As the phantom was surveying a corner of this soul space, she suddenly spotted a tentacle in the periphery, acting shifty and sporting a giant eyeball. Seeing someone looking at it, the tentacle rotated its eyeball to stare back.
After a long silence, the silver-haired "Big Sister" turned her gaze back to Eros, her voice laced with a mix of shock and suspicion:
"HE is here... why are you not dead?"
"It seems your body is far more mysterious than what I perceived moments ago. Good! This is excellent."
"With the help of this vessel, I imagine it won't be long before I can deliver judgment upon that usurper hiding in the shadows!"
By the end, she was speaking through gritted teeth. On the opposite side, Eros felt a bitter chill. This was the first time he had seen someone face "Tentacle Brother" and remain perfectly fine. In other words, the woman before him was at least a Mythical Lifeform.
She was a Sequence 2 existence at minimum. How was he supposed to fight that? His heart, which had been hanging by a thread, finally sank. Is it really time for people to attend my funeral feast?
Wait, no... she said she wants to seize my body. To outsiders, I wouldn't appear dead, so maybe no feast after all.
While Eros was lost in these wild thoughts, the silver-haired woman raised her right hand and made a grasping motion toward him from across the space.
Seconds passed. Nothing happened.
The woman frowned and tried again. Still, there was no reaction.
Watching this, Eros blinked. Eh? It looks like I might still be eligible for resuscitation.
After a few more failed attempts, the silver-haired woman lowered her hand, her beautiful eyes staring indifferently at Eros.
"Your soul space is also very strange; it can actually isolate my power. But if you think that makes me helpless against you, you are gravely mistaken."
"I only need to devour you, and I will control this body all the same."
With that, she lunged at Eros, clearly intending to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Eros’s eyes lit up. He prided himself on his close-quarters combat; after all, he had practiced for a long time. Then he realized he was wrong—disastrously wrong. This woman’s fighting skills were terrifyingly high.
After dozens of exchanges, Eros was completely suppressed and forced to flee across his own soul space. During this chase, the shifty tentacle in the corner seemed to realize there was entertainment to be had. It drifted over and began circling the two of them, watching the show.
Finally, Eros couldn't take it anymore. I’m over here getting beaten, and you’re enjoying the view?!
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Thinking this, Eros reached out and snatched the "Tentacle Brother" that was circling him, using it like a whip to lash out at the silver-haired woman.
Tentacle: "???"
The woman was startled to see Eros swinging a tentacle with a giant eyeball at her. She scrambled backward, shrieking in horror:
"How dare you?!"
Eros curled his lip. "What wouldn't I dare?"
He lashed out a few more times. Soon, he noticed a strange phenomenon: the silver-haired woman seemed deathly afraid of this tentacle. Sometimes, when the tentacle was about to hit her, she clearly had the means to block it, but she would pull her hand back at the last second, not daring to make contact.
Seeing this, Eros grew even more emboldened. The situation reversed instantly; now it was the silver-haired Goddess fleeing across the soul space.
Half an hour later, looking at the silver-haired woman now tied up with "Deep Sea Brand" rope, Eros slumped onto the floor of his soul space. He was exhausted. Time for a break!
"Humble one... this is sacrilege!"
The woman stared at Eros sitting beside her, her eyes nearly spitting fire as she spoke through clenched teeth.
Eros sneered, glancing at her with disdain. "You? A God? What kind of God gets pinned and beaten by a Sequence 7?"
"Besides, I’ve already committed the sacrilege. What are you going to do about it?"
As he spoke, Eros even gestured with his hands in front of her. He wasn't going to be polite to someone who had just tried to possess him.
The silver-haired woman wanted to argue—to say she was only wary of the power of the One in the Deep Sea—but Eros's subsequent actions left her speechless.
Outside, Barbara was still waiting anxiously. Just then, the golden light permeating Eros’s body suddenly vanished.
A flash of joy appeared in Barbara’s eyes. Without wasting a second, she led Cervini and Ariana back into Eros’s soul space.
Then, they witnessed the scene: Eros leaning over the silver-haired woman, a wildly arrogant and smug grin on his face.
Seeing Barbara’s sudden return, Eros’s expression froze. He had previously guessed that some method used by the woman had blocked Barbara from helping him. Now that Barbara was here, had that method failed?
But... why did it have to fail right at this moment?
Eros gave a dry laugh and stood up quickly, trying to explain to Barbara:
"Listen to my fabrication... I mean, listen to my explanation!"
Barbara ignored Eros’s rambling. She looked at the silver-haired woman tied up in Deep Sea rope, her expression one of utter bewilderment.
"What on earth happened here?"
Eros organized his thoughts and gave a full account of the events. After listening, the way Barbara looked at the bound Goddess was tinged with a hint of pity. She stepped up to the silver-haired woman, looking down at her, and said calmly:
"New God! State your identity!"
Beside her, Eros’s eyes widened. Ah... so this person really is a God? How can she be so weak!
The silver-haired woman glanced at Barbara, her voice returning to its previous cold indifference:
"The Eyes of the Night!"
When she first emerged from the Full Moon Bracelet, she had recognized the three Divine Artifacts and realized they shared a contractual bond with this man. Since his body was excellent—capable of resisting Divine pollution—she hadn't intended to give the artifacts a chance to react. She had planned to parasitize his soul and seize his body immediately.
Then the body would be hers, and the contracts of the three artifacts would point to her. Three Divine Artifacts for free!
Unfortunately, things were unexpected. The man's body was even more special than she imagined. What terrified her most was that the projection of the One in the Deep Sea was actually inside his soul space.
Fortunately, she knew a bit about that entity; as long as you didn't attack Him, He generally wouldn't attack you—at most, He’d just watch the fun. But she truly didn't expect the man to use that entity as a weapon, and even more surprisingly, the entity didn't seem to mind. He wasn't even angry.
Recalling it now, she still found it hard to believe. Why?
At the end of the Second Era, when the Great War of the Gods broke out and the nine Churches woke Him up, He had killed each of those deities once. Yet, when this man profaned Him so casually, He didn't get angry.