"Golden Dawn."
Silvia gazed at the emblem of this ancient and extraordinary secret society, her brows also slightly furrowed.
She harbored some subconscious disdain and aversion towards this mysterious society, which might have more than one ancient Demigod within its ranks.
After all, her childhood misfortunes were all due to ancient gods, the Path of Godhood Ascension, and evil cults... Thus, even though she had absorbed half the authority of Twilight and could easily tread the Path of Godhood Ascension, Silvia was unwilling to ascend to godhood. Instead, she chose the path of the Throne.
Moreover, according to Isadella's earlier description... everything concerning Ceylon might be somehow inexplicably related to Golden Dawn.
Although in this rewritten history, everything about Ceylon and the Borgia family might have been fragmented by the rewrite, the Legendary individuals and Demigods within Golden Dawn would naturally be able to perceive the original form of that altered history.
Golden Dawn... who knows what they're plotting by sending me this letter.
Shiayar also stared at the star-dusted letter and sank into thought.
He knew very little about Golden Dawn, only that it was a mysterious organization, perhaps plotting something. Given its prestige and antiquity, it seemed like some high-level secret manipulator.
But as for their specific attitude towards him—whether friend or foe—he was utterly clueless.
They've already delivered the letter. Turning a blind eye isn't going to solve anything.
Avoidance won't solve the problem; it will only solve you.
Shiayar was never the type to sit back and wait for doom. When faced with potential threats and the unknown, he always preferred to take the initiative.
However, he wasn't about to carelessly open the envelope either.
Given Golden Dawn's antiquity and level of mystery—employing Legendary individuals to deliver mail and involving Demigods in rescues—there was no telling if they might produce something like a "Nailhead Seven Arrows Book," a Sacred Relic capable of cursing him the moment he opened it.
Though he possessed an undying body and had Silvia by his side, it was always wise to guard against others. It wouldn't be good to unwittingly have a location tracker or something similar placed on him.
Ultimately, I need to gather more intelligence on them.
It's not just about Golden Dawn's objectives... To correct the erroneous history, I also need to gather information on the current state of the Empire and Her Majesty the Empress. Being completely in the dark like this really isn't acceptable.
An undying body was not invincible. Charging in without intelligence and preparation was, in Shiayar's view, no different from delivering himself to the enemy.
Normally, Shiayar entrusted intelligence gathering to the Secret Intelligence Division of the Empire Military Department or to the Dark Shadow Council.
Unfortunately, with the Empire in its current disarray, the Secret Intelligence Division was likely useless.
As for the Dark Shadow Council... the Queen of the Night's previously ambiguous attitude towards him, coupled with certain conjectures Shiayar had formed after emerging from the Echo of History of Escarnia, made him somewhat reluctant to make contact.
Relying on other factions to gather intelligence isn't a sustainable solution.
It's always more reassuring to handle such preparatory work myself.
With this in mind, Shiayar's spiritual power focused on the azure screen in his mind and the item information it displayed.
[Knowledge Holy Chalice]
[Rarity: Purple]
[Category: Sacred Relic]
[Price: One hundred and seventy]
[Description: A forbidden object created at the dawn of Arcane Arts and knowledge to replicate the 'Black Chalice.']
[Using "Holy Chalice, oh Holy Chalice" as the activation incantation, it can answer any one question from the questioner. However, it follows the principle of equivalent exchange: the questioner must provide secret knowledge of equal value, or answer one question from the Holy Chalice in the presence of observers.]
[Note: Holy Chalice, oh Holy Chalice, I have a question: where's the enemy jungler this round? If you can't answer this, I can only give you 0 points for this trade.]
[You have purchased the 'Knowledge Holy Chalice,' consuming one hundred and seventy Sands of Time. Current remaining Sands of Time: 40.]
[You have obtained 'Knowledge Holy Chalice'.]
With a mere thought from Shiayar, the next moment, a small, pure white Holy Chalice slowly materialized in the palm of his hand.
This was part of Shiayar's pre-planned Sands of Time exchange strategy.
With his current strength, he was already formidable enough from a purely combat perspective.
Clad in the Black Knight Mecha, he was like a short-duration Legendary-level fighter, not to mention his undying body and an unused mechanical construct.
Spending more Sands of Time merely on increasing his strength would not yield significant benefits due to diminishing returns.
Thus, he only needed to allocate a portion of his Sands of Time to increasing skill proficiency and developing new skills. The rest was better spent on obtaining rule-based extraordinary tools or forbidden items.
And a Sacred Relic capable of directly gathering intelligence was, unsurprisingly, the optimal choice.
A somber luminescence, along with an aura of ancient mystery, emanated from the Holy Chalice.
Enola's expression remained unchanged. She was long accustomed to Shiayar conjuring items out of nowhere and wouldn't be surprised by any strange thing he pulled from his Spatial Pocket.
It was Silvia who looked somewhat surprised, her gaze falling upon the Holy Chalice as pale golden text materialized from the void.
"Knowledge Holy Chalice?"
Shiayar turned to the witch beside him. "Silvia Babe, do you recognize it?"
Silvia Babe… Does that mean I am Brother Shiayar's treasure, his precious darling?
Silvia's body trembled involuntarily. Although she had heard this term of endearment many times in her lemon cat form, this was the first time Brother Shiayar had called her that in person.
However, she quickly and carefully concealed the joy in her heart, brushed back her gray-silver hair, and nodded.
"I discovered some information when I achieved my Throne and looked back through the river of time.
"In the Ancient Era, shrouded by the mists of history, an artifact known as the Black Chalice emerged.
"Its origin is untraceable, but it's said to be an omnipotent wishing machine capable of granting any wish.
"However, after being tainted by an ancient existence from beyond the starry sky, the Black Chalice became distorted. It could still fulfill wishes, but the methods of fulfillment became twisted to various degrees.
"For example, if I wished to become the strongest in a village, the wish might be fulfilled not by making me stronger, but by corrupting everyone in the village stronger than me into black sludge, killing them."
Silvia's gaze rested upon the pure white Holy Chalice.
"The original Black Chalice soon vanished into the mists of history, becoming difficult to find. In later generations, countless powerful beings sought to emulate it and create a miraculous artifact capable of granting any wish, though most failed.
"Among the most successful replicas is the Knowledge Holy Chalice.
"The Knowledge Holy Chalice lacks the original Black Chalice's power to grant any wish; it can only answer an inquirer's questions, but its side effects are greatly reduced.
"In a way, knowing the principles behind all things in existence—achieving 'omniscience'—implies a certain degree of 'omnipotence.'
"It is said this Sacred Relic was left by the Eight-Page Mages who first founded the Black Tower, at a time when the Wizard profession was nascent and the spark of Arcane Arts had just ignited.
"Forged from the soul crystals of dozens of Sages who pioneered the Arcane Arts, its significance transcends that of a mere Sacred Relic.
"It is also the embodiment of the original Wizards' desire for truth, their quest for knowledge of the Arcane Arts, and their yearning to understand the rules of the world."
The pale golden text slowly paused.
"Yet, just like countless buried histories, this Sacred Relic should also have been buried within lost history, difficult to find.
"Furthermore, the incantation to activate the Knowledge Holy Chalice has also been forgotten.
"Even if one possesses the Knowledge Holy Chalice now, without knowing the incantation, it cannot be activated... I remember Brother Shiayar's teacher was one of the Black Tower's Eight-Page Mages; I wonder if the Black Tower still has any records of it."
Shiayar casually replied, "Oh, the incantation should be 'Holy Chalice, oh Holy Chalice.'"
From Silvia's words, Shiayar verified a speculation: this meant that all these extraordinary items and Sacred Relics in the Sands of Time Mall had once existed on the Western Continent but were lost to history for some reason; they were not original creations of the system.
In this light, the system's existence wasn't so untraceable after all.
「Meanwhile.」
In an instant, Silvia's gaze immediately focused on the pure white Knowledge Holy Chalice.
She didn't care how Brother Shiayar obtained the Knowledge Holy Chalice, nor how he knew the Chalice's activation incantation.
Since it was Brother Shiayar's secret, she would help him keep it. Silvia didn't want Brother Shiayar to dislike her for prying.
But—
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
Now that she knew the activation incantation for the Knowledge Holy Chalice, at this very moment, Silvia indeed had a question she desperately wanted to confirm.
The very next moment.
"Holy Chalice, oh Holy Chalice, is Brother Shiayar still a virgin?"
"Holy Chalice, oh Holy Chalice, has Shiayar exchanged bodily fluids with any woman other than me?"
Pale golden text, accompanied by Enola's cool voice, appeared simultaneously.
The air seemed to solidify for a moment.
The next moment, the pure white Knowledge Holy Chalice suddenly emitted a dazzling, eye-catching glow.
Right after, two concise lines of text appeared on the surface of the Knowledge Holy Chalice:
"Is a virgin."
"No."
After a moment's pause, the Chalice seemed to realize something, and its light began to flicker.
"The Contractor of the Storm Anchor... and a Throne Level expert of the new era, asking two such practically identical questions!"
The Knowledge Holy Chalice seemed to become excited; even the speed of its script accelerated.
Immediately after, another line of text emerged.
"The first responder."
The Knowledge Holy Chalice drew an arrow pointing towards Silvia.
It swayed with apparent delight before new text materialized.
"May I ask..."
"In the hidden chamber of the third room to the left of the corridor, on the sixth floor of the castle, located within the third-dimensional interlayer of the White Tower's affiliated Eternal Slumber Plane—what exactly did you do there?"
The moment she saw the question, the Gray-Silver Witch's complexion instantly became extremely rigid.