Right now, if there was one thing Eliot had come to realize, it was that the path he'd been following might not have been his own decision at all.

It started with being used by the Goddess for her own purposes, then moved to fulfilling 'Eren's' destiny. After that came his capture and torture at Anna's hands. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he'd gained knowledge about enslavement—knowledge he shouldn't have possessed. And somehow, it had felt like a perfectly reasonable idea to start by enslaving Anna herself, then continue on a spree attempting to enslave every heroine.

The more Eliot thought about the sequence of events, the more convenient and orchestrated it all seemed. It felt eerily similar to when he'd been following the Goddess's directives—everything had flowed so smoothly, so naturally, as if guided by an invisible hand.

"The merge," he recalled suddenly, his eyes widening with realization.

He connected it with something this girl had mentioned earlier: "Devouring the slaver." The pieces began clicking into place with disturbing clarity.

'Vessel.' That was probably it. That was what whoever had been using him as a pawn ultimately wanted to achieve—to use his body as a vessel for themselves. The merge wasn't some epic assimilation with his alternate self from another reality, as he'd been led to believe. No, it was the moment when he would be taken over completely, after enslaving so many people that his own soul had become too weak and fractured to resist possession.

For now, he was absolutely done with enslaving anyone else. Not Diana. Not Natashia. Not even Jenica, despite whatever circumstances might arise. He had finally recognized that the Slave Seal might have far more damaging and insidious repercussions than he'd been allowed to know. In fact, he no longer trusted Nelia at all anymore, and certainly not that... whatever that thing was that claimed to be him from another reality. Who knew if this entire elaborate story had been fabricated from the start? He'd been playing into it like a fool, trusting too easily and questioning too little.

'System, can consciousness be denied access to my thoughts?'

[What are you doing, Eliot?]

'Taking measures,' Eliot replied simply.

[PROCESSING REQUEST]

[YES, CONSCIOUSNESS CAN BE LIMITED]

[DOES USER WISH TO PROCEED WITH LIMITATION?]

[Why are you doing this? I already told you the reasons I can't answer your questions,] the voice protested.

'Proceed with Limitations, and mute consciousness,' Eliot commanded, his resolve unwavering.

[PROCEEDING WITH LIMITATION]

[ELIOT! DON'T DO THIS! YOU WILL REGRET DOING THIS!] The consciousness's voice rose in what could only be described as panic.

He ignored it completely.

[ELIOT—!]

The voice abruptly ceased, cutting off mid-protest.

[CONSCIOUSNESS SUCCESSFULLY MUTED AND LIMITED]

'Good,' Eliot thought with grim satisfaction.

At this point, he finally understood what Nelia had truly meant when she'd described herself as his "guide." She wasn't meant to help him in any genuine sense—she was intended to keep leading him in a specific direction, toward an outcome that whoever created the System and bestowed this bloodline upon him had designed from the very beginning. For now, he needed to take a significant step back and reassess everything he thought he knew.

"What are you thinking about?" the girl asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

He glanced at her, his expression carefully neutral. "Nothing important. So... was what you just told me the original reason you came after me?"

"No," she admitted, her expression becoming complicated, almost melancholic. "I just thought... you were someone I used to know. Someone from a very long time ago."

"...Why EXACTLY were you cursed?" Eliot asked, pressing the issue once more. Something about her story didn't add up.

"I just told you," she replied, a hint of exasperation creeping into her voice.

"You did, but it doesn't make complete sense to me," Eliot countered, leaning forward slightly. "Does every slave who kills their master get cursed? And what IS your curse exactly? You've been vague about the specifics."

He probed even deeper, watching her expression carefully for any tells. She frowned at his persistence.

"That's an awful lot of questions. You haven't even agreed to help me yet, so why should I answer you?" She folded her arms defensively and asked, one of her eyebrows raised in challenge.

"I'm asking to get clarification," Eliot explained patiently. "I just met you mere hours ago. You don't honestly expect me to believe everything you're saying just because you said it, do you? I need to make absolutely sure of what I'm getting into before I commit to anything."

"So you'll help me if I answer all your questions?" she asked, her tone cautiously hopeful.

"I need to know the risks first. All of them," Eliot said firmly.

"Fine," she responded after a moment's consideration. "Yes, whoever kills their master is automatically cursed by the ancient magic that binds the enslavement. And the curses are incredibly diverse—each one seems tailored to create maximum suffering. Mine was... to never die. To be functionally immortal."

"What?" Eliot blinked in surprise.

"Yes, I know how it sounds. It may seem like a blessing at first glance, but... it's not. Not after living with nothing but endless pain and loss for this long," she said, her expression remaining eerily calm despite the weight of her words. "Everyone I've ever cared about has aged and died while I remain unchanged. Every wound I've suffered has healed, only for me to endure new ones. I cannot escape through death, no matter how much I might wish to."

"So you want to die?" Eliot asked bluntly.

"Pretty much, yes. I've had more than enough of this cursed existence, this cruel joke that's been forced upon me. The loneliness of watching centuries pass while you remain frozen in time..." She trailed off, her eyes distant.

"...," Eliot just stared at her, processing this information.

"I want you to end it," she stated plainly. "In return, I will tell you a secret. A very valuable one."

"What secret?" Eliot asked, his interest piqued despite his wariness.

"A way to escape 'its' clutches," she whispered, and from the knowing look in her eyes, Eliot understood immediately that she was referring to whatever consciousness or entity had been manipulating him.

"That doesn't sound like a fair deal to me," Eliot reasoned carefully. "The way I see it, I would lose something potentially great by helping you die. Immortality, even cursed immortality, could be an incredible asset."

"...You could look at it that way, but... if you examine the bigger picture carefully, it's actually far more worth it than you realize," she insisted.

"...You don't say." Eliot stood up to leave, but she immediately reached out and held him back.

"Wait! Fine, just tell me what you want. Name your price."

"...," Eliot stared at her silently for several long minutes, his mind working through various possibilities and scenarios. After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke.

"How strong are you?" he asked directly.

"...Very?" She tilted her head, seeming slightly confused by the question.

"Can you kill a god?" Eliot asked, watching her reaction carefully.

"Depends on what level of god we're talking about, and whether or not I have access to a god-killer weapon," she replied matter-of-factly, not sounding at all bothered by the fact that he'd just casually mentioned deicide.

"There are levels of gods?" Eliot asked, frowning at this new information.

"Yes, of course. The hierarchy starts from demi-gods at the lowest level, moving up to deities, then world gods, celestial gods, primordial gods, and finally the LAWS themselves—the fundamental forces that govern all of reality," she explained as if this were common knowledge.

"...What level can you realistically take on?" Eliot pressed.

"With a god-killer? I could handle world gods, possibly even a weaker celestial god if circumstances were favorable. Without such a weapon? Deities at best, and even that would be an extremely difficult fight."

"Fine," Eliot said, making his decision. "Where can we find a god-killer weapon?"

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