Seeing the slowly approaching well-built man, whose determined eyes were a pair of black obsidian, with tousled black strands, and with fair, somewhat rough skin, which could be said as a testament to his duty-related experience, Lucian instinctively put up his guard, ready to summon and command the Burning Catcher.
"Are you here to avenge–"
Just then, before Lucian finished his words, with his mind somewhat clear, he noticed the flickering eyes of the man, whose name he had yet or didn't bother to know.
From dull and serious black to glimmering dark purple eyes, then from the same dark purple to black again...
Wait... Don't tell me...?!
As if remembering something, Lucian carefully spoke.
"You..."
"Sigh. And here I thought you wouldn't notice. That would be sad if that's the case, don't you think so?"
"...Witch of Dreams... Why?"
Just how does her power work? Or does this man who served the Black Rose Guild's Master originally from the Phantasm Clan? Well, they're affiliated in some ways. But it still doesn't explain how could she just casually possess someone's being... That's outright terrifying...
"Seriously, you had the audacity to ask me that when you and your sister almost refuse to see each other because of what I said last time I'll watch you through her eyes. Well, I admit it's threatening, but I don't get rid of my loyal subjects, so why worry?"
Do you even hear yourself??
Lucian inwardly frowned.
This woman, whatever she was, as one of the thirteen Eternal-Class Awakeners, just suddenly inserted herself into his life, as casually as possible at that.
Lucian then briefly recalled the short yet straightforward description of his Stigma: [ Damnation ]...
[You are eternal. Only two things can possibly kill you: True Divinity and your own Foolishness.]
Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that the word "Foolishness" with capitalized F was in the same phrase as True Divinity.
Was telling his sister about him being the 13th Eternal Class foolish in itself?
Or was it only considered as such because of the consequences, resulting in the Witch of Dreams anticlimactic discovering his identity with minimal effort?
And now, though Lucian didn't know why such a lofty figure had taken an unusual interest in him, her presence began to get on his nerves.
I couldn't and it's not even right to blame my sister... But does it mean I should stop trusting someone... and just hide my identity?! Bullshit! From the beginning, I only chose to hide it because I was far too weak compared to them.
And I need to avoid being shackled by these organizations, which could possibly limit my growth.
That being said, "Foolishness" was a broad term in itself—and Lucian couldn't help but feel that there might be more to it that he had yet to discover.
"Do you even hear yourself? And why are you even here, to begin with?"
"Hey chill, baby..."
"..."
I just couldn't get used to this girl calling me this way...
"Why are you calling me that? You're an old woman, aren't you?"
At that moment, as if Lucian had struck a nerve, the man's veins almost popped off his forehead.
"You... Rude bastard! I–I'm not! I'm not, I'm not old! Take back your words!"
The Witch of Dreams possessing the man flailed her arms like a little baby. The sight was amusing even for ghosts surrounding the area, and they couldn't help but chuckle at this display of utter silliness.
"Forget it. I don't know why you are here, but I have a very important business to finish. Scram."
"...!"
The Witch of Dreams remained in her spot, fists clenched, her teeth gritting as if she couldn't understand the situation.
Simply put, it was as though her mind was screaming something ridiculous and cliché like... 'Many high-rank people desire to meet me and yet you're just ignoring me?!'
As if correctly gauging her thoughts, Lucian added.
"...But I'm curious, are you trying to be human?"
It was then that something snapped in her mind. Whether or not it was for a good thing or worse, Lucian didn't know.
The next thing he knew...
Thud.
Was that the burly man in question fell on the floor—already dead.
"...!"
That girl...! Seriously!
What would happen if there's Lucian here alone standing in the presence of a fresh dead body?
No accomplice. No witnesses.
It could easily be mistaken that he was the victim's killer!
Just as his eyes widened in horror due to the possibility of being framed, the idea of consuming the body through the fiery slimification of the Burning Catcher jolted his mind to rationality, prompting him to summon it.
However, before the burning creature could transform and do its master's will, cracks began to form in the man's entire existence...
Crack...!
Then, in the presence of the ghosts including the children, through the man's chest, a fair-skinned hand came out!
"...Cover your eyes!"
Realizing the gruesomeness, some adult ghosts helped the children cover their eyes.
Even if they were now souls, the fact that the concept of being a soul didn't mean the absence of human perception meant that they were still susceptible to emotions.
Such a disgusting sight was never meant to be shown in front of innocent children.
Just as Lucian commanded, from the hand of a woman to a purple longhair covering her head, until her very presence emerged from the man's shattered body that was gradually swallowed by a purple sphere through some sort of implosion, he stood still and faced a familiar entity that could be considered a god at this point in human standards.
But no matter what, he couldn't mutter her name!
After all, even if the mechanism behind it seemed inexplicable, muttering the name of a developed Eternal Class Awakener could lead to devastating consequences such as utter insanity and soul destruction.
According to the publicly available records, it was because the current Eternal Class Awakeners, apart from Lucian who was genuinely a newbie, possessed a great amount of potent divinity.
It could be said that the true names of the Eternal Class Awakeners had their own potency and must not be taken or utter lightly.
Wh-what is this situation...? Did I say something wrong...?
As Lucian muttered in his mind, the Witch of Dreams was already in front of him.
At least that's what he thought until...
[ Ding! ]
[ You are facing a high-level existence with high-level causality! ]
[ Your Main Skill: Eye of Death is autonomously activated! ]
[ Checking the entity's information! ]
[ Because of the entity's high-level causality, the information acquired will be limited! ]
[ Status Window ]
Awakener Name: [ ??? ]
Sovereign Name: Witch of Dreams—Obsessive Self of Existential Identity (Avatar)
Age: [ ??? ]
Gender: [ F ]
Level: [ ??? ]
Class: [ ??? ]
Class Grade: [ Eternal ]
Stigma: [Dreaming Forgotten Goddess]
Traits: [???], and numerous others...
Main Skill: [Reality Fragmentation (???)], and numerous others...
Other Skills: [???], and numerous others...
—[Attributes]—
DIVINITY: ???
CAUSALITY: ???
LUK: ???
***
For the first time, Lucian saw a kind of Status Window that seemed tailored for existence like her.
And before he could process everything, the Avatar of the Witch of Dreams, which resembled her very self and was created through her Main Skill, spoke coldly.
"...I will owe you if you teach me..."
"...?"
Huh...?
I have a bad feeling about this...
"...What it means to be human."