"Miss Xiangwei, have you heard of PTSD?"

Ethan shifted the topic from the perspective of a psychologist.

"PTSD?"

"It stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The main symptoms of PTSD are the re-experiencing of trauma, heightened alertness, and avoidance or numbness. Some patients also experience accompanying symptoms such as sleep disorders, depression, and substance abuse issues. Memories of people, times, and places associated with a traumatic event may cause patients to experience mental anguish or physiological stress responses."

This stream of technical jargon made Miss Xiangwei somewhat confused.

Seeing her bewildered expression, Ethan entered the room, took out paper and pen, and wrote down these key pieces of information, handing it to her.

Miss Xiangwei repeatedly read the information on the paper several times, "I don't understand, are you implying that this is the current situation of the Lofic Consortium?"

"No, this is a psychological disorder your master is suffering from."

Ethan said, "How much do you really know about your master?"

This was a sharp question, drawing Miss Xiangwei into prolonged silence.

How much did she really know about her master?

The embodiment of wisdom.

Co-established the existence of the Abyss and is one of the Old Gods with the most followers in the underground city.

The church teaches the believers to scrutinize the world with wise eyes.

How to make decisions most beneficial to oneself is a learned art, and it has been her standard for practice all along.

If this were a Sincaro believers' seminar, Miss Xiangwei felt she could certainly say a lot, perhaps even sit on the podium to explain how she rose to her current position using the teachings imparted by the church. But she felt it wasn't what Ethan wanted to hear.

What he wanted to know was about her master, or rather, Sincaro's self.

What kind of Old God was he? What were his personality and preferences?

Why did he develop PTSD? Why did he break with the God of Trickery before the First Epoch?

These were all questions Miss Xiangwei couldn't answer. In her mind, Sincaro had always been an abstract concept. She drew inspiration and strength from the teachings and, like all devout followers, attributed all the good they could imagine to Sincaro.

But in reality, she had never really cared about Sincaro, showing no interest in the actual events.

Even the old grudges from before the First Epoch, she only began to understand after Ophira's failure when they infringed upon her interests.

"...I don't know."

After a long while, Miss Xiangwei finally spoke.

"Then, let me start with the version I know. This is what I heard from Old An. As for what exactly happened between Sincaro and the God of Trickery, only they might know."

While Ethan was speaking, within the sanctuary of the consortium, Flor gradually relaxed his hands, which had been tightly covering his head.

The sharp and intense whispers suddenly distanced from him.

These whispers, piercing through his eardrums directly into his thoughts, had nearly driven him mad. From early morning, they awoke him from his sleep, continuing incessantly until now.

The whispers were filled with anger.

He was surrounded by statues of past champions displayed in the sanctuary.

The brazier burned with black flames not of this world, constantly reminding him it was a command issued by Master of Demons, Sincaro.

The command was straightforward, seemingly not requiring much of a plan.

—Kill Miss Xiangwei.

She is a traitor who has violated the master's faith.

Flor could still sense demons gathering outside the dungeon, but they seemed to be wrestling with Bazatous' creations.

This was a sight he had never seen before and had never been documented in the Holy Scripture.

Because here in the dungeon, a habitat marked out by the great Old Gods in the bottomless abyss for humanity, everything was under the gaze of the Old Gods, who never needed to use certain people or creations to slay traitors. They only needed a thought to turn intruding traitors into dust.

Moreover, Flor understood Miss Xiangwei. She was his secretary, not fond of or adept at combat, hardly a challenging opponent.

He didn't understand why the master wanted him to personally remove Miss Xiangwei.

However, he must do it.

The black flames burned in Flor's eyes. This was the first order from the master after Ophira's failure. Every day, he shut himself in the sanctuary to be closer to the master.

And now, his prayers had finally been answered.

The master decided to give him a chance, perhaps it was his last chance.

Miss Xiangwei must be eliminated.

"Master, I will follow your command," Flor murmured to himself. In truth, even without the command, he had long intended to do so.

The reason he had fallen to such a state today was because Miss Xiangwei betrayed him.

She defined Ophira's actions as an unprecedented failure, joined high-ranking members of the consortium to impeach him, allowing some who harbored unrealistic fantasies to believe they could still find a new haven on the Western Continent.

Such short-sightedness.

Not only the Empire is facing destruction, but in the Seventh Epoch, the seals will be broken, the Old Gods will return to this world, and by then, no matter where they are, no matter how far they flee, they will be toyed with by the Old Gods.

They have always had only one path—becoming the Old Gods' followers and collectively embracing this apocalyptic revelry.

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