A short while later, Eros returned from the Astral Realm to the Spirit Realm. The first thing he did after his consciousness re-entered his soul space was to fix his gaze upon the Silver Moon Goddess.
He instantly understood why Barbara hadn't taught him how to bestow a Spiritual Brand earlier. In his current divine state, as long as he willed it, that knowledge naturally surfaced in his mind as if it were instinct.
Without hesitation, Eros followed this new knowledge and extended his index finger, pointing it steadily at the center of the Silver Moon Goddess’s brow.
Seeing this, the Goddess immediately realized Eros’s intent. She began to struggle violently, but it was futile—she couldn't break free from the "Deep Sea" branded tentacles binding her. Since Eros currently possessed absolute suppression of status, the brand was quickly and completely solidified in the deepest depths of her soul.
Looking at the despairing Goddess before him, Eros still felt it wasn't safe enough. After all, her soul possessed divine characteristics, and once he lost the support of the divinity's power, the gap between their strengths would be too vast. It was hard to guarantee total control with just a brand.
If this isn't 100% controlled, and she stabs me in the back at a critical moment, I'll definitely be heading to my own funeral feast.
After a brief thought, Eros unsummoned the tentacles and brought the Silver Moon Goddess out into the Spirit Realm barrens. The moment she appeared, her power surged violently as she tried to flee into the distance, but Eros simply glanced at her and said calmly:
"Forbidden!"
As the word fell, the Goddess’s body froze, and her surging power collapsed instantly. Eros continued to speak, his voice carrying the weight of an irrefutable judgment:
"I say, you shall no longer be Lofty!"
As these words left his mouth, the Goddess’s beautiful eyes filled with terror. She could clearly feel her status and power plummeting under the weight of this single sentence. In the end, she couldn't even maintain a Transcendent high-sequence rank, stopping at Sequence 5.
Even so, Eros was not satisfied. He looked at the Soul Ring on his finger and raised his hand toward her:
"Graze!"
In the next instant, a grey light shot from the ring and sank into the Goddess's body. With the blessing of Eros’s remaining divine power, the "grazing" process was completed rapidly. From this moment on, the Silver Moon Goddess was completely under Eros’s control.
Eros looked at his left hand. Originally, the Soul Ring could graze five Transcendent souls, but now, grazing just the Silver Moon Goddess had filled its capacity to the limit. It truly was the soul of a former God; even when stripped down to Sequence 5, its quality far surpassed any ordinary Transcendent being.
"Serve me faithfully," Eros said calmly to the ashen-faced Goddess. "If I ascend to the Divine Throne in the future, I can help you reclaim your position."
The Goddess replied mockingly, "I suppose even if I reclaim my throne, I won't be able to escape your control, will I?"
"Is freedom truly more important than a Divine Throne?" Eros countered. "Besides, precisely because you won't be able to escape me even as a God, I will do my utmost to help you ascend, won't I?"
Finished, Eros ignored her. He felt the remaining divinity in his body and sighed in relief seeing a tiny bit left. With a wave, he led her across the barriers of the Spirit Realm directly into the Shadow Realm.
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This was his first time entering the Shadow Realm using his own power. He stepped forward to his destination and, with a thought, an altar for "Summoning Shadow Realm Creatures" rose from the ground. He then altered the time surrounding the ritual circle, making it appear as if it had been set up several hours ago. Finally, he used the last of his divinity to smooth over all temporal and spatial anomalies.
The divinity finally dissipated, and human exhaustion began to take over. Barbara emerged from his soul space and looked around in confusion: "What are you doing all this for?"
Eros smiled. "Tonight, my 'Full Moon Bracelet' was stolen by Night Remnants."
Barbara blinked, realization dawning on her small face. "Fortunately we had that divinity, otherwise this play would be hard to pull off."
Indeed, no one expected that unlocking the secret would draw the gaze of the Gods. While the Three Churches of the Empire didn't know about the bracelet, the Usurper on the Moon certainly did. If that being leaked the info to the Churches, Eros would be in a very passive position.
"The location in the Shadow Realm corresponds to my bedroom," Eros instructed Barbara. "Create some subtle fluctuations of shadow power on the barrier to fake a 'break-in.' Next, we need Estelle's cooperation."
Chapter 197: The "Victim" Performance
After Barbara finished setting up the traces of a shadow-based intrusion, Eros led the silent, expressionless Silver Moon Goddess—now his "grazed" spirit—back through the barrier and into his bedroom in the physical world.
The room was dark, but the faint silver moonlight filtering through the window revealed a scene of chaos. Eros had purposely overturned a chair and scattered some books to make it look like a struggle had occurred.
"Barbara, hide her in the ring for now," Eros whispered.
The silver-haired Goddess vanished into a grey mist, retreating into the Soul Ring on his finger. Eros then took a deep breath and suddenly let out a sharp, pained groan, followed by the sound of a heavy body hitting the floor.
Thud!
Almost instantly, the door to his room was thrown open. Estelle rushed in, her hand already glowing with the pale light of a high-sequence Beyonder. Behind her, Undine peeked through the doorway, her eyes wide with fright.
"Eros! What happened?" Estelle’s voice was sharp with maternal concern. She scanned the room, her gaze lingering on the flickering shadow fluctuations Barbara had left near the window.
Eros sat on the floor, clutching his chest, his face pale (mostly from the genuine exhaustion of using divinity). He pointed a trembling finger at the window.
"Someone... someone came in through the shadows," Eros wheezed, doing his best to sound like a traumatized Sequence 7. "They were fast. I couldn't stop them. The... the Full Moon Bracelet... they took it!"
Estelle’s expression darkened. she moved to the window, inspecting the residue. "Night lineage power... It’s cold, pure, and definitely from the Shadow Realm. To infiltrate the manor of a Prince’s associate so boldly... the Night Remnants are getting desperate."
She didn't doubt Eros for a second. After all, the "aura" left behind was authentic, and the "Full Moon Bracelet" was known to be a relic related to the Moon—something the Night followers would naturally covet.
"Are you hurt?" Undine ran over, kneeling beside him and checking his pulse with a worried frown.
"I'm fine, just... shaken," Eros said, leaning back against the bedpost. He caught Barbara’s eye in the spirit form; she was stifling a laugh at his dramatic performance.
"I will inform the city guard and the Church of the Evernight," Estelle said, her voice turning icy. "If they think they can rob a member of our family and get away with it, they are mistaken. But Eros, for now, you must stay within the manor. If they are bold enough to attack you here, they might come back."
Eros nodded obediently. "I understand, Aunt Estelle."
Once Estelle left to begin the "investigation" and Undine was ushered back to bed, the room fell silent again. Eros stood up, his "trauma" vanishing instantly. He looked at the Soul Ring on his finger.
Inside, the former Goddess of the Silver Moon was watching everything. Her voice echoed coldly in his mind:
"You are quite the actor, 'Excellency.' To deceive your own family so easily... is this how the 'Night' operates?"
Eros smirked, sitting back down on his bed. "It’s called survival. Now, tell me... while we wait for the Church to go on a wild goose chase, let's talk about that 'anomaly' the Star Spirit mentioned. He said the key to my Sequence 6 advancement is already by my side. As a former God, surely you can see what I’m missing?"
The Goddess was silent for a moment, then her voice carried a hint of grudging respect:
"The Star Spirit didn't lie. You've been looking at the 'Tentacle' as an obstacle, but you forgot one thing: in this world, power isn't just about what you possess. It’s about what you can withstand. Look at your 'Book of the Night' again, Eros. Not the pages you've read, but the ones that remain blank."