“What was that just now...?”
As the images in his mind receded like the tide, Greg's consciousness returned to reality.
He blinked, feeling as if his mind had just broken through the surface from the deep sea, leaving him with a dazed yet vivid sense of contrast.
The scene before him remained that secluded corner, and the sounds of fighting in the distance continued unabated. Wendy stood right in front of him, her cheeks flushed crimson as she looked at him with an anxious gaze.
“Um, Lord Bishop...”
Wendy's voice held a trace of cautious apprehension.
“You completely froze just now... Do you really dislike me doing something like that to you?”
Greg answered immediately, “How could I? Since it's you, Wendy, I don't dislike it at all. In fact, I'm actually quite happy.”
His tone sounded lighthearted, but deep down, a seed of worry was quietly sprouting.
Because everything that had just happened proved that Wendy's identity was far more complex than just being the Fifth Imperial Princess.
Originally, Greg had assumed the third-layer Boss had targeted Wendy simply to eliminate the greatest political obstacle to the Crown Prince's succession.
But now it seemed Wendy herself might be one of its targets for leaving the dungeon.
For an entity to compel the Boss of the Empire Dungeon to take such a risk to come to the surface, and to be an existence comparable to the Mother of Fragmentation, Greg could only think of one possibility.
Wendy might share some connection with the Mother of Clepsydras.
“Is that so?”
A look of heartfelt joy blossomed on Wendy's face, though she quickly reined it in and asked with concern:
“Then how do you feel now, Lord Bishop? Are there any changes in your body?”
Greg glanced at the notifications popping up on his system panel:
[Absorbed a massive amount of special mana]
[LV3 World-Devouring Black Flame has evolved into LV4 Seed of Eternal Darkness]
[LV3 Dark Abyss Armament has evolved into LV4 Armor of the Abyss]
Sure enough, just like when he swallowed the Mother of Fragmentation's severed finger, the power Wendy gave him had increased the proficiency of his two dark-attribute skills by a level.
He looked up at Wendy, his tone holding a touch of seriousness. “Yes. Thanks to you, I now have a way to handle this situation.”
Hearing this, Wendy finally breathed a sigh of relief, a reassuring smile gracing her face.
“To be able to help you, Lord Bishop... is truly wonderful.”
Greg nodded, then asked the question that had been lingering in his mind:
“By the way, Wendy, how did you know that... well, that method just now would boost my power?”
His words made Wendy's face, which had just returned to normal, instantly turn bright red again.
As an Imperial Princess, she had naturally never had any intimate contact with the opposite sex growing up. That had been her first kiss.
At the thought of her first kiss being so bold and proactive, an indescribable sense of shame washed over her, making her wish she could sink into the ground.
But to answer Greg's question, she forced herself to calm down and recounted everything about her déjà vu in detail.
Greg listened intently, then nodded. “So that's how it is... Thank you for sharing this with me.”
After listening to Wendy, Greg also noticed one thing: she didn't seem to be aware of her relationship with the Mother of Clepsydras herself.
To her, those moments of déjà vu felt more like a subconscious resonance rather than conscious knowledge.
At the same time, new doubts arose in Greg's mind.
The Mother of Fragmentation had given him power so that he would release her from that space in the future.
But what about the Mother of Clepsydras?
What was she after?
And... why do they always make me swallow such bizarre things?
Do they really take me for an alchemy furnace?
Just as Greg was silently grumbling to himself, anxious shouts echoed from the distance, faintly calling his name.
It was likely Victoria and the others noticing his absence and assuming he had been ambushed and captured by the steward.
This reminded him that now was not the time for idle thoughts; he had to deal with the matter at hand.
“Wendy, keep hiding here and don't come out. Once I've resolved the trouble outside, I'll come back for you.”
With that, Greg turned and stepped out of the secluded corner.
When he stepped outside, the sky had completely darkened, with only a full moon hanging high in the heavens.
This meant his Divine Protection, Reign of Night, had already taken effect.
Feeling his mana double within him, he raised his right hand. The dark mana inside his body surged like a tide, condensing on his skin into a complete set of pitch-black armor.
This was the LV4 Armor of the Abyss.
The armor was a deep ink-black throughout, its surface shimmering with an abyss-like luster, as if it could swallow any light that fell upon it.
Two slightly upturned spikes protruded from the pauldrons, and the breastplate was engraved with intricate, ancient dark patterns.
The helmet covered most of his face, leaving only a pair of burning amber eyes visible.
The armor swallowed the laws of physics acting upon Greg's body, causing him to gradually lift off the ground.
Greg reached out and slotted the high-grade Diffusion Gem and high-grade Split Gem dropped by the two dungeon Bosses into his belt-shaped magic conduit.
“I shall ignite the da... wait, no, ignite the night!”
Taking a deep breath, he began to fully channel his other newly upgraded skill—Seed of Eternal Darkness.
With him as the epicenter, an invisible ripple began to expand in all directions.
The light sources within the imperial capital began to dim at a visible rate.
At first, people only noticed the lights weakening, shrinking, and eventually going out, as if they were being sucked away by something.
Soon, they realized that not a single ray of external light could penetrate the imperial capital. Only the burning houses cast flickering, chaotic shadows across the streets.
Some were terrified, while others grew fanatical. Only when they looked up did they realize that the full moon in the sky had also changed without them noticing.
The originally silver-white moonlight had been tainted by a deep blackish-red. It was as if a drop of dark ink had fallen into clear water, rapidly spreading until the bright moon was transformed into a burning black sun.
A dark red halo ringed the edge of the black sun like an open eye, gazing down greedily upon the earth.
Before that black sun, a figure clad in pitch-black armor hovered in midair, proclaiming his sovereignty over the dark sun.
This was the final trump card Greg could only use once after emptying his entire inventory—〈Obsidian Cinders〉.
In the distant corner, Wendy poked her head out of her hiding place, looking up at the dark figure in the sky.
Her eyes held an indescribable mix of infatuation and awe, for the scene before her perfectly aligned with the vision she had once seen in her dreams.
Rate on N.U.
