316 Purpose and Hostages
Amidst the surging flames, the entire Empire Embassy gradually liquefied akin to a wax figurine. Concurrently, the Moon Realm rift concealed beneath the edifice’s facade gradually unveiled its original ferocious guise.

The Moon Realm was amorphous. Any Moon Realm manifestation reflected in a mortal’s perception would exhibit distinct forms in accordance with the differences in their thoughts.

In William’s perception, in the depths of the Moon Realm rift that had forfeited its disguise, innumerable illusory thoughts amassed into a vortex that gyrated incessantly akin to a whirling resplendent nebula. In the profoundest section of the nebula, a well-rounded female figure with eight spider legs protruding from Her back and shrouded in dense mist surfaced gradually.

The three Void Sovereigns directed Their gazes at Ravenwood simultaneously. Furthermore, with Their might and authority, They penetrated this timeline that shouldn’t have existed gradually.

There’s no need to be so agitated, Calamity. This is merely a simple experiment. At the very least, you won’t forfeit much. Or rather, collaborating with this experiment can furnish you with a more gratifying outcome.

!!
The apathetic whispers, dulcet murmurs, and viscous hisses of the three Moon Realm goddesses converged into a mental tempest that could ravage the minds of mortals and assaulted William’s ether domain.

Taunting, consoling, menacing… The emotions in Their voices were etched in William’s mind akin to a file, compelling him to furrow his brow involuntarily.

“What do you imply by not forfeiting too much?”

William switched to a silver-white magical medium from his inventory and queried composedly.

The phantom engendered by the overlapping images of the three goddesses lapsed into silence momentarily. Finally, the dulcet voice of the Lord of Nightmare, Zamara, reverberated in William’s consciousness.

If Precept isn’t in your possession, it confirms that the wagers the Mocker and Heartless have placed on you are merely Their wishful thinking. In that case, as long as you swear to relinquish the struggle for the Eighth Holy Spirit’s throne, we will likewise swear that in the new world that arrives at the appointed time, we will reserve a spot for you and the people you cherish.

William raised his middle finger in response to the proposition.

He aimed the silver-white magical medium in his grasp at his throat. He utilized the Legendary Storm spell, Storm Order, to induce an even more immense soul storm. With frigid fury, he retorted, Screw your reservation.

In the Moon Realm’s nebula, the overlapping phantoms of the three goddesses fluctuated with the soul storm akin to candlelight buffeted by the autumn wind.

After a moment of stillness, in the sky above the Lake of Entropy, the Whispering Empress Beatrice seemed to gloat over Zamara’s misfortune as She uttered,

“A futile endeavor. I foresaw it long ago.”

If the Moon Realm Calamity was willing to accept the current conditions, he wouldn’t have relinquished the opportunity to advance to Void Sovereign in Black Crow Gaze and opted to revive that vestige of the past.

The rationale why the Calamity was labeled the Calamity was that to the Moon Realm, he resembled a natural disaster that was impervious to negotiation.

If the Calamity was agreeable to negotiation, it must be because he perceived that doing so could inflict greater devastation upon the Moon Realm.

As the Goddess of Conspiracy, it was already sufficiently mortifying for Her to be beguiled by the opposing party once.

Thus, Beatrice filled in for Zamara’s silence and continued, On the other hand, if Precept is genuinely in your possession, you won’t incur any losses, isn’t that so?
William’s expression darkened upon discerning the sarcasm in the other party’s tone.

He remained silent as Beatrice resumed, Even if this timeline transforms into true history, as long as the World Shell persists, we can’t infiltrate Currere. Precept will still rest in your hands, and we can’t thwart you from ascending the Eighth Holy Spirit’s throne. Matters would have reverted to square one. Other than the demise of all your subordinates in Ravenwood and the anthology of Ravenwood’s history being rewritten, the losses aren’t as significant as you envisaged.

“Stop beating around the bush,” William interjected, interrupting the other party’s prattle. He gazed at the shadows of the three goddesses and enunciated frigidly,

“What’s the point of telling me this? There’s no rationale for you to divulge this information, correct?”

The Void Sovereigns weren’t antagonists in a prime-time television drama. They wouldn’t saunter about the ensnared protagonist while magnanimously disclosing their impregnable evil plan—so that the protagonist could seize an opportunity to counterattack.

However, even if there was inherently something nefarious about Lunar Monsters who desired to relish negative emotions by impinging on William’s psyche, They would only spew so much gibberish after They decimated William’s allies in accordance with Their schemes.

Thus, William felt his heart constrict when he posed this query.

He was exceedingly apprehensive that the other party would retort directly with something akin to “What makes you think that we didn’t slaughter all your companions?” and inform him that it was too late.

William was resolute not to be a riddler. He had discussed his plan to traverse timelines with Blake and Remides beforehand. If he didn’t return within three days or an unexpected development transpired in Ravenwood while he was absent, they would cease casting spells on Floral immediately.

With the Void Sovereigns’ restricted power in Currere, it was impracticable for Them to besiege and assassinate the duo… Although William yearned to believe this unilaterally, if he crossed over and was a part of the Whispering Empress’s conspiracy, he had to reassess the present circumstances premised on the other party’s capacity to execute this.

I know what you’re fretting over, but this isn’t a matter to be anxious about, right? After all, even in this timeline, those devoted subordinates will still subsist, Beatrice’s ensuing sentence reverberated in the recesses of William’s ether domain.

She wasn’t incorrect. If this timeline evolved into Currere’s true history via the alleged Precept, then be it Nizemar, Floral, or anyone else, they would still exist since there were records of their existence in this timeline.

They would merely manifest as undead.

After all, the Ravenwood inhabitants in this timeline were marionettes controlled directly or indirectly by Camilla.

Hence, the other party was provoking William.

However, this was inconsequential…

“I’ll ask again. Why are you disclosing this to me?”

William ignored the provocation that was irrelevant to reality and uttered frigidly.

You’re exceptionally astute. Theoretically speaking, there’s certainly no rationale for us to inform you, but…”

This time, it was the Lady of Starvation Camilla’s viscous voice that reverberated.

Before She could finish speaking, William erupted into laughter.

What’s so amusing? Camilla inquired dismally.

“No, it’s simply that I think I comprehend your objective…”

William suddenly grasped the crux and beamed. He gestured towards the phantom in the distance and expounded.

Why did They stress so vehemently about my companions in the other timeline?

Fixating the timeline of Camilla’s origins into true history to procure the advantage of future control over Currere. This benefit was evidently only attainable by Camilla… But why did She enlist Zamara and Beatrice?

“Speaking of which, my aim in crossing over to this timeline appears to be to unearth the residue of the ritual that once spawned you and employ it to inflict severe harm upon you, correct?”

William surveyed the gyrating nebula and articulated.

The opposing party didn’t retort, so he persisted, “Indeed, I’m ensnared in this timeline, but on the other hand… you can’t dictate what I yearn to accomplish in the timeline, right?”

As William spoke, he tapped the magical medium in his grasp lightly. Two whirlwinds swept up the ashes on the ground instantaneously. The whistling wind contorted the trees encircling the embassy into dough twists.

If this Ravenwood timeline was fixed into actual history, William merely needed to terminate Ravenwood’s history in 1886 of the Platinum Calendar.

If he let loose, it wouldn’t consume too much time.

This was naturally something Camilla was averse to witnessing.

“Hence, to impede me, what hostages are you preparing?” William enunciated frigidly after his laughter.