Selene ultimately accepted the invitation. The “master’s” words… contained too much information.

She followed the boss, leaving the room under Bill’s anxious and confused gaze. They walked down the hallway, towards the left side of the third floor.

A soft carpet appeared silently after a turn, and the surrounding walls gradually transitioned from gray to a wood tone. Under the walls, several healthy potted plants were neatly arranged. Different types of plants stretched their branches and leaves, as if they were in a forest, enjoying the sunlight.

Selene only recognized a few of the common plants in the pots. The others were unfamiliar, but didn’t seem to have any special characteristics.

…This “master,” does he like plants? Or is this some special kind of arrangement, some kind of magic circle or ritual?

Selene wondered as she followed the boss to another door, also a wood tone, but darker. The boss knocked three times, waited for ten seconds, then respectfully opened the door, creating a space for someone to pass through.

“Please come in.”

Selene, without hesitation, stepped into the room. The boss then closed the door behind her.

It was a large, bright room, arranged like a living room. Two rectangular windows reached the ground, facing the door. The pale green curtains were not drawn. A large oil painting hung between the two windows, depicting a snowy mountain peak.

The left side of the room was filled with bookshelves, occupying an entire wall. The shelves were packed with books. At a glance, there were at least four different languages: Common, Elvish, Northern, and Atinewen.

To the right of the bookshelves, also on the right side of the room, were several wooden tables. The person who had invited Selene was leaning back in a chair at one of them.

He was wearing a gray-white robe, a large hood covering his head, casting unnatural shadows on his face. He gestured slightly towards Selene and spoke in a clearly distorted, disguised voice.

“Miss Nitya, please have a seat.”

Selene wasn’t surprised that he knew her identity and walked over to the chair and sat down. She noticed that there was a small table between the two chairs, with a strangely shaped red statue on it. The moment she saw it, the voice in her head sounded again.

【You have come into contact with a remnant of Fallen V—Blood of Dusk.】

This wasn’t unexpected… well, it was a little unexpected. The eye, the words, now a remnant…

Selene’s gaze lingered on the red statue, not avoiding the mysterious person’s gaze. He immediately straightened up, his posture becoming more formal and serious. His voice was no longer as calm, but carried a hint of excitement.

“As expected. You can hear it.”

Selene tapped the table, not showing any weakness, and asked calmly,

“Is this some kind of test?”

The mysterious person chuckled, not denying it.

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“I merely saw some unusual remnants on you and guessed that you might be able to hear that voice. I had to confirm it. My apologies. Allow me to introduce myself first.”

He paused, as if considering what he could and couldn’t say.

“I’m a member of the ‘Omniscient Assembly,’ or the ‘Omniscient Confederation,’ as it’s more formally known in the South Continent. Ha, ha. I know our reputation isn’t very good. You’ve probably heard a lot of negative things about us. Please rest assured, we’re not like those brainless cultists. Under most circumstances, we don’t antagonize the Four Great Empires or the Six Great Churches. Theoretically, we abide by the law.”

… Never heard of them. Are they famous?

Selene paused for a moment, then asked,

“That voice in my head, what’s going on?”

The mysterious person didn’t bother with riddles anymore. After confirming that Selene could truly hear the voice, he immediately became much friendlier, even personally pouring her a cup of tea.

That being said, no matter how friendly he was, Selene didn’t dare to drink it. Who knew if it was drugged…

“It’s a unique ability. Incredibly rare. In the entire Divine Construct, throughout its ten thousand-year history, there have been less than ten thousand people with this ability,” the mysterious person said calmly, ignoring Selene’s wariness. “It’s not an innate ability, but something received from an Old God.

“The Confederation calls it 【Conjugated Self】. It’s essentially another, unconscious, thoughtless ‘self’ that possesses a lot of secret knowledge. That’s why you can hear your own voice. It’s not inherently bad. It only makes a sound when it comes into contact with things related to current deities or Old Gods. For those who live peaceful lives and don’t seek adventure, this ability is almost nonexistent.”

Selene heard this brief explanation and, though she suspected it was just a fancy name for schizophrenia, and though there were many details the mysterious person hadn’t explained, such as how this ability was received from the “Old God,” or how long this ability lasted, she felt somewhat reassured.

She repeated the new term, asking dubiously,

“Old Gods? At least, there’s no such term in church scriptures.”

The mysterious person spoke with a hint of disdain.

“Ha, ha. That’s because the churches don’t want most people to know about the Old Gods. After all, they need to use the gods to maintain their authority. Though objectively, that’s a safe strategy, but…”

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, stopping at precisely the right moment, making Selene want to hit him.

The mysterious person chuckled and didn’t continue on that topic. Instead, he answered Selene’s question.

“Old Gods, as the name suggests, are the gods of the past. This is knowledge known only to the Confederation and a few secret organizations. It’s not surprising you’ve never heard of them.

“You know, one of the tenets of the Six Great Churches is that the gods are immortal and eternal. That’s not entirely wrong, just not completely true.

“In reality, the gods don’t truly die. They are everywhere, omnipresent. Even if they are killed by another god, they can revive from history, concepts, and flesh. It just takes time.

“Old Gods is a term for those gods who are currently in a state of death and are trying to revive.”

This was a lot of information, and it was quite disrespectful to the gods. If a native of the Divine Construct had said this, they would have probably gotten into a fight with the mysterious man. But Selene didn’t really respect the gods, and only found this somewhat novel.

Many thoughts occurred to her, but she didn’t say anything. She patiently waited for the mysterious person to continue.

After explaining the concept of “Old Gods,” the mysterious person fell silent for a moment, seemingly giving Selene time to process the information. Then, he said seriously,

“I don’t know how many voices you’ve heard, but the fact that you’re still alive means you haven’t encountered the most dangerous situation. You should know that the prefixes for gods are ‘Fallen’ and ‘Crown,’ corresponding to the Old Gods and the current deities. You don’t need to worry about the latter. The current deities are merciful and kind. The former are dangerous, but not impossible to interact with. You can even use special rituals to steal their power. But besides those two prefixes, there’s a third.”

He paused, his voice serious, speaking each word clearly,

“That’s ‘Selfless’ or ‘Nameless.’ If you hear this prefix, no matter what is speaking, whether it’s a person, a statue, an oil painting, it doesn’t matter. Don’t hesitate. Run. If you can’t escape, kill yourself. Use every means necessary to end your life.

“Don’t have any hope—for your sake, and for the sake of everyone in the Divine Construct.”