Cruello’s eyes narrowed as he noticed what I had in my pocket.
“You don’t look like you’re in any condition to handle Beatitudo.”
“I’m still better off than you.”
He seemed convinced, so there was no need to drag out the conversation.
I reached into my pocket.
If I wanted to unleash more divine energy than what Viga had used before, I had to grab as much Beatitudo as possible.
Attacking the serpent was pointless—
—Eighth Spell. Heaven.
I unleashed it all toward the one watching this scene with such amusement.
The corrupted divine energy coursed through me, forming into a towering pillar of pure white light.
Just as when I had forged a door from my trapped space earlier, my body remained eerily unharmed.
The beam shot forward, striking precisely at its target.
Only when the divine energy was about to engulf Eden, he finally opened his mouth.
—Modification.
The space itself twisted, swallowing my spell whole.
It was a grotesque sight.
Even if you throw a stone into water, it ripples.
Yet, despite the force I had poured into my spell, it vanished as if it had never existed—like a dream dissolving into nothingness.
A beat too late, I realized.
Eden had distorted space and redirected Heaven to another location.
If he could do that, no matter how powerful my attacks were, they would never reach him.
My face must have frozen in shock because Eden—wearing Minuet’s face—smiled again.
“Why are you so surprised? As if you didn’t know which god I serve.”
“......”
“Hah. Viga reacted the same way. The children of Fugah Shrine are so naïve. You thought my creation of the Black Serpent had nothing to do with my faith?”
He spread his arms, proudly displaying his divine energy.
As if drawn to it, the serpent coiled around him, circling its master.
“I still serve Pebula with all my heart. My devotion is far deeper than your flimsy faith could ever be.”
Then, with casual amusement, he continued,
“Of course, I must admit—I’m quite surprised. Two disciples capable of using Heaven? That’s far beyond what I expected.”
Abruptly, Eden tilted his head.
“...But you’ve shown no reaction to anything regarding Viga. Even when I summoned the serpent, you didn’t flinch. You talk as if you already knew what she had seen.”
“......”
“Hm. I know her soul fragment was sent to Cruello, so you couldn’t have shared memories. How curious.”
I said nothing, but that didn’t stop him from rambling on.
It was almost as if he was used to one-sided conversations.
“...Did Cruello tell you? No, that wouldn’t make sense. That boy is far too sensitive about Viga’s death. So... you must have already known.”
Cruello’s scarlet eyes narrowed slightly, watching him murmur to himself.
“Wait a moment. That was someone else’s body, wasn’t it?”
Eden suddenly turned his gaze back to me, his curiosity sharpening.
“How did you even inhabit that body? I never left Eleventh Spell behind at Fugah Shrine.”
“...Eleventh Spell?”
“That’s right. You don’t know, do you?”
My chest tightened.
The Eleventh Spell—one of the two lost highest-order spells, erased from history before my time.
If Eden had lived in an earlier era, it made sense that he knew spells that had been lost to time.
What unsettled me wasn’t that he knew it—
It was the name of the spell itself.
—Eleventh Spell. Molting.
If there was no hidden meaning behind that word, then it could only refer to a snake shedding its skin.
And if that analogy applied to human bodies—if it extended to the next stage of that process—
A dry laugh escaped me.
“So that’s how you’re able to take over other people’s bodies...”
“That’s right. It’s all thanks to the spell bestowed upon me by Pebula.”
What kind of god would create such a spell?
Even Modification and Reversal weren’t exactly rational, but a spell that let you seize another’s body?
That was nothing short of a deliberate tool for chaos.
I suddenly recalled Recanon’s strict doctrines about forbidden magic.
Perhaps they weren’t entirely wrong to be wary of such things.
But this wasn’t the time for philosophizing.
I scowled.
“...So you thought I didn’t know. But when I immediately recognized that you had possessed Minuet Bonetti, you started to wonder if I knew more than I should.”
I wanted to tell him to shut the hell up, but just like with Viga, I forced myself to stay silent.
But his boastful display of knowledge didn’t last long.
Abruptly, the serpent lunged at me.
“What kind of blessing did Pebula bestow upon you, child?”
I thrust a shield straight into its gaping maw.
It crunched through it effortlessly before striking again.
Using divine energy against a creature born of the same power was more of a disadvantage than an advantage.
I tossed my final shield to buy a little more time—
And in that exact moment—
Crack!
The serpent froze solid.
It only lasted a second before it shook off the ice and returned to its original state, but that moment was enough.
I turned my head, startled.
“I told you not to use it!”
“I didn’t,” Cruello said flatly. “I didn’t use Morion.”
...Really?
True to his word, the sky-blue ice looked exactly like his usual magic.
“...Since when do you listen to me?”
“Given the current situation, it seems like a bad idea to pass out.”
Cruello kept firing counterspells, bombarding both the serpent and Eden while muttering under his breath.
Of course.
The moment I nodded, his voice echoed directly inside my head.
[Don’t react. Just listen.]
I flinched—
Not from his words, but from the sensation itself.
It was similar to receiving a divine revelation—
But distinctly different.
For the first time, I felt his presence inside my mind.
So this is what telepathic magic feels like.
[That spell, Heaven—at its core, it’s just light, isn’t it?]
I gave a barely perceptible nod.
[Then I’ll lay down ice like a mirror.]
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Reflecting the light in a chaotic mess—making it impossible to track the attack’s path.
That was Cruello’s plan.
I glanced at his ice formations, realizing he had placed them in precise locations.
It’s a good idea.
While he finished his preparations, I kept Eden distracted.
This was the same method I had used on Nigellia.
Eden wasn’t my teacher, but considering how much he loved to talk, he certainly acted like a devout follower of storytelling.
“So, I understand everything else, but why did you lure Cruello here? And what about the message you left for Betty?”
“What message?”
“Betty told me Minuet instructed her to bring me straight to the drawing room.”
“Hah. You must have grown fond of Minuet Bonetti if you think I was trying to drive a wedge between you two. Though, I failed in that regard.”
“...That’s strange,” I muttered, recalling what I had overheard earlier. “Shouldn’t I be furious that Cruello supposedly tried to kill my sister?”
Eden smiled.
“Human emotions are so complex.”
“Then you possessed Minuet’s body just to—”
“To create conflict. And, of course, I assumed you wouldn’t attack me if I was using her form. But I was wrong on both counts.”
“...Why the hell would you want to create that situation?”
“Hmm. Maybe I just wanted ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) to prepare Cruello properly before making him swallow Morion?”
So that was it.
By making us fight each other, he wanted to push Cruello into one final despair.
A curse slipped out from my lips before I could stop it.
This bastard.
“...You’re stalling for time, aren’t you? What are you planning?”
He was several centuries older than Elin, so naturally, he was much more cunning.
“Haha. Regardless, it’s been so long since I’ve had such an enjoyable conversation. It’s fun to have a real chat.”
If he was so entertained, he should have kept his hands still.
I barely dodged the chains flying toward me, rolling away at the last second.
“What the—! Why are your spells so damn fast?!”
Even though I was using Beatitudo, Eden was still faster.
Technically, he should have been at a disadvantage.
His original body must have died long ago.
There was no way a human body from centuries past remained intact.
If that were the case, he wouldn’t have needed to steal other people’s bodies.
And if he had taken over Minuet’s body purely through spells, without divine aid—then his flesh shouldn’t have stabilized so quickly.
So how was he this fast?
Eden smiled gleefully, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Curious? Should I tell you?”
At that moment, Cruello’s ice field was complete.
I wanted to hear Eden’s answer—
But I could ask after I put him down.
After all, there were plenty of things I needed to hear from him.
—Eighth Spell. Heaven.
This time, I poured even more divine energy into it.
The pillar of light burst forth.
But it didn’t strike Eden directly.
Instead, it bounced off the ice behind him—
Then off another sheet of ice across the room.
After a few reflections, the entire space transformed—
Eden looked like he was trapped inside a cage of light.
For a moment, it almost seemed... holy.
A beautiful, divine prison.
And then—Heaven struck.
This time, Eden was completely engulfed, as if swallowed by a serpent made of light.
—Modification.
Again.
And again—
The divine energy simply disappeared.
Damn it.
The overwhelming emptiness that followed made me feel sick.
Cruello gritted his teeth so hard that the muscles in his jaw tensed visibly.
I silently glared at Eden.
“That was a good attempt,” he admitted. “But it doesn’t matter. No matter where your attack comes from, I just need to distort the surrounding space.”
“...I’m going insane. Did saints in your time get some exclusive power? Or did you eat Beatitudo for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?”
Eden laughed.
“As your senior, I’ll give you some advice—don’t eat Beatitudo. Almost no body can handle it. You’ll just end up destroying yourself.”
“Then how the hell do you have this much power?”
“Ah, I would love to boast about it,” he admitted. “But, unfortunately, it’s already been used before, so it wouldn’t be very impressive anymore.”
As he spoke, Eden removed his gloves.
Minuet’s pale hands should have been smooth—
But instead, a magic circle was engraved into her palms.
“...You too?”
Just like how Cruello had connected to Morion, Eden was drawing divine energy from another location.
But where?
The answer came to me instantly.
I thought back to the place where I had been trapped—
That desert.
I had only managed to take a handful of Beatitudo from there.
Compared to that... he had an entire supply.
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“You didn’t ask why I was collecting it?” Eden mused.
He walked leisurely, speaking without anyone prompting him.
As if this was a moment he had waited for his entire life.
His eyes gleamed with exhilaration.
“I created White Desert. My plan was to turn the desert white with Beatitudo. A grand ambition, wouldn’t you say?”
“....”
“I am Pebula’s Saint. I have never, not once, wavered in my faith.”
There was something I longed for because of that devotion.
Why does Pebula still remain in that place?
“....”
“To me, no other divine power has value.”
Eden’s voice was filled with utter conviction.
“So wouldn’t it be an honor for them to serve as the foundation for my grand ambition?”
As Eden spewed his nonsense, I felt the mana behind me shift.
I recognized it instantly.
I had seen it too many times before.
Cruello was trying to open a Gate.
He didn’t even bother asking my opinion.
He simply grabbed my wrist.
If we ran now, could we come back later with a better plan?
I parted my lips, trying to speak—
But I didn’t have time.
Because Eden smiled.
And then he spoke.
“Running away? Aren’t you worried about Bati?”