112 COI

Dreams are reality, despair is hope

The sunset light shone through the window, casting a dim golden-red glow in the room.

Except for Lugano who had taken Ludwig to explore local cuisine in the New City of Silver, Franca, Jenna and Anthony remained in the living room, listening to Lumian recount what had happened to him after they parted ways.

Lumian recounted the key points of Termiboros becoming Amon, the psychological treatment report Amon had read out, and the subsequent "story" script, all in a detached manner as if he were an outside observer, without concealing anything.

That low and indifferent voice entered Franca and Jenna's ears, gradually making them feel a suffocating pain and despair, as if they had experienced it themselves.

This was not physical pain, nor the kind of despair when facing death. It came from one's own insignificance, one's own powerlessness, from the realization that one's beliefs, emotions, and decisions were actually products arranged by someone else.

Franca couldn't help but think of the lab mice she used to work with frequently.

She finally understood why Lumian, despite not being averse to switching to the Demoness pathway, was still in pain over advancing to demigod status, his emotions constantly suppressed.

Looking at that familiar yet strange face, that expressionless beautiful visage, Franca felt an inexplicable heartache and pity.

After Lumian finished recounting his final choice, the room fell into silence.

After a moment, Franca took the initiative to change the subject, sighing. "I never imagined that Black Tear was also arranged by that individual. Wasn't that something from the Demoness Sect?"

"If not Black Tear, there would be White Tear or Gray Tear. If they can't arrange the vessel for the Primordial Demoness's divine descent, can't they arrange for other Demonesses?" Lumian responded calmly.

Seeing him in this state, Jenna felt a wave of sadness and heartache. With her experience, she would rather Lumian be in a state of rage, or directly show the pain hidden deep in his heart, instead of being like a dried-up well now, with all emotions pressed down to the bottom.

Franca had a similar feeling. She almost instinctively made a self-deprecating remark, "I never thought Jenna and I would have a place in the script, even if our role was just to stabilize your mental state, providing a stable anchor point when you advance to become the Demoness of Despair."

The word "anchor" was something she had encountered a few times with Madam Judgment, suspecting it was related to how High-Sequence Beyonders stabilized their own state—the higher the Sequence, the easier it was to go mad, and anchors seemed to be external help to strengthen self-awareness and resist the tendency to lose control.

"It's not just that," Lumian, still wearing the black cloak, said in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's also a means to prevent me from becoming addicted to the feeling of Aurore's soul fragments gradually reviving, unwilling to switch back to the Hunter pathway, and gradually abandoning my self-identification as a male."

Jenna and Franca fell silent, both feeling an indescribable pain in their hearts.

The latter stood up from the large, high-backed chair that she could curl up in, looked at Lumian, and said straightforwardly, "I don't like the way you put it, as if Jenna and I have really become tools.

"Black Tear only made the problem erupt earlier; it doesn't mean the problem didn't exist, it doesn't mean that the emotions and thoughts in our hearts were created out of thin air, that they appeared because of that individual's arrangements!

"I-I only speak for myself, my attitude is that I won't persuade you to definitely switch back to the Hunter pathway, nor will I care whether you're a Demoness or a Hunter. I'm also very glad that Aurore still has hope of resurrection, and I'm looking forward to seeing her come back to life, but what I value more is you, Lumian Lee, the one who has gone through so many things with us and shared so many beautiful memories…"

At this point, Franca was at a loss for words, not knowing how to express the thoughts she hadn't yet spoken.

Jenna also stood up, pursing her lips before saying, "I would be happy to see Aurore resurrect through you, but I don't want to see you give up on yourself because of it.

"In this world, there are people who care about Lumian Lee, who like him, who value him!"

"Yes!" Franca echoed Jenna's words.

Lumian's blue eyes, now a lighter shade, looked at the two Demonesses, with a faint light flickering in their depths.

He didn't respond to Franca and Jenna's words, but he didn't object to or mock their statements either.

Just as Franca and Jenna were about to say something more, they suddenly saw Anthony give them a look, indicating that this was just right, and that Lumian should be left alone to calm down and think for a while. Too much comfort, encouragement, and confession would only bring about the opposite effect.

Uh… Franca closed her mouth.

She then realized a fact:

Anthony was here… Doesn't that mean he heard everything I said earlier?

Embarrassing!

EMBARRASSING!

Jenna sat back in her original position, trusting the Psychiatrist's judgment in this matter.

As for her own emotional outburst just now, she didn't feel shy about it. She knew Anthony had seen through it long ago.

Anthony sighed inwardly. As a normal, almost middle-aged man, he was very grateful to be a Psychiatrist, a Hypnotist. Otherwise, facing two Demonesses each with their own unique charm every day, and later adding a captain whose beauty was breathtaking, he would definitely be naturally enchanted and unknowingly lose his heart.

He felt that with this kind of training, even if he hadn't become a demigod yet, he could resist the Charm of an enemy Demoness of Despair for a longer time.

The embarrassed Franca instinctively searched for a topic. She let out an "Ah" and said, "That individual's arrangements are truly terrifying. It's not something we can escape or choose not to accept."

Jenna nodded in deep agreement.

Both Demonesses had been in significant situations before. They had personally experienced the celestial changes that Red Angel Medici had created in Fourth Epoch Trier. But the True Creator's arrangements, which came without warning and left no trace, completely surpassed their imagination. Just thinking about it a little would cause nightmares or sleepless nights.

Lumian responded in a low voice, "That being is a true god. I even suspect He's more than just a true god. At least Madam Magician's attitude towards Him is more respectful and fearful than towards true gods like the Eternal Blazing Sun.

"The Tarot Club, the Church of The Fool, and other related forces combined might not be able to prevent His arrangements. At most, they could detect anomalies a bit earlier and give warnings."

"Yeah, although there are many Angels around Mr. Fool's divine throne, they're still not enough to face a true god. Damn, why would a true god focus on someone who wasn't even a demigod before?" Franca sighed and cursed.

She originally wanted to add, "With such a large gap in status, resistance is mostly futile. We can only make do for now, not letting this matter weigh on our minds, and try to use His arrangements to strengthen ourselves as much as possible." But after considering Lumian's current state, she swallowed these thoughts that arose from her own personality.

"Perhaps we'll only stop worrying about being arranged by that individual when Mr. Fool wakes up," Jenna said carefully.

"Yeah, when will Mr. Fool wake up?" Franca echoed with a sigh.

Suddenly, with her rich gaming experience, she had an idea.

She sat up straight and looked at Lumian, saying, "The lucky coins in my, Jenna's, and Ludwig's possession all seem to come from Mr. Fool's past bestowal, carrying his aura. Could it be… could it be that gathering all the lucky coins might awaken Mr. Fool?"

"If it were that simple, the Major Arcana card holders would have already collected the lucky coins and awakened Mr. Fool," Lumian pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Perhaps gathering the lucky coins is just a prerequisite, and there are still some things to be done afterward."

At this point, Anthony interjected, "I'm about to get a lucky coin too. The Knight of Swords promised to use it as payment."

"Four coins now…" Franca couldn't help but glance at Lumian.

In the past, she would definitely have teased him, but now, facing Lumian in this state, how could she bear to?

Lumian didn't show any disappointment. He looked out the window and said, "Madam Magician should be coming to me soon. I'll ask her about the true significance of the lucky coins."

"Mm." Franca touched her Traveler's Bag. "By the way, I want to ask Madam Magician to create an independent space in my Traveler's Bag to store that revolver. I can feel that it, like Black Tears, is continuously creating diseases and constantly spreading outward."

Her Cannon Gun had already combined with part of the boon power from Higdon that was intercepted in the special mirror world, and had not yet been renamed.

After saying this, Franca asked Lumian to place the entire room into the Bottle of Fiction, while she took out the corrupted Cannon Gun and used Magic Mirror Divination method to grasp its corresponding effects and negative impacts.

Before long, Franca obtained a relatively detailed answer:

"The corrupted Cannon Gun will continuously spread disease and decay within a three-kilometer radius, with random types of diseases;

"The corrupted Cannon Gun can add either the Certain Death or Sure Hit effect to fired bullets, for a total of thirteen times, which can be stacked with the original Heavy Strike effect;

"If either the Certain Death or Sure Hit effect is triggered, the user will inevitably fall seriously ill for a period of time afterward. If a suitable healer isn't found, they might even die from it. If found, the severe illness state would last from a few hours to a day.

"After all the Certain Death and Sure Hit uses are exhausted, the negative effect of continuously spreading disease and decay will still exist, lasting for about a year."

As soon as she got the answer, Franca immediately stuffed the corrupted Cannon Gun back into the Traveler's Bag. Then, deliberately trying to liven up the atmosphere, she smiled and said, "If I were to use Impregnating Bullets with the Sure Hit effect, how would the enemy deal with that?"

-x-X-x-

Regarding Franca's question, Jenna and Anthony were amused but didn't know how to respond.

Lumian, however, seriously discussed the possible consequences. "Is pregnancy a big problem for Beyonders? It's not something they want, they can lose it immediately through intense combat."

Seeing that Lumian was willing to discuss the issue, Franca chuckled and said, "It's not that simple. After getting the Impregnating Bullet, I seriously researched related issues and consulted Madam Judgment.

"It's been confirmed that these Impregnating Bullets originate from the Great Mother's boon. Even demigods can't escape it. Once pregnant, it's very difficult to terminate without special abilities. And we all know that one way for Beyonders to eliminate excess Beyonder characteristics is to have others or themselves become pregnant, using the child's birth to take away corresponding Beyonder characteristics, though the result is uncontrollable.

"In other words, the target hit by this Impregnating Bullet, regardless of whether they're male or female, human or dog, will immediately become pregnant. The fetus will grow rapidly, tearing away part of the Beyonder characteristics or boon powers, thus causing instability in the target's state and a decline in strength."

"This, combined with the Sure Hit effect, is a bit terrifying…" Jenna spoke her mind. "One can only stay vigilant and preemptively replace oneself with a substitute."

Franca originally wanted to take the opportunity to tell Lumian, "If you don't want to be a Demoness, we can ask Mr. Sun for help through the Tarot Club, or I can give you a shot with an Impregnating Bullet to see if there's a way for you to give birth to a Demoness of Despair, hehehe." But considering her companion's emotional state, she gave up on this joke.

Moreover, she felt that Lumian would likely insist on being a Demoness for a while to see if there were truly signs of Aurore's soul fragments reviving.

"I've decided, the Cannon Gun will now be renamed the Inevitable Gun," Franca said after careful consideration, abandoning the name "Execution Gun" which she liked more and found more fun. She then asked Lumian, "What abilities does your bracelet have? By the way, I'll tell you about some Magic Mirror Divination targets that have been verified as safe."

"Including the one you mentioned that would cause social death but gives the most accurate divination results?" Jenna asked curiously.

Franca nodded solemnly. "Yes, but you'd better not pray to that one, otherwise… otherwise… Ah, I am the experience and lesson itself."

As she spoke, Franca couldn't help but glance at Anthony, finding that this Hypnotist showed no change in expression, as if he had already forgotten about the incident from back then.

With Franca's guidance, Lumian successfully completed his first Magic Mirror Divination, obtaining key information about the cheap silver bracelet:

"…Can use the Circle Inhabitant effect nine times, each Circle Inhabitant lasting no fewer than three times and no more than nine times.

"Circle Inhabitant can be used within a one-kilometer range, or targeted at a single individual, or applied to oneself. The range-type Circle Inhabitant trigger conditions cannot be harsh and can affect Angels in the corresponding area. The individual-type Circle Inhabitant can set some relatively harsh trigger conditions, but if the target's status is higher than one's own, the effect will be significantly reduced, even to the point of ineffectiveness.

"There are no restrictions on using Circle Inhabitant on oneself, and it can be restarted even if killed by an Angel.

"Only one 'Circle' can be maintained at the same time, and the same type of 'Circle' needs to cool down for three minutes before it can be created again.

"The Circle Inhabitant effect can last for a long time, unless the number of times is reached or the user actively removes it. For example, if a 'Circle' attached to oneself is set to restart near death, and there's no chance to trigger it afterward, it can last up to a year at most.

"Whether or not the Circle Inhabitant uses are exhausted, this bracelet contaminated by Inevitability powers will enhance the abilities of Fate Appropriation, Fate Exchange, Magnified Fate, and Compelling Fate to the Circle Inhabitant level. After about a year, the corresponding boon power will completely dissipate, turning this silver bracelet back into an ordinary accessory with curse remnants.

"Even just carrying this silver bracelet will unknowingly attract Inevitability boon recipients and be viewed with hostility by them.

"Each use of Circle Inhabitant will result in a period of bad luck, the specifics varying depending on the user's status."

Lumian held the cheap silver bracelet, repeatedly admiring it, as if waiting for the arrival of Inevitability boon recipients.

His pleasant voice, with a hint of magnetism, echoed, "If it's me, the bad luck would probably last about three hours. For you all, it might be close to two days. For Anthony, it should be three days."

"Indeed, it suits you best," Franca said. "Along with the Sword of Courage, you're equivalent to a demigod of the Hunter, Demoness, and Inevitability pathways, and your abilities have even become mixed without much conflict."

At Sequence 4, this could definitely be considered outstanding!

"What should we name it?" Lumian looked down at the cheap silver-black bracelet.

"Circle of Fate?" Franca eagerly offered her opinion.

"Circle of Binding?" Jenna suggested, her eyes flickering slightly.

"Then let's call it the 'Circle of Binding'. It's more fitting for my current psychological and emotional state," Lumian said with a self-mocking tone.

Before Franca could express her disappointment, he put away the Circle of Binding and said carefully, "The topic of Impregnating Bullets reminded me of something."

"What is it?" Franca asked curiously.

Lumian's light blue and clear eyes lit up.

"When I first learned that the name of the Great Mother's Invisible Child of God was Omebella, the Termiboros inside me seemed a bit surprised.

"I originally thought it was because this evil god Angel had heard of this name in the endless cosmos and didn't expect Omebella to enter our world and become an Invisible Child of God. But now, the situation is that the Termiboros inside me was equivalent to Amon's true form.

"In other words, this had nothing to do with any knowledge or legends from the endless cosmos.

"Currently, there are only two possibilities. One is that Amon is deceiving me, preparing for when I investigate this matter in the future. The second is that He truly didn't expect it, and what He didn't expect was that the name of Omebella, the giant queen and Goddess of Harvest from the Second Epoch, would appear on the Great Mother's Invisible Child of God."

"Does Amon not expecting it mean that that individual also didn't expect it?" Jenna understood what Lumian was really trying to express.

Lumian's beautifully curved chin nodded slowly.

"My encounter with Father Montserrat was definitely His arrangement, to grasp the situation of the Great Mother's Invisible Child of God. But the name of the Great Mother's Invisible Child of God might not have been part of the arrangement. It was an accident, something He might not have expected either."

"You want to start from this incident to find a path with fewer arrangements?" Anthony roughly understood Lumian's idea.

Lumian curled his lips into a smile, laughing once, causing Franca and others to feel a bit dazzled.

"His former identity was the Ancient Sun God who ended the era of ancient gods' rule. There are very few ancient secrets not grasped by Him, and this might be one of them."

Hearing this, Franca suddenly remembered that the True Creator worshiped by the Aurora Order was formerly the Ancient Sun God, the savior of humanity.

And according to intelligence gathered by the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society, the Ancient Sun God was very likely also a transmigrator!

Dammit, how could a transmigrator do such a thing as arranging an innocent person's life! After cursing inwardly, Franca said to Lumian, "Do you now meet all the conditions to come into contact with Omebella's remains and use them briefly?"

After Lumian consumed Omebella's umbilical cord remnants and achieved a slight fusion with it, he only needed to meet two more conditions—"having experienced betrayal by a direct relative" and "being female"—to be able to touch and briefly use the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact formed from Omebella's remains.

Lumian, abandoned by his playboy father, had long met the first condition, and now, he was truly female.

Lumian offered a curt acknowledgment.

"Moreover, Omebella's remains are in the New City of Silver, in this very city.

"I wonder what useful secrets I can discover from New Silver City's records and direct contact with the remains…"

Before Jenna and the others could respond, points of starlight appeared, and Madam Magician's figure was instantly outlined in the room.

This Major Arcana card holder seemed to have already foreseen the difficulty Franca was currently facing and directly extended her hand, saying, "Give me your Traveler's Bag."

…

It was early spring, and in the fields outside the New City of Silver, patches of wheat seedlings were still lush green in the twilight.

Madam Magician walked with Lumian on the path between the fields, breathing in the scent of soil and plants, feeling the cool breeze.

Having already obtained most of the information from the spirit world, she still patiently waited for Lumian to finish recounting his experiences before sighing.

"We've always said to be careful of that individual's arrangements, to pay attention to coincidences around us, but what we didn't expect was that the arrangement happened from the very beginning, and gave many seemingly reasonable explanations, to the extent that we could only see traces of arrangements in specific events, completely overlooking the overall problem."

Lumian was still wearing the black cloak given by Franca, with his hair hidden in the attached hood.

He didn't blame the Major Arcana card holders for their thoughts, after all, that being was a true god.

Looking at the patches of green wheat seedlings tinged with golden red, he said in a low voice,

"Is it only when Mr. Fool awakens that we won't have to worry about every detail of our lives being arranged?"

"Yes, or quickly become an Angel. Although that won't exempt you from arrangements, you'll be able to detect many arrangements that rely too much on coincidence in a timely manner," Madam Magician tried hard not to let her eyes reveal emotions of pity.

Lumian fell silent for a moment before responding, "Are those lucky coins devices to awaken Mr. Fool?"

"Yes," Madam Magician didn't deny it. "You should have one too."

Lumian turned his head, using his eyes to express his question.

Madam Magician smiled and said, "That's the reward for the water from the Samaritan Women's Spring and the soil from in front of the ancient tomb of the Dream Festival.

"However, this needs to wait a few more days. There are time intervals for using these items."

-x-X-x-

Lumian roughly understood the meaning of Madam Magician's words.

The water he had previously taken from the Samaritan Woman's Spring and the soil from the area of the Dream Festival ancient tomb did have a reward, which was another lucky coin. However, the one giving the reward needed to wait until all of that water and soil had been used up and the effects confirmed before actually paying. Using these items needed to be done in batches, with time intervals between uses, rather than consuming them all at once—which might actually lead to unfavorable results.

"We still need to wait a few more days?" Lumian cast his gaze towards the golden-red tinted horizon and nodded gently, "I understand."

He wasn't impatient. Having been arranged for so long already, a few more days didn't matter.

Lumian probed further, "How many lucky coins need to be gathered in total to awaken Mr. Fool?"

"The lucky coins are tools, mediums, not the awakening itself. There are only five such coins in total," Madam Magician answered clearly, no longer speaking in riddles. "Once you get the last lucky coin, the five of you will be able to use your respective coins to enter Mr. Fool's dream and attempt to awaken him. Understand? The lucky coins are mediums to help you participate in Mr. Fool's dream.

"Of course, given your Sequences, even with the lucky coins, you can't decide when you can enter that dream or what you can do once inside. We'll need to assist you to ensure you can all go at the same time and maintain sufficient clarity and rationality."

Lumian listened quietly, his eyes slightly turning as he pursed his lips lightly.

"Mr. Fool's dream? We're responsible for awakening Mr. Fool?"

"Yes," Madam Magician answered with just one word.

She surveyed Lumian's profile, which took on a dreamlike beauty in the twilight glow, and inwardly sighed.

Lumian furrowed his brow slightly. "What do we need to do to awaken Mr. Fool? Haven't the previous holders of the lucky coins entered Mr. Fool's dream before? Haven't they made any attempts?"

Why does it have to be us?

"I don't know exactly what needs to be done to awaken Mr. Fool," Madam Magician said very frankly. "That's for you to figure out. We'll give you some suggestions based on your feedback."

She paused, then said in a teasing tone, "The previous holders of the lucky coins did indeed enter Mr. Fool's dream and made quite a few attempts, but they were successively discovered by that Celestial Worthy's spirit, either kicked out of the dream or had their actions restricted, unable to do much. One of them, after being kicked out of the dream the first time, would be kicked out again within a minute of re-entering the dream, regardless of whether they disguised themselves or behaved.

"You need to be careful too. The early stages are fine, but if you're later discovered and locked onto by that Celestial Worthy's spirit, you'll also be kicked out of the dream, or become mute, blind, or foolish."

After pondering for a moment, Lumian asked, "Are we the destined ones to awaken Mr. Fool?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. We can't be sure yet," Madam Magician explained simply. "We can only say that the previous holders of the lucky coins would suddenly feel at some moment or in some scenario that they should trade away the lucky coin to someone else. This might be a hint from fate."

Lumian didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he mentioned that he now met all the conditions to come into contact with Omebella's remains, and finally asked, "Can I apply to the New City of Silver now?"

"I'll help you inform Mr. Sun. You just need to be prepared," Madam Magician said with a laugh. "Of course, you won't be able to actually take away Omebella's remains. That belongs to the New City of Silver. Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts are extremely precious anywhere. No one will gift it to you without appropriate compensation.

"What you'll be allowed to do is to review the relevant records of the City of Silver, come into contact with and study the item that the remains have become within the New City of Silver. If you encounter difficulties, with the approval of the New City of Silver's six-member council, you may be able to borrow that Grade 0 Sealed Artifact for a short time, to be returned within a certain period."

"That's already very good," Lumian said sincerely.

According to 007, an official Beyonder, even to use a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, he had to submit a report in advance, obtain approval, and meet the corresponding conditions. As for Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, that was something he couldn't even dream of.

And now, the New City of Silver might actually allow him to borrow Omebella's remains for a period of time!

Lumian "habitually" smoothed his hair and told Madam Magician about Termiboros's, that is, Amon's true form's reaction when he first learned that the name of the Great Mother's Invisible Child of God was Omebella, along with his own speculations.

"This might indeed hide a very big and important secret, with some connection to that bird egg deep in the Underworld and the missing Madame Night Pualis," Madam Magician said, slightly raising both hands as if feeling the freshness and vigor of the early spring wheat seedlings.

Lumian stopped in front of a pond used for water storage and after a few seconds of silence, asked, "Madam, what is the true purpose and final result of Project Vortex?"

Madam Magician recounted in detail all the transactions and developments she understood, but because Lumian no longer had a false Angel status and had lost Mr. Fool's seal, unable to bear certain knowledge, she uniformly used descriptions like the evil gods outside the barrier, the one worshiped by the Brokers, and the Great Mother to refer to those great existences.

Upon hearing that Emperor Roselle had been resurrected as the Black Emperor, and then chose to die again to severely damage the great existence preaching in the name of "Truth", Lumian's expression changed several times, but in the end, he didn't say a word.

"I understand how you feel," Madam Magician comforted her feminized Minor Arcana card in a self-mocking tone. "I don't like that individual, and I really dislike His methods, but I have to admit, He is indeed preparing for our world to face the apocalypse, not just doing things that only benefit Him under the guise of a banner. So my feelings are very torn."

Lumian's expression remained cold, maintaining his silence.

Madam Magician didn't continue discussing this matter. She raised her right hand, letting points of starlight appear and fall towards Lumian's left chest, forming an illusory symbol composed of layers upon layers of doors.

This Major Arcana card holder said simply, "Since there's no need to seal an Angel, my power alone is enough to simply protect Aurore and the others' soul fragments. We don't need to trouble Mr. Fool, and besides, if Mr. Fool were to seal it, it might actually affect the gradual revival of Aurore's soul fragments through your female state.

"Well, if you're unwilling to take the lucky coin into Mr. Fool's dream, we won't force you. I'll still help reinforce the seal periodically."

Lumian smiled bitterly. "That individual has already made the choice for me."

He remained silent for a while, his slightly paler lips moving a few times.

"Can being in the Demoness state really allow Aurore's soul fragments to gradually revive? Is this truly the only way to resurrect Aurore?"

"It may not be the only way. At least, I can't give you an accurate judgment. Only Mr. Fool could provide the corresponding answer," Madam Magician neither denied nor confirmed that individual's statement.

Her current knowledge and abilities were not sufficient to support her refutation.

The only thing she could be certain of was: "This is indeed a way to resurrect Aurore, just that the final resurrection won't be completely whole."

"Why must it be Aurore's soul fragments gradually reviving, and not the soul fragments of other villagers? There are many soul fragments sealed within me, why is Aurore the most special one?" This was now Lumian's greatest concern.

Madam Magician said, "Aurore's soul fragments simultaneously meet three conditions. First, she was a Beyonder, having undergone the transformation of Beyonder characteristics on her spirit. Second, she was corrupted by Inevitability powers. Third, at the end of the ritual, her soul fragments received protection from that individual or several ones, so they're in relatively better condition, the kind that can gradually revive.

"Therefore, her soul fragments are indeed the most special among all the soul fragments within you. The remaining soul fragments might only be able to exist in the form of half-human, half-object puppet soldiers when you become an Angel of the Hunter pathway in the future."

Lumian thought for a while and said, "If I were now a Beyonder of those three pathways of the Great Mother, I wouldn't doubt that Aurore's soul fragments could gradually revive within me, but a Demoness doesn't have the symbol of new life…"

"But the Demoness has the authority of resurrection. Have you forgotten that one of the descriptions of the Demoness of Unaging is that she's bizarrely hard to kill, skilled in resurrection and rebirth?" Madam Magician reminded him.

Lumian quietly exhaled and said, "If I continue to advance to become a Demoness of Unaging, would the revival effect of Aurore's soul fragments be better?"

Madam Magician smiled and said, "There's no need to deliberately pursue that. When you later jump to Sequence 2 of the Demoness pathway, you'll similarly gain all the abilities and characteristics of the Demoness of Unaging, unless you find a way to separate out the corresponding Unaging Beyonder characteristic yourself."

Seeing Lumian nod slightly, Madam Magician smiled and asked, "As a demigod who has switched pathways, you should have some special, mixed abilities now, right?"

Lumian offered a curt acknowledgment and said, "The most special ability is the application of fire.

"On the one hand, I can use a Hunter's blazing-white flames and the Demoness's inherent black flames separately. On the other hand, I can fuse them together for an explosive effect. This can both physically destroy human bodies and objects, and ignite spirituality, burning spiritual bodies, comprehensively damaging and destroying a target.

"Yes, after the fusion of the Demoness of Despair Beyonder characteristic and the Hunter pathway Beyonder characteristic, new mystical knowledge appeared, calling this black flame that suppresses irritability and madness the 'Fire of Destruction'."

-x-X-x-

After describing the Fire of Destruction, Lumian frowned and said, "I've heard that members of the Demoness sect have a tradition of turning their lovers into females. Are there no Beyonders of the Hunter pathway among their lovers?"

This question was essentially still asking "Why me?"

Couldn't they just find any Sequence 5 of the Hunter pathway, seduce them to jump to Demoness of Despair, and satisfy the requirement of "yin contains yang, yang contains yin"? Why did I have to be arranged?

"Perhaps only you could very easily enter the area around the Samaritan Woman's Spring and obtain the remnant aura of the Blood Emperor, thus having mystical similarity with 0-01." Madam Magician fully understood what Lumian was concerned about.

Lumian continued asking, as if talking to himself, "The Red Angel has ways to control 0-01 without relying on mystical similarity. Since that individual has no selfish motives and isn't afraid of the Red Angel's revenge, why not directly reinvest in Him, instead of grooming a 'weakling' like me?"

Isn't this a waste of time?

Madam Magician glanced at the field ridge under her feet.

"I can answer this for you. First, the Red Angel can't get as close to the top powers of the two Calamity pathways as you can, unless His next step isn't to reclaim 0-01 and become the Red Priest, but to find a way to replace the Primordial Demoness. Second, the birth of a Red Priest is inevitably accompanied by competition, chaos, and disaster. Only through multi-party competition can a Red Priest emerge in the shortest time in the best way. If only the Red Angel were to walk this path, it wouldn't go smoothly."

"Am I competing with Him?" Lumian curled his lips in a self-mocking smile. "Then I should thank that individual for giving me this qualification."

As for ability, that was still far off.

Madam Magician continued, "Many members of the Demoness sect indeed have lovers from the Hunter pathway, but they rarely let these male lovers switch pathways and become female at Sequence 5. On the one hand, there are very few members of the Demoness sect who can get their hands on two Demoness of Despair Beyonder characteristics. On the other hand, they seem to be avoiding similar things. As far as I know, among the demigod-level Demonesses, only one was formerly a Hunter."

"Who?" Lumian immediately became alert like a Hunter.

Madam Magician smiled and said, "The Demoness of Cyan, Yalenna.

"She is a Sequence 3 Demoness of Unaging. Her mother is the leader of the Demoness sect, the Demoness of Gray Judith. Her father was a Hunter, who later went missing, suspected to have been killed by the Demoness of Gray."

Lumian pondered for a moment and said, "Could the Demoness of Gray have also been a Hunter before?

"Her twin sister Krismona was born female, born a Demoness. As a contrast, is it possible that She was born male, born a Hunter, until She transformed into a Demoness at Sequence 4?

"The Demoness of Black only mentioned that the Demoness of Black was Sequence 9 at birth, but never said that her Sequence 9 equaled Assassin."

"It's possible, but currently unverifiable. The Demoness of Gray is older than all of our Tarot Club's Major Arcana card holders combined. We don't know much about Her," Madam Magician said, a hint of a smile appearing on her face as if she had thought of something.

Is that so? I thought you were an Angel from the early Fifth Epoch, given that your teacher was Mr. Door, the strongest King of Angels of the Fourth Epoch… Lumian didn't voice these words about a woman's age.

He began to walk slowly again, pondering as he spoke, "Is the Demoness sect, or rather the Primordial Demoness's hatred for pure female Demonesses really due to inner distortion? Is there no other mystical reason?"

Pure female Demonesses apparently wouldn't have the chance to touch the power at the top of the two Calamity pathways, so they should pose the least threat to the Primordial Demoness.

"Inner distortion is one reason, but my intuition tells me it's not the whole reason," Madam Magician said, turning her head to look at the New City of Silver where lights were gradually coming on. "The Seven of Cups is about to advance to Demoness of Affliction. You can try to get some intelligence on this from Krismona's remnant projection."

Lumian didn't continue this topic, instead returning to discuss the changes in his abilities after becoming a Demoness of Despair.

This was also something he had to do after his condition initially stabilized.

"At the Demoness of Despair stage, Disease has evolved into Plague that can cover a range of three kilometers. I currently have mastered three types of plagues. One is derived from the original Disease, targeting the flesh of relatively common creatures, mainly infecting organs such as the heart, brain, and lungs. From the incubation period to the outbreak of symptoms to becoming severe, it only takes about ten seconds, and then within another minute, it can cause the target to deteriorate to near death. The specific time varies depending on the enemy's status and constitution.

"The second type of plague is Weakening, originating from the mystical pathogen inherent in Black Tear. It can gradually strip away the target's strength until even their heart is too weak to beat. At the same time, it causes a gradual loss of spirituality. In other words, it can not only target relatively common creatures but also affect special creatures and even the dead. Any target with spirituality or relying on spirituality will gradually weaken because of it.

"The third type of plague is Rigidity. Over time, it causes even zombies to become rigid and stiff, becoming inflexible. This is a more mystically oriented plague.

"The fusion of Hunter traits with the plagues has given these mystical pathogens a certain resistance to fire. They won't quickly wither away under fire burning conditions and can persist for a longer time. Among them, the Weakening plague can inherently survive in high temperatures for a period, and its current fire resistance is the strongest among the three plagues.

"For dealing with these plagues, the burning of Demoness black flames and freezing over a certain range are better methods.

"I can also create my own unique plague varieties by combining my own traits, corresponding mystical knowledge, specific ideas and experiments, and possibly required special materials. This takes a long time and can't yield results quickly. But regardless, a Demoness's Plague can only target things with spirituality and cannot cause rocks or metals to weather, rust, or decay like the demigods of the Order of All Extinction.

"In using Precision, a Hunter's Precision can help me maintain two types of plagues simultaneously, but it requires three to four times the spirituality consumption of maintaining a single plague."

Madam Magician nodded lightly, not interrupting Lumian's self-analysis.

"The Demoness of Despair's mastery of the mirror world and mirror magic has reached a considerably deep stage. I can locate mirrors within a five-kilometer range and mirrors I've visited before. I can traverse freely in the mirror world and transmit information through the mirror world to those located mirrors, displaying it. This is much more convenient than messengers, but there's a possibility of the information being intercepted by mirror world creatures. Some curses need to be attached to the information to avoid most troubles.

"I can also use located mirrors to project myself there, looking just like the real thing. Currently, this projection has distance limitations and cannot exceed a city.

"A Hunter's Precision has also fused with this Mirror Projection ability, allowing me to complete three to five projections simultaneously, with each projection having some power and able to accomplish some things, though they cannot leave the range reflected by the corresponding mirror."

When fighting against the Order of All Extinction demigod, Higdon, Lumian had used the power of the special mirror world to create many Mirror Projections. If Higdon had ignored them at that time, these illusions and projections could have caused a certain degree of damage!

"Other mirror magic, such as Mirror Maze, Mirror Substitution, and Magic Mirror Divination, have also reached the level of Sequence 4. Among them, curses completed through mirrors include normal types, those fused with Cull that can erupt fiercely in an extremely short time, and those mixed with the power of Inevitability that can complete fate-related curses," Lumian pondered as he spoke. "Fate-related curses can put the target in a state of misfortune for a period of time. This is not easily noticed by them and is used against enemies who inherently have strong curse prevention abilities."

Lumian paused, then continued, "Like other Demonesses of Despair, if enemies can't replace themselves with a substitution before I lock onto them and complete the curse, they won't be able to transfer or share the damage even if they have a Mirror Substitution or Paper Figurine Substitute.

"The Demoness's spider silk has also changed, becoming more solid, more tough, able to complete more tasks, including restraining, binding, interfering, transmitting pleasure, black flames, and curses. At the same time, the fusion of Hunter traits has made these spider silks sharper, able to directly cause a certain degree of damage.

"My hair is the source of spider silk. If an enemy's body is touched by my hair, the corresponding part will experience some petrification symptoms.

"Weakness Investigation is no longer limited to discovering weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the flesh, soul, and defenses, as well as fate streams that can lead to death, but also includes the target's emotional and desire weaknesses and trigger points.

"Cull has fused with the Demoness pathway's Mighty Blow, capable of bringing more terrifying damage. I can take out some physically fragile demigods in one strike."

"Physically fragile demigods often have many mystically oriented life-saving abilities, or make it impossible for you to find their true form," Madam Magician reminded at this point.

Lumian nodded, indicating he would remember.

"Other abilities include black magic like Invisibility, the ability to manipulate frost, Wand Substitution, basic divination abilities, which are all the same as a normal Demoness of Despair.

"Instigation and Provocation have fused together, granting me the ability to use language and attached mystical power to stir up the target's emotions and desires, making them do what I anticipate.

"Pleasure can be combined with Cull and Precision…

"…

"That's about it."

Madam Magician nodded thoughtfully and remarked, "Jumping to a neighboring pathway indeed brings many strange changes and mixed abilities. This is not something that can be achieved by using the neighboring pathways' Sealed Artifacts."

Lumian gave an affirmative sound, then asked, "Should we still have Franca continue undercover in the Demoness sect?"

-x-X-x-

Faced with Lumian's question, Madam Magician pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Whether it's investigating the state of the Primordial Demoness, exploring the secrets of the deepest layer of the special mirror world, uncovering the essence of the mirror self, or mastering the secret of resurrection and rebirth of the Demoness of Unaging, it's impossible to bypass the Demoness Sect.

"These are equally important for you now.

"So, my opinion is to let the Two of Cups continue to contact the Demoness of Black, while you lurk in the shadows to prevent accidents.

"The Demoness Sect has probably already suspected the Two of Cups' background and intentions, but I'm not sure what countermeasures they will take. If they want to use the Two of Cups to do some things and achieve certain goals, we can take advantage of such arrangements to peek into the secrets of the Demoness Sect and the special mirror world, and incidentally obtain subsequent resources for the Demoness pathway. If they prepare to eliminate hidden dangers and wipe out the Two of Cups, you, lurking in the shadows, must immediately act and quickly rescue the Two of Cups. The mission with the Demoness Sect shall then end there.

"This is indeed already a fairly high-risk matter. Both the Two of Cups and you have the right to refuse."

Lumian listened attentively and then smiled and said, "I think the Demoness Sect won't do anything to Franca for the time being. It's more likely they'll use her. Otherwise, in the underground mausoleum of Morora, Julie in her divine descent state wouldn't have thrown me out of the special mirror world. And after I achieved my goal, obtained the Black Tear, and returned from Morora, the Demoness of Black wouldn't have been so easily patronized by Franca."

Madam Magician nodded almost imperceptibly.

"If this isn't that individual's arrangement, it means the Primordial Demoness also hopes for a Beyonder who harbors hope for Tudor's resurrection and is closer to the top powers of the two Calamity pathways than Her to grow up according to the method currently considered closest to the correct answer, in order to achieve a goal that is very important and crucial to Her."

Lumian twisted his mouth and said in a self-mocking tone, "One of the ways to counter a true god's arrangement is to place oneself in the plans of another or several true gods, whether those plans are good or bad."

"The principle is the same as balancing the corruption on oneself." Madam Magician shook her head and smiled. "But you should remember that before Mr. Fool awakens, no true god can compete with that individual in arranging this matter, even if several Sequence 0 true gods unite. Of course, this can indeed interfere with and influence that individual's arrangements, giving you a chance to detect anomalies in a timely manner or in advance."

Lumian nodded solemnly. "Whether Franca continues the Demoness Sect mission or not, I will follow up on these matters. Madam, can you give me more intelligence about the Demoness Sect? The Demoness of Black only reveals very little to Franca each time."

Madam Magician said in an appreciative tone, "You now indeed have the ability and mindset to independently handle one aspect of affairs. If Mr. Fool wakes up, you are completely qualified to draw a Major Arcana card.

"From now on, matters concerning the Demoness Sect will be consolidated under you. If you need assistance or want to mobilize resources from other Major Arcana card holders, you can find me or Judgment at any time.

"Well, because the Demoness of Unaging can be resurrected, can be reborn, is difficult to kill completely, and stays forever young without aging, she can live for many, many years, even longer than the lifespan of Angels from many pathways. So, if we don't count Sequence 4 Demonesses of Despair, and only consider the accumulated number of currently living Sequence 3 and Sequence 2 Beyonders, the Demoness Sect has more than any orthodox god church.

"In this regard, only Sanguine, whose lives are equally long, can compare with them, but still fall short.

"Of course, a large part of the high-level power of orthodox god churches is in Grade 0 and Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts and Holy Artifacts. If encountering major disasters, those Sealed Artifacts and Holy Artifacts can also play the role of corresponding high-level beings to some extent, and a large part of them can be relatively smoothly converted into Beyonder characteristics that rapidly strengthen reserve forces."

Lumian recalled and said, "According to the Demoness of Black, at Sequence 3, one can name oneself with a color. There are thirteen such 'Color Demonesses' in total."

"Among them, four are Angels, Sequence 2 Angels. In this respect, the Demoness Sect is inferior to orthodox god churches, because their high-level members must be Demonesses, and there are no angels from other pathways. Orthodox god churches, on the other hand, can potentially use Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts or Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics of other pathways they possess to create Sequence 1 Archangels." Madam Magician gave a detailed introduction.

"Why can't there be Sequence 1 Demonesses?" Lumian expressed his confusion.

Madam Magician chuckled. "What I'm about to say is one of the highest-level mystical knowledge of the paths of the divine.

"Each pathway has its own distinct Uniqueness. Occupying and accommodating the Uniqueness is the key to becoming a true god, but it's not the only condition. A true Sequence 0 also needs all the Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics of its pathway to support the Uniqueness, which is three in total. So, with the Sequence 0 Primordial Demoness, there can't be Sequence 1 Demonesses of Apocalypse, only Sequence 2 Demonesses of Catastrophe.

"Similarly, orthodox god churches can't have Sequence 1 Archangels corresponding to their own deities. Well, except for some pathways with special abilities."

As Lumian suddenly came to a realization, he very keenly asked,

"I can't advance to Sequence 1 of the Demoness pathway and become a Demoness of Apocalypse unless the Primordial Demoness falls before that?"

"Correct." Madam Magician specifically reminded, "There's only one Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic left for the Hunter pathway. The Red Angel has already occupied two, which is why He can become a King of Angels again."

"Is the definition of a King of Angels occupying multiple Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics or accommodating the Uniqueness?" Lumian had some understanding of the concept of King of Angels before, but today was the first time he clearly recognized what this title represented.

Magician nodded. "Yes, whether it's occupying two Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, or three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, or accommodating the Uniqueness, as well as the Uniqueness plus one Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, the Uniqueness plus two Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, they are all Kings of Angels.

"The only King of Angels composed of the Uniqueness plus three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics was my mentor, Mr. Door, but He used His own sealing authority to resist the tendency to converge. If not for this, after three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics and the Uniqueness are placed in the same Beyonder's body, they would inevitably converge rapidly, and the possessor would either immediately become a god, lose control on the spot, or die directly."

No wonder Mr. Door was the highest-ranking nobleman in the Tudor Empire… Lumian asked with undisguised concern, "Where is the last Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic of the Hunter pathway?"

Is Red Angel Medici about to get it?

"It's rumored to be with the Primordial Demoness." Madam Magician didn't conceal this intelligence, "And the one who reportedly brought that Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic to the Primordial Demoness was the Demoness of Black, Clarice."

Lumian nodded thoughtfully.

Madam Magician continued to introduce the situation of the Demoness Sect, "Besides the Demoness of Gray Judith, the Demoness Sect has three other Sequence 2 Demonesses of Catastrophe, namely the Demoness of Yellow, the Demoness of Blue, and the Demoness of Purple.

"There are currently nine Sequence 3 Demonesses of Unaging. Besides the Demoness of Black and the Demoness of Cyan that you know, there are also White, Scarlet, Silver, Green, Gold, Brown, Orange…"

After hearing this, Lumian keenly noticed a problem. "Trier with its special mirror world should be one of the most important areas in the eyes of the Demoness Sect, yet they didn't send a Demoness of Catastrophe to be in charge, leaving all affairs to the Demoness of Black…"

This doesn't seem normal.

Or, is one of the Yellow, Blue, or Purple Demonesses of Catastrophe hiding in Trier?

"Moreover, the one responsible for keeping the Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic of the Hunter pathway and using methods like sacrifice to give it to the Primordial Demoness was also only the Sequence 3 Demoness of Black, not any Demoness of Catastrophe. Wasn't the Demoness Sect worried at the time that the Demoness of Black's status wasn't high enough, her strength wasn't enough, and something might go wrong?" Madam Magician reminded Lumian that there was another detail that was problematic.

After exchanging intelligence about the Demoness Sect for a while longer, Madam Magician looked at the sky that had completely darkened and said, "Tomorrow, Mr. Sun will send someone to take you to the Twin Towers to read the records the City of Silver has on Omebella's remains and to make contact with that Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.

"After that, you decide for yourselves when to return to Trier."

"Yes, Madam Magician." Lumian replied, watching as this holder of a Major Arcana card turned into points of starlight and disappeared before his eyes.

…

As the night settled in, Franca paced in the living room, muttering to herself, "Why hasn't Lumian come back yet?"

Wasn't he just reporting his encounter to Madam Magician and exchanging intelligence?

It's been so long!

Jenna was also a bit worried. She walked to the window and looked out at the street.

Suddenly, her gaze froze.

"There." She pointed to the top of the bell tower attached to The Fool's cathedral.

Franca took a few steps over and saw at the top of the bell tower, in a place without any railings, sat a woman wearing a black cloak, with some black hair falling down, delicate and fine features, and a grand and radiant face.

It was Lumian.

At this moment, Lumian was sitting there, legs dangling outside, gaze quietly looking down.

Franca and Jenna exchanged a glance and quickly rushed to The Fool's cathedral, climbing up the bell tower.

Seeing Lumian's back, they didn't immediately inquire about the situation, but remained quiet, each walking to one side, following Lumian's line of sight to gaze at what he was intently watching.

It was the giant buildings that had lit up with yellowish lights in the dark night, the various mushrooms that were faintly visible in the streetlight glow, the silhouettes of giants and half-giants behind glass windows, raised wine glasses, wisps of cooking smoke, songs from nearby squares, the noise spilling out from bars, and the faint sounds of joy and laughter from different houses.

-x-X-x-

The next morning.

Lumian and the others had just finished breakfast in their room and were waiting for Ludwig to clean up the rest when they heard the doorbell ring.

Outside the door was a half-giant youth about two meters tall, with slightly longer arms and legs, short curly brown hair that looked fluffy.

He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, with a square face. After his gaze swept over Lumian, Franca and Jenna, it involuntarily lowered to look at his own toes as he said, "I'm here to find Lumian Lee, uh, possibly Ms. Lumina Lee."

He spoke in ancient Feysac.

"That's me," Lumian understood this was probably the messenger sent by Mr. Sun to take him to the Twin Towers of the New City of Silver.

That Major Arcana card holder seemed to have deliberately found a youth, to ensure the height difference wouldn't be too dramatic.

The youth let out a sigh of relief and said awkwardly, "I've been ordered by the six-member council to take you to see Elder Derrick Berg at the Twin Towers."

"Alright," Lumian nodded to Jenna and Franca, then followed the youth out of the hotel towards the Twin Towers located in a corner of the New City of Silver.

Along the way, the half-giant youth walked slightly ahead to the side, his back somewhat stiff, occasionally showing a tendency to swing the same arm and leg together, as if he had almost forgotten how to walk normally.

He would turn his head to glance at Lumian from time to time, but not knowing what to say, he could only quickly turn his head back.

Halfway through the journey, he finally thought of a suitable topic. Half turning his body, he asked Lumian, "Aren't, aren't you worried that I might be a bad person? Maybe what I said about the six-member council's order and going to see Elder Derrick Berg at the Twin Towers is all a lie to trick you?"

I could kill thirty of your kind in one breath… Lumian only thought to himself, without saying it out loud.

On the one hand, they were both followers of Mr. Fool and not too familiar, so there was no need to mock. On the other hand, Lumian felt that if his sister Aurore was here, she definitely wouldn't answer in a similar way.

He smiled lightly and said, "I'm not worried, because this is the New City of Silver."

The half-giant youth suddenly became very happy and said in a tone of heartfelt pride,

"Yes, the Lord has always taught us to be kind and restrained. Our New City of Silver strictly cracks down on all kinds of crimes, especially guarding against theft, fraud and other such behaviors…"

12:12

"Yes, the Lord has always taught us to be kind and restrained. Our New City of Silver strictly cracks down on all kinds of crimes, especially guarding against theft, fraud and other such behaviors…"

The half-giant youth opened up and began to talk endlessly about how Mr. Fool originally sent an Angel to save the City of Silver, how he gave the City of Silver this promised land, and how they, the people of the City of Silver, built the New City of Silver.

Lumian had heard these stories repeatedly when drinking in the New City of Silver before, but he wasn't impatient now, letting the half-giant youth continue his smooth narration.

He heard happiness of peace and tranquility in the other's description.

In this exchange, the two arrived at the Twin Towers, the core buildings of the New City of Silver. The left tower had a pointed top and housed public facilities such as the library, while the right tower had a round top and was where the six-member council that governed the New City of Silver worked.

Lumian instinctively turned his gaze towards the round tower and noticed that in the cracks between the bricks near the ground, tufts of black hair-like plants had grown out, sometimes drooping, sometimes swaying lightly as if blown by a gentle breeze.

When he came last time, Lumian had also noticed these black plants but didn't pay much attention. This time, however, he felt a kind of blood connection.

We are all parts or rather continuations of the life of the Goddess of Harvest, Omebella!

Even when sealed, does a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact still have some influence on the outside world? Lumian withdrew his gaze and followed the half-giant youth into the pointed tower.

They walked on large black stone slabs, passing huge pillars, and came to the library on the third floor.

In front of the intimidating bookshelves stood a tall man wearing a simple white robe.

The man was over two meters tall, with neatly combed brownish-yellow hair. He looked only about 22 or 23 years old, but had a very calm demeanor and an overwhelming aura. He was clearly Mr. Sun, whom Lumian had met last time, one of the top figures of the Church of The Fool.

"Elder Berg, Ms. Lumina is here," the half-giant youth said respectfully.

Mr. Sun, whose name was Derrick Berg, looked at Lumian and nodded, saying, "Follow me."

Lumian politely replied, "Thank you."

The half-giant youth then waved and walked towards the door. After a few steps, he turned around and called out to Lumian's back, "My name is Rugest!"

After saying this, Rugest quickly turned and ran down the stairs.

Lumian followed Mr. Sun deep into the New City of Silver library, entering the innermost secret room where a stack of documents made up of scattered records was placed.

"These are all the records regarding the 'Gift of the Land'. I have already translated them into ancient Feysac for you," Mr. Sun said simply, sitting down in a position against the wall and falling silent, as if he had turned into a statue.

Lumian understood this was to guard against any accidents that might occur while he was reading the materials, so he nodded lightly, sat down at the table, and picked up the stack of new papers.

He read very slowly, taking nearly half an hour to roughly understand the relationship between the Goddess of Harvest, Omebella, and the City of Silver.

In the Second Epoch, in the era when the ancient gods ruled the earth and sky, the City of Silver belonged to the Giant King's Court, and all its people were slaves to the giants.

But unlike other human vassal powers of the Giant King's Court, the City of Silver's situation was considerably better, because they believed in and followed the subsidiary god of the Giant King, the ancient god, the Giant Queen, the Goddess of Harvest—Omebella.

According to the City of Silver's records, the Giant Queen Omebella had descended to their city multiple times, displaying two images.

One image corresponded to light and goodness, with "the harvest's grace, life's precious embrace" as the core of faith, viewing the people of the City of Silver as Her own children, always ensuring bountiful harvests, abundant reproduction of livestock and poultry, and rapid population growth. This was the main reason why the people of City of Silver rarely suffered innocent slaughter and did not lack food.

The other would bring desolation and death. At that time, all the people of Certain Death knew phrases like "extreme harvest is inevitably accompanied by extreme desolation", "only life can quell the land's wrath", "death, like new life, is a common and beautiful thing, not to be feared", "we have accepted the land's gifts, so we must pay the corresponding price".

If Omebella descended in this form, She would inevitably demand bloody sacrifices, with large numbers of humans as offerings. Even if the people of the City of Silver did these things, sacrificing their own relatives, they would sometimes still suffer famines lasting up to a year—if they didn't do so, the famine might last three to five years.

Is this what the era ruled by ancient gods was like? Even the City of Silver, which was relatively well off, was like this… Lumian turned to the next page.

This page recorded the Giant King's Court's words of praise for the Giant Queen Omebella. What caught Lumian's attention most was one sentence: "The noble Queen used Her maternal nature to help the great King calm His emotions…"

What does this mean? Maternal nature… helping the Giant King—this ancient god—expel excess Beyonder characteristics and regain some sanity by giving birth to children? Lumian pondered as he continued reading.

After another fifteen minutes, he turned to the stage of the Giant King's Court's rapid decline.

The City of Silver, which had obtained another divine-level Sealed Artifact, had learned of the fall of the ancient god, the Giant King and feared falling into the hands of the more brutal Devil Monarch.

In such anxiety and unease, on a night without the crimson moon, the Giant Queen Omebella appeared outside the City of Silver.

This time, She did not descend directly, but walked over step by step.

She was in poor condition. She asked the believers of the City of Silver to perform a ritual, sacrificing half of their people to help Her replenish Her life force.

The record of the subsequent situation was vague, but the result was clear: "That night, man slew god, subject slew ruler, child slew mother."

In other words, the bizarrely resurrected Omebella finally died at the hands of the betraying believers of the City of Silver? Lumian wasn't too surprised.

After that day, the City of Silver discovered that Omebella's remains didn't have Beyonder characteristics in the true sense, but still possessed powerful force and terrifying authority. They completely buried this history, hid this secret, and even after converting to belief in the Ancient Sun God, they didn't tell that Lord the true origin of the divine-level Sealed Artifact, Gift of the Land, until Mr. Fool's Angel of Redemption came to save them.

At this point, all records of Omebella—the Goddess of Harvest—ended. Next came information about the Sealed Artifact—Gift of the Land.

"Gift of the Land can naturally create an edible plant in any environment and promote its growth, reproduction, and abundant harvest within a fifty-kilometer range.

"Gift of the Land will turn all dead humans within a fifty-kilometer range into terrible evil spirits, unless that human died by being murdered by a direct relative. Those who have eaten the food it creates and have a strong connection with it will turn into evil spirits within three hundred kilometers…"

Seeing this record different from the official Sealed Artifact description, Lumian suddenly raised his head and looked at Mr. Sun sitting by the wall.

He asked in confusion, "Every dead human will turn into an evil spirit?

"Even those who were below Sequence 5 in life?"

As far as Lumian knew, evil spirits were the strongest among soul creatures. Even the weakest should be at the level of Sequence 5, while the strong ones could be equivalent to demigods.

"Yes." Mr. Sun nodded steadily.

Wh— the ability of the Gift of the Land is terrifying. This is equivalent to being able to mass-produce Sequence 5 Beyonders, some of whom should even be demigods… Is this what a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact is? Lumian subconsciously began to evaluate from a combat power perspective.

He probed, "What's the maximum number of dead humans that can turn into evil spirits at one time?"

"We've never tried," Mr. Sun replied with a solemn expression.

Lumian suddenly realized and quickly apologized, "I apologize for my rudeness."

He continued reading the materials about the divine-level Sealed Artifact; in the New City of Silver, Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts were called divine-level Sealed Artifacts.

-x-X-x-

"The Gift of the Land can make the soil fertile within a 300-kilometer range, make water flow abundant, increase the tendency for life to reproduce, and prevent even the most unfavorable environmental conditions from stopping life from bearing offspring, only reducing the quantity and frequency…

"The Gift of the Land will randomly cause the land within a 300-kilometer range to become desolate, crops to fail completely, and plants to wither. Unless the desolation effect ends, this land will not become fertile again. This can be suppressed by Angel-level abilities similar to purification, limiting the desolation to a very small area, unable to spread…

"If actively used, the Gift of the Land can cause all life within a 30-kilometer range to rapidly drain away until death. Similar abilities outside this domain will also gradually wither and be weakened because of this. Lifeless dead who enter this domain will quickly return to the earth…

"The Gift of the Land can also fill a 50-kilometer range with various toxins, grow various Beyonder plants beneficial to itself. Similarly, it can tame all animals without higher intelligence in this area, and strengthen the tendency for every Beyonder to lose control…

"Through contact, the Gift of the Land can create dolls from soil, plants, lava, ores, and metals, and give them some life and power. The strongest dolls do not exceed Sequence 3, with a maximum of nine demigod-level dolls…

"The Gift of the Land can transform the environment, making even the Abyss suitable for human survival…

"The wielder of the Gift of the Land will truly become one with the land, forests, water flows, mountains, ores, etc. within range, and can use them to traverse, with varying speeds…

"Every time one is hit by the Gift of the Land, they will face a test of losing control, as well as a test of death. If unable to pass, they will either lose control on the spot or die directly…

"The Gift of the Land can temporarily turn the wielder into a mythical creature, but requires the wielder to be able to withstand the impact of mystical knowledge and mad thoughts brought by the corresponding Mythical Creature form…

"The Gift of the Land can give the wielder all female characteristics…

"Life that comes into contact with the Gift of the Land will either be cured of all injuries and diseases, or die instantly. Which outcome occurs cannot be divined beforehand. According to prophecy, females with Omebella's bloodline who have suffered betrayal by direct relatives will not experience the instant death outcome…

"Those who do not meet the above conditions, even if lucky enough to receive the healing effect, cannot use the Gift of the Land for more than one minute afterwards, otherwise they will lose control or die…

"Those who meet the conditions will still suffer other negative effects…

"Those who understand the above information, if they do not possess godhood, are likely to become pregnant in the coming period, conceiving an unknown creature…

"Note: Except for the prophecy part, all descriptions are based on the City of Silver's experience, lessons, and understanding."

After reading the information about the Gift of the Land, Lumian finally understood why only females with Omebella's bloodline who had suffered betrayal by direct relatives could touch, pick up, and briefly use this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. For others, it was purely gambling with their lives, unless they had no other way to heal their injuries and diseases, or faced a crisis they couldn't normally overcome. Otherwise, no one would try.

But it's truly very powerful, worthy of being a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. And if used briefly, the negative effects are not completely unacceptable. It's just necessary to suppress the desolation effect and guard against enemies turning into even more terrifying evil spirits after death… Lumian silently mused to himself, focusing his attention on the most crucial content.

That was the part about Omebella, in poor condition, walking to the City of Silver seeking sacrifice.

According to Madam Magician, at this time Omebella had already had Her identity and destiny stolen. The people of the City of Silver shouldn't have been able to know that the female giant before them was the Goddess of Harvest, Omebella.

But in the records, the residents of the City of Silver undoubtedly knew it was Omebella, without even a hint of doubt or raising any objections.

They considered it a fact that needed no verification, reflected in the record as just two short sentences, with the purpose of describing that Omebella arrived at the City of Silver by walking.

Lumian raised his head, looking at Mr. Sun seated against the wall, and asked thoughtfully, "Which image did the Goddess of Harvest Omebella have when she walked to the City of Silver?"

He remembered the previous records mentioning that Omebella had descended to the City of Silver multiple times, mainly presenting two images, one representing harvest and reproduction, the other symbolizing desolation and death.

This made Lumian suspect whether Omebella had two identities, with "harvest and reproduction" having its destiny stolen, while "desolation and death" walked to the City of Silver seeking sacrifice.

Mr. Sun shook his head. "There was no record at the time."

Lumian supported his cheek with his hand, pondering silently.

Judging from the demand for the City of Silver to sacrifice half of its people, it does seem closer to the 'desolation and death' image…

But if the 'harvest and reproduction' image was severely damaged, it's also possible to demand life to help oneself recover…

Moreover, two images can be understood, but how can two identities be concentrated in one person… Surely the Goddess of Harvest Omebella didn't steal the identity and destiny of another Omebella before? She's not from the Marauder pathway, and there's no legend indicating She possessed similar items…

Lumian deliberated for a moment, then stood up and said, "I want to touch the Gift of the Land."

To see what resonance Omebella's bloodline could bring, what information could be obtained.

Mr. Sun, Derrick Berg, also stood up. "Okay."

Wearing a simple white robe, he walked steadily in front, entering the round tower from the second-floor connection, then descended all the way, passing through the deep dark dungeon, arriving at a pair of heavy stone doors.

Behind the stone doors was a mottled staircase extending downwards, with points of light like dawn seeping from the depths, bringing some visibility.

Lumian found that the walls on both sides of the staircase were damp, seemingly oozing many water droplets, and tufts of hair-like black plants had grown out of the cracks, hanging there.

The further down the staircase they went, the brighter the dawn-like light became, and between the damp walls and the hair-like black plants grew mushrooms of various colors, golden wheat ears, the unique Black-Faced Grass, and other things. The spirituality in the air also became increasingly lively and vigorous.

Lumian's heart gradually palpitated, as if returning to a mother's embrace, or finding his past self.

He heard the sound of blood flowing, seemingly from within his body, yet also originating from the bottom of the staircase.

"It really is Omebella… The Invisible Child of God is indeed Omebella…" Lumian sighed a couple of times, calming his own state.

His hair was growing inch by inch inside his cloak, his skin becoming more delicate and elastic.

After descending for a while longer, Lumian saw sunlight, coming from Mr. Sun.

Pure, warm, sacred golden light quickly filled this area, causing the forces of desolation and the aura of death to retreat to the edges.

Seeing this scene, Lumian instinctively associated it with a Demoness's Disease and Plague.

In such a domain of sunlight, the vast majority of mystical pathogens would quickly perish, while a few ordinary pathogens might survive…

Finally, The Sun Derrick Berg and Lumian arrived at a large room filled with points of dawn-like light.

The room was permeated with the smell of soil, the scent of grass, and the fragrance of flowers. The ceiling, floor, and surrounding walls were covered with those hair-like black things, growing all kinds of plants and mushrooms.

In the center of this room, brown soil was piled up, with a withered, giant tree trunk inserted at the top.

The tree trunk was just short of touching the ceiling, about seven or eight meters high, requiring three or four people's arm span to encircle it. Most of the bark on its surface had fallen off, with the remaining parts a grayish-brown color.

Its core had become hollow, and the exposed wood parts facing Lumian and Mr. Sun were partly protruding and partly sunken, outlining a legless, human-like pattern.

That silhouette used the branches on the trunk as hands, its face extremely distorted, with two huge crimson flowers serving as eyes.

Within the wood grain texture of its "body surface", traces of blood color were faintly visible.

"This is the Gift of the Land." The patches of sacred sunlight created by Mr. Sun merged with the points of dawn-like light in the room.

Lumian already felt his blood stirring, feeling an unusually close, blood-based connection with that withered tree trunk.

The two were originally one.

Lumian seemed to receive a call, subconsciously walking forward, his elegant and clean face seeming to emit its own radiance in the dawn-like light mixed with sunlight.

One step, two steps, three steps… He came to the top of the pile of brown soil, stopping in front of the withered giant tree.

The Sun Derrick Berg did not stop her.

Lumian took a breath, adjusted his state, prepared to use Mirror Substitution, and then extended his right palm with evenly proportioned bones and flesh and long fingers, touching towards the withered tree trunk with streaks of blood seeping out.

As soon as his fingers touched the dull-colored wood, a scene suddenly flashed in his mind:

The sky was hazy, seemingly shrouded in dark mist, a huge light shadow that seemed able to support heaven and earth appeared in front, while behind were strange silhouettes outlined by blurred lines…

This scene flashed by, followed immediately by darkness without a hint of light, an utterly quiet stillness.

After an unknown time, in the darkness and stillness, a shrill cry faintly came:

"My child, Omebella…

"My child, Omebella…"

Lumian suddenly broke free from the illusion, as if forcibly pushed away from the Gift of the Land by an invisible force.

He immediately felt a stinging pain in his right shoulder, with a bit of coolness like moonlight shining.

That was the contract mark from the Abscessed Hand being activated, but without producing any effect, bringing teleportation and Blink.

-x-X-x-

Lumian turned his gaze to his right shoulder.

Before this, he had anticipated many scenarios, but he hadn't expected that the contract mark corresponding to the Abscessed Hand would have an abnormal reaction when he touched the Gift of the Land, bringing a stinging pain and coolness.

Is this because the complete Abscessed Hand has corruption from the Great Mother, or does Hand Bro himself have some connection to the Goddess of Harvest Omebella? When He became 0-01's puppet and encountered me, He called out Omebella… Lumian frowned imperceptibly, forming a rough guess.

It was very strange that despite the Abscessed Hand being an Angel, no high-level being remembered His original form!

Combining this with some thoughts from reading the records about Omebella earlier, Lumian suspected whether Hand Bro might also be an Angel whose identity and destiny were stolen by enemies, and who was even brutally dismembered and sealed in various places to prevent His resurrection.

However, this suspicion couldn't explain one issue—judging from how the Abscessed Hand evolved towards femininity when all parts of its body were assembled, showing characteristics related to Sequence 1 Beauty Goddess of the Moon pathway, He must have either been deeply contaminated by the Great Mother or received corresponding boons. Who would dare to bear such a destiny?

Perhaps Hand Bro both satisfies the conditions of lacking necessary wisdom and receiving high-level boons from the Great Mother, naturally reacting to matters of the Child of God, and also has intricate connections with Omebella… He should be an Angel of the Moon pathway, which is adjacent to the Goddess of Harvest Omebella's pathway…

I wonder how many high-level beings from the Second Epoch have survived… But they may not know about these matters, just like the Round Moon Duke of the Sanguine… Lumian suppressed the doubts in his heart and looked again at the Gift of the Land existing in the form of a withered tree trunk.

After the first contact, he had confirmed that he wouldn't die on the spot because of this, so he tried to press his right palm again on the grayish-brown tree trunk with both protrusions and depressions.

The fragrance of flowers and the fishy smell of blood pierced his nostrils. Before his eyes again appeared the hazy sky shrouded in dark mist, the huge light shadow that could support heaven and earth, and the strange silhouettes outlined by blurred lines.

This time, Lumian felt pain, felt terror, and also felt the madness of wanting all things to return to the earth.

He fell into familiar darkness, without a hint of light, quiet to the point of deathly stillness.

As time passed second by second, a shrill cry gradually sounded in his ears, calling for her child Omebella.

This made Lumian slowly come to his senses, and then he felt the stinging pain and coolness in his right shoulder.

He endured this feeling, not being pushed out of the illusion.

The darkness quickly shattered, and Lumian saw the light of dawn, saw faces full of determination, and felt anger, pain, and hatred in his heart.

At this moment, he heard a voice, gentle yet painful, a woman's voice: "Zedus…"

Lumian "woke up", and what entered his eyes was the distorted face outlined by protrusions and depressions on the withered tree trunk, and the two huge crimson flowers serving as the face's eyes.

His palm was still pressed against the tree trunk.

What I just saw and heard, were they Omebella's last obsessions, the scenes that left the deepest impression on Her? Combining the corresponding emotions, does the world shrouded in dark mist correspond to Her first death? Are the huge light shadow and one of the blurred figures the high-level being who stole Her identity and destiny?

What do that deathly silent darkness and the shrill cry represent? I've heard similar cries in the depths of the Underworld, when I shared the senses of the creature inside the bird egg… The bird egg represents gestation… Does that deathly silent darkness correspond to Omebella's state before birth, or the state before regaining new life? Did that voice crying out for her child pull Omebella back from the depths of death, giving Her new life?

Would this new life also reset identity and destiny, making the theft ineffective?

The protagonists of the third scene are the dawn and human faces, with emotions of anger and hatred. Does this correspond to Omebella being killed by the City of Silver?

Yes, these can all be called obsessions, having a crucial impact on Omebella's fate…

Who was that 'Zedus' at the end?

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Lumian turned his head to look at the tall and steady Mr. Sun beside him. "May I know if you have heard of the name Zedus?"

"You can just speak casually. In the church, no one is nobler than another." The Sun Derrick Berg first corrected, then shook his head and said, "I haven't heard this name."

"Was there no one called Zedus among the brass of the City of Silver when the Goddess of Harvest Omebella last came to the City of Silver?" Lumian pursued.

Mr. Sun answered in a very certain tone, "No."

Zedus wasn't the person who killed Omebella… Who could it be? Thinking of this, Lumian suddenly had a flash of insight.

Could this be Hand Bro's name?

Since Hand Bro could call out Omebella to me, causing the contract to mutate when I touched the Gift of the Land, theoretically, Omebella's remnant consciousness in the Gift of the Land should also be able to detect the Abscessed Hand's contract mark on me and call out His name!

Lumian withdrew his right hand, waited for several tens of seconds, and pressed his palm to the withered tree trunk for the third time.

The previous illusions and auditory hallucinations reappeared, but there was no additional content.

Lumian sighed inwardly, crouched down slightly, adjusted his cloak, and pressed his other hand to the surface of the Gift of the Land, grasping the most solid and obvious protrusion.

Then, he gritted his teeth, the blood vessels on his neck bulged, and his temples throbbed with a blue tint.

This made Mr. Sun's eyelids twitch, as if he hadn't expected a beautiful lady with a cold expression to show such a side.

Soon, the brown soil began to loosen, and Lumian forcefully pulled up that withered, giant tree trunk.

The entire New City of Silver inexplicably trembled—a gentle shake.

Lumian half-lifted the seven or eight-meter-high withered tree trunk, trying to swing it.

It can barely be used to smash people, but it would reduce agility to the lowest level, and speed would also significantly decrease… Lumian made a judgment on whether he could use the Gift of the Land to fight in the future, then inserted the huge withered tree trunk back into the pile of brown soil.

Almost simultaneously, he felt a certain power in his bloodline surge towards his abdomen, causing a slight stinging pain there, as if something was gestating.

Lumian raised his right hand, pressing it towards the corresponding position on his stomach with quiet and eerie black flames.

For a moment, he experienced maternal emotions of reluctance and pity, but this couldn't stop him from infusing the Demoness's black flames into his abdomen in the manner of Fire Infusion.

Indescribable pain, loss, and sadness surged into his heart simultaneously, his face suddenly turned pale, and his light-colored lips involuntarily trembled slightly.

This made The Sun Derrick Berg can't help but ask, "Do you need my help to dispel the negative effects, or find a Beyonder to provide treatment?"

Lumian shook his head, curled his lips, and said in a low voice, "A small matter."

He turned to remind Mr. Sun, "Even Beyonders with godhood might conceive after touching the Gift of the Land, and those with Omebella's bloodline are more likely to encounter this."

"We don't have any records of this. Historically, the City of Silver has needed to actively use this Sealed Artifact very rarely, and each time, the user quickly died." Mr. Sun nodded slightly.

Lumian didn't say anything more, turned around, and walked step by step towards the outside of this huge room, towards the mottled stairs leading to the upper part of the round tower, with Mr. Sun quietly trailing behind.

…

In the hotel room.

Lumian wrote down the gains and questions from reading the records related to Omebella and touching the Gift of the Land in a letter.

He then summoned the "doll" messenger and handed over this letter and a mirror—with this marked mirror, he could later directly transmit information to Madam Magician through the mirror world.

The "doll" messenger took the letter and mirror but didn't leave immediately. Wearing a light golden dress, it leaned against the window frame, carefully and attentively examining Lumian.

Lumian arched an eyebrow. "What are you looking at?"

The "doll" messenger suddenly jumped up, floating in mid-air, and said with an indignant look, "Don't you know how beautiful you look right now?

"Beautiful enough for me to ignore that you're still wearing men's clothes, beautiful enough for me to forgive why you haven't made yourself tidier!"

Lumian was momentarily at a loss for words.

The "doll" messenger waved its hand and said reluctantly, "See you next time!"

"See you next time," Lumian politely replied.

After about fifteen minutes, the "doll" messenger emerged from the void, holding a bulging envelope, and said joyfully, "We meet again!"

"Indeed." Lumian was a bit helpless.

He took the envelope, opened it, and found that the letter itself was very thin, mainly containing an additional green gemstone.

The gemstone was deep and alluring, with a dreamy crystalline green color.

Lumian only looked at it for a moment, but felt as if his vision and soul were sinking into it.

He quickly forced himself to look away, unfolded the letter paper with confusion, and began to read:

"The theft of Omebella's identity and destiny had not become ineffective before the Fifth Epoch…

"We will inquire about the name 'Zedus' from the ancient beings who survived from the Second Epoch, including seeking revelation from even higher beings.

"The origin of this name might solve the mysteries surrounding Omebella…

"That green gemstone was made at my request by Miss Justice, with the purpose of helping you seal part of the knowledge related to the great existences. Although you still have a lot of corruption and seals, as long as you don't recall that knowledge, there shouldn't be any problems. But we can't guarantee that you won't encounter situations where you need to recall it. Before you possess a true or false Angel rank, this hypnotic effect won't be lifted."

Lumian understood the reason and looked at the green gemstone again, allowing his mind to sink into it.

When he came to his senses, the green gemstone had become ordinary, and he had forgotten part of his knowledge.

But it's still worth quite a bit of money. Lumian put away the green gemstone and said to the "doll" messenger still lingering over the desk, "See you next time."

The "doll" messenger waved in response."See you next time!"

Leaving the room, Lumian said to Franca, Jenna, Ludwig, and others, "We're going back to Trier now."