"Someone wants to buy a ’Cataclysmic Interrer’ Beyonder characteristic from me?" Cohinem set down her teacup and repeated Ebner’s request with a smile.

This elven "Queen of Calamity" was wearing a simple yet elegant white dress with a modern touch. Every movement of hers carried a unique charm, her bearing graceful and composed. Just sitting there, she formed a beautiful painting together with the ordinary tables and chairs around her.

Ebner withdrew his gaze from "admiring the painting," nodded, and said, "Yes... I wonder what you would require in exchange?"

Cohinem smiled. "I do happen to have an extra ’Cataclysmic Interrer’ Beyonder characteristic, and I can make the exchange for your sake... but that will require you to pay a certain price."

"What price?" Ebner frowned as he asked.

If the matter was too troublesome, he didn’t intend to agree. After all, although "The Hanged Man" was a colleague in the Tarot Club, he was only a "colleague."

"I want to join the ’Psychology Alchemists’... I heard you mention that one of the council members of that organization, ’Gluttony,’ has already become your ’marionette.’ I’ll just take over his identity directly." Cohinem said with a radiant smile.

"The Psychology Alchemists?" Ebner was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected the "Queen of Calamity" to be interested in that organization. However, this wasn’t a troublesome request, so he agreed without hesitation.

Still, Ebner couldn’t help but ask, "Why do you want to join the ’Psychology Alchemists’?"

"You don’t really think my travels are just for observing the scenery of this era, do you?" Cohinem’s lips curled slightly, her voice faint and ethereal. "More importantly, it’s for studying the ’human heart’... and joining the ’Psychology Alchemists’ should be quite helpful for my research."

Hearing this, Ebner suddenly recalled that when Cohinem had escaped her predicament, she had promised Yalolan that she would abandon her identity as the "Elf Queen" and ultimately "revive" as the ancient dragon "Hydra" from the dream of the underwater elven town "Howling Town."

Hmm, although ’Hydra’ was once under her control, truly ’fusing’ with it probably isn’t as easy as Cohinem made it sound... no wonder she said she wouldn’t go to "Howling Town" anytime soon.

However, the problem Cohinem is facing seems somewhat similar to mine... and the birth of the ancient dragon ’Hydra’ clearly involved the handiwork of the ’God of Luck’...

Could it be that, like Yalolan—who reincarnated through a divided soul—this is also an experiment by the ’God of Luck’?

As if seeing through Ebner’s thoughts, Cohinem chuckled softly and said, "When ’Hydra’ was first created, ’Luck’ probably didn’t have that many ideas, but later things changed... so if I successfully fuse with ’Hydra,’ it might also be quite helpful to you."

Heh... judging by my understanding of myself, experiments laid out so openly are most likely misdirection or smokescreens. The true hidden move of the ’God of Luck’ is probably that state of His body that seems to have been cut out of ’space-time.’

That said, being able to observe a struggle for ’dominance’ firsthand is indeed beneficial for me.

Even if it’s a misdirection, it must still hold some value!

As his thoughts turned, Ebner stopped dwelling on Cohinem taking over the role of "Gluttony" and returned to the main topic, asking, "What do you plan to exchange the ’Cataclysmic Interrer’ Beyonder characteristic for?"

"I want a demigod-level item that can affect the mind and emotions... or rather, a ’Grade 1’ Sealed Artifact."

...

After having lunch with Cohinem, Ebner had just returned to his home in Backlund when he received a list of City of Silver’s Grade "1" Sealed Artifacts sent by "The Sun" through "The Fool."

Among them, Ebner only skimmed through items like the "Dawn Silver Sword" and the "Staff of Life," but the "Fallen Flute" listed at the end caught his attention:

"’Fallen Flute,’ obtained from a devil that lost control and was slain by the Chief of the City of Silver.

"This is a seemingly ordinary silver flute, but once someone plays it, nearby lifeforms will inevitably fall into hallucinations. Their anger, sorrow, pain, greed, vanity, pride, melancholy, and other emotions and desires will rapidly expand, either detonating their minds, destroying their sanity, or causing them to lose control.

"In the vicinity of the ’Fallen Flute,’ all living beings except the holder will have their thinking abilities significantly reduced, making them prone to mistakes.

"At the same time, the holder will become extremely sensitive to danger, sometimes even foreseeing events that may threaten their life one to two days in advance.

"In places where this ’Fallen Flute’ exists, human hearts will gradually fall into depravity. Various desires will dominate, beliefs will be cast aside, and the holder will gradually become cold, eventually losing normal emotions. The more it is used and the longer it is carried, the deeper this effect becomes, which may conflict with the user’s pathway or acting method, increasing the risk of losing control."

Isn’t this exactly the kind of ’mind’-domain Sealed Artifact Cohinem needs? And this ability to induce depravity is also quite useful for research into the ’mind’...

As for the negative effects, they’re not much trouble for an evil spirit of an ’Angel.’ Not to mention Cohinem—even I have plenty of ways to deal with it.

The only thing to be careful about is not to use this flute recklessly, or it might harm innocents... hmm, I trust Cohinem has that level of restraint. Besides, there’s no shortage of "pirate expendables" out at sea—she has no need to risk falling out with me by using ordinary people as test subjects.

However, after some consideration, Ebner ultimately chose the "Staff of Life" and the "Dawn Silver Sword" as his reward and as the exchange for the "Unshadowed Cross."

After all, it was "The Hanged Man" Alger who needed the ’Cataclysmic Interrer’ Beyonder characteristic. He should be the one to find a way to obtain that item. Ebner had already done him a favor by negotiating with Cohinem—he had fulfilled his duty as a "colleague."

"’Dawn Silver Sword,’ an item formed from ’Demon Hunter’ Beyonder characteristics.

"Wielding this straight sword allows one to conceal malicious intent and certain actions, effectively interfering with divination and prophecy. It grants exaggerated strength and brings a dawn that resists evil and corruption to the surrounding area.

"It can also unleash a highly destructive storm of light, creating an invisible yet sturdy defensive wall around the wielder. Whenever it is connected to the earth, its protective power becomes nearly unshakable.

"At the top of its hilt is a one-eyed, large-mouthed living head sculpture. Feeding the sculpture corresponding herbs, essential oils, or potions will cause the ’Dawn Silver Sword’ to produce different effects, such as lightning strikes, freezing, purification, burning, decay, and exorcism.

"This sword has strict usage conditions. Those under 180 cm tall cannot lift it at all, and those under 200 cm will struggle to unleash its full power. Additionally, the one-eyed, large-mouthed head on the hilt loves to talk and is constantly chattering. If the wielder does not respond, at some critical moment the ’Dawn Silver Sword’ may suddenly cease resisting or even attack its owner. If the wielder is willing to converse with it, they will hover on the brink of madness."

"’Staff of Life,’ a Sealed Artifact formed from ’Ancient Alchemist’ Beyonder characteristics. It can command supernatural creatures of low intelligence, temporarily reducing their madness. It can use incomplete spirits and various materials to achieve ultimate ’life alchemy,’ creating ordinary humans that can exist long-term, or crafting various puppets for combat and tasks, including stone golems, earth golems, and steel golems. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Any living being struck by this staff will have an increased tendency toward madness and loss of control, and their body may mutate, growing things like watermelons, mushrooms, wheat, etc. Of course, these are inedible and will cause contamination.

"Any living being touched by the tip of the staff will be healed regardless of the severity of their injuries, except those who have already begun to lose control.

"This staff fills the surrounding area with vitality. Both plants and animals will flourish and reproduce rapidly.

"Those who carry the ’Staff of Life’ have a significant chance of bodily mutation. The longer it is held, the higher the probability, which may result in extra organs or missing parts, replaced by various plants."

A moment later, after obtaining the two Sealed Artifacts through a "granting request" ritual, Ebner examined them individually, then thought to himself:

The ’Dawn Silver Sword’ isn’t very useful to me, but I can ’rent’ it to Miss Gwen... after she reaches Sequence 5, if she wants to advance further, I can even shatter the sword into characteristics and sell them to her...

Actually, with the war approaching, various ancient beings and outer deity followers are becoming active. Fanny and Elaine also need a powerful item for protection... but they’re not tall enough—they can’t even lift the ’Dawn Silver Sword’!

As for the ’Staff of Life,’ it appeared in the original story and nearly ruined the reputation of the wealthy Dwayne...

It doesn’t really have usage restrictions... but if I lend it to friends, will it cause some misunderstandings?

...

In a private room at a café near Harvest Church, "The World" Gehrman Sparrow, after going to the "washroom" twice in succession to help "Tower" and "Sun" complete their item transaction, finally sat back down across from Emlyn.

Emlyn looked at him with a strange expression, thinking:

Gehrman Sparrow really is Melissa’s brother! I heard from her that her brother wasn’t in great health either—he used to go to the washroom all the time.

(End of Chapter)