25-273

EP.273. [Grand Duchess Marianne Reminisces About the Young Ulysses Schneider.] 

“Yes, that’s right. I am the last priestess of the Amon Empire not just someone who inherited the title, but someone born and raised in the empire and became a priestess there.” 

Ssssh... 

Hearing Anastasia’s words, the imperial mage Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide with shock. Anastasia clarified her identity further and stood up from her rocking chair. Anastasia was from the Amon Empire, the last demon empire that fell a thousand years ago. 

‘Amazing! I suspected she was someone who had crossed a great span of time, but to be the priestess of the ancient Amon Empire this is beyond imagination!’ 

Elizabeth’s deduction about the interstitial dimension was no accident. She knew it was theoretically possible to use such a dimension to cross time for up to 200–300 years. But according to Anastasia, it had been at least a thousand years. 

“You look quite surprised, mage. But your appearance is also quite astonishing to me.” 

Anastasia, too, seemed more curious than expected. 

“You’re not a demon, nor do you seem to have absorbed demonic energy for a long time, and yet as a mage, you possess such an incredible level of dark magic.” 

This was due to Elizabeth’s hybrid magical power. 

Normally, magical and dark magical energies are quite incompatible. Once you go down one path, the other remains at best a surface-level knowledge, and trying to master both can ruin your magical circuits, much like going mad from conflicting energies. The only exceptions are rare demon prodigies or humans who have painstakingly studied both extremes over a long time. But to Anastasia, Elizabeth was just a 20-year-old young woman clearly not either case. 

“It’s the power of love!” 

Emboldened by Eugene Schneider, Elizabeth proudly revealed the reason she had become such a unique, hybrid mage. Her body had changed through her connection with Eugene, sharing empathic energy with him. 

“The power of love? So there was someone who gave you this opportunity?” 

Elizabeth’s answer was so confident that Anastasia didn’t doubt her. In fact, she seemed even more interested in the mysterious person who had helped Elizabeth grow. 

“That’s right! My brother no, the benefactor who showed me a wider world bestowed this blessing on me. Thanks to him, I was able to embrace magic more deeply! That’s the result you see now!” 

Elizabeth was excited. She was very proud of her love with Eugene Schneider. She hesitated for a moment, unable to say outright that she had slept with her brother, but the result of that love was undeniably amazing. 

“They say one who exists between light and darkness will descend...” 

Anastasia, who had listened quietly to Elizabeth’s boasting, murmured softly. 

“Anastasia, you said you received an oracle. Were you waiting for someone matching that prophecy?” 

Elizabeth, now serious, picked up on this and asked. 

“That’s not exactly right. There was an oracle, but I didn’t trust it. That’s why I’m so surprised now.” 

Step, step, step. 

Anastasia answered as she walked to the side of the room. 

“Then what was the content of the oracle?” 

Elizabeth felt that Anastasia was neither hostile nor exclusionary, so she pressed for more details as Anastasia moved. 

“Please, have a seat on this sofa, special mage. This isn’t a story that can be told in just a few words.” 

Anastasia offered Elizabeth a seat and picked up a teapot from the side table. 

“The content is just as I murmured before. The oracle said that one who exists between light and darkness will descend, and that this being is not yet complete and that I should give them a definite opportunity.” 

Pour... 

Anastasia and Elizabeth sat on the sofa. Anastasia poured tea into cups on the table and answered Elizabeth’s question. 

‘Ohhh...! One who exists between light and darkness! Isn’t that my brother? It fits him perfectly!’ 

Wiggle...! Wiggle...! 

As she was treated with such hospitality, Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile, feeling that the description matched her beloved brother Eugene Schneider exactly. As a child, she had been drawn to Eugene’s dark and mysterious aura. 

“But listening to you, Anastasia, it seems you have a significant connection with the being who gave the oracle?” 

Elizabeth’s intelligence was undeniable. Normally, an oracle is symbolic and there’s a vast gap between the one who gives and the one who receives it. But Anastasia’s account was unusually specific, and her attitude was not that of a typical priestess. 

“Not just anyone can survive a thousand years in an interstitial dimension. It takes great karma. And with that karma comes great knowledge. Ask me anything, special mage. Didn’t you come here to learn something from me?” 

Anastasia seemed reluctant to reveal her exact relationship with the oracle-giver, so she shifted the conversation to Elizabeth’s questions. 

“Are you aware that demonic energy is surging across the continent, causing a geometric increase in monsters?” 

“I am. That’s why I was able to reveal myself to you more easily.” 

Elizabeth responded immediately. 

“I heard there was a demonic eclipse in Enklema twenty years ago.” 

She brought up the story she’d heard from her former academy master, Samantha. 

“Hm... As far as I know, the empire has almost erased that event from history. How does such a young mage know about the manifestation of the demon god’s power in Enklema?” 

Anastasia indirectly confirmed Elizabeth’s question, also pointing out the closed-off nature created by the Radiant Goddess Church’s power. 

“My master participated in the project at the time.” 

“Your master Samantha? The blue-eyed mage Samantha?” 

“You know my master?” 

“I had to look into the empire’s response, which was faster than expected. Blue-eyed mage Samantha her lineage contains demon blood.” 

“Is that true?” 

“Why would I lie in this situation?” 

Elizabeth explained that her master Samantha had told her, and Anastasia not only knew of Samantha but also revealed information Elizabeth hadn’t known. 

‘So that’s it... My master’s magic always had something unusual about it. Now I understand...’ 

Elizabeth nodded slowly. Samantha had been an outsider, but her philosophy and methods had appealed to the eccentric Elizabeth. 

“My master said that at the time, the empire’s swordmaster entered the demonic eclipse with her remote support.” 

But what Elizabeth really wanted to know wasn’t about Samantha’s lineage it was about the one who entered the eclipse: her beloved brother’s father, Ulysses Schneider. 

“That’s right. The man known as the Sword Saint of the continent, Swordmaster Ulysses Schneider, fearlessly stepped into the demon god’s domain. I was amazed by his abilities, which rivaled those of legendary heroes.” 

Anastasia, who had observed the demonic eclipse from the interstitial dimension, was also aware of Ulysses Schneider’s involvement. 

‘Oh wow! My brother’s father really was an amazing person! For some reason, this makes me happy!’ 

Wiggle...! Wiggle...! 

Elizabeth, who had been serious, couldn’t help but smile again at hearing Ulysses Schneider praised by a third party. 

“But eventually, I understood his strength. Because he entered the domain of the demonic eclipse, I was able to sense him perfectly.” 

Smile... 

Anastasia continued to explain what she knew of that day. 

“What do you mean?” 

Feeling something important was coming, Elizabeth leaned in, fully focused. 

“Ulysses Schneider he is a man from the lost divine nation of Atlantis.” 

The secret Anastasia revealed to Elizabeth was truly shocking. 

“Eh??” 

While checking the installation of the Heart of the Sun, Eugene Schneider swung his sword during a break and suddenly sensed someone’s gaze. 

“Mother, why are you looking at me with such a wistful expression?” 

Marianne, who was touring the Heart of the Sun with him, was sitting on the grass, resting, and gazing at him with a mysterious look. 

“You look so much like him.” 

When Eugene playfully asked, Marianne propped up her chin and answered. 

“Like who?” 

Puzzled by his mother’s words, Eugene tilted his head. 

“Your real father, Ulysses Schneider. The way you look now as a grown man is so much like him in his youth.” 

Marianne told him exactly what she felt, and the keyword she brought up was Ulysses Schneider.