Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1366 The Gap Between the Old Days and the True God
As the consciousness of his clone dissipated, Angel returned to the divine realm of the "Goddess of Calamity".

The mirror, which had been moving rigidly and fixedly along a fixed path in the astral plane, reflecting the twinkling lights and terrifying faces of the stars, immediately regained its vitality. It quickly moved toward the edge of the barrier that separated Earth from the stars, replacing the "sun" that emitted light and heat, and sealing the gaps in the barrier.

The hand-drawn sun, symbolizing abstract concepts such as "justice" and "light," went out in an instant, as if it had never existed.

Concepts representing "gazing" and "questioning" appear, pointing to Angel's divine kingdom, which is the gaze of the gods.

The mirror, which reflects back the gaze of the past, including that of the gods, and is symbolized by "the world in the mirror," "femininity," and "chaos," tightly blocks the barrier, making it impenetrable once again.

A moment later, the indescribable, terrifying faces that had been pasted on the outside of the barrier left, and the astral plane returned to calm.

……

"The Outer Gods must have known about my departure, otherwise they wouldn't have continued to test the strength of the barrier. Fortunately, 'True Creator' Grisha knew this was a critical moment and immediately helped me plug the loopholes in the barrier, preventing the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' and other ancient beings from discovering the true purpose of my departure... Now, at most, they can confirm that the gods inside the barrier have reached a consensus and can no longer easily instigate infighting to weaken the barrier..."

"The darkness and steam should be able to guess that I am heading to the Western Continent, but they cannot confirm whether I have absorbed the source matter, because I have not truly become the Old One yet."

Strolling through her own divine realm, Angel muttered to herself. Before long, she left the core area she had created, which consisted mainly of several buildings on Daffodil Street, and arrived at the outer perimeter, which was filled with all sorts of disasters.

Amidst falling meteorites, frequent earthquakes, and terrifying volcanic eruptions, a staircase covered in a dark red carpet, as if stained with countless drops of blood, leads to the sky. At the end, shrouded in mist, a gigantic throne seems to emerge.

That was the change that occurred in the divine kingdom after she embraced the "City of Calamity".

Moreover, not only did the divine throne and staircase, which previously only existed in the consciousness space, appear, the intensity of various disasters in Angel's divine realm also increased significantly, and even the area expanded several times over. Looking around, it resembled an apocalyptic land filled with scorching lava, storms, and hail.

Of course, Angel, who had absorbed this power, knew that if the astral barrier did not exist, the city of calamity that constituted the "Cataclysm of Destruction," which symbolized the calamities of the entire universe, could be infinitely large. Her current divine kingdom was just the tip of the iceberg. If she wished, every region of the universe where calamities existed could be her divine kingdom.

Not only her, but all the ancient divine kingdoms should have similar manifestations. The authority and symbols they possess are cosmic in scope, representing a certain fundamental and important concept in this world, such as reproduction, desire, or destiny.

"So, the barrier left by the Creator wasn't just for Earth's protection, but also for limiting this region. Without it, the great war between 'Celestial Venerable' and 'God' might have destroyed half the universe, and the other ancient beings would have suffered undeserved calamities. Now, the Outer Gods' angels can control multiple star systems, becoming godlike beings on countless planets, while the angels on Earth can't even control a single nation. The gods need to share followers and anchors, like prisoners locked in a cage..."

Angel's thoughts were somewhat scattered.

She climbed the steps one by one, reaching the top, and stood before the throne stained with deep red blood. With a thought, she transformed the chair, which symbolized the essence of the "City of Calamity," back into a familiar single sofa, and sat down on it.

Just as "Conqueror" Grey could not truly change the shape of the Red Priest's uniqueness, Angel's modifications to the source material representation before she became the old one were also temporary. Only when she ascended to "Cataclysm of Destruction" could she gradually transform the throne, which symbolized concepts such as "conquest" and "destruction," into the form she needed through repeated modifications, without changing its essence.

Amidst the smoke and dust of meteorites streaking across the sky and the fiery glow of erupting volcanoes on the ground, Angel began to contemplate his actions after absorbing the source matter.

With five months to go before the doomsday predicted by the "Post-Revelation," which is July 1354, Angel did not believe that a seal originating from a Sequence 2 property could affect the entire world or even cause the barrier of the original creator to break 14 years earlier than the prophesied year of 1368. However, her risky departure from the astral plane to the western continent to accommodate the "City of Calamity" and the "True Creator's" initiative to help seal the barrier were all pushing the doomsday forward.

Because the Outer Gods aren't fools either. They won't obediently wait until 1368. Instead, they will seize every opportunity to infiltrate the barrier with their power and take the initiative to attack and undermine the defenses. All of this is to break the barrier in advance and start the Doomsday War before the true Old Ones or even the Pillars are generated inside.

With the "joint efforts" of both sides, the end times may indeed come to Earth in six months, as the Book of Revelation suggests.

This is already reflected in another "timeline" that Grey experienced, where the end of the world came prematurely in 1360. The reason was that the actions of the Primal Witch in resurrecting Tudor and merging the Yin and Yang aspects of the "First Creator" accelerated the disappearance of the barrier. The "Fallen Mother Goddess" seized every opportunity and entered the barrier ahead of time, ultimately leading to the irreversible situation.

This time, Earth has gained Angel, a "half-Old One," and the fusion of the "True Creator" and the "Dreamer" is mainly based on Grisha rather than Adam. Furthermore, the "Eternal Sun," a deity with significant problems, has been exposed. The situation inside the barrier is much better than everything Gray experienced.

Therefore, the Outer Gods will certainly not sit idly by and watch their advantages gradually disappear; they will take more radical measures to hasten the end of the world.

In extreme cases, the Outer Gods, even without the "Uncertain Mist," might reunite due to shared interests.

Fortunately, Klein was just one step away from absorbing the "Source Castle" and becoming a half-Old One like Angel. He had already begun to master the power of the "Gate" and the "Wrong" Path. Once he absorbed the Source Matter, he could quickly ascend to become the true "Lord of Mysteries".

According to him, it would take about another month for the source castle to be contained by a single-path deity. This is the best way for the "Ancient Sun God" to deduce the process, and it is also the direction that Angel has chosen.

However, once the "Lord of Mysteries" truly appears, or even just a sign of it, it will provoke the Outer Gods to take the most intense actions. Klein decided to temporarily suspend this process, leaving Earth as much time as possible until the gods such as "Night" and "Steam" who have already come into contact with the Source Matter make their final preparations, and then, at the fastest speed, incorporate the Source Matter and the uniqueness of adjacent pathways to become pillar-level Ancients.

This time gap is not only prepared for the few true gods, but also left for the "true creator" Grisha to gain the upper hand in the tug-of-war with God. Once the "Lord of Mysteries" appears, regardless of whether He is the same Celestial Venerable of the old era, the "Primordial God" will inevitably give up the competition with Grisha and allow the new "God" to ascend at the same time, so as not to fall behind the greatest enemy.

Angel believed that the "ancient sun god" who was once closest to the ancient primordial being could seize this opportunity to make God concede, just as Klein negotiated and compromised with the Celestial.

As for the other candidates for the "Old Ones," the Goddess of Night had already obtained the uniqueness of adjacent pathways and mastered their power. With the help of the "Netherworld Man," she began to contact the tributaries of the River of Eternal Darkness. The God of Steam, with the help of Angel, also obtained the uniqueness of the Hidden Sage and made contact with the "Celestial Master" of the Western Continent. Roselle was resurrected in the "Vortex" War and received the help of the "Heavenly Emperor," possessing a wisp of the power of the disordered kingdom within him. These three gods are all of the kind without too many hidden dangers. As long as the seal on the Western Continent is opened, they can ascend to the Old Ones at the fastest speed and become the main fighting force in the war of the end times.

The avatar of "Demon King" Fabuti has been sent to the Western Continent by Angel and entered the body of a Daoist who calls himself "Master of the Dark Lodge." It is believed that He will seize the time to come into contact with the power of the Shadow World. Angel has promised that He will hand over the uniqueness of the "Bound One" path before the end of the world, giving Him the opportunity to become the "Father of Demons."

The struggle between the two "Serpents of Fate" is shrouded in an eerie calm. Urelius is subservient to the "True Creator," Grisha, while Will Unsetin has been inscribed in the "Fool's" holy book. One possesses two Sequence 1 properties, while the other, though possessing only one, holds uniqueness. Both await the opportunity to become gods and receive the Source Matter "Key of Light." Angel and Klein are inclined to favor Will, who offers them more assistance.

The biggest problem lies with "Mother Earth" Lilith. Because she once disguised herself as Omibella to deceive the Giant King and "God of War", she transformed from the progenitor of the vampires into the mother of God of War. This allowed her to live safely until the Fifth Age. With the help of her adopted son who betrayed her, she reclaimed the uniqueness of "Moon" from the Night. However, this also made her the eldest daughter of "Mother Nest" in mysticism. Subsequently, she was affected by "Fallen Mother Goddess" and is currently the god in the worst state within the barrier, without exception.

"In extreme circumstances, Lilith might have to relinquish her divine status to survive. After the war ends, she might have a chance to regain her divine position... Of course, if she can cleverly utilize her relationship with the Mother Nest and the Fallen Mother Goddess, she might be able to drive away or even severely damage this pillar-level Ancient, creating an absolute advantage for Earth..."

As Angel muttered to himself and calculated, he realized that even if Klein and Grisha could become pillars, and all the gods except the Earth Mother could successfully absorb the source matter and become the Old Ones, Earth would only have 2 pillars and 6 Old Ones, barely equivalent to the Outer Gods who had 1 pillar and 8 Old Ones.

However, if the opportune moment of "fate" does not arrive in time, and the "demon" is affected by the Mother Tree of Desire, Earth's strength will suffer an even greater loss.

Fortunately, all the gods on Earth were giving their all, and none of them chose to surrender because the odds of winning the apocalyptic war were extremely low. This was perhaps a manifestation of their humanity being superior to their divinity, and a shining point that distinguished the gods of Earth from those born Great Old Ones outside the barrier... Of course, those who were unwilling to contribute had already been eliminated, such as the "Primal Witch"... Angel's mind flashed back to Chick's face, which now existed within him in the form of a mental imprint, and he quickly shook his head.

Now, Angel has mastered the power of the City of Calamity, far exceeding the heights Chik had previously reached. In her current state as a "half-Old One," she can bestow power upon herself and adjacent Sequence 1 Archangels, but this cannot involve uniqueness and can only be granted for a short time, otherwise it will weaken her, unless she truly becomes a great being.

As for her own combat power, she speculated that she was already able to fight against three gods at the same time and gain the upper hand. She had a chance to kill one of the two gods. If she were to fight a single god, unless the other party had special authority, she might perish in a single encounter.

This is almost at the level of the most powerful "Ancient Sun God" in history. Of course, the latter, because he mastered the power of the source through a dual-path true god, was even stronger than Angel now. This is also why he was ultimately corrupted by "God" and had to choose to be resurrected after death.

With this understanding, Angel could also estimate the true fighting power of the "Old Ones." Her previous speculation that the Earth's true gods could unite to resist two Old Ones now seemed like wishful thinking. Without the power of the source matter, all the existing true gods on Earth, even if they united, could probably only barely hold off one Outer God. And when the barrier broke and the nine Outer Gods rushed in, all the gods on Earth would perish within a minute...

After all, even the "Ancient Sun God," who was half an Old One, could suppress all the gods in the Third Age, while the "Death God," who barely accommodated the uniqueness of non-adjacent paths, almost swept across the entire Northern Continent with the Pale Calamity. It can be seen that the gap between the Old Ones and the true gods is greater than the gap between humans and dogs... Angel smiled self-deprecatingly, collected his thoughts, and was about to walk down the steps when he suddenly sensed the prayers from many believers.

A series of illusory mirrors quickly appeared around her, including scenes of mass being held inside a magnificent church, the whispers of a witch in the darkness, and a young girl who admired the protagonist after reading a newly released series of novels... These beliefs quickly converged into the divine realm, becoming an important force that anchored Angel's current state and balanced her struggle with divinity, extraordinary characteristics, and the spiritual imprint within her source matter.

It seems the mass was initiated by my witch followers, and Fors's newly published novel also played a role... It appears that although the angels and saints of the original "Witch Cult" lineage seem somewhat unambitious, they know they should perform well while their leader is still alive... There were also some prayers from different individuals...

Thinking of this, Angel's gaze lingered on an illusory mirror.

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.

In a hotel in Issara, the capital of Remnantburg, far from the towering white tower of the "Temple of Knowledge".

The witch Tia, filled with despair, stood before the half-length mirror and chanted the goddess's name three times, but received no response. She grew increasingly anxious.

She glanced instinctively at the object in the corner of the room, tightly wrapped in a shroud with intricate patterns, yet still wriggling, and frowned.

Just then, the mirror in front of her, the window behind her, and all other objects that could be used as mirrors turned black. The sunlight was blocked, the gas lamps dimmed, and the entire room was plunged into an eerie darkness.

Tia was not surprised but pleased. She immediately stepped away from the deep half-length mirror, took a few steps back, and bowed respectfully, saying:
"Praise the goddess."

"It sounds like praise for the goddess of the night," a cold voice commented in her ear. "Why call my name?"

"You said you were a chosen one of the night..." Tia muttered silently, pointing to the shroud in the corner.

"I have found the part of the body that you asked us to search for."

(End of this chapter)