News of Azik

After obtaining information on the Saint and Angel of the Numinous Episcopate, Neph left the Travel Numinous Episcopate's stronghold with a Travel guide and sent a copy to Klein.

Klein accepted the gift, then asked with a puzzled expression, "Where did you get this? And you look terrible—are you alright?"

"How much do you know about the Pale Empress?" Neph asked instead of answering.

"Uh—" Klein paused, "I don't think I've heard of that."

Neph glanced at Klein with mixed feelings and sighed, "He is the leader of the Royalist Faction of the Numinous Episcopate, a descendant of the Death God Reaper from some unknown generation, and Sequence 2 Death Archon," possessing a Sealed Artifact called "Death God's Eye"—that Sealed Artifact may be Sequence 1."

"The Death God's Eye— " Klein repeated the word, "Is it a noun or an adjective?"

"Perhaps both," Neph replied. "It's said that anyone seen by the Death God's Eye ' will die instantly."

Judging from this ability, it certainly sounds like the "Death God's Eye," but Neph specifically emphasized that it's a descendant of Death God —wait, could this thing really be the Eye of Death God? Maybe I should write to Mr. Azik and ask—

But Mr. Azik recently—maybe I shouldn't bother him—

As Klein, Neph sighed again, "I wish my last name was Eggers —that would save me a lot of trouble—oh, by the way, has there been a reply to your letter to Mr. Azik?"

Speaking of this, Klein's expression also became somewhat solemn. "Mr. Azik received my last letter and is very interested in the Ring of Death God, but he is unable to come over in time."

"He told me he had a conflict with Ince Will."

Neph's eyes lit up after those words. Besides the "Pale Empress" who possessed the "Death God's Eye," her biggest worry was how to bring Ince Will to the Southern Continent. And now, Klein's words gave her an idea. "Let him come to the Southern Continent! Let him lure Ince Will to the Southern Continent —don't be too explicit, be careful 0-08." Well, anyway, find a way to get him here, even if it's just to beg for help.

"Besides----"

Neph paused, a subtle glint in her eyes. Klein realized she was up to something again, and before he could ask, Neph smiled and said, "I want to see Mr. Azik."

"What are you going to do?" Klein asked her, frowning.

Neph leaned back, carefully choosing her words: "After Death God Salinger entered eternal slumber, His followers also split into different factions."

"At present, the most powerful faction in the Numinous Episcopate is the Royalist Faction, which is centered around the descendants of the Eggers Family and desires to restore the rule of the Balam Empire. The Pale Empress is their current leader."

"But----

"How can a God-Blooded with diluted bloodlines compare to a true Death God's Child in terms of legitimacy? I want everyone to know that the former Death Archon of the Balam Empire is still alive!"

Klein paused briefly at Nef's words, his mouth slightly agape as he tried to decipher them. "You want Mr. Azik to become the new leader of the royal faction? I must warn you, this is unlikely to be agreed upon. Mr. Azik is resistant to his past; he yearns to regain his memories but does not wish to become his past self, nor does he have any interest in ruling the Southern Continent—"

"No, I don't need that," Neph shook her head. "He only needs to show himself a few times to let people know that the son of Death God is still alive."

Klein frowned, speaking thoughtfully, "The Royalist Faction supports the descendant of Death God, but not any particular descendant. Do you want some members who are not 'loyal' enough to the Pale Empress to be shocked by this news, thus causing a split within the Royalist Faction?"

"However, this can only help you dismantle the Royalist Faction; it doesn't seem to be of much use against the Pale Empress —wait, why do you want to deal with the Pale Empress the first place?"

Hmm... it's not entirely useless. Sia Palenque Eggers already has Sequence 2, so she definitely needs an anchor. This kind of propaganda can shake that anchor—but indeed, the effect is limited. If it were up to me, I'd actually like to hand over the Royalist Faction's part to the Church of Evernight, or simply ignore it altogether.

This was her true thought, but at this moment she lacked the leverage to persuade the Church of Evernight, and she couldn't simply ignore the mission. Besides, even if she were to discuss this issue with the Church of Evernight, it was not something a group of Demigod could decide. After going around in circles, things might have to return to that shelved issue—she had to go to the Church of Serenity.

As for asking Neph to explain the "Pale Empress" question, she wasn't too embarrassed. She chuckled and said, "Besides the seemingly normal Royalist Faction, the Numinous Episcopate also has a widely influential faction—the Artificial Death God Faction."

"After the death of Death God Salinger was confirmed, the Imperial Family of the Balam Empire made numerous attempts to resurrect Death God, but clearly, all of these failed. Thus, a crazy plan was proposed—"

"Artificial God of Death?" Klein asked, frowning.

Neph nodded.

"How can Death God be created?" Klein didn't understand; he just thought the idea was utterly insane. "Are they crazy?"

Neph shrugged and chuckled, "Who knows? Maybe."

"They drew inspiration from the birth of the Hidden Sage and hoped to replicate it in Death God. This is entirely feasible. Death God may fall, but its Beyonder Characteristic and Uniqueness will remain. Theoretically, it is entirely possible for the Uniqueness of the Death God Pathway to give birth to consciousness."

"And in fact, they almost succeeded. The Artificial God of Death had already developed rudimentary consciousness and could make simple responses, but it lacked Wisdom and its responses were not stable enough—"

Klein's expression underwent an extremely complex change. He finally realized something from Neph's words and guessed, "So, the True Creator ' Grazing ' the Uniqueness Death God?"

This is a logical guess. The "True Creator" who controls the "Secrets Suppliant" Pathway naturally has the ability to Grazing, and the Uniqueness of the "Death God" who has just begun to develop consciousness also meets the criteria for being Grazing. Recalling what Neph said before, Klein naturally thought of it.

"Probably?" Neph shrugged. "After all, my sister's control over the 'Uniqueness ' of Death God shouldn't be that fast, and it would require deactivation—also, since Mr. Azik hasn't entered the Mausoleum yet, the Artificial God of Death 'along with' the Uniqueness Death God should still be inside."

Klein breathed a sigh of relief. He had figured out the changes in the situation and said thoughtfully, "So, the artificial Death God faction of the Numinous Episcopate —is now under your jurisdiction?"

"Not entirely," Neph stroked her chin. "I'm not entirely sure about the other two Saint, and they also have an Angel in a weakened state."

This was an excuse used to deflect blame from Klein. In fact, in Neph's view, it was only a matter of time before the other two Saint were affected. The more troublesome one was the Angel Haiter. Even though Palenque Tasibu clearly stated that Haiter had no way to leave the Mausoleum, if this Angel was determined to leave the Mausoleum even if it meant losing control, Neph really had no way to deal with it.

If that's the case, she can probably only pray for God's blessing.

But that wasn't what Klein really wanted to ask. He continued, "This—well, this travel guide, did you also get it from the Artificial Death God Faction?"

"Uh----" Neph paused slightly.

Klein immediately had the answer. He rubbed his forehead and said, "The first thing you would do after taking power is to ask for something like this— the True Creator. You must be crazy to entrust this task to you."

"He's already insane," Neph reminded him.

"----" Klein revealed a distinct look of despair.

Neph coughed lightly, and asked as if to cover up her misunderstanding, "By the way, do you have any experience in managing Church?"

"Should I have experience in this area?" Klein asked hesitantly.

Neph made an "uh" sound, indicating hesitation. Klein knew she was just changing the subject, so he shook his head and asked, "What are your thoughts?"

"No," Neph shook her head, "I just saw what the Numinous Episcopate did in the past—well, I feel that if they develop properly, they could become the Southern Continent's version of the Aurora Order."

These comments immediately made Klein understand the Numinous Episcopate ' modus operandi. He carefully considered his words and said, "Perhaps—perhaps you could refer to the Resistance's model? Hmm, you know the contents of the Ten Commandments. Besides that, perhaps you could try having them do some charity work? Speaking of which, have the members of the Numinous Episcopate been to school? You could start by getting them to read, like Edwina did—"

"I know how to do this," Neph sat up straight. "I'll write up a set of textbooks for them, with basic literacy and general knowledge lessons, as well as history and moral education—well, in this case, it would be something like the Holy Bible. Then I'll set up weekly quizzes, monthly tests, midterms, and final exams—"

Klein raised his hand to interrupt her, gently advising, "I don't think it's necessary to set up so many exams. Whether it's the Southern Continent or the Northern Continent, I've never heard of any country having such a system. This approach might not be that popular—"

"To be honest, I think there's a country where this system should exist," Neph stroked her chin, "And where poor grades might even lead to expulsion from the country."

"Where?" Klein was taken aback.

"Lenburg," Neph blinked, "Since you maintain contact with Edwina and Danitz, don't you know anything about the way the Church of Knowledge operates?"

"We haven't talked much about this—" Klein began hesitantly, "I know the Church of Knowledge has some—uh, I didn't expect it to be this exaggerated."

He paused, then asked again to confirm, "So, you really have this plan?"

"Not necessarily," Neph shook her head. "Let me ask others first. Anyway, I've already changed your Sea God's Ten Commandments. In the short term, they won't do anything too outrageous."

"Yes," Klein nodded in agreement, "That should last for a while."

He paused, then turned to Neph and said, "But when you mentioned the Aurora Order, something came to mind."

Neph looked up at him, and he explained, "Doesn't Miss 'Magician ' hear babbling during the Blood Moon? When we pull her up, we sometimes chat—mostly she's the one doing the talking."

"The Blood Moon the day before yesterday told me that a new gathering of Beyonder had taken place in Backlund, and the organizer was called L."

"Madam—what are you laughing at?"

"Oh, I just thought of a joke," Neph blinked, "Do you remember Mr. A and Mr. X?"

Klein nodded hesitantly.

Neph said with a serious expression, "As far as we know, the Aurora Order Society has two Oracle in Backlund, namely Mr. A and Mr. X."

"They were both men, and they were both dead."

"This shows that the Aurora Order in Backlund does not welcome men."

"----?" Klein opened his mouth slightly, "Humans evolved from trash cans?"

Neph nodded.

Klein's lips twitched slightly, and he said sincerely, "I don't think the person in charge of the Aurora Order in Backlund has considered this."

"I think so too, but now that you mention it, I feel a little disappointed," Neph said.

Klein, too lazy to ask what she was regretting, instead asked, "Could you get the Numinous Episcopate to keep an eye on Ince Will for me? I want to get a lead as soon as they find him."

Neph nodded casually. She didn't intend to get too involved in this hunting plan, otherwise she wouldn't be able to distance herself from the whole thing, but she was happy to help with this small favor.

"But have you gathered Potion ingredients?" she pressed.

Klein nodded and replied, "City of Silver organized an expedition to explore the Ancient City of Nois, hunted down a Shapeshifter, and I have all the ingredients for my final Potion."

"However, the problem is, my Potion hasn't been digested yet— Neph, can the Ritual be preserved?"

Neph had an answer to this question. She shook her head and said, "It depends. Some Ritual can be Ritual, but yours definitely cannot be preserved because it explicitly requires you to take the Potion at the end of the play."

Klein had anticipated Neph's answer. He frowned and said, "It sounds like Ince Will can only help me digest the Potion; I'll have to find another drama for my advancement."

"Furthermore, finding a sufficient number of Spectator is actually quite difficult. While Spectator arrangements might reduce the number of people needed, the limitations are still significant—"

Knowing the answer already, Neph couldn't reveal it to him, so she comforted him in her own unique way, saying, "It's alright."

"This sounds easier than fighting a fully-fledged Angel —especially since He has the Death God's Eye that can glare me to death."

"I'm really worried that one day He might suddenly stare me to death."