Chapter 81: Is That Real History?
[Blasphemer]
[Rarity: Purple (Upgradable)]
[Title Holder: Shaya Egut]
[You once blasphemed against a resurging Ancient God]
[Title Attribute 1: When equipped, you and your familiars deal 5% to 50% additional damage to hostile units based on the amount of divinity contained within them.]
[Title Attribute 2: When equipped, you will be more easily targeted by hostility and hatred from Mythical Creatures, Fanatics, etc.]
[Remark: Not only those who kill Gods are called God Slayers; killing incarnations also counts… It’s like how Dragon Slayers don’t necessarily have to defeat Pureblood Dragons; perhaps they only killed a Big Lizard with a trace of dragon blood.]
…
[Historical Legend Status—The Forgotten Man]
[Owner: Shaya Egut]
[Territory: Ancient Azure Court / Western Continent]
[In the vast river of time, the people of the entire Western Continent have forgotten the past buried in the dust, and they have forgotten that person.
However, if it weren’t for his existence.
Perhaps the fate of that maiden, that duchy, and even the entire human civilization of the Western Continent, would have taken a completely opposite trajectory, and the endings of myriad creatures would have been drastically altered.
Historical Legend Status—This is an honor bestowed upon heroes who once stood at the turning point of human history.]
…
Shaya fell silent as he looked at the two information screens that appeared in his mind.
The title “Blasphemer” was easy to understand.
Simply put, after equipping this title, it would add a “divinity special attack” buff to himself and his familiars, along with a taunting effect.
Simple and crude, but very practical.
Normally, he couldn’t wear this title, or he might be arrested by a patrolling Holy Knight Order one day and taken to the Inquisition’s tribunal.
However, at critical moments, when encountering cultists or incarnations of evil gods, this title would be useful.
A maximum of 50% special attack, it couldn’t be more satisfying.
But—
What truly made Shaya silent was the Historical Legend Status that followed.
“An honor bestowed upon heroes who once stood at the turning point of human history.”
“System, System.”
“What exactly are you trying to imply?”
…
“This must be it, truly the most luxurious hotel in the entire Black Lily District.”
The carriage stopped, and the coachman driving it let out a heartfelt sigh.
Aerora handed a black mask to Shaya, while she put on another cat-eared mask.
Shaya took the mask and put it on.
The carriage stopped outside a luxurious building, and waiters in white gloves stepped forward, respectfully opening the carriage door.
Aerora blinked, took Shaya’s hand, and stepped off the carriage. An umbrella was quickly held over them to shield them from the rain.
“Your attire is just like the latest illustrated novel published by the Royal Publishing House.”
Seeing Shaya and Aerora, dressed in black trench coats and wearing masks, the waiter couldn’t help but offer his sincere praise.
“Oh, what illustrated novel?”
Shaya closed the system screen in his mind and asked.
“The ‘Royal Phantom Thieves'”
“Your attire is exactly like that of the male and female protagonists.”
“What a lovely couple of phantom thieves.”
“What a coincidence.”
Shaya nodded.
A while ago, to fund the final scene of the Azure Court Duchy’s Historical Echo, he had borrowed a lot of works from his previous life using his greatly increased mental power, and they should have just been published.
He didn’t expect to run into fans again.
Shaya noticed that as Aerora heard his conversation with the waiter, her steps clearly became a little lighter.
“If you’re good at talking, you should say more.”
“Really? Then I’ll say a bit more,” the waiter said with a little surprise. “However, if I may say, the male protagonist in it is still too boring.”
“With so many charming and lovely women around him, he chose to focus only on the childhood sweetheart heroine, and I think that male protagonist should have taken them all, reaching a harem ending with nine consorts.”
Aerora’s previously light steps immediately turned into a hidden force that tightened around Shaya’s hand.
“Never mind, if you can’t speak well, you should say less.”
…
The Dark Night Garden.
This place was publicly known as a luxurious hotel, famous throughout the Black Lily District, and even the entire Imperial Capital.
However, in the shadows, this was one of the strongholds of the king of the entire Western Continent’s underworld—the Shadow Council—in the Imperial Capital.
Innumerable extraordinary beings entered and exited this place every day, and information worth hundreds of thousands of Rhine gold coins was traded here.
But, at this very moment, the person in charge of the Shadow Council’s reception for its highest-level clients was freaking out.
Because, right beside him, he had been watching these two highest-level Council guests have a grand meal for over two hours at the table in front of him.
Although the Dark Night Garden was indeed a restaurant on the surface—
In reality, the high-level clients who came here were in a hurry to conduct information transactions, or at the very least, to issue secret commissions. Their every word and action carried the demeanor of secret agent rendezvous.
Who would actually eat here?
And for two full hours, ordering the rarest and most expensive dishes, to the point that the ingredients in the kitchen were running low.
“Esteemed guest, do you think we can proceed to the main…”
The Shadow Council representative was sweating profusely, but as he spoke, Shaya interrupted him: “Don’t rush, can’t you see we’re still eating?”
“By the way, I remember you provide free meals to high-level clients, right?”
“That’s indeed the case, but…”
The representative’s words trailed off halfway.
His face showed surprise, then he nodded respectfully and turned to leave.
…
Beside Shaya, Aerora, who had been elegant but was now devouring food at a lightning speed, suddenly stiffened.
The next moment, silver light was about to erupt from her eyes along with a sharp aura, but Shaya quickly held her back.
Shaya picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth.
Then, he looked at the faint shadow cast by the table and chairs under the bright beam of the magic spotlight in front of him.
The shadow spread and differentiated, gradually weaving into an illusory human form.
Soon, the hazy silhouette woven from shadows became clearer.
It was a maiden wearing a dark, classical long dress. Between her ink-black hair, two faintly visible protrusions could be seen. Her clothing was layered but not cumbersome, inlaid with specks of starlight, like the night sky.
Her body was somewhat illusory, showing signs of rippling outward. Her face seemed veiled by layers of thin gauze, hazy yet exceptionally beautiful.
Shaya looked deeply at the black-skirted maiden in front of him, whose face seemed shrouded in the night and difficult to discern.
“You are stronger than the peak Five Rings representative from earlier, and your status is higher.”
“Moreover, this should not be your true form, only an incarnation woven from shadows… Your main body is not in the Imperial Capital, and perhaps not even within the Empire.”
“A peak Sixth Ring, Titled individual, and a high-ranking member of the Shadow Council who has used high-tier extraordinary items…”
“Are you, the ‘Queen of the Night’?”
A tinkling laugh, like silver bells, came from the maiden in the black dress across the table.
“These are all intel from the ‘Saint’s Late Bell’ to ‘Death God Angel’ level.”
“If you want me to answer these questions…”
“Your remaining credit with the Council will be completely depleted.”
“Then forget it.”
Shaya shook his head and pushed the clean plate and cutlery aside.
“Ah, you’re not eating anymore?”
The black-skirted maiden seemed a little regretful. She propped her chin with both hands and gazed at Shaya with eyes hidden by the night.
Her gaze held the clarity unique to a maiden, yet it seemed to have crossed the ages of antiquity.
It carried scrutiny…
And also, a trace of unnoticed nostalgia.
“Actually, it doesn’t matter how long you eat. If the kitchen runs out of ingredients, I can have headquarters transport them through a secret channel.”
Secret channel—
Did she mean the teleportation array within the Shadow Council?
Shaya held Aerora’s hand, feeling her being stimulated by her intuition, and letting it gradually calm down with the comfort of skin-to-skin contact with the person closest to him.
He shook his head: “Forget it, we can’t eat with you here.”
“That’s such a shame, I wanted to see how the great hero who saved the Imperial Capital eats when he’s focused…”
The black-skirted maiden sighed with some regret.
“Then, let’s begin the transaction.”
Shaya nodded, and then slowly spoke.
“First, I want to know all the contact between the Ash Cult and the Twilight Cult in the last few hundred years, a rough timeline will suffice.”
“Agreed.”
The black-skirted maiden continued to prop her chin and gaze at Shaya, while with her other hand, she waved lightly in the air: “‘Saint’s Late Bell’ level, worth fifteen hundred Rhine gold coins.”
“After deduction, you have two thousand Rhine gold coins remaining credit with the Shadow Council.”
The next moment, in the thin veil of night, a plain book, as if drawn with a pencil on white paper, quietly appeared.
Then, it landed before Shaya.
It was as if it had suddenly appeared from one layer to another.
Shaya’s expression remained unchanged as he picked up the book and began to flip through it.
The first thing that appeared in the book was the Ash Cult’s riot at Saint Roland Academy a few months ago.
However, because Shaya had requested a “rough timeline,” specific key information was mosaiced, only stating that the conspiracy of the Ash Cult was thwarted by the joint efforts of the teachers and students of Saint Roland Academy and the military.
Shaya’s gaze swept across the book, turning the pages backward along the timeline.
Then, his gaze settled on a certain page.
“Holy Calendar year 350.”
“The Twilight Cult dispatched several patriarchs to disrupt an incineration ritual of the Ash Cult, killing more than half of the thousands of cultists, and directly corrupting the rest with pollutants.”
“In the following decades, clashes between the two cults erupted multiple times. Various forces in the Lost Domain, including other cults, intervened to mediate, but to no avail.”
“The Twilight Cult claimed that the Ash side had actively torn up the tacit agreement between cults and disrupted the Twilight’s revival plan, but the Ash Cult always maintained that they had not interfered and refused to admit their mistakes.”
“The conflict between the two sides thus intensified and escalated over time, becoming irreconcilable to this day.”
“This piece of information contains logical inconsistencies and requires further verification.”
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