The abstract painting-like Spirit World faded behind him as Aaron, arriving at the Hornacis mountain range, casually obliterated his lingering traces, his gaze sweeping across the south.
That was the border with the central plateau of the Northern Continent, and also the headquarters of the Sanguine, but it was not his destination for this trip.
Aaron merely glanced before retracting his gaze, looking up at the Cosmos, which was distorted into authority and symbolism, and casually set up a ritual of sacrifice and bestowal.
He had already learned from the God of Steam and Machinery about the tense atmosphere within the Cosmos; rather than risking exposure to search for the Evernight Goddess in the Cosmos, he had a better method, which could also resolve a previously lingering issue.
"The Evernight Goddess stands higher than the cosmos and more eternal than eternity…."
The solemn, low Ancient Hermes echoed, and a rich feminine power began to surge. Sensing a certain gaze directed at him, Aaron concisely mentioned the River of Eternal darkness and expressed his desire to re-enter the hidden "Nation of the Evernight."
Aaron originally expected the Goddess's divine descent avatar to arrive, but instead, a profound sacrificial Door emerged from the feminine tide, and solemn, serene Deep Sleep Flowers drifted out, turning into scattered light particles that enveloped him.
Without resisting the pull of this power, Aaron instantly returned to the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range, to the ancient palace that imprisoned Antigonus.
Following his spiritual intuition, Aaron looked at the huge stone chair standing in the center of the palace. Antigonus, who had originally returned to a normal human form, now showed a faint tendency to disintegrate back into transparent worms, and a considerable part of his body had even mutated into slippery tentacles spreading outwards.
"Has it deteriorated to this extent?" Aaron frowned, sensing that the imprint solidified by the power of the Nation of Disorder within Antigonus's body was already riddled with holes from erosion, and the original balance was on the verge of collapse.
"I need to additionally suppress the Death Uniqueness, and the influence of the crimson symbolism on me is more severe than anticipated, thus limiting my influence on Antigonus."
"Even if you hadn't mentioned it this time, I was planning to have Arianna bring you here later to handle this matter."
A soft, melodious voice sounded from behind Aaron, like a lullaby in the night.
Without turning around, Aaron had already seen the Evernight Goddess, dressed in layers of black long skirts, her face obscured by a thin black veil, from the spiritual feedback.
She stood in the gently rippling darkness, giving an unreal feeling; this was clearly not her true body, but merely a projection reflected through a hidden authority.
Nodding slightly, Aaron ignored the rising and falling whispers in the palace and raised his hand towards the distorted figure on the throne, as dark golden light poured out like a tide.
Antigonus's mutation was, in the end, a hidden danger he had left behind in order to digest the Balancer potion as quickly as possible and seize the opportunity to advance to Sequence 1. Now that he had accommodated the Uniqueness, he naturally had to deal with the original problem.
The slippery tentacles spreading from the throne seemed to sense something and instinctively began to resist, but under a series of strictly structured prohibitions, completely targeting the high-level authority of The Fool Pathway, Antigonus's figure returned to normal.
Compared to Roselle, who merely possessed the status, Antigonus's situation was clearly more complex. Fortunately, a portion of Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings's will was taken away by Zaratul along with that Attendant of Mysteries characteristic, otherwise, the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings might truly have revived within Antigonus under the previous stimulation.
The immense power leveraged the rules, repairing and reinforcing the originally riddled imprint, rebalancing these two wills that were both opposing and fused.
To be safe, Aaron, who had just "swept" Calderon and was somewhat wealthy, did not hesitate, directly taking out the wolf-headed snake-bodied statue containing a tributary of the River of Eternal darkness from the Nation of Disorder.
A colorless drop of liquid, carrying a strong aura of eternal silence, then dripped down, merging into Antigonus's body, which Aaron had controlled, causing all spiritual imprints to fall into eternal slumber.
Aaron lowered his gaze and sensed it. With these two layers of seals combined with the Nation of the Evernight's inherent hidden authority suppression, he would not need to worry about this Half-Fool having problems for at least a year.
As for a year later… thinking of Klein, who was still "dawdling" at Sequence 4, Aaron's expression became much more serious, and he had already made a decision in his heart. Only then did he look at the Evernight Goddess, at those eyes that seemed to condense the stars:
"During this exploration of Calderon City, I found the node where the River of Eternal darkness eroded the seal to draw out a tributary, and I came into contact with the Hao Li lineage, which is deeply connected to the River of Eternal darkness. The representative of this force calls himself 'Underworld Daoist'…."
After roughly recounting the situation at the time, Aaron handed the charm given by the Underworld Daoist to the Evernight Goddess, subtly indicating that he hoped to use the rift eroded by the River of Eternal darkness to infiltrate the sealed Western Continent in reverse at an appropriate time.
The Evernight Goddess scrutinized the black charm in her hand, then looked deeply at Aaron upon hearing his words, but showed no other obvious emotional fluctuations, saying softly and soothingly:
"I will try to establish contact with him. In return, I will do my best to facilitate what you wish, and any intelligence obtained from the Western Continent will be shared with you."
Having received the desired promise, Aaron's expression relaxed considerably. After putting away the wolf-headed snake-bodied statue, he pondered for a moment before briefly outlining the agreement he had reached with the God of Steam and Machinery, finally continuing:
"George III might attempt to impact the Black Emperor soon. After his failure, the Loen royal family will exist in name only."
"That God of Combat will definitely seize this opportunity to unite all forces, so we need to confirm whether the Earth Mother's current state can still execute the previous plan?"
This concerned his ascension ritual, and Aaron couldn't help but care. He needed the most accurate intelligence possible to prepare various contingency plans.
Considering the Mother Goddess of Depravity's influence on the Earth and Moon Pathways, Aaron also dared not rashly pray for confirmation, only hoping that these two goddesses, who had been scheming since ancient epochs, had some more hidden and accurate means of communication privately.
"It does not affect the previous plan. She is indeed affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity, but the barrier ultimately exists, and the influence is not that severe. The main issue is that the identity of Omi Bella, which she replaced, had some problems and needs to be covered up by this, so the Sanguine side still needs your care…."
The soft voice gradually drifted, and the Evernight Goddess, holding the charm, dissolved into the gently rippling darkness, as if she had never been there.
Aaron nodded understandingly, feeling that this trip was complete and no longer lingered. With the tacit permission of the hidden authority, he easily left the hidden Nation of the Evernight and returned to the Hornacis mountain range.
Recalling the sealed Antigonus, Aaron skillfully took out the magic mirror Arrodes, flicked the mirror surface to stop its fawning flattery, and said plainly:
"Tell Mr. Fool, see you in Pritz Harbor!"