Chapter 121: Overthinking?

"Good thing they closed quickly," Theo muttered, though he did not relax his grip on his Abyssal Hammer.

Being locked inside might be far more dangerous than the Archons outside.

"A Genesis Sphere..." Liana whispered, lifting her face toward the vaulted dome.

Ethereal scenes flickered within the sphere... ancient tribes warring, cities rising and turning to dust, civilizations cycling through endless rebirth.

A profound sense of antiquity and desolation surged from the orb. Yet, a deep familiarity resonated within Liana’s soul.

This was a supreme relic of the Primeval Aurora.

Tendrils of light spilled from the sphere, wrapping around the crystal sarcophagus like chains. Within the coffin lay a barely discernible figure.

"You have finally found this place."*

A woman’s voice echoed through the palace.

As the voice spoke, the swirling projection above froze.

The scene locked onto a grand temple sacrifice. Every worshipper halted, except for the high priestess upon the altar, who turned her head to look directly at the trio.

"Who is speaking?!" Sylvia gasped.

A second later, she forcefully coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The karmic threads were in total chaos. She severed the connection instantly to save her own life.

Theo’s eyes flared. *Great Sage!*

[Target is shielded by a localized causality anomaly. Scan failed.]

Theo tightened his grip on his hammer.

Sylvia had mentioned three existences that defied divination:

Beings of Archon-tier or higher, bearers of causality-obscuring artifacts, and Otherworlders like himself.

"I am Pontifex Valerius," the woman sighed, descending from the sphere.

She wore the pitch-black vestments of the ancient Devourer Cult. She appeared to be in her thirties, her features sharp and her pale gray eyes shimmering with an otherworldly divinity. Her gaze bypassed Theo and Sylvia entirely, locking onto Liana.

Theo’s first instinct was to shield Liana. He stepped forward, karmic fire igniting around his shoulders.

His spiritual sense detected zero physical mass from the woman. But to be entirely certain...

*Flick*

Theo carelessly tossed a gold Imperial denarius directly at her face.

The coin passed cleanly through the bridge of her nose without a hint of resistance, landing on the crystal floor with a crisp *clink*.

The apparition stared at Theo in total silence.

Theo relaxed slightly. She was an incorporeal spiritual remnant. Even if she had been an Exarch in life, a ghost lacked lethality.

"Was it you who commanded the Abyssal Manticore to slaughter the Aurora bloodline?" Theo asked, hefting his hammer.

"It was me, yet not me. To be precise, it was Him." The apparition shook her head, pointing a finger at the crystal sarcophagus.

"Explain," Theo demanded.

"The diary on the walls was my truth," the apparition murmured. "After I inherited the mantle of Somnus, the Primeval of Nightmares, I sensed his consciousness awakening within me, slowly replacing my true self. The legacy was a parasitic seed for his revival."

"To resist the erosion of my soul, I constructed this Sanctum. I sealed my body in the sarcophagus and hid my spiritual remnant within the Genesis Sphere to maintain the sealing array."

The apparition bowed deeply toward Liana. "Fortunately, before Somnus could break free, you returned... Primeval Aurora."

Sylvia froze, her eyes widening in shock.

Theo blinked. Liana was not a Primeval; she was just the Aurora Empress. However, she possessed the bloodline, the essence, and the relic of the Primeval Aurora. To a trapped ghost, the resonance must feel identical.

Theo discreetly squeezed Liana’s icy hand. *Play along.*

Liana remained stoic, her eyes gazing down at the apparition like a sovereign regarding a peasant. "You have performed your duties adequately."

"I merely followed your ancient instructions to suppress the others," the apparition bowed lower.

Sylvia’s mind was reeling.

Internal civil wars among the Primeval?

The Aurora commanding the suppression of Nightmares?

The historical implications were world-altering...

"You seem... significantly weaker than in the First Era," the apparition noted, narrowing her eyes as she studied Liana.

Liana’s jade-like face remained entirely expressionless, her aura dropping to pure zero. "Are you attempting to probe my depths?"

"Forgive my insolence," the apparition lowered her head. "The Genesis Sphere has always belonged to you. Please, reclaim it and merge with the array. Only your divine power can permanently extinguish the Nightmare revival. Once done, break the sarcophagus and let my body return to dust. My millennia of suffering will finally end."

Liana’s eyes flickered with genuine curiosity.

Merging with a supreme artifact of her bloodline was incredibly tempting.

She took a half-step forward.

Theo yanked her backward by the wrist.

"Wait. Stand down," Theo commanded.

The apparition looked puzzled. "Is something amiss?"

Theo turned to Sylvia, who was still wiping blood from her chin. "Sylvia, when you attempted to divine her, did you see a blank void, or did you see chaos?"

"Chaos," Sylvia whispered. "Total chaos."

Theo’s eyes locked onto the apparition. "A fragmented mortal soul hiding in a hologram should not possess the karmic density to break an Oracle’s divination or crash my arrays."

Liana’s grip tightened on her sword.

"Unless..." Theo raised his Abyssal Hammer, the karmic fire roaring to life. "Unless you are not the mortal Pontifex at all. You are Somnus."

The apparition remained still for a few seconds before chuckling softly. "You are overthinking it, mortal. I am Pontifex Valerius. Simply follow my instructions, and the truth will reveal itself."

"Even Pontifex Valerius could not confirm if he was still himself," Liana countered, her eyes piercing the ghost. "He lost the battle for dominance. The real Pontifex, along with his body, was sealed inside that sarcophagus."

"And you... you have been imprisoned by the Genesis Sphere, unable to fully overwrite his ego, have you not?" Liana’s voice grew colder. "Somnus."

Liana uttered the ancient name almost instinctively.

After speaking, she froze, her expression blank.

How did she know the true name of the Nightmare? Yet, it felt entirely natural to say it.

Theo, oblivious to her internal shock, gave her a huge thumbs-up.

Truly worthy of the Empress title...

He pointed his Abyssal Hammer at the apparition and declared sternly, "Audacious fiend! I saw through your disguise at a glance!"

"Ah, why will you not believe me? If you had not reminded me..." The apparition sighed, her lips curling into a wicked smile. "...I might have almost believed I really was the Pontifex."