Lex, his body pinned by numerous Souls, instinctively tried to look up but couldn't move. He could only watch as the purple hair fell, followed by a pair of long, slender legs, with skin as tender as a young girl's, slowly descending.
Just looking at those flawless long legs made Lex's heart pound and his mouth go dry, instantly bringing back the feeling of first love.
These legs wore no stockings, no shoes, and those beautiful, bare feet, like works of art, touched the dining table with a single toe painted with a faint pink nail polish.
Then, a flowing purple skirt covered those maddeningly pale, long legs, and immediately after, an ethereal, beautiful woman squatted down, turned her head, and smiled at Lex.
She had purple hair and black eyes, pure and beautiful, exuding an irresistible charm. Her simple purple robe had very high slits on both sides, allowing glimpses of the scenery beneath the skirt.
The V-neck of the robe was wide and deep, revealing much of the two full curves within. On her, there was both the innocence of a young girl and the maturity of a lady, blended into an unusually unique and maddening charm.
Is this the projection of a certain Watcher's Authority that I summoned?
She's too beautiful!
Too perfect!
No, now is not the time for such exclamations.
Watcher, save me!
Lex felt his consciousness becoming increasingly blurry, even finding it hard to clearly see the woman's face on the table.
"Hmm, do you want me to save you?"
Her voice was soft and pure, yet carried a subtle, almost imperceptible hint of seduction, constantly stirring the madness in one's heart.
"But why should I do that?"
Hearing this, Lex felt immense despair, but then, the woman on the table laughed.
Her laughter was incredibly melodious, making Lex wish she would laugh like that forever.
"Just kidding."
"After all, I've been watching you for a long time, and you bring me joy. If you were to die here, I would lose a lot of future happiness."
Throughout the restaurant, guests continued to dine and chat, seemingly oblivious to the stunning woman who had appeared at Lex's table.
Even the Spirits clinging to Lex seemed to ignore her, and did not issue any warnings to their master.
Clemons landed gently like a purple cloud. Her perfectly elegant bare feet touched the ground, and she moved between the dining tables with a rhythmic grace.
"But I'm not good at dealing with the undead. However, these things must be under someone's command."
"If we just deal with the source, won't the problem be solved easily?"
Lex's face had turned pale, his eyes were beginning to roll back, and he was on the verge of suffocating!
"Found them."
The beautiful woman, like an elf, smiled faintly and approached the two men who were clearly not Loen natives. She even spread her arms and gently rested them on their shoulders.
"It's so obvious. They carry the scent of death, just like corpses crawled out of a grave."
"Well then, goodbye, gentlemen."
Clemons wore a sweet, innocent smile on her face as she gently patted the shoulders of the two men.
The man with thick, black curly hair was oblivious, still scooping a spoonful of thick soup with a silver spoon and bringing it to his mouth.
He did not notice that his skin was losing its luster, a grayish-white, dull color silently spreading, quickly climbing up his face.
The eyes of the expressionless man next to him suddenly shot out with horror, wanting to turn his head and look back, but the surging grayish-white swept across his face like a tide, freezing his movements and turning him into grayish-white stone, from the inside out.
This process was silent, and even the surrounding guests were unaware that two 'statues' had appeared in the corner of the restaurant.
"Ah!"
Lex gasped, then choked and coughed from the air violently rushing into his nasal cavity. His limbs returned to normal, and he could finally breathe. Having made a trip to the gates of hell, he had come back to life.
He panted heavily, then caught a strange scent, and looked up to meet Clemons's dreamlike face.
Clink, clatter.
Two soft sounds echoed on the table. Lex saw a ring and a bracelet.
They dropped from the hands of the stunning woman before him. Clemons winked at him: "See, I brought you the magical items from the bad guys."
"So, little guy, you must hold on for me. Your big sister here, it's not easy for me to come to this world, and I want to go exploring."
"Don't let me go back so soon, okay?"
After speaking, the purple-haired, purple-robed woman hummed a light melody, stepped out barefoot, and vanished at the restaurant's entrance in a blink of an eye.
Lex stared blankly at the two magical items on the table, unable to believe that not only had he survived, but he had also profited!
At that moment, a scream echoed from deeper within the restaurant; someone had finally discovered the two stone statues.
...
Before the police arrived, Lex had already returned to the hotel. He felt as if he had been seriously ill, his clothes soaked with sweat.
Aside from the Authority Projection being able to exist unconditionally for 3 minutes, every second the lady existed afterward consumed Lex's Spirit.
To repay the lady for saving his life, and also fearing that not trying his best would anger her, Lex stubbornly held on for 10 minutes.
Finally, with his Spirit almost completely depleted, he could no longer sustain it and dispelled the Authority Projection.
After drinking several glasses of water and lying on the sofa for nearly half an hour, Lex finally felt alive again. His limbs were weak, and after taking a shower, he didn't even have the energy to appraise the two items, so he lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
He didn't know how much time had passed when Lex suddenly felt a sense of detachment, as if his Soul was about to float out of his body. He opened his eyes and saw crimson writhing in the Void Realm of the bedroom, instantly engulfing him.
When he came to his senses, he saw gray mist silently flowing before him, with points of crimson within the mist, some dim, some bright. Huge stone pillars supported this ancient palace; he felt as though he had arrived at the Giants' royal court, sensing his own insignificance.
Then.
He understood.
He had already arrived Above the Gray Mist!
Today, he would officially participate in the Tarot Club!
The lingering fear of being assassinated was quickly replaced by immense excitement.
Lex soon noticed that besides himself in the palace, The Fool's figure was already seated at the other end of the long bronze table.
And not far away, in the thick mist, there was also a figure, who appeared quite tall, and seemed somewhat nervous and constrained in his movements.
Is it a newcomer, like me, attending the 'gathering' for the first time?
Immediately after, there were two crimson bursts, and then two blurred figures stretched out in the Light.
One appeared to be a girl. Due to the gray mist, her face was unclear, but one could see that she was wearing a luxurious dress.
Undoubtedly, this must be Miss Justice.
The other figure vaguely showed blue hair, dressed as a captain. Hmm, he must be the Hanged Man, right?
"Let me introduce you."
At the end of the long table, the figure hidden deep within the gray mist spoke steadily: "Today, we have two new members."
"The taller one is the Sun, and the other is The Chariot."