Lord of the Mysteries: Yao Guang

Verdu Garcia Abraham, as an ordinary member of the Abraham family, lived for less than thirty years out of hundreds or thousands of years and did not leave behind many contributions to the family.

Even after he devoted himself to studying the occult for over a decade, and even risked losing control by drinking the potions of the "Apprentice," "Master of Tricks," and "Astrologer" to get closer to the "Full Moon Curse" that plagued his family, he still couldn't find any way to circumvent it.

Verdu was just one of the Abrahams, and not even one of the particularly talented ones. No matter how strong his will was, the pain brought by the curse tormented him constantly, and he could not find a way to relieve it.

An unsolvable mystery is written in the bloodline of Abraham's family. Many people have given their lives to try to solve it, but no one has ever gotten the right answer.

But like many family members, Verdu also possesses typical Abrahamic traits—such as an almost stubborn perseverance, an unwavering spirit of inquiry, and an adventurous spirit that allows him to cast aside all fear.

Therefore, he was unwilling to stay in one place. Even though he focused more on paper and written materials when he was young, after drinking the potion and gaining the courage that came with the power, he began to frequently travel overseas to explore people and things that might be related to the curse, and even faced several life-threatening dangers.

However, these dangers certainly did not include the fact that he was attacked by something inexplicably while copying an ancient name in his rented room in Backlund. It was too sudden.

Before Verdu lost consciousness, a moment of confusion arose: he was quite certain that he hadn't uttered a single occult word, so why was he attracting such strange stares?

His rent was due in a month, and Verdu had originally planned to leave next month. The atmosphere in Backlund was getting stranger and stranger—but things were just so unfortunate, yet so coincidental, as if fate had inadvertently given him a push, gleefully pushing someone who was still exploring the crisis directly off a cliff.

Then, when I opened my eyes, I was already on a beach with the sea breeze blowing on my face. The salty smell of the sea was all too familiar to someone who was used to traveling by boat.

Verdu's gold-rimmed glasses shattered along with his reason, but thankfully, after a moment of terror that left him too frozen to move, he managed to piece his reason back together.

Who was it? Why? The surroundings were no longer important; only the sound of the waves crashing echoed in my thoughts.

Does death have to catch up with us before the answer even comes? That would be terrible.

Verdu's eyelids twitched, and he resisted the urge to open his eyes, afraid of seeing something he shouldn't.

"you're awake."

A gentle female voice sounded above him, carrying a sense of joy and peace that resonated with him. So Verdu couldn't resist; urged on by his doubts and the desire for answers, he opened his eyes to see the "person" who was speaking.

Before seeing the other person, Verdu was praying to his ancestors, hoping that what appeared before him was not a monster disguised as a human—but after opening his eyes, that worry immediately disappeared.

Her laurel-colored hair only reached her shoulders, and her features had a softness that was different from those of people from the North Continent. Her clothes were nothing special—at first glance, they were just ordinary and common white linen dresses, with a small vest on top.

But when those pale, mercury-like eyes lowered, they also exuded a tranquility that cleared the mind of all distractions, giving Verdu a sense of peace of unknown origin.

Fortunately, it was just a woman who looked nice and approachable, and might even be easy to talk to...

Immediately, Verdu realized that such a thought was very problematic, and he suppressed his inner vigilance, showing a blank expression, which was quite consistent with his inner state.

Esther waved again in front of Verdu, drawing his attention back to her: "Hello? May I ask your name is Verdu Garcia Abraham, is that right?"

Verdu was taken aback, not expecting the other party to know his name, let alone his full name which was rarely written out. He couldn't think of any deep-seated enemies he might have, such as those of Abraham's family, which might explain why they were investigating him.
Esther, of course, wouldn't tell this "victim" that she had seen all the traces of his fate while he was unconscious, whether it was when he was three or five years old, hiding under the bed and crying because he was afraid of the full moon, or when he was twelve or thirteen years old, just beginning to experience love, wanting to elope with the girl next door...

A name is a form of cognitive correction, so in those memories that make you want to scream when you look back, the protagonist is always just "Verdu".

After an "exchange" that the person involved was completely unaware of, Esther also wanted to ask for his own thoughts. Amon's assessment was that his ideas were superfluous, that Esther was simply wasting time, and that he should just proceed according to his usual methods.

A Sequence 7 could not possibly resist His parasitism.

"Yes... I am Verdu."

Verdu sat up, feeling limp all over for some reason. The weakness, as if his spirit had been completely drained, limited his ability to observe his surroundings.

Esther could see right through Verdu's thoughts. A destiny that had been directly observed would resonate naturally, like a string held tightly in her hand, its vibrations continuously transmitted to her palm.

This observation would also affect Verdu himself, since it was his past. Esther's deliberate lack of control over the spiritual depletion Verdu experienced was also intended to make the subsequent ritual easier.

She also felt guilty, and it was because of this guilt that Esther wanted to ask Verdu if he was willing to cooperate with this ceremony, which might deprive him of his self-control for life.

Medici's assessment was even more direct than Amon's, asking Amon if the little sparrow had left its brain or something in the original extraordinary characteristics of the "Mercury Serpent".

However, Verdu couldn't take his eyes off the gentle woman with worried eyes. It was difficult for him; her worry even infected him. Verdu didn't realize that a similar expression was appearing on his own face.

He even cleared his throat, trying to steady his weak voice: "And who are you? What are you? You don't seem to have any ill intentions. Is...is there something you want to see me about?"

No, no, the absence of apparent malice is not the same as the existence of a real threat! Verdu repeated to himself, feeling a disconnect between his reason and cognition. He could only keep reminding himself of this in order to maintain the vigilance he should have when facing the unknown and extraordinary.

"Yes, I would like to ask you for a favor, Verdu."

Esther spoke softly, feeling that the extraordinary being before her was not very stable, but after all, she was the one who chose to communicate with him—of course, if communication failed, she could only resort to Amon's old methods.

Verdu blinked. Even after removing his shattered gold-rimmed glasses, he could still clearly see her face. Although he had never seen her before, she was so familiar that it was hard to doubt her features.

Verdu heard himself reply, "I don't know... I mean, if I can help..." which was essentially an agreement.

Medici, who had been standing to the side, tilted his head and stared at Amon with suspicion: "Even a little sparrow has gone so far as to skip sequences? The Great Serpent doesn't do that..."

Medici thought for a moment, and realized that "allure" was not a good word to describe the feeling Esther was giving off at that moment. It was very different from the oppressive feeling of an arrogant "witch" who flaunted her charm.

Amon said calmly, "You'll understand if you see this as a form of pollution."

The flame-like emblem between his brows flickered for a moment, and Medici nodded solemnly, unusually refraining from making any sarcastic remarks to Amon.

Their conversation, which they did not huddle in, immediately caught Verdu's attention, interrupting Esther's next words.

Medici's appearance was not easy to identify, as most of the Intis "Hunter" family members had red hair, but Amon's appearance was somewhat familiar to the extraordinary members of the Abraham family, even frighteningly so.

Verdu instinctively grabbed at Esther's skirt: "W-be careful, that person is..."

Then he realized his actions were too reckless, quickly released his grip, and dragged himself back two steps with his weakened body: "That's an extraordinary being at the 'angel' level, we have to get out of here quickly..."

But when he met Esther's eyes, Verdu fell silent once again.

“It is 'we' who need your help, Mr. Verdu,” Esther pointed to herself. “What we are about to do involves the House of Abraham, so we would like to ask for your consent. If you are willing to cooperate with us in this ceremony, then you are worthy of being called a hero of the House of Abraham…”

Amon held back, but Medici burst into exaggerated laughter, which Esther glared at. However, the former Red Angel did not restrain himself and his laughter became even more unrestrained.

Amidst the disdainful laughter, Esther remained gentle, softly explaining the simplified procedures of the ritual to Verdu, patiently stating:
"...That's roughly the ritual part. You must be the one to initiate the ritual. Secondly, this is not a ritual that is guaranteed to succeed, and there are corresponding risks. But whether you succeed or fail, you can permanently remove the delirium that is entangled in the bloodline of Abraham's family in one go, because this is the answer you are looking for. As long as you bring your ancestors back, it will be quelled."

Verdu's eyes widened: "And what about me? I mean—what am I supposed to do for this, not just to go along with the ceremony, but what exactly do I have to give up?"

Although Verdu was nervous, he still managed to show his intelligence while maintaining his composure. He was able to hear the part that Esther had omitted in her explanation, which made her subconsciously fall silent for two seconds.

In this brief lull, Amon's voice immediately broke through the one-sided conversation of persuasion: "Spirit, life, anyway, this person Verdu will disappear from now on... Don't fantasize about death, you don't even have the option of dying anymore."

Esther didn't glare at Amon the way she glared at Medici; she simply stared quietly at Verdu's tense face until his twitching lips relaxed, then Esther slowly spoke:
“As He said, I shouldn’t hide this part; it’s very cruel, but you should also have the right to know.”

This time, Verdu remained quiet for a while until he felt he had gathered enough strength in his limbs, then he forced himself to stand up and brush the sand off his body.

After seeing the outline of death, a strange peace took hold of Verdu's heart, and he looked deeply at the "Angel of Time" wearing a monocle:
"Actually, I don't have many choices, do I?"

Amon didn't even bother to answer the question, merely offering a gentle, polite smile that also seemed exceptionally haughty. Esther wasn't willing to let Him tease the sacrifice for amusement, so Amon had even less to say about the bread already laid out on the table.

Verdu took another deep breath, as if he could fill his courage with the air, but when he turned to speak to Esther, his voice still trembled slightly:
“I understand. If this can undo… can help the ancestors of Abraham’s family… I mean, this is something I’ve always wanted to accomplish, I will do it.”

Even if the price is himself? Verdu wasn't sure if he had given a positive answer in his heart.

He only knew that his voice was trembling, and soon this uncontrollable micro-movement spread to his fingers. He tightened his collar and flicked a few grains of sand out from under his collar.

That was it. He was acutely aware of the gap between himself and the other party; pleading with sorrow and fear would only make him look more ridiculous. Since there was no chance of escape, he should at least maintain some dignity and preserve the composure befitting an Abraham…

Verdu choked up. He felt he should write a letter, a suicide note telling others what had happened—but the thought was immediately dismissed and washed away by the sound of the waves, leaving no trace.

His subconscious had been trying to escape, but when Verdu turned around, he took in the prepared ritual space. The lines, simply drawn on the sand, remained unchanged by the sea breeze, fixed at the moment of their completion, waiting to be touched by the spirituality of those participating in the ritual.

Verdu stared blankly for a few seconds at the stone that served as an altar, on which were placed candles and three strange creatures he had never seen before—after feeling a spiritual sting, he immediately looked away, knowing that it was not something he should be curious about.

The thought that he was a sacrifice, just like them, haunted Verdu, until the lady looked over again:

"Do you have any other questions?"

There are many, but none of them matter anymore, Verdu thought.

But he quickly nodded again: "Could I leave a message for our ancestors?"

This was a somewhat unexpected request. Esther had thought that Verdu would want to write a letter or something to give instructions on his final affairs, but she never expected that he would ask to pass on a message to that ancestor.

However, she nodded seriously: "Go ahead and say it. If the ceremony is successful, I will convey your message."

Verdu rubbed his eyes.

For some reason, he thought of the worried eyes of his elders and the many names written down from generation to generation, young and old, engraved on tombstones, believing that their ancestors were still protecting this surname.

“We—no, I…alas, please tell him for me that there are still people in Abraham’s family waiting for him.” (End of Chapter)