Chapter 427: The Keeper’s Requirements (Bonus)
Ethan looked curious. "Oh?"
She reached over and took the wine glass from his hand, finished the rest of it in a single gulp before casually throwing the empty glass away.
It struck the ground and shattered into pieces.
Ethan watched the broken glass for a moment before letting out a sigh.
Dark Bella then began, "Before I entered reincarnation, I divided my power into two separate halves."
He turned toward her with a noticeably more interested expression.
She continued. "If I had reincarnated normally while carrying all of my divine power, the other gods would’ve sensed me immediately."
"An elder-god doesn’t just appear in a new world unnoticed...The amount of power I possessed would’ve announced my return, and once that happened, they would’ve come after me immediately."
A faint smile crossed her face. "So, I split my power in half. Half of it remained with me, and the other half was entrusted to the Keeper."
Ethan looked at her with a puzzled expression. "The Keeper?"
She nodded. "The Keeper is like a sentient store that exists somewhere within the vastness of the void."
"It’s a place where gods can preserve anything they wish."
As she spoke, faint images of a horrifying colossal gate in dark clouds flashed through her thoughts.
"For as long as any of us can remember, the Keeper has always existed since the beginning of time. In truth, it’s even older than most gods."
Ethan narrowed his eyes in curiosity as he tried to picture it.
Dark Bella continued. "Entrusting something to the Keeper guarantees that it will stay safe, but that safety comes with a condition."
She went on to explain that the Keeper would always present a sort of condition. And unless that requirement was fulfilled, it would never return what had been placed in its care.
"It accepts your possession and then determines what it wants in exchange for its return." She glanced toward him. "And until those conditions are met, it won’t release it."
Ethan seemed puzzled. "So why would anyone use something like that?"
She smiled a little. "They usually don’t... Its conditions are usually unpredictable and so unreasonable that retrieving what has been stored becomes more troublesome than the act of safeguarding it in the first place."
"Only elder gods truly make frequent use of it, because the Keeper fears us. Any other god who places something within the Keeper’s custody must still satisfy whatever condition it demands."
"I see.." Ethan said, giving her a nod.
"yeah..’ Alter bella replied, then continued. "I stored half of my power with it because I was certain that once I reincarnated, I would return with enough status to still be recognized as myself."
" It wouldn’t have been my full power, but it would’ve been enough to command the Keeper to return my other half."
Ethan listened quietly as she continued.
"However, even after reincarnating, I didn’t return with the amount of power I was supposed to have, so now I can’t go to to the Keeper cause it wouldn’t recognize my status enough to grant it back.
Alter-bella sighed. "Truly, everything about my reincarnation plan went wrong."
"The power I expected to return with wasn’t lost. It still exists, and gradually, it returns to me over time. As long as I continue to exist, I’ll continue recovering it until I possess the missing half."
There was a brief pause before she continued.
"But I also realized that waiting for that to happen might take longer than I would like. And it would’ve been foolish not to prepare for the possibility of being discovered by the other gods."
"Which is why I made preparations, and began gathering the requirements the Keeper demanded in exchange for returning what I had entrusted to it."
Ethan looked at her curiously as a few things began making sense. "So, the Chalice of Verdona and the body of the Hero were part of these requirements?"
Isabella nodded and raised three fingers. "The Keeper gave me three requirements."
"The first was a divine artifact that wasn’t created or owned by a god."
"The second was the body of someone who carried divinity within them, but wasn’t a god... for that one, it would’ve been either the Hero’s body or Abaddon since he was always willing to offer himself for it."
"And the third requirement..." Her voice softened as she became hesitant. Finally, she said, "The beating heart of the one I love."
Ethan’s eyes widened, and for a moment it was quiet.
Then, a smile appeared briefly on her face. "Perhaps it was luck. Or perhaps it was fate, but I never really had to search for the three requirements."
"The events of our lives placed the first two directly in front of me."
"But the third one..."
She lowered her gaze. "even though it was always the first requirement within my reach... even though it is still within my reach... I don’t think I ever want to lay my hands on it."
Ethan stared at her for a few seconds before a smiling and turning back to the view of night.
"That’s a really cruel price you’ve been asked to pay." he said.
Dark Bella laughed softly. "The cruelest one."
She added after a brief pause, "You know, when Isabella first fell in love with you, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about this part."
"I knew that if Isabella fell in love with you, then every part of her, including me, would inevitably love you as well."
She shook her head and laughed again. "But I told myself that I was a goddess. A being above something as trivial as human emotions."
"When the time came, I thought it would be easy." She slowly turned toward him. "But I grossly miscalculated and underestimated just how much I would be affected by those very same emotions."
She exhaled softly. "So, yes... I’d say it’s been a rather humbling experience."
Ethan couldn’t help but laugh. Alter-Bella joined him as well.
Then, after the laughter faded, Ethan turned toward her again. "If you already knew this was going to be a problem, then why did you bother collecting the other two requirements in the first place?"
She scoffed. "Because, husband, I might love you very deeply. But unlike Isabella, I possess a slightly greater sense of self-awareness."
"which means I am aware of the possibility that you could die at someone else’s hands. And if that happened..." She shrugged. "I’d still be able to take your heart."
Ethan stared at her for a second. He looked both surprised and amused at the same time. "I’m not entirely sure if I should be touched by that or deeply concerned that my wife is apparently waiting for my death."