Lord of the Mysteries: Yao Guang

Chapter 649: Reunion and Parting

Esther looked at the Clover and could feel that it was also happy to return to the real world. This was a long journey that spanned two worlds. After Esther was unable to confirm the safety of the ship for a while, they returned in such an unexpected way.

The rage that had risen up in her heart because of Amon's disorderly behavior was extinguished by the ship's gorgeous yet messy appearance. However, Esther had no time to feel happy. She simply clasped her hands together and opened them again, tearing at the fate that gathered in her palms like water.

At least she had to separate the star worm that retained the cognition of "Bethel Abraham" as the main carrier of consciousness before the "Four-Leaf Clover" completely landed.

A ball of silver fluid split into two ends of a thin filament in Esther's hand. When Esther suddenly pulled it tight, the glowing net on the ground also moved - it also split into two, one half went towards the roaring monster at the door, and the other half held up the shadow of the "Four-Leaf Clover" and fell towards the man who still maintained his human appearance.

The screams of the young man on the ground became more and more painful. Neither the echoes of the old world nor the brilliance of the web of fate were something he could endure in his current state.

Just the realization that there was something "weird" about these things, even with Esther's protection, was enough to put tremendous pressure on Verdu's mind and spirit - he should have collapsed long ago, but it was precisely because of that protection that he did not explode into flesh and blood, but continued to live in pain, witnessing the ritual proceeding.

The moment he heard the lady call out his name, Bethel glanced out—and he only had time for that one glance.

The "thief" he had once worked with acted decisively, the shadow of the ship falling overhead. Bethel instantly cast aside his hesitation. Since Amon was the one who had truly caused this situation, Bethel knew his character well; he would not act rashly without certainty.

So, trusting that Amon had a plan, Bethel took the last step and leaned over to touch the descendant of Abraham, wanting to comfort the tortured younger generation.

With the net hanging high behind Bethel, he waited for his chance to land.

The huge net passed through Bethel, and the powerful pulling force also drew Verdu in, like a silk cocoon tightly wrapping around a moth.

The thread in Esther's hand snapped instantly, and the originally coherent fate was cut into pieces. The silver light that the glimmer was chasing dissipated before her eyes, and Bethel's past and Verdu's future were no longer traceable.

Esther let out a long breath and let the shadow of the "Four-Leaf Clover" grow larger above her head.

She no longer had the energy to control anything. The fate that had been briefly focused would naturally return to chaos. The image of the long silver river began to blur after the exchange, and the light that outlined the symbol on the ground suddenly went out.

On the stone that served as the altar, the last flickering candlelight burned out.

The sand on the ground was blown away by the monster's rage, completely destroying the magic circle that was delaying its progress. However, Esther's figure flashed even faster. She picked up the cocoon of light and jumped away in a panic.

The gate that originally displayed distant starlight was instantly covered in wildly growing blood, and was even directly connected to the monster, emitting a wailing sound.

Esther's expression changed. She carried the light cocoon that was much taller than her and quickly ran towards where Amon was.

It was not until this moment that the ceremony to welcome the return of the "Gate" truly began to invade the real world.

Medici's angry shout flew into the sky: "This is not what we agreed upon!"

Amon just smiled and adjusted his monocle: "Alas, the ceremony isn't complete yet, you should at least help... and we didn't agree on anything beforehand."

A red arc of light streaked across the sky, passed over the dilapidated and dazed ship, and collided with the sudden thunder from the clear sky, igniting an even more intense flame in the collision.

As if to make the situation even more chaotic, the "Four-Leaf Clover" was blown even more turbulent by the aftermath of the mid-air explosion. It could no longer maintain its slowly descending float and quickly pressed down to the ground.

The dazzling sunlight descended from the star realm, melting the clouds floating in the sky, and stabbed towards the real world like a golden spear, but it suddenly stopped when it touched the "Four-Leaf Clover", and then quickly disappeared.

The island began to shake violently. The overgrown grass and trees wanted to rush towards the monster and take the blow for it, but they were wiped out by the darkness that spread out of thin air. In contrast to the powerful momentum of the sunlight and lightning, the overgrown plants silently wrestled with the shadow of death, and neither side could truly overwhelm the other.

When the hull dripped with another layer of seawater from the world, it hit the monster that condensed the extraordinary characteristics of "Gate" heavily, but the latter let out an unbearable wail. Esther was also splashed with a little seawater, but there was no change in the monster's body that blood steam rose.

Its limbs, which had already solidified, were torn apart and vaporized by the incompatible essences of the two spaces. The uniqueness and extraordinary characteristics it contained were uncontrollably decomposing themselves, trying to escape to the outside world away from that pressure.

It was twisted and deformed like fruit thrown into a mortar and hammered, about to be crushed.

Amon sighed from the bottom of his heart: "Look at this scene... I have never felt so clearly the malice of the old world towards us."

Even a body with the power of the Angel King becomes fragile as a result of such mutual repulsion.

Yet, the ship was still holding its own, and those aboard weren't all dead yet. A faint curtain of light clung to the outside of the ship—all the protection she had left behind. Amon glanced at Esther. She was lowering her head, her hands pressed against the outside of the light cocoon, intently sensing the fusion within. She didn't respond to what he had said, nor did she glance at the monster again.

Even a true god would be cautious in any contact. For that monster with only a body left but no rational thinking, the only outcome is destruction.

The crow standing at the bow shook its head and removed the weight it had "stolen", allowing the boat under its feet to break free from its floating state. It then transformed into a phantom of a time worm and returned to the sleeve of its original robe.

Then the Clover trembled again in the aftermath of the storm and the fiery explosion, and the moment it suddenly sank, the mass of flesh and blood was completely crushed.

It didn't explode like fireworks, but rather in a more restrained way, quickly melting into a pool of red.

Tiny twinkling stars condensed in the crimson, some of them were flying towards the unhealed crack, while some of them briefly condensed into a ball and gathered outside a pair of eyeballs with the door printed on them.

Whether it was blood or starlight, all colors were fading and rapidly dissipating from the real world into the spiritual world, transforming into a more primitive spirituality and traveling to distant places.

Esther then looked up again and noticed that Amon was spreading his hands out in front of the overlapping lights. She muttered softly, "It's best not to make direct contact now, it's not safe..."

Amon showed a little surprise at her kindness. Even though Esther's voice was not loud, He heard it clearly: "I know."

This is certainly not a good time to control the uniqueness of the "door" path. The power of several true gods is still lingering here. They were alarmed by the cracks in another world and took action one after another - this is also the result that Amon originally wanted.

Such chaos made their positions clear at a glance. A vague picture began to emerge in the sky farther away. Belated aid was extending towards the island, and the outline of a giant eye was hidden in the nearby spiritual world, just watching all this, seemingly indifferent to the outcome.

At this moment, those in high positions who are in good condition and those who are in bad condition can also be clearly distinguished.

But He didn't show up. Was it because He trusted me, or because He trusted Esther? Probably the latter. No, it could also be that He simply trusted "his" plan—He was always like this, very confident that his plans would be foolproof.

Amon thought so and clasped his hands together.

It's not surprising that along with the uniqueness, He also stole the pollution that had accumulated for thousands of years. Even if only a part of it remained, it was enough to produce some adverse effects.

Amon blinked again and saw that a fine silver thread was hanging on Esther's hand. The end of the thread disappeared beyond Amon's observation range, but he could vaguely feel that the other end must be connected to "Him", or in other words, to "Him's fate".

The worry in Esther's eyes faded after Amon shook his head. Similarly, an almost invisible wave spread from between her fingers, and she also waved away the thin thread in her hand.

"You should go." Amon did not give any explanation to Esther, and his tone was even colder than before.

He simply pointed at the wrecked ship that had crossed the world, then casually grabbed the cocoon of light and said to the sky, "It's time for us to leave, Medici. Let's contact each other somewhere else."

Is Amon angry? Why?
Esther didn't think about this question too much. She just felt confused, but since Amon agreed, she was of course happy to accept this result.

Amon certainly needed time to eliminate the contamination of his Beyonder characteristics and uniqueness. During this time, he did not want to keep Esther with his original body or clone, as she would only become an unstable factor.

At the same time, Amon did not choose to leave Esther in Adam's care.

Since He could find Esther at any time, letting her run away for a while might attract the attention of the true gods and the old ones. This was for the sake of benefit.

Amon told himself the same thing.

Esther didn't care about that—even though she simply didn't know. With a flash, Skylark flew like a bullet towards the Clover, landing steadily on the bow and transforming into a human form before the astonished gazes of the three people on board.

Esther half-knelt, and the moment she placed her hands on the deck, almost everyone could hear the excited humming sound from the "Four-Leaf Clover", as if it was no longer a ship that relied on Beyonder characteristics to be activated, but a long chord being plucked.

Silvery ripples spread through the surrounding air, and the ship spewed out even more colorful bubbles. Upon closer inspection, shimmering starlight could be seen floating among the bubbles. As the main force carrying out the "attack," the Clover naturally absorbed a portion of the power from the "Gate" pathway. The layer of crimson slime on the ground grew increasingly dull, turning into charred residue as it lost its activity, ultimately losing the gaze from beyond the barrier.

After the baptism of the old world, the extraordinary characteristics of this ship had also changed. If the three passengers had not disembarked, and a former "crew member" and "captain" still existed as its benchmark, the "Four-Leaf Clover" would probably have disintegrated and dissipated in another world long ago.

Now the "crew member" who left is back again, and even if the "Clover" has no voice to scream, it is expressing its excitement in other ways.

"Now that you are ready, let's go..."

Esther whispered, and the excitement was also transmitted to her. Different from the gentleness she often showed around Amon, another kind of joyful brilliance once again lit up in her eyes.

She glanced back at the rift in the old world again, ignoring its inviting call, just as she had ignored the existence beyond the barrier before.

Esther didn't think too much about it. She just laughed even more heartily amid Aaron's frustrated warning shouts when the "Four-Leaf Clover" accelerated and rushed into another spiritual world gap.

She never intended to respond to either side's call - she just wanted to embrace the freedom of living as herself in the present moment.

The flames and the black pointed hat disappeared together, and the raging thunderstorm and hidden darkness were all left behind by the spiritual world crack.

They could only blast the island into the sea to ensure it would never be set foot on again. The crack in the old world was scorched and melted away under the blazing sun, completely rolled up by the phantom of the scroll of civilization, as if a band-aid had been applied to this struggling world, covering the old with a new mark.

Then, just as suddenly as they arrived, they quickly departed, leaving behind only a sea surrounded by thunderclouds, as if nothing had ever happened.

-

Klein awoke from the brief nightmare, only cold sweat and chills lingering in his senses along with the ominous image.

However, he found it difficult to describe exactly what had alarmed him—all he could grasp and comprehend were faint, fragmented pieces of information.

A passage to the heavens was opened, a rift between worlds was torn open. Something unidentifiable came together, generating a power capable of destroying both reality and the spirit world.

Klein rubbed his temples hard, feeling the throbbing in his head. Describing the information as a nightmare was inaccurate; he knew it was a hint from his spiritual intuition, a warning from the spirit world due to turmoil.

However, Klein could not see any connection between it and himself.

He didn't let the confusion linger for long. After his spirits calmed down, he once again calmed down and continued to try to grasp the historical projection of something.

Time and again, good fortune did not favor him. After draining his spiritual energy once more, Klein stopped what he was doing.

He looked at his empty hands, and a realization dawned on him.

After this period of investigation, Klein followed Norns's understanding of the history of the Old World, hoping to find that extraordinary characteristic that had been banished to the land of the forsaken by the "Night".

But no matter how he tried, he couldn't find any trace of the transparent cloak—he even saw the timid Dark Wolf, but still found nothing.

Klein looked around and sighed softly.

Even if it were a historical projection attempt, it shouldn't have failed so miserably; I was even experimenting on the Source Castle. It seems only the worst, yet most plausible, answer remains…

That extraordinary quality vanished on its own.

No, it should be that it was collected by the "Celestial Venerable" behind the door and then turned into an animated puppet, which is why "Merlin Hermes" appears powerful and strange.

"Did you find out where it went?" The little bird standing on the bronze table had been quiet until Klein's furrowed brows relaxed, at which point it asked in a low voice.

Klein nodded: "What we're facing is a 'Diviner' pathway Mystic Puppet, but I doubt whether he can still unleash the power of Sequence One. Otherwise, he wouldn't have just watched us leave last time..."

“Sequence One?” After saying that, Lark stared blankly at Klein for a few minutes without saying another word.

Klein cleared his throat guiltily: "Well, it's not like we don't have a chance..."

Under the even more stunned gaze of the lark, Klein swallowed back his words of comfort.

However, the appearance of "Merlin" further confirmed Klein's judgment. As fate continued to shift, deviating from its intended course, Norns' knowledge became increasingly limited, and Esther's was likely similarly limited...

Sigh, she's lied to herself so many times.

Klein couldn't help but have such thoughts, but he helplessly suppressed them.

Norns suddenly bristled, looking extremely frightened. It flew straight up to Klein's head for two meters before its wings suddenly froze and it plummeted downwards.

When the lark fell, Klein caught it naturally in his top hat, scooped it out, and watched it curl up in his palm.

"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly—"

The lark opened its mouth, trembling: "Hello, hello, can you hear me?"

Klein jumped up from his high-backed chair. He was absolutely certain he recognized the voice, but was it real? Or was it some kind of trap to mislead him?

Is it her?
Oh, maybe she's trying to deceive me again?
This small, discordant voice echoed in his mind, bringing Klein back to his composure.

"……haven't seen you for a long time."

"What do you mean 'long time no see'? We finally managed to see each other again, and were able to get away from all that trouble for a while! Even though it was a situation like that, we escaped unscathed—"

Hearing that familiar, rambling voice, even though Klein couldn't dispel his doubts, he couldn't help but smile.

At least for now, it doesn't matter if we listen to this meaningless nonsense, right?

"Why did you decide to contact me? I thought you weren't planning on having any further contact with me. In your opinion, isn't this the best thing for both of us?"

Hibari shook his head, and after a brief pause, he spoke: "Did I say that? I'm just... just a little scared..."

Klein didn't respond. He didn't express any more understanding or comfort. This wasn't a barrier that could be broken down by the word "friend." He had already seen that Esther held a different position than himself, and even if what she was going to do was in his best interest, Klein would still feel unhappy.

She has never asked me what I want, not in the past, and not now.

Esther's voice still came from Norns, sounding increasingly guilty: "Should we meet? There are some things I feel should be said in person... It's not that this phone-like approach is strange, but it's not good for Norns!"

Her tone was too excited; she was lying again. Was it because her contact with Norns had weakened, or did she want to confirm my current situation in person?
Klein tightened his grip on Lark's hand.

In the end, he compromised with his own heart, but this belated "good" was uttered with immense difficulty.

"Where shall we meet? You choose the place, that way you'll feel more at ease." Esther's cheerful voice showed no sign of anything amiss.

Klein stared into Lark's unfocused eyes, and instead of considering a safer place, chose a special location that he had been paying unusual attention to lately:

Have you heard about... what happened in Bayam recently?

I'm up...