Creak, creak—
At that moment, the "mouth-eye" in Mr. A's palm had completely devoured the diary. The abnormal textures on his skin and face vanished accordingly, and a satisfied smile curled on his lips.
"Very good. My Lord likes this diary, and so do I."
He paused, then continued, "As a reward, let me share a piece of information with you. The people from the Demoness Sect have contacted me. They want to collaborate with the Aurora Order."
Edward's heart skipped a beat. Is it about the Great Smog incident? Right—he had completely forgotten that the Aurora Order had also taken part in that event. But now Trissy had escaped, the Lady Despair was wounded…Would the Great Smog still happen as scheduled?
He kept his expression calm. "Collaborate on what?"
A fanatical light ignited in Mr. A's eyes. "This is the best opportunity for the Lord to descend upon this world!"
"And then?"
He blinked in confusion. "Then?"
Edward hesitated for a few seconds before attempting to reason with him. "There are demi-gods—maybe even angel-level powerhouses—within the three major Churches of Backlund. The Augustus family alone has at least two Grounded Angels. Do you really think they'll sit idly by and allow the Lord to descend? Or are you merely planning to trigger a divine descent to slaughter some ordinary folk and let the Aurora Order make a grand entrance in front of the public?"
"Mr. A, I understand that you want to spread your Lord's faith, to gain more believers. But meaningless acts of terror like this won't achieve that. They'll only make the world hate and fear your Lord even more."
Mr. A's eyes glinted scarlet. "Fear? That's enough! Only through sufficient fear can those foolish lambs come to understand that salvation lies solely in faith in my Lord. Otherwise, they deserve nothing but death in despair and terror!"
"…"
Fanatics truly can't be reasoned with.
"That's enough."
His expression returned to calm. "I only told you this to warn you—be careful in the near future. Don't end up dying inexplicably."
"How generous."
Edward turned and vanished into thin air, his figure twisting into nothingness.
Mr. A brought his hands together, staring at the spot where Edward had disappeared, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.
"Why…am I hearing two voices from the Lord?"
"Could the other one be that evil god who deceived Botis?"
"But why can't I tell the difference—?"
Suddenly, his expression changed dramatically. He strode swiftly down a staircase, arriving in an underground chamber that resembled a temple. Throwing himself before a giant inverted statue of a god, he coughed up chunks of crimson flesh, licking them back up as he murmured fervent prayers.
———
Edward returned to the villa. He divided the 2,000-pound bounty for Yurigus into four shares, keeping one for himself and sacrificing the remaining 1,500 Pounds to Klein—letting him deal with Dunn and Daly.
Afterwards, he paused for a moment, then took out the dried paper crane he'd long neglected in his pouch. With a pencil, he scribbled a line on its wings:
"I'd like to consult you about something."
Then he lay down on the bed and swiftly entered a dream.
After a blur of surreal, dreamlike void, Edward found himself standing in the middle of a barren plain. The ground beneath him was paved with pitch-black stone—so desolate that not even a single blade of grass could be found.
At the heart of the plain stood a black spire, though the giant serpent that once coiled around it had disappeared. In its place, on the grassy patch in front of the tower, sat Will Auceptin, happily enjoying an ice cream.
"You really love ice cream, huh?"
Will tilted his head in thought. "It's my one little indulgence. It lifts my mood and helps me maintain my humanity. What's not to love? You know how important it is to hold onto your humanity once you advance to Sequence 2."
"I already know."
Edward sat beside him and held out his hand. "Let me try one."
Will rolled his eyes. "Come on. This is your dream. If you want something, just make it."
"Huh. Is that how it works?"
He waved his hand, and a massive tub of ice cream appeared in his lap. It was divided into over a dozen sections, each with a different flavour.
"Whoa! There are this many flavours of ice cream?"
Will's eyes went wide.
This, Edward thought smugly, is the power of modern science!
He waved his hand again and summoned a tub for Will as well. "So, in my own dream, I'm basically omnipotent?"
"In a sense, yes," Will replied as he happily dug in. "It depends on your imagination, your confidence, and of course, your spiritual strength. The Spectator pathway excels at this sort of thing."
"But if I ran into a high-Sequence powerhouse on the Spectator pathway, even the strongest imagination would be useless, right?"
"Not necessarily," Will said with a sly grin. "If you dare to imagine it—and truly believe in it—unexpected miracles might occur. Kind of like that…unknown power you possess."
Magic, huh?
The magic from the Harry Potter world was inherently idealistic—but perhaps because the world's level was too low, it didn't quite translate well in the Mysteries universe.
Will seemed to catch his train of thought and smiled faintly. "There's nothing wrong with the power itself—only with the one who wields it. If one day you can truly harness that power's potential, even True Gods would think twice before provoking you."
"Er…was that just a kind wish, or did you actually imbue it with some kind of blessing?"
Will licked his ice cream and bobbed his head. "Guess."
"…"
Edward waved his hand again, banishing the tub of ice cream. "Alright, let's get to the point. I've just confirmed it—that Ouroboros has really arrived."
Will's hand paused mid-bite. He grimaced, looking as if he might cry. "I knew it—nothing good ever comes from you showing up! I told you last time, when it comes to that silly snake, there's really nothing I can do."
"Then…do you know why Yurigus was spreading the True Creator's blood everywhere?"
"To find you, duh."
"To find me? How?"
"You should know, even for a true deity, unless they see you with their own eyes, it's hard to sense your uniqueness. But every drop of blood is equivalent to one of "Their" eyes."
This was trouble.
Edward thought for a moment. "Do you know what state the True Creator is in right now?"
Will pouted. "No idea. That's a true god we're talking about—I avoid even "His" minions like the plague."
Fair enough.
"Then, last question—no, two questions. Is something about to happen in Backlund? And do you have any advice for dealing with it?"
"Hey, isn't divination and prophecy your speciality? Why are you asking me?"
Despite his words, he furrowed his brow and thought for quite a while before saying, "Two suggestions: First, if all you do is passively wait, then once certain things really arrive, you'll be in big trouble. Second, you should find someone who's better at prophecy to help you."
Someone better at prophecy?
He meant…the Fool?
But with Klein's current strength, how could he possibly get involved in the Great Smog incident?
"Alright, I'm heading back. Bye now."
Then he quickly shook his head, "No—don't show up again anytime soon!"
CRASH!
The dream instantly shattered, and Edward woke up in bed.
"Will's two suggestions."
The first was not to passively wait—so, take initiative? But take initiative to do what? What was the goal?
The second was to find someone better at prophecy. If it wasn't the Fool, then who?
"Why can't that guy ever just say things clearly?"
Just then, a small black shadow leapt in through the window, tiptoeing across the room.
"Edward, you liar! There was no big rat!"
Lilith shouted indignantly. "I even asked Susie—she said there wasn't one either!"
"Maybe they only show up at night?"
She froze for a second, then shook her head furiously. "Nope! If there were a big rat nearby, Miss Lilith would definitely be able to sense it! You lied!"
Edward picked her up and gave her a gentle rub. Smiling, he said, "Then let me treat you to a fancy meal to make up for it."
"Hmm..." She hesitated. "But you're not allowed to lie to me anymore."
"Alright, alright, I promise."
Holding her in his arms, Edward headed for the door. After a while, she asked in a small voice:
"Was there really no big rat?"
"Want me to conjure one for you?"
"Can you eat it?"
"No."
"Then I don't want it!"
"Alright."
"Edward, is the assessment really tomorrow?"
"Yep."
"Ooh~"
"Feeling confident, Miss Lilith?"
"I sure am!"
———
Night fell.
A light fog gave Backlund a dreamlike air. The damp chill in the atmosphere carried an unpleasant smell. And the colder it got, the thicker the fog became—the worse the air quality.
But the locals were long used to it.
In these best and worst of times, simply staying alive was already a blessing.
Fors and Xio quietly approached a hotel in the Hillston Borough. They were tailing a man with sallow skin, clearly not a native Loenian.
"Are you sure we're following the right guy, Xio? Didn't you say he was connected to that tall fellow? But we've tailed him for days now and haven't seen anyone tall show up."
Xio gave her a silent look.
"I feel like you're taking a jab at me."
"...You're too sensitive."
Fors rubbed her hands together and looked at the darkened hotel. "Weird. It's barely dusk, and this place is already pitch black. It's like no one's alive inside. Maybe we should just head back."
Xio thought for a moment. "But since we're here, we might as well see who he came to meet. Maybe that tall guy will show up."
"...Fine."
Fors grabbed her hand, passed through the wall, and silently followed the shadowy figure. As he stopped in front of a door, the two crouched down and held their breath.
Moments later—
The door opened. A man in a black robe stepped out. He looked under forty, with slightly curled brown hair, but his presence was unnaturally solid. His deep, dark eyes seemed to hold countless secrets, and he reeked of blood.
"Lord Botis."
"Have you found Yurigus?"
The man trembled at once. "Yurigus is dead."
"Dead? Useless scum!"
The black-robed man snorted. "After all this time, all he could figure out was that our Lord's target once stayed in this hotel…And even after killing everyone here, I still found no trace of him."
He paused. "Have the Rose School guys contacted you yet? How do they plan to cooperate?"
"They… they seem more interested in finding the traitors, Sharron and Maric, first. I…I heard they might've been seen at the Bravehearts Bar."
"Hmph. Fine. The Rose School of Thought's demigod is already on the way anyway. When they arrive—"
Just as he was about to continue, his gaze suddenly shifted—locking onto Fors and Xio's position.
"!!!"
In an instant, Fors's spirituality flared..
Danger! Danger! Run!
"Door!"
She activated her bracelet's power without hesitation, vanishing with Xio in tow.
The very next second, a semi-transparent figure appeared right where they had been.
It was the black-robed man.
"An Abraham artifact? Perfect." His grin widened. "I've been looking for you."
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.