Edward's heart raced with excitement as he strode quickly toward the room—only to halt abruptly at the threshold.
His spirituality stirred faintly, sending him a warning.
At once, he flipped a gold coin into the air for divination: "Entering this room is dangerous."
The coin was still spinning in midair when a familiar, crisp voice suddenly rang out:
"Who are you? Why are you here? Eh? How do you know Miss Lilith likes eating rats? Do you want to eat with me?"
It was Lilith!
It really was Lilith!
Edward no longer cared about the divination result. He stepped through the doorway into the pitch-black room.
It was a stone chamber, barely ten square meters in size.
In the corner squatted a small figure, gazing blankly forward.
Lilith's lively voice continued, "Miss Lilith likes rat chops, but Edward won't cook them for me."
"Right now, even though I've turned into a human, I still don't really know how to use my paws to cook. But I can roast rat meat. Slurp! It tastes really good!"
"Hmph! One day I'll learn one hundred ways to cook rats, and then I'll prepare a grand feast!"
Yet as Edward listened to Lilith's cheerful chatter, his expression grew dazed.
Because the figure squatting in the corner was not Lilith at all.
It was a scrawny, raggedly dressed boy, his thin face smeared with dirt and bloodstains, his eyes filled with icy indifference.
That face…
It was identical to the child's head that had just sprouted from the Angel of the Holy Word's right shoulder—this boy was that Angel of the Holy Word!
Edward glanced again around the bare stone chamber. But why, then, was Lilith's voice here?
"You don't speak? Then Miss Lilith will take it as your agreement! I'll roast the mouse, okay? I really will~!"
"Here, all done! This one's for you!"
The boy instinctively lifted his hand to receive it—yet grasped nothing. Still, he didn't seem to notice, but lowered his head and pretended to "eat" the air.
"Isn't it delicious? Miss Lilith's roast rat is so good that even Edward praised it! Eh, too bad, he's only had it once."
The boy finally opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in ages, "You…why…do you…like eating…rats…"
Lilith's merry voice answered, "Because…that's just what kitties do~"
And with that, her voice faded away.
Edward froze for a long moment, a faint melancholy stirring in his heart.
If his guess was correct—what he had heard was a fragment of memory belonging to this boy, resurfacing in the dreamworld as sound.
If this boy really was the Angel of the Holy Word in his childhood, then it meant that he had once known Lilith, and perhaps even shared a decent relationship with her.
Should he…try to speak with him? Maybe, for Lilith's sake, the Angel would spare him?
With that thought, Edward crouched before the boy, preparing to say something. But then he noticed that in the boy's arms lay a book. One glance at its familiar cover made Edward instantly recognise it—Lilith's elementary school textbook.
He froze, realisation dawning.
So that was it. The textbook's appearance in the night's dreamworld wasn't because Lilith herself was in the Battlefield of Gods…but because of the Angel of the Holy Word?
And last time, too—had it been the same?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, a violent rumbling shook the chamber.
The next instant, one wall of the stone house burst apart as a black-armored knight with two heads stormed through, each heavy step echoing like thunder. He charged straight at Edward.
Bloody hell! You old bastard, why the hell are you chasing me in this dream world?
Wait—! I already changed my appearance. And you can still recognise me?!
The massive black greatsword in Steph's hand turned crimson, transforming into a blade forged of blood itself. One head cast a prohibition: "Movement is forbidden in this area!" The other swung the blood-drenched sword, releasing a slash steeped in corruption.
Edward instantly invoked Theft of Distance to evade.
The scarlet arc shot past him and struck the boy instead, piercing straight through his body before slamming into the wall behind. The entire surface rapidly decayed and collapsed into rubble.
Steph's target suddenly vanished. He froze, slightly bewildered, but quickly locked onto Edward's new position and charged forward with thunderous steps.
That reaction instantly made Edward realise—the Angel of the Holy Word seemed unable to remain lucid in the dream world. He was pursuing him purely by instinct.
As expected of the True Creator's most fanatical zealot!
Which meant…there was no way to talk things out here!
"Magnify—Steal."
The next moment, the massive black greatsword in Steph's hands appeared in Edward's own grip. Heat and pain seared his palm almost instantly, forcing him to fling it away.
Steph stared dumbly at his now-empty right hand. His reaction slowed considerably…until he lifted his head again and fixed his gaze back on Edward.
"So you've marked me as the enemy no matter what, huh?"
Edward's heart stirred. A bold idea struck him, and he immediately turned and fled.
He remembered that in the original story, after the Saint of Darkness gazed into the full-length mirror, a "good" version of himself had been created—after which the "evil" Saint of Darkness relentlessly pursued his good counterpart.
Maybe the same trick could be used on this Angel of the Holy Word, trapping him in self-slaughter—and giving Edward the chance to strike!
Though he wasn't sure the mirror would appear every time in the dreamworld…it was worth a gamble.
Edward soon found a staircase leading underground. He dashed into the monastery's depths and arrived at a cluttered hall, where—sure enough—in the corner stood a nondescript black wooden door.
Striding forward, he gripped the handle. At once, the interior scene surfaced in his mind: a storage room with a full-length mirror standing on the right.
Perfect.
He slipped inside through the wall behind the mirror and draped a conjured black cloth over its surface.
Rumble!
Steph tore straight down through the floors above, crashing heavily into the chamber, and wasted no time lunging forward with his blade.
Edward shoved the mirror to the doorway and yanked away the cloth.
Steph's reflection instantly appeared. The mirror rippled briefly, and then the image twisted into a wicked grin. Waves spread across the surface—
The next second, a duplicate Steph stepped out of the mirror, his expression twisted with malice, and immediately clashed with the original.
Edward was momentarily stunned. This duplicate was clearly the evil side…which meant the one who had been chasing him all along had actually been the good side?!
What the hell?!
The two Sequence 2 Angels collided with terrifying force. The entire monastery shook violently under their battle.
Edward hurriedly stowed the mirror to prevent it from shattering in the chaos—if it broke, the duplicate Steph would vanish instantly.
Hiding to the side, he unleashed spell after spell and extraordinary abilities, focusing all attacks on Steph's original body. The duplicate glanced back at Edward, his face filled with even greater malice—openly radiating hostility toward him.
But at this moment, he clearly knew who the true priority target was. Coordinating with Edward's interference, he pressed his original self hard.
Steph was quickly overwhelmed.
He snatched away Edward's lightning arrow mid-flight and hurled it back at the duplicate. Then he swung his greatsword to cleave apart the Avada Lightning Chain—but missed!
But Edward's constant use of Space Concealment disrupted his aim, rendering his attacks ineffective. Instead, the duplicate's blade hacked deeply into his neck. With his left hand, he suddenly stole the original's head straight from his shoulders.
Crunch!
In an instant, the head was crushed into fragments.
Yet the Shepherd pathway possessed extraordinary regenerative power. Flesh writhed rapidly at the stump of Steph's neck, beginning to regrow.
The duplicate wasn't satisfied. He shouted aloud, "This place forbids recovery!"
The healing halted—only to resume at an even greater pace.
For this was a Profane Presbyter's ability: he intercepted the "recovery" in the prohibition and magnified it, instantly gaining a regenerative speed far beyond the ordinary.
He spun and rammed a newly regrown, bloody arm through the duplicate's chest. Yet he himself was struck down by the Flesh-and-Spirit Blade at the neck again, nearly cleaving his torso in half.
At that moment, Edward unleashed the Lightning Storm he had been preparing.
BOOM!!!
A sea of silver-white thunder engulfed the chamber, swallowing both Stephs whole.
True, in the original story, Steph had once endured Leodero's Lightning Storm, powered the Tyrant's lingering authority and survived. His defence and regeneration were maxed out.
But that had been at full Sequence 2.
This time, as the storm consumed them, Edward invoked Regression, dragging Steph down briefly to Sequence 3. Then he poured nearly all his spirituality into a Magnified Avada Kedavra, directly striking at the Angel's soul.
Combined with the injuries the duplicate and original had inflicted upon each other, the simultaneous barrage delivered near-fatal damage to both flesh and spirit.
Snap!
Both Stephs exploded at once, scattering into a writhing sea of flesh.
Yes—he still wasn't dead. The fragments squirmed toward each other, fusing rapidly, Steph regenerating once more with frightening speed.
Edward conjured door after Phantasmal Doors, blocking the merging pieces, banishing the majority into unknown spaces. Then he tried asking:
"Do you know Lilith? What's your relationship with her?"
The flesh only twitched mindlessly, merging on instinct to survive.
Edward pressed his forehead, exasperated. Really? I'm asking a pile of minced meat for answers? I must be desperate.
If that was the case, then… sorry.
"So be it. Sorry."
The ancient gears turned in his eyes once more as he cast Regression, and he raised his wand to unleash another Avada Kedavra.
Emerald light flared—
But a voice rang out beside him:
"How do you know Lilith?"
Edward's heart jolted violently. Recognising the voice instantly, he reacted without hesitation, invoking prohibition:
"Magnify—this place forbids parasitism! Magnify—this place forbids theft!"
Amon's figure appeared abruptly, clad in his signature wizard's robe, a smile playing on his lips.
"Oh? You know me?" he said, as if seeing Edward for the first time.
"You know Lilith, and you know me? But I have no impression of you at all…Who exactly are you?"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.