Creis hesitated for a moment, then walked to the master bedroom and gently closed the door.
Gabriella was sound asleep, her chest rising and falling slightly.
Her lips moved a little, as if she had noticed Creis’s arrival, but she quickly drifted off again.
Creis sat down beside Gabriella, rested her hand lightly on the blanket, and watched the sleeping girl with careful eyes.
A few minutes later, she took out the relic Isabella had given her and studied the dagger’s intricate structure.
This weapon could seal away most of her power.
Without another god-level existence to help her undo it, she would be able to use no more than one-tenth of her strength from then on.
This was Lartomia’s power.
Memories of the past suddenly rose in Creis’s mind—memories of Lartomia, and of the previous plane.
Lartomia was called the [Divine Offspring], yet she was not the child of a god.
She was a human who had inherited a will.
She wielded weapons capable of threatening, even slaying, gods, and she had once met Creis in open battle.
Lartomia had lived a very long time as well.
After the God War, Lartomia had changed her name and vanished into an unknown place, never again appearing before the Heavenly Oracle Envoys.
Later, when the Evil God incident erupted, everyone turned their attention once more toward that new god who might destroy the world.
During the Era of Destruction, Creis had seen Lartomia one more time.
Shadow had polluted vast stretches of land.
Inside the miasma that touched that shadow, nothing of the original form could be seen; creatures that absorbed the disaster were either dead or left in a wretched state.
The girl born from it, wrapped in miasma and polluted by shadow, likewise had no discernible original appearance, as if she were the incarnation of the absorbed disaster itself.
Creis and Lartomia had set aside their old grudges for the moment and chosen to cooperate.
Of course, that was only what they said.
The apostles discovered Creis at once, treated her as a threat, and launched an encirclement.
From the first clash, through months of ruined ground, until the Celestial God finally went to sleep on the floating island of the Heavenly Domain ruins, Creis never saw Lartomia again.
To be certain of her safety, Creis had even searched for her on her own, yet Lartomia had vanished from the world as if she had never existed.
Creis had even believed she had died in the apostles’ assault.
Now it was clear she had not only survived, but hidden herself extremely well, and had even begun cooperating with Monastar’s Heavenly Oracle Envoy.
Was this Lartomia’s goal?
“Who exactly are you?”
Creis looked at Gabriella again.
At that moment the girl stirred in her sleep; as if she had sensed Creis’s presence, the corners of her mouth lifted, and she rolled over to face her.
“Daughter…” Creis reached out, then stopped her hand in midair.
She did not want to wake her daughter.
After a few more minutes of hesitation she put the relic away, as if she had finally made up her mind, rose, left the bedroom, and headed for the kitchen on the second floor.
The mansion was quiet at night.
The kitchen light was still on.
Creis opened the door and, as expected, found Olivia and Isa busy inside.
They were preparing ingredients for the next day.
Gabriella’s appetite was not small, so they needed extra time at night to get everything ready.
“You’ve improved a lot compared to before, even if it still looks like you haven’t…”
“Of course she has. She is a Celestial God, after all.”
“For you, being able to learn how to cook is already impressive~ Entrusting my daughter to you really was the right choice.”
They worked and talked with smiles.
When they noticed Creis they both turned and greeted her.
“Creis, why are you here?” Olivia asked in surprise. “I thought you were keeping Gabriella company.”
“I have something to discuss with you.” Creis looked at Olivia, then at Isabella.
“Can I leave Gabriella with you for today? I’ll take care of the kitchen.”
“Mm, that’s fine.” Isabella planted her hands on her hips, puzzled. “Miss Creis, did something happen?”
“I simply want to talk things over with Olivia.”
Creis then seemed to remember something and added at once, “On the surface, it should be fine to speak here.”
Under their startled gazes she drew out the relic dagger and looked at Isabella.
“Isa, I know what I have to do now.”
“As long as my power is sealed, the plan can continue.”
“What…?”
“The Heavenly Oracle Envoys want to move against me. If you fail, they will never show their true colors—especially Lartomia.” Creis’s gaze sharpened.
“If your power is sealed, things may become even harder for us. Gabriella might be in even greater danger,” Isabella retorted.
Creis spoke as if she had already thought the matter through.
“Besides, if you pretend to fail, you will lose Letitia’s trust, and that will only make the plan more difficult.”
“With you and Olivia here, we will never lose.”
“We must pull them up by the roots.”
Creis’s tone was firm, as though nothing said now could stop her from making this dangerous choice.
“Don’t worry. Undoing a seal like this will not take too long… Besides, aren’t we family?”
Isabella smiled.
Before she left, she looked deeply at Olivia.
“I’m willing to trust you.”
Only Olivia and Creis remained in the kitchen.
Creis stepped forward and took over the work Isabella had left unfinished.
In simple terms it was washing vegetables and washing dishes—nothing especially difficult.
Powerhouses who had reached Emperor-level or higher could remain fully clear-headed so long as they had not been in battle.
Nighttime kitchen work was really just a way for them to gather and talk, so they never used magic to hurry it along; they simply worked while they chatted.
Creis, however, used gravity to clean the bowls and vegetables, packed Olivia’s share as well, and preserved everything with ice magic.
The two of them finished all the work in only ten minutes.
They had not spoken a single word the entire time, as if each were still absorbing what the other had revealed.
Seeing Creis stand there in silence for so long, Olivia watched her carefully and smiled.
“Creis, is there something you wanted to tell me?”
“What I needed to say, I have already said. I will seal my own power and force Lartomia into the open.”
“She’s the one behind everything, isn’t she? At least that’s how I see it.”
Creis shook her head.
“I’ve already told Isa the rest. I never imagined she could still be alive.”
Olivia walked to her side and took her right hand.
“You’re lying. There must be something else you came to me for, right?”