## Chapter 1113: Lovers Aren’t Loved
Upon hearing that Eivass intended to seek out Hecate, Haibasha voluntarily offered to accompany him.
“You know Hecate?”
On the road, Eivass was somewhat surprised to hear Haibasha recount her past. “But…”
…But Eivass still remembered the appearance of Cardinal Hecate.
She wore a laurel wreath on her head and had beautiful, long, wavy, chestnut-brown hair. By human reckoning, she appeared to be at most around thirty years old. Moreover, her power wasn’t particularly strong, even considered among the weaker cardinals.
Haibasha, on the other hand, was an ancient existence who had existed at least two thousand years ago. She had been elevated to an Apostle no later than five hundred years ago… This meant that anyone she knew back then would be at least fifteen hundred years old. Even for an Elf, such a span of time was incredibly long.
Could it be that Hecate had obtained the secret to immortality?
…Just like the Child of the Moon, obtaining the ability of agelessness from Hengwo?
“Don’t just speak of me… Both Hermes and Hercules knew her.”
Haibasha glanced nostalgically at the greatsword floating behind Eivass. “Although… you might have forgotten now.”
Neither Haibasha nor Eivass had concealed Don Quixote’s true identity. Whether to accept this identity was a decision he himself should make, not something they should hide from him under the guise of “doing what’s best for him.”
Addressing Don Quixote, Haibasha softly said, “Among Hercules’s twelve great feats, one was to journey to the underworld and bring Cerberus back to the Material Realm. Just like… you brought Croxus back.”
“…Physically journeying to the Dream Realm?” Eivass exclaimed.
“That’s right. But he didn’t know the way, as there are no maps in the Dream Realm. That’s why he requested Hecate to open the door to the Shadow Realm for him… after all, Hecate and Scathach were acquaintances. She was already a half-step Apostle back then, and only refrained from ascending to the Dream Realm because she wished to become a Heavenly Envoy.”
Scathach—Eivass remembered that was the True Name of the Shadow Heavenly Envoy.
“Then Cardinal Hecate… must have lived for at least two thousand years?”
Isabel murmured to herself, “Is she that formidable…?”
“Perhaps even longer.”
Haibasha smiled and dropped a bombshell. “She was incredibly formidable. When Hengwo became a Moon Witch back then, she received witchcraft knowledge from Hecate. In a sense, Hecate could even be considered Hengwo’s half-teacher.
“Back then, she wasn’t a Priest, but a shaman of the Beast Path. Her embracing the Path of Devotion must have been much later… at least definitely after the establishment of the Hrasal Empire.
“I haven’t seen her myself in a very long time. But what you’ve described is undoubtedly the Hecate I knew. As for how she has lived so long… I don’t know either. However, I suspect it’s some kind of ability to revert to youth or trade power for lifespan. After all, she was quite strong back then… but from your description, it seems she can no longer touch the Sixth Tier.
As they spoke, they entered the Seventeenth Ring via the elevator.
The Seventeenth Ring—this was the witchcraft layer, overseen by Cardinal Hecate.
“Seventeen” represented the limit of curses. Regardless of whether it was seventeen people, seventeen days, seventeen years, or seventeen generations… the power of a curse surged like a tide, reaching its peak when the number hit the Sacred Number seventeen, and would begin to wane afterward.
All the knowledge in the Church regarding witchcraft, curses, spells, and herbs was preserved on this layer. The few Elf witches in the Church mostly resided here, and some Elf mages also preferred the atmosphere, thus choosing to live here.
From the outside, it appeared as a dark, lightless dense forest. One could smell the rich scent of the forest while walking along the path.
The residents here were extremely sparse. Eivass and his party saw not a single living person as they walked.
They proceeded along the cobblestone path laid out within the forest.
Upon reaching a crossroads, they saw Cardinal Hecate standing in the middle of the intersection.
At that moment, Eivass stopped in his tracks.
Although his memory wasn’t particularly good, he still remembered the scene of that day when the cardinals served as vessels for the Pillar Gods.
Before Hengwo possessed her, Cardinal Hecate had deep blue pupils, as beautiful as jewels and as profound as the starry sky. It was only after being possessed by Hengwo that the sapphires in her eyes turned into ruby-red, like pigeon’s blood.
But the current Cardinal Hecate…
One could see at a glance—her eyes were red.
Vivid as blood, bright as fire.
That was not Cardinal Hecate.
—It was Hengwo.
And the others… even Haibasha, hadn’t realized this.
“Madam Hecate…”
Haibasha looked at Hecate, her eyes widening in surprise. “You’ve… become even younger than before?”
Her impression of Hecate was that of a middle-aged woman in her forties.
“Hecate” simply smiled slightly, remaining silent.
Sherlock’s brow furrowed slightly, and he vaguely guessed something from this reaction. Isabel also looked at Hecate with suspicion, then glanced at the quiet Eivass, before obediently swallowing the greeting that was about to leave her lips.
“Hecate” then opened her arms slightly towards Eivass, making a gesture of embrace, and beckoned him over.
Eivass hesitated, took two steps forward, then looked back at Isabel before slowly continuing to advance.
At this moment, several Extraordinary individuals of the Path of Wisdom had already realized something—Eivass would never be so polite and respectful to a Cardinal.
Haibasha was the first to react, bowing respectfully to Hengwo. “Greetings, Hengwo.”
“…No need to be formal before me. Tia, we are friends.”
This was the first time Hengwo spoke, her voice clear and slow, clumsy yet gentle. It felt like a gentle teacher who had just learned a foreign language, speaking to a foreign child with a slightly imperfect, clear yet slow tone.
“Tia” was Haibasha’s nickname. This was enough to prove how close they were once.
But Eivass also clearly realized… Hengwo’s current state felt off.
—A reunion of old friends, yet he felt no ripple of emotion from Hengwo. She was neither happy nor cold.
That feeling… reminded Eivass of his class reunion years after graduation. At the reunion, everyone maintained fake smiles, striving to create a false sense of liveliness.
But in reality, Hengwo had completely forgotten the stories of her old “classmate” Haibasha. She might have even forgotten her name. Yet, for the sake of appearances, she still maintained a friendly smile… The smile on her face was as gentle yet fake.
Was this also the erosion of the Void?
…No, this was likely just a side effect of deliberate self-severance, Eivass thought.
After all, Pillar Gods were the purest and holiest. And any living being born in the Material Realm could not be so pure. To become a Pillar God meant losing one’s “humanity.”
Even Pillar Gods of the Path of Love were no exception.
—Even a Pillar God of the Path of Love might not retain the capacity to “love.”
(End of this chapter)
