Chapter 7 - 7

Chapter 29 New YearTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3639 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-25 15:30:06

Verity said goodbye to her good friend Joann Pryor at the public carriage station and walked home quickly along the street. She, Joann and several other classmates had spent an afternoon happily in the department store and came back a little late.

If today was not December 31st, the last day of the year, which according to custom should be spent with family, Qionglin would still be reluctant to leave and want to stay with her a little longer and have dinner before parting.

She pinched her friend's face and joked, "There are still more than 20 days left in the holiday. I can come out anytime."

"It's settled then!" Qionglin, who had a little baby fat on his cheeks, had been pretending to be angry and pouted, but he soon smiled happily after hearing this. He grabbed Verity's hand and sighed, "That's great. After you move to the North District, it will be much more convenient for me to visit you."

After she learned about the changes in Verity's life, she seemed to be happier than Verity herself. Qionglin always knew that her friend's family was not well off and she could not go out shopping and entertainment with her frequently. This made her, who was enthusiastic by nature, always restrain herself so as not to hurt her good friend inadvertently with words or actions.

Now that she no longer had such concerns, she wished she could stick with Verity every day.

Verity also felt the kindness of her friends. The life that used to only appear in her dreams had now come to her. Verity did not dare to ask for more, but secretly prayed that such days could last forever.

She passed the mailbox of No. 7 Covent Street and vaguely heard the laughter of the Moretti family. Thinking of her sister Melissa who took good care of her, the smile on her face widened a little.

A few steps further was her own home, with warm yellow gaslight shining through the cleaned oriel window.

Verity trotted up the stairs and as soon as she opened the door, she smelled the warm aroma of food. She walked towards the kitchen with anticipation and looked inside.

Douglas, who was busy at the stove, turned around in time as if he had eyes behind his back. Seeing that it was her, he raised his eyebrows and said, "You're back? It's cold outside, right? Go change your clothes and get ready for dinner."

Verity was a little surprised: "Douglas, can you cook?"

Originally, the Thomas couple hired a part-time maid named Emma to do cleaning and cooking. However, the maid had some urgent matters at home, so she asked for leave and went home yesterday. She will not be back until after the New Year.

She subconsciously thought that today's dinner would be taken away from the restaurant or eaten out, and she never expected that Douglas would cook it himself.

The man looked a little helpless: "...At least I can be sure you won't do it?"

The two looked at each other and recalled the past when they lived in the East End. Douglas had irregular work schedules and basically ate out, occasionally bringing her some food. More often, Verity would simply fry something on the coal stove and eat it with bread.

As for cooking skills... I can only say that considering the freshness of the food in the East District, it's a miracle that I haven't gotten any serious problems from eating it over the years.

When the embarrassing thing was mentioned to the little girl, she quickly turned around and ran to her room to change her clothes, avoiding this embarrassing topic.

Douglas heard the door slam shut, shook his head in amusement, opened the lid of the stew pot and threw the chopped white radish into the mutton bone soup.

He bought a lamb leg from the market at around four o'clock, cut the meat off to make mutton stew rice and stew the bones.

From the day he received the rice, Douglas began to think about what dishes could be paired with rice and that would suit the tastes of the locals. Of course, they also had to be simple and easy to make.

Stir-frying is definitely not an option. Vegetables here are either served in soup or salad. There is no soy sauce or oyster sauce, and the only seasonings are simple salt, sugar, pepper, basil, mint and other spices.

Russell, you copied so many books, why don't you copy a recipe... After racking his brains for a long time, Douglas finally decided to make mutton stewed rice, which he could only make with an electric rice cooker before.

After frying the onion until brown, add the lamb and fry it briefly. Pour some cheap white wine as cooking wine. After it is colored, add the carrots and season with salt and pepper. Pour in enough hot water to stew. When it is almost done, put the washed rice directly in, cover it with a lid and simmer until cooked.

Stewing soup is even simpler. It depends on time. The longer it stews, the more delicious it tastes. In addition, Douglas also made mashed potatoes mixed with cream and pickle cubes, fried Tussock fish fillets on both sides until golden brown, and blanched a handful of spinach and cherry tomatoes and mixed them with vinaigrette in his obsession with green vegetables.

To be honest, he really wants to cook this thing. Wouldn't it be delicious when stir-fried with garlic?

The steam made the lid of the soup pot creak constantly. Douglas opened the lid and slightly adjusted the seasoning, and thought it was almost done. Verity had already changed her clothes and was busy setting the tableware. She looked at Douglas expectantly as he used a wooden spatula to mix the rice covered with gravy and oil with other ingredients, and then put it on the plate in front of her.

She couldn't wait to pick up the spoon and scoop a mouthful into her mouth. The rice was soaked with the aroma of meat, and each grain was distinct. The carrots and onions provided a light sweetness, and the meat had no smell of mutton, rich in fat, soft and tasty. Verity, who had been hungry for a long time, took a few mouthfuls of rice without interruption and chewed them in big mouthfuls. Her cheeks were slightly bulging from the food, and she was very satisfied.

Douglas served them both a bowl of soup before sitting down. As usual, they ate a few mouthfuls of cold dishes before turning to the main course. The moment the rice entered their mouths, they almost couldn't suppress the soreness in their eyes.

He had a premonition that he would dream about his hometown tonight.

Douglas lowered his eyes, chewed the food slowly, savored the long-lost aroma of rice, and tried hard to restrain his outward emotions.

Fortunately, Verity was busy eating and didn't notice his slightly trembling hands. Both of them were busy eating for a long time before they came back to their senses from the satisfaction brought by the food. Verity sipped a mouthful of mutton bone soup. The light white soup was full of freshness, warming up the throat all the way to the abdomen. It was the most suitable dish for this winter night.

She couldn't help swallowing twice more, then she wiped her mouth a little embarrassedly and looked at Douglas with sparkling eyes: "Delicious! I, you, you never said you can cook! I like this one very much, well, I like every dish!"

She spoke very quickly, praising the taste of each dish. Douglas couldn't help but wonder if the girl's vocabulary would be sufficient if she had a real New Year's Eve dinner. He accepted the praise with a thick skin that he had developed from lying everywhere since he traveled through time. He put down the spoon and made a prayer gesture with a normal expression: "I learned it from my friends in the church. The people in Feynapotter's place are very good at cooking rice. Well, praise the Mother Goddess, praise your abundance and generosity."

Just consider it as fulfilling a vow. I think I did wish for rice when I was praying... He recited a hymn skillfully, and then was stunned to see Verity, a follower of the Goddess of Night, raise her hand and almost follow him to draw the holy emblem of the Mother Earth.

Fortunately, Verity realized the problem in time when she was halfway through rowing. She forced herself to change her hand gestures and pointed at the stars around her. She closed her eyes and said with a guilty conscience: "Praise the goddess! Praise you for bringing us rest and shelter, health and food!"

Douglas watched Verity pick up the spoon and continue eating as if to cover up her mistake, and he secretly complained that if I were a goddess, I would fire you on the spot for being a believer who strayed as soon as he took a bite of food. He then added a bowl of soup for her and told her to eat slowly so as not to choke.

By the time they had finished eating and drinking and had finished packing, it was already past half past eight. After going out for a day, Verity felt sleepy after eating and went to take a shower first. Douglas was left alone in the living room, flipping through a few pages of the newspaper out of boredom and then went to the window to look out.

I don't know when it started snowing outside. There was no one on the already deserted street, only the lights from the windows and street lamps of each household swaying in the falling snow, which made the cold even worse.

"..." Douglas admired the snow scene through the cold glass for a while, then began to wipe away the condensed mist on the glass with his fingers, scribbling patterns while muttering, "There is no mobile phone, no TV... It's so boring!"

In the past, New Year's Day was at least a serious holiday with three days off, which also heralded the arrival of the Spring Festival and winter vacation, making people look forward to getting through final exams or the last month of classes.

And according to Chinese custom, New Year's Day and New Year's Eve are bound to be accompanied by the sound of cell phones beeping. Earthy text messages like "I'm afraid the firecrackers on the 30th are too loud and you can't hear my blessings" are flying all over the place. In addition to sending them to teachers, relatives and friends, these days people also have to post on WeChat Moments, Weibo, and Status to say hello to the majority of netizens. The Internet is filled with joy.

However, the so-called New Year's Eve here is limited to January 1st. There is no concept of the Lunar New Year, let alone any holidays. It only occupies one in three hundred and sixty-fifth of the year, and the festive atmosphere is even inferior to the "Winter Day" of the Church of the Night a few days ago.

Douglas sighed somewhat melancholy, looked at the few featureless stick figures he had drawn on the glass, was silent for a while, and then wiped them off with his hand.

"Even if we count New Year's Day and Chinese New Year together," he put his forehead against the cold glass and complained loudly in Chinese, taking advantage of the fact that no one was listening, "it's too quiet! Chinese New Year should be lively and bustling!"

The New Year's Day in his memory was much more prosperous than this. There should be people playing mahjong, playing cards, smoking and drinking, melon seed shells and candy wrappers all over the floor, and naughty children running around and shouting...

After dinner, we went out to set off firecrackers, which made the dogs run around the yard in panic. Few people watched TV, but the programs were always on, diligently filling the gaps between people's conversations with songs and dances.

After midnight, they would have another meal of dumplings. Whoever got to eat the dumpling with a coin inside would have good luck for the next year. So everyone gathered around a round table, chopsticks raining down, and finished the reunion dinner at the end of the party.

Douglas closed his eyes and hummed a few lines of "Unforgettable Tonight", but he couldn't remember the lyrics of the second half. After all, who would specifically remember the lyrics of the brainwashing song that they would inevitably hear at the end of each year?

Who would have thought that one day I would be so far away from home that I couldn't even find the way back home? 

The tune gradually became blurred and low at the end, and silence and desolation once again occupied all the space.

When Verity came out of the bathroom wiping her wet hair, Douglas had already calmed down. He leaned on the sofa and stared blankly at a certain point in the air. He didn't come back to his senses until the little girl sat next to him. He coughed a few times to cover up, "...By the way, remember to remind me to bring a few flowers when I go to see Victor."

January 4th is the anniversary of the death of Verity's brother. Every year, Douglas and Verity never forget to visit the Green Cemetery to see their relative who is sleeping in the ground. However, it is too expensive to grow flowers in the greenhouse in winter, so Victor's tombstone is always empty.

It is no longer difficult to place a bouquet of flowers at a child's grave.

Verity was stunned when she heard this, and she was a little absent-minded thinking that it had been three years. If her brother who died in the smog was alive, he would probably be this tall... She recalled the little boy who was always restless and running around behind her, and felt that he would definitely like today's meal and his current life.

"...Douglas." She reached out, held his hand and squeezed it, saying softly, "Thank you."

Douglas turned his head to look at her, not knowing whether to laugh or sigh, so he just held the little girl's hand, which was smaller than his own: "Happy New Year, Verity."

Verity sniffed and laughed, too: "Happy New Year!"

It's been a long night.

People who laugh and cry, people who are happy and those who are in pain, people who know the truth and those who are completely unaware, people who have passed away and those who are still alive, are all silently walking towards their own end.

No matter what they longed for, what they despised, what they welcomed, or what they avoided, January 1, 1353 still arrived as scheduled.

The world is only 15 years away from doomsday.Chapter 30 Extra 2: TheyTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 11825 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-25 15:30:06

Wintershire, Tranquil Church.

After finishing his work report, Crestai Cecima left the office as if he knew the way there. He first returned to the church hall to pray for fifteen minutes before walking across the corridor towards his room.

There was heavy snow outside the window, but no sound of the wind was heard. There was no noise here, and all the chaotic light and shadows were kept silent by the power of God when they were incorporated into the church.

Sesima couldn't remember how much time he had spent in this magnificent church painted only in black and white. He paused briefly in the corridor, staring at the vague shadow cast by the main peak of the Amanda Mountains, which was over 6,000 meters above sea level, in the clouds not far away.

Suddenly, he had an inspiration and looked around.

The figure of a woman with ordinary features, dark eyes, wearing a simple robe, a bark belt, and long black hair, stood beside him as if she appeared out of thin air. Cecima turned around, bowed her head slightly, and said, "Ms. Arianna."

"You don't have to worry." The angel's expression was as calm as ever. "The goddess already knows. They will be safe."

Sesima stared at Him with her deep lake green eyes. Although their order was quite different, Sesima was a follower of the holy relic and was a member of the Council of Gods, so there was no difference in status between them.

He thought for a while before he spoke slowly: "So that is... the power from 'outside'?"

Arianna responded to his gaze and question, "Yes, that's the part you can't understand yet."

"..." Sesima raised her lips as if she was about to smile bitterly, but soon controlled her expression and abruptly changed the subject. "I received a tip that the former Patriarch of the Church of the God of War, Larion, has been spotted near the Star Plateau in West Balam recently."

"I understand." Arianna nodded slightly, and her figure faded away like a sketch being erased by an eraser. "Go back and rest, Cecima. Happy New Year."

Silence once again filled the corridor where only one person was left. Cecima was still staring out the window without moving.

-

Perhaps the Kingdom of Darkness should be renamed, Antigonus thought, and slowly walked past the clusters of deep-sleeping flowers and night-blooming herbs to a winding stream.

The stream was as misty as black fog, rising and falling, surging endlessly. Staring at the stream, which was less than half a meter wide, Antigonus saw countless figures wandering under the deep water, overlapping and endless, like a different kind of wave.

He took two steps back, avoiding the rising waters of the "River of Eternal Darkness" that carried with it all the death in the world, and looked up again.

The kingdom of the goddess of night should have been an eternal night, with only a silver moon and a false but beautiful starry sky above the sky. But now, the scenery above is no longer completely dark, but a half-orange-red dusk that shows a sense of decay gradually transitioning to the original night.

The interval between the orange-red and the night was neither clear nor stable, rising and falling irregularly like a stream. After a brief observation of the situation, Antigonus did not linger any longer, and turned his back on "death" and "dusk" and walked into the depths of "night".

He patiently trudged through the seemingly endless wasteland of night, his hands brushing against the flowers unintentionally, leaving him with a light and soothing floral scent. Antigonus glanced at the small white flowers crawling on the ground, and felt that Amanesis was truly a nostalgic god.

The dormant flower is a fragile plant with low, creeping stems and leaves. It usually blends in with the weeds. The only thing worth mentioning is the elegant clusters of white flowers and the lingering fragrance when it blooms.

This pitiful merit was not valued by the demon wolves, as only humans would pick up such useless things and place them on the bodies of their loved ones as a blessing from the gods. However, since Amanesis became his father's subordinate god, clusters of deep sleeping flowers have bloomed in the territory that belongs exclusively to this "God of Disaster", becoming the only bright spot in the valley occupied by the demon wolves.

Amanesis did not allow his people to enter this pure land. Antigonus had the courage to sniff the white flowers, but not the courage to step into them. He could only raise his neck and howl in the middle of the night to see Amanesis' figure in black veil coming late. He pestered Him, and never tired of satisfying Amanesis's wish to make the short-lived deep sleeping flowers bloom longer, in exchange for a brief companionship and the opportunity to listen to stories.

Only once did Amanesis allow Him and his sister to cross that peaceful land. By then, Fregola's blood had already run dry. Antigonus endured the pain of the crazy ravings that exploded in his mind and the Beyonder characteristics that eroded his body as a result of his ritualless promotion to Sequence One. He hurriedly picked up the uniqueness of The Fool that fell beside him under the influence of the Beyonder Aggregation Law, turned around and followed his sister, fleeing in panic.

He ran wildly in the sea of ​​deep sleeping flowers, white petals stuck to his palms and released sticky juice. The fragrance that he often smelled on Amanisis, which symbolized peaceful dreams, almost penetrated into his flesh and blood. From then on, he was only connected with nightmares and hatred. The demon wolf roared like crying blood, and the power of desire faded. The flowers withered in pieces, and his ignorant and willful life in the past was annihilated into a pile of soil polluted by his father's blood.

Later, throughout the Second, Third, and even Fourth Ages, Antigonus became extremely sensitive to the scent of the Deep Sleep Flower. The Doll Town he built was located on the top of Hornachis, and no flowers could bloom in the cold night, which made Antigonus feel at ease.

Further back, and further back... Antigonus smiled at himself, and finally when he looked into the distance he saw a huge figure lying in the darkness.

He slowed down his pace, and finally stopped at a safe distance, bowing his head slightly to show his respect to the gods.

The first pair of arms of the goddess of night held a huge sickle, the second pair of arms held a phoenix headdress made of pure gold, and the third pair of arms solemnly held a heavy giant sword. The three different but co-born powers kept fighting and tearing each other apart. Even though the goddess of night was restraining and watching from here, Antigonus would never dare to approach with the status of Sequence 2 - that would cause him to be cut into pieces by the intertwined forces in an instant. Due to the existence of the authority of "death", he could not even resurrect miraculously in the outside world.

"Antigonus." The voice of the goddess of night was light and ethereal. "Why did you come to see me?"

The "Miracle Master" remained silent for a long time. At the end of the world, there was no longer any contradiction or hatred between Him who could not even become a true god and Amanesis who had already stepped into half of the Old Ones. Or, it could be said that it would only exist in His heart forever. An Old One who was promoted for the survival of the world did not need to remember the trivial matters that caused his people to panic and flee in the Second Age.

Antigonus remained calm and respectful, and said, "Goddess of the Night, who is higher than the starry sky and longer than eternity, I pray for your mercy, for your grace, and for allowing me to see my fellow sisters."

It was as if an invisible wind swept across the wasteland where he had spent the night, causing Antigonus to feel a chill running down his spine. He heard the god chuckle or sigh, and heard Him say, "0-17 is in Backlund. With your current identity, you cannot see it."

Not He, She or "Mother of Heaven", but just a number... The Demon Wolf was surprised that such a passionate emotion could still rise in his chest. The surging sadness was like over-fermented wine, soaking his eyes and making them sore.

He bowed stiffly almost instinctively, thanking the gods for their generous answer, and then felt the darkness gradually fade away. Antigonus quietly waited for himself to wake up from the dream and return to the reality of nothing, but heard the goddess of night speak again: "The headquarters of the Church of the Fool is in Bayam."

A tall young man with half-white hair, a face that looked both old and youthful, and short black beard like wolf hair on the sides of his face, broke away from the purest dream and opened his dark eyes.

His gaze swept across the children who were hiding behind the wall in the distance and peeking at him, across the traveling merchants who were walking through the streets carrying their goods on their shoulders, and across the cloudless sky that had turned blue due to the severe winter cold.

Antigonus slowly stood up and repeated the unfamiliar word "Baiam".

He had slept for too long, and there were many things in his memory that didn't match reality. He shook his head and prepared to leave this small town at the foot of Mount Honachis and go to a larger city-state to find out where "Bayam" was.

However, before that... Antigonus waved at the child who was peeking at him, and waited patiently for him to come closer. The child, holding his finger, was quite curious about Him, and stumbled closer, staring at the stranger with clear eyes full of innocence.

"I am a traveler," Antigonus said with a faint smile, "a king, a wanderer, and a man who brings miracles. Now, you can make a wish to me. I swear in the name of the Fool that your wish will come true."

-

"Here, Snake, a Christmas present."

He threw a thick, bloodstained fur coat to the white-haired angel. This was a common winter garment for Feysac people. The outer layer was tough deerskin, which had been tanned and oiled many times, making it shiny, straight, and soft enough. The inner layer was thick velvet, which was hand-sewn layer by layer, tightly stacked and airtight, retaining heat well.

Even though life at the level of angels no longer cared about the outside world's temperature, Medici looked at Ouroboros, who had remained unchanged from the Second Epoch to the Fifth Epoch, standing in the vast snowfields of the northern border of Feysac in just a white robe, and always felt that He was already an ice sculpture frozen in the snow, and he always had the urge to melt this ice sculpture.

He helped Ouroboros put on his coat, and then picked up the bearskin scarf. But in just a minute, the blood on the bearskin had frozen into tiny icicles. Medici sighed, and several flames swept like snakes, drying the thick fur again, and then properly wrapped it around the shoulders and neck of his old friend.

Ouroboros looked up in cooperation: "...Christmas is over."

"Really?" Medici didn't care much and patted the Angel of Destiny, who seemed to be much warmer. "Then remember to give me one more."

This is a festival that has long been lost in the long river of history. He has long forgotten the fixed date, and only remembers that it is a winter day when snow falls. In the past, when the glory of the Creator covered the earth, Ouroboros would send him blessings and luck for the whole year during this festival. Although it is unknown how much of this luck can be effective due to the fact that Medici has a unique personality, the God of War never refuses any gift from his friends.

It was just that after the Creator fell, Ouroboros was forced to restart several times, and the young Mercury Snake had a hard time growing up under the whispers of the real Creator, so naturally he could not remember this gift. As for Medici, He often forgot these trivial matters, and the gifts He gave Ouroboros in the past were almost perfunctory, such as the tail feathers plucked from Amon's clone.

The holiday of "Christmas" with a strange pronunciation and unclear meaning has fallen into decline. But today is different from the past. Ouroboros brought the good news of the resurrection of the Lord to the former Red Angel - although it was resurrected from the spirit of the paranoid Adam.

Medici dug out the extraordinary characteristics from the corpse of the Hunter Path Demigod. While absorbing the familiar endless flow of fire and steel, he recalled the Fourth Epoch, when he fell, and Adam looked at everything with those clear eyes like a child.

With the intuition of a "conspirator", He was able to gradually piece together the outline of that long-term plan. Medici didn't know what to think. Adam and Amon spent their childhood under His care - if the unique and activated mythical creatures also had the concept of "childhood" - at that time, the Red Angel had no idea that the Creator gently took away his loyalty, but these two sons of God took over the few fears and fears He had.

They walked in the cold and silent birch forest. The evil spirit had no flesh to rely on, and his body was a little thin, so Ouroboros reached out from his heavy coat to grab the corner of Medici's robe. Medici held the angel's cold hands with his backhand and asked casually: "Big Snake, have you never seen those 'trends of the times'?"

The silver-white pupils of the Angel of Destiny reflected the distinct black and white birch forest, and various hidden symbols slowly swirled around the deep pupils to form the shape of a snake with its tail: "When Adam was born, I saw that His fate was so short and peaceful. The Lord told me that this was inevitable."

Medici wanted to laugh and say that "Necessity" was just a rag doll in the hands of the "Dreamer". Soran and Einhorn scolded Him in the mind link, saying that he should not hurt others and hurt himself. He should be a rag doll if he wanted to. He took a second to calm down these two old enemies, and then heard Ouroboros continue:

"When I saw your fall become a splash in the long river, I asked the Lord what I should do. The Lord did not answer."

"So you continue to be a bystander of fate?" Medici guessed the answer based on his understanding of the Great Snake. He had never seen the so-called long river of fate with his own eyes, but Ouroboros had described it to him many times in words and through a large number of murals.

In those pictures, regardless of status, wealth or position, all living beings are like fish swimming with the current, and the so-called "Angels of Fate" are just slightly sensitive to the disturbance of the water flow. No one can shake the flow of fate, they just watch. Everything is the will of the world.

"No. I am one of the waves caused by your fall." Ouroboros shook his head and raised his face to look at Him. "I have always been a part of your destiny, Medici. And vice versa."

The evil spirit's footsteps paused. His foolish friend didn't brake and passed through the evil spirit's floating body. The "fate" path was obviously incompatible with the evil spirit. Ouroboros shuddered and frowned in condemnation: "... You are so cold."

"..." Medici was speechless for a few seconds, "Don't find a tree hole to hibernate in front of me later."

As He said this, fire crows flapped their wings around Him. The scorching heat immediately drove away the cold air and even caused the birch bark to crack slightly.

They walked forward. In the clear black and white snowfield, the steaming flames became more eye-catching.

-

At the beginning of the new year, Backlund, the most prosperous city in the northern continent, was immersed in a more relaxed and cheerful festive atmosphere than usual. The opera house and the circus became the places with the largest flow of people in the past few days, providing the best choice for people who have been tired and busy for a year to relax and have fun.

Given Alan Kress's family background and social status, the opera house was the only place that matched his status. However, for his youngest son, Will Kress, who was less than four years old, the opera house was obviously too serious and unattractive.

So this weekend, Allen, his wife, and two servants who were traveling with them came to the circus stationed in the nearby town square, preparing to spend a morning here with their children.

The clowns with exaggerated oil paint on their faces walked through the crowd, occasionally handing out balloons or paper flowers to the children who were laughing around them. Some clowns rode unicycles, deliberately swaying as if they were about to fall, but miraculously kept their balance, leaning back almost parallel to the ground, and pedaled the unicycles round and round, throwing several wooden balls painted in different colors in their hands to attract everyone's attention.

This lively atmosphere infected everyone present. Allen lovingly placed his young son on his shoulders, holding his white and tender little hand, and followed the clown performing the acrobatics so that Will could see the wonderful performance.

Will Chris - or rather, Will Auceptin, the "Mercury Snake", was a Sequence One angel on earth. He laughed politely along with the performance in front of him, his chubby legs dangling happily in the air.

What angel, what sequence one, as long as I restart, I will be the most innocent and happy child in the world. It's a pity that it's winter now, and there's no ice cream for sale. Will can only regretfully stare at the vendor pushing a cart and selling hot chocolate at the edge of the crowd.

Unfortunately, perhaps because of their status, or perhaps because of their son's growing weight - although it's okay for children to be a little fat, Alan, as a doctor, is very perceptive in this regard, and has recently significantly reduced the amount of sweets in Will's meals - in short, the adults turned a blind eye to the vendors and just took him to watch the acrobatics and magic shows along the way.

Will Auceptin, who decided not to use his extraordinary abilities unless necessary in order to maintain his humanity, was seriously considering whether to try the hot chocolate. Suddenly, his eyes blurred and he saw a mysterious and endless rushing river with many tributaries in the void.

This is the most essential form of "fate" that a "Mercury Snake" can see!

And now, as Will watched, his own tributary of the long river of destiny seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand, causing waves to rise.

On such an ordinary morning, "fate" actually pointed out an important clue related to his promotion sequence!

Will Auceptin followed the guidance of fate, cast his eyes to the edge of the crowd, and soon found the target with his own uniqueness.

An extraordinary person whose destiny has obvious traces of "grafting" and is tainted with a small amount of "gray fog"!

Is he the follower of the Fool? No, that was not enough to explain the other party's bizarre fate. If it weren't for his own status, Will Auceptin had no doubt that he would pay a heavy price for trying to spy on the origin of the other party's fate.

However, the man with a scar on the side of his face and slightly lighter eyes under his gaze was only at Sequence 9.

It sounds outrageous that a lowest-level Beyonder could help him advance to the higher order. But fate has always been so random. Will Auceptin has long been accustomed to such absurd revelations. Without hesitation, a silver-white mysterious symbol flashed in his eyes, gently plucking the strings of his parents' fate.

So his mother took out a silk handkerchief embroidered with hidden patterns from her pocket, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said to her husband with a smile: "There are so many people here, so crowded that even in such a cold winter, my forehead is sweating! I think it's time to find a place to rest."

Alan looked at his wife lovingly and agreed with her words: "You are right. Haha, carrying Will on my back makes me exhausted. So, let's go to the bench at the edge of the square to rest for a while, and then go to watch the animal training show."

The servants behind them naturally did not raise any objections. So the family left the busy center of the square and came to the edge where there were benches for people to rest. Allen saw that there were fewer people here, so he put Will on the ground and let his son run freely.

The little boy with fair skin and slightly chubby cheeks was running and jumping around wantonly. Because of his cute face, many passers-by were tolerant and courteous to him for running around. Just like that, Will left his parents behind and walked all the way to the Sequence 9 man who was resting on a bench with a girl. He raised his little face and said in a childish voice, "Big brother, the balloon in your hand is so beautiful!"

The blonde girl with chestnut eyes and the black-haired man with light-eyes immediately turned their attention to Will Auceptin. Seeing that the speaker was a child, they both had kind smiles on their faces.

"Look, this child is so cute." The girl leaned over and touched Will's head kindly, "He's just like a little angel! Ah, do you like this balloon?"

She noticed Will's eager gaze, so she turned back and smiled at the man and said, "Douglas, let's give the balloon to this lovely little gentleman."

The man named Douglas readily handed the silver and red balloon to Will Auceptin: "Here, hold on to it, and don't let it fly away."

Alan and his wife, who had come over after seeing their child talking to a stranger, saw this scene, nodded in acknowledgement, and whispered to Will to thank him.

"Thank you, big brother!" Will took the ribbon tied to the balloon from the other party, smiled at the man, and said crisply, "A kind person like you will definitely be lucky in the future."

When the man heard this, he suddenly raised his eyebrows in surprise, then laughed and shook his head, and said to the Allens, "What a humorous and polite little gentleman."

After a few polite words, Allen took his son's hand and walked towards the other empty benches. After a short rest, the girl and the man stood up and left, disappearing into the crowd.

-

The middle-aged woman looked at her husband's body, covered her mouth in disbelief, shook her head and took a few steps back, as if trying to deny what she saw. In the end, her legs went weak and she fell to the ground, sobbing like she was choking.

Leonard Mitchell's throat tightened, but he could not say a word of comfort. The woman and her dead husband were both natives of the southern continent with brown complexions and thick lips, and Red Gloves had not had time to learn the local language of East Balam.

He signaled to the patrol officer who was acting as an interpreter beside him: "Comfort her, and then ask her husband if he has done anything unusual recently and what kind of people he has come into contact with."

The patrolman who had learned Loenese nodded respectfully, turned around and took the woman's arm to let her sit on the chair next to him, then started talking to her in the local language.

Due to the long-term colonial rule, the natives of East Balam, especially the civilians, were quite awed by the patrolmen and the people of the Northern Continent. Therefore, although the woman was sad, she did not ignore the patrolmen's questions and answered them with sobs and occasional hand gestures.

While the patrol officer was questioning him, Leonard looked around the shabby house, secretly clicked his teeth, and released the wolf spirit to explore the surroundings. He found no signs of extraordinary existence here, and the surrounding neighbors did not seem to be suspicious.

The wolf spirit came back through the wall and rubbed the red glove affectionately. The patrolman came back to his senses and reported to Leonard, "Sir, she said there was nothing special. I know her husband, he used to be a gangster in this area, but he has been more peaceful recently and started a small business. She doesn't know if her husband has made enemies outside, but she said that since he started doing business, her husband seems to have changed. He doesn't drink or gamble anymore, and he treats her and the children very well."

Leonard scratched Wolf's chin and asked, "Ask her if she has a statue of the Grim Reaper hidden in her closet? Did she pray to the Grim Reaper?"

The patrolman was stunned for a moment, then turned around and asked something anxiously. The woman's face turned even paler, her lips moved, and she suddenly stood up and knelt in front of Leonard without warning, repeating a few words quickly and looking at him pleadingly.

Leonard was startled, and immediately bent down and helped the man up, shouting to the patrolman: "Well... tell her that I'm not going to punish her for this! I'm just trying to understand the relevant situation!"

After seeing the woman's extremely intense reaction, he remembered that this city was still under the rule of Loen. The official definition of "Death God" was an evil god other than the Seven Gods, and the public was forbidden to openly worship the Death God. However, the custom of worshipping death in the East Continent has a long history, and many people still pray and worship the Death God in secret.

If the steps and words of these prayers are correct, they may point to the high-level of the existing "Spiritual Cult". If they are not so correct, they may occasionally provoke unclean beings related to the underworld. At least one-third of the extraordinary events here are related to this.

The patrolman's face was not looking good either. He hurriedly explained a few more words before letting the woman sit back in the chair. He then explained to Leonard, "She said that about a month ago, her husband got into a fight on the street and was stabbed. He was almost dead when she took him home. She prayed to the god of death for her husband's safety as she had done in the past. Unexpectedly, her husband really survived. She, she left the statue..."

More than a month ago? Leonard frowned slightly, and a slightly older voice sounded in his mind: "Around that time... her husband's fate took a strange turn. Ask him if his personality has changed since then?"

Leonard asked as he was told, and it turned out to be true.

After finishing the interrogation, Leonard left some funeral expenses for the woman, sent the patrolman away, and on the way back to the church, he whispered to Pales about this series of cases.

Except for the newly established Church of Fools and the Church of the God of War which was still in chaos, the other six churches all mobilized their demigod-level combat forces, plus the "Temperance" members of the Rose School, to come to the Southern Continent to wipe out the Rose School's forces.

In the surprise operation a few days ago, they successfully broke through a stronghold of the Rose School, but unfortunately they were a step too late and failed to rescue several ordinary people who were kidnapped by the Rose School.

However, when colleagues in the Death Path examined the bodies, they always felt that something was wrong, but they could not give a specific explanation. Pales, who was the "Trojan Horse of Fate", also secretly told Leonard that the fate of these dead people was a little strange.

Since these bodies were probably the sacrifices of the Rose School to the evil god, even the demigods did not dare to communicate with the spirits easily, as that would be like snatching food from the mouth of the "primitive moon" and was simply wasting their lives. They finally prayed to the goddess of night and held a large purification ceremony to directly eliminate the remaining spirits, and then sought help from the local police, trying to get some clues from the families of the deceased.

"Do you suspect that the souls of these sacrifices were replaced because of something that happened more than a month ago?" Leonard raised his collar to cover his chin and mouth, and whispered to Pales, "So their fate has changed, because their souls have become another person, and their temperaments have changed accordingly... Well, this can explain what the Death Path feels, after all, they have died once. But..."

As a Sequence Four of the Night Path, Leonard had a deep understanding of spirits and the dead. Moreover, during his Red Gloves training, he had read a lot of information and books within the church, but had never seen such a situation. Of course, the most similar case was being "parasitized" by the thief's path, or having fate stolen, but Pales was very sure to rule out this answer.

"We won't do it so crudely." The old angel said proudly, "If the stolen fate is so easy to see, would Amon sneak into Boklund Street happen again?"

The black-haired, blue-eyed young man scratched his head, accepted the professional's explanation, and asked in confusion: "But my colleagues in the Death Path can't explain it either, which proves that it is difficult for the Death Path to do something similar, right? Replacing souls sounds like a miracle..."

After he uttered the word "miracle", he was suddenly stunned for a moment and recalled something: "More than a month ago... Was it, was it the time when Klein went to sleep?"

"..." Pales was silent for a few seconds before continuing, "You'd better say that was the time when The Fool became a god. Yes, it was indeed around that time period."

"In other words… this matter is related to Mr. Fool?" Leonard was shocked. He didn't expect that he could get a glimpse of Mr. Fool's arrangements while chasing the Rose Cult.

But when he thought about it carefully, Mr. Fool, the Tarot Club, and Klein himself seemed to be either provoking the cult or on the way to provoking the cult. From the Tingen incident to the descent of the True Creator in Backlund, Sherlock worked closely with the Rose School of Temperance, and helped Emlyn hunt the Witch King Karaman. There were also the stories that Gehrman and the Witch Cult would have to tell in the Plague...

Leonard suddenly felt that this explanation was very reasonable. There probably wasn't any evil cult organization in the Extraordinary World that had never had a feud with Mr. Fool.

Pales had no idea what he was thinking about, so he just warned him calmly, "But this is just a guess, and there is no evidence. When you go back, you can pray to the Goddess of Night and tell her about this guess."

"...You also said there is no evidence!" Red Gloves twitched his lips, "You want me to bother the goddess? But the goddess may not be able to hear my prayers, she has so many believers..."

Silly boy, you are only one word away from becoming the goddess's favorite... Pales did not correct Leonard's incorrect self-perception. Instead, he laughed twice: "It's lack, not nothing. Have you really never seen the miracle of resurrection from the dead?"

This sentence was like a thunderclap, causing Leonard to shudder in the warm winter day of the southern continent. Mr. Fool, resurrection from the dead, soul replacement... these keywords were superimposed together, and he almost immediately raised his voice and called out a name: "Klein...?!"

Of course, he would never forget that when he and Klein first met, he was still an ordinary person who had survived the Black Divination incident. However, after he joined the Nighthawks, Leonard felt that he was like himself, hiding something special about himself.

After discovering that Klein was not controlled by "2-049", the two of them formed an unspoken understanding regarding their respective secrets, until Klein's sacrifice after the Megose incident.

Of course, he later went to dig up his friend's grave himself and learned the truth about Klein's resurrection. But if time went back a little bit, if it started from the beginning, there would be no survivors of the black divination...

Doesn't that mean that Klein was a chess piece in the hands of the gods from the very beginning, waking up in a strange body, not knowing what fate lay ahead. He simply obeyed the fate that was being manipulated, and was in danger and resurrected time and time again, until he fell into a deep sleep with Mr. Fool...

Thinking of this, Leonard's eyes dimmed, but his heart seemed to be burning with fire.

He didn't know his only friend that well, and this realization made Leonard feel a deep, painful, and irreparable regret at this moment.

Pales shouted several times in his mind before he came back to his senses. Leonard habitually tightened the red gloves on his hands after thinking deeply, and said in a low and firm voice: "I understand, I will report this to the goddess."

Although the specific details were not clear, this series of cases involving the Rose School and Mr. Fool was likely to conceal some games that he could not guess. Leonard quickened his pace to return to the church.

At least, I am no longer the midnight poet who can only shed tears while looking at the corpses of teammates. Leonard thought calmly: I will do everything I can, and then wait until Klein wakes up, and then I will make up for those regrets myself.

-

This is an empty planet.

As an angel with the ability of "Decryptor", Amon was able to infer from various traces that it had unfortunately been on the road of an outer god on his way to the solar system for a feast, and had been immersed in the uncertain mist of distortion and order for too long, losing the qualification to give birth to new life.

He regarded himself as a satellite of this nameless planet, planned an orbit for himself, and floated quietly waiting for the opportunity to cross it: after losing his uniqueness, his ability to create "errors" and exploit "loopholes" sadly dropped to a certain level.

This undoubtedly added more uncertainty and risk to his journey. Amon used to enjoy this kind of fun, but now, he can't say he is afraid, but he has to be more cautious. Fortunately, being cautious is what he is best at, and it is the bottom layer of the program that no bug can break.

But waiting is boring after all. Even if the overly familiar breath allows Him to enjoy recalling Solomon or the two "loyal" archons, this pleasure is far less than the pleasure He brings when teasing a Jacob on Earth. At least Jacob does exist, while Solomon, Tudor, and Trunsoest do not.

In fact, even on the ground, there are not many interesting things - anything thrown into "His" countless clones and long time will not be very rich after being evenly distributed. Amon changed to a more comfortable posture meaninglessly and deceived himself: I am lying down!

For Extraordinary people who are not on the "apprentice" path, it is most appropriate to use the form of mythical creatures rather than mortal bodies in the starry sky, just as Roselle did not happily run to the Outer God's home until he reached Sequence One and had the ability to conceptualize himself as a torrent of knowledge.

But this is not suitable for Amon. Apart from the "Star Worm" that is naturally adapted to the cosmic environment, the "Time Worm" and "Spirit Worm" of the three mysterious paths are still quite fragile compared to the mythological creatures of other paths.

Furthermore, He was not a real human body, but a collection of extraordinary characteristics, a mimicry of some mythical creatures. The only meaning of maintaining an appearance that would only be recognized by Earth creatures in the uninhabited starry sky was that Amon was happy.

He stretched himself out flat, swinging his arms and legs, like a rebellious young man standing on the edge of a cliff and boldly looking out to seek excitement. The planet turned lonely behind him. Right in front of Amon's vision, not too far away in terms of the universe, was the irrational solar system that was twisted and smashed by the power of various Outer Gods. Now only the Earth is still stubbornly rotating around the extinguished star. The other planets have long been reduced to comfortable seats for the Outer Gods.

"The third law of wandering in the starry sky: endure loneliness." He opened and closed his mouth silently in the vacuum, reciting in a rhythmic manner the proverbs passed down from Abraham's family, or more precisely, the proverbs that Bethel had mentioned in a casual chat.

Unfortunately, He could not appreciate this sincere warning. Although the Earth had become a star that was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye among millions of stars, Amon still failed to feel anything other than dissatisfaction with the harsh environment of the universe.

Bethel said it was difficult to endure loneliness. At that time, Antigonus was drunk. Don't ask why mythical creatures get drunk. The answer is that Abraham's family is very good at welcoming and seeing off guests. They master the technology of mixing wine with spiritual materials as precious as gold to make high-sequence drunk. In short, the magic wolf is busy giving his good colleague a doll made by himself, "If you see something, just, throw it over, and then you will have a secret doll friend."

Bethel rubbed Antigonus' head lovingly: "The second rule of star roaming is to stay away from creatures and buildings you don't understand."

The demon wolf had once developed a desire to explore the starry sky outside the barrier, and several times when he was deeply drunk, he tried to hitchhike on the "Star Key" and fly into the sky. Bethel usually only met half of his wishes: that is, he opened the door and "exiled" this nonsense colleague to any corner of the planet.

If Amon was in a good mood, he would steal Antigonus's wish to come back. He leaned on the comfortable couch of the owner of the house and played with several jewels collected by the other party, admiring the brilliance of the overlapping and cutting, which was like a door of starlight, and asked Bethel: "What is the first law?"

The head of the Abraham family poured himself a glass of wine, and when he heard this, he looked up at the Son of God, who was dressed in black even on New Year's Day: "...Don't respond to any calls."

"Interesting." Amon laughed dumbly and changed to a more comfortable lying position. "What would call you in the empty starry sky?"

"You'll know if you take a trip with me," Bethel asked provocatively, "You always like excitement, don't you?"

"You know me very well." Shen Zi casually threw the priceless jewel, letting it roll on the carpet for a few rounds and get covered in dust. He then watched Mr. Men pick it up and polish it carefully. He ignored the condemning look from the other party and adjusted the crystal lens of his right eye. "But I don't like the starry sky. It's boring there."

"Having never set foot in the starry sky, such a decision seems a bit biased."

"Assuming my conclusion is correct, we can only assume that I am slightly better than you in seeing the essence through the phenomenon."

Bethel Abraham did not want to have a boring debate with Him, so he just responded calmly: "Maybe. However, this talent does not seem to be able to give you the answer to the question. Unless one day you can go to the starry sky to ask for it yourself."

Now Amon was lying in a vast silence, and still hadn't heard any voice calling him. This made him think about the possibility that Bethel was lying. Mythical creatures usually didn't need to lie, they all had the ability to turn their thoughts into reality.

However, looking beyond the original situation, Amon guessed that this law, which was put in the first place, was intended to alert the later Abrahams, perhaps not others, but Bethel Abraham, who had been trapped in the storm and the depths of darkness and cried out for thousands of years.

Amon still couldn't understand it. Bethel must have known clearly that he was being polluted and eroded, but he was unwilling to give up every opportunity to explore. He didn't understand what attracted him here.

Very good. In such a chaotic memory, Amon applauded himself - now He wanted more answers: about the call, about Bethel, about the new "Fool", about humanity, sacrifice and courage - this is really a big project.

The destroyed planet behind him finally turned to the angle He needed. Amon no longer pretended to be a satellite, and stretched himself to stand up. Before taking a step, he almost naturally looked back in the direction of the earth.

Then, his half-smiley expression froze slightly, and the curve of his lips quickly faded. The thief adjusted the ordinary crystal lens, as if this would help him see more clearly. Those dark eyes were colder and more silent than anything else in this starry space.

"How could it be the aura of Sefirah Castle...?"

———————————

Extra extra:

Cattleya should have gotten used to spending the New Year without Bernadette, but for some reason, she had a vague feeling that something subtle had changed around the queen.

As a "master of prophecy", she dared not neglect her spiritual intuition. However, strangely, her intuition could not judge whether the change was good or bad.

Although Bernadette was a higher-order being on the same path, and the "Mysterious Queen" would definitely not ignore what she could feel, this abnormal intuition still made Cattleya feel particularly concerned about her during the New Year.

Unfortunately, as she was promoted to demigod, she is now in the base of the Moss Ascetic Order, waiting for the assessment to enter the decision-making level. She cannot send a letter to Bernadette through messengers or other means to inquire. She can only pray silently to Mr. Fool in her heart, praying for His protection.

However, what she didn't know was that, on the other side of the distant ocean, Bernadette was holding a page of Roselle's diary that had been translated into the current language, and her expression was visibly becoming gloomier.Chapter 31 is so short, how dare you make a summary at the end of the volume?Title of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 852 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-26 15:13:32

It's called a summary at the end of the volume, but there's actually nothing to summarize. I'm not as good as Squid. I know there are a lot of problems, but they are subjective problems of personal writing skills and objective problems of insufficient time. With my deep understanding of myself, I can't solve both problems at the moment, so I'll just take it one step at a time! Be bold and let it go (?)

Mainly, I want to talk about the author's general planning and arrangement for this book:

The first part has only 28 chapters. When I updated it, I happened to put the 28th chapter and the extra chapter on January 1, New Year's Day, which made it more immersive. Now that the time doesn't match, I won't pursue this 23333

If the whole book can be completed, I estimate that it will have four volumes, or four parts. The first part, "The Crossing Chapter", simply explains the basic situation of the crossing. The second part, "The Plan Chapter", should be the part with the most words. The time span of the plot is about one and a half years. I don't know how long I will write outside the plot (?)

In the third part, "Dreamland", Klein will wake up. It has been less than five years since he fell asleep, which is faster than the official time of Squid. There is no need to be so strict when doing fan fiction. Only when Xiao Ke wakes up smoothly can the fourth part, "Doomsday", be possible. For the earth, Xiao Ke and all the original characters who survived, it is a happy ending of "although there are twists and turns and sacrifices, we finally survived the doomsday and ushered in a new era".

Anyway, the outline is like this, but I don't have a detailed outline. (You) You know the outline of this thing and where a few plot nodes are, but you still have to scratch your head and think about how to get to these plot nodes. In the middle, there are bound to be bugs and OOCs.

This is my first time writing a series! I'm a newbie! I don't have any manuscripts saved! I'll also happily follow the official Mystery 2 next year! In summary, meeting is fate, don't expect more, I don't pursue any data or tickets, anyway, I won't sign a contract.

But I still can't help wanting more comments and messages! Single player is indeed a big test for the author. When you have free time and want to say something, don't be shy, just speak up! I'm free anyway, so it's okay for everyone to chat for a few minutes. Opinions and suggestions are also welcome. I will fix what can be fixed, and if it can't be fixed for the time being, everyone can talk about it and part ways in peace.

By the way, speaking of signing, I see three friends have invested in the new book. Unfortunately, I don't have a VIP chapter and can't get a recommendation. I can only achieve this by updating continuously for 30 days and completing the book. So I will try my best to give everyone the bonus points for updating continuously. If I update twice a day with the manuscripts in stock, I can update for about half a month. If the total is less than 30 days, I will move the manuscripts in stock and update once a day. Then I will try to write faster (咸鱼翻身.jpg

If I had known this, I would have released the two extra chapters with more words on another day (howling (crawling in the dark (painfully typing)Chapter 32: "Abyss" SculptureTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3820 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-26 15:30:03

The small living room was dimly lit, with the crimson moonlight blocked by heavy curtains, and only a few candles on the altar provided weak illumination. The statue on the altar was oddly shaped, like a twisted monster with a huge mouth, ready to devour someone, full of blasphemous meaning.

In addition, the altar was marked with traces of dried blood, forming a complex emblem with an inverted pentagram as the main body. In the center of the emblem were several fresh, bloody hearts that looked like they had just been taken out of someone's chest.

There were five people kneeling in front of the altar. The man in the lead held a ritual silver dagger and piously chanted a prayer while using the silver dagger to infuse his spirituality into the ritual patterns carved on the altar.

During this process, the man suddenly shuddered, breaking away from the extreme concentration required for the ritual. He understood that this was a premonition given by his spiritual intuition, but the ritual had not yet reached a point where it could be temporarily interrupted. He did not dare to stop at the risk of being attacked, so he could only raise his head and signal at that moment.

The four people behind him saw his movements, and they stood up quickly and tacitly, surrounded the man who was performing the ceremony, and protected him and checked the surroundings. However, the night was still so deep and silent, and there was no movement except for the jackdaws that flew away screaming outside the window.

Their standing up blocked the already dim light, and everyone's shadows overlapped and swayed continuously.

They remained alert for several minutes, during which time the shortest of the four even briefly left the living room to check the adjacent rooms. It was not until the man conducting the ceremony temporarily interrupted the ceremony in an appropriate manner that the few who found nothing relaxed a little.

The leading man put down the silver dagger, raised his head and was about to give a few orders, but suddenly he caught a glimpse of the shadows of people swaying on the wall. The closest one was his own, and there were one, two, three, four... and the fifth!

I don't know when a person who shouldn't be here appeared in this room!

The man was shocked and turned around to look at the corresponding directions of the shadows. However, even the "serial killer" was a step behind in reaction speed. The stranger recited a Hermetic spell with a loud voice: "Earth!"

In an instant, the floor under their feet became strangely and disgustingly soft, like a wet quagmire, and in an instant several people stumbled and fell into it.

No, it wasn't just as if, the solid land actually turned into a deep swamp at this moment!

The man growled angrily and tried to use his strong legs to jump out of the mud, but he could not find a platform with enough strength to step on. He felt as if he would sink endlessly until his mouth and nose were filled with mud.

The man glared at the stranger who somehow bypassed the many warnings and entered the room, and spit out a high-temperature flame full of sulfur and flashing green phosphorescence, sweeping towards the other party. The other four saw the man attacking, and also launched an attack in that direction while struggling.

The stranger with scars on his face and pale eyes still stood there. Before any attacks could arrive, he raised his hand and threw out two silver charms. He chanted in Hermetic language again: "Night!"

The silver sheet was instantly enveloped by dark red flames, making crackling sounds. A deep, peaceful power instantly emanated, and the people within the range of the spell suddenly began to move slowly.

At the same time, the moonlight that was originally covered by the curtains flickered, and a thick shadow rose up in front of the stranger, blocking the sulfur flames and other attacks in time. Two figures broke the window and jumped into the living room, and a muffled sound of breaking the door was heard at the front door.

The first thing Antonia Sainz and Antina Sainz did when they entered the room was to raise their revolvers loaded with special ammunition and fire a volley at the five cultists. They didn't bother to avoid vital points and leave them alive. Anyway, the extraordinary people from the "demon" path were strong enough and a few bullets would not kill them.

Douglas came out from behind the shadow barrier, calming his heartbeat and breathing, which had just been rapid due to the tense situation, and raised his gun to shoot. After three or four months of practice, his hit rate when shooting at fixed targets was very high.

The five cultists quickly lost their ability to fight back under this wave of merciless shooting, and were tied up tightly by the shadow chains summoned by Antina. The young vampire shook his hair, gave Douglas a thumbs up, and said with a smile: "Not bad, you didn't lose your legs."

"...actually it's soft." Douglas told the truth. With lingering fear, he pushed open the gun's cylinder to pour out the empty shells, and then filled the six magazines.

This was not the first time he had gone on a mission with the Sainz siblings to practice, but the previous ones were all simple divination, spiritualism, and tracking. This time it was a real battle, and he even had to fight five people at once for a short period of time.

Although he had the upper hand in the sneak attack, it was too scary to see all kinds of attacks rushing in front of him within a few seconds. If it weren't for the several plans and drills before the action, which allowed Douglas to reflexively execute the action of throwing the talisman at that moment, the current situation might be different.

Of course, he also had to thank Mr. Melos for his iron fist that always hit him in the face... He silently thanked his mentor for helping him improve his reaction ability through the fighting training over the past few months, otherwise his conditioned reflexes might not be able to keep up with the rhythm.

"A man should not say he is weak." Antina said this with a serious face, and then turned to Antonya and worked with her brother to study how to harmlessly destroy the altar that summoned the devil. Douglas did not dare to relax at all and pointed the gun at several cultists with both hands until the burly Wayne Tolley solved those traps and successfully entered the living room.

This dark-haired, brown-eyed, tough-looking Sequence 9 Warrior works at the police station and will cooperate with the church in some arrest operations when necessary. Wayne nodded to Douglas and then took over the guard duty.

With the experienced Wayne present, Douglas relaxed a little. He walked over to the Saiens siblings who were checking the altar, and watched Antina put on gloves and put the victim's heart into the evidence bag. Antonia pointed out the carved symbols to him: "The twisted inverted pentagram shaped like a goat's face is the symbol of the devil family. Since the Fourth Epoch, humans who worship devils have formed a loose alliance called the 'Blood Worship Cult', which includes the three major families of Bellian, North, and Andrellad, worshiping the evil god called the 'Dark Side of the Universe'. Judging from the emblem, they should be descendants of the Andrellad family, and this ceremony may be part of the promotion ceremony."

Demons, the "dark side of the universe"... Douglas memorized this new knowledge and couldn't help but ask curiously: "What will happen if the ritual is completed?"

"Using the prey's heart as a sacrifice can help them gain the help of the demons from the 'Abyss.'" Anthony stroked the patterns carved on the altar and said in a calm tone, "The promotion of Beyonders on the 'Demon' path is inseparable from bloody massacres. If the demon is successfully summoned, the number of victims may reach dozens."

"This is really..." Douglas frowned in disgust. This is the border between the South Bridge District and the St. George District, which was originally managed by the Steam and Mechanic Church. As the power of the Steam and Mechanic Church weakened, the management of the border was inevitably weak.

The whereabouts of these cultists were also very secretive. Given Backlund's huge population, three or four disappearances in a few months would not attract any attention at all. If Douglas had not accidentally met someone seeking help for a missing family member at an underground gathering, the consequences would have been disastrous.

"The ritual is currently interrupted and needs to be handled." Anthony pointed at the strange sculpture and said, "That should be the real medium to connect to the 'Abyss'. Go down and get the Sealed Artifact '2-099' Holy Sword and destroy the medium."

Several people checked the room again. The Sainz siblings took the five cultists and some evidence back to the carriage, while Douglas and Wayne Tolley returned to the room with the box containing the sealed object "2-099".

"The Holy Sword is a sealed object belonging to the 'Sun' path." Wayne Tolley explained as he placed the heavy long metal box on the table and removed the spiritual seal on the surface of the box. "It is a long sword that can increase the courage and strength of the holder, purify the dead and ghosts within a certain range, and at the same time inspire the 'Fire of Light' and 'Slash of Purification' to expel evil."

Douglas, who had a full understanding of the seal, watched Wayne unlock the buckle with two clicks, and then was dazzled by the golden glow that impatiently shot out from the gap in the lid.

"Uh..." He suddenly closed his eyes that were stimulated to shed tears of rationality, and said hesitantly, "This, this is one of its negative effects?"

"Yes, you can't look directly at it, it will have an irreversible impact on your eyesight." Wayne's voice sounded a little further away, "It will also gradually increase the temperature around it until it burns the skin and respiratory tract. The holder will hear a voice reciting the teachings of the Church of the Eternal Sun and endure all the pain that an ascetic monk goes through during his training, both mentally and physically. Well, other than that, it's a common problem for this type of sealed object: if you hold this sword for more than 15 minutes, you will be unable to control the urge to praise the sun, and if you hold it for more than an hour, you will completely become a believer of the Eternal Sun."

...What a ridiculous sealed item! Douglas was speechless for a few seconds, turned his head to avoid looking directly at the "Holy Sword", and reached out to grope for it to take it out of the box.

The moment he picked up the long sword, he took a breath of cold air. His feet felt as if they did not belong to him and he felt a continuous stinging pain. It felt like walking barefoot on a road full of thorns and stones, constantly adding to the wounds and wearing away his flesh and blood.

Compared with this pain, the disturbance caused by the whispering sound lingering in my ears is almost negligible.

Although he knew that this was just an illusion caused by the seal and not a real injury, the endless pain still made Douglas sweat on his forehead and subconsciously wanted to throw away the sword in his hand. He had to spend several breaths to regain his composure, and endured the phantom pain in his feet and walked towards the altar step by step.

The little mermaid dancing on the edge of a knife is probably just like this... Douglas complained in his heart with a smile on his face. He stood sideways a few steps away from the altar and aimed his sword at the evil sculpture. Then he raised the sword high, silently infused it with spirituality, and chopped down at the altar!

The light emitted by the seal was instantly gathered and condensed into an almost pure white light covering the sword body. With a warm and sacred aura, it shot out semi-arc-shaped white rays straight ahead as Douglas swung the sword.

"Purification Slash"!

Several slashes hit the evil sculpture. The dark sculpture of unknown material shook violently under the heavy blows, and continuously emitted black mist to try to resist the light, but it was inevitably purified by the light, and several deep cracks spread on the surface. Douglas held the idea of ​​a quick victory, and did not hesitate to activate his spirituality again, and stimulated another "fire of light" falling from mid-air!

Under the slashing and purification of the flames, the sculpture soon made a "crackling" sound as it could not bear the heavy weight, and it shattered and dissolved in the golden flames. A long, fierce, and malicious howl faintly emanated from the remains of the statue, but it could not cause any waves within the range covered by the sacred sword.

However, when the howl sounded, Douglas, who had been looking sideways at the side, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his temple, and his spiritual intuition issued a sharp warning!

Then, the whispering sound of the Holy Sword repeating the teachings of the "Eternal Sun" was replaced by another more crazy and manic muttering.

The mumbling was unreal and sharp, and no one knew what it was saying, but it made people want to distinguish it. But the noisy and overlapping mumbling was like a steel needle stabbing into the brain and stirring randomly. Douglas felt that his head was about to split apart with pain, and his thoughts were suddenly expanded and disordered, like a thin line stretched to the extreme.

In just a moment, he lost consciousness and fell into endless darkness.Chapter 33 Time PointTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3703 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-27 15:30:06

Douglas struggled to open his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

Someone called his name nearby. The voice was a little distorted when it reached his ears, and Douglas turned his head subconsciously, and it took him a while to realize that it was Anthony who spoke.

Anthony's handsome face looked worried, looking down at him. After a few seconds, or maybe dozens of seconds, Douglas's completely blank mind finally emerged with a little memory from before.

What's going on... He opened his mouth dully, remembering that he was trying to destroy the statue before, and then he heard...

No, can't think about it!

Douglas suddenly shuddered as if he had been electrocuted, and his fully awakened consciousness was trying to stop him from trying to recall more details.

He understood that this was an instinctive prompt from his spiritual intuition, and he immediately emptied his mind out of fear, meditating silently to calm his disordered spirit.

It was not until then that waves of lingering pain emerged from the depths of his mind, making him grimace in pain.

The vampire's cold fingers first covered his eyelids, then moved to both temples, and gently massaged them with some essential oils mixed with citrus, mint and rosemary. This relieved Douglas' headache symptoms very well. He let out a long breath and raised his hand to grab the other's wrist: "Alright, alright..."

Anthony hummed, helped him sit up again, and asked in a softer voice: "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?"

"..." Douglas tried to move his arms and did a few twists to confirm that he was just mentally depressed but had no external injuries. "I'm fine... What happened? What happened later? That statue?"

"It's been destroyed." Seeing that he still had the energy to ask questions, Antonya relaxed a little and briefly described what happened. "Wayne said that after the ritual was destroyed, you suddenly fell to the ground, bleeding from your mouth and nose, so he immediately brought you down. Then we found a nearby church of the Mechanicus and borrowed the seal to examine you. Fortunately, it was just spiritual dryness, and there was no other pollution or sequelae."

Hearing this, Douglas lowered his head to check his collar and found that there were indeed many dried blood spots on it.

After studying the occult for so long, he knew that being "contaminated" by various high-level demons during missions was a common occurrence for officials, and he had also seen many cases that the church had sent them to learn. This time, the accident might be due to something special about the sculpture itself, such as the blood of a high-level demon being combined during casting, or the ritual itself having a backlash nature.

But in any case, since the sculpture itself has been destroyed and it is still alive and not contaminated, it proves that the danger has passed.

But the mumbling was really scary... Douglas didn't dare to recall the specific situation at all. He only remembered the extreme pain that could split his brain. He couldn't help but touch his head which was still resting on his neck.

It's great that I didn't turn into a headless horseman on the spot!

Just as Douglas was secretly rejoicing, Anthony touched the back of his hand with a serious face and said very seriously: "I'm sorry. I was the one who checked the ceremony. If I could find the problem in advance, I would definitely not let you do the last step. In that case..."

The young vampire said this with a somewhat regretful expression. Douglas saw his apologetic look, thought for two seconds, and said hesitantly: "But you vampires can't use '2-099'. We only brought this one seal."

Not to mention using it, just standing within the purification range of the Holy Sword would burn half of the blood clan's life on the spot.

Antonia: "…"

Is this the point of the question?

Before the straightforward vampire could speak again, Douglas quickly seized the opportunity and tapped Anthony's forehead with his hand: "There is no absolute safety in the extraordinary world. This is not my first day as an extraordinary person... Besides, if you know the devil's rituals well, that would be a serious problem."

This flick on his forehead was a complete demonstration of his three months of training. Anthony took a breath in pain and raised his hand to rub his red skin. Douglas got out of bed and walked a few steps in the room, then raised his hand to touch his neck.

It seems that joining the church is the right choice. If something goes wrong, teammates can still help...

Since they were awake, it was not good to stay in the church of the Steam Church. The two said hello to the mechanical hearts on duty and left the church. The operation was supposed to be late at night, and Douglas was unconscious for two more hours. Even in a prosperous city like Backlund, there were no coachmen working diligently at two or three in the morning, so they had to walk back to the Harvest Church.

As a vampire, Anthony really likes this kind of night wandering. She looked up at the sky and said cheerfully, "Ah, tonight is a blood moon... Every time there is a blood moon, the connection between the spiritual world and reality will be particularly close, which is good for your spiritual recovery."

"Really?" Douglas yawned and responded vaguely. Since he traveled through time, there has been no interference from modern technology, so his work and rest schedule can be said to be very healthy. Staying up late and spiritual exhaustion have undoubtedly aggravated his physical fatigue at the moment, making him begin to feel sleepy. "Is today a blood moon? I was too nervous in the first half of the night and didn't pay attention."

"Not in the first half of the night. But the blood moon has never been regular, there are always a few times a year." Noticing his sleepiness, Anthony slowed down his pace and walked with him. "The red moon is the domain ruled by the Mother Goddess. Maybe this is the Mother Goddess's blessing."

Oh, right, the Earth Mother Goddess presides over the red moon that symbolizes the birth of life... Uh, thank you for taking care of an unfaithful believer like me? Douglas made a prayer gesture in sync with Anthony, while letting his thoughts wander. Speaking of which, he seemed to have seen statistics when he was reading a magazine from the Astronomical Observation Enthusiasts Association, saying that the number of blood moons in recent years has increased compared to the past?

How do you explain this in mysticism? Mother Earth has been doing well in recent years and is in a good mood. Should she show the moon more often for her followers to see?

But maybe it was because of the night wind, the headache that had just been suppressed was getting worse, interrupting his wild thoughts. The temperature has risen once since the beginning of spring, but in early April, there was another wave of cooling commonly known as "late spring cold", and the nights have been particularly cold these days.

Douglas took the opportunity to ask Anthony for the essential oil that she had just used to relieve headaches. He followed the vampire with his eyelids battling all the way through the streets covered in blood-red moonlight and returned to the Harvest Church.

Antina and Wayne, who came back early to deal with the cultists, had already informed Father Schultz of the situation. Douglas did not return to the church to work overtime, but to observe whether there were other hidden dangers. Fortunately, there was a bed to sleep in the observation room underground. Douglas did not care about what seal Father Schultz brought to guard him. He lay down on the wooden bed and slept until nine in the morning.

When he woke up, the door of the observation room was open. It seemed that he was fine. After getting enough sleep, his headache was gone. After washing up, Douglas went to the prayer hall to recite hymns for three minutes facing the Holy Emblem of Life. He also talked with Father Schultz for a few words before returning to the reference room.

Sainz's brother and sister were both there. Seeing him walk in refreshed, Antina threw a folder at him without any hesitation: "I'll take the overtime I worked for you yesterday as an apology. Is everything okay? Come to work!"

"It would be even better if you could treat me to breakfast." Douglas made a light-hearted joke, raised his hand to take the folder, moved closer to the two of them and began to look through the documents.

"Is it okay not to go home?" Antonia asked casually when she handed him the confessions of the descendants of Andrellad.

"It's okay. The note I left behind said that I had something to do at church early in the morning, so I could work overtime for a day to make up for the work I missed yesterday." Douglas quickly read through the confession, and the more he read, the more confused he became. "...What does this mean? Isn't this their promotion ceremony?"

"It should be 'not just' the promotion ceremony." Antina corrected a detail, and tapped a line of words with her index finger to remind him, "They believe this is an oracle from the 'dark side of the universe', and they are selectively choosing the targets to kill based on the oracle."

"Don't they know the criteria for selecting a partner?"

"It is said that they held a ritual and relied on vague revelations to find the victims. The number of victims is greater than we know, and these people gradually turned to Backlund from surrounding cities. From the victim information that can be collected so far, there is no commonality."

Douglas turned and picked up the victim information. In addition to the four murders that occurred in Backlund, there were six more in the surrounding towns. However, due to the inconvenience of information transmission in this era, the detailed information of the victims in the other six cases had not been sent yet. There were only a few lines of confessions, which were too simple to be used as clues.

Douglas then read the information on Backlund's four victims carefully several times, and suddenly said "Huh!", took off the obsidian pendulum on his wrist with a strange expression, and did a simple divination based on his guess.

This operation was naturally seen by Sainz and his brother. Antina looked at the documents in his hand that she had almost memorized and asked, "...did you find anything?"

"Uh..." Douglas spread out several sheets of information with mixed feelings, picked up the pen beside him and circled a recurring time point, "In late November last year, these victims were on the verge of life and death due to serious illness or injury, but eventually recovered. Is this... a common point?"

-

Above the slowly rolling gray fog that seemed to be unchanging from eternity, several floating dark red stars gradually lit up around a long bronze table surrounded by 22 chairs.

Today is April 6th, the first Monday in April, the day when the Tarot Club members gather regularly after The Fool falls asleep.

One after another, unreal figures appeared in their corresponding seats. Led by Miss Justice, all the members turned to the top of the mottled long table and bowed respectfully.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

Although the high-back chair belonging to God was empty at the moment, Audrey still greeted Mr. Fool as usual, and then turned to the other members.

Ah, Mr. Moon, who was injured and couldn't attend the party last time, is here this time. He's in good spirits, so he shouldn't be in any serious trouble... Mr. Star seems to be thinking about something, is it about writing a poem, or is he facing some other problem? Mr. Hanged Man and Mr. Sun are both the same as always...

She first glanced at the man opposite her, and then turned her gaze to the ladies standing next to her. She found that her friends, Miss Judgement and Miss Magician, seemed to be troubled by something, only Miss Hermit seemed calm and composed.

With the current sequence of Tarot Club members, the trading of extraordinary items has rarely been carried out. After the members greeted each other and confirmed each other's safety, they entered the stage of information exchange.

According to the rhythm of the past few gatherings, "Star" and "Moon" should first report on the progress of their encirclement and suppression of the Rose School, and then Mr. "Hanged Man" who is sailing far away will share his exploration of the route to the western continent.

However, today, as Audrey expected, the first person to raise her hand was the "magician" Miss Fors Wall.

"I'm sorry, something just happened and I need your advice." Fors' voice sounded tense and helpless, with a hint of helplessness.

Sitting next to her, Judge Hugh Dilcha turned his head to look at his friend and muttered, "What's wrong with you? I remember you submitted the manuscript of your new book last week."

No, dear Hugh, this is much more terrible than being urged by the editor to submit manuscripts... Facing the members' inquiring gazes, Fors cleared his throat and said with despair, "There is an angel who, uh, calls himself Antigonus, who visited the Abraham family and came to see me directly. He said that he wanted to become Mr. Fool's angel..."