Chapter 1173
The Mother of Amber
The Father of the Forbidden
Eivass smiled thoughtfully, his smile filled with a profound meaning. “No wonder… the Lord of Good is hereditary, yet none of the Lord of Good’s children can wield this power to summon water.
“And no wonder killing a Lord of Good in the desert is a forbidden act—with this method of inheritance, if a Lord of Good is killed, the remaining Lords of Good will only dwindle.
“It requires the head of the previous generation to obtain this power and engrave this skill, correct? That’s why you’re unwilling to teach me this knowledge; it’s not about teaching me the skill to summon water… but a tradition that demands a life as its price.”
“…My lord, my lord… I beg you! Please forgive me…”
Afshien’s voice was rough and hoarse, a pain like being naked and struggling on sharp stones. “I am willing to help you snatch the contract emblems of other Lords of Good, I beg you—save me, save me!”
“So that’s how it is…”
Eivass murmured softly, reaching out to touch the patterns on Afshien’s forehead.
It was a mark that looked like a sunstone—a regular octagon, with eight sharp isosceles triangles pointing in all directions. Like the markings on a watch, the triangles in the four cardinal directions were larger.
“—You became the Lord of Good… with this?”
With a mere touch, the emblem suddenly brightened.
Eivass immediately felt a burning sensation—it was Afshien’s scorching skin. Like an inflamed limb, the skin around the sun patterns on his forehead rapidly turned red, and then dark red. It felt swollen and hot with the slightest touch. The originally black emblem, however, turned a glowing white.
“No, no… Wh-why… My lord, my lord! Your Majesty the Pope, I beg you!”
Afshien didn’t understand why this change was happening. He trembled, terrified to his core—he clearly knew the fate that awaited him if he lost his identity as the Lord of Good.
He screamed and wailed intensely, emitting shrill cries like a dog whose paw had been stepped on. “I am willing to offer you everything! I am willing… I am willing to become your slave! My lord, Your Majesty! I will do anything for you, I can conquer any city, and I can make you the Lord of Good, just, please—”
Seeing this, Eivass laughed gleefully. It was like witnessing a magnificent comedy performance.
“So you do have things you fear.”
Eivass said with a smile, “Since you’re so afraid, it means… it’s less loyal than I thought.
“Let me think…”
He pondered, gently touching the glowing, hot emblem. “Abyss Heavenly Envoy, can you hear me?”
The next moment, Eivass faintly heard a sound of something shattering.
Like crushing an egg with one’s hand, a crisp *crack* echoed.
And before Eivass’s eyes, a long-unseen term suddenly appeared—
【Clear Vessel LV1 (Blue): You consumed the Amber Egg and your soul was expanded.】
As if the signal was poor, it began to shake violently, becoming blurry and indistinct.
“This is…”
Eivass was momentarily dazed, then suddenly realized: that was the Path Trait he had received when he obtained the unusable profession of “King of the Wild Hunt.”
He still remembered the three options at the time—
【Earth Affinity LV1 (Blue): You approached the Amber Egg and comprehended a sliver of Earth’s essence.】
【Earth Vessel LV1 (Blue): You contacted the Amber Egg and your soul was expanded.】
【Clear Vessel LV1 (Blue): You consumed the Amber Egg and your soul was expanded.】
Any of them were related to the Amber Egg.
Because at that time, Eivass had exchanged a brief glance with Amber.
Although his memory was as vague as a phantom, he had, as if from frozen time, seen a giant eye spinning like a golden wheel in the distance.
It was like an eye, like a door, like an egg.
Like amber.
Like light.
Like tears.
And like love.
Even though Eivass’s memory did not retain any clear images or memories of Amber, that complex emotion and impression still lingered in his heart.
He had originally thought it was just a description of a Path Trait.
But Eivass now realized… he was wrong.
At this very moment, the Path Trait from back then, 【Clear Vessel】, suddenly distorted—
【Mother of Amber (Gold): Amber hatched from an egg, born by breaking through the belly.】
There were no explanations, no attributes. The blue Path Trait had suddenly twisted into gold.
Seeing this line of text, Eivass suddenly recalled the knowledge recorded in the stone tablet scriptures unearthed from the Hrasal Secret Treasury.
The *Sea Burial Scripture* had recorded a forbidden story about a snake and a bird: the snake swallowed the bird’s egg, and the bird hatched from the egg, fell in love with the snake, and then killed the snake.
Eivass also remembered… Amber’s true form was a winged maiden slumbering in an amber coffin.
If that bird was Amber… then was the snake the Ring Heavenly Envoy?
…No, at that time, it should have still been Samsara Heavenly Envoy Ai Shiping.
Was Amber the child born of Ai Shiping? Or perhaps it wasn’t a birth in the traditional sense; it could also describe Amber’s birth or growth… but Amber’s love for Ai Shiping was almost certain. And her eventually tearing him apart was also certain.
The *Sea Burial Scripture* was a forbidden technique for transforming a lover’s corpse into a sea monster, and it also told the hidden story of the birth of the first sea monster—the Abyss Heavenly Envoy.
“The Abyss Heavenly Envoy… was transformed from the corpse of the first Samsara Heavenly Envoy?”
With this realization, Eivass suddenly understood… why this mark reacted so intensely to him.
Judging by Afshien’s reaction, it was clear that an ordinary person would not experience such a change upon touching the mark.
“I need the name of the Lord of Good, Afshien,”
Eivass said softly. “Without the name of the Lord of Good, how can people believe I am the Savior? Who can be sure that the one who has come this time is truly the Savior?”
As Eivass spoke, his fingertips emitted an increasingly intense glow.
Accompanied by a shrill scream—as if his skin was being peeled off—the rune emblem on Afshien’s head detached itself and crawled upwards along Eivass’s right hand.
It did not climb onto Eivass’s forehead, but settled on the back of his right hand, turning into a black tattoo of a sun pattern.
“—Sacrifice yourself.”
In a daze, strange knowledge flooded Eivass’s mind.
It was knowledge about how to maintain water sources through sacrifice:
Four hundred portions of blood could sustain water for eight hundred people for a year; offering their bones and flesh could summon enough water for eight thousand people for a year; if they experienced pain or joy, the amount of water would double; if they danced or sang, the amount of water would double again.
It was also possible to make a person a vessel for forbidden knowledge, to listen to the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s unspeakable whispers… burning the opponent’s sanity in exchange for an inexhaustible water source.
Besides this, there were other forbidden acts—
Killing parents and children, violating the Path of Love; creating ugly and abstract artworks, violating the Path of Beauty…
A voice echoed in his heart, it was the initial contract signed between the Abyss Heavenly Envoy and the Lords of Good.
【—Very well, then use your blood to exchange for water, for impossible hope, for unredeemable sins. It is like burying seeds in saline-alkali land, using wildfire to burn thorns. This is a necessary sacrifice, and this is also… an unnecessary sacrifice.】
【This is, the death in advance… the Necessary Evil.】
Eivass’s pupils suddenly contracted.
He heard it clearly.
It was…
A voice, cold and detached.
—A voice that sounded almost exactly like his own.
(End of Chapter)
