Heavenly Secret Theft

The Underground Saint Samuel Church.

"Captain Soest," Leonard Mitchell, with his dark hair and green eyes, pushed open the door and greeted Soest, the "Soul Assurer," who was sitting inside, "You wanted to see me?"

Soest grunted in agreement, tossed aside the magazine in his hand, and asked him:

"Are you still investigating that girl who passed the tip to the newspaper?"

"Yes." Leonard nodded and pulled up a chair to sit down.

Soest, then said, "You don't need to follow up on this anymore."

"Why?" Leonard asked, puzzled. "Those paintings—"

"We've obtained the response from her guarantor regarding the ' Desire Apostle ' incident from ' Machinery Hivemind,'" Soest said calmly. "There are some things you shouldn't know about."

Leonard immediately understood, and he stopped asking questions, bowing his head in agreement.

Monday's Tarot Club was ultimately canceled. Klein was relieved to hear that the little "Sun" had escaped safely, and his hesitation vanished in an instant.

As for Emlyn, he completely ignored him, simply informing him that this week's Tarot Club be canceled, and then stopped paying attention to him.

It was Neph's suggestion that put Klein in a very difficult position.

To be honest, the proposal really appealed to Klein, but human emotions are strange things. When a feasible solution was actually presented to him, Klein became worried again.

This is the feeling of trepidation upon approaching home.

Time slipped away as he hesitated, the effects of the Great Smog continued to fester in Backlund, and Klein saw Neph's Bounty poster, but the Church did not issue Wanted Notice or make any response.

On the contrary, it was "The Hermit" Cattleya whose prayers were heard by Neph after Klein announced the cancellation of this week's Tarot Club.

This was a somewhat unfamiliar experience. Frank's research had not yielded any new results, so Neph had never heard his prayers. In Moon City, although Neph had left behind the complete Honorific Name and Ritual, including the symbolic Symbol, she had also followed Klein's instructions and told them that daily prayers did not require reciting the complete Honorific Name.

There's nothing else to it, I just hate noise.

Moon City High Priest Nim was not surprised by this request, and Neph guessed that the High Priest probably knew his own limitations as Oracle, since Neph had never heard a single prayer since leaving the "Forsaken Land of the Gods".

Of course, this was not the first prayer since the change in the Pure White Space, because it was Neph who came to pray to herself.

She performed various Ritual for herself, entering the Pure White Space amidst layers of prayers. In the "Sefirah Castle," prayers manifested as Crimson Star swelling in the Gray Fog. The Pure White Space could not possibly be like that; as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless white.

Neph wasn't flustered. She stretched out her hand, and Blank Canvas appeared in her mind's eye. This was the change that the "Faded Painter" had brought about—she no longer had to hold onto the Blank Canvas.

Her Spirituality probed the Blank Canvas, and Neph saw a hazy figure. She recognized it as belonging to Cattleya; the figure's kneeling posture was very upright. Neph's mind stirred, and she listened to the content of the prayer:

"Miss Pure White, I apologize for disturbing you."

"Your actions in Backlund have attracted the attention of the Official Beyonder, and Her Majesty the Queen has vouched for you, claiming that the corresponding Prophecy was given by her."

"Furthermore, Her Majesty the Queen would like to ask if you mind your mother's name being mentioned in public?"

"My mother, which mother? "Neph murmured in her heart, her Spirituality drawn to the Altar.

The candlelight suddenly went out, and Cattleya did not move; she remained kneeling silently in place.

A cold wind blew, and in front of the Altar, glistening Frost slowly condensed and formed a line of text:

"I don't mind."

Cattleya remained composed. She waited for the wind to subside before shaking off the snowflakes and ending the Ritual.

Then she stood up, tidied herself up, went to her desk, picked up a pen, and began to write a letter, "... I have asked Frank to contact her."

The New Year atmosphere in Bansy Harbor wasn't strong. When Neph walked through the streets on December 31st, all the shops, big and small, were still open.

The number of people did not decrease significantly.

She gently pushed open the door and walked into a clothing store, smiling at the staff inside:

Hello, I'd like to ask you something--

"Do you have a white version of the robe I'm wearing? And a hat would be great too, one of those Warlock hats—that's it!"

Suddenly, as if she had just thought of something, she exaggeratedly opened her arms wide and asked curiously:

"Ideally, the brim should be wide—do you have hats with brims that wide?"

"No." The young shop assistant gave a stiff smile.

"Alright," Neph said, giving up in disappointment, "You should at least have a normal Warlock's hat, right? And a white robe too. Oh, and I'll also need a Monocle."

As the New Year's bells rang, Neph was sitting in front of the fireplace, wearing a thin white robe, trying to adjust her Monocle.

As she became more familiar with Amon's abilities, Neph discovered that when releasing abilities of a lower level than her own, she could almost guarantee 100% success, unless she was cursed by a curse.

Even with abilities at the same level, the success rate is over 50%, let alone those above Demigod.

Of all the abilities, the one Neph liked the most was Sequence 5 – "Heavenly Secret Theft".

This allows her to disguise herself as a follower of other God, bypass their defenses, steal responses, create various types of Charm, or steal responses in battle through longer incantations or pre-arranged plans, gaining some kind of enhancement or using some kind of ability. The higher the intelligence of the God, the greater the probability of failure.

For Neph, who was struggling with the Demigod ascension Ritual, this ability offered a possibility.

How can a Sefirah that has lost its master not be considered a God without sentience?

In other words, as long as I find a suitable "sacrifice" and make the necessary arrangements beforehand, I can make the so-called "Eternal Winter" respond to me when I take the Potion, although I don't know exactly what kind of response I need.

Neph sighed, took off the Monocle she had tried to wear countless times but couldn't, and muttered:

"This thing was definitely not designed for Easterners - oh well, whatever."

Hey, I have the memories and abilities of Amon's Amon's Avatar. If this Aggregation of Extraordinary Characteristics really brings Medici to Bansy Harbor, I'll put on my Monocle in front of him.

"However, I wonder if Medici will still be afraid of Amon if he's the Amon who rescued Medici."