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r 1384 Crimson Skyfall

   Chapter 1384: Crimson Skyfall

  . Audrey, "Justice," actually had some knowledge of the truth surrounding "Doomsday.

  " It all began when she was commissioned by the "Queen" to help the now-angelic "Mysterious Queen," then a Sequence 3, seal some of her information regarding the "Old Ones." Audrey, then a mere "Manipulator," couldn't bear the consequences of learning such knowledge. Therefore, after helping Bernadette, she sealed her own memories of the incident.

  Before the "Magician" journeyed to the stars, Audrey had also helped her, having previously learned about the "Outer Gods," to seal these memories. Later, to protect herself, she similarly practiced self-suggestion, forgetting this knowledge, which only angels could safely access.

  Although the two self-hypnosis sessions had no effect on Audrey's memories, they instilled in her an inexplicable sense of urgency. As she became a "Dream Weaver" and secretly promoted numerous reforms within the Kingdom of Loen, she became utilitarian, even betraying her own conscience. Through suggestion and hypnosis, she manipulated numerous nobles and councilors to implement policies she believed were correct, accelerating the liberation of the southern continent's colonies and the spread of the Churches of the Fool and the Church of the End.

  It wasn't until she truly became an angel and her deepest memories were unlocked that Audrey understood the true cause of her anxiety. She knew the planet was threatened by the "Outer Gods," and that the barrier left by the Prime Creator was in jeopardy. Doomsday might arrive this year, not in 1368, as many prophecies had predicted.

  While this could explain the Orthodox Church's rapid selection of suitable Sequence 3s and their rapid ascension to angel status, it couldn't explain why members of the Tarot Club were so singled out and coerced into angel status at such a cost.

  Audrey understood that at least four members of the Psychological Alchemist Guild's jury had long been "Dream Weavers," and the Guild President was a renowned Saint who had achieved fame centuries before. It made no sense that the Sequence 2 trait of the Psychic Dragon Edefanar would be granted to an outsider like her, a member of the Tarot Club and practically a blatant "spy."

  She wasn't the only one. Members like "Judgment" Hugh, "Moon" Emlyn, and "Star" Leonard had all clearly received some kind of "favoritism" during their advancement to Sequence 2 within just one month. This seemed to be a hidden bargain between the gods, a compromise between the church and secular forces, and the assistance of more than one high-ranking being.

  This led Audrey to a reasonable hypothesis: the advancement of the Tarot Club members depended on the anchor of faith held by Mr. Fool and Ms. Queen. The anchor provided by an angel was undoubtedly far greater than that provided by a Saint, and this was the price the other gods paid for the goodwill of these two newly promoted gods.

  Thinking of this, Audrey looked around and saw that not only herself, but several other members of the gathering also had thoughtful expressions, as if they had come to this conclusion.

  Ms. Hermit, under the guidance of the mysterious Queen Bernadette, may already know the truth about the apocalypse. Mr. Moon's tribe includes three angels, angels who have lived for thousands of years, and the existence of Outer Gods is no secret. Mr. Star appears to be a descendant of an ancient angel from the Fourth Epoch Zoroast family, and must be aware of the dangers of the starry sky... Her gaze lingered on several people, finally turning to Ms. Magician.

  She had truly traveled the starry sky and was the first of the eight members to become an angel. She must know something...

  Under everyone's gaze, Fors smiled, sat up straight, and said in a measured tone,

  "I don't know much more than you do."

  And most of it was told to me by Mr. Gate... she added in her mind.

  She then detailed to the other members the secrets of the starry sky, Outer Gods, the impending apocalypse, and the Creator's Barrier, including all known Old Ones' honorific names, their general authority and symbols, and the corresponding Outer God paths.

  Some of this had already been learned through high-level discussions within the Tarot Club, but most required the ability to safely learn information that could only be learned by becoming angels, safe from the gaze and contamination of the Outer Gods.

  As Fors recounted this, the other seven members could sense numerous gazes directed at them from an infinitely distant realm, blocked by the gray fog, unable to penetrate.

  Without the protection of the gray fog, and given that they were not angels, once they formed complete concepts of the Outer Gods like the "Fallen Mother Goddess" and the "Fate Ring" in their minds, they would inevitably fall prey to these Old Ones' visions and develop close mystical connections with them. This would either lead to their being secretly contaminated and spiraling out of control, or they would perish instantly, becoming an unsolved case in the archives of the Orthodox Church.

  "So, the 'person in the ring' I met that day was a follower of the 'Fate Ring,' a demigod blessed by the Outer Gods..."

  Leonard said in a vacuous voice.

  "A month ago, I saw the First Ancestor in a dream. Besides handing me a copy of 'Creator,' allowing me to ascend to an angel as quickly as possible, she also entrusted me with the trait of 'Goddess of Beauty,' telling me... to carefully safeguard it."

  Emlyn sighed. He hadn't shared all of Lilith's instructions with the other Tarot Club members, as they contained a crucial secret concerning the gods:

  'Mother Earth' Lilith believed she might soon fall and was making arrangements for her resurrection and rebirth.

  Now that he knew the truth about the apocalypse, and that the two extraordinary paths of 'Mother' and 'Moon' originated from the most powerful pillar-level, 'Fallen Mother Goddess,' he finally understood the First Ancestor's current predicament and realized that his responsibilities and burdens were far heavier than he had previously imagined.

  'Hermit' Cattleya and 'Judgement' Xio had previously learned some of the truth from Bernadette and Fors, respectively, but after such a comprehensive understanding of the threats facing Earth, their hearts felt heavy.

  Alger, the "Hanged Man," and Derrick, the "Sun," were completely unaware of the threats posed by the Outer Gods and the starry sky before this gathering. This was primarily due to their lack of familiar angels. Even if they had achieved Sequence 2 status, they would have been unable to access further hidden knowledge.

  Fors's detailed explanation was primarily to ensure these two members understood everything.

  "So, the apocalypse is coming in July? That's... only two months left?"

  Alger muttered, his inner joy at becoming an angel gone, leaving only uncertainty about the future.

  After consuming the potion in the shadow world and becoming the "Elder of the Whispers," possessing complete divinity, he had worried about his lack of humanity, relying on the help of the "Church of Sea God" and the Beyonders he had trained to maintain a balance. Now, he realized that his humanity was not only abundant, but perhaps even too abundant.

  "Not necessarily," Fors shook her head. "One of my elders once said, 'Don't put too much faith in prophecies and divinations. Fate's revelations are merely baselines, not reality... The prophecy revealed by Miss Queen is, 'At the end of July 1354, Crimson will descend from the sky.' This appears to be the moment when the fallen Mother Goddess breaks the barrier and brings about the apocalypse, but it doesn't necessarily indicate the beginning of the apocalypse."

  "So, depending on the interpretation, the apocalypse might arrive sooner?"

  Cattleya, once a "Master of Prophecy" and now a "Sage," took over thoughtfully.

  "Perhaps even further, all gods, Outer Gods, and even fate itself, who wish to prevent or hasten the apocalypse, will cause the prophecy to change. The apocalypse might come in two months, or years later, or perhaps... tomorrow."

  "This is the wonder of fate, even for those great beings,"

  Fors replied in an erratic tone.

  She knew the truth about the apocalypse earlier than the other members. She had also experienced the moment a month prior when the "Giant of Light" appeared deep within everyone's hearts. With the explanation given by Mr. "Gate" Bethel, she understood that this was a sign of the true return of the "Ancient Sun God," who emerged in the Second Era, establishing humanity's history, only to fall at the end of the Third Era

  . She understood that Earth had given birth to its first true "Old One," a mighty being of the same Pillar-level Old One status as the Fallen Mother Goddess. But what puzzled her was that, in the month since, aside from some covert changes within the Churches of Storm and Wisdom, everything remained calm. The astral barrier seemed to have been reinforced, and the Outer Gods no longer launched coordinated attacks against it. Even the seal on the Western Continent remained silent, as if the birth of "God" was merely a collective hysteria on Earth.

  This left her uncertain about the exact timing of the apocalypse, and she could only explain it away with the rhetoric of "fate is marvelous."

  But no matter whether the end of the world comes in two months or two years, it means a sudden burden for them.   

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  Everyone has family and friends to protect, missions assigned by their tribes and organizations. After becoming angels, they more or less develop a natural sense of responsibility towards their nation and the entire human race, realizing they are no longer mere beings hiding beneath the wings of other angels or gods.

  They themselves become protectors of others.

  "What should we do?"

  Derrick, the Sun, asked in a deep, raspy voice.

  This seemed to be the most pressing question he had pondered for a long time.

  Under his intense gaze, the Magician shook her head again.

  "Frankly, I don't know. I've seen things in the starry sky you can't imagine: massive gravitational forces exceeding the reach of entire galaxies, thin canvases depicting hundreds of planets, voids stretching millions of light years to prevent the decay of all things and the end of time... These are the traces left by the battles between the 'Old Ones,' forces that angels cannot even begin to grasp.

  " "Even the gods we once feared cannot effectively resist this battle unless they become true Old Ones before the apocalypse." "

  During her cold narration, all the newly promoted angels present lowered their heads, feeling a sense of powerlessness from the bottom of their hearts.

  In a war that even Sequence 0 gods cannot participate in, what role can these newly promoted angels, who have not yet truly mastered their own powers, play?

  "Perhaps, we are still of some use..."

  Suddenly, Miss "Justice"'s voice, which was forced to be endowed with some power, rang out.

  "Those great beings outside the barrier also have their own angels. They are also unable to participate in frontal combat, but they can still destroy the planet we are on and kill all ordinary people...

  "There are a total of nine great beings outside the barrier. If you add the 'Uncertain Mist' that Miss Magician mentioned, which was severely damaged and retreated, there are ten great beings. There may be hundreds of angels under their command. If they bypass the front battlefield to attack the earth, try to kill all ordinary people, and shake their 'faith', it will inevitably make the gods who are directly confronting the outer gods worse.

  "This little interference may be the key to determining the outcome of the war. Audrey

  didn't continue, but everyone understood her meaning:

  in the "king vs. king, soldier vs. soldier" Doomsday battle, they were not without a role to play. They were equally important as the angels fighting against the Outer Gods and protecting the gods' spirits.

  "And don't forget, we ourselves are the anchors for Mr. Fool and Miss Queen, providing them with a vital support."

  Alger, the "Hanged Man," was no longer confused. He looked up at everyone and concluded with a firm tone, as if he had found a new goal.

  Under his gaze, the other members also felt a burning flame called "responsibility" growing in their hearts. They straightened their backs and stopped bowing their heads.

  Seeing that they had recovered from the shock of the truth of "Doomsday", Fors, the "Magician", smiled and continued:

  "Yes, no matter when the end of the world comes, our goal remains unchanged: to protect our family and friends, and to help them to the best of our ability..."

  Her vision darkened, and the palace, the tables and chairs, and the figures of the other members vanished from the mist, replaced by bright gas lamps, a table set with refreshments, and a modular sofa.

  They were all shrouded in a hazy red, like dried blood.

  Xiou, sitting opposite, buried in the sofa, opened his eyes and glanced over in confusion.

  In an instant, they both realized that the Tarot Club had ended prematurely.

  Then, the red light streaming into the living room from the window caught Fors's attention. She instantly vanished from the sofa and reappeared at the window, one hand still resting on Xiou's shoulder, who had also come to the window.

  Outside the window, it wasn't the afternoon sun, but a slowly rising crimson moon.

  It was several times larger than a typical blood moon, seemingly already perched on the treetops and rooftops, close at hand, its crimson blood-red.

  …

  Leonard suddenly woke up from the shadows. He jumped up, dissipated the "hidden" power, and stepped on the ground with a thud. He looked around in confusion and found that he had indeed returned to the study at home.

  The sound attracted Sherman's puzzled greetings from downstairs who was singing a ballad to the fetus in her belly, but he had no time to pay attention. Instead, he looked towards the window following the guidance of his spirituality that was rising for some reason.

  There stood an old man with completely white hair, deep brown eyes, and not too obvious wrinkles on his forehead and eyes. He was bathed in the blood-red light, and the shadows on his face looked a little strange.

  "Old man?" Leonard shouted in confusion, "What happened just now? "

  Why was I kicked out of the Tarot Club? What about the others?" He had more questions in his mind, but was immediately drawn to the blood moon rising suddenly outside the window, a strong sense of unease rising within him.

  ...

  "Justice" Audrey opened her eyes in the Earl's Mansion in Queens; "Moon" Emlyn woke up surrounded by puppets in the South Borough; "Hermit" Cattleya gazed at the crimson moon through her glasses aboard the Future tossed in the turbulent sea; "Hanged Man" Alger put on his mask again at the Church of Poseidon's headquarters in Bayam; "Sun" Derrick opened the balcony door in New Silver City and gazed at the city illuminated by the crimson moon...

  And all the angels on Earth, belonging to major churches or secret organizations, or hiding in society alone, saw the blood-red moon growing larger and larger at this moment, almost touching the ground, and heard the words of their respective gods in their ears.

  Doomsday has arrived early.

  (End