140 COI

In an underground location in Trier, a place strictly guarded by multiple Beyonders from the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Church of Steam and Machinery.

This was a seal leakage point that had appeared before the construction of the catacombs, which was later properly handled and no longer caused problems. However, if linked with the square in the nearby quarry hollow where Eternal Blazing Sun and God of Steam and Machinery were worshiped, along with the stone pillars representing both deities, it could allow people from outside the seal to enter Fourth Epoch Trier at a certain risk.

Although this required the divine power of the Eternal Blazing Sun or the God of Steam and Machinery as a "key", something impossible for cultists to utilize, both Churches still insisted on sending teams to take turns guarding the site.

At this moment, Angoulême arrived at the abandoned mine with two other Unshadowed colleagues, facing three people dressed as stonemasons.

"Let's begin," said a monk with short, thick hair and a beard, nodding at Angoulême.

Angoulême recognized this monk as the current prior of the Deep Valley Cloister, named Jack Walton, quite an ordinary man.

"Okay." Angoulême nodded in response.

Under the watch of both guard teams, they lowered their heads and took their positions, chanting the honorific names of their respective deities.

Rays of sunlight fell from the cave's top, illuminating the abandoned mine.

White steam subsequently permeated the quarry hollow.

Soon, crimson blood seeped from the depths of the abandoned mine.

The bizarre blood, resisting the sunlight, continuously surged upward, quickly filling the mine.

Angoulême, an Unshadowed, dissolved his fear and hesitation, raised his head, took two steps forward, and entered the abandoned mine, stepping into the crimson blood thick with a bloody scent.

Other Saints followed closely behind.

Passing through the "Blood Well" would allow entry into Fourth Epoch Trier!

This was not a simple task. The "blood" would cause severe corruption, with the danger increasing for higher Sequences.

…

Southern Continent, deep in a rainforest.

Before a terrifying castle covered in countless human skins.

Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig each condensed fire spears of blue-violet, blazing and terrifying.

Without Lumian issuing the command, they simultaneously threw their spears.

The blue-violet fire spears split mid-air, quickly presenting a sky-covering arrangement.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

It was as if an entire military legion had simultaneously launched their weapons, causing the high sky to brighten and be dyed with brilliant colors.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The human skin castle was completely covered by countless fire spears. The cultists developed by the Rose School of Thought used every possible ability but could not change this apocalyptic scene.

Rumble, the earth trembled, the castle collapsed, igniting blue-violet flames.

Painful wails and desperate curses echoed between the flames, transforming into thin strands of black gas rising upward.

Ludwig didn't care what the soon-to-die cultists were cursing. He stepped forward, rode the wild wind, and howled to arrive above the collapsed human skin castle, opening his mouth split to the back of his head.

Whoosh!

All the rising black gas was sucked into his mouth.

Lumian had his hands in his pockets, smiling and watching this scene, his expression very leisurely.

From breaking through the human skin castle's outer defensive line, to gradually advancing and cutting off their escape hopes, to repeatedly attacking the castle itself and completely destroying it, Lumian never personally acted, allowing Jenna and others to freely perform and cooperate tacitly.

He was only responsible for central command, sharing appropriate abilities at critical moments.

"Not strong enough," Franca finally felt like a Demoness amidst those wails and curses.

The only issue was that the master of the human skin castle was just a Sequence 4 Tree Supplicant, a bestowed by the Mother Tree of Desire, though he had a group of Low and Mid-Sequence subordinates and numerous loyal cultists. The human skin castle itself was like a sacrificial ritual that could briefly display power equivalent to Sequence 2 by sacrificing many humans, but it fundamentally couldn't resist a true Angel, let alone an Angel leading a team.

"Overwhelming the weak and sweeping through armies is also a form of war, which is quite helpful for digesting the War Bishop role," Lumian laughed and responded to Franca. "Moreover, previously abstract cooperation has now become a tangibly perceptible thing."

What Lumian didn't say was that he was essentially equivalent to a priest or bishop of the City of Calamity or 0-01 due to his close connections, with only the war aspect lacking.

Over the past week, Mr. Star and Mr. Moon had each discovered a base secretly established by the Rose School of Thought, both handed over to Lumian to handle, giving him the opportunity to launch two small wars.

Seeing Ludwig consume all the dispersed boons' power, Jenna retracted her gaze and said to Lumian with some worry, "I know the Southern Continent is chaotic, but getting opportunities for two small wars in just over a week—isn't this too frequent?"

Lumian chuckled and said, "These are signs.

"Signs of chaos and conflict, signs that the apocalypse will arrive early."

Before Jenna and others could respond, Lumian waved to Ludwig in mid-air, saying, "Let's head back. Let's have a barbecue party today."

According to their agreement, apart from the dispersed boons' power, all other spoils had to be left for the intelligence providers—Mr. Star or Mr. Moon.

In the luxurious villa in Trier that currently belonged to Lumian and his companions.

Jenna was using invisible spider silk to quickly slice and string meat skewers while watching Lumian, who despite having extremely strong fire manipulation abilities, was seriously managing charcoal for grilling meat.

Lumian wore a smile, relaxed, tasting a piece while grilling.

He's not worried about those signs at all… No, not that he's not worried, but he worries when he should worry, fights when he should fight, and enjoys life when he should enjoy life. Jenna thought, her eyes subtly moving.

Over the past week, Lumian, who had made certain progress in digesting the Weather Warlock potion and stabilized his state, was behaving quite normally. Their relationship had returned to the period before the Vortex incident, and moreover, Lumian had clearly become more proactive.

But from some details, Jenna could still sense that Lumian was slightly different from before.

A normal person would inevitably be affected in daily life when encountering worrying matters. Lumian's ability to completely detach himself indicated he was deliberately controlling his emotions.

Even at Sequence 2, godhood ultimately brings certain, permanent influences… Jenna suddenly felt somewhat emotional.

"What 's on your mind?" Franca, helping beside her, asked curiously.

Jenna lowered her voice and shared her recent feelings with Franca in a concise manner.

Franca pursed her lips and said, "Just treat it as a natural change in mindset and perception that everyone experiences as they grow older and are tempered by various experiences…"

She stopped midway.

Wasn't this true for herself as well?

The same applied to Jenna. Walking step by step to her current Sequence, she had more or less abandoned some of her original insistences.

Just as Jenna was about to say something, she saw Lumian throw a grilled meat skewer aside, and Ludwig, who somehow had moved there, bit into the food in one mouthful.

"Feeding a dog?" Franca laughingly scolded Lumian.

Jenna couldn't help but laugh as well.

…

Deep in Fourth Epoch Trier, dense fog isolated sensory perception and spirituality, making the partially collapsed buildings in the distance appear hazy and indistinct.

The Unshadowed had filled the surrounding thirty to forty meters with pure, holy sunlight, to the point where even each person's shadow had disappeared.

The quietly rolling fog was blocked outside the sunlight, but the light could not reach further.

Angoulême cast his gaze toward Jack Walton.

The prior of Deep Valley Cloister, a Saint-level monk, was holding an unusual circular disk covered in complex patterns with a mirror-like luster.

Placed on the disk was an object supposedly from the Louis Gustav family crest, which swayed left and right before finally settling in a certain direction.

"Over there." Jack Walton was leading this search.

The disk was something he had made just two days ago, derived from a revelation's knowledge. The Gustav family crest was not a real object, but a historical projection—this did not impede its role as a medium pointing toward Louis Gustav.

Just as Angoulême and the other Unshadowed followed Jack Walton into a new street, a black shadow suddenly passed in front of them.

The shadow was slightly hunched, moving slowly at the intersection.

At a glance, it looked like a person, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like a gathering of viscous black liquid.

"A Montsouris ghost!" Angoulême quickly identified the origin of the black shadow.

This left Jack Walton and other clergy from the Church of Steam and Machinery confused.

Weren't Montsouris ghosts supposed to wander in Underground Trier? How could they enter Fourth Epoch Trier?

Information about Montsouris ghosts quickly flashed through the minds of these demigods who were not afraid of ghostly curses, quickly reminding them that these "ghosts" were not always present and had appeared only in recent times.

Did Montsouris ghosts come out of Fourth Epoch Trier? And more than one? Such speculation emerged in the minds of Jack Walton and other Saints.

…

In the luxurious villa.

Lumian suddenly felt his entire body go icy cold, unable to breathe, as if sinking into viscous river water.

The next second, his eyes reflected a black shadow resembling a hunched elderly person.

A Montsouris ghost!

Lumian's heart tightened, and he sat up abruptly.

He truly opened his eyes, seeing everything in the room was completely normal, with no Montsouris ghost in sight!

"What happened?" Franca, wrapped in a thin blanket and yawning, also sat up.

Lumian was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I dreamed of a Montsouris ghost."

Franca was first stunned, then her expression turned solemn. "For a Demoness, this could be a spiritual premonition."

-x-X-x-

Lumian leaped out of bed and walked to the window.

Blue-violet flames rolled out from within his body, quickly condensing into pieces of iron-black armor.

In the blink of an eye, Lumian had transformed into a knight clad in full armor.

After digesting the potion to a certain degree and stabilizing his condition, he could finally transform his flames into actual weapons or armor, though he could only maintain this for 10 minutes.

Lumian reached the window and looked outside, seeing only the bright crimson moon, sparse twinkling stars, and a quiet, peaceful night with nothing unusual.

He made an instant decision, issuing orders to each team member through the mental channel: "Get ready. We'll move to the New City of Silver in five seconds."

Learning from the experience and lessons of the Vortex incident, Lumian chose to immediately leave Trier, taking his team members to the Church of The Fool's headquarters to maximally avoid potential accidents.

Once in a safe location, they could report to Mr. Fool, await possible orders, think about what had happened, and plan their next steps.

As Lumian's voice echoed in their minds, Franca used invisible spider silk to help her change clothes, tie her ponytail, and enter combat mode.

Five seconds quickly passed, and Lumian didn't wait for Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig to gather before directly activating the black mark on his right shoulder.

As a team leader, he no longer needed to grab his team members' shoulders to teleport them to their destination—the only requirement was that they be within a 10-kilometer range.

Amid rapidly receding layers of color blocks, Lumian and the others appeared at the entrance of the Church of The Fool's headquarters.

After confirming this was real and not a mirror image or scene from a painting, Lumian let out an undisguised sigh of relief.

"What happened?" asked Jenna, wearing a dress as sleepwear.

"I dreamed I was attacked by a Montsouris ghost," Lumian said while walking toward the headquarters cathedral, which remained open even in the deep night.

"As an Angel and former Demoness, all dreams necessarily have meaning," Franca explained, following along. "Moreover, as far as I know, the Eternal Blazing Sun Church and the Church of Steam and Machinery are sending several Saints carrying Sealed Artifacts into Fourth Epoch Trier tonight, hoping to eliminate Louis Gustav and Madame Pualís."

"As an Angel and former Demoness, all dreams necessarily have meaning," Franca explained, following along. "Moreover, as far as I know, the Eternal Blazing Sun Church and the Church of Steam and Machinery are sending several Saints carrying Sealed Artifacts into Fourth Epoch Trier tonight, hoping to eliminate Louis Gustav and Madame Pualís."

Anthony connected the previous statements and speculated, "Due to the influence of the two Churches' actions, Fourth Epoch Trier experienced some anomalies, triggering Lumian's spiritual premonition?"

Lumian crossed the spacious area and sat in the first row of seats facing the Fool's holy emblem, smiling as he responded to Anthony, "I wouldn't leave Trier if it were just the anomalies and potential effects from Montsouris ghosts. With evil gods temporarily unable to descend, I don't actually need to worry too much. Plus, you're all practically half-Angels now. As long as you don't leave the team's effective range, safety is sufficiently guaranteed. Together, combined with the ability to get help by sacrificing to the essence of war, we could resist even a Sequence 1 Archangel for some time, maybe even with hope of victory.

"But since this involves Madame Pualís, it's better to stay away—calamity needs to stay away from the mother."

"Yeah." Jenna strongly agreed with Lumian's choice.

She sat down too, letting mirrors fly out from the Traveler's Bag. "Stay alert tonight. If anything unusual occurs, immediately organize believers to take refuge in the nearest orthodox cathedrals," Jenna transmitted these messages to the various bishops and priests of the Sick Church through the mirror world and marked mirrors.

Meanwhile, mirrors also flew out from Lumian and Franca's Traveler's Bags.

Using mirrors they had positioned that were still in Trier, they projected the corresponding scenes onto the mirrors before them to observe the subsequent situation and respond in time.

After finishing this, Lumian lowered his head, pressed his hand to his chest, and began to pray.

…

Deep in Fourth Epoch Trier.

Upon encountering the Montsouris ghost, Angoulême turned to the monk Jack Walton, "Should we eliminate it?"

Even if he weren't an Unshadowed, Angoulême wouldn't fear Montsouris ghosts, as these ghosts hadn't previously shown particularly strong power and would even avoid the protection of orthodox Churches. Even if they could cause trouble for Saints, it would at most be an annoyance.

Moreover, Beyonders of the Sun pathway were most effective against such dark, black evil beings named after ghosts.

Jack Walton, as the leader of this search and cleanup operation, thought for two seconds.

"Yes, but don't cause too much commotion."

He remembered that Montsouris ghosts' curses were extremely persistent. He worried that in the upcoming battle with Madame Pualís, these ghosts might suddenly join in and interfere from the side, potentially tipping the balance in an already dangerous fight. Better to clear them out now while it was relatively safe.

Angoulême quickly said to his two colleagues, "Prepare to remove the seal."

For this operation, the Eternal Blazing Sun Church and the Church of Steam and Machinery had each provided their clergy with a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact to ensure the ultimate goal could be achieved.

Both Churches had long known that the Shadow of the Beauty Goddess from the Rose School of Thought had allegedly fallen into the hands of Madame Pualís, who was hiding in Fourth Epoch Trier. This was also a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, and among the more powerful ones at that grade.

Under these circumstances, simply sending six Saints to search for and eliminate Madame Pualís and Louis Gustav would be sending them to their deaths. Therefore, each team carried a targeted Grade 0 sealed artifact that could counter the Shadow of the Beauty Goddess to some degree.

Since passing through the "Blood Well" became more dangerous with higher Sequences, they didn't send Angels but deployed Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts instead!

With these two Sealed Artifacts, even if Angoulême and the others couldn't kill Madame Pualís, they could hold her off. Then the Eternal Blazing Sun and God of Steam and Machinery could locate Their high-ranking clergy and, using them as mediums, deliver a fatal blow to Madame Pualís through the seal.

As the three Unshadowed began removing the seal on the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, the Montsouris ghost slowly crossing the intersection suddenly changed direction and walked toward them step by step.

Jack Walton, dressed as an ancient stonemason, watched as the Montsouris ghost quickly transformed from a rather blurry shadow into something clear.

It truly wasn't a hunched elderly person—its main body was viscous black liquid that had been stretched into human form by some influence.

Those drops of black liquid stacked together, their edges merging while their cores remained independent.

Within each independent black liquid core appeared different faces—some laughing wildly, some walking among dismembered limbs and internal organs, some filled with anger, some with dark red eyes, some flaunting their own lust, some wearing necklaces strung with human skulls…

They were all distorted and shouted in unison at Angoulême and Jack Walton, "Human nature is evil!"

This was Devil Language!

As these words echoed, the three Unshadowed were unaffected, but the clergy from the Church of Steam and Machinery, including Jack Walton, suddenly felt intense malice.

It was resentment from being assigned to dangerous missions.

Then, Jack Walton and the other Saints saw more hunched black shadows slowly emerging from the intersection behind them and the alleys on both sides.

They all appeared to be Montsouris ghosts.

Dozens, hundreds of Montsouris ghosts!

Meanwhile, the first black shadow—that Montsouris ghost—had its stomach rapidly swell up, then split open, spewing out viscous black liquid that stretched and elongated to form a new Montsouris ghost.

Seeing this, Angoulême, Jack Walton, and the others suddenly had a realization.

Montsouris ghosts shouldn't normally undergo such changes.

This was a phenomenon possible only through the Earth, Moon, or Banshee pathways!

Was this Madame Pualís's doing?

And what did the Montsouris ghosts correspond to? What developments would such proliferation bring?

"Human nature is evil…" The ghost's earlier words suddenly echoed in Angoulême's mind.

As far as he knew, the evil of human nature corresponded to the Devil and Prisoner pathways, both deeply influenced by the Mother Tree of Desire.

Right… Angoulême's temple suddenly throbbed.

The Shadow of the Beauty Goddess allegedly obtained by Madame Pualís came from the Rose School of Thought, and the Rose School controlled the Prisoner pathway as loyal followers of the Mother Tree of Desire!

At this thought, Angoulême formed a speculation that frightened even him as an Unshadowed:

the transaction involving the Shadow of the Beauty Goddess during the Vortex incident wasn't just a one-time deal—it concealed some subsequent cooperation!

The Vortex incident had ended, but its influence continued. The Great Mother and the Mother Tree of Desire had reached some understanding and decided to cooperate to a limited extent on certain matters!

Angoulême's expression tensed as he said gravely, "Clear out the Montsouris ghosts here quickly!"

Any later, unwanted mutations might occur!

As Angoulême spoke these words, in Underground Trier, near the seal of Fourth Epoch Trier in a certain mine, a brownish-green, gnarled-rooted, semi-real giant tree suddenly grew.

It extended branch after branch, growing extremely fast, as if it had received the best healing and most abundant nutrition.

…

New City of Silver, Church of The Fool's headquarters.

Through the floating mirrors before them, Lumian and the others saw that under the dark night, in many corners of Trier, the ground was cracking open as brownish-green roots or branches grew out.

"Tree of Shadow?" Lumian stood up and chuckled. "Heh, I really want to go back to Trier now and burn it. It couldn't be burned to death before, but today might be different."

He now had the Fire of Destruction!

Just as Lumian finished speaking, he suddenly turned his gaze toward the rows of large windows in the cathedral.

Outside the windows, the crimson moon had grown very large and hung very low, as if it had pressed against an invisible barrier.

-x-X-x-

Deep in Fourth Epoch Trier, on streets surrounded by thick fog.

Within the Unshadowed Domain that eliminated all shadows and darkness, Angoulême and his two colleagues had reached the critical moment of removing the item's seal.

What none of them expected was that the final layer binding this Sealed Artifact was ordinary paper without any supernatural elements.

These papers seemed torn from some ancient text, with lines of handwritten ancient Feysac:

"I am the Beginning and the End."

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

"God spake, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

"The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; His Spirit moved upon the face of the waters."

"He called the light Day, and the darkness Night."

"…"

These sheets of paper were attached to the Sealed Artifact, completely wrapping it. The sentences written on them were similar yet different from the Eternal Blazing Sun Church's scripture, but contained no sacred supernatural power.

Angoulême's eyes focused as he saw this, unconsciously slowing his motion of tearing off the paper.

His two colleagues were unaffected, quickly exposing the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact to Fourth Epoch Trier.

The next second, an intense, golden, sacred sun appeared in the thick fog above.

0-15—The Fourth Sun!

Suddenly, the Fog of War within two kilometers evaporated and dissolved without a trace. The Montsouris ghosts slowly approaching Angoulême and Jack Walton from different directions began making sizzling sounds, quickly being purified into black vapor that diffused upward.

Some of this black vapor gradually dissipated, while other parts swelled and twisted, revealing faces displaying different forms of malice.

They rapidly flew upward, reaching the invisible, colorless flames that served as the sky, concentrating in one area.

This portion of black vapor was quickly burned away, leaving only faint patches.

Just as these patches were about to melt away, more Montsouris ghosts flew out from different parts of Fourth Epoch Trier.

They threw themselves into the light black patches one after another, preventing them from disappearing, trying to deepen them, maintaining them within the invisible, colorless flames for a while longer, and eroding upward.

Seeing this scene, Jack Walton, whose malice was rapidly dissipating under the influence of The Fourth Sun, furrowed his brow.

He felt something was already happening!

He hurriedly said to his two colleagues, "Use the Sealed Artifact!"

The Sealed Artifact they carried was 0-59—The Divine Kingdom Without People."

…

At the bottom of Underground Trier, the miraculously healed Tree of Shadow frantically extended its roots and branches toward the seal and the ground-level city districts.

Each piece of its bark seemed to be a crystallization of different scenes of desire from past history—thick, settled, and difficult to truly destroy.

Its brownish-green roots quickly approached that layer of invisible, colorless flames, yet didn't attempt to touch it, as they would surely be burned through.

Suddenly, two figures appeared on either side of its massive trunk.

These two figures looked similar—both tall and enormous, humanoid yet like grotesque trees, covered in pitch-black, viscous tar-like liquid, with numerous bizarre and sickening arms growing from them. The surface of these arms either had bulging crimson eyeballs with prominent blood vessels, or were embedded with pale skull heads, or were covered with tongues bearing sharp teeth, and so on—there were too many variations to count. They spread an extremely evil and intensely mad sensation in all directions, causing the mine tunnels and earth to crack and split.

These were Abomination Suah and His sister Tirié.

They were currently displaying Their true form as Abominations, not their Mythical Creature forms from the Prisoner pathway. However, as Abominations, They inherently carried madness, evil, distortion, chaos, hatred, indulgence, and curse, causing effects equivalent to revealing Their Mythical Creature forms on Their surroundings.

One could say that Their Abomination appearances were a product of Their self-perception combined with Their complete Mythical Creature forms.

As soon as Suah and Tirié appeared, They each chose a section of the brownish-green trunk and merged Themselves into the Tree of Shadow.

The crown of the Tree of Shadow finally broke through the ground, growing toward the sky, attempting to encompass all of Trier within its shade.

Its roots truly extended into that layer of invisible, colorless flames, being burned off section by section, yet continuously growing new ones, striving to extend downward.

Outside Saint Viève Cathedral in the island area, the pure brilliant sunlight was pushed back by branches oozing viscous black liquid, as if trying to create a world of shadows here.

The Church of the God of Steam and Machinery's patriarchal cathedral in the north encountered similar circumstances.

And because the Tree of Shadow's power extending to the surface was concentrated in these few places, citizens across Trier's districts merely dreamed dreams of different desires, dreams that had not yet crossed from illusion into reality.

In the still-operating bars and dance halls, the atmosphere suddenly intensified, with everyone falling into a psychedelic state.

Saint Viève, utilizing the cathedral's layout, strenuously resisted the invasion of those pitch-black viscous branches, preventing harm to the clergy and faithful who had taken shelter here.

She didn't panic.

In Her view, the Rose School of Thoughts indulgence faction re-activating the Tree of Shadow wasn't something unstoppable.

If Fourth Epoch Trier's seal were truly so easily destroyed, the Rose School of Thought and other evil god sects would have done so long ago—why wait until today to expend such effort?

Even if the crimson moon descending to the barrier, appearing round and bright, truly suppressed the orthodox gods, preventing Them from dealing with the Tree of Shadow problem, there were still two existences within the barrier who could take action. And the strongest subordinates the Great Old Ones could command in this world were just Suah and Tirié, who weren't even in the same league as their side.

If the Rose School of Thought's indulgence faction truly wanted to go all in, they should have wagered everything during last year's Tree of Shadow incident, when Mr. Fool had not yet partially awakened.

And even without counting the two existences, their side's number of Angels far exceeded the evil god sects. As long as they held on a bit longer, preventing the Tree of Shadow from destroying surface Trier and causing mass civilian deaths, sufficient reinforcements would soon arrive.

This amount of time was insufficient to destroy Fourth Epoch Trier's seal.

Was it that the Rose School of Thought and other evil god sects didn't want to use the current approach in the past?

In the midst of Her doubts, Saint Viève suddenly became vigilant.

Could something have simultaneously gone wrong with Fourth Epoch Trier?

If coordinated on the inside and outside, the seal might truly be broken in a short time!

Just then, Saint Viève saw before the crimson moon—which appeared so huge it seemed to hang by the cathedral bell tower—a figure descending from the sky, growing larger and larger, wearing a medium-tall silk top hat, black windbreaker, and holding a stardust-inlaid cane.

…

The easternmost part of the Sonia Sea, the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

At the highest point of the majestic mountain range, darkness was thick, sometimes expanding, sometimes contracting.

…

Midseashire north coast, East Tilisi Province, capital city Tilisi.

Madam Justice suddenly had a spiritual premonition and opened her eyes.

She saw before her a verdant field, with several scarecrows standing in it, a clear stream flowing through, like a pastoral scene from an oil painting.

A dream… As a Dreamweaver, Madam Justice quickly understood what she had encountered.

And there weren't many beings in this world capable of weaving such a dream for her.

Madam Justice instantly thought of one possibility: the ancient dragon Edefana she had been pursuing!

This was one of the few remaining mind dragons.

I've searched for years without finding Him, yet He has come to me? Madam Justice found this somewhat absurd.

Absurdity implied abnormality, and abnormality necessarily indicated problems.

What Madam Justice cared more about was, if this dream was truly woven by Edefana, why did He choose today, why choose this moment?

Justice didn't hesitate, taking out a card.

The card portrayed an impartial goddess seated on a stone chair, wielding a sword and scales.

Tarot card, Justice card!

After praying to Mr. Fool, Justice began reciting her friend's honorific name, "Cosmic Traveler, beholden to the King of Yellow and Black, and the Sorcerer chronicling the world…"

…

Southern Continent, inside a black ancient castle.

Mr. Moon Emlyn stood at the window, gazing up at the crimson moon that appeared huge and dreamlike due to its proximity.

He felt his spirituality boiling.

As he was struggling to control himself, the crimson moonlight shone into the ancient castle, conveying a mellow voice, "Alexis has suddenly disappeared. Find him as soon as possible."

This voice came from one of the three great Sanguine dukes, Olmer—titled Round Moon.

Alexis disappeared? Mr. Moon repeated these words.

Alexis was one of Duke Round Moon Olmer's direct descendants, a Sanguine count residing in Feynapotter City, the capital of the Feynapotter Kingdom.

In the past, The Moon Emlyn wouldn't have thought this order contained any hidden information, but now, he thought more: Alexis disappeared suddenly?

If it was sudden, how did Duke Round Moon discover it so quickly?

As a direct relative, did the Duke Round Moon have a bad premonition due to Alexis's disappearance?

…

Sonia Sea, New City of Silver, Church of The Fool's Headquarters.

Lumian and others saw the unrestrained growth of the Tree of Shadow.

"Wasn't it supposed to take many years before it would grow again?" Franca muttered to herself. "Did it receive healing, and its original wounds have healed?"

Lumian nodded pensively.

"The Great Mother's influence really seems to be hidden behind this…"

Jenna, who had been pondering a certain question, suddenly turned her gaze toward the twin towers and asked vigilantly, "Would the Gift of the Land being Omebella's remains, count as a 'mother?'"

"Should calamity stay away?"

Lumian was momentarily stunned.

He had borrowed the Gift of the Land before without any problems.

But that seemed to be before Mr. Fool made the revelation that "calamity needs to stay away from the mother"!

Meanwhile, in a hotel in the New City of Silver.

A man with neatly combed black hair, beautiful crimson eyes, and an elegant bow tie at his chest pulled a card from his pocket.

The card depicted a female version of Emperor Roselle wearing maternity clothes, with a protruding belly, radiating maternal glory.

Card of Blasphemy, Mother card!

-x-X-x-

The moment the Mother card was taken out, it seemed to sense something and its surface emanated a crimson glow even before being activated by an incantation.

It immediately transformed into an invisible vortex, frantically absorbing its holder's spirit and spirituality.

Then, it became heavy, turning into a miniature book.

The book's pages fluttered in the wind, revealing its first page.

On it was depicted Emperor Roselle dressed as a farmer, leaning on a hoe and gazing at rain clouds in the sky, with lines of ancient Feysac text written beside it: "Sequence 9, Planter..."

Immediately after, the book rapidly flipped backward. from "Sequence 8, Doctor" all the way to "Sequence 1, Naturewalker."

After Naturewalker was a female version of Emperor Roselle wearing a loose long dress, holding an infant, with two children standing beside him.

This page's title was: "Sequence 0, Mother"!

Almost simultaneously, crimson moonlight began shining from the infant in female Roselle's arms.

This grew increasingly bright, making the infant gradually appear like a full moon, reflecting and complementing the real crimson moon hanging low in the sky, seemingly suspended above the cathedral bell tower.

Within the miniature crimson moon, several lines of ancient Feysac text that hadn't existed before appeared: "Sequence 1, Valley God (or Tree God)."

Below this brand new Sequence 1 title, there were two descriptions, one on the left and one on the right:

"The Valley God is the root of heaven and earth."

"The Tree God, supporting heaven and connecting earth, propagates endlessly."

The crimson-eyed man holding this Mother card had just begun to smile when his expression suddenly froze.

He looked down to find that brownish, slightly withered tree roots had extended from the back of the Card of Blasphemy. These roots had pierced into his body, growing and spreading numerous root systems. frantically draining his life force.

The crimson-eyed man was stunned for a second before relaxing his expression.

He already understood what was happening.

But it didn't matter-all things would eventually return to the land, return to the mother's embrace!

It's just a bit early for me, but I will experience the warmth and security of mother's embrace sooner.

His full face began to cave in, his smooth skin gradually withering.

At the bottom of the spire within the twin towers at the core of New City of Silver.

The enormous seven or eight meter high trunk "sleeping" in the morning light, planted in a pile of brownish soil, suddenly trembled slightly.

Its grayish-brown wood quickly exuded moisture, and large amounts of previously peeled and missing bark visibly grew back.

The surrounding morning light suddenly surged into its body, cutting through its "flesh" while witnessing its rebirth.

Its withered feeling gradually disappeared as it slowly became full and robust.

Suddenly, it broke free from the restraint of the brownish soil pile and vanished from the bottom of the round tower.

In the cathedral of the Church of The Fool's headquarters.

Warned by Jenna, Lumian redirected his gaze to the mirrors floating before him and to the brownish-green Tree of Shadow that was breaking through the ground and growing upward. �

Anthony understood that Lumian had realized New City of Silver wasn't entirely safe either-it contained the remains of the City of Silver residents' former "mother," Giant Queen Omebella, and calamity needed to stay away from the mother.

This would make normal people want to quickly retreat, but for High-Sequence Hunters, constantly running away wasn't a choice that aligned with their godhood: Having fled Trier, should they now flee New City of Silver too?

Should they keep running forever?

Anthony believed this would spark intense fighting spirit in Lumian. If his humanity wasn't abundant enough and his control over his mental state and emotions wasn't strong enough, he would choose to return to Trier to directly confront the Tree of Shadow and thwart the evil god cults' conspiracy.

Before Anthony could offer advice or use Placate, Lumian forcefully withdrew his gaze and made the floating mirrors return to the Traveler's Bag.

He said gravely to his team members, "Now we'll move to the Cathedral of Serenity."

The Cathedral of Serenity was the Church of the Evernight Goddess's headquarters and Holy Cathedral.

As he spoke, Lumian activated the black mark on his right shoulder, using Teleport again.

Just as the spirit world with its layered colors and numerous strange creatures appeared before them, everything suddenly spun and they plummeted downward.

Before Lumian could react, his feet had already landed on solid ground.

They arrived in an endless wilderness overgrown with weeds, with an oak tree of indescribable size growing in its depths.

It was blue-green, its roots deeply embedded in the earth, its crown penetrating the clouds as if supporting the sky, holding up a crimson full moon.

It was like a pillar reaching to heaven, supporting the entire world, allowing this wilderness to exist.

The mottled bark of this sky-supporting oak bore scorch marks from lightning strikes, but beneath the charred areas lay signs of life.

Higher up, the oak had more new branches, many entwined with lush, vibrant mistletoe.

At this moment, in the middle of this giant oak that supported the sky and anchored the earth, large amounts of mottled bark bulged out, outlining a huge, gentle, feminine face, with two giant crimson flowers serving as its eyes.

"Mother...

"Omebella…"

In Lumian's mind, these two terms naturally flashed through.

He instinctively tried to activate the black mark on his right shoulder again, but he could not sense the spirit world beyond this wilderness, nor could he sense the areas he originally had positions for.

Paramita!

At the same time, Lumian remembered something else:

His Teleport ability came from Zedus!

And Zedus was one of the Great Mother's twins, Omebella's younger brother, whose power presumably came from a boon, and currently possessed no Beyonder characteristics.

Even if such an Angel was conquered by 0-01, there should still be a trace of the Great Mother's spirit hidden within His power.

This was what the Great Mother excelled at!

So, at the crucial moment, she sacrificed this bit of spirit to interfere with my Teleport, making me 'voluntarily enter the Paramita created by the Gift of the Land? And Gift of the Land somehow became activated and received strange enhancements... This thought flashed quickly through Lumian's mind.

Franca's lake-blue eyes had already become profound. seemingly concealing layers upon layers of darkness.

…

In the green fields dotted with scarecrows.

Madam Magician, wearing a white nightgown, opened a door forged from brilliant starlight and entered this dream.

She only looked around once before making a guess about the dream's weaver.

"Edefana?"

This was an ancient mind dragon, an Angel-level Discerner.

Excluding those who were transformed from humans, He was one of only three ancient dragons currently remaining.

"What's happening in the outside world?" Madam Justice Audrey asked instead of answering.

As a Dreamweaver, she had tried to leave this dream but failed.

Madam Magician answered truthfully, "The Tree of Shadow in Trier is causing trouble again, supposedly receiving help from the Great Mother's subordinates. However, don't worry, Mr. Fool has already descended there."

Madam Justice showed a puzzled expression. "So. Edefana took this opportunity to find me?

"How did He know Mr. Fool would descend to Trier?"

Madam Magician paused briefly before saying.

"Drawing me here to help must have also been part of His plan…

"So you had enough time to pray to Mr. Fool and speak my name, avoiding an ambush."

Just as the Planeswalker finished speaking, the dream's sky was suddenly covered by a shadow.

That shadow was a grayish-white dragon, circling in flight, with a lizard-like face showing obvious signs of age.

…

In Trier, Mr. Fool, wearing a medium-height silk top hat and black coat, was unaffected by the ground and tree branches as he passed through layers of void, landing before the brownish-green Tree of Shadow's trunk.

He thrust his star-dust inlaid cane forward, watching the thick, solid bark collapse and destroy itself in large amounts.

Each piece of bark, each branch, each leaf suddenly became ethereal, revealing scenes of Trier's citizens displaying various desires over the past one or two thousand years.

Some were normal, others indulgent, showing affairs at luxurious parties, warmth of tight embraces in cold small rooms, wasteful tables of abandoned food, and miserly parents reluctant to feed their children enough...

They interwove layer upon layer, cascading down as weighty history, a tome of desires, something that couldn't be completely destroyed by normal attacks, requiring peeling away layer by layer.

Mr. Fool withdrew his star-dust inlaid cane.

Grayish-white fog emerged accordingly, enveloping the Tree of Shadow's main trunk.

Fog of History!

…

In Fourth Epoch Trier.

Just as Angoulême and other Unshadowed were about to raise The Fourth Day higher to eliminate the Montsouris ghosts who kept throwing themselves into the invisible, colorless flames, they suddenly heard a cry.

It was the cry of infants, countless infants crying.

Jack Walton and others immediately looked toward the entrance of the street, seeing a figure staggering toward them.

The figure had chestnut-colored long hair and azure eyes, deliberately dressed as Emperor Roselle.

His body was already swollen, with bird-clawed infants tearing through flesh and skin to emerge from his ribs, abdomen, chest, thighs, and arms, crying loudly in search of nursing.

…

In Paramita.

Lumian's voice echoed in Franca and the others' minds: "Don't enter the mirror world for now."

The mirror world was connected to the special mirror world!

In the current chaotic situation, who knows what people might be lying in ambush in the mirror world, waiting to drag them into the special mirror world!

Since they had already encountered Mother, they shouldn't fall into the special mirror world trap as well.

Lumian slightly bent down, looking at the giant sky- supporting oak tree, and said with a smile in the team's minds: "Since we couldn't escape, then... let's fight!"

-x-X-x-

Accompanying Lumian's words, Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig simultaneously raised both arms.

The numerous white clouds surrounding the giant oak tree's crown suddenly turned gloomy, appearing even more substantial.

Countless silver-white electric serpents began leaping between the layered dark clouds, intertwining as if trying to form a single entity.

At this moment, Lumian suddenly clenched his fist.

A massive silver-white lightning bolt, illuminating the entire Paramita, rapidly descended, striking the giant oak tree transformed from Omebella's remnants.

Lumian was recalling the effect of shouting the incantation "Leodero" when facing a similar oak tree embodying Madame Pualis in the dream city, and decided to imitate and recreate it.

At this time, the crimson moon had pressed against the invisible barrier, and Lord of Storms Leodero certainly couldn't spare the effort to bring down divine punishment, so he could only create this through a Weather Warlock's Beyonder powers.

Moreover, Lumian was not the only one "controlling the weather" he had also made Franca and the other team members do similar things simultaneously.

Rather than concentrating everyone's power on himself to enhance the thunderstorm's might, allowing each person to "control the weather" and then stack these efforts together would not only prevent weakening the effect but might also potentially trigger chain reactions or chaotic changes, making the thunderstorm more pronounced and exaggerated.

This was the nature of weather-even a butterfly's wing flap could progressively evolve into a hurricane, let alone five people simultaneously manipulating and creating a thunderstorm.

When the massive lightning that illuminated the entire Paramita fell, the female face on the giant oak tree's surface had already opened its mouth.

The raging wind brought by the thunderstorm was instantly sucked inside, and the high-altitude dark clouds converged toward the massive mouth in a funnel shape.

The silver-white lightning, resembling a divine tree, naturally decomposed, with most of it being swallowed by the female face on the tree's surface, and a small portion striking the tree's crown, bark, and branches.

Some bark instantly turned charcoal-black and peeled downward, with branches breaking and catching fire.

At these wounded spots, the tree's heart writhed and grew, ready to regenerate.

Simultaneously, all grass in Paramita withered at once, the ground cracking inch by inch, as if losing all moisture or having life rapidly drain away.

Lumian and the others were no exception.

They also saw that around the giant oak tree, some soil swelled and rolled, forming over a dozen yellow-brown humanoid puppets, all massive in size, swaying and about to take their first steps.

Ludwig opened his mouth and suddenly swallowed the toxic gas that had been diffusing in the surrounding air at some unknown time.

Immediately afterward, every member of their team transformed into fire balls of blue-purple hue, roaring as they rushed toward the giant oak tree.

Rumble!

Thunder finally sounded in the high sky.

Violet-tinted blue flames rapidly spread, turning everywhere Lumian and his companions passed into a flame hell.

Those dozen yellow-brown puppets didn't even have time to make any movement before being roasted crisp by the approaching high temperature, completely collapsing when the blue-violet fireball arrived.

Just as Lumian's group, transformed into a fireball, was about to strike the giant oak tree, that sky-supporting behemoth suddenly disappeared.

In the blink of an eye, at another location in Paramita, the ground swelled high, soil splashing, and a green giant oak tree grew out again.

Lumian and his team failed to hit their target, allowing them to re-materialize their forms.

Around them, cracked soil erupted with brown tree roots that shot out from all directions, covering the sky and earth.

Lumian's spiritual intuition told him that being struck by these roots would likely mean death, or worse, losing control.

Death wasn't terrifying-each team member had a Mirror Substitution-but losing control was something even a Demoness of Unaging couldn't resist!

Dense fog suddenly surged in the area, enveloping Lumian's group and dozens of kilometers of wilderness.

The brown tree roots emerging from the ground were also shrouded by the Fog of War, losing their target, unable to find a trace, stupidly freezing in midair.

Near the sky-supporting giant oak tree, Lumian's team's figures suddenly outlined.

They surrounded the massive entity from different directions, each holding a black flame sword that restrained destruction and violence.

Immediately after, they successively struck with the Swords of Destruction.

This wasn't about being unable to move in unison, but about attacking in waves, maintaining reserves, leaving room to respond to potential enemy surprises.

Silently, the giant oak tree was covered in vibrant green radiance.

Then, it transformed into light and drilled into the ground, instantly vanishing, even preventing Jenna from adjusting the direction of the Sword of Destruction she had deliberately delayed.

Those black flame swords restraining madness fell on the flat, unbroken ground, burning a deep pit, cutting down and burning the remaining brown tree roots to ash.

"Escaping through the earth?" Franca hissed in the mental channel, "This is too hard to fight!"

More importantly, their life force was rapidly depleting, unable to sustain such a battle for long.

Lumian calmly responded, "Proceed as planned."

This was also a reminder to Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig.

As they communicated mentally, dense Fog of War again spread out, making any subsequent attacks unable to lock onto a target.

Thus, Lumian's team fought intensely against the constantly relocating giant oak tree, relying on abilities like Fog of War, collective Teleportation, Weakness Investigation, Sword of Destruction, thunderstorm weather, arrival of winter, Mirror Substitution, and Demoness curses.

After a while, Lumian suddenly said in every team member's mind: Here's the chance!

They Blinked again to the giant oak tree's surroundings. Lumian's azure eyes turned iron-black, revealing the target's pale areas.

Franca let gray-white colors surge forth, rushing to the oak tree's base, attempting to Petrify the soil and bring it under her control, preventing the enemy from quickly moving via the ground.

Facing the sky-supporting behemoth, Jenna smiled and fully displayed the Charm Lumian had shared.

She wanted to make the giant oak tree briefly lose consciousness and fail to dodge in time.

On another side, Anthony quietly approached in a Psychological Invisibility state, condensing a black flame sword, and struck the target's weakness as Lumian suggested.

Ludwig, small in stature, raised a Sword of Destruction much larger than himself, attacking from the front to draw the enemy's attention.

Suddenly, the giant oak tree's branches and leaves swayed, and a wet, bumpy protrusion emerged from its trunk.

The bump quickly split open, birthing a "child".

This "child" was composed of countless intertwined silver-white electric snakes, the lightning previously swallowed, now "reborn".

Crack!

The "child" instantly disintegrated, terrifying, bright lightning sweeping the surroundings.

Anthony's body instantly shattered, and Ludwig, Franca, and Jenna also broke into numerous mirror fragments.

Lumian's figure didn't break, only fading.

He was just a Mirror Projection from Franca's lake-blue eyes!

Lumian's true body appeared seven or eight kilometers away, holding a Sword of Destruction with contained, unreleased power.

The black flame sword instantly struck the edge of Paramita.

A nauseating sharp crack sound emerged, instantly slicing a deep, twisted, hideous fissure. Beyond the crack, pure color blocks layered, and various spirit realm creatures had long since fled.

Using the Sword of Destruction, Lumian forcibly carved a path to the outside world from Paramita!

From the beginning, he never intended to entangle too long with the giant oak tree, suspected to be an activated relic of Omebella. His real plan was: if they couldn't quickly resolve the target, force it near Paramita's edge, then use their intense battle to hide their true purpose, approach the realm's edge, attack with five people to distract it, allowing his true body to seize the opportunity and use the Sword of Destruction's special power to tear through the barrier and escape!

A Hunter was brave, not foolish. Why persist in fighting on the enemy's predetermined battlefield, contrary to Mr. Fool's revelation?

The initial battle was for this retreat!

"Go!" When Lumian's voice rang in Jenna and the others' minds, he had already activated the black mark on his right shoulder, bringing all team members through that terrifying crack, successfully escaping Paramita.

This time, he didn't plan to rely on the contract ability Teleportation, only using it to sense multiple spirit world coordinates and complete positioning.

With positioning, Angels could directly traverse the spirit world!

In the deep, dark special mirror world.

Zaratul, wearing a black robe, with white hair and eyes of unpierced black darkness, leaned to one side, quietly waiting.

Suddenly, He stood up and said solemnly. "My wish is:

"To make Lumian and the others enter the mirror world."

He immediately fulfilled His own wish.

In Lumian'and Franca's eyes, the spirit world, originally composed of dense, pure color blocks, suddenly became dark and profound. A massive suction force rose from below, involuntarily dragging them down into a bottomless depth.

In Paramita, that giant oak tree stopped relocating. gradually withering and shrinking back to a seven or eight-meter trunk.

In a hotel room in the New City of Silver.

Reinette Tinekerr, carrying four blonde, red-eyed heads and wearing a dark, complex black dress, emerged from the spirit world.

Her eight eyes simultaneously looked at the ground, seeing the Mother card.

This Card of Blasphemy was stained with a faint trace of blood.

-x-X-x-

In their rapid descent, Lumian, Franca, and Jenna, as Beyonders of the Demoness pathway, quickly realized they were in the depths of the mirror world.

Just as they were about to use their inherent qualities to lead the entire team away from the area filled with spacetime turbulence and return to the real world, a figure appeared in the deep, dark surroundings.

The figure wore a gray, old-fashioned long dress, with thick and long hair cascading like a waterfall. Her blue eyes were more crystalline than gemstones, with a delicate, small chin and moist, glossy red lips. She was a beautiful, mature woman with an exceptional temperament.

Seeing this figure, Franca's mind instantly buzzed.

She recognized her.

She had seen this gray-dressed woman's Mirror Projection with the Demoness of Black.

As a newly appointed Saint of the Demoness Sect, she had no choice but to meet her.

This was the matriarch of the Demoness of Gray, the divine child of the Primordial Demoness, the Demoness of Gray Judith!

Judith was a Sequence 2 Demoness of Catastrophe. She looked at Lumian and the others, raising Her exquisite and beautiful articulated wrist with a charming smile.

She was about to bring disaster.

And for the mirror world, what could truly be called a catastrophe?

Of course, it would be a complete collapse, swallowed by spacetime turbulence!

Silently, Lumian saw the deep, dark surroundings begin to peel away, like a mirror cracking, with fragments falling off the surface.

Indescribable spacetime turbulence swept in.

Franca and the others, who were originally far from the turbulence in the mirror world's depths, were suddenly thrown into a scene of world-ending collapse.

Lumian had no time to think, activating the black mark on his right shoulder to Teleport the entire team out of the area.

However, the spacetime turbulence had already surged in, weakening the team's connections. Though they were close, they seemed to be in different worlds. Simultaneously, Lumian's perception of external coordinates became imprecise, blurry, and chaotic.

Lumian did not hesitate and used Teleportation.

Although this forced Teleportation would cause Franca and the others to be affected by the spacetime turbulence and randomly sent to different destinations, the weakest team member was still a Sequence 4 Saint. As long as they could escape this area of turbulent disaster, whether still in the mirror world, entering the spirit world, or returning to the real world, they could ensure their safety to some extent. Afterward, they would have many ways to regroup.

Just before the spacetime turbulence completely engulfed them, they instantly disappeared.

…

Franca's figure took shape in a phantom, dark tunnel of the mirror world.

She felt that the distance between her and Lumian was certainly more than 10 kilometers, as she could no longer share the Angel-level power.

She used the Mirror Substitution Lumian had left with her to quickly perform Magic Mirror Divination while turning into a new tunnel following her spiritual intuition. Ŗ

She wanted to reunite with Lumian. This was to enhance his strength, as a Hunter with a team was much more powerful than one without!

Suddenly, a void of black darkness appeared before her, and the spider web-like tunnels behind her were dyed gray-white, solidifying into stone, no longer passable.

At this moment, a figure stood in the mirror-behind area before Franca.

The figure had black hair twisted into a high bun, wearing a pure black court dress, with deep gray eyes bright yet tinged with a hint of sadness. It was the Demoness of Black Clarice.

Next to Clarice, a high platform was built from gray-white stones, with a white bone-carved figurine of the Primordial Demoness placed at the top.

Franca stopped at the edge of this mirror-behind area, instinctively displaying a smile, as if trying to slip by. 'Madame, what are you doing?'

The Demoness of Black looked at her, with a smile that was not quite a smile.

'Praying to the Primordial One, of course.'

Before her words finished, she suddenly saw gray-white colors surging towards her.

Franca's previous smile and words were merely to deceive the Demoness of Black, making her believe she would not be ambushed. By the time this color-named Demoness actually began to respond, Franca had already decisively launched an attack, leaving no room for retreat!

…

Jenna stopped.

She was somewhat stunned to discover that the mirror tunnel before her had been broken off, just like a bridge in the real world. This was a phenomenon she had never encountered before while traversing the mirror world, seemingly only possible in areas near spacetime turbulence.

Where does this lead? Has the path been artificially cut off? Jenna's thoughts raced, but she did not linger or seek an answer.

She took the Mirror Substitution Lumian had left with her and chose to bypass the interrupted tunnel, moving closer to her spiritual guidance.

She intuitively believed that Lumian was in this isolated place, and there was certainly a way to enter.

…

In a certain part of the mirror world.

Ludwig, dressed in children's formal wear, stood between spider web-like phantom paths, hesitating whether to go left or right.

He felt a calling from deep within his heart or a longed-for food on the right side, but the left side represented his godfather.

After a moment's hesitation, Ludwig's figure swiftly became transparent, turning into a wraith.

He projected himself as a wraith into the left mirror tunnel.

…

After discovering he had not yet left the mirror world, Anthony immediately lowered his head and began chanting in Hermes, 'The Fool that doesn't belong to this era,

'The mysterious ruler above the gray fog,

'The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

'…'

After briefly reporting their situation to Mr. Fool, Anthony used Psychological Invisibility and shuttled into the depths of the phantom tunnel before him.

His Ice Mirror Charm was not yet used up!

…

In a pitch-black castle in the Southern Continent.

The Moon Emlyn restrained his surging spirituality, pondering the reason Duke Round Moon Olmer had him search for Alex.

Is He suspicious that Alexis has come to the Southern Continent?

Seeking refuge with the Rose School of Thought?

Just as he thought this, Mr. Moon saw a figure rapidly taking shape in the room.

The figure knelt on one knee and bowed. 'My Lord, I've received intelligence that the Rose School of Thought captured Massaru half an hour ago.'

He was a Traveler cultivated by Mr. Moon, having specially traded Beyonder characteristics from Madam Magician.

Mr. Moon Emlyn couldn't help but furrow his brow.

Is something big going to happen tonight?

In recent times, the situation in the Southern Continent had actually been trending towards calm. First, organizations like the Rose School of Thought had reduced their activities, hiding deeper, similar to the cults of the Northern Continent. Second, after Mr. Fool's initial awakening, He had promoted reconciliation between the Royals of the Numinous Episcopate and the orthodox Churches. Subsequently, colonial institutions of Northern Continent countries would gradually withdraw from the Southern Continent, returning governance to local populations. To avoid chaos and a vacuum for order, this would be a dragged-out process.

Southern Continent populations would have religious freedom. As long as it didn't involve evil gods, they could believe in deities like Death or Mr. Fool, and could continue believing in the orthodox gods of the Northern Continent.

Meanwhile, the Royals of the Numinous Episcopate promised Mr. Fool political-religious separation.

They also provided substantial intelligence to the orthodox Churches, helping Mr. Star and Mr. Moon uncover several hidden bases of the Rose School of Thought.

The Moon Emlyn knew that Northern Continent countries and orthodox Churches made such significant concessions because Mr. Fool, this great existence, had initially awakened, and everyone shared a common enemy: other great existences.

Under these circumstances, after ensuring the orthodox Churches did not lose too many believers, even if the governments of Northern Continent countries had objections or wanted to overturn everything, they could only swallow their pride and agree.

The Moon Emlyn's understanding was: In this world, Beyonder power is the source of all authority!

Before Mr. Fool's apotheosis, liberating the Southern Continent from colonial status would have been impossible, even after numerous wars, because the orthodox gods' interests were aligned in this matter.

Once he became a great existence and initially awakened, this problem was easily resolved.

Their current primary contradiction was those great existences who would destroy everything!

One had to distinguish between primary and secondary contradictions when doing things.

Emlyn took a deep breath, summoned the castle's strongholds, and transformed into crimson moonlight, rushing directly toward Massaru.

Before he even approached, he saw a massive entity appear within the city.

It was a 'mountain' composed of mixed corpses and earth—male corpses, female corpses, elder corpses, child corpses—all piled together.

Residents of Massaru City, whether from the Northern or Southern Continent, had all been killed and stacked into a 'mountain' pointing to the sky.

Simultaneously, cults in many parts of the Northern and Southern Continents, having accumulated certain power, were frantically creating disasters, forcing the Angels and Saints of the orthodox Churches to extinguish fires everywhere.

…

Lumian's figure had just materialized in a part of the mirror world when he saw the Demoness of Gray Judith standing not far away.

Some intense convergence phenomenon had made them 'meet' again.

Lumian narrowed his eyes, letting out a low growl.

It was like the first drum beaten on a battlefield.

With this growl, Lumian's body began to expand, his surface once again covered by an iron-black armor formed from flames.

A drop of blood-red emerged at his forehead, vivid and dripping like a battle flag. One side of his face became soft, delicate, and brilliant, while the other remained handsome but increasingly masculine and sharp.

In Paramita, isolated internally and externally, he couldn't use the most powerful ability of a Weather Warlock. But now, the mirror world itself belonged to that individual's domain.

He had sacrificed the ultimate power of the Calamity pathways, seeking assistance!

Lumian revealed a Mythical Creature form over ten meters high, holding a black flame great sword formed by the Fire of Destruction, taking a step to arrive before the Demoness of Gray Judith and slashing down.

The surrounding spider web-like phantom tunnels collapsed simultaneously, giving Judith no chance to escape this area.

-x-X-x-

Facing Lumian's attack, Demoness of Gray Judith smiled serenely and calmly.

The phantom tunnel where She was located collapsed on its own, and along with Herself, before the Sword of Destruction could strike, fell piece by piece like toppled building blocks, cascading like a waterfall.

Disaster preemptively engulfed Her, time and space storms swept through, and only then came Lumian's black flame great sword.

By the time this area completely dissolved into nothingness, the terrifying and indescribable time-space turbulence flowed chaotically in the dark depths. In another phantom and dark tunnel, Demoness of Gray Judith's figure strangely emerged.

She was clearly stalling Lumian, preventing him from returning to the real world.

Lumian changed direction and took another step to arrive before the Demoness of Gray, slashing out the Sword of Destruction.

…

Deep beneath the Tree of Shadow, the brown-green trunk of the Tree of Shadow was completely shrouded in gray-white fog.

The mottled bark, settled desires, and ancient scenes gradually presented a phantasmal texture under the erosion of fog of history.

The historical shall return to history!

Abstract things could become substantial, and could also be defined as pure concepts.

The Lord of Mysteries could turn the true to false, and the false to true, with the distinction between true and false no longer clear!

As the gray-white fog continuously eroded the Tree of Shadow, the figure of Mr. Fool wearing black gloves, holding a star-studded staff, and dressed in a deep black trench coat suddenly appeared with a flickering sensation.

The star-studded staff lit up with brilliant radiance.

In a part of the mirror world, Mr. Fool took a step, quickly flickering beyond what normal human eyes could capture.

Before him were multiple phantom tunnels that had been interrupted, with all-consuming darkness flooding the collapsed area, blocking the path.

Mr. Fool spoke in a low voice, at an extremely rapid pace, 'My, wish, is:

'The, original, state, here, restored.'

After each pronunciation, there was a pause, but this pause was not obvious and did not affect the rapid delivery of speech, only making some syllables seem to come from an extremely distant place.

As soon as the voice fell, a miracle occurred: those phantom and dark tunnels became whole again, once more able to freely traverse.

…

Seeing the mirror tunnels in spider web formation successfully repaired,Red Angel Medici, leaning against the edge of the mirror's rear area, picked up the apple in His hand and took a smiling bite.

Medici, who had already condensed an iron-black blood-stained armor with defense not much inferior to same-tier Warrior pathway Beyonders, did not rush to move forward. Instead, He continued waiting at His original location, awaiting potential subsequent mutations and possible interlopers.

As a Hunter, one of the keys to success was patience—patiently waiting for prey to enter the trap, waiting for all variables and accidents to reveal themselves, finding the true weak point, and then delivering a fatal strike to complete the harvest.

Last time, Medici had overlooked the possibility of Alista Tudor actively choosing to be mad. This time, He would not exclude those irrational choices.

…

Lumian, standing more than ten meters tall, was engulfed in deep red, violet flames, yet his face retained a human form—one side brilliant, the other handsome, with a blood-red, thorn-like mark at his forehead threatening to burst forth.

The Demoness of Gray was about to employ Her usual trick and dodge the enemy's frontal assault when Her mind suddenly trembled.

She instantly felt the opponent was tall, majestic, terrifying, strong, and charismatic—involuntarily wanting to submit.

Even more horrifying was the sense of facing the source, facing a deity, facing the embodiment of destruction and apocalypse.

This caused Her body and mind to briefly lose self-awareness, unable to respond effectively in time.

Conquest!

Lumian had obtained the power of conquest through sacrificing to the City of Calamity, supplemented with a hint of sefirah-quality conquest power.

Now, he was a genuine City of Calamity priest, the high priest of war's essence!

The Demoness of Gray froze in place. Lumian's iron-black eyes, revealing pale regions, slashed down the black great sword burning with the Fire of Destruction.

Simultaneously, the mirror world around the Demoness of Gray fractured in all directions—up, down, left, right, front, and back. Each fragment was 'conquered' as a soldier, transforming into large and small black flame-composed short arrows, restrained with violence and destruction, swooshing toward Judith.

These densely packed, impenetrable arrows seemed to weave a net of destruction, with Judith as the massive fish caught within.

Boom!

The Sword of Destruction cleaved into the Demoness of Gray's shoulder, and the black flame short arrows hit the target from all directions.

Cracking sounds rang out continuously, and Demoness of Gray Judith's Mirror Substitutions exploded simultaneously, without exception.

Now Her form in the mirror, but even Her form in the real world was affected by Cull and the Sword of Destruction, suddenly erupting in black flames and burning to ash.

Only those sleeping mirrors She had hidden in multiple places, having severed most of Her mystical connections, were spared.

And She would need considerable time to resurrect through these means.

After dispatching the Demoness of Gray, Lumian's body suddenly shrank, the blood-colored pennant between his brows gradually receding, yet seeming to still writhe.

He made no delay, nor considered pursuing the Demoness of Gray, immediately wanting to escape the mirror world and then find a way to reunite with Franca, Jenna, and the others.

In an instant, he sensed something and cast his gaze toward one of the illusory tunnels.

He felt true safety lay there.

Lumian's figure turned ethereal, about to traverse through.

Just then, his thoughts abruptly stiffened, and a slick yet marvelous sensation spread across his surface.

He saw thick black hair like serpents emerging from nowhere, coiling around him, their tips either embedded with black and white eyes or bearing venomous snake heads, mouths slightly open, tongues protruding.

Lumian also saw that under the gaze of those black and white eyes, his body had turned gray-white, transforming into stone, unable to use any abilities.

He was layer upon layer wrapped by those thick, serpent-like, slick and slightly damp black hairs in his stone state.

The only thing he could do now was commit suicide.

Suddenly, a gentle, soft female voice with a hint of laughter whispered in his ear, 'I have been waiting for you for a long time.'

This voice scratched at Lumian's soul, making his entire body feel itchy, and even petrified, he sank into it, not wanting to break free.

A name spontaneously flashed in his mind: Primordial Demoness Cheek!

Two pure, delicate white hands stretched from behind and gently caressed Lumian's cheeks.

These beautiful hands were not yet perfect, but they could evoke the most primitive and intense desires of anyone who saw them, instantly propelling them to heavenly pleasure from which they could never escape.

Just by being seen.

Lumian in his petrified state was equally affected, his mind almost completely blank.

The reason it was not entirely blank was because he saw his mirror self was also dragged out from hiding by those thick, slick black serpent-like hairs, his body gray-white, because a curvaceous, icy yet inexplicably fiery body was pressed against his back.

That body cradled his face, dragging him with black hair deeper into the mirror world, rapidly retreating into that special mirror world.

Mr. Fool Blinked into this area, just in time to see Lumian being embraced from behind by an infinitely charming, vaguely discernible figure in the special mirror world, being dragged inside.

His black trench coat suddenly lifted.

Fooled!

Simultaneously, a dozen-meter-tall figure appeared before Lumian.

It was a female, wearing a dress seemingly made of white bones, her black hair like venomous giant serpents—long, thick, and slick, with snake heads at the tips or rolling black and white eyes, turning everything around her to stone, releasing various mystical pathogens.

Her beauty of countenance had transcended human limits, reaching a conceptual level. All living beings and all things would be infatuated and entranced by Her slightest expression, perpetually in ecstasy. Even rules and concepts seemed reluctant to constrain Her, to oppose Her.

Mr. Fool's Fooling instantly took effect, causing Her azure, ocean-like, gem-crystal eyes to suddenly become clouded.

But Her charm did not diminish by half; instead, it presented a different seduction.

This momentarily stunned Mr. Fool.

In that instant of stunned silence, the area outside the special mirror world, along with the Primordial Demoness Cheek's figure, moved toward apocalypse, instantly condensing into an exceptionally dangerous darkness.

By the time Mr. Fool made his own wish and satisfied his own wish, restoring the original scene, Lumian's figure had already disappeared into the deep, dark region representing the special mirror world.

Mr. Fool's flickering figure raised the star-studded staff in his hand, materializing a night sky full of brilliant stars before him.

Those stars quickly formed a directional, dreamlike key, forcibly opening the barrier of the special mirror world, pinpointing Lumian's current location.

Just as Mr. Fool was about to Wander in, a strange black surge suddenly emerged at the edge of that deep darkness, forming an abnormally massive, extremely distorted phantasm that resembled a human yet had many non-human features.

This phantasm looked across the special mirror world's barrier, crazy yet incredibly silent, watching Mr. Fool, as if waiting for him to come.

Mr. Fool stopped Wandering and similarly watched the phantasm in silence.

In a mirror rear area not far from here, Red Angel Medici, leaning against the hard mirror surface, brought the red apple in His hand to His mouth and took another bite.

Within the crisp sound, He muttered softly, 'Cheek indeed appeared.

'But She is not weak at all. In fact, She seems even stronger…'

-x-X-x-

Jenna swiftly traversed through the mirror world's phantom tunnels, dense as a spider's web, finally finding a path leading to her destination.

She arrived before the special mirror world, seeing Mr. Fool standing quietly, his figure constantly flickering, his image almost exactly matching the description in church scriptures, and also seeing the distorted phantasms nearly covering the special mirror world's edges.

Upon witnessing the massive phantasm that was both human and non-human, Jenna suddenly felt an intense desire for destruction surge within her, wanting to spread disaster and indulge in pleasure.

She almost failed to suppress the godhood that was originally not very prominent within her.

What is this? Jenna was terrified and bewildered, barely managing to control her emotions and desires.

…

In the mirror rear area standing with gray-white stone platforms and white bone statues.

Franca and Demoness of Black Clarice had battled for a while. Besides shattering several Mirror Substitutions and transforming the place into a gray-white stone cave, neither had suffered substantial injury.

Seizing the opportunity when the Mirror Projection shattered and her own form emerged at the mirror rear area's edge, the Demoness of Black looked at Franca, unable to hide her surprise, "You've significantly digested the Unaging potion?"

Clearly, she was not surprised that Franca had become a Demoness of Unaging, but that the other's condition was excellent, with emotions and desires effectively controlled, unaffected by her own active Charm.

This did not resemble a Demoness of Unaging who had advanced just a few months ago.

After all, the digestion of a Demoness of Unaging was measured in centuries. The newly advanced might need several years, or even over a decade, to be in an unstable state of emotions and desire. Even facing an equally-leveled Demoness's Charm, they would find it difficult to resist, unless she was deeply in love or had just experienced a soul-stirring passion she would die for.

Franca was also glad to talk and delay time, waiting for an opportunity.

While dodging the Demoness of Black's new wave of attacks, she laughed and asked back.

"Would you lose control if I said I've completely digested the Unaging potion?"

She was boasting about a fact that would be unbelievable to other Demonesses of Unaging, attempting to provoke an emotional fluctuation in the Demoness of Black.

And with an emotional fluctuation, she might be able to Charm the target, inducing admiration that would prevent them from attacking, leading to defeat.

The Demoness of Black's gaze suddenly solidified.

She clearly was unwilling to believe Franca could digest the Unaging potion in just a few months-a process that normally took hundreds of years-but the other's excellent condition seemed to corroborate that statement.

Taking advantage of the Demoness of Black's emotional turbulence, Franca smiled charmingly.

This made Demoness of Black Clarice's heart beat faster, just like the first time she experienced feminine charm from the Primordial Demoness figurine.

With her experience, she immediately knew something was wrong, and let her mirror self emerge from another side, using Charm on herself.

Charming herself!

With a whoosh, Franca, who had put on the Face of the Arcane at some point in time, shot out a clear light column from her eye protection surrounded by gears, springs, and rivets, which instantly landed on the Demoness of Black.

Caught between two Charm forces, the Demoness of Black regained some clarity and preemptively used a Mirror Substitution.

Her body devolved into a mirror, completely split, floating down as microscopic fragments.

The Demoness of Black's mirror self walked out, then was intercepted by Franca's mirror self.

At the Demoness of Unaging stage, the Demonesses' mirror selves could not directly engaged when battling in the real world. But if the battlefield was in the mirror world, with the main body entering, Demonesses could attack the enemy together with their mirror selves, essentially a two-against-one situation.

The Demoness of Black who had escaped the attack quickly appeared on another side of the mirror rear area, her face smiling, showing no anger.

"I told you before that the Primordial One has two hidden honorific names. Do you want to know them now?"

Telling those two hidden honorific names now? Isn't this a trap? Franca responded without hesitation.

"Nope!"

The Demoness of Black's figure suddenly layered and multiplied, everywhere, like entering a maze made entirely of mirrors.

Her voice transmitted from all directions into Franca's ears.

"The fourth honorific name is:

"The Female Body of the Primordial God Almighty!"

The Female Body of the Primordial God Almighty?

Fu#k! Franca was stunned for a moment, nearly getting hit by the Demoness of Black, barely escaping the crisis by preemptively using a Mirror Substitution.

…

The eastern part of the Sonia Sea, the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

At the peaks of the endless mountain ranges, that darkness suddenly expanded to transparency.

Within the transparency, a massive cross was vaguely visible, with two people nailed to it-one head down, feet up, the other feet up, head down, yet sharing a single body, like conjoined infants.

Beneath this cross was a chaotic water surface that seemed to encompass all colors and all possibilities. Something beneath the water appeared to be grasping the cross's base, pulling it toward the earth's depths, causing it to slowly sink.

…

In an indescribable darkness.

Lumian, now a gray-white stone statue with only a remnant of thought, suddenly smelled a fragrance like night flowers blooming, the very breath most yearned for in every male heart.

The white bone-like long dress fell before his eyes, dropping to the ground, revealing a perfect torso that would drive even stones to impulse, that would make even rules violate themselves.

Those slick, long, serpent-like black hairs began to gently glide on Lumian's body. That moonlike torso sat in Lumian's lap, entwining him without bones.

Heat and coldness emerged simultaneously, with a moist sensation rippling and flowing between the two bodies.

Lumian was like being nakedly coiled by a massive python, gently rubbing, and yet seemingly enveloped by the most charming pleasure, alternating between heaven and hell.

Serpent-like slick black hair, white and exquisite beautiful hands, moistened and slightly parted pink lips, delicate skin that seemed it would break at a touch yet was full of elasticity-these rotated and approached Lumian's face, neck, chest, and abdomen, sometimes lightly touching, sometimes closely pressing, sometimes gently caressing, sometimes wanting to be one with him.

The previous soft, gentle voice became seductive, low-sobbing with joy when Lumian reached heaven, and floating near dream-talk when he fell into hell.

"Whether the remnant souls in the River of Eternal Darkness or the Beyonder characteristics in the Blue Avenger's treasury are not the true reliance for Tudor's resurrection...

"If they can work, very good; if not, it doesn't matter, as long as they can create someone like you...

"Tudor's true resurrection is laid out here with me..."

The voice brought a hidden sweet ambiguous fragrance, making even this stone statue's "blood vessels swell" until gray-white cracks appeared.

Sweet, fragrant breath blew into his ear, rising and falling, accompanied by a hint of laughter.

"Tudor is willing to trust me, and I will not disappoint Him…

"Do you know why only Judith's descendants remain of His offspring, while others no longer exist?

"I cursed them, with direct curses, with curses of destiny...

"Now, Tudor can only rely on me..."

The remnant of Lumian's consciousness inexplicably generated fear amidst these words.

He did not know why Primordial Demoness Cheek was coupling with him at this moment, why She wanted to control his pleasure and pain, why She was saying these words.

He only knew this true Demoness was mad.

A slightly hoarse voice pressed against Lumian's body, laughing softly in his ear.

"I am very satisfied with this body; it will belong to Tudor...

"I have waited for over a thousand years, finally finding the best opportunity. This can both resurrect Tudor and complete His and my unfinished dreams...

"Do you know what the Demoness pathway symbolizes?"

Lumian could not answer, for he was now just a gray-white stone statue, entering heaven amidst ultimate pleasure.

The marvelous female voice had a breathy sound to it.

"It symbolizes catastrophe and apocalypse, and also symbolizes the feminine side of that initial Creator.

"The Hunter pathway, what does it symbolize? It symbolizes war and destruction, and also symbolizes the masculine side of that initial Creator.

"Do you know that the initial Creator was both mad and rational, both self-destructive and wanting to survive?

"What do you think such a Creator would do while self- destructing?

"Why would He create an invisible barrier to block the Outer Deities, preventing Them from chaotically plundering and initiating the convergence?

"As the source of rationality and wisdom, doesn't He want a stable existence?"

Even with his mind almost completely blank, Lumian now had an extra thought.

Simultaneously, he vaguely perceived the purpose of the Primordial Demoness coupling with him and speaking these words.

Balancing yin and yang, correcting the state, making the final preparation for Alista Tudor's resurrection...

The breathing grew heavier, alternating between low sobs and laughter, the female voice asked near Lumian's throat, "Do you know what the Oldest One's feminine side plus the Oldest One's masculine side equals?

"When the feminine and masculine sides of something combine, what do they become?"

Lumian's final thoughts suddenly froze.

…

In the mirror rear area filled with gray-white stones.

Frightened by the Primordial Demoness's fourth honorific name, Franca immediately fell into a disadvantage, barely surviving the most difficult stage.

She could die and wait to resurrect herself in the sleeping mirror, but that would waste too much time.

At this moment, the voice of Demoness of Black Clarice came from the side.

"The fifth honorific name of the Primordial One is..."

Franca wanted to stop her but could not find a suitable method; comparatively, deafening herself would be more convenient.

Before she could take action, the subsequent words of the Demoness of Black echoed with a hint of laughter.

"The fifth honorific name of the Primordial One is:

"The original Creator - the Oldest One - in the mirror!"