After listening to Silver-haired Lilian’s explanation, Elia furrowed her brows slightly.
She had already prepared for what Silver-haired Lilian said—she knew very well that the aura Silver-haired Lilian absorbed would not be insignificant.
“That aura will continuously erode your consciousness until you become like her,” Elia said softly.
“Stop scaring me with your doomsday talk. I can completely suppress that power. Look, I’m fine right now, aren’t I?”
Silver-haired Lilian obviously knew that Elia was referring to Blonde-haired Lilian, but from her perspective, Blonde-haired Lilian’s inability to suppress the aura of that Special Creature was due to her weak strength, whereas she herself could fully resist its influence.
Hearing Silver-haired Lilian’s words, Elia slowly walked over to the Statue of the Goddess, looking at the sacred and pure figure with a faint sigh.
“You don’t truly understand that Special Creature. Or rather, after hundreds of years, you might have already forgotten how terrifying that creature really is.”
“What do you mean by that? Can’t you just speak plainly? I hate riddles like you the most.”
“You’ll understand eventually. Its terror isn’t something I can sum up in a few words. We must expel it—drive it out of this world.”
Elia’s face showed resolve, as if she were speaking of her sacred mission.
Judging by her words, she had no confidence in killing the Special Creature outright; she only hoped to banish it beyond the world.
“I think you’re just being paranoid. If I had to act, that creature wouldn’t get off so easily.”
As she spoke, Silver-haired Lilian gathered a sphere of pitch-black energy in her palm and proudly waved it around.
“This power numbs the nerves of those infected, causing them to fall unknowingly into its grasp.”
“I can slow down this erosion. I originally thought that as long as Lilian kept receiving my Treatment, there wouldn’t be a risk of her becoming fully infected before she naturally died.”
“But your arrival made me give up that unrealistic idea,” Elia said heavily, as if recounting some grim truth.
“You’re from the future, right?”
Silver-haired Lilian was momentarily stunned, then finally nodded in acknowledgment.
She knew that the moment she appeared before Elia, her identity from the future could no longer be hidden.
After all, she could feel the shared aura between herself and Elia—and Elia could feel it from her as well.
“Let me be clear—I’m not you, nor the you from the future. If you expect me to stay and help you, forget it,” Silver-haired Lilian said bluntly.
“Mm, I know. You have your own consciousness now. I won’t force you to do anything; just don’t cause trouble.”
“All right, then. You brought us here and talked so much—what exactly do you want? Could it be a sermon?”
“To crush my confidence in suppressing that aura so you can manipulate me and Lilian?”
“Of course not. Since you asked, I won’t hide it anymore.”
“I want to take Lilian as my disciple. In other words, I want to take both of you as disciples so that you can more effectively control that power.”
“What?!”
Silver-haired Lilian immediately bristled, glaring at Elia in anger.
“Don’t even think about it! There’s no way I’ll let her learn all that nonsense from you, an old woman! And there’s no way I’ll learn from you either! In any case, forget it!”
“Besides, whatever you can do, I can do too. Why should I learn from you?”
Elia smiled faintly, completely unfazed by her attitude, “This isn’t your decision to make. Lilian’s body belongs to her, not you. So the final decision must come from her alone. You have no right to interfere.”
Silver-haired Lilian ground her teeth as dark energy surged around her again, but the sacred aura inside the Church suppressed her power from fully manifesting.
She could only glare fiercely at Elia.
As the two remained at an impasse, a faint voice suddenly spoke up.
“I—I’m willing.”
Blonde-haired Lilian’s voice echoed through the Church.
She had actually never lost consciousness.
Ever since Iana was burned, her mind had remained clear.
It was just that until now, she had not found the opportunity to speak, especially after Silver-haired Lilian’s rejection of Elia’s proposal.
“Why would you agree to her?” Silver-haired Lilian asked in disbelief.
“She can teach you, and so can I. I know everything she does.”
“If you want to learn, I can teach you too. So please don’t agree to her,” Silver-haired Lilian pleaded desperately, like a bride abandoned by her husband.
“Eh, eh, eh.”
Blonde-haired Lilian hadn’t expected such a reaction after accepting Elia’s offer.
“I just want to protect Iana and you better,” Blonde-haired Lilian said with a wronged tone.
“Besides, aren’t you still suppressing that aura inside my body? I just don’t want to trouble you anymore.”
“Trouble me? I don’t feel troubled at all. If you need me, I’ll never refuse,” Silver-haired Lilian’s expression froze, and a flicker of unease appeared in her sapphire eyes.
“I’ve made up my mind,” Blonde-haired Lilian’s voice rang out in the Church.
“I hope you can respect my decision.”
“If you want to learn, I can teach you as well. There’s no need to go to that old woman.”
After saying this, Silver-haired Lilian gave Elia a discontented glare, her eyes looking as if she were staring at a kidnapper who was trying to lure away her own child.
“But you’re already very tired. I don’t want to trouble you anymore,” Blonde-haired Lilian said.
“It’s fine. I don’t feel tired at all.”
“All right,” Elia interrupted Silver-haired Lilian’s attempts to dissuade her.
“If you truly care about Lilian, you should respect her choice.”
“Hmph, hmph, hmph.”
Silver-haired Lilian grumbled in dissatisfaction and shook her tiny fist at Elia.
“Don’t let me see her cry again, or I’ll come after you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a golden light flashed across Lilian’s body.
After the light passed, her hair color changed from silver to blonde.
Blonde-haired Lilian clenched her small hands, seemingly savoring the sensation of her long-lost body.
Over the past few days, she had mostly stayed within the spiritual realm and hadn’t come out for a breath of fresh air in a long time.
Though she had appeared before, the aura’s influence had completely numbed her self-awareness.