"It seems you've remembered something?"
Seeing [Hard Armor] lying on the ground convulsing, [Crown] revealed a satisfied expression.
"Herbert, or rather -- [zzzz~]"
What do you think I should call you?
The illusory memories kept flashing and overlapping before his eyes. [Hard Armor] felt that his body had completely lost control and was even on the verge of collapse.
Two different memories, two different lives, two different worlds, were taking turns ravaging his thoughts.
At that moment, as the syllable that he could neither understand nor comprehend was uttered by [Crown], [Hard Armor]'s thoughts finally exploded and entered a state of paralysis.
He knew that the syllable he couldn't pronounce was a "name".
The once blazing spiritual fire in his eyes had faded to a flickering candle in the wind. [Hard Armor] barely managed to raise his head, looking directly at [Crown]:
"Please tell me... what exactly happened?"
"It seems you haven't fully recalled it yet."
[Crown] bent down and gently helped [Hard Armor] up from the still-moving elevator platform, saying in a calm tone:
First, you need to understand who you really are.
You are not human, you weren't in the past, you aren't now, and you certainly won't be in the future.
"Naturally, you don't belong to this world either; you're just temporarily using this body left behind by a human after death."
"Herbert is not you, but your 'bone'."
"We are advanced beings from another world, who became homeless after our world was destroyed by Demonic Tide."
Before our homeland was destroyed, it was the selfless "Lord" who, at the cost of his own life, tore apart the barriers between worlds and brought us to this new world.
"So I want you to recognize yourself, discard those pointless memories and emotions, and only retain the most important and crucial parts."
"Most importantly, you must know who you are."
Looking into the eyes of the Hard Armor Crown figure before him, the tall skeleton looked like a helpless child, his face filled with disbelief.
"No, this is impossible..."
[Hard Armor] placed his hands on his cheekbones:
"How could I not be human? I, I clearly... my father, my mother..."
"Well."
[Crown] sighed again and extended his long, slender fingers once more.
"No!"
[Hard Armor] reacted extremely quickly, grabbing [Crown]'s index finger to prevent the other from continuing to exert influence on him.
Don't try to seduce me.
He said in a low voice:
"I won't be fooled."
"Oh, it's that [Nether Crossing] ability, isn't it?"
[The Crown] seemed completely unsurprised:
What did he tell you?
[Hard Armor] suddenly felt the power of [Crown] increasing exponentially, and even he, who was known for his defense, was being somewhat suppressed.
He said... all the malice, all the manipulation, all the changes are ineffective against me.
"Hmm, I see."
[Crown] scoffed:
"But I have no ill intentions, nor do I intend to manipulate you, nor am I altering your memories."
"I'm just helping you find the parts you've lost, making you more complete, and helping you understand who you are."
He asked in a low voice:
"If you're truly not afraid at all, why not let me try?"
Of [Hard Armor]'s two pupils, only one still burns with spiritual fire.
He looked at the Crown, and the Crown looked back at him.
[Hard Armor] slowly loosened his grip on the other person's fingers, and gently tapped the finger bone against his own forehead.
This time, an even greater amount of information flooded into his mind—richer perceptions, more diverse interactions, and longer-lasting memories.
The overwhelming amount of information instantly overwhelmed the part of his mind that belonged to Herbert, and his self-perception changed at that moment.
One of his eyes went dark forever, used to seal away a part of himself, the part that belonged to him as a human.
The other eye, however, regained its original brilliance, even surpassing its brightness before the memory was restored.
"Please tell me... what needs to be done?"
[Hard Armor]'s tone became as calm as [Crown]'s; he released his grip and asked slowly.
"No rush."
[The Crown] turned its back and continued:
"As the holder of the Holy Remains, you need to know everything, and you have the right to know everything, not just the memories of the past."
"This is a rare opportunity, so ask whatever you want to know."
"Good."
[Hard Armor]'s mind was churning with questions. After a moment of contemplation, he asked:
"The Lord brought us into this new world, but what about Himself?"
[Crown] nodded slightly, seemingly in approval of the question itself:
"He also came into this world with us, but..."
"You need to know that every world has its own set of rules, and for outsiders, there are only two choices—adapt, or die."
[Hard Armor] followed up with:
"Have we adapted?"
[Crown] shook his head:
We are dead.
Unfortunately, the underlying logic of our world is very different from that of this world. At the moment we crossed the barrier between worlds, we had already died once, so we shed our physical bodies and became spirits.
"As beings from another world, our spiritual forms are different from the 'ghosts' of this world. Apart from a handful of powerful individuals, we have no way to affect the matter of this world."
"But do not forget that the name 'Lord' contains the phrase 'Body Without Beginning or End,' meaning that for Him there is no actual, true death, only a temporary slumber."
"The Lord will not die, but we will."
"So before He fell into complete slumber, He used His last strength to leave us some protective measures."
[Hard Armor] seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly realized:
"Holy Remains?"
"That's right, it's the Holy Remains."
[Crown] nods:
"The Holy Remains are the bones of this world. Before falling into slumber, the Lord chose five items as Holy Remains, condensed his Authority that allowed him to be compatible with this world onto them, and finally gave them to us to protect ourselves."
"And we are merely custodians of the Holy Remains, not their owners; the Authority will one day return to the gods."
"With the bones of a demon bearing 'Power,' with the tail of a siren bearing 'Flow,' with the armor of a behemoth bearing 'Defense,' with the wings of an ancient dragon bearing 'Light,' and..."
[Crown] pointed to the top of its head, and [Hard Armor], who had just realized something, was now also filled with doubt:
"It seems like no living thing would have something like that on its head..."
"Have."
[Crown] retorted in a deep voice:
"The Lord is not only an endless God, but also the ruler of the mortal world."