Chapter 37: The Proclaimer of Fate

Bai Jin’s confusion deepened.
“Memory Matter?”

Lilith’s voice dropped to a very low pitch.
“Legend has it that in the era when gods were everywhere, the Fateweavers held the authority over the rules of the world.”

“Fateweavers are those who have been recognized by the will of the world, and thus have obtained a certain rule. When they have completely mastered the rule, it becomes a certain authority, and thus they become gods.”

“Driving the rules also consumes divine power. The Fateweavers before they became gods discovered that the product of the combination of extreme emotions and mental power could also drive authority.”

“Whether it’s the towering hatred that burns the galaxy, or the deepest love that protects all things, or the absolute belief that sees through the truth.”

“When it is highly condensed and materialized, it forms a special kind of energy. That is Memory Matter…”

Lilith’s tone carried the weight of history.
“After the great cataclysm, the gods fell, the rules were shattered, and the inheritance was cut off.”

“The system of contracts gradually became the mainstream because the threshold for driving the rules was lower, and it was easier to understand and use.”

“Through a clear equivalent exchange, even ordinary people can use supernatural powers.”

“But the real power, the power that is enough to shake the essence of the world’s rules, its core, has never changed! It still needs energy of the level of Memory Matter to drive it, even divine power…”

She looked at Bai Jin, her eyes extremely complex, with shock, with confusion, but in the end, they all turned into a burning heat.

“The Holy Blood… that rotten divine body, It has collected faith for over five hundred years! What do you think It wants?”

Bai Jin blurted out, “It also wants to condense Memory Matter?”

“Yes, fanatical faith is also an emotion. When It has collected enough Memory Matter, that will be the day of Its resurrection!”

Lilith’s voice was filled with mockery.
“The ridiculous thing is, It has plotted for five hundred years, spent countless efforts, used me to keep It alive, and is still painstakingly accumulating and transforming.”

Her gaze locked onto Bai Jin.
“And you, you have unknowingly condensed pain and despair into your own Memory Matter?!”

The tent fell into a dead silence.
Lilith’s words were like thunder, exploding in Bai Jin’s mind again and again.

Lilith looked at the changing expression on Bai Jin’s face and sighed softly.

“Bai Jin, your life, is now much more important than you imagined, than I previously thought…”

Lilith’s voice broke the silence, her words no longer carrying the tone of use and calculation, but mixed with some expectation and entrustment?

“I’m sorry…”
Lilith’s voice was very low, with a slight tremor.
“I admit, at first I only saw you as a tool, a tool that could help me find release and eventually kill me,”

“I tortured you like this to extract death energy and wear down the contract… but I never cared about your feelings…”

Lilith’s gaze became firm.
“Bai Jin, you are a… good person. A foolish, stubborn, but trustworthy good person.”

Bai Jin was still digesting the previous information and was suddenly a little embarrassed by Lilith’s words.

To be honest, she had really had bad thoughts when things came to a head, but every time she thought of Lilith’s painful memories, she wanted to save this girl, even if her own situation became worse…

Lilith took a deep breath, as if she had made some kind of decision.
She straightened her small body slightly.

Then she looked at Bai Jin’s eyes solemnly.
“I, Lilith Lancaster, swear on my name, from this moment on, I will no longer regard Bai Jin as a tool, and I will no longer use torture to extract power.”

“I hope you can live well, completely master your own power, and we will face the challenges of the future together.”

“We… are companions who share life and death. I acknowledge you.”

Bai Jin was a little restrained by this posture.
She had originally thought it was some kind of binding contract, but there was no movement from the authority in her mind.

‘Is it just a verbal promise…’

Bai Jin was a little disappointed, but the content of Lilith’s words was at least good.

“What is this? A verbal agreement?”
Bai Jin asked directly.

Lilith paused, her azure eyes softening, as if she were recalling a distant past, and her voice became a little smaller.

“This is just a promise game that my sister and I used to play…”

‘It’s just that sister never kept her promises…’

Bai Jin pointed to herself.
“So, you want to treat me as your sister?”

A rare, girlish blush of shyness appeared on Lilith’s face.

“The age of your soul, in my five hundred long years, doesn’t even count as a fraction!”

“Want to be my sister? In your dreams! At most… a friend! Don’t try to take advantage of me!”

This slightly tsundere declaration instantly diluted the heavy atmosphere in the tent.
Bai Jin looked at the five-hundred-year-old legal loli in front of her, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but rise.

Looking at this girl who had finally taken off her disguise and revealed her true self, her heart was filled with mixed feelings.

Her own situation could be considered to have improved.
Bai Jin felt that her future life was more hopeful.

She extended her hand, gently clenched her fist, and placed it on her heart, responding with the same solemnity.

“Okay, Lilith, I promise you, before we fulfill our agreement, I will live well. We’ll do it together!”

“Hmph, that’s more like it.”
Lilith turned her face away, the blush on her ears not yet completely faded, but her tone was obviously much lighter.

She refocused on maintaining the life force of the two townspeople, but her tense shoulders seemed to have quietly relaxed a little.

Outside Twilight Town, in the depths of a certain karst cave.

The jumping, eerie purple flames cast ghostly shadows on the cave walls.
The air was cold and damp, filled with the smell of decay.

This was a temporary base of the God-Burying Society.
Under the reflection of the flames, there were only black shadows on the cave walls, but no owners of the shadows, like twisted ghosts.

A black shadow on the cave wall raised its hand, and a viscous, writhing black ball appeared, spitting out a person.
It was the member of the God-Burying Society who had escaped.

His hoarse voice echoed in the cave, “We failed. That Shepherd and Hunter are more difficult to deal with than expected, and our contracts were backlashed by a strange power. This is the main reason for our failure.”

“Enough.”
A monotonous voice interrupted him.
It was one of the black shadows, 「Wraith」.

“Failure is failure. Excuses only expose your incompetence. The power of the Holy Blood has taken root in Twilight Town, and we know nothing about the inheritor of that Contract of Fate.”

“Shadow is right.”
Another sinister voice sounded.
It was 「Necro」.

“Our primary goal is to confirm the current status of the God of Death’s Contract of Fate. My previous actions were because at that time, only the Saintess and Louise of the Merchant Alliance had contractual power in Twilight Town.”

“The people of the Merchant Alliance value profit. I originally thought that by killing the Saintess, I could thoroughly investigate this barren land.”

Necro raised his head, and two points of purple light flickered in the black shadow.

“Now it seems we were all wrong. Just a mere incumbent Saintess, yet she can alarm the power of two gods.”

“This small town is not as simple as it seems…”

“Necro, what’s the use of saying so much? Our existence is to deal with that one. Don’t you know how long it has been since we received the attention of the headquarters?”

The last black shadow on the cave wall spoke, his tone filled with unconcealed anger and dissatisfaction.

“I want to know what we should do next. The technology of the Merchant Alliance and those undying people of the Holy Blood are not easy to deal with.”

Necro let out a “hehe” sound.
“Wraith, don’t be anxious. Don’t you forget what my rule is…”