Deceased God
The Potion melted the moment it touched Neph, and the solidified white mist surged and permeated her soul. To Neph's surprise, the coolness it brought was actually comforting.
She quickly became unhappy, not because of discomfort, but because as the white mist gradually enveloped her soul, all her thoughts, emotions, and everything else slowly began to solidify; she was losing the ability to be happy.
I think I'm starting to understand the meaning of color.
Such a thought was born in her stagnant mind. Neph was surprised to find herself very calm, perhaps forced to be so, but in any case, she quietly waited for the appearance of "color".
A grayish-white hue stained her soul; Neph realized it was the architecture of the "Forsaken Land of the Gods," which, in form, was probably closer to Moon City.
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Next came the crowd gathered together, and the Central Square—
It was that Ritual!
Neph suddenly realized what this was—it was Ritual held by Nim, the High Priest of Moon City, to welcome her arrival!
This is also the first story I've written in this world.
A strange sense of pride washed over her as Neph regained control of her body. She exhaled a breath of White Mist, sorting through the information in her mind, and a realization dawned on her.
The essence of the "Pure White Walker" Ritual is to make the world, and the people in the world, remember her.
The Ritual written in the Pure White Space simply chose to let the Great Old One remember itself through this Pathway, nothing more.
But if the object is just an ordinary person----
"That Ritual designed specifically for me must also be a necessary part of the promotion Ritual— " Neph murmured, stretching out her hand and watching the Black Square Ring on her finger disappear and reappear, playing with it with great amusement. "They designed that Ritual to welcome my arrival; that Ritual has become, in a sense, a symbol of me—"
So, if what I saw was a normal Ritual, it would probably be something like "designing a Ritual that's uniquely yours"—well, the description might be a bit more complex, like letting people design it spontaneously, and there would probably be a requirement for the number of participants. Hmm, there might also be some rules about the Ritual, but overall—
It's definitely more normal than Ritual like offering memories to the Great Old One!
But then again, there's another question I haven't thought about—
Neph stopped fiddling with the Ring on her hand; she opened her hand, revealing a strange Potion on it.
It resembled the Snow Globe in Neph's memory, except that, probably due to the temperature, this Snow Globe was frozen solid; the snowflakes inside didn't fall, they just remained there.
This is the Potion of the "Child of Winter"!
After she advanced to Sequence 3, her Sequence 2 finally unveiled its mysteries to her!
Of course, there is another issue that deserves even more attention than these.
According to the records of the Potion, for the "Pure White Walker," the boundary between memory and reality is already blurred enough. She cannot summon "Memory Projection" like the "Scholar of Yore" summons Historical Projection, but she has a unique ability: she can "store" people or other things in the form of memories!
This means that the Pure White Space that had been with her for so long has finally become a true Storage Space!
However, while the Pure White Space does not prohibit her from storing living things, once those living things become memories, they are already dead. As a mere Sequence 3, she is not yet able to provide shelter for anything other than herself during this transformation process.
For enemies that are not sophisticated enough or lack countermeasures, this small flaw may also become a means of attack.
After contemplating the future, Neph focused her memories on the Potion before her. Things that were still vague during her "Eternal Winter Priest" phase became clear at this moment. She had finally found the possible location where the Sequence 1 Characteristic and Uniqueness of this Pathway might exist. Perhaps there were answers to some of her previous questions there, such as where the other Beyonder Characteristic of this Pathway had been stuffed.
Neph always known that human memory is actually layered, depending on how vividly it is remembered. Superficial memories are easier to recall, while deep memories require much thought and may even be impossible to recall.
As a concrete representation of memory, in the Pure White Space, these "memories" that are not easily recalled become a special Collection Room that cannot be seen.
At this moment, Neph finally saw the door to this special Collection Room.
The bad news is, she doesn't have the key.
But that doesn't matter. The way to get in is actually quite obvious. If she is the child of the owner of the Collection Room, she can certainly get in by using her facial recognition!
However, Neph didn't plan to advance immediately. This wasn't because she hadn't fully digested the Potion —although her "Pure White Walker" Potion wasn't completely digested, the outermost spiritual imprint was on the verge of collapse. Even if she did nothing, it would probably shatter on its own in a few months.
She didn't plan to advance immediately; digesting the Potion was only the second-to-last problem. What stopped her was that damned advancement Ritual. According to the Ritual, she needed to return to the realm of the "Deceased God."
If there was still a possibility of finding an alternative to the Sequence 3 Ritual, Neph felt utterly doomed the moment she saw the Sequence 2 Ritual.
She thought that even Ouroboros probably couldn't solve this problem, just as He had said at the time, her future was shrouded in a Gray-White Fog, making it impossible to see through.
This is not a dead end. After all, the "Lord of the Mysteries" has an old rival, "God Almighty." If the matter is related to the "Sefirah Castle," then the "Chaos Sea" is the key to solving the problem.
But how to solve the problem is another matter. For Neph, she is actually more curious about two questions than all of that.
The first is "the Deceased God"—this is clearly the third title of that Great Old One, which is not surprising. What puzzles Neph is why the other party would have such an ominous title?
The "Eternal Sleeper," also known as Death God, appears to have fallen into true eternal slumber. Could it be that the "Deceased God" is truly dead as well?
Just thinking about the possibility made Neph lose control of her facial expressions; she wasn't even sure whether she should cry or laugh—the name made her extremely worried that she would follow in her predecessor's footsteps and die with him.
The Uniqueness she was certain of was that this title had little to do with the "Child of Winter" Ritual, since being resurrected meant one could no longer be considered "deceased."
Putting aside the ominous name, Neph also had a second question: who left behind these Potion and the Potion recipes Record on them?
For this "Eternal Winter," the "Pure White Walker" was probably a higher-ranking Priest. After advancing to Sequence 3, Neph found some things that the "Eternal Winter Priest" didn't Authority, such as the "Child of Winter's" Potion and Potion recipes, and also—
Something that could perhaps be considered a list?
When the Pure White Space became available for use as Storage Space, Neph naturally obtained an "Item List" for this Storage Space, which Record the time, place, and some properties of the items that entered the Pure White Space.
There is also the most important thing—the gift giver, or rather, the sacrificer.
Yes, the Potion that Neph obtained earlier, along with the Potion recipe on it, was a sacrifice offered to the Great Old One!
Moreover, all the items inside, including those that Neph had never heard of, originated from this source. Believers or followers collected these uncollected items and offered them, along with the corresponding memories, to the Great Old One. This is the origin of the Pure White Space's collection.
Potion are a rather special part of these collections. For Neph, if these Potion come from an era before Omnipotent and Omniscient being deduced the Potion recipes, she thinks she might understand where those Ritual came from.
Isn't it normal for a believer to place their hopes for promotion entirely in the hands of a deity?
Neph exhaled, her thoughts returning once again to the ominous name of "the Deceased God."
I must talk to someone about this.
With this thought in mind, her figure was enveloped in White Mist and vanished on the spot.
Klein has left "Sefirah Castle". After completing his diagnosis, "Justice" Audrey asked him to take a souvenir back with him as payment for the consultation.
This sounded somewhat bizarre, and he could roughly sense that it was part of the treatment, but it inevitably reminded him that he still owed Neph a payment.
He promised to find Neph a Skull that was special enough.
As Klein pondered, a chilling aura enveloped him. Sensing something, he looked up and saw a thick white mist appear before him, quickly coalescing into a human shape. Then, Neph emerged from it.
This is a new ability of the "Pure White Walker". The Sequence 3 "Pure White Walker" can walk in their memories. However, normally, only the spirit can walk; the physical body cannot move in this way.
Neph was able to do this thanks to the Pure White Space. As the holder of the Sefirah, she was able to enter the Memory Collection Hall in physical form at Sequence 3, something other "Pure White Walker" could not do.
With the help of the Memory Collection Hall, she could naturally move her physical body in this way—she could appear in front of anyone who knew her.
Moreover, the Memory Collection Hall also provided her with a certain degree of protection, preventing her from being influenced by the memories of others due to frequent encounters with them, thus avoiding confusion in her self-awareness.
This isn't a huge improvement, because other "Pure White Walker" can also use their own Collection Hall to inscribe their image before they traveled through memory, and they can check themselves after completing the journey. The existence of the Sefirah only reduces her troubles.
Klein was unaware of all the intricacies of the situation. When he saw Neph appear in a way he had never shown before, he quickly grasped the change. "You went to get promoted?"
Neph nodded.
"A new ability?" he asked again.
Neph continued to nod.
"So you've come here to—?" Klein asked tentatively, looking at her.
"There's something I really feel uncomfortable keeping to myself," Neph said, rubbing her forehead. "Do you remember Death God?"
"Impressive," Klein nodded, "The God who controls death himself died—hmm, are you perhaps referring to something similar?"
Neph nodded.
"The one above me—" she leaned back in her chair, drawing out the words, "I've just learned His third name."
"Oh?" Klein asked cooperatively, "What is it?"
Neph looked at him, her expression strange, and said, "Deceased God."
"----?" Klein looked a little confused. "Say that again?"
"The Deceased God," Neph repeated.
"No—" Klein tried to gather his thoughts, "What does this name mean? Is He really dead?"
Neph shrugged.
Klein fell into thought. He glanced at Neph and asked cautiously, "Do you really have to become a god?"
"Do you think I had a choice?" Neph retorted.
Klein wasn't surprised by the answer. He sighed, pressed his temples, and said, "Okay, I know, but this name—I'm a little worried—"
Why does He have this title? Where did it come from?
"I have no clue," Neph shrugged. "I guess it might be related to the Ritual."
"Does it have anything to do with the Ritual?" Klein looked at her curiously.
Neph stroked her chin, and said thoughtfully, "Hmm... that's how it is."
"My Sequence 1 is called The Person of the End," although it's possible that "Endgame" refers to someone else's ending, but--
"The ending of 'The Person of the End ' is his own death, isn't that normal?"
"So, you mean—" Klein tried to understand, "He is called the Deceased God," because the Pathway to Ritual involves death?
"I don't know," Neph shrugged. "I was just guessing, but now that you mention it, I think it's more likely."
"Why?" Klein asked, puzzled.
"Because—" Neph blinked, "Because you're Fool."
Klein understood; this meant he couldn't tell him. He gave up asking, stared at the white hat on Neph's head for a few seconds, and then asked, "Would you be interested in adding some accessories to your hat?"
"Huh?" Neph was stunned.
"I remember that people of a certain status in East Balam liked to adorn themselves with various white feathers in different places, with those worn in hats being the most valuable," Klein explained. "Miss Justice just reminded me—"
Do you want a Hat Ornament?
He paused, then added, "This is another one."
I'm still looking for a suitable Skull.
"Don't you think it's strange to have white feathers on a white hat?" Neph countered.
Klein hesitated, his brow furrowing slightly. Neph glanced at him and stated her request. "I want Rainbow Feather —not dyed ones."