A heart-to-heart

Although she believed deep down that her lack of intervention was tantamount to consent, Neph still agreed with Klein's words and entered the "Forsaken Land of the Gods" once again.

Once her subconscious stopped at the foot of the mountain, Neph was certain that she had been infected by Ouroboros with something incredible.

But it didn't seem right to take flight again at this moment, so Neph went with the flow, walked up the mountain, and knelt down at the summit.

"Very well, Ouroboros isn't here," Neph muttered to herself, about to speak, when the God above her seemed too lazy to go through the motions and simply said, "Go do it."

"----?" Neph couldn't help but raise her head.

No, if you were too lazy to act, why didn't you tell me sooner? The thought had barely formed in her mind when she stopped. To her astonishment, Neph saw a Blond Priest appear beneath the illusory giant Cross.

blonde hair, blue eyes, a linen robe, and eyes as clear as a baby's.

The familiar description flashed through Neph's mind, and her body suddenly stiffened, her eyes filled with a mixture of surprise and doubt.

"You—?" she asked tentatively.

Adam approached her with that familiar, warm smile, his eyes lowered to reflect her in his clear blue gaze. His voice was as gentle as ever. "Shall we go down the mountain together?"

----?

Neph paused for a moment, then obediently stood up.

She already had some guesses about the current situation. The "True Creator" had mentioned before that Adam had undergone psychotherapy. Although she was unsure what deal they had made behind the scenes, Neph suspected that she had stumbled upon a live version of it.

So she didn't ask anything, but simply followed behind Adam, watching Adam back, and recalling those distant memories from before she traveled through time.

Come to think of it, I think I even shipped them as a couple before----

Adam stopped in his tracks.

The Blond Priest quietly turned around, looked at Neph, and asked clearly and calmly, "What is a CP?"

No, you can really hear me—you've even stopped acting!

Neph stared wide-eyed, a trait that was one of the reasons she rejected Adam —this power to see into people's hearts made her feel naked. Worse, even if she blocked her thoughts, it had limited effect on him because he was a top-notch "Spectator"!

Her undisguised shock made Adam shake his head and say to her, "I didn't mean to pry."

"But you made no attempt to conceal your true feelings, and your expression showed absolutely no pretense."

Why do I feel like I've been scolded?

Neph moved her lips slightly and recited a passage from the Bible: "For all things are naked and exposed before the eyes of the Lord with whom we have a relationship—"

"Are you a believer?" Adam asked her.

Neph understood that the question was not directed at Herself, but at "God Almighty" who was active in the Great Old One days, so she shook her head and explained, "No."

"But when I was learning—well, learning English, I read the Bible in a comparative version."

She wasn't sure if Adam spoke Chinese, but in Neph's memory, English should be a widely spoken language, and Adam had at least a very high probability of having heard the word before.

Adam nodded slightly, then asked again, "What country are you from?"

Neph fell silent. She looked westward and whispered, "In this world, my homeland corresponds to that land beyond the mist."

Adam then asked, "What is the difference between the world you remember and the world in its Great Old One days?"

"I don't know," Neph shook her head honestly, "I haven't studied the history of this world, but I think at least the general direction should be the same."

Adam nodded slightly, then asked again, "So, what does CP mean?"

No, this isn't over yet? I thought it was— Neph paused, then spoke without changing her expression, "Couple, meaning a group or pair."

"What about shipping couples?" Adam asked humbly.

Lord, if you can hear me, I beg you, please stop asking.

Neph looked at Adam with pleading eyes. After a few seconds, Adam looked away and sighed, "Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to."

Neph breathed a sigh of relief and followed after them again.

"Your idea is interesting," Adam's steady voice rang out from ahead. "You cautiously excluded Angel and Saint possessing level 0 Sealed Artifact. This is enough to enrage the Storm, but not enough to drive it mad."

Neph paused for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "----Are you implying that He can still be so angry that he loses his mind?"

Adam nodded slightly and explained, "The Sequence 2 Calamity ' possesses an ability called the Source of Anger, which allows Angel on the ' Tyrant ' Pathway to temporarily enhance their power by abandoning thought, reaching the next Sequence level without affecting their rank. This can be used on oneself or to influence a target."

"Huh?" Neph's mouth dropped open in surprise. "So the Berserker isn't in the ' Warrior ' Pathway?!"

Adam shook his head, reminding her, "A battle-hardened Warrior doesn't lose his mind because of anger."

I've dealt with quite a few "Tyrant" too— Neph pondered for a moment, then asked, "What's the difference between Storm that's lost its mind and Storm that hasn't? Hmm, or rather, what benefit does this bring to my plan?"

Adam replied gently, "Without losing his mind, He would be afraid, He would be apprehensive."

Neph paused for a moment, then exclaimed in realization, "So, when he loses his mind, he really might unleash a full-map lightning attack?"

Adam nodded slightly.

"Do I really not know what 'shipping' means?" He asked again.

"I really can't explain it to you—" Neph began cautiously, "I feel that some of the blasphemous ideas here would make even the ' Abyss ' have to step back before me—"

Adam glanced at her quietly, shook his head slightly, and said as if to kindly remind her, "You'd better not let Ouroboros know about this."

"----Okay," Neph replied.

"You don't need to handle the 'Relocation of the Aurora Order ' matter," Adam concluded. "Ouroboros will take care of it."

"Can you still command Ouroboros?" Neph asked in surprise.

"Of course not me," Adam replied, "It's another me."

Upon hearing this, Neph finally couldn't help but ask, "You two are now—?"

Adam glanced at her, his tone still gentle. "Neph."

"I respect your secrets, and you should respect mine too, shouldn't you?"

Neph paused slightly, then lowered her head.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

Adam looked at her quietly for a few seconds, then spoke as if to remind her, "For Angel who have Authority, their very existence is a symbol, and they will have an impact on everything around them."

"When you appear, it means that this era is heading towards its end in an irreversible trend."

The Fifth Epoch is about to end.

"And you will be the witness to the end of this era."

Neph looked up in surprise. She suddenly remembered the phrase "the Deceased God" from the "Child of Winter" ascension Ritual, and a bad feeling crept into her heart. She couldn't help but ask, "Then what about when a new era begins? If my appearance signifies that an era is coming to an end, should I die as the new era begins and prospers?"

"That's how it should be," Adam nodded. "You should die after witnessing everything, your traces gradually fading from this world, until the era comes to an end once more, and someone will find you in the dust of history and welcome your return."

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Neph realized that this was the very reason why the Great Old One had dared to commit suicide to enter the barrier—He was destined to die sooner or later, and he was destined to rise again sooner or later.

But the problem now is----

"If I say I don't want to die, is there any hope?" Neph asked earnestly.

"You are still His child for now," Adam gently shook his head, "You have not yet become Him, so there is no need to worry."

You don't mean I should delay becoming a god until after the Apocalypse, do you? No, that sounds more like...

A familiar phrase popped into Neph's mind once again. "Lord, I've called you Lord for so long, could you call me Lord too—"

"If you wish," Adam gazed at her, "I have no objection, and I think the other me wouldn't have much of an objection either."

"No, no, no!" Neph quickly waved her hands in refusal. "This, this is because, in my memory, although you successfully fused within two years, you didn't retrieve those three traitors until eight years later, so—"

"Do you believe you can achieve the Great Old One before it does?" Adam seemed to understand. "And that's why you have this idea?"

"No, that's not it either," Neph denied again, "It, it stems from a phenomenon in our culture—"

She paused, and seeing that Adam's expression didn't change, she continued, "I've heard of people who, when drunk, said to their fathers—"

"Dad, I've called you Dad for so many years, can you call me Dad too?"

"And then, you have the symbolism of being the father of all things," and I subconsciously—

Adam nodded knowingly and replied, "If that day ever comes, I'll consider it."

"----?" Neph moved her lips, as if she wanted to say something to stop him, but before she could speak, the Blond Priest disappeared, leaving her alone on the mountainside.

She looked around blankly, unsure of what to say or do. After hesitating for several minutes, Neph raised her hand and made the Cross of a cross on her chest: "Praise be to your forgiveness—"

She suddenly realized that perhaps she shouldn't be so hostile to Adam. After all, they were both aspects of the Ancient Sun God, and neither Adam nor the "True Creator" had ever shown her any malice; in fact, they had always been helping her.

Adam can only read minds, and the real reason is that she can't hide herself, while Klein can conceal his thoughts in front of the "Spectator".

This is probably her problem.

When she left the "Forsaken Land of the Gods" with these thoughts in mind, and was immediately struck by the chill of the Pure White Space, Neph realized how terrifying Adam was. She suddenly realized that this King of Angel was not just someone who could read minds.

He can also make people willingly let go of their malice towards Him. Even now, when Neph is aware of this, she can't feel any rejection—because she finds herself genuinely believing that the idea makes sense!

"Adam— " she murmured softly, sinking into the soft chair she had made herself. "Amon— "

She suddenly realized that the brothers, or rather, the father and son, were strikingly similar in this respect; both were masters of manipulating people's hearts.

I completely misunderstood you—who said your family education was bad? I think your family education was incredibly successful. The reason you lack humanity is because you lack humanity too.

Tsk, I'm still too timid. I should have drawn the CP picture on the wall and told everyone it's historical fact!

Okay, fine, I don't dare----

As usual, Laila went to greet her Teacher Leomaster, who came up from the Underground. This devout "Saint of Darkness" had entrusted almost everything to his faith, spending his waking hours either spreading the name of the Lord or praying, and he might not even stop praying in his sleep.

But today, when Laila stepped forward, she noticed a long-lost excitement mixed in with Leomaster's expression.

"I received an oracle," Leomaster told Laila before she could ask, "The Lord desires that we gather all the devout, and then Ouroboros will lead us to the Lord's sanctuary."

"!" Laila exclaimed in surprise, "Now?"

"The sooner the better," Leomaster said. "Go and contact those staying in the Backlund Diocese. First, call those who have already been Convert and have completed their Atonement. Next, Convert those who haven't had time to complete their Atonement. We'll talk to those who haven't had time to Convert yet last."

"I'll do it right away." Laila nodded, turned, and went out.

Their work to Convert the "Aurora Order" has been ongoing, but the original plan was very difficult and progress was extremely slow. However, recently, the Convert work has made great strides. Leomaster believes that this is inseparable from the state of the Lord, because he can no longer hear the Lord's frantic Eater of Words when he prays.

This is both a bad thing and a good thing for believers. On the one hand, they have fewer opportunities to hear the Gospel and can no longer have intimate communication with the Lord every moment. On the other hand, they can finally stop focusing all their energy on listening to the Lord's Gospel and devote more energy to thinking. This gives the Aurora Order a real prospect for development and makes it no longer a precarious sect.

As a Demigod who still possesses reason, Leomaster certainly values the latter more, and therefore he feels genuine joy at this transformation, as if he can already see the sect's glorious future.

Watching Laila walk out the door, Leomaster thought for a moment, then returned to the Underground once more.