Chapter 182: Chapter182-The Second Holy Grail Bearer

John watched as the books on the shelves vanished one after another.

His eyebrows rose slightly. He had not expected something like this to happen at all.

However, he did not dwell too much on those books.

No matter how outrageous the things recorded within the Holy Grail space might be, he would not blindly believe them.

He quickly lost interest in remaining here and turned toward the Meeting Area on the other side.

Within this region stood a long table surrounded by a circle of chairs.

Both the table and chairs had been crafted from a special type of jade. Beneath the dim lighting, they reflected an eerie, unnatural sheen.

John’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He slowly approached the long table and arrived at the seat of honor.

Just then, the chair suddenly pulled itself backward, as though it were actively inviting him to sit down.

A trace of suspicion arose in John’s heart, but he still followed the invitation and took his seat.

The moment he sat down, however, a card suddenly appeared before him.

The card lay face down on the tabletop. It was completely black and did not appear special in any way.

"This card..."

Just as John’s full attention was focused on the mysterious card, the diary he had previously read suddenly reappeared upon the bookshelves that had already become empty.

[Diary]

[Content]: After watching the books upon the shelves disappear, I lost interest in them and walked toward the long table on the other side.

The moment I sat down, a card unexpectedly appeared on the table before me. It was lying face down.

My curiosity was aroused, so I turned it over, only to discover that the card on its front was...

Within the Meeting Area, John stared at the face-down card before him.

He raised his hand and was just about to flip it over.

However, in the next moment, he suddenly heard an unusual sound coming from the chair at the far end of the table.

His gaze immediately shifted in that direction.

There, upon the chair, a figure was gradually becoming clearer.

The figure wore an elaborate and luxurious gown. She had long golden hair, and her slender, graceful figure gave her the refined elegance of a noble lady.

Whoosh!

In the very next instant, her figure fully solidified.

Just like that, she appeared at the long table.

At that moment, the woman also noticed John.

Shock surfaced on her face as her pair of deep blue eyes stared directly at him.

John narrowed his eyes and was just about to capture her when the woman suddenly did something completely unexpected.

"Odelle greets Your Excellency!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she took the initiative to bow respectfully.

At the same time, a miniature Holy Grail and a card appeared on the table before her as well.

The moment John saw her Holy Grail, his expression remained calm, but towering waves instantly erupted within his heart.

He had never imagined that someone else could possess a Holy Grail.

Logically speaking, the Holy Grail should have been a unique item.

Yet now, two of them had appeared.

"It is clearly supposed to be a unique item. Why are there two Holy Grails?"

While John was inwardly shocked beyond words, Odelle across from him was even more astonished. Her legs nearly gave way beneath her.

"So what the Holy Grail Spirit said was true?"

"It really is possible to meet the bearer of the Great Holy Grail through this method?"

A distant memory surfaced within Odelle’s mind.

Three hundred years ago, when she had first obtained the Lesser Holy Grail, the Holy Grail Spirit residing within it had told her that a Great Holy Grail also existed somewhere in the world.

However, throughout the past three hundred years, she had waited for a very long time without ever actually meeting the bearer of the Great Holy Grail.

So much time had passed that she had long since tossed the Holy Grail into some forgotten corner.

She had almost forgotten that she even possessed a Lesser Holy Grail.

Never had she imagined that she would suddenly sense its summons today and be drawn into the Holy Grail space.

With this thought in mind, Odelle’s gaze continuously swept over John.

"But I wonder whether the bearer of the Great Holy Grail is an NPC... or a player?"

"Should I try using Detection first and see whether I can inspect his information?"

"No... that seems a little impolite. I should ask him personally later. After all, the difference between an NPC and a player is enormous."

...

At the same time, John, who was seated in the position of honor, was also examining Odelle.

"I never imagined there would actually be two Holy Grails."

"Wouldn’t that mean there may be even more Holy Grails in existence?"

"If so, where are the third and fourth Holy Grails?"

"Something is wrong. Very wrong."

Just like Odelle, John also had the idea of inspecting the other party’s information.

However, unlike Odelle, he had no intention of being overly cautious about it.

He directly cast Detection on her.

What shocked John was that, this time, Detection actually failed.

No status panel appeared above the woman at all.

There was not even the slightest reaction.

"I actually can’t detect her?"

John immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation.

Even when he had faced those bosses from beyond the world earlier, a status panel had still appeared, despite all of the information upon it being concealed.

But the woman before him did not trigger any panel whatsoever.

"What kind of place is this Holy Grail space?"

"Even Detection has become ineffective here."

John took a deep breath and maintained a calm expression.

He decided to use other methods to investigate this woman’s identity.

John leaned back slightly in his chair and slowly interlaced his fingers.

"Why are you not seated?"

His tone was exceedingly calm, carrying the natural dignity of someone accustomed to standing above others.

Odelle’s heart trembled.

She quickly sat down.

"Many thanks, Your Excellency!"

John then fixed his gaze upon her and asked in a deep voice, "How did you enter this place?"

Odelle did not dare conceal anything.

She hurriedly explained everything about the Holy Grail Spirit, as well as how she had obtained the Lesser Holy Grail.

After listening to her story, John’s brows furrowed tightly.

Her Holy Grail had once contained a Holy Grail Spirit?

Then why had his own Holy Grail never displayed any such reaction?

Sensing that something was wrong, he immediately asked another question.

"Which empire are you from?"

John worded this question very carefully.

Without exposing his own identity, he could use her answer to deduce whether she actually came from this world.

In the next moment, Odelle gave a reply that caused his pupils to contract sharply.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, I come from Hess Continent." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Hess Continent?"

A trace of confusion appeared in John’s eyes.

He had never heard of such a place.

Even the continents where Zone 1 and Zone 2 were located did not bear that name.

In other words, the woman before him might actually be a being from yet another universe?

Hiss!

John drew in a cold breath, his scalp going numb.

The world invasions previously mentioned by the king immediately surfaced in his mind.

Could it be that the beings who invaded other worlds were actually people like Odelle?

Or perhaps Odelle came from a third universe entirely.

For the first time, John felt that the memories of his previous life were no longer enough to help him understand what was happening.

Just how many secrets did the world of Apocalypse contain?

In his previous life, he had never discovered even the slightest trace of them.

Yet in this life, why had they all suddenly erupted before him at the same time?

Countless layers of mystery shrouded John’s heart.

However, he did not ask these questions directly.

Instead, he looked at Odelle and continued calmly,

"What is this Hess Continent of yours like? Tell me about it."