Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1374 "Mother"

The mirror... There is only one ruler in the world of the mirror, so the "Queen" has made her move?

Fors looked up in the direction the mirror had appeared and was disappointed to find that it had been thrown by the "God's Abomination," Renette Tinicol, who had returned to her normal form.

With a wave of his hand, the mirror, which looked eerie and terrifying, returned to his hand. Then, the surrounding frame was wrapped with thorn-like dark black patterns, which briefly calmed the dark red mist that was already struggling to escape the mirror and return to reality.

Only then did Fors confirm that the aura emanating from the remains of the "Phoenix Progenitor," who had died and been resurrected, belonged to the strongest Ancient outside the barrier, the "Fallen Mother Goddess."

Sure enough, Greygardy's "corpse transformation" was the work of that pillar-level Old One, including the giant bird egg He laid in His corpse state... That aura just now probably wanted to enter the bird egg, creating more problems within the barrier and hastening the end of the world, but... Lady Renette was prepared?

Fors's previous instructions were to come to the Southern Continent to meet up with several other angels and explore the Underworld together to find some of "Giddas's" remains. However, it now seems that Mr. Azik and Ms. Renette may have other tasks, such as returning the resurrected "Grim Reaper" Greta Garley to dust and stopping the "Fallen Mother Goddess" from some of her schemes. That's why when Fors wanted to retreat earlier, "God's Abomination" Renette decisively entered her mythical creature form and launched an attack... Thinking of this, Fors felt a faint sense of grievance, as if she were being isolated by others.

Of course, she understood that this was a necessary consideration to mitigate risk. As the most mobile "Planetary Planeswalker," she was responsible for sending everyone to the depths of the Underworld. As a descendant of Salinger, "Death Archon" Azik was the guide to the Underworld, while the most powerful "God Abomination" was responsible for dealing with any enemies they might encounter and for launching a deadly attack on Gregarie.

Moreover, Fors just sensed a power that did not belong to the underworld, which penetrated the spirit world and entered the "Calamity" talisman. This must have been caused by the Queen, meaning that the "Goddess of Calamity" has been watching everyone and is ready to help at any time.

Thinking about it this way, Fors felt much better. She teleported to the edge of the wilderness where she had been before and watched as Azik carefully removed the white bone crown from his head and put on the top hat.

The "Pale Crown" seemed to possess a living quality, constantly emanating a dissipating aura and bringing a chilling sense of death.

"After each use, a saint needs to be sacrificed to appease the sealed object. Of course, those that can be resurrected can also be included."

Azik explained with a smile that he was sealing the crown initially, temporarily preventing it from expanding its pale kingdom.

The cost of using it is huge... but it can balance or even temporarily overpower the Pale Kingdom created by "Phoenix Ancestor" Greta Garley. It must be a Seal 1 extraordinary characteristic seal artifact, possibly even ranking in the top ten among the seal artifact systems of the major churches. So the side effects are acceptable... Fors was a little emotional, wondering whether this crown came from the "Church of Fools" or the "Church of the End Times".

The reason her battle with Renette seemed so easy just now was indeed due to the crown's ability to counter Greta's "domain." Otherwise, the former's high-frequency teleportation would have been greatly suppressed, and the latter wouldn't have been able to reach the Phoenix so easily and use the "Calamity" spell.

A moment later, Renette, who had been dozens of meters tall like a castle, slowly floated down. She held the red-glowing mirror in one hand and naturally put the other hand on Fors's arm, reminding the latter of her main role today—a tool.

It's alright, I've been used by Mr. Fool before, can you do that...? She chuckled to herself, took another passenger's hand, and casually asked:

"What should we do with that phoenix egg? Destroy it along with the rest of the bird?"

Renette, with a cold expression, shook her head:

"The power of the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' has been sealed away and will not change in the short term. Staying in the Underworld is the best option."

Fors turned her gaze from the black giant egg to Azik:

"After Greygardy's eternal sleep, will the depths of the underworld remain in this pale state, keeping the dead at bay?"

“Because no new ‘Grim Reaper’ is born, this pale kingdom still belongs to Greta Garry, unless another Pale Emperor arrives and gradually merges it into his own domain, making it open to the dead again,” Azik explained, looking around at the palace complex that had gradually turned pale after “0-65” withdrew its power and the white wilderness leading to the void. “And this is the ‘Grim Reaper’s’ ascension ritual.”

In other words, either a new Grim Reaper will be born, or the Goddess of Night will become the Old One and take control of the "death" authority; otherwise, the Underworld will remain in its current state... No wonder many worlds outside the barrier experience uncontrollable undead calamities and are overrun by undead creatures. It's all because the Underworld has lost its master and has even been corrupted by the concept of "rebirth"... Fors sighed, grabbed his two companions, and, with the help of "location," found the coordinates outside the Underworld and teleported directly out.

The pale kingdom fell silent once more. Beneath Greygardy's withered corpse, the black-faced phoenix egg burned quietly, its pale flames seemingly solidified, merging with the surrounding kingdom.

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.

As Fors stepped out of the spirit world, crimson moonlight appeared before her eyes, along with the tranquil Dalsh Lake and the snow-capped mountains sinking into the night in the distance. The aura that had been constantly eroding her and trying to turn her into an undead was also gone.

"The underworld is too dangerous, Earth is much safer..." she muttered, releasing her grip on Azik's hand. Renette also released her own arm, and the three angels remained silent under the moonlight.

What should we do now? Say goodbye and leave? This is the first time I've participated in this kind of "event" as an angel... Fors looked at Azik, who had been the governor of the Byron Empire since the Fourth Epoch, hoping that he would set an example, but before the latter could take any further action, she noticed that the "Giddas" corpse, which she had locked in an independent space created by the spirit world, had changed.

With a whoosh, she put the corpse, which had been split vertically in half and only had its left half left, back into reality, letting it fall to the ground with a "thud," still in the position of crawling forward on its hands and feet.

But then it quickly changed direction, heading north, as if that was its new target, not the previous Greygardy and the phoenix egg.

At the same time, the three angels, who could either teleport through the spirit world or travel through it, sensed a powerful being descending through the spirit world and all looked towards the north.

At the edge of their vision, two figures quickly emerged. One of them wore a classical robe and had ethereal black hair and azure eyes. He was none other than Fors' mentor, Mr. "The Door," Bethel Abraham. He was being held down by the shoulder and brought along with him the "Hanged Man," Alger, who had seaweed-like blue hair and was carrying a black body bag that was constantly wriggling in his hand.

As soon as the two appeared, the half of Giddas's corpse on the ground crawled more actively in that direction, only to be restrained in place by Renette.

"It seems the last part of the body has been found."

Upon seeing this, Bethel smiled and said...

The last part... Fors was stunned and found that his mentor had a swollen and rotten severed hand, twice the size of a normal person's arm. Alger also shook out the shroud he was carrying, letting the right half of the headless corpse, missing its arm, and a rotten, bluish-black head roll out.

All the dismembered parts of "Giddas" converged here, and under the crimson moonlight, they regained their vitality and crawled towards their remaining parts. Seeing this, Renette also loosened the restraints on the left half of the headless corpse, freeing it to press tightly against her right half.

The abscessed severed hand returned to the body, actively grabbing another part of the corpse and pulling it towards itself. The two severed ends merged seamlessly, fitting together perfectly.

Immediately, the headless body, missing only its head, slowly stood up, grabbed the tangled hair of the dark blue head rolling towards it, and pressed it against its neck. The rotting flesh writhed and merged together, almost instantly healing the wound.

The bluish-black corpse, over two meters tall including its head, stood upright, its eyes—eyeballs gone, only dark sockets remaining—gazing at the crimson moon overhead. It stood motionless. This… “Giddars” was still alive, and could even fuse the different parts of the corpse together? Wasn’t it the “Moon” pathway angel who fell in the ancient era? Was this a zombie transformation like Greygardy’s, or had it also been corrupted by “rebirth”?
Fors stared blankly as everything unfolded, until Mr. "Door" Bethel said in a deep voice:

“He does not possess any extraordinary characteristics, but there should be a portion of the power of ‘gift’ within him.”

He didn't explicitly state the source of the gift because there was another Sequence 3 "Sea King" present, but Fors immediately understood that it must have come from some ancient being, or the source matter within the barrier.

So, is Giddas alive or dead now? If he's alive, will putting him back into the spirit world cause any strange changes...? There are also alien specialties I've collected inside... Should we send Mr. Hanged Man away first, and then we can discuss this...? Fors's mind was racing with thoughts. Just as she was about to make a suggestion, she noticed that the moonlight above her head had become even redder, and fragments of phosphorescent light rapidly coalesced, forming a winged human figure.

Another one has arrived... She watched silently as the figure became clearer. "Moon" Emlyn, with black hair, red eyes, and a rather handsome appearance, flapped his huge bat wings and slowly landed in front of everyone.

"Phew, thank goodness I can teleport and fly in the moonlight, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get here so quickly."

He spoke in a low voice, as if talking to himself, but in a tone that was just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Apart from Alger the Hanged Man, the angels present, who could instantly teleport to any location on this planet using the spirit world, looked at each other, and surprisingly, no one spoke.

"What's the matter with you?"

Alger asked hesitantly, a sense of unease creeping into his heart as he prepared to complete the task entrusted to him by the "Fool" and the "Queen."
The body of "Giddas" has already been pieced together, are you here to assemble the head?
Seeing everyone staring at him, Emlyn retracted his illusory bat wings, carefully took out a palm-sized card from the inside pocket of his trench coat, and showed it to everyone:

“I brought this ‘blasphemous card’.”

The card in his hand depicted a feminine image of Roselle, with long chestnut hair that curled at the ends, blue eyes, a high nose, and thin lips. She sat on a cushioned chaise lounge, wearing a maternity dress, her belly protruding, radiating maternal glow.

In the upper left corner of the card, a line of text is formed by glittering stars:
"Sequence 0: Mother".

Another blasphemous card... Although the Tarot Society's search for His diary and the deck of cards that hides the secrets of the divine path is still ongoing since the resurrection of Emperor Roselle, it has been some time since they have found any new ones... Fors focused his gaze, trying to use his spirituality to confirm whether the deck in Mr. "The Moon's" hand was genuine, but he failed.

By the way, all twenty-two cards possess powerful anti-divination and anti-prophecy abilities, so we didn't even notice Emlyn, who held the "Mother" card, arriving, nor did we notice Mr. Door... Realizing this, she took the initiative to speak to ease the awkwardness:

"This is the 12th one."

Before this, the Tarot Club had a total of eleven cards: "Black Emperor", "Tyrant", "Witch", "Red Priestess", "Fool", "Hermit", "Judge", "Darkness", "Dreamer", "The Sun" and "The Door". Except for the Black Emperor, these cards correspond to the paths of the ten members, except for "The World", which is essentially an incarnation of "Fool", and "The Moon" Emlyn.

Now, the "Mother" card has also appeared. If we disregard Mr. "The World," which symbolizes this card, then it corresponds to Emlyn. This pathway happens to be adjacent to the "Moon" pathway. Does this mean he might jump to Sequence 2 of the adjacent pathway? I remember that would force someone to become female... Fors' thoughts wandered for a moment, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up, but she forcibly suppressed it and asked instead:
Where did you find this 'mother' picture?

It should be noted that this deck of cards, created by Emperor Roselle, cannot be found through divination. Even with the combined power of the two deities of the Tarot Society and the two major churches they control, they have only managed to collect exactly half of it in the past few years. The other half remains completely untraceable and is likely in the hands of other orthodox churches.

The "Mother" card represents a special individual that Mr. Fool and the "Queen" specifically warned about, who may possess certain contamination.

“Of course, it’s because of the efforts of the vampires,” Emlyn straightened his back and answered with his head held high, then stopped his flamboyant gestures under the gaze of the angels. “Actually, it was a vampire count from Feneport who voluntarily handed it over to the elders. At the same time, the progenitor issued a divine decree, which, after being confirmed by the chosen ones, instructed me to take this blasphemous token and dispose of it as I see fit…”

“After I reported to Mr. Fool, He told me to bring ‘Mother’ here to join you.”

Voluntarily handing it over... The Vampire Count is the "Witch King" of Sequence 4 of the Moon Path. If he obtains this blasphemous card, he has the opportunity to jump to an adjacent path. Even the most devout believer would hesitate. How could he possibly hand it over voluntarily? Moreover, the Earth Mother Goddess, the progenitor of the vampires, Lilith, gave the correct oracle, allowing Emlyn to dispose of the card himself. That is tantamount to handing it over to the Tarot Society, to Mr. Fool and Miss Queen. Aren't there too many coincidences and arrangements involved...? Fors subconsciously thought of a deity and spiritually alerted himself as he looked at "Giddas," who was gazing at the moon to the side.

Seemingly because of the arrival of the "mother," the corpse, which had been shrouded in crimson moonlight and had been motionless as if in a daze, suddenly lowered its head.

Its skin, swollen from being stretched by the putrid liquid and the gas produced inside, shrank as if deflated, then fell off in pieces, pattering onto the grass, evaporating into thick smoke, while fresh flesh and fair skin wriggled and grew beneath.

Several angels sensed a vibrant, life-giving force bursting forth from the corpse, but they did not act; instead, they quietly watched as things unfolded.

This is clearly a scheme by "The Fool," "Goddess of Calamity," and a certain deity who secretly arranged for the arrival of the "Mother" card. Since the deities have foreseen this, it means that the resurrection of "Giddas" is not a bad thing.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the two-meter-tall corpse, stripped of its rotten, blackened flesh, shrank in size, revealing its fair skin and slender, beautiful limbs under the moonlight.

The head that had been placed on her neck just minutes before was the same; the black skin fell off and evaporated, revealing a delicate and handsome face. The features, composed of a high nose, long eyelashes, and tightly pursed lips, were breathtakingly beautiful, like a flawless work of art.

If it weren't for the clearly defined muscle lines beneath its fair and translucent skin on its chest, abdomen, and limbs, and the presence of that thing between its legs, everyone would subconsciously mistake it for a high-ranking witch.

Even so, Fors, Azik and other angels held their breath, while Alger and Emlyn, who had not yet attained angelic status, swallowed hard, feeling that they were beginning to develop a certain interest in the same sex.

Their previously depleted spirituality seemed to be restored through this transgender beauty, and their bodies and minds were soothed.

Is this the power of the "Moon" angel? I remember that Sequence 2 of this path is "Creator" and Sequence 1 is "Goddess of Beauty". Indeed, she is so beautiful that even angels are intoxicated by her beauty... But "Goddess of Beauty" will force men to become women, and the one in front of me has obviously not reached that point yet... Barely breaking free from the beauty of "Giddas" that has changed under the influence of the "Mother" card and is like a resurrection, Fors immediately began to analyze the current situation.

As if to confirm her guess, Giddas's perfect body suddenly trembled, his upper body leaned back slightly, his lips parted slightly to reveal his white teeth, and his slender fingers clenched into fists, as if he was enduring intense pain.

Its originally flat chest began to bulge, and the muscle lines changed to a softer and more curvaceous direction, and its sexual characteristics changed significantly in an instant.

Could it be that I'm really going to become a woman...? The same thought popped into the minds of the angels and saints who knew the characteristics of the highest level of the "Moon" pathway.

The next second, the change came to an abrupt halt, leaving "Giddas" in a strange state where it was stuck halfway through the transformation. Its perfect face, which combined masculine beauty with feminine grace, contorted in pain, and its eyelids under its long eyelashes opened, revealing a pair of scarlet eyes.

Those eyes, like those of a vampire, immediately looked at Emlyn, who was holding the "Mother" sign and had a blank expression.

PS: Thank you to the generous donors "God, save me" and "Rex0Tong" for their generous donations to Xiao Ke!
　Thank you to the generous donors "God, save me" and "Rex0Tong" for their generous donations to Xiao Ke!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)