Two Suns in the Sky?

In the Black Harbor District, within a private club belonging to the cult, a secluded back hall had become Ansu's temporary office.

The air smelled of fresh ink, and behind a large oak desk, Ansu was leafing through a mountain of documents.

Ever since he became a cult elder and gained the authority to mobilize the intelligence network, a massive amount of information was consolidated here every day. The number of executors assisting him had also increased, making the atmosphere in the hall oppressive and busy.

While everything appeared to be in order on the surface...

A very strange scene was currently playing out within the Echoes of Truth.

Ansu and Celia could command the cult executors to work for them, but Samantha could do the same. The orders from both sides inevitably clashed.

Two command centers had emerged within the Echoes of Truth, and for the past few days, the executors had been dealing with massive headaches.

It was as if there were two suns in the sky.

Samantha, in particular, seemed to have gone mad. She issued over a dozen directives a day, demanding the executors capture the traitor Ansu at all costs.

However, every one of these orders was selectively ignored by the executors.

Things were better on Ansu's side. He merely had the intelligence personnel continue monitoring the Church's movements while having the executors report on Samantha's current location and her next destination.

Since these weren't absurd orders like killing Samantha, some of the more ambitious executors were willing to do him the favor. After all, Samantha was showing clear signs of an impending downfall.

With a faint ripple of magic, Celia's ghostly blue phantom appeared beside Ansu.

"Good morning, Miss Witch."

"Morning..."

Celia let out a lazy yawn and glanced at the cult members around the room.

David immediately understood and waved for the other executors to leave the room, giving the two of them some private space.

"Pulled another all-nighter, didn't you?" Ansu looked up. The dark circles under Celia's eyes had grown heavier; she clearly hadn't listened to him about getting proper sleep.

"I did not!" Celia's eyes suddenly darted away. "I go to sleep very early every night. I haven't been staying up late to study magic at all..."

"You really aren't suited for lying." Ansu looked at her helplessly.

"I'm certainly not as good at it as you are~" Celia's phantom leaned in, looking down at the pile of documents on Ansu's desk.

"Oh? Am I that good at lying?" Ansu blinked. "Haven't I always been honest with you, Miss Witch?"

The phantom, which was almost leaning into Ansu's arms, flickered. Celia turned around and narrowed her eyes at Ansu's innocent expression.

"Hard to say."

"Just because you aren't lying to me now doesn't mean you won't in the future!"

Celia stared meaningfully into Ansu's eyes and said softly, "How can I be sure that a true master of deception—someone who can play both the Church and Samantha for fools—won't treat me the same way?"

Ansu thought silently to himself, 'Actually, I've lied to you before... and quite a lot, too.'

But there was no need to let her know that. He smiled and said, "Even if I wanted to lie, you are much harder to fool than the Church and Samantha combined... How could I possibly deceive you?"

Celia's lips curled up slightly. "That's true."

Anyone could lie to her, but Ansu could not.

This was because she held the trump card of 【Soul Dominion】. If she wanted to know if Ansu was telling the truth, she only needed to use hypnosis once.

There was no magic in this world that could break her hypnosis.

She didn't do it now simply because she didn't want to. Her trust in Ansu was no longer at the stage where she needed to be cautious and verify everything repeatedly.

She trusted Ansu, and Ansu trusted her. The relationship between them had long since become inseparable.

"That..." Ansu suddenly asked carefully, "White lies shouldn't count as part of that, right?"

Celia was taken-back for a moment before she let out a sinister chuckle. "Wait! You actually have lied to me about something?"

"No, no..." Ansu shook his head repeatedly. "We just need to clarify the rules! Many things are complicated... If you get angry and lock me in a dark room over some trivial matter, I'd be wrongly accused, wouldn't I?"

In truth, the biggest 'landmine' had yet to explode.

If Celia ever found out that her hypnosis had been a joke from the very beginning, Ansu didn't know what would happen.

But surely... it probably wouldn't be a big deal, right?

Maybe he should find some time to test it out with the 【Future Simulation System】?

One test might lead to his death...

"Fine, fine. I'm not that unreasonable!" Celia was amused by Ansu's cautious behavior.

She sat on a large rock back in her cave as if she were sitting on Ansu's desk, elegantly crossing her long, slender legs and watching Ansu's face with a half-smile.

"If a special situation really arises where you have no choice but to lie, I'm not saying I won't allow it..." Celia said with a smile. "But a white lie is still a lie! If you really deceive me, you'll have to accept a punishment~"

"This punishment... is it a real punishment?" Ansu blinked.

"Hmph, what do you think!" Celia rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh..." Ansu breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, thinking he had successfully laid the groundwork.

'What is there to fear? I will win!'

After some small talk, Ansu pulled out the information Celia cared about most from the desk and handed it to her. "Samantha should be arriving in Benalu City tomorrow night."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but chuckle. "She issues ten or twenty directives a day, yet not a single person obeys her anymore."

Celia couldn't help but sneer, already imagining the other woman's exasperated and hysterical state.

However, Ansu's actions also made her understand why he insisted on showing the elders some respect and following the so-called rules.

"You are subtly letting them see who is truly more fit to control the cult."

Ansu nodded. With that old witch as a foil, the two of them could win even if they did nothing. Samantha was simply too outrageous.

Ansu's vision was indeed more long-term. Samantha was causing trouble for the already endangered cult, while Ansu was working hard to maintain the mess. The difference was clear at a glance.

"Solving the person who raises the problem feels good, but the problem itself still exists." Ansu tapped his finger on the desk, his voice steady and clear. "I don't want an empty shell of the Echoes of Truth. With the Imperial crisis imminent, keeping the Council of Elders is still useful. We don't have time to rebuild the cult from scratch."

Besides, hadn't Samantha already helped them with a major purge? The confidants who followed her wouldn't have a good end, and it was unclear how many would even be left.

There were indeed many 'talented individuals' within the Council of Elders who studied all sorts of strange and exotic magic.

For instance, there was the one who provided the theoretical support for Celia's 'scientific brainwashing,' and... that Elder Hall who could turn into an insect. Ansu had never seen anyone else use that; it was truly a one-of-a-kind skill.