Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1367 So this is so enjoyable?
The corpse... Angel, who was standing in the small area of ​​the mirror world behind the half-length mirror, heard this and stepped into reality, appearing in front of Tia.

Of course, this is not the true form of the "Goddess of Calamity," otherwise the astral barrier would once again lack the support of a deity, and the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom" who controls Remnburg might also respond by descending to earth, causing a chain reaction.

What arrives in reality is still Angel's mirror image, but it has been integrated with part of her consciousness, essentially a false vessel for divine intervention, possessing only angelic power but with a status higher than that of a god.

Generally speaking, believers in the "End Times Church" who pray to their goddess will at most receive a formulaic response from Angel's mirror image placed in the mirror world, or often no response at all, since she has become a true deity and no longer needs to personally attend to every matter and respond to believers' prayers in real time as she did in the "foundational period".

Only those prayer lights that she has specially marked, such as witches and hunters belonging to the church's upper echelons, members of the Tarot Society, and some believers who have long been in her sights, will receive further responses, or even have their clones sent to the scene as they have today.

Tia, who joined Angel's camp when she was still the "Golden Queen" and did a lot for her, is naturally a special individual.

Even so, I am much more diligent than the other gods. The Goddess of Night only responds to her true favorites. The number of times the vessel "Mother of the Sky," Antigonus's sister Philaneias, has appeared can be counted on two hands. And the Lord of Storms is more accustomed to firing first and then asking questions, especially when he shouts "Leodorus"... Angel boldly criticizes the other gods in his heart, comes to Tia, and sees her looking down, not daring to speak or look directly at him. He chuckles to himself, reaches out and lifts the chin of this witch demigod, forcing her to raise her head and look at him.

The latter's light gray eyes reflected Angel's face, and he instantly became dazed, as if he were seeing the embodiment of all beauty in the world. He was so immersed in it that he forgot the corpse in the corner of the room and all his troubles.

Only after Angel withdrew his authority and power over "femininity" and "allure" did Tia's thoughts return from the rest of her body to her mind. She laboriously looked away, lowered her head, and said:

“Great Goddess, I have returned to Azshara in accordance with your divine decree and met with the Archbishop of the Church of Knowledge who had previously cared for and helped me. I expressed to him the request of the Church of the End Times to borrow the body of that ‘Giddas’.”

"I didn't expect him to agree so quickly. After waiting for a few days in Azshara, I got this... this half of the corpse."

As she spoke, she pointed again to the object wrapped in the strange shroud, which was constantly wriggling slightly.

The archbishop Tia mentioned was naturally Heraberg of the Church of Knowledge.

When she went to sea, she "coincidentally" joined Elaine's "Red-Haired Girl" in Bayam and became one of Angel's subordinates, precisely because she had received instructions from Angel.

Earlier, Tia grew up in Remnburg and spent her childhood in the school of the Church of Knowledge. However, she left due to poor grades and joined the Gnostic Order as an "assassin." She eventually advanced to Sequence 7, became a woman, and became a "witch." Then, she had a change of heart, escaped the witch cult, and returned to the Church of Knowledge for protection.

When Angel encountered the fugitive witch and learned about the "Fountain of Youth" from her mind, he suspected that it was all the work of the Church of Knowledge. Out of the friendliness of that god, and after learning that Hraberg was the incarnation of Hrabergen, the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom," he became even more certain of this. This time, when he needed to send someone to the capital of Lenburg, Azshara, he naturally chose Tia, who had connections with the Church of Knowledge.

These thoughts flashed through his mind, and Angel pressed on with the question:

"Didn't Hraberg ask you why you needed the body?"

"No, the archbishop only said that keeping this part of the body was an act of the church following divine decree, and so was handing it over."

Tia quickly replied.

This seems to be a gesture of goodwill from the "God of Wisdom"... Angel thought to himself.

One of the reasons she directly demanded the body from the Church of Knowledge was to test the current attitude of this deity. If Herabergen was unwilling to "ascend" to the position of King of Angels again, He would naturally not be too friendly to Angel. But now it seems that He has probably already accepted the facts and is waiting for the final moment to arrive.

So only the Lord of Storms hasn't made a clear statement yet... Angel muttered to himself, as he walked to a corner of the room and stood next to the corpse wrapped in a shroud.

The shroud, adorned with intricate runes and patterns and intended to isolate spirituality and suppress the dead, instantly turned grayish-white and then weathered away, revealing half of a highly decomposed corpse amidst the scattered stone fragments.

It looked as if it had been cleaved open from the middle, leaving only the right side of its body, and it was missing its head. Its right hand was severed and disappeared from the elbow. Its skin was bluish-black and swollen, and yellowish-red pus slowly oozed from several cuts and cut surfaces.

As soon as the shroud disappeared, a strange smell filled the entire room. But it was not the stench of a rotting corpse. Instead, it was a complex aroma that mixed the scent of meat, blood, and some kind of plant. If Angel hadn't known for certain that the smell came from a rotting corpse, he would have thought there was an Intis feast in the room.

Tia had clearly smelled the strange odor as well, but as a saint possessing divine qualities, she did not lose her composure. She simply moved closer, craning her neck to examine the male corpse, half of which was several sizes larger than normal, its size unknown—whether due to giant blood or being bloated by decaying gases. She murmured to herself:
“No wonder the archbishop said it was ‘half a body’… Judging from the missing parts, there are at least three or four more parts…”

There are three more parts.

Angel answered calmly, and then performed a mirror divination to confirm that the mutilated corpse in front of him did indeed belong to "Giddas".

This was not her guess, but the conclusion of several angels with the strongest divination and prophetic abilities at present.

Having learned of the existence of an angel of the "Moon" pathway in the hidden history, who was murdered in Omibella's scheme and cursed his sister's brother before his death, Angel planned to find all of His dismembered and hidden remains. To this end, he entrusted Antigonus, Mr. "Door" Bethel, and the "Mysterious Queen" Bernadette, among other angels, to help him divine the exact location of the body.

Of course, Giddar was the offspring of the pillar "Primordial God" and the source matter "Mother Nest." Even though he had perished and lost his special characteristics, his body should still retain a portion of the power bestowed by the source matter, and his status was extremely high. Divination of Him was not only prone to failure, but could also be corrupted. With the efforts of several angels, Angel barely confirmed that the other party was divided into four parts and located in different places, but he could not pinpoint their exact location.

Besides the half of the body hidden in Azshara, the capital of Lenburg, the other three parts are: one is constantly traveling and wandering in the spirit world, one is located in a special plane of the southern continent, and the last part is drifting with the current, seemingly entering the Misty Sea, slowly moving westward, it is unknown whether it will drift towards the location of the western continent.

Angel entrusted the task of searching the spirit realm to Renette Tinicol, who was about to advance to Sequence 1 "Divine Abomination" and had already integrated the Temperance faction of the "Rose School" and some members who had returned to orthodoxy; the southern continent was searched by Mr. Azik, the former descendant of the God of Death and "Death Archon"; and the part that drifted into the depths of the ocean became the task of the Tarot Society members, including "Queen of Stars" Cattleya and Pope Alger of the "Church of the Sea God".

Once the remains of this angel, who died at the hands of his own sister in the first dark age and had a great connection with the "Mother Nest," were found, Angel planned to use His mystical connection with the Source Matter and the "Fallen Mother Goddess" to do things that were detrimental to that Pillar-level Old One.

The "True Creator" Grisha seemed to share this idea, which is why he exchanged the remains of "Omibella" from New Silver City... Angel pondered, and before the strange smell could become even stronger, he sent the right half of Giddar's body into the Mirror World, "sacrificing" it to himself, so that it could enter the divine realm and prevent further changes.

With this part of the body, it will be much easier to confirm the location of the remaining pieces, whether through aggregation or more accurate divination.

After doing all this, she turned to look at Tia and said:
"Your mission is complete. After digesting the 'Despair' potion, do you intend to advance to 'Immortality' or switch to the adjacent path of 'War Bishop' to revert to male identity?" Due to her previous inclination towards the "Witch Cult," Tia is also a male witch, not a rare female witch.

Hearing her question, which was clearly meant to offer a reward or make a promise, Tia did not answer immediately. Instead, she bowed first and then asked in a low voice:
"Great Goddess, I have heard rumors that the end of this era, which will destroy everything, may be coming sooner than expected. Is this true?"

This matter is not a secret in the doctrines preached by the "Church of the End Times," but it is too sensational for many to believe. However, within the church, the inadvertent revelation by a high-ranking witch, along with the frequent natural and man-made disasters in recent years, has led high-ranking extraordinary beings like Tia, who have already become saints, to have more speculations.

Angel didn't hide anything and nodded, saying:
"it is true."

She stopped explaining and instead opened the window, letting the sunlight into the room. She looked down at the bustling street and crowds below, and at the white tower in the distance.

In response to Tia's question, Angel suddenly remembered something important:
If the barrier breaks and the apocalyptic war begins, how can ordinary people on Earth, besides gods and angels, protect themselves? They are numerous, but they cannot play a role in the war of the gods. As anchors for gods and angels, they are very likely to be included in the first wave of attacks by the Outer Gods.

If they suffer heavy casualties, it will inevitably shake the state of the gods.

Unlike her and Klein, who are newly promoted gods and serve as strong anchors for each other, gods like Night and Steam have long lost their humanity and need a large number of faith anchors to stabilize themselves and fight against divinity. If a large number of believers die, they will likely lose control.

At that time, we need to prioritize protecting them, or perhaps we should spread the war to the stars so that the Outer Gods have no time to attend to Earth...

As he pondered, Angel's figure slowly faded away.

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.

At 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon, Backlund time, the palace shrouded in gray fog was illuminated by streaks of deep red light, and the members of the Tarot Club gathered together once again.

As soon as "Justice" Audrey sat down, she looked to her left with a speed that surprised even herself, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she found that "The Magician" had indeed returned to the Tarot Club.

She wasn't sure why she was taking this so seriously, feeling like she'd forgotten something. But knowing that the gray fog was the Fool's kingdom and could dispel hypnosis and suggestion from Tarot Club members who entered it, Audrey understood that this was impossible.

Perhaps it was just concern for her friend... She found a suitable reason for her unusual behavior.

In reality, such an anomaly would alert Audrey, prompting her to search for clues to determine if she had been influenced by other "spectators" or extraordinary individuals. However, the belief that "the Fool's Kingdom is absolutely safe" was deeply ingrained in the minds of all members, and even if any unusual situation arose, Mr. Fool and Miss Queen would promptly remind them.

Thinking of this, Audrey looked at the head of the long table again, her gaze suddenly freezing.

The area was shrouded in a much thicker gray fog than usual, and a blurry figure could be vaguely discerned from within.

Could it be... that Mr. Fool has awakened?

Besides Audrey, the other members also noticed this, their expressions varied, but all were filled with anticipation and nervousness.

Although the Queen has become a deity, she not only holds tarot meetings on time every week, but also actively responds to the requests of the members, making them feel that there is not much difference from before the Fool fell asleep. However, this is, after all, a gathering of that great being's organization. The Fool, whose name is number "0" in the tarot card, is completely different from the other twenty-one major cards in their minds.

Under everyone's gaze, the figure in the gray mist became increasingly clear and refined.

Suddenly, someone walked slowly from behind the high-backed chair, parted the gray fog, and sat in the seat belonging to the "Fool".

As the fog dissipated, the blurry figure of "Queen," the goddess worshipped by the "Endless Church," was revealed to everyone.

So it wasn't Mr. Fool after all... Audrey felt her sigh of disappointment could be heard even by Fors beside her.

Of course, this change in mindset did not prevent everyone from standing up together to greet the goddess who was hosting the gathering, since everyone had gotten used to days without Fool's Day over the past year.

Besides, isn't that Fool, the companion of the "Lord of Mysteries," essentially Himself?

Sensing the disappointed or dejected gazes of the crowd, Angel chuckled inwardly. Once everyone was seated again, he spoke in a cold voice, his face stern:
"Before we begin today's gathering, let's welcome back Miss 'Magician' once again. She has recently completed her journey through the stars and returned to our planet."

Fors was a little surprised to be called out suddenly. She subconsciously looked around and found that everyone's eyes were on her again.

No, "World" and "Queen" are missing. The former is Mr. Fool, who has fallen into a deep sleep, while the latter sits in the main seat... Fors muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the slightly blurred but still distinctive figures of the familiar members.

The "Hanged Man," with his messy blue hair like seaweed and a perpetually wary air; the "Sun," tall yet the youngest among them; the "Moon," whose inner arrogance has softened and who appears much more mature; the "Star," with a calm demeanor yet occasionally uttering surprising remarks; the "Chariot," a newcomer to the Tarot Club but arguably the strongest; the "Justice," whose gaze seems to see through everyone's heart; the "Hermit," knowledgeable and always ready to help others; and the petite and adorable "Judgment"...

Meeting their gazes, "The Magician" Fors puffed out his chest and nodded, saying:

"Yes, I have become an angel."

It turns out that the "Empress" felt so good when she said those words—at this moment, only that one sentence echoed in her mind, which was full of humanity.

(End of this chapter)