Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1370 Deep in the Underworld
On the southern continent, beside Lake Dalsh in the Lacre region, three angels who were preparing to explore the underworld had made all the necessary preparations.

Fors, the "Planetary Healer," took out the golden mask again and put it on her face. A cold sensation spread from the mask to her entire body, making her once warm body stiff and the blood in her veins stop flowing.

In an instant, she transformed from a living person into a pale-skinned, lifeless ghost. Her eyes, visible through the holes surrounded by black and white paint, became hazy, and everything in her vision seemed shrouded in gloom. The distant Dalsh Lake, reflecting the blue sky, white clouds, and snow-capped mountains, dimmed completely, like a black hole that swallowed everything.

Before her, the "Holy Angel" Renette Tinicol had also returned to normal human size, her beautiful figure hidden beneath an elaborate black dress, her blood-red eyes shining brightly in the gray vision of the undead.

This lady, who looks like an old-fashioned noblewoman from the Northern Continent, is actually a "divine abomination" of Sequence 1... If I remember correctly, she was originally Mr. "World's" messenger, with an empty neck and four identical heads in her hands... Fors dared not think too much and turned to look at Mr. "Death Archon" Azik.

Seeing that the two were ready, the latter walked step by step toward the shimmering lakeside.

As Azik approached, a chilling aura quickly spread, causing the temperature on the lakeside, which was under the direct sunlight during the summer, to plummet, almost freezing the grass.

But Fors was wearing the golden mask that "Death" Salinger had made for his descendants, which could transform them into undead in a short time. His body was colder than the surrounding environment, so he naturally did not feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, he felt like he was back home in this eerie atmosphere. Renette's pathway was characterized by "zombie" and "vengeful spirit" transformations, so cold and heat were no longer important to her.

When Azik stopped, countless human skulls had appeared on the lakeside, which was quickly covered in frost. They were piled up into a small mountain more than ten meters high, numbering at least nearly ten thousand. At the top was the most conspicuous crystal skull, which was larger than the others. It was crystal clear and faced the direction of Fors. Its eye sockets reflected a bronze double door full of mysterious patterns.

So many skulls piled up on the lakeside outside Lacree City, and they've gone unnoticed? I didn't notice them either. Could this be an illusion, or some kind of strange phenomenon arising from the intersection of reality and the underworld, like the spirit world merging with reality...? Fors was analyzing based on his own experience when he heard Azik's gentle voice beside him:

"This is the origin of the 'Skull Blessing Festival' in the Lacre region, an innovation of a Byron Empire official who used the skull of an immortal to open the gate between the real world and the underworld, preventing it from closing completely. In this way, the dead in the vicinity have a place to rest, and their spirits no longer become evil spirits lingering in the human world and causing harm."

"Of course, this also depends on the special nature of the lakeside itself; otherwise, what he opened would not be the gate to the underworld, but would release evil spirits and vengeful ghosts to destroy the entire city."

The Undead… does He refer to a demigod of the Death Path? This is similar to a Level 1 Sealed Artifact, and the leaked power from the Underworld has formed a special area on the shore of this lake… The Skull Blessing Festival sounds interesting. After completing this exploration, I can go and stroll around Lacre City… Fors’ thoughts wandered for a moment, until Azik continued to approach the semi-illusory, semi-real hill of skulls, causing the bronze door in the eye socket of the crystal skull to go from being only slightly open to being fully open.

Through the wide-open door, Fors could see endless darkness, countless eyes, and pale arms gripping the doors on either side, trying to squeeze out but then being frightened by Azik and turning back to disappear into the darkness.

Strangely, even though Azik was much taller than the crystal skull, the closer he got, the larger the small bronze door became, as if it were automatically matching the size of the descendant of "Death".

When He was only a step away from the door, the bronze gate had transformed into a huge cavity about five meters high, seemingly leading into the interior of a mountain of skulls.

Fors and Renette teleported and mirrored each other, appearing right next to Azik.

The three paused for a second, then walked together through the gate to the underworld and stepped into the deep darkness.

Behind them, the double bronze doors slammed shut, and the pale arms that had failed to escape were neatly arranged on both sides, slightly bent and resting on the ground like soldiers lining up to welcome a general.

The object of their respect and fear was clearly not me, and most likely not Ms. Renette, but Mr. "Angel of Death" Azik... Fors was quite aware of this, and continued to walk forward with Azik striding ahead.

Through her vision peering through the golden mask, a bottomless pit quickly appeared in the pitch-black space, shimmering with a faint light. It was composed of layers of blurry worlds, each seemingly small but containing an entire world within it. Each world overlapped with the others, extending chaotically into depths beyond her sight.

"Is this the underworld?"

Fors asked in a low voice, the sound coming from his cold throat like the whisper of the dead.

"It is a part. These countless worlds are connected to even more worlds. Each layer represents a sin in the human world. When the dead enter the underworld, they must first be punished in the corresponding world, going down layer by layer, until they finally reach the depths of the underworld."

Azik replied.

Renette silently walked past the two of them, peered down from the edge of the pit, and asked earnestly:

"Should we have some too?"

“Entering the depths of the underworld, we can traverse the worlds surrounding the River Styx layer by layer, eventually reaching the realm inhabited by the ‘Death God’s’ followers, or we can cross the River Styx directly to enter,” Azik said, pointing to the hazy world closest to the three of them. “Let’s go there first, and then find the River Styx.”

The other two had no objections and jumped directly into the pit, instantly merging into a world that, while seemingly small, possessed an almost infinite space.

Having already begun to grasp the authority of "positioning," Fors, who would not get lost during his travels in the spirit world or the astral realm, discovered that although he and the other two were falling straight down, their positions in space had become extremely chaotic, as if they were traveling through the spirit world.

According to legend, the ancient god of death created his own divine kingdom in the spirit world, so from a mystical perspective, this vast space belongs to the spirit world... Just as she made a guess, her feet stepped back onto the earth, and her location became clear and stable.

She, along with Azik, who was holding down her top hat, and Renette, who was smoothing her skirt, arrived in a wilderness made of gray and white rocks. Above them was a pale, dim sky, and all around them were countless dense skeletons stretching into the distance where no end could be seen.

If all the dead come to the underworld, then these worlds would probably be filled with the remains of all the dead over thousands of years, not including the fifth era after the underworld closed... What about the River Styx that Mr. Azik mentioned...? Fors looked around and found the scenery here to be unusually monotonous. Not to mention the River Styx, he didn't even see a single rolling hill.

Of course, the entire world is tilted at an angle that is not noticeable without careful observation, slowly descending in a certain direction. Fors guessed that if one wanted to "go deep" into the underworld, it would likely be necessary to proceed in that direction.

"Which way to go?"

The blonde, red-eyed Ms. Renette also looked around before looking at Azik and asking.

He seemed to be the kind of person who spoke his mind... Although Fors had the same question, he originally wanted to wait for Azik to speak up, but unexpectedly, the "Holy Angel" had already asked the question first.

“Crossing the boundary of the wilderness will lead to the next world, but we won’t go that way. The ‘River Styx’ runs through every layer of the underworld, reaching the deepest part. As long as we cross it, we can reach it at the fastest speed…” Azik said, raising his hand to point in the direction where the wilderness slopes downwards. Fors looked ahead and saw a faint, illusory, dark river in the pale sky. It came from the horizon and seemed to flow back to the horizon, without end or limit.

No wonder they need a Planeswalker like me to participate in the exploration. My teleportation can instantly traverse long distances, and although the "Location" authority can only be fully possessed at Sequence 1, even just touching the authority's power can prevent getting lost in the multiple worlds of the Underworld... Having figured this out, Fors had a thought and was about to try teleporting to a distant place and then returning the way he came.

Suddenly, her alert spirituality stopped her.

There is some risk, but not much... Is "teleportation" within the underworld a dangerous act? Fors was taken aback and subconsciously looked at the descendant of the Grim Reaper.

“...Generally speaking, 'teleportation' or any movement or leaping involving the spirit world here will incur punishment. This is a 'rule' that existed since the early days of the underworld.” Azik glanced at Fors and continued, “But angels using the 'gate' are an exception; the punishment can't keep up with your speed.”

It means I run very fast… Fors was speechless for a moment. She wasn't in a hurry to try teleporting anymore, but instead asked in confusion:

Why would Death, Salinger, set such a rule that targets his own path? Does He want his descendants to measure the entire underworld on foot, rather than quickly reaching their destination?

Upon hearing this, Azik smiled and replied:
"Because these rules were not set by my father, but by the original Grim Reaper, the Phoenix Ancestor, Greta Garley."

"In addition to possessing the power of the 'Death God' pathway, He also incorporates the uniqueness and some extraordinary characteristics of the 'Gate,' which drove Him mad and gave Him the power to create the Underworld in the Dark Ages using the authority of 'Space.'"

Was the pathway I was on controlled by the Grim Reaper, Greygarde? Right, the ancient gods of that era went mad because they absorbed the power of non-adjacent pathways… According to Mr. “Door,” Greygarde also seemed to be trying to utilize the primal power of the “River of Eternal Darkness,” which was utterly insane… Fors’s mind raced, and he couldn’t help but ask further:
"and after?"

Renette, standing nearby, also appeared to be listening attentively, seemingly quite interested in this secret.

"After being severely injured by the 'Ancient Sun God,' the Phoenix Ancestor fled to the Southern Continent and hid himself by using the authority of the 'Gate,' so that even the most powerful god could not find him."

Azik gazed at the distant River Styx and spoke slowly.

"But in the end, my father found Him with the help of another angel king, killed the critically injured and dying Greta, who was trying to regain her power through the underworld, and ascended to become the new 'Grim Reaper' by merging with the underworld and turning it into the final resting place of the dead."

"Gregory's remains were left in the deepest part of the underworld, as a tool for her father to better control the underworld and gain greater power."

“I suspect that He is trying to seize the power of the ‘River of Eternal Darkness,’ and that tributary of the source is the River Styx deep in the underworld.”

Another angel king... if nothing unexpected happens, it will be Mr. "Gate" Bethel Abraham. After that, Salinger became "Death God". Bethel possessed the complete three Sequence 1 characteristics and corresponding uniqueness, but due to certain concerns, he sealed some of the characteristics and did not become a god... Fors had some guesses and understood why the power of the Death God Path to travel in the underworld was restricted, while the high-level teleportation of the Gate Path could be done without triggering penalties.

That was a "backdoor" that Greta Garley, the progenitor of the phoenix, subconsciously left for herself.

Having figured this out, Fors no longer worried about the warnings from the spirits. Instead, he used "teleportation" to traverse the vast, pale land and countless corpses, appearing at the farthest point in sight.

This short-distance teleportation for a "Planetary Planeswalker" doesn't even require actually entering the spirit world; it's just a "point-to-point" movement and doesn't trigger any so-called "punishment." However, behind her, countless twisted, pale arms stretched out from the void, seemingly trying to grab something, their fingers constantly flexing and extending, leaving a trail of pale marks in the air.

If I were any slower, they would probably have caught me, and the consequences would have been unimaginable... Relieved, Fors teleported back to her original position, grabbed Renette's outstretched arm with one hand, and placed the other hand in Azik's outstretched palm.

The three figures disappeared in an instant.

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.

Near the border between Rune and Intis, at the top of the Hornach Mountains, within the ruins of the "Night Kingdom".

Antigonus strolled through the once bustling streets, now reduced to ruins. Countless believers and worshippers of the "Mother of Heaven" had lived here, and after their deaths, they would enter the "City of the Dead" as puppets to continue their lives.

In the Land of Night, death is not the end, but a new beginning.

Of course, as the former ruler of the city of the dead, Antigonus did not come to reminisce about the past or remember his sister; he had other missions on this trip.

Passing through an increasingly magnificent complex of buildings that bore the hallmarks of a Second Age "kingdom of giants," He arrived before His own castle.

This place had been ravaged in a new battle, filled with the aura of destruction and conquest, reminding Him of a former king, the Blood Emperor Tudor.

That was a wonderful era… Thoughts kept flashing through His mind, and He suddenly looked toward a corner of the palace where He was worshipped.

A familiar figure emerged from the shadows, first with his dark, medium-length hair and azure eyes, then with a well-tailored classical robe, and finally with his stern face.

"Long time no see, Bethel."

Antigonus smiled and greeted him.

P.S.: We chatted a lot... I was so exhausted from work all day that I just woke up, so I can only type this much...

(End of this chapter)