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The Fate Hermits gathering, held only once every six months, saw every badge-holding member prepare for a long time, and even though the number of attendees wasn't large, many good items still appeared.
After purchasing another very practical Mystical Item, Mobet stopped making transactions, partly to reduce his presence, but more importantly, he had run out of money.
Upholding the demeanor of a noble, even though he was from the Marauder Pathway, he had never committed acts of theft for money; the gold pounds on him were all 'gifts' from those short-sighted pirates.
As it was his first time attending a Fate Hermits gathering, Mobet didn't know the procedures of the meeting and felt somewhat anxious, so he could only quietly wait for the meeting to end.
In the center of the round table, a female figure wearing a hood suddenly took out a wooden box and placed it on the table. She seemed to have observed for a long time, then directly addressed the "Mentor of Deceit" in the very center, speaking in a cold tone:
"I have brought the Sealed Artifact formed from that 'Parasite' Beyonder characteristic. I hope you will honor your previous promise."
Within the eyes beneath the hood, a slowly rotating mass of stardust swirled, showing no fear even towards a potential Saint, full of confidence.
Everyone in the hall turned their gaze towards her, and the hooded man in the corner also turned his head, looking at the woman through the shadows of his hood, or more accurately, at the wooden box on the table.
The somewhat ethereal "Mentor of Deceit" chuckled softly, slowly raising his right hand. Instantly, a ring with an eyeless symbol engraved on its surface appeared in the center of his palm, emitting a rich spiritual glow.
The ring in his hand and the wooden box on the table instantly swapped places. After inspecting the item, he chuckled and said:
"As expected of a long-standing hidden organization, its foundation is indeed profound."
"I am a man who keeps his promises; you don't need to be so wary. Using a secret art of this level must consume a lot."
"This transaction is a good start. You can tell the pillar of the Moses Ascetic Order behind you that I know of a hidden treasure from the Fourth Epoch."
"It might even contain things she is very interested in. Hmm, this is a friendly invitation; perhaps we can explore it together."
Putting away the ring, the woman, suspected to be from the Moses Ascetic Order, nodded noncommittally and replied in a calm tone:
"I will convey it..."
Mobet looked at the woman with a hint of surprise. As a Viscount of the Zoroast family, despite being trapped in the Book of Worlds for nearly a thousand years, he still knew the Moses Ascetic Order very well.
In its early days, the Moses Ascetic Order was a highly respected organization, maintaining good relations with all the major Churches.
Its members used asceticism to resist losing control, resolve the residual effects of potions, and strictly maintain Concealment, adhering to morals, precepts, and the pursuit of knowledge.
Mobet had also heard of one of their quirks: any member who joined the Moses Ascetic Order, after becoming a Mystery Pryer, had to observe a five-year vow of silence and learn to be quiet, for the sake of learning and improving focus.
The Mystery Pryer motto of "Do as you please, but do no harm" was also proposed by this organization.
However, these were all characteristics of the Moses Ascetic Order in its earliest days. Mobet clearly remembered that before he went missing, his old man had told him that the Hidden Sage, whom the Moses Ascetic Order worshipped, had come alive and transformed into a personalized evil god, and the organization had thus degenerated into an evil organization.
Aaron also witnessed this scene through the prayer images seen by the sub-consciousness retained within the Sefirah.
From the perspective of his true vision, he could clearly see that the woman from the Moses Ascetic Order had her spiritual eyes completely filled with starlight, seemingly due to a unique and powerful secret art.
He knew far more about the Moses Ascetic Order than Mobet did. This organization possessed the complete Mystery Pryer Pathway and was one of the earliest hidden organizations apart from the Churches of Evernight, Earth, and God of Combat.
Its founders even included several humans, such as Stian, who had viewed the second Blasphemy Slate.
Aaron always felt that the Hidden Sage's coming alive was too abrupt. Even if the God of Steam and Machinery hadn't fully digested his potion in the Fourth Epoch, he would have risked losing control to achieve Sequence 0. It's likely there's a deep connection between the two.
And the fact that Stian, who also controlled the Mystery Pryer Pathway and was above other Beyonders in the Fourth Epoch, simply vanished without a trace, itself indicates many problems.
After all, even if a Uniqueness were corrupted by a Sefirah, it wouldn't suddenly come alive. A greater possibility is that the original leader of the Moses Ascetic Order was already a King of Angels who had accommodated two Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics of the Hermit Pathway.
He deliberately manipulated the Moses Ascetic Order to worship the Hidden Sage, using anchors to stabilize the Hermit Uniqueness. In the mid-Fourth Epoch, under the pressure of the warring gods, he chose to accommodate the Hermit Uniqueness.
The process of accommodating the Hermit Uniqueness might have gone wrong, or perhaps through some hidden, unknown crevice, he came into contact with the Knowledge Moor sealed on the Western Continent, just like Bansy before.
The result was direct erosion by the power seeping from the Knowledge Moor. Although he successfully accommodated the Uniqueness, he became completely insane, lost his humanity, and transformed into the current Hidden Sage.
Putting away his chaotic thoughts, the Fate Hermits gathering was nearing its end. Aaron suddenly remembered that the people of the Moses Ascetic Order seemed intent on seizing the Book of Calamity from "Sea God" Kalvetua.
However, the Rorsted Archipelago was now heavily guarded. The Church of the Lord of Storms and the Central Sonia Navy had been jointly searching for and hunting the "Blood Moon King," so it wasn't the best opportunity.
Although he wondered about the true purpose of Amon's avatar, it was far from enough to judge Amon, who bore the title "God of Pranks," by common sense alone.
Rubbing his forehead with a slight headache, Aaron watched Mobet disappear from the peculiar hall within the prayer light spot. After silently making a note, he stopped thinking further.
He casually retrieved the black emperor card and the Sun Chaser Scepter from the pile of sundries, connecting with the surrounding dark gold mist. An angelic figure with twelve pairs of dark gold wings on his back appeared and plunged into the still-undissipated prayer light spot.
Mobet, who appeared on a plain, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as he looked at the surrounding terrain, which was completely different from the Tussock River. He had originally prepared to return to the Tussock River, but he didn't expect his departure to be via a random teleportation method.
Mobet surveyed his surroundings, trying to discern the direction, intending to take a detour to Backlund. After a period of rest, he planned to head to his final destination for this trip—Tingen City, which was also a task Aaron had assigned through the prayer light spot before his departure.
Suddenly, a dense dark gold mist reappeared before him, accompanied by a soul-shaking aura. An angelic figure with twelve pairs of wings on his back emerged, and the fiery wings covered in dark gold patterns instantly enveloped him.
Mobet instantly felt a moment of trance, only sensing a scorching power flowing through his body. He abruptly retched.
A Worm of Time, still wriggling, was enveloped by the angelic figure under his gaze and vanished into the dense dark gold mist.
In a dense forest somewhere, a hooded man had a faint smile on his lips as he wiped the monocle in his hand with a silk scarf.
Suddenly, he turned his head to the west, his smile becoming more pronounced. He put on the crystal monocle on his right eye, and his lips curled up:
"Interesting..."
He casually removed a big problem for his believer, sealed the Worm of Time, and threw it back into the pile of sundries. This was the best material for making high-level Marauder Pathway charms.
Once he deals with Pallez and gets the corresponding divine symbols and magical markings from him, he can try to create some special charms.
Opening his slightly narrowed eyes, a desolate horn sound faintly echoed in his ears. Aaron looked at the sea outside the ghost ship. The golden sea seemed to have dimmed considerably, and the ghost ship's speed had slowed down, constantly changing direction.
The divination pendant and death mask floated silently before Astolfo. Sensing that Aaron had "awakened," a calm voice spoke:
"We should have reached that sea area. Divination can only pinpoint this sea area at most. To find the ruins more specifically, we must leave the ghost ship and enter the seabed."
Aaron looked at the sea burning with golden flames and slowly nodded. His spirituality connected with the dark gold mist, which seemed to be in some mysterious space. At the same time, he took out a marine domain charm from his Pregnant, crushed it, and then slowly extended his hand into the sea.
The moment he touched the sea, a painful roar instantly swept towards Aaron's Spirit Body. The magnificent palace trembled, and an invisible fluctuation transmitted to Aaron, shielding him from the roar.
The golden flames in his eyes slowly extinguished, and Aaron's paused body fully entered the ocean. Astolfo, suspended in mid-air, watched silently, then plunged into the seabed with the divination pendant and death mask, leaving only a ghost ship circling on the surface.
As if passing through some barrier, and with the underwater mobility provided by the marine charm, Aaron sank into the deep seabed, surrounded by gradually dimming seawater. His vision gradually became dark, as if eternal night was about to fall.
Amidst the gradually intensifying horn sound, Astolfo's figure appeared beside Aaron. His gradually de-Puppetized arm grabbed the falling Aaron, guiding him deeper into the seabed following the death mask's sensation.
In the Darkness of the deep sea, an ancient, Death-filled underwater ruin stood on a black rock wall. The magnificent temple seemed like a gateway to the underworld.
Aaron looked at the temple shrouded in a layer of shadow, feeling the surging Death aura. A desolate horn sound emanated from the temple's huge fissure, like the whispers of hell. Countless Zombies, vengeful spirits, and other undead creatures roamed the entire ruin.
Their terrifying numbers would make even a demigod hesitate, not to mention having to endure the erosion of Death aura.
Putting on the death mask handed to him by Astolfo, the dense Death aura no longer corroded his body, but it made him hear a clearer, more desolate horn sound.
If not for the protection of the Sefirah, he, who had not gained divinity, would probably have become one of the many Zombies.
Following the horn sound, Aaron, wearing the death mask, couldn't help but look at the huge fissure covering the temple. The temple's interior was covered with distorted, bizarre patterns and runes, which Aaron felt seemed to be an ancient summoning ritual.
Aaron's gaze shifted, then suddenly froze. In the center of the temple, a gigantic statue shrouded in Darkness stood proudly.
It was a huge feathered serpent, its entire body covered in large, sickly green-black scales, with pure white feathers growing from the crevices.
Each feather and scale bore strange symbols of different shapes, pale flames burned in its eye sockets, and a pair of exaggerated, thick wings spread behind it.
In the center of the feathered serpent's forehead was a bronze-colored Door covered in mysterious patterns that defied precise description. Through the opened crack, one could see endless Darkness, within which countless indescribable eyes seemed to densely gaze outwards.
Symbols identical to those inside the temple immediately appeared on the death mask. The seal left by Varna was also triggered by the stimulus. In the clash of the two forces, Aaron's consciousness blurred for a moment, and a scene appeared in his mind.
An arm seemingly formed purely of light struck a giant serpent, its body covered in light yellow, greasy wings, into the sea. Its scales shattered, and sickly green blood dyed the ocean.
Accompanied by a roar permeated with Death aura, the feathered serpent's head was shattered by the light, and a black glow, carrying fangs, plunged into the deep sea.
The scene shattered with a crash. Astolfo's palm lightly touched the death mask, and relying on his special connection with the Spirit World, he finally appeased the death mask.
Exhaling lightly, Aaron withdrew his gaze, his expression somewhat solemn. The legacy of Death indeed existed, and it should be within that statue.
The Corpse Collector Pathway, starting from Sequence 5, allows one to create a unique "Underworld" with their body as a prison. Each Gatekeeper's internal Underworld is symbolized by a double-opening Door, with the Underworld's core in the center of the forehead, representing the position of Death.
Aaron wasn't sure what was contained within the "Underworld" on the statue's forehead, and opening that Door might trigger unknown anomalies. However, Aaron wasn't planning to deal with it himself. Since it was a sacrifice, the one being sacrificed would naturally handle the subsequent problems.
Following Astolfo's footsteps, Aaron entered the underwater ruin. Countless Zombies and vengeful spirits, sensing the aura of a high-level Spirit World creature, actively avoided them, not daring to approach.
Resisting the increasingly dense Death aura, one human and one Spirit World creature slowly arrived at the temple's entrance. Looking at the various symbols engraved on the dilapidated Door, Astolfo raised his right hand, and the Door instantly opened.
Just then, a strange energy surged out from the opened Door. Aaron immediately felt himself connected to the palace, the seabed, and even the ocean itself.
He gradually heard the syllables of the desolate horn sound; it echoed within the palace, spreading throughout the entire underwater ruin, like the ancient sound of the cosmos.
"The Essence of Death;
Lord of the Dead;
Final Home to all Living-beings"
The chants, as if transcending time, grew louder amidst the desolate horn sound. A pitch-black river, as if capable of drawing away souls, surged from the top of the feathered serpent statue in the center of the temple, sweeping towards Aaron and Astolfo at the entrance.
Souls floated and sank in the pitch-black river, and skeletal hands drifted in the current. The magnificent and desolate prayers were precisely from those agonizingly roaring souls.
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