— — — — — —
After Maria went to her mother's chamber.
"Oh"
"Even you noticed something was off with your sister?"
For a moment, silence.
After hearing her second daughter's report, Lady Teresa—legs elegantly crossed—let out a faint sigh.
"Even I?"
Maria blinked, stunned. Once the meaning sank in, she quickly asked, "Mother, you knew already?"
"Why would you think I'd miss something so obvious?" Teresa countered.
Right…
If even she could sense something was wrong, how could their mother—the one who controlled everything in this estate… well, aside from that mysterious man—possibly fail to notice?
"Then… even you can't do anything about it?"
Realizing this, the girl's expression dimmed.
"You don't need to worry. I'll handle it."
After a pause, Lady Teresa rose and... just left Maria alone.
---
Moments later....
Beneath the estate lay a hidden palace. Ancient, mysterious runes were carved into every wall, every pillar, every stone tile of its halls.
Teresa, now dressed in a flowing blue gown, stood before a figure completely shrouded in heavy cloth, only a pair of eyes visible.
"Your methods don't seem to work anymore," she said quietly. "Even Maria has started to notice something's wrong."
"Isn't that perfectly normal?"
The figure's voice was calm, their eyes betraying no emotion. "Don't forget—those two before were nothing more than disposable vessels. It's the final one that truly matters, Lilith."
"Tell me, have you ever seen the slightest trace of the Lord of Ecstasy's influence on her?"
That much was true.
Her youngest daughter, Lilith, had never once been out of her sight since birth. No one understood better than Teresa just how out of step the girl was with the Empire's current… corrupted climate.
"If not for your endless suspicions of me, then by our original plan, six years ago the Mother Earth could already have saved this world from the grip of the Gods' corruption."
When Teresa didn't respond, the figure continued, unhurried:
"If you truly see that girl, Clara, as your daughter, then maybe it's time to reconsider what I told you twelve years ago. It's not too late. But if you wait until she succumbs to the pollution—until she drowns in ecstasy—then even if the Mother Earth descends, the best you can hope for is that her flesh and soul will both be 'purified' together."
"..."
"…I'll think it over. Same time tomorrow—I'll give you my answer then." Teresa said after some silence.
"Very well. I'll return tomorrow."
The figure gave a small nod, turned, and left through another passage of the underground palace. As they walked away, the folds of their robe shifted, revealing holy sigils embroidered into the cloth—marks reserved only for the Pope of the Ecstasy Church.
...
After the Pope's departure, silence fell again.
Teresa stood alone for a long time, staring into the darkness where they had vanished, her eyes clouded with doubt.
Had her choice back then been right… or terribly wrong?
She first met the Pope before the Gods had invaded this world.
At that time, Teresa was still the only daughter of her family's generation, and the other woman was merely a saint of the Church—respected, yes, but with little real power in her hands. Not like now, the Pope herself.
Back then, the Church still worshiped the Mother Earth, the one who brought life and hope to all creation— not the Lord of Ecstasy.
But when the Gods descended, the new faith spread like a cancer. Nobles in the capital fell first, and through them the rot seeped into the Empire at large.
Teresa saw where things were headed. She knew she couldn't stop it. All she could do was protect herself. That was when she made an unexpected discovery: beneath the Teresa estate lay a hidden sanctuary, secretly built generations ago by her ancestors together with the Pope of the Mother Earth. It was directly connected to the Mother's great temple.
It was there that Teresa encountered a woman she'd only met briefly in the past—a saintess who, like her, was fleeing the grasp of a Church hierarchy that had already fallen to Ecstasy.
With the sanctuary's ritual chamber, the saintess managed to contact the Mother Earth herself. Under that divine protection, both women were spared from the creeping corruption.
One, after purging the fallen elders of her family, became head of House Teresa. The other seized power at the very top of the Church, and eventually—once the institution fully converted to Ecstasy—she emerged as its Pope.
But divine grace doesn't last forever.
Unlike the Pope, Teresa never had a direct bond with the Mother Earth. Twenty-four years ago—about six years after the first of the Old Gods arrived—she was horrified to realize a faint trace of "curiosity" toward Ecstasy had sprouted within her own heart.
To avoid becoming a slave to the Lord of Ecstasy, she accepted the Pope's proposal. From her own body she drew a rib, and with it created her eldest daughter, Clara, who would share the burden of corruption with her.
Eighteen years ago, when that eldest child could no longer hold back the spread, Teresa repeated the process—this time carving a rib from her daughter to create the second child, Maria.
Twelve years ago, she discovered the truth: even with three of them sharing the weight, their fate was still the same. They were all destined to drown beneath the tide of Ecstasy. At that moment, the Pope offered her another path.
From the second daughter—the one least touched by corruption—Teresa could take a "clean" rib and fashion from it a vessel worthy of the Mother Earth's descent.
At present, the Mother Earth could shelter only the Pope and a handful of saintesses and nuns. The Gods, led by Ecstasy, had the natural upper hand. But if the Mother could truly descend into this world, everything would change. Not just Ecstasy—the Mother could drive every invading god back into the void.
The only price: the vessel. Once chosen, her youngest daughter, Lilith, would cease to exist when the Mother Earth descended.
And since Lilith was indeed born, it was obvious that Teresa had agreed back then.
Six years ago, when the Pope declared the time had come, Teresa lost her nerve. At the final moment, she backed down.
But now, even though she still doesn't want to go through with it, she's being forced to.
...
Meanwhile, back at the Grand Temple, the Pope stepped into the central hall.
She stood before the statue that no longer resembled the nurturing Mother Earth, but radiated only an abyssal allure—the twisted image of Ecstasy made flesh.
She undid the heavy cloak that covered her. The thick hood and layers slipped to the ground, revealing a body as flawless and radiant as a busty milf, overflowing with the same dangerous charm as the statue towering above her.
"In accordance with your will," she whispered, kneeling. "Through the chosen vessel, I've sent the final summons to the Mother. This time, nothing will stand in the way of your descent…"
Whether it was the friction of her journey from the sanctuary, or simply her own feverish anticipation of the divine arrival, a blush rose over her pale skin as she pressed her forehead to the floor.
"Glory to the Lord of Ecstasy!"
Her cry was echoed by the chorus behind her: six bishops, sixty-six deacons, and six hundred sixty-six nuns. They shed their restraints as one, their voices weaving together in a hymn of worship to the Lord of Ecstasy.
High above the Mother's statue—now remade entirely in Ecstasy's image—someone appeared to be watching the sea of white flesh below.
No one else could see him. He only looked amused, as if enjoying the spectacle and all the jiggling bodies beneath.
But in that moment, he resolved to aid the descending presence. He had just realized the one who sought to arrive was none other than that bastard, Ecstasy himself.
And whoever dared to block the Lord of Ecstasy's descent—Veyron, more than anyone, would never allow it
.
.
.