The "pollution" that Zaratul encountered was likely because, when forcibly attempting to turn the senior traverser's corpse into a secret puppet, he came into contact with the "Unknown Land"...
And judging from the hints Lilith had given, the level of the Unknown Land was probably extremely high, far beyond what a mere separated "historical projection" of Zaratul could resist...
But this was ineffective against me. After all, for the space behind the Pure White Eye, I was currently its highest-authority holder. According to Lilith, as long as I didn't actively enter it or delve too deeply into its secrets, merely contacting and using it would not be dangerous.
After analyzing things internally for a moment, Ebner once again used the Pure White Eye to carefully inspect the Abraham family's Wanderer's body, then cautiously spread his spirituality onto it with a secret technique.
The process went unexpectedly smoothly. The Wanderer's residual spirituality was incredibly compatible with Ebner's mind, even far surpassing the Bone Dragon that had undergone more than half a month of "mental synchronization," allowing him to take control of the body with ease.
Surprised by this, Ebner couldn't help but form several speculations. However, just as he was about to dig deeper, the Pure White Eye resonated and triggered his spirituality to issue a warning… Forcing him to shift his attention away and implant a self-suggestion.
Some matters are better left to be pondered inside the "Sefirah Castle" during a Tarot Meeting… although if it turns out to be too dangerous, I'll still need to hypnotize myself to forget afterward.
Temporarily setting these thoughts aside, Ebner tried manipulating the Wanderer's body. However, he quickly realized that because they were inside a "hidden" world, unable to interact with the outside Spirit World or Cosmos, most of the Abraham family's demigod's powers couldn't function properly...
Moreover, he was also bound beneath the Mother of the Sky statue by an invisible force, completely unable to move even an inch.
This should be the power of the Goddess... Binding the Wanderer here probably also has to do with the fact that the secret art, perfected by the relay efforts of many traverser seniors, remains unfinished...
Only if I perfectly turn him into my avatar and use his body to advance to Miracle Invoker can I break this binding?
In a way, this current Wanderer, this future Miracle Invoker, is another candidate for the Lord of Mysteries in the hands of the Goddess, right?
A backup... Or perhaps, like Zaratul in the original story, his mission is simply to attract Amon's attention and muddy the waters, a tool?
Hmm, in the original story, Zaratul didn't follow the expected course of competing. He directly 'submitted'... so it's not surprising if the Goddess wants to change candidates this time...
Just as he thought of this, a scene suddenly surfaced in Ebner's mind, apparently originating from the residual spirituality within the Wanderer's body.
In the vision, the "young man" sitting weakly by the statue asked a question to the young woman before him, who had beautiful features and black hair and eyes—a question very similar to what Ebner had just thought:
"Am I a backup for Mysteries, or just a tool?"
The woman opposite him curled her lips slightly, her black eyes deep and serene, revealing a small smile as she answered, "Alvin, that completely depends on your own intentions... In fact, if you want to compete for Mysteries, I would support you."
"But if I do that, the world might fall into danger..." the young man said firmly, shaking his head.
The vision cut off there. It was clearly some "memory fragment" triggered because their spirits were synchronized and Ebner's thoughts had resonated with it.
So this Wanderer's name is Alvin... Alvin Abraham?
Ebner, deep in thought, tried thinking about other keywords, like "traverser," "Pure White Eye," and so on, but no more memory fragments surfaced. He had no choice but to give up and continued studying the capabilities of this Alvin Abraham.
After some experimentation, Ebner found that the most useful ability he could currently use through him was still "Recording."
—This Wanderer had recorded the ability to "Summon Historical Projections"!
Although, due to being in a "hidden" country, "history" is limited to the scope of the Night Kingdom, there are still quite a few powerful beings he can "summon"...
"Mother of the Sky"... Zaratul... Antigonus... and even Vicente Miranda!Yes, the last one, the "Death Regent," had also once entered the "Night Kingdom" and left his historical mark there.
"Summoning the 'Mother of the Sky' projection is essentially calling the Goddess... This is not ideal..."
"Antigonus's current status is unknown, summoning his historical projection might be dangerous... so we'll skip that."
"Hmm, Zaratul and Vicente Miranda could be worth trying..."
With that thought, Ebner controlled Alvin to use the "Recording" ability to "summon a historical projection" and brought a hooded old man into the church from history.
The old man had a stiff expression and lacked agility. He spoke in a stiff tone:"I wish for the lost obsidian to appear before me."
As his words fell, a middle-aged man in a house in the town could no longer suppress the hunger in his stomach and began to eat the half-eaten delicious food on the table.
But immediately afterward, his body disappeared as though evaporated, only to reappear beneath the dome of the church, becoming one of the "dried meats" hanging there.
A piece of obsidian also fell from his pocket, rolling to Ebner's feet.
With the completion of this wish, Zaratul's historical projection could no longer be maintained and returned to the gaps in history.
"The Miracle Invoker's 'wish' is indeed useful!" Ebner praised as he picked up the obsidian and casually placed it onto the parchment on the floor.
As he did, the gravestone behind the "door" marked with the number "2" displayed its complete contents.
In addition to the method to open the "door" in the wall, several symbols and their meanings were listed, matching exactly what was in the original story...
What caught Ebner's attention was the last line, which only showed a lone symbol of a skull wearing a crown, with no explanation provided.
"What is this symbol? It looks like it belongs to the 'Grim Reaper' domain... Where does it point?"
Though confused, Ebner didn't immediately take any risks and instead memorized the symbol's appearance, planning to "divine" it once he was outside.
—In the "Night Kingdom," fate is also in a "hidden" state, so it was naturally impossible to "divine" normally.
"One last thing...
"Once I kill the 'Despair Witch' who caused the smog event, I can try returning to the normal world!"
(End of Chapter)