"To say that a lady's secret, one she cannot easily speak of, is nonsense—you are truly an unqualified man."

"No, that's not right… at your age, you shouldn't be a man yet, only a boy. I just wonder if you're a 'big' boy?"

"Does Lucrezia want to measure it for you? With this."

Lucrezia looked at Liens with a teasing expression, her hands clasped to her chest, making her already prominent features even more so. As if worried Liens wouldn't understand, she even jiggled a few times.

Liens said nothing in response, nor did he make any moves. His calm gaze merely turned indifferent.

In an instant, the atmosphere around them shifted. The air seemed to thicken, and a heavy pressure descended inexplicably upon Lucrezia.

"Ah, you're angry, little Liens. You're so cute."

"Or perhaps, little Liens wants to express his love for his older sister in this way?"

"Ah, that oppressive feeling, penetrating to the soul, it's truly intoxicating… Sister likes little Liens even more now."

Facing the suppression of 'aura,' Lucrezia showed no discomfort whatsoever. Instead, her face gained a few shades of red and a dazed expression, as if she were enjoying it.

At the same time, her gaze towards Liens became increasingly naked, that profound desire seemingly condensing into a thick purple mist enveloping Liens.

Facing the surging desire, Liens raised his hand. The sword-finger in his hand glowed with starlight, slowly pointing towards Lucrezia.

"Ah, haha… just kidding, why take it seriously?"

When the sword-finger was pointed at her, Lucrezia's expression instantly stiffened. The strong sense of danger made it difficult for her to maintain her smile, so she could only offer an awkward, fawning smile to Liens.

Subsequently, that profound desire gradually faded, and a faint smile once again graced Lucrezia's delicate and pretty face.

Seeing Lucrezia return to her usual self, Liens withdrew the power of 'Sword Heart' and simultaneously exited 'Heaven and Man as One'.

"Thank you. That should keep Liens quiet for a while… Are you alright? You look very drained."

Lucrezia looked at Liens, whose expression was a bit dim and who was slightly panting, and asked with concern.

"Not very drained. It's just that the impact of the two forces is a bit significant. I need to rest for a bit."

Liens shook his head, indicating he was fine.

His action just now was only to scare that 'Lucrezia'. First of all, he wouldn't actually launch an attack. Even if he wanted to, he might be backlashed before the attack could even be launched.

Before he could lock onto himself, it was difficult for him to maintain both states simultaneously.

"Was it that little succubus back then?"

Liens asked.

"Something like that."

Lucrezia neither shook nor nodded her head, merely giving a faint reply.

"I am Liens, yet not entirely Liens. Liens is me, yet not entirely me."

"Unlike Elthorp, the 'me' back then wasn't as strong as Liens and couldn't hold on for too long, so I chose reincarnation, attempting to escape the influence through transmigration."

"Unfortunately, some things are hard to escape even through death, let alone the fact that 'I' didn't have the courage to let myself die completely."

"However, 'I' had long anticipated this situation, so I used some means to ensure that the newborn me would have sufficient time to grow."

Lucrezia continued to explain.

"You can think of us as two personalities within one soul… Speaking of which, I am reminded of some 'playstyles' from storybooks."

"If you want, I can let you experience it. I don't mind, and I imagine Liens wouldn't mind either."

As she spoke, Lucrezia began to tease Liens with a smiling face again.

In response, Liens's expression was calm. He simply didn't care about the teasing in Lucrezia's words, as long as she didn't 'go crazy' again.

"What caused the former gods to fall to such a state?"

Liens asked Lucrezia the question that Alfred had once asked Elthorp in the dungeon.

Lucrezia looked faintly at Liens, her smile gradually receding. She didn't respond directly but slowly raised her head to look at the sky.

Liens followed her gaze, locking onto the moon.

"Beautiful things often hide danger… Do you see that eternally full moon? Thousands of years ago, it wasn't like that."

"This is all I can tell you. The rest you must seek out yourself, or wait until you step into that realm, and you will naturally know."

"When you understand that hidden secret, you will find it quite boring."

"Heh heh…"

As she spoke, Lucrezia suddenly laughed. The laughter carried a hint of mockery, though it was unclear what she was mocking.

Liens also didn't know what she was laughing about, only confirming that she wasn't targeting him.

After laughing for a while, Lucrezia withdrew her gaze from the moon and looked back at Liens, then smiled faintly: "I've told you so many secrets, are you willing to satisfy my initial curiosity?"

Liens did not refuse, calmly stating the so-called 'choice of destiny'.

Upon hearing the answer, Lucrezia's face showed a surprised expression, while Liens turned and left after speaking, walking in the direction of his residence.

"That truly is a difficult choice… I hope when I see you again tomorrow, you are still you."

Watching Liens's departing back, Lucrezia said softly.

Liens didn't know if he heard her, but he didn't respond to it anyway.

...

"The last bit."

An unusually indifferent voice echoed in the quiet room. The voice was very calm, as if without any emotional fluctuations, yet it also seemed to be announcing something.

Liens sat on the ground with an extremely calm expression. Beside him was an oak amulet emitting a faint glow, as if some "existence" was communicating with Liens through this amulet.

"Don't be afraid, go. Destiny is watching you."

It was ironic that Liens embarked on this unknown path due to destiny's arrangement.

Even Liens himself didn't know whether the suppression of his emotions was part of destiny's plan, or an arrangement destiny made based on his circumstances?

Otherwise, if he still had emotions and normal human feelings, he might hesitate about what he was doing.

And wouldn't be as decisive as he was now.

After all, slowly 'killing' oneself is not something an ordinary person would do.

Through his conversations with the three, Liens gained insights into 'Self.' He didn't know how much of destiny's interference was involved.

However, that wasn't important; as long as it was useful, that was enough.

Self is a clear awareness of oneself; it is not immutable, because people grow and change.

Self is the Anchor Point of the present; it doesn't need to be sought, only recognized for what one is now, and it will naturally appear.

Self is the vessel of dreams; it will constantly reshape and expand as dreams grow.

Of course, these few insights alone couldn't help him recognize himself and achieve self-awareness in a short time, so a crooked method that only considered the result, not the process, came into being.

People change, so the Self changes. Then, is a person who remains unchanged at a certain moment considered a person's Self?

Self is the Anchor Point of the present, so can the present serve as the Self's positioning?

Self is the vessel of dreams, so can dreams serve as the Self's mold?

No one ever stipulated that the Self is an inherent part of oneself; can it not be created?

Based on this idea, Liens began his first step—eradicating all his emotions.

And 'coincidentally,' he possessed the means to do so.

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