Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1368 Him

Has the "magician" lady become an angel?

She—no, He—has been traveling through the stars for over a year in order to find the opportunity to become a complete mythical being, a necessary step to complete the ascension ritual.
Sitting opposite her, the Hanged Man, a "veteran" of the Tarot Club, momentarily froze.

Alger already knew that when the other party publicly asked Miss "Queen" for leave and temporarily left the Tarot Club, this member, who was only Sequence 9 when she joined the Tarot Club and was not very proactive in her promotion, had reached Sequence 3 and become a "Wanderer", possessing the ability to leave this planet and travel to the depths of space.

At that time, Alger was not too envious of this, because he himself was also a Sequence 3 "Sea King", and he was rapidly digesting the potion by playing the role of the Pope of the "Church of the Sea God" day after day, and secretly stirring up storms and changing the sea conditions in the Rose Island. Once he was ready, he would have the opportunity to advance to Sequence 2 and become a "Calamity", "Cherubim" or "Elder of Foul Words". The "Queen" of the Tarot Society had the corresponding potion recipes for all three.

Unexpectedly, just over a year later, while all the members of the Tarot Club were still striving for Sequence 3, the long-unseen "Magician" had become a true angel, surpassing everyone else... Of course, this did not include the two great beings currently, "The World" and "The Queen"... Alger, who had been greatly affected by the rapid advancement of these two members, quickly recovered and secretly cast his gaze on the other members. He quickly discovered that "Justice" and "Judgment" were not as surprised as he and the remaining members. The former gave a perfunctory response, seemingly not intending to hide this fact, while the latter was even more indifferent, as if he already knew.

"Judgment" was suspected to have been introduced to the group by "The Magician," and she wasn't good at hiding this fact. The two might already be living together, as close as sisters. But how could "Justice" know about this in advance...? He was a little puzzled, but dared not show his curiosity, lest he offend a newly promoted angel.

Other members had similar speculations, but in any case, the addition of an angel to the Tarot Club was a great thing for everyone. It not only meant greater convenience for everyone to help each other and exchange resources, but also swept away their confusion that had lingered in Sequence 3 for so long, giving them new motivation to move forward.

Of course, this "long time" is only in comparison to the Queen and the World members. Many saints they know never become angels in their entire lives, while the longest a member of the Tarot Club has been a member is only 5 years, yet they have already moved from the lower to the higher sequence, with one foot in the door of angels. If this were to be told, it would probably make people insanely jealous.

While everyone else was lost in their wild speculations, Audrey, the "righteous one," remained completely calm.

She had known about Fors' return and becoming an angel for several days. Now, besides feeling proud of her friend, she realized again that she had forgotten some key information.

There were no obvious gaps in her memory; it was more like a "hint" than a brutal deletion or modification. Did it come from a saint or angel among the audience? But that contradicts the function of Mr. Fool's divine kingdom. Herwin Lambis's hypnosis of me was immediately lifted after I arrived in the gray fog... Is this related to Fors? I feel a slight disharmony in my memory when I think about her becoming an angel... Audrey's thoughts raced.

Meanwhile, Fors, now a "Planetary Planeswalker," is explaining his basic abilities to the other members:
"...I can access the power of 'dimensions,' shrinking or toying things, up to the size of a city."

"I can 'reproduce' the people and scenes I record, not limited to the environment or terrain, but even including some astronomical phenomena and terrifying disasters that I have personally witnessed in the starry sky, such as black holes that can swallow an entire galaxy... Of course, the reproduction effect will not be this powerful."

"Finally, my 'teleportation' now allows me to appear in multiple locations simultaneously, currently limited to... this world."

"If you have something beyond your ability, but it is inconvenient to trouble the great Mr. 'Fool' and the esteemed Miss 'Queen', I may be able to help a little."

Her understated narration stirred everyone's emotions.

They already knew from the Queen that angels could respond to prayers from all over the world, but the ability to "teleport" to instantly reach multiple areas, even simultaneously, seemed to be a special advantage of "Travel Wizards".

And indeed, as the other party said, some things are too big to be properly handled by oneself, and it would be inappropriate to let the gods intervene, so it is just right to leave them to the angels.

Although Miss "Magician" didn't discuss payment, everyone understood that this was an act of kindness from a newly ascended angel. "World" and "Queen" had done the same, reaching Sequence 3, and those who hoped to ascend to angelhood before the apocalypse would do the same.

Only Fors knew in his heart that a large portion of the Tarot Club members present would probably only be able to advance after the premature end of the world.

They only knew that the apocalypse would occur in 1368. The "Hermit" with his excellent prophetic abilities might have guessed that the apocalypse might come earlier, but he could never have imagined that the world would face the invasion of the "Outer Gods" within half a year... Fors suddenly felt that knowing too much was not a blessing. The little bit of pride and satisfaction he had just gained from publicly revealing that he had become an angel quickly dissipated, and he felt a heavy sense of responsibility on his shoulders.

Fortunately, even if the barrier collapses, there are tall people to hold it up... She secretly glanced at the Queen, who sat at the head of the long table in the "Fool" high-backed chair.

The latter seemed oblivious, and seeing that everyone's expressions gradually calmed down, he coldly gave the order:
"You can begin your reports and discussions now."

Skipping over the segment where everyone's ranking gradually increased and they tended to engage in one-on-one communication and offline transactions, the "Hanged Man," sitting first to Angel's right, began his report directly:

“Your Majesty, we have some leads regarding the matter you entrusted to me and the ‘Hermit’ to investigate.”

In his account, Fors, who was attending his first Tarot meeting since returning to Earth, quickly understood what had happened.

Months ago, the "Church of the End" commissioned many official and secret organizations to find the remains of the long-fallen lunar angel "Giddas." These included Alger's "Church of the Sea God" and the "Morse Penitentiary," which was reorganized by Cattleya and whose main purpose was to control, contain, and protect secret knowledge and magical artifacts. This was clearly a request from Miss "Queen," so naturally, they had to personally handle it.

The remains, which were divided into many pieces, initially seemed to be all in the Southern Continent, but some ended up in the Spirit Realm, some were thrown into the sea and quickly disappeared without a trace, and some were even picked up and collected by the Knowledge Church's dispatch team... Alger and Gadriya were in charge of the part that was washed into the Misty Sea by the sea.

Based on the divination results of multiple sealed artifacts, they used their fleet of ships to conduct a thorough search of the deep sea. Alger even borrowed a level 0 sealed artifact of the Moon Path from the vampires through Emlyn, attempting to find Giddar's body through aggregation.

Through tireless efforts, the two teams finally discovered part of the corpse deep in the Misty Sea. Driven by ocean currents and its own movement, it was moving further and further away from the Northern Continent and heading straight towards the legendary Western Continent.

The Western Continent… seals seven “Origin Matter”, and the gods within the barrier have become the Western Continent that the “Old Ones” must travel to… Could it be that “Giddas” is approaching the Origin Matter due to some force stronger than aggregation? Is this why the Queen is searching for His remains?
Knowing more about danger than others, Fors pondered, only to see the Queen calmly nod and say:

"I will give you the other part of the body after the party."

Alger was overjoyed and bowed his head in response:
"With the other parts of the body, the search should proceed much faster."

His keen interest in finding Giddar's remains stemmed from the fact that it likely represented a test of divine favor, a crucial step towards advancement to Sequence 2 and becoming an angel. Otherwise, Alger would have preferred to let the "Hermit" lady, with whom he was cooperating in the search, speak first, and then add his own comments as needed, to avoid drawing too much attention.

Fortunately, the extraordinary characteristics of Cattleya Sequence 2, who also possesses naval power and whose "functions" overlap to some extent, will be obtained from the "Mysterious Queen." Therefore, the attention paid to this matter is purely out of the duty of the Tarot Club members and their reverence for the gods. There was no competition for credit, which would have made the situation awkward.

After Alger finished his report, "The Moon" Emlyn straightened up, glanced around instinctively, and then bowed to "The Queen," saying:
"Vampires have also been discovered in the Southern Continent. The remaining part of 'Giddas''s body was suspected to have been sent to the Underworld, together with the power belonging to... 'Omibella'."

Emlyn paused when mentioning the title that originally belonged to the "Earth Mother Goddess," and seeing everyone's attention focused on her, she quickly continued:

"This intelligence was aided by the 'Angel of Death,' who said that further action may require your instructions." "His caution is justified," the mist-shrouded "Queen" nodded, her tone more subdued than usual. "The underworld of the Southern Continent may very well hold the body of the oldest death god, the 'Phoenix Ancestor' Greta Garley. Entering rashly could be dangerous."

He, not Him… “Justice” Audrey looked at Angel and realized that the other’s use of the term “Angel of Death” recorded in the Church of Fools’ scriptures was not an unintentional mistake, but rather a special kind of respect.

But before she could think about it further, she realized that Mr. "Moon" had finished his report, so she bowed slightly to Angel and said:
"The royal family and nobles of the Kingdom of Rune are reaching a consensus to reduce their overseas troop presence under the pretext of postwar financial strain, gradually abandon their colonies in the southern continent, and retain only economic control over some cities, just as they abandoned the Roside Islands in the later stages of the war."

“I think this is related to the fact that the new King Edsack II was not yet firmly established and did not have enough control over the military. In addition, the things that George III did in secret, such as concealing the actions of the Night, Storm and Steam Church, also made the royal family more accommodating to the three major churches on many issues.”

Audrey Hepburn, the "Dream Weaver," certainly played a crucial role in this, but she didn't place herself first like the "Hanged Man" or the "Moon," and didn't even mention it at all.

This is an essential quality of a qualified "audience"... She silently explained her behavior.

After listening to her story, Angel nodded calmly, but glanced at the noblewoman who was striving for her ideals, causing her to blush and lower her head for some reason before commenting:

"The royal angels know about the end times and understand what they must do. It is inevitable that they will abandon the Southern Continent and allow order to return there, and other countries will do the same."

"Of course, it's thanks to you that Rune was able to make the decision so quickly."

"My credit..." Audrey was suddenly filled with a sense of accomplishment, but then she remembered another question that had been bothering her for a while:
"Is this related to that 'Black Emperor'?"

“He is Russell Gustav, who was resurrected two years ago,” Angel said frankly. “This is a process of redistributing spheres of influence among new gods, old gods, and resurrected deities, which I think you are familiar with.”

It was indeed the Emperor of Intis who provided a large amount of the "Russell Diary," enabling the Tarot Society to initially operate... Did He need other gods to relinquish their colonies for the sake of his own faith, for the sake of an "anchor"? The order He created still exists, and the nation of Intis still exists, so why is the Southern Continent, divided into various countries and in a state of chaos, still needed?
The other members fell into deep thought, but only the "Hermit" Cattleya vaguely understood the reason.

No wonder the Queen has hardly made any public appearances in the past two years. She has been busy with matters concerning her father and that deity... And she once said that her father regretted his hasty opening of a safe sea route between the north and south continents, which led to more than a hundred years of suffering on that continent... Is this the remedy He wanted to make?

Caldelia was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. She was relieved that the Queen had found her father and that they were truly reunited instead of being separated by death, but she also felt wronged because the Queen was busy with other things and had become distant from her.

"Maybe I'll be able to see her again when I'm ready to become an angel..." Cattleya muttered to herself.

While everyone was lost in thought or troubled, Leonard, the "Star," carefully chose his words and spoke:

“During one of my operations… in the church’s campaign to exterminate believers of evil gods, I encountered an extraordinary individual who called himself ‘Destiny.’ His abilities were extremely rare and not found in any of my knowledge or in any of the church’s records.”

He recounted how he dragged the other into a dark "nightmare world," fought this saint who could create some kind of bizarre cycle, and repeatedly killed the enemy three times before finally defeating him, yet failing to find any extraordinary characteristics. He concluded by saying:
“Through the interrogation of other followers of evil gods, I only obtained two useful pieces of information: they believe in a great being called ‘Destiny’, and ‘Destiny’ can grant them the ability to hunt and exchange fate… Of course, I have confirmed that this does not belong to the parasitic and theft through ‘wrong’ means.”

As the last note faded, all members of the Tarot Club fell into deep thought once again.

Having traveled through the starry sky, Fors, the "magician," could guess that the "destiny" mentioned by the cultists most likely referred to the great being known as the "Ring of Destiny." She also knew that the "old days" of each star system, including those that had not yet come to this star system but were watching from outside the barrier, represented one or more complete and extraordinary paths. However, before becoming an angel, she dared not deliberately collect relevant information for fear of being corrupted or targeted by the Outer Gods. Therefore, she did not know which path this power of death and resurrection came from.

A moment later, everyone turned their attention to the "Queen," eagerly awaiting the deity's answer, just as they had awaited the "Fool's" response.

“That’s the ability of the ‘Ring Man’.” Angel was about to tap the table like Klein, but stopped at the last moment and slowly replied, “It doesn’t belong to the existing twenty-two extraordinary pathways, but comes from the stars.”

"The same as those six special routes?"

Leonard immediately thought of the six special pathways from the stars, such as "the moon" and "mother," that had been discussed at the previous tarot meeting, and asked in return.

“Yes, but knowing too much won’t do you any good, including the details of these powers and the so-called ‘Great Beings’… unless you become an angel,” Angel warned. “Also, ‘Ring People’ can only cycle a maximum of nine times.”

Nine times? But I only killed him three times... Leonard was stunned, and immediately realized that during that battle, Pales within him had secretly taken action and stolen a portion of the opponent's abilities. Otherwise, when he first encountered the "Ring Man," this fearful bishop might not have been able to leave behind an enemy with bizarre abilities and a lack of information.

But the old man didn't say this outright. Was he worried that the more I knew, the more susceptible I would be to corruption? Thinking of this, Leonard decided not to pursue the matter any further and instead secretly glanced at the "Magician" opposite him.

As he became an angel, his desire to truly understand everything grew ever stronger.

……

After everyone continued exchanging information and sharing their experiences from the past week, the gathering ended with Angel's indifferent voice.

Just as he was about to be returned to reality, Leonard looked once more at the slender figure in the mist, hesitated for a moment, and said:

"Excuse me, if I have some letters that I wish to give to... to him, may I offer them as a sacrifice to Mr. 'Fool'?"

Leave it to him?
The group of people, who were sitting in their seats waiting to leave, turned their gazes over, some in a hurry and some in a slow manner. Among them, a few members, such as "Justice" and "Magician", seemed to have thought of something and looked at Angel again.

The latter was clearly stunned for a moment, then nodded and said:

"anytime."

This sentence was no longer as cold as before, but carried a hint of warmth.

(End of this chapter)