Margaret Constantine…
Could she be a descendant of the Constantine family? But why is her hair red? What strange bloodline got mixed in here?
Hmm… I remember Helene told me that Margaret definitely didn't have any Sauron blood… then could it be Medici? Einhorn?
After escaping from the nightmare in Kabas Town, I once performed a divination regarding the bloodline of "Constantine," and the result I obtained was simply "Intis." I had assumed it referred to the maternal line of Vice Admiral Deep Sea, planning to ask Hal about it once that island was unsealed…
Now it seems it could also have been referring to Margaret!
When "Owen Delien" is released again, perhaps I can use his identity to approach her…
Thinking this, Ebner made a few mental notes before turning to explore the memories of Flora Jacob.
Since she was already a fanatical believer of Liu Bo, with both body and mind completely open to him, the "exploration" went very smoothly. Within just half an hour, Ebner felt he knew her better than she knew herself.
She was born into the Jacob family. Unlike the branch of "Miss Greed" that changed pathways and fully integrated into the Feysac Empire, she had always taken the revival of the family's glory as her lifelong mission.
However, because her direct elders had all died young, she never received the complete family inheritance. Apart from a few remaining Sealed Artifacts, the highest characteristic she could obtain was only Sequence 7, Cryptologist.
So, at seventeen, she began to travel abroad in search of information about other branches of the Jacob family. Eventually, relying on her Jacob bloodline and a powerful Sealed Artifact, she opened one of the Jacob family's treasure vaults and gained not only later potion formulas but also extraordinary characteristics from Sequence 9 up to Sequence 4.
Of course, the most important treasure within that vault was a map—a map left behind by the Jacob ancestors, pointing to their greatest hoard.
After that, Flora spent nearly ten years pushing open the door between man and god, gaining divinity and becoming a demigod.
At that time, she firmly believed she was the dawn of the Jacob family's revival.
Carrying that faith, Flora came to Backlund…
What happened afterward was mostly known to Ebner already. She had first cultivated and used Hazel, but out of selfishness, never taught her any real knowledge about the Beyonder world. This led to the girl causing a huge mess, exposing her, and forcing Flora into a hasty battle with a demigod from the Church of the Evernight Goddess. Though she won, she was gravely injured.
Yes, the mission to capture Flora had never been led by the "Sword of the Goddess" as rumored, who was supposedly tricked by the demigod "Marauder" into forgetting her purpose and returning to the cathedral after wandering around once.
In truth, the Evernight Church had secretly deployed another demigod—a Bizarro Sorcerer, one possessing a Demon Hunter marionette!
Flora hadn't "toyed" with her opponent. It was only through a heavy price that she barely "stole" the Bizarro Sorcerer's marionette and forced the other to retreat temporarily.
She hadn't even seen that Bizarro Sorcerer's true face; the entire time, she'd only fought with the puppet.
Moreover, the Bizarro Sorcerer didn't truly retreat but kept up constant harassment, worsening her injuries and finally forcing her to "parasitize" a rat to escape.
When she had finally recovered, she found another human host to "inhabit"—only to run straight into Archbishop Saint Anthony of the Evernight Church. That led to her second "rat parasitism" escape.
Those two times parasitizing animals damaged her intelligence. Even with guidance from that man in black, though she corrected herself in time and regained a bit, she only recovered from a mental age of ten to about twelve or thirteen.
Fortunately, after being baptized by Liu Bo, all her negative effects were erased. Apart from losing herself entirely—body and soul belonging to Liu Bo—her intellect no longer had any flaws.
Yet, after reviewing Flora's earlier conversation with Emma, Ebner couldn't help muttering with an odd look, "Stealing my heart and then abandoning me? Is that how a 'Prometheus' acts?"
Of course, at that moment he wasn't thinking of Emma. Given her current level, stealing his heart would be rather difficult…
He thought instead of "Vice Admiral Iceberg" Edwina, because aboard her ship there was also a "Prometheus" who had claimed he would steal her heart—"Bow Tie" Yodson.
Come to think of it, Edwina could be said to be the "treasure" in the hearts of every crew member of the Golden Dream. If Yodson truly managed to steal her heart and then discard her, he would probably digest the Prometheus potion instantly!
Tsk, that guy really isn't a good person, just as Danitz said.
Looks like that beating the crew gave him back then was still too light…
Ebner rubbed his chin and decided that the next time he visited the Golden Dream, he would take a closer look at that man.
As he pondered, Ebner suddenly heard Flora praying, asking whether she should also turn her "host," Emma, into a believer of the Great Unknown.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ebner immediately stopped her and, mimicking the tone of "The Fool," issued an oracle to Flora:
"First, do not actively develop believers. Hide your faith.
"Second, continue staying beside Emma, and don't let her notice your change."
…
May 1st, Sunday, early morning, on a nameless island off the western coast of the Southern Continent.
Sensing the disappearance of the "Invisible Barrier," the "Vice Admiral Deep Sea," Hal Constantine, who had been staring at the clock, immediately leapt into the sea, intending to flee this troublesome place.
Though he had chosen to believe in the Unknown more than a month ago, standing on that side before the battle among angels and demigods began, he had, after all, schemed against "Lady Dragon Might" Gwen and even caused her to lose her purity to Owen Delien…
If that lady decided to pursue the matter, no divine emissary of the Unknown could possibly take his side.
So, it was best to leave early. Even though he had established a connection with the Unknown and could never escape that deity's perception, Gwen and her crew couldn't possibly order a god to come hunt him down, could they?
As long as he didn't run into them face to face, there was still room for reconciliation!
While he was mulling this over, relying on his Ocean Songster abilities and his Sea Monster bloodline, Hal Constantine swiftly moved away from that sea area within minutes.
But just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a "door of light" suddenly opened up in the water ahead.
Before he could react, he plunged straight through it at full speed.
The next instant, he saw the crimson moon hanging high overhead and, under its glow, the familiar "Town of Joy."
He had struggled so hard, yet in the end, he had returned to the very starting point!
At that moment, due to the time difference, Ebner—who had finished dealing with Flora's matter and arrived ten minutes early—slowly revealed his form. He casually "constructed" an eight-immortal table and two chairs out of thin air, then smiled at Hal and said,
"Sit down. Don't rush to leave.
"I have something I'd like to discuss with you."
(End of Chapter)