During the last moments of the fragments of the White Princess' fatal history, whilst Lugh momentarily resonated with the first child... to the twelfth child living in the Little Twelve Bedrooms, witnessing and feeling every emotion they had prior to their demise, time gradually slowed down to complete stillness, and the vivid scenery of tragedy lost its color, turning every detail either pleasing or repulsive to the eye black and white.
"You have noticed, have you not?" Princess Yuridika, in this world of stillness, spoke with utter confidence. Her eyes were fixated on Lugh's reflection shown in the very glass used by the last child to drink a painless concoction.
Lugh, after his consciousness was expelled from the dead kid, and experienced for the second time being assimilated into an object rather than a living being, reluctantly responded to the White Princess, "Something's planted in the children's souls... But I couldn't pinpoint the origin or the entity's exact identity behind it."
Similar to Earth's long and bloody religious history, from the rise and fall of religions throughout the world, the [Hero's Apocalypse] was its own cesspool of divinity and heresy.
The Era of Black and White Divinity, known as the Divinity Era, could be said to be filled with years of unending holy wars between the good and evil.
Orthodox versus Unorthodox.
Good alignment against Evil alignment.
Neutrality in the middle of light and darkness.
Considering these events were from tens of thousands of years ago, and that it was not expounded in the original story, Lugh surmised that the cults the True Hero, Alana Sol Astraea, had apprehended later in the story were worshipping true deities that existed from the distant past.
"It's the deity known as the Eye That Hunts."
"...?"
Lugh was not aware of the extent of Princess Yuridika's wisdom. Still, as an Imperial Princess of the once known Britanoia Empire, he was at least certain that she was comprehensively educated. Moreover, her unmoved stance against the Church of Harvest and Prosperity proved that she was a woman of unwavering conviction.
This version of Yuridika, who had already experienced and lived the fall of the empire, leaned on the wall, faced Lugh's reflection from the glass just above the child's resting head on the same table, and continued with her rhetoric, "You could say that it's the nemesis of the Unseen God."
She continued with her story and presumptions.
"Based on the verified reports during and after the war against the Ishmael Empire, the cultists serving that specific deity also perished at the hands of the royal knights as collateral. Then in that secluded village, they found and rescued these children in rusted cages."
"..."
"At first, knowing that they were captives of the cultists for an unknown amount of time, the children's condition was checked, but they were not thorough with the inspection as the church avoided genuinely catering to anyone from the neighboring empire..."
It was different in this era.
The Orthodox Churches were mainstream, but not particularly allies. In any mishap or threat to their own interests, they could go against each other's throats without an ounce of hesitation.
In addition, every known church in this era was not initially affiliated with the estate. Hence the marriage discussions.
In other words, neither empires nor kingdoms were governed by any orthodox religion unless it was put into the table.
"But how did you know the children had the seeds of corruption in their souls? What makes you so sure it's the deity known as the Eye That Hunts?" Lugh wondered as he intently gazed at her amethyst eyes.
Princess Yuridika crossed her arms, looked at him, and said, "Did you know why I was truly opposed to the unification of the empire and the Church of Harvest and Prosperity?"
Based on what Lugh had seen so far...
It was at that moment that he realized that there was no concrete answer to her obstinacy.
Was it because she thought it was unnecessary to the prosperity of the empire for the next twenty years?
Or that the church was taking advantage of the emperor's naivety regarding the promised eternal life?
"Besides their lunacy, I could not allow them to strip the free will of people of the empire to worship any deity they want... Yes, even if they lean on unorthodox deities far from the public eye. After all, wouldn't it simply be the harmony of the world?"
If the Church of Harvest and Prosperity officially unified with the Britanoia Empire, it would be inevitable for them to label many worshippers of different deities as filthy, and that label was tantamount to seeing them as nothing but blasphemers who deserved to be persecuted.
Hearing her side, Lugh replied, "I guess we are both hypocrites, aren't we?"
Princess Yuridika's philosophy was that human nature was both good and evil, and that a person did not have the right to force others to lean on their perspective... Even if it was deemed unorthodox.
However, if this evilness directly affected or disrupted the order, then it should not be allowed to exist.
Even then, uprooting them from the darkness was an everlasting conflict and thorn of every buried and existing kingdom since the beginning of human history.
"But you still didn't answer my other question..."
Princess Yuridika smirked at Lugh's query, "I'm a worshiper of the Moon Goddess. You know, the empire was divided into five major regions—one of them was the Lunar Region, where this castle of mine was founded."
"..."
"The Moon Goddess specializes in the power of illuminating the world's secrets and divination. In the same way, though I am not considered an apostle of divinity, I am favored by 'Her' and was granted two authorities..."
"What authorities?" Lugh asked, surprised mixed in his tone. After all, authority was never simple, probably not at this point in time, and especially not in the present world.
But to have two of them?
What kind of madness...
Princess Yuridika smiled mischievously.
"Authority of Eternal Secrets... and Authority of Stillness."
Proceeding to explain each one, Lugh couldn't help but feel conflicted.
His expression was the personification of 'What the fuck did I just hear?'
"What do you mean you are in a suspended state?" He asked.
"It's exactly what I mean—after learning a spell to completely hide my soul from the eyes of the Apostle of the Unseen, though only in this domain, I froze my own time to stillness."
'Is she for real...?'
The truth agreed upon by the avid readers of the [Hero's Apocalypse]—that the story's power structure was damned to have many overpower entities or characters—was again held true.
"But why's the Apostle of the Unseen praying in front of your throne?" Lugh asked.
"It's to conjure my soul, believing I had not completely vanished... and to take these away from me."
It was at that moment that Lugh's eye widened.
Extending her hand to the void, Princess Yuridika suddenly pulled twelve objects, all of which resembled a sleeping eye.
"Is that...?!"
"Yes. It's the seeds of the Eye That Hunts. Do you think a mere concoction can kill what's tainting the children's souls? It's only a means to set these to dormancy... Sadly, at the expense of the children's... or the vessels' innocent lives."
She then continued to explain.
"The Apostle of the Unseen was not exactly good nor pure evil... but he must not absolutely get his hands on these—it would trigger a war between the Unseen God and the Eye That Hunts... Or should I say, the balance would be broken and that the Unseen God would finally be let loose?"
Lugh subconsciously gulped.
An epiphany settled in... that the possible reason why the Unseen God... or the Apostle of the Unseen had little to no role in the original story was due to the 'Eye That Hunts' keeping him in check.
If these dormant seeds were eradicated, Lugh could not rule out that the Unseen God would not interfere in the outside world. After all, spending thousands of years of praying to call upon the White Princess' existence was an insane resolve... that it would be foolish to dismiss it as nothing since it was not a part of the original story.
'Damn it. Fucking author, seriously.' Lugh inwardly grimaced; he was bearing the weight of the unknowns or potentially unexplored elements in the original texts that exist in this now real world.
"He's an enemy... And I learned that the Unseen God's Apostle would lose his every power if I acknowledged his true identity. However, for some reason, even knowing his name before he turned to become an apostle, it seems..."
Before Princess Yuridika could continue, Lugh interjected, "Wait a minute. Do you mean his name... during the time he was still human? Before the Unseen God reached out to him?"
"Yes... The moment he lost his power, I could finally escape this suspended world and manifest to deal with him." Princess Yuridika said. Her expression was confused in Lugh's voice filled with sudden assurance.
"If his human name didn't work, how about the name given to him by the Unseen God?"
"...?"
*
Present.
Staggering to even stand up, the powerless Apostle of the Unseen, only known as "Obscurach the Thirteenth," glared intensely at Princess Yuridika, who transcended thousands of years to appear in this world.
"You...! You heretic!" He screamed, as though he was completely certain that Princess Yuridika harbored the twelve seeds of corruption he was looking for.
"That's an amusing accusation. Did you know that the Eye That Hunts is a neutral god?"
"Wh-what...? Cough!" Spitting a mouthful of blood, as his vision was fading into oblivion, the Unseen God's Apostle's eyes were mixed with bewilderment, especially the fact that a human of this era was aware of his name he embraced!
"There's no need to answer a man who will die. After all, you knew too, didn't you? The moment the identity given to you by the Unseen God is known... You will be abandoned." Princess Yuridika looked at him without a hint of remorse.
Her gaze then landed on Lugh, who was standing silently some distance away. She then said, "Do your thing."
I let out a sigh—it was both from relief and potential problems.
Nonetheless, I moved forward, approached the dying apostle, and extended my hand.
"Let me take something as your parting gift for what I've been through."
[Activating the Talent: Plunder]
[Conditions for Permanent Plundering have been fulfilled!]
It was at that moment that a magical rune manifested in the air, overlapping with the apostle's entire body, who looked at me with resignation.
Amidst this, I thought with anticipation,
'Finally, a talent truly worth plundering!'