The Goddess of Darkness’s statue was crudely made with nothing special hidden inside. Wayne had examined it and found it nothing but a quality energy storage device, only a little more sophisticated than regular magic stones for mana storage.

Its ceiling wasn’t that high.

The statue served no purpose other than storage, with no channel for transmitting energy. Thus, when Wayne injected it with mana, it couldn’t connect to the Goddess of Darkness directly. Only once he had left would the Goddess of Darkness visit to take his mana.

He preferred that. He would like to avoid direct contact with the goddess as much as possible.

He placed a hand on the statue, avoiding the head, chest, waist, and other sensitive parts so that it wouldn’t be misconstrued as disrespect to the goddess. He opted to put his hand on the statue’s thigh.

Even now, he was thinking about latching onto the goddess’s thigh.

Mana transmission didn’t take long. Wayne filled the statue in no time. He didn’t think much when he heard the rustling of clothes behind him, only realizing what Anastasia was doing when he turned around.

So smooth.

Her long hair ran down her shoulders with a soft luster like a waterfall. With elegant lips and soft eyes, her delicate face seemed gentle and solemn, every detail of which was undeniably beautiful.

Her figure was captivating, all smooth curves and fair, jade-like skin. A faint fragrance spread in the air. She was like nature’s perfect masterpiece, so beautiful that one could get lost in it.

Her charm didn’t lie solely in her one in ten thousand beauty, but more so in her temperament—confident, noble, elegant, compassionate, and willing to make sacrifices.

Wayne stared and pondered for a few seconds before deciding to ponder longer. After more than ten seconds, he covered his eyes with a hand and extended a tentacle to pick up the long dress that pooled around her ankles, covering her up with it.

She was just average, nothing special. After all, he had seen everything before.

Wayne covered up the captivating body before shaking his head. “Lady Holy Maiden, your condition has worsened again. Allow me to operate on you.”

“What is the operation? The one I’m thinking of?” Anastasia said. Her permeating fragrance and slightly hoarse voice were addicting, tickling Wayne’s senses.

How has her condition gotten this bad? She’s mutated like she had cancer.

Wayne had treated Senna before and knew how bad the condition could get, so he didn’t think too much about it. He blamed himself for being so busy lately that he’d neglected Anastasia’s treatment. He summoned the Pale Nest as soon as possible.

Anastasia squinted slightly at the Pale Nest. Her relaxed gaze and holy temperament further pushed her charm to a new level. She looked so pure that others would feel compelled to worship the ground she walked on, but also to taint her.

Out of his respect for Anastasia, Wayne killed his evil thought, rendering it three-quarters dead. He merged with the Pale Nest and wrapped the tentacles around her to reshape her thoughts, recovering her rationality before her desires could drag her into an abyss.

It would be better if he hadn’t tried because the moment he did, he noticed the source of the affliction.

Another will existed in her body, hidden within Anastasia’s thoughts to influence her judgment like a parasite. The method of concealment was masterful. If Wayne hadn’t known her inside out, better than she knew herself, he wouldn’t have discovered this foreign will.

To whom did it belong? The answer was obvious. Aside from Wayne, only the Goddess of Darkness could easily manipulate Anastasia’s existence.

What was the goddess thinking? Displeased with how pure the Holy Maiden was, she possessed her to help her seduce Wayne? What absurd tactic was it?

Wayne didn’t understand. He had witnessed all sorts of depravity as a noble in Londan. He had thought that the nobles, royal family, and churches embodied the worst of human depravity, but he found out today that they were nothing compared to the goddesses. The goddesses’ depravity had no match.

At least it was the case for the Goddess of Darkness.

Fine, you’re doing it this way, huh?

Wayne was furious. Out of his respect for Anastasia’s character, he had never crossed the line despite having impure thoughts. The Goddess of Darkness had tainted his white moonlight. He had to make her pay somehow.

“Lady Holy Maiden, your condition is still under control. Just give me five minutes.” Feigning ignorance, Wayne swung his tentacles to drag Anastasia into the Pale Nest.

The Goddess of Darkness was highly interested in the Pale Nest and confident in her concealment method. She didn’t resist when being pulled into the Pale Nest, hoping to see in person how far Wayne had evolved.

Darkness descended!

The Goddess of Darkness suddenly saw a dim cosmos. It was a dying universe with earth, fire, water, and wind elements scattered across it, reshaping matters to slow the universe’s crumbling. While it wasn’t as bad as filling holes in one wall by tearing down another wall, the use of resources in one part did take resources away from another, and the effort was worse than ineffective.

Fire elements were too thick here, causing an imbalance in the four elements. Just like a dying elderly person, the universe was destined to die.

The Goddess of Darkness considered the universe Wayne’s balance, lamenting the difficulty of evolution. While Wayne appeared to be soaring without difficulty, the evolution was doomed to fail because he had chosen the wrong direction.

The evolution path of Astral life was the right one since everything in the world originated from the universe and would return to it, but he shouldn’t have made ancient gods his target when he was just starting.

He had aimed for the stars without a solid foundation.

Even though he had stolen the divine power of the five chosen knights in the form of an ancient god, thus making progress in his evolution, he would sooner or later become unable to fill the holes in the foundation due to insufficient input.

The Goddess of Darkness was disappointed. She laughed at herself for overestimating Wayne’s potential. Although his existence was at a high level, that was all there was to him. Like a reflection on the surface of water, a breeze would destroy everything he appeared to be.

It made sense. The path to evolution was difficult for even her; she shouldn’t put her hopes in a mere mortal. A mortal’s limited perspective might perceive an ancient god’s greatness, but not the truths behind the greatness.

Thinking of that, the Goddess of Darkness sank her thoughts, ready to leave once the surgery ended.

“Lady Holy Maiden, the operation is about to begin. It’ll hurt a little at first, but believe me, I’m a professional.”

Wayne’s voice resonated from a corner of the universe. With a ripping sound, flesh and blood writhed, and a massive, insidious eye opened slowly.

The eyeball was lodged in the universe, growing in the heart of the world seamlessly. The moment it opened, chaotic whispers spread, telling the esoteric secrets of the primordial universe.

Under the amplification of the Pale Nest, the mysterious, ineffable voice reached the depths of hearts, and the Goddess of Darkness’s sinking thoughts awakened, compelled to listen closely.

Anastasia’s thoughts remained in the form of a dark elf, hovering in the starry cosmos like a translucent spirit. Above her was an immeasurably massive eye.

Once it opened, it resembled a celestial body radiating energy, influencing the living beings around it and injecting all with the energy of evolution.

The energy’s composition was extremely complex. Some components embodied the kindness of life; some, the inexplicable that could exist but might not exist. Other components were stark negativity, infused with abyss, darkness, chaos, and other things that instilled fear and exerted pressure.

The malicious information permeated the universe with a pungent smell of rot, like a mix of decayed seaweed and dead things.

The Goddess of Darkness understood. Such malice proved that this wasn’t treatment, but an invasive corruption. She might have been found.

It wasn’t a big problem. Corruption was a form of information, too. Instead of leaving immediately, the Goddess of Darkness gave up on defending to listen to the chaotic whispers, planning to observe Wayne’s existence more directly.

Soon, Her thoughts began to mutate uncontrollably.

She still didn’t consider it a problem since She could cut off the part of the thoughts even after irreversible mutation. Her existence would not be corrupted. Moreover, the removed part could be cultivated to produce research data.

This visit had not been in vain. While She was disappointed, She was also pleasantly surprised.

Do better, Wayne. You’ll be rewarded after my success!

Her composure infuriated Wayne further. Did She take him as a pushover just because he had kept his cantankerous temper under wraps?

With the Pale Nest pushed to the limit, the Book of Greed’s large central eye surged with light. The Pale Nest was an amalgamation of the flesh of Thoggua, an ancient god’s vassal. It had been rendered into Wayne’s form after failing a debate against him. The Book of Greed was his greatest asset. The two combined to amplify his thoughts to the maximum.

With a rip, he tore Anastasia’s thoughts violently into particles of light, which recombined into two translucent figures.

The one on the left was the Goddess of Darkness, with a long robe that covered Her entire body and a dark cosmos that concealed Her face, preventing anyone from peeking at Her true appearance.

On the right was Anastasia. Remembering the scandalous behavior of offending her faith’s eyes, she turned to the Goddess of Darkness, who had manipulated her thoughts at some point. She couldn’t blame herself more.

As Wayne’s follower, she had once again betrayed her faith.

A tentacle swept out to wrap around Anastasia and take her away. Wayne went all in. The massive star-like eyeball enveloped the Goddess of Darkness’s thoughts and forcefully transformed her existence, irreversibly corrupting Her thoughts.

The Pale Nest and the Book of Greed were his greatest powers, but the goddess was a goddess for a reason. It wasn’t easy to shake Her existence.

While it was only part of Her thoughts, it still wasn’t possible for Wayne to corrupt it quickly.

He tried to leave a brand of evolution on the goddess’s thoughts, reshaping Her and corrupting Her entirely. Ideally, She should be rendered a cream pie locked in his basement.

Don’t you want it? Then I’ll give it to you. Let’s dock directly rather than going through Anastasia as a medium.

After corrupting Her for hours, though, he still couldn’t reach Her depths. He could only go for plan B and pour all things terrible and ugly he could think of into Her.

The whispers guided the Goddess of Darkness’s thoughts. Since She found them reasonable in some way, She unconsciously mimicked the information, the form of Her thoughts transforming.

The black robe and the dark cosmos concealing Her face faded, revealing Her incredible figure and appearance.

Her long hair cascaded like the veil of night, pitch-black, smooth, and flickering with faint starlight in the dark universe. Her nose was tall and elegantly shaped, and her thin, severe lips made Her seem haughty and aloof. An infinite darkness lay at the bottom of her eyes. Anyone who met Her gaze would be lost in the boundless black.

The dark elf with elongated ears was tall, slim, yet curvy in the right places. Every part of Her body seemed carefully crafted. She looked like a queen claiming the throne of Darkness, with a lethal air of sensuality and charm.

She was beautiful in a cold, noble way. She was Darkness reincarnate!