Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1354 Still here
"The Ring of Destiny...the Angel?"

Fors certainly knew what this name represented. He was one of the Outer Gods who lingered outside the barrier, the "Old One" who surpassed the Sequence 0 True God, and the great being mentioned by many cult followers, their "Lord".

As soon as Fors connected the name with the specific existence, she felt that she had formed a mystical connection with the other party because of this understanding, as if a gaze was cast down from the starry sky, through the clouds, into the area where the abandoned village of Kordu was located, trying to land on her.

But as a "Planetary Planeswalker," she was of high enough stature to withstand such a gaze, and she could also use her ability to symbolize herself to hide herself and avoid the prying eyes of the "Ring of Fate." Therefore, the illusory gaze only swept over her briefly before she left in disappointment.

This is the "doomsday" our planet is about to face, not fourteen years, but only six months... Once the barrier breaks, our current nine gods will have to face nine outer gods, and the gap between Sequence 0 and the "Old Ones" above that sequence is even greater than the gap between the King of Angels and the True God... This is only because the "Uncertain Mist" was severely damaged for some unknown reason; otherwise, there would be one more... When Fors was wandering the stars, he heard that many civilizations that worshipped the great Uncertain Mist had suddenly fallen into panic because their gods had problems. After becoming an angel, he understood what this meant, but he still had no confidence in the upcoming doomsday.

Composing herself, she looked warily at Amon, who called himself the angel of the "Ring of Destiny," and asked:
"Have you changed your faith, hoping that the old order will spare your life after the barrier disappears?"

Amon simply smiled without saying a word, his strange expression making Fors thoughtful. Fors's gaze swept over the obviously less-than-perfect ending of the sacrificial ceremony, and suddenly, realizing something, pressed for an answer:

"Could it be that you took over the ritual and stole the power from that Outer God?"

She had this thought because Amon did exactly that when "Mistake" was born, and Mr. "Door" had just become a god before falling. Admittedly, Amon is no longer a true god, only possessing the rank of an angel, but the power that Outer Gods can send into the barrier is at most this level…

Upon hearing her second question, Amon finally grinned and answered:

"He's not entirely stupid; he can see through the surface to the essence of things."

"However, you are only half right. I did steal the power from the 'Ring of Destiny,' but I did not replace the ritual. In fact, this ritual can be considered to have been prepared for me."

"The local fallen priests desire power, the fated believers want to offer sacrifices to their Lord in exchange for gifts, and the great being desires to send enough power into the barrier before the end times to prevent the worst from happening..."

"Of course, these are all my speculations. I was outside the barrier at the time and had no way of knowing the details of the ritual. I originally planned to sneak in with you when you returned to this planet, but I discovered that another force was doing the same thing..."

“Fortunately, if other Outer Gods did this, I wouldn’t be able to interfere, but the ‘Ring of Destiny’ has the symbol of fate, and the path it controls can switch between my path and mine. This is more difficult than switching with ‘Apprentice’ or ‘Diviner’, but it’s not impossible.”

As Amon explained, Fors quickly pieced together the complete events of the Cordu village incident in his mind.

Initially, perhaps a year and a half ago when the "Eternal Sun" fell, or perhaps some later, the priest of Kordu village, who believed in that god, realized that he could not go any further on the path of faith. For the sake of power and status, he was seduced by the followers of the "Ring of Destiny" and converted to this Outer God.

Subsequently, under the planning of the believers in destiny, he lured some of the villagers into becoming followers of the evil god as well. He then deceived and threatened the rest, ultimately leading the entire village to hold a sacrifice against the "Ring of Destiny." His aim was to use the villagers' flesh and blood to create a body capable of bearing its power, and to use the remaining power to open a passage in the barrier, welcoming the angel of the Outer God to this planet.

Just then, an Amon happened to pass by...

What a coincidence! Just as the "Ring of Fate" was about to send the angel through the barrier, Amon appeared? No, He said He wanted to use the opportunity of me opening a "door" on the barrier to return together, so it must be related to me... He's so skilled, could it be...?

Thinking of this, Fors carefully asked:

"When did you leave the barrier and head towards the stars?"

“Of course I’ll go with you. Don’t you think a ‘wanderer’ who leaves the barrier to explore the stars is the perfect tool to attract the attention of the Outer Gods?” Amon chuckled, but Fors found it somewhat sarcastic. “To be honest, I can’t stay on this planet any longer. I failed to compete with your Fool for the ‘Source Castle,’ and my traits and monocle were stolen. My old rival has also taken the right position and has likely recovered his Sequence 1 strength. If I don’t leave the barrier and head to the stars soon, I’ll probably be the one being hunted down next.”

"In the starry sky, most of the powerful Outer Gods are concentrated in this star system. They covet the characteristics of Source, Uniqueness, and Sequence 1. They are not very interested in me, who only has Sequence 2. In the vast universe, there are too many secrets waiting to be deciphered, and too many things for me to steal."

Simply put, He was afraid of being retaliated against by Mr. Fool, and that those extraordinary beings who had previously been hunted by Him would turn around and hunt Him down, so He had no choice but to flee into the starry sky... But I was completely unaware that Amon was following me when I left and entered the barrier. If it weren't for the ritual of the "Ring of Destiny" attracting His attention, I might have really brought Amon into the barrier with me... Fors thought with some lingering fear.

As an angel from within the barrier, it wouldn't be too difficult for Amon to open the passage back on his own, but the commotion it would cause would be considerable. The outer gods might obstruct him, and the gods within the barrier might not allow him to return. Using the "door" opened by Fors to sneak in was a good option, but as a "tool," Fors's feelings couldn't be soothed by such a reason.

She used to be the "world's"—no, Mr. Fool's—teleportation and historical projection tool, then she became Miss Queen's biography tool, and now she almost became Amon's return tool… She shook her head, banishing the strange thoughts from her mind, and continued to ask:
"How did you do that? Did you directly steal that angel's identity and destiny?"

"Actually, he's an archangel named Thermippros, the 'Angel of Redemption' of Sequence 1 of the 'Destiny' pathway... Ha, after all this time, I never thought I'd still be connected to this name. I should have known better than to come back..."

Halfway through the introduction, Amon suddenly muttered a few words to himself before continuing:
"Given my current situation, it would have been quite difficult to completely steal His identity and destiny. Fortunately, both He and the 'Ring of Destiny' were paying attention to the secretly opened passage and were also on guard against other gods, which allowed me to find an opening."

"Even so, I only found an opportunity when Termibolos was blocked by a volatile god while passing through the barrier and was seriously injured. On the one hand, I stole His destiny and became the descending angel, welcomed into the barrier by these believers of destiny. On the other hand, I also deprived this 'angel of salvation' of his last chance to escape and turned him into a Sequence 1 extraordinary characteristic."

"In this matter, your Mr. Fool provided a little help, otherwise the 'Ring of Fate' might have found that its archangels had become someone else."

Mr. Fool…provided Amon with help? Fors was momentarily speechless, but then, remembering that Miss "Queen's" first task upon his return was to find Amon, a new guess formed in his mind. Could it be that the relationship between Mr. Fool and the "erroneous" Amon, and even with Adam, the one who was the "true creator" and the "dreamer," wasn't as bad as it seemed? Perhaps they actually had a tacit understanding and cooperated on certain matters?
"Then what is my purpose in coming to Kordu Village? To welcome Amon back?" She looked at the other person with doubt, about to continue asking, when suddenly she sensed something spiritually and looked up at a higher place.

Even before her, Amon, dressed in a black robe and with his hood removed, had raised his head and looked in the same direction.

In the sky illuminated by the strange red moon and stars of various colors, ripples suddenly appeared like water, and a figure quickly emerged.

One of her hands hung naturally at her sides, with invisible, colorless flames flowing from her palm like liquid; the other hand gripped a three-meter-tall, iron-black flagpole, the blood-stained banner at the top of which gave off an extremely dangerous feeling.

But neither the flames nor the blood-red flag could attract Fors's attention as much as the person who held the flag and lit the fire. Her flowing golden hair and figure-hugging black dress were so beautiful that it was hard to look away, yet it also made people want to worship her and willingly be conquered by her.

That was… Fors immediately recognized the other person. Although her expression was colder and her face was slightly different, it was indeed the “Queen” Miss who had sent her to Cordu Village.

But she was somewhat different from the deity she had seen earlier in the gray fog. Her features were more androgynous, with a handsome beauty and a touch of red at the ends of her pale golden hair. Compared to the other members who had attended the Tarot meetings every week for over a year and witnessed the "Goddess of Calamity" becoming increasingly indifferent and distant, Fors, the "Planetary Planeswalker" who had just returned to this planet, was more sensitive to this difference.

In particular, she wrote a large number of novels in the "Great Pirate Angelica" series, and her research on this deity is more in-depth than anyone else's, so she can naturally discover many subtle differences.

Moreover, the one before him was definitely not a god, not even an avatar or a vessel for divine descent… Just as Fors began to have doubts, he heard Amon beside him say in a sighing tone:

"So the guy who throws flags at people has finally arrived."

Hmm, He was referring to Miss "Queen"? But this is clearly... Subconsciously looking at the other person, Fors saw a flower of colorless flames burst forth before her eyes.

At the same time, she also felt that she had become one of the team members of "Queen" Miss, possessing the qualities of being in sync with Her, sharing Her abilities, and spiritually merging with Her.

This is the hunter's "conquest." We are all members of the Tarot Society, so we naturally have some kind of connection. Under the coercion of the other party's high status, I don't even need to agree; I just need not to explicitly refuse... Just as Fors realized her situation, Angel's cold voice rang in her ears:

"Let's stop Amon from leaving and take him down together!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Above the gray fog, two deep red stars twinkled close to each other but not truly merged, reflecting almost identical images within them.

Amon, clad in black but without a monocle, was being pursued by an angel and an angel king. He fled in disarray, eventually taking advantage of the massive explosion of a falling meteorite and exploiting a loophole in his own destiny to escape the village of Kordu.

"The way they're holding back is a bit obvious. Fors might not notice, but the Outer Gods might. Fortunately, there's a barrier preventing them from understanding the specifics of the battle. Now it's up to Amon to make his own decisions..."

Muttering to himself, Angel dimmed the stars that belonged to "Chariot" and "Magician" again, leaned back in his high-backed chair, and relaxed completely.

To ensure the safe return of this angel who had gone to "study abroad" in the stars, Angel's original body in the astral plane had already prepared to receive him. However, he did not expect that this former "blasphemer" would have his thieving addiction kick in. When he approached the barrier, he noticed that the Outer Gods were secretly sending angels into the barrier. He changed his plans on his own, took over the fate and identity of the "Angel of Redemption" Thermippros, and returned to Earth as an Outer God angel. He also destroyed the sacrificial site of the believers of destiny in the process.

"With the fall of the 'Eternal Sun' and the God of Steam busy making premature contact with the 'Wilderland of Knowledge,' Intis is almost entirely without divine protection, and several large-scale rituals performed by Outer God believers have taken place there..."

Angel complained, his expression melancholy, his tone lively, completely unlike the cold and ruthless person he appeared to be in front of the Tarot Club members.

Because that appearance of a lack of faith anchor and humanity being gradually eroded by divinity is just a disguise for her to the outside world. Her purpose is to make all members, as well as some hidden beings who are watching them, believe that "The Fool" has truly fallen into a deep sleep, and that "Goddess of Calamity" has also fallen into an unstable state due to her partner's abnormality.

"Now, the time is almost right... There are still nearly six months until July 1354, but the Outer Gods are already impatiently sending the Sequence 1 Archangel into the barrier. They certainly won't wait for the barrier to disappear naturally before launching their attack..."

"The preparations for darkness and steam are nearing completion. The true creator and His two angel kings seem to have reached an agreement. The earth is still in a very bad state, and the demons are eager to try... The rest, I'm afraid, is up to us to push things forward."

"What do you think, A-Rod-des?"

As he spoke, Angel looked toward the other end of the bronze table.

There stood an antique silver mirror leaning against a wooden frame, its surface constantly shimmering, with silver-white characters outlining a smiling face on the mirror.

PS: Thanks to "轻云漫步染寒楼" for the generous donation! Also, the Lord of Mysteries anime is out, has anyone watched it?

(End of this chapter)