of Secrets." Judging by the name, had the skill been upgraded?

After all, one was a servant and the other a lord. It was obvious which ranked higher.

The other name had not changed. It was still "Divine Art: Eternal Night Judgment." But he remained puzzled. Why had the skill suddenly upgraded?

He immediately asked Barbara in his mind, "What's going on?"

"They wanted to go with you too, but for certain reasons, they can't leave the Shadow Realm for long yet."

"So they formed a contract with you and used that connection to split off some of their power and merge it with your bloodline inheritance."

"That way, although their true forms can't leave, part of their consciousness can go with you." Barbara sounded rather sulky.

It was as though she had painstakingly grown a fine watermelon, only for two bastards to come looking for a share before she had even tasted it herself.

They had not contributed a thing. That left Barbara deeply annoyed, while also giving her a sense of crisis.

So what did that mean? Had he just scored another two divine artifacts for free?

Calling it a freebie didn't seem quite right. They belonged to his family in the first place, after all.

But that was more or less the idea, and it made him rather happy. After all, other people set out with an iron sword at best, while he had gone straight to three top-tier pieces of gear: Army Breaker, Daybreak, and the Big Book. His sense of security was maxed out.