Chapter 1117: 104. Request

“You said you saw the Goddess of Night?”

Muen’s body tensed instinctively, and he held his breath in concentration.

He could not help being nervous.

Whether it was Theodore’s prayer last night or that strange murmur just now, everything had happened within the scope of “hearing” and “communication.”

For gods, whether righteous or evil, this was the most conventional and also the most common form of contact.

But “seeing” was different.

Gods must not be looked upon directly.

This was not only because of the lofty majesty of gods, but also because, for gods blocked outside the world barrier, whether “hearing” or “communication,” all of it required a certain medium.

But “seeing” was different.

When you gazed upon a god, the god was also gazing upon you.

“Relax. I wasn’t turned into one of those evil believers by the Goddess. That much should be obvious from my appearance, right?”

Seeing that Muen’s expression was wrong, Theodore hurriedly waved his hand, indicating that he was perfectly normal.

“You’re certain?”

Muen narrowed his eyes and did not immediately lower his guard. The evil believers here were indeed grotesque in all kinds of ways, but from Muen’s experience, appearance alone could not determine whether a person had been polluted.

On the contrary, sometimes the exterior was precisely the thing that most easily affected a person’s judgment.

“It’s true. I really was not affected by the Goddess of Night’s power. As for the reason, that is exactly what I am about to explain.”

Theodore took a deep breath and said, word by word:

“I saw the Goddess of Night. I saw the culprit who nearly destroyed Annabawei, and because of that, I confirmed her current state...”

“She is very weak right now.”

Weak?

Muen froze for a moment, and ripples rose in his heart again.

A weakened god.

Weak enough that even looking directly at her would not cause a problem.

The fact that Theodore could see her directly meant she had a physical body, and that physical body existed inside the world barrier, somewhere within this Annabawei.

If he analyzed it that way...

That Goddess of Night was perhaps exactly as Muen had previously guessed...

She might not be some god at all, but merely some extremely powerful existence, one that seemed godlike to the people here.

“Keep going.”

“I cannot describe the Goddess of Night’s current state. It was within a field of fog—not fog like that Wall of Fog, but more ordinary, more common fog. The fog shrouded that valley. Without guidance, it would have been almost impossible to find that place.”

“The Goddess of Night was in the very center of the fog, seated upon her divine throne. Her body was pierced through by a strange withered branch, and blood flowed from her, dyeing the valley floor red.”

Theodore gestured with his hands, very much wanting to make the image he described more concrete, but as he continued, even he no longer knew how to describe that sight. In the end, only a long sigh remained.

“I once saw that strange withered branch in an ancient text. It was precisely the sacred artifact used by Lord Alan, the First Pioneer. In other words, the Goddess of Night has maintained that state for more than four hundred full years.”

“...That really is quite the serious wound.”

Muen rubbed his chin. To be able to bleed for four hundred years... People always said women were made of water, but could that Goddess of Night be... made of blood?

If she were a pig demon in human form, just selling blood stew alone would probably be enough for him to make a fortune...

Ahem. Hell joke.

“In short, the moment I first saw the Goddess of Night, I confirmed that her condition was extremely poor. Four hundred years had passed, yet there was not the slightest sign of her injuries recovering. Instead, she herself had grown even weaker.

“And more importantly, her problem was not only the wound to her body, but also to her mind...

“A split.”

Theodore softly uttered that word, a word that seemed as if it could only be used to describe an abnormal person.

“The Goddess of Night’s mind has completely split. She has split into two versions of herself, two completely different selves. One is incomparably insane, speaking in incoherent fragments, yet still constantly urging the evil believers to kill me. The other is gentle and kind, bringing warmth to people like a mother, and she protected me when I accidentally intruded there.”

“A split mind... so that really is it?”

Muen had previously suspected that the miserable state of this place came from the Goddess’s deeply worrying mental condition. Now, it seemed that was indeed the case.

This was also within reason. If the Goddess of Night had indeed suffered some kind of Pollution, then that Pollution would certainly not affect only her physical body. Quite the opposite. For certain powerful existences, the mind was precisely where flaws were easier to expose, giving Pollution an opening to take advantage of.

After playing around with a certain Little Ai for so long, Muen could be considered fairly experienced in this regard.

“So, you were able to escape precisely under the protection of that kind and gentle Goddess personality?”

“That’s right.”

“And from that point on, you established contact with that Goddess?”

“Wha...”

Theodore froze, then looked at Muen in absolute shock. He had never said anything about that...

“I know more than you imagine.” Muen smiled meaningfully.

“...Yes. From that point on, I established contact with the Goddess. But only with the Goddess’s normal, kind personality. As for that insane, evil Goddess, I was unwilling—and did not dare—to touch her.”

“Then how do you distinguish which one is kind and which one is evil?” Muen asked again. “Or rather, when you contact her remotely afterward, how do you distinguish them?”

“It is very simple. Look at the sky.”

“You mean... daylight and night?”

“After I left the Goddess, I immediately organized a considerable number of Pioneers to seal off and observe that place. In the end, we discovered a pattern—”

Theodore paused for a moment, then said solemnly:

“The Goddess of Night during daylight is gentle and kind. Even if we deliberately approach her, she does nothing. Instead, she tacitly permits us to observe her. But once night arrives, that insane Goddess personality takes the upper hand. She immediately summons evil believers and launches attacks against us.

“Daylight and night symbolize the Goddess’s two completely different mental states!”

“But I remember the last time you contacted the Goddess of Night was at night,” Muen said warily. “According to what you’re saying, the one you communicated with at that time should have been the evil Goddess who symbolizes night.”

“You even know that? ...Mr. Campbell, you wouldn’t happen to have been peeping, would you?” Theodore finally sensed that something was wrong.

“Ahem. That isn’t important. What matters is my question.” Muen hurriedly pulled the topic back on track.

“Strictly speaking, that was not night at the time, but... the boundary between day and night,” Theodore said.

“The boundary?”

“That’s right. From Annabawei’s current state, Mr. Campbell should be able to guess some of it, correct? Daylight is far less long-lasting than night. The same is true for the Goddess’s current state. The kind Goddess who symbolizes daylight is gradually being devoured by the evil Goddess who symbolizes night, to the point that even her power is gradually shrinking. Therefore, she has no choice but to use the boundary between daylight and night, borrowing the power of her own night period, and only then can she barely communicate with me.”

At this point, Theodore’s gaze dimmed somewhat again.

Because if they extrapolated in this direction, then the kind Goddess who symbolized daylight was precisely the Goddess of Night who had protected them four hundred years ago.

And now, even the god who once protected them was about to be gradually devoured by the darkness. How could he not feel sorrow and grief?

“What exactly did you communicate about?” Muen finally asked that incomparably important question.

Whether kind or evil, in Muen’s view, this sort of communication itself was incomparably dangerous.

After all, for the Goddess, her kind and normal self and her evil and insane self were one entity.

He believed Theodore himself understood that very well, too.

Theodore was a smart man.

“The content of our communications was not much. The time the Goddess can use is too short. With the slightest carelessness, I can even feel that terrifying madness gradually approaching... I have also been deliberately controlling the number of times, because this is very dangerous.”

“As for the content...”

Theodore took a deep breath. Even for him, saying what came next required an immense amount of mental preparation.

Fortunately, compared to the thing he was about to do, words spoken aloud did not count as an impassable obstacle.

“The Goddess said she has always been protecting us.”

“This Annabawei was established precisely because of that.”

“But because of some reason, she went mad and wants to destroy us completely. Only a tiny bit of reason remains.”

“She has relied on that tiny bit of reason to hold on for more than four hundred full years, but very soon, she will no longer be able to keep holding on. The insane personality is gradually devouring her.”

“So, under these circumstances, again and again, she has repeated the same request to me.”

“She said, kill her.”