Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1391 Two battlefields
As Medici led Palles Zoroastrian deep behind enemy lines and dealt a heavy blow to one of the archangels of the "Mother Tree of Desire," an ancient-looking black three-masted sailing ship swiftly emerged from the edge of the temporary barrier protecting the Earth.

This is the "Queen Anne's Revenge," built in the early Quaternary period and still active on the five seas today!
It lacked propulsion for spaceflight, yet its speed was comparable to that of the fiery red priestess pathway angels. Scattered across the deck were a dozen or so figures, each with their own role: some activated the ubiquitous passageways in the mirror world to aid the ghost ship's rapid flight; others erected impenetrable barriers of light to defend against attacks from all directions; still others conjured dazzling bolts of lightning, shooting them towards the enemies ahead…

Standing at the bow of the ship was a middle-aged man with a thick beard and a solemn expression. He was William Augustus, the "Hand of Order" who supported the Kingdom of Loen throughout the Fifth Age. At this moment, he was carefully observing the battlefield situation and the position of the enemy angels in order to decide on the rules that would be favorable to his side later.

Behind Him, Anne Gustav, dressed in a white dress and floating barefoot, focused all her energy on controlling the warship and coordinating the power of the assisting angels, and did not care that the limelight was stolen by the founder of the Kingdom of Rune, who had fought a great battle with her four years ago.

The "galactic battleship" composed of an entire squad of angels rolled into the loose formation of the Outer God angels like a hedgehog curled up with its quills sticking out. This caused the enemies, who had little sense of cooperation and were only thinking about quickly penetrating the Earth's barrier to slaughter believers or hunting Earth angels in battle to seize their special abilities, to hurriedly dodge, and their formation was instantly shattered.

Of course, they also had the most basic combat awareness and quickly reacted, beginning to besiege the isolated warship. "Blade of Destiny" used its mercury-silver illusory dagger to cut off the tributary of fate that allowed the Queen Anne's Revenge to escape from here. "Giant of Time" approached the warship, slowing its speed and making the ancient warship look even older and more dilapidated. "Star Dragon" summoned a dense asteroid, which crashed head-on into the ghost ship, which seemed insignificant in comparison.

Above the battlefield, a thin, previously indistinct figure became clearer.

That was a Sequence 1 "Observer" who believed in "Higher Dimensional Overlookers". He noticed that the fulcrum of the battlefield was the ancient giant ship that carried more than a dozen Earth angels. Once the vehicle was destroyed, they would be left defenseless and fighting alone, and would be instantly surrounded by hundreds of Outer God angels with no chance of escape.

Therefore, He risked approaching this region in a higher dimension, intending to use His observations to influence reality and pinpoint the fate of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Of course, as the most cautious observer, He did not forget to scan the entire battlefield to make sure that none of the Earth's angels had noticed His arrival, so as to avoid being attacked unexpectedly.

Looking down on reality from a higher dimension doesn't mean you can avoid all attacks from the shadows... He looked around and suddenly noticed that there were a few fewer enemies on the battlefield.

Those were not the enemies who were severely injured and forced back into the barrier during the defense because they were unfamiliar with the abilities of the Outer God Angels, but the enemies who suddenly disappeared just now!

The Observer felt a chill and was about to ascend to a higher dimension to leave this place, but a mist composed of dazzling starlight had already appeared beside Him.

This mist not only isolated the spirit world, which already had a weakened connection with the outer gods and angels, but also directly "located" His location, making the originally thin figure solid and revealing His true form.

That is the mapping of a higher-dimensional observer in this dimension.

At the same time, with the help of a collective teleportation, several angels appeared beside this Sequence 1 archangel. The one leading them was not Medici, who had just severely injured "Leviathan", but Judith, the "Calamity" witch of the End Church and everyone's "grandmother".

His originally beautiful face became somewhat androgynous, and red flames ignited at the ends of his long black hair. In his hand, a terrifying greatsword, formed from his own black flames and the purple flames shared by the red priests, bound with destructive power, was cleaved down towards the "Observer," whose outline had been drawn by the "magician" Fors.

He was merely an insignificant cog in a war machine composed of interconnected angels.

On the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was being targeted by the "Observer," William I raised his hand and separated Judith and the others from the target in an independent area using the power of "Balance." The unbalanced forces within were then distorted by a "Duke of Entropy" from the military. Antigonus, who was accompanying Judith in the form of a puppet, made his wish, rendering many of the "Observer's" backup resurrection methods ineffective. A "prophet" who revealed the form of a mythical creature, like a giant mercury serpent, brought heavy misfortune to the common enemy. The starlight gates condensed by "Mr. Door" were nested on the "Observer," preventing it from leaving this space for a short period of time and ascending to a higher dimension that no one could reach.

Everything was accomplished simultaneously under the command of "The Conqueror" Sauron, who was positioned at the rear of the battlefield, like a perfectly coordinated and orderly machine. Only then did Judith's destructive greatsword strike the figure outlined by the starlight.

The figure instantly twisted and shattered in the black flames, like a phantom from another dimension.

That was just a fabricated, false goal!

But Judith was not discouraged. Instead, she continued to drive the combination of black and purple flames, allowing the flames of destruction to travel through several dimensions along mystical connections and ignite on the body of the higher-dimensional observer.

This is a key reason why Earth's angelic legions launched their main attack with "Red Priests" or "Witches"—they can ignore most illusions and clones and directly strike the enemy's main body.

boom--

A black flame flower from another dimension burst open high in the sky above the battlefield, which was difficult to reach. After most of the "Observer's" resurrection methods were sealed by the "Miracle Master's" wishes, the "Observer" was severely injured in the attack that crossed time and dimensions.

Seeing this, a "Tree God" belonging to the "Fallen Mother Goddess," whose body resembled a green oak tree, emitted a faint light. It was about to use the power of "rebirth" to heal the wounded observer and the "Leviathan" that had just been ambushed and seriously injured by Medici. Meanwhile, the "Voice of the Heart," which lingered in the depths of the hearts of different angels and had no specific form of its own, uttered murmurs that resounded throughout the entire Mirror World, causing terrifying and maddening sounds to echo in the hearts of all the Earth angels.

But the next second, these crazy impulses were "soothed" by the "dreamer" angels such as Audrey and Hermes, who had been on guard all along. The "new life" that the "tree god" tried to pass on to the two wounded archangels was also distorted by some force and fell on the "time giant" that was close to the Queen Anne's Revenge.

The power to create life and the power to symbolize the end mingled together, causing the giant's aging skin to peel away, revealing tender, rosy flesh beneath. This rejuvenation effect left the "decaying king" angel bewildered, causing him to clutch his body in anguish and writhe in agony.

He happened to be in front of the asteroid summoned by the "Star Dragon" and was hit directly, disappearing into the dust.

The observer who did not live to see "rebirth" took advantage of the chaos to ascend to the highest dimension He could reach, and left the mirror world without looking back, never to be seen again.

Not only was He afraid of being hunted down by terrifying attacks that crossed dimensions, He was also worried that He, severely injured, would become the target of other temporary “comrades-in-arms”. This was a Sequence 1 characteristic belonging to a “high-dimensional observer”!
Watching the thin figure drift away quickly, Judith shook her head regretfully.

Their mission is simply to drive away the angels belonging to the outer gods and protect the believers within the Earth who worship the various deities. However, if given the opportunity, killing some enemies and seizing their special abilities would certainly be even better.

Thinking this, His gaze shifted and settled on another archangel who belonged to the "declining king".

Suddenly, the entire mirror world began to shake violently. Even the temporary barrier protecting the Earth flickered and became unstable. Angels, whether from Earth or from outer gods, stopped moving in that instant and looked around in surprise.

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 reality, all the Outer Gods and the ancient beings of Earth have entered into a chaotic war.

The differences in size between the different great beings, and their concerns about the interference with each other's symbols and authority, caused the battle to ignite the entire solar system the moment it began. Although there are no planets left here, the outer nebulae still outline this small star system that originally belonged to humanity, and several divided battlefields are located in this not-so-large area.

Initially, no Outer God wanted to confront the "Lord of Mysteries," a pillar-level Ancient. They each had their own source matter and uniqueness that they wanted to contain. Although some were interested in one of the three paths—"Error," "Gate," or "Fool"—they could not truly contain the "Source Castle" and did not want to risk fighting a pillar.

Even if they could restrain the opponent, they would need at least two of them to fight against them. Without the coordination of the Uncertain Mist, no one could guarantee that their teammates would fight with all their might, instead of waiting for them to be severely injured so they could take advantage of the chaos.

Therefore, after Angel returned to his original position in the symbolic "reincarnation" of the Ring of Fate, and after both sides took further action, almost all the Outer Gods fled from the side of "Lord of Mysteries" Klein and rushed towards the source matter they had long been eyeing.

But how could Klein let them have their way?
Transformed into a pure energy stream, the "Super Star Overlord," contemplating whether to seek out the Cataclysmic Disaster, the Shadow of Order, or the Demon of Knowledge, suddenly finds a series of dazzling starlight gates lighting up before him.

He used gravity to tear the door in front of him apart, only to find that no matter which way he looked, there were new doors behind the torn ones, blocking all his paths.

Unable to enter the astral plane and forced to roam only in reality, He was immediately trapped in place, unable to move.

Three exquisitely beautiful female bodies stand side by side, each with a different "Goddess of Fate" eyeing the enormous golden Buddha. Although she also wants to include the uniqueness of "Fool" or "Mistake" to complete her own symbolism of time and fate, and desires the omniscience of "White Tower" and "Dreamer" and the power to choose and arrange the branches of fate, the "Key of Light," which directly symbolizes fate, is her primary target.

But just as He chose the tributary of fate that He had encountered by chance with that source of essence, intending to weave silk threads with the spinning wheel in His hand and cut the tributary with the blade of fate, He discovered that the illusory, silvery river had been distorted and circled back to His side.

They are connected end to end, the past and the future merge with the present, and time stands still.

With a sharp "ding," the ancient bell rang, and the "Goddess of Fate" was fooled by fate. After delaying these two Outer Gods who could not control their powers, Klein turned his attention to the "Mother Tree of Desire."

Having had part of its essence torn apart by the original creator, its primary target is naturally the "Shadow World." This is an instinct within its divinity to complete itself. If the battle turns against it, Klein believes it could even abandon that essence in exchange for the "Mother Tree of Desire," an ancient being directly born from the original creator, leaving the battlefield. However, the problem is that the Mother Tree of Desire, having completed its self-repair, possesses the "Source of Curses," which symbolizes the ability to harm the main body through cursed clones. It has the ability to restrain the "Lord of Mysteries." Whether it will then assist other Outer Gods in attacking Earth is an unknown.

Therefore, Klein must stop this Outer God, fighting three against one, so that He has no chance to reclaim the "Shadow World".

With a thought, countless "Klein" figures, wearing top hats and trench coats, holding canes and expressionless, surrounded the giant humanoid tree bearing fruits representing different desires. They were all puppets from the mists of history, without emotions or desires, controlled only by the threads of the spirit, and naturally unaffected by the desires deep within their hearts.

Of course, even without the symbol of the "source of the curse," the Desire Mother Tree, relying on the authority of its half of the source matter, quickly captured the only one among its clones with "desire"—Klein's main body—and attempted to detonate them. However, Klein simply grafted these desires onto different marionettes and ignored them.

The puppets, fueled by greed, anger, lust, and craving, swarmed around the Mother Tree of Desire. But they were merely phantoms from the mists of history, quickly vanishing in the explosion of desire. Then, one by one, expressionless Kleins emerged from the gray fog, replacing them and continuing to recreate the power from different realms, attacking the giant tree like ants besieging an elephant, making it difficult for it to escape.

But at the same time, the "Fallen Mother Goddess," who had regained her power, also joined the battlefield.

At this moment, He was only weakened by the symbolism of overusing the "Primordial Chaos Embryo". Although His strength was not complete because He had given up half of the "Mother Nest", He was still stronger than the ordinary Old Ones and possessed the important pillar symbolism of "Reality". Klein was not confident that He could directly stop Him.

However, the Fallen Mother Goddess showed no intention of leaving the battlefield. Instead, she hovered high in the starry sky and began to use her "rebirth" ability, directly affecting Klein's condition.

He valued his eldest daughter, the "Goddess of Fate," even more... Just as Klein realized this, the puppets that were blocking the Mother Tree of Desire began to develop their own thoughts and broke free from control. The River of Time that bound the Goddess of Fate also developed new tributaries, causing the closed loop to loosen slightly.

Moreover, Klein even felt that the "Celestial Being" he had been suppressing and actively cooperating with this state was beginning to stir under the power of "rebirth." It seemed that the residual consciousness and spiritual imprint of the "Original Creator" had gained new power, affecting this pillar-level Ancient who was directly split from the Creator.

To deal with Earth, the Fallen Mother Goddess was willing to release that despised "Celestial Venerable"... Once He shows signs of resurrection, the "Primordial God" within Grisha will undoubtedly vie for dominance and resurrect first. After the two former pillars recover, in order to fight each other, they may very well win over a third party, namely the Fallen Mother Goddess, who is also a pillar. He will then have a chance to reclaim the "Mother Nest"... It seems we've pushed this enemy too far...

These thoughts flashed through Klein's mind in an instant, but at this moment he could only spare a part of his energy to suppress the Celestial Venerable, who was either actively reviving or affected by the "rebirth".

Fortunately, the authority and symbolism of the astral plane have undergone some changes at this time. The impact of "new life" on the targets that are also pillars has been significantly weakened, which allows Klein to still have the strength to deal with the other Great Old Ones and drag them into this battlefield.

During this time, the last Outer God who could not restrain the power of the "Lord of Mysteries," the "Ring of Destiny," was quietly leaving this region. He also had a strong desire for the destiny symbol of the "Key of Light." If he could achieve this goal, he would also like to choose between the "City of Calamity" and the "River of Eternal Darkness." On the one hand, he valued their power as symbols of a predetermined end and various disasters. On the other hand, he did not want both of these source materials to be possessed by the Earth side at the same time, as that could easily lead to the terrifying outcome of the destruction of the universe.

Therefore, upon discovering that the "Goddess of Fate," who was also tracking the golden Buddha, was being blocked, the "Ring of Destiny" abandoned its teammates without hesitation and flew away in the distance following the Buddha.

Unexpectedly, He was not hindered by the "Lord of Mysteries".

This seems like a good thing, but every good thing has a bad side. Before the "Ring of Destiny" could catch up with the "Key of Light" which was running faster and faster, a phantom river appeared in front of them. The black starry sky around them, which was already devoid of stars, became even more tranquil, as if they had stepped into the end of their destiny.

Amanisis, the Eternal Darkness!

The three bodies, back to back in a ring of destiny, were not surprised. He had already foreseen this in the long river of fate and gladly accepted it, for the "River of Eternal Darkness" was also one of the sources He sought.

His mercury-colored "present" form, with a face full of pain and hands clasped together, recreated the suffering he had endured, intending to inflict it upon "eternal darkness."

Behind Him, "Primal Hunger," "Decaying King," and "Unquenchable Whispers" were rapidly approaching. Although they possessed the ability to restrain "Lord of Mysteries," they had no desire for "Source Castle" and naturally would not help the few Ancients who were embroiled in battle. Instead, they intended to track down other Source Matter.

But the next second, even more of the old arrived at this battlefield.

A faint light carrying information and images of countless civilizations pierced through the void and shone down. The "Demon of Knowledge," Stiano, appeared beside Amanisis. Vast and useless knowledge, including even more unbearable information symbolizing "pain," was directly poured into the three heads of the "Ring of Destiny," creating an information gap between its "past" and "present" and interrupting its process of transmitting pain.

The giant Buddha formed by the "Key of Light" has returned here at some point, its golden light shining brightly, continuously bringing good luck to its teammates and causing misfortune to its enemies.

The "Shadow World" also lurked quietly. It was because of its presence that several Ancients who possessed the power to restrain the "Lord of Mysteries" disregarded their superior tactics and, driven by their own desires, actively divided the battlefield and came here.

Otherwise, if the nine Outer Gods unite, even if Earth has a slight advantage, it will be difficult to quickly resolve the battle.

Four against four, but the "Key of Light" and the "Shadow World" are not complete... The Ring of Destiny broke free from the complex knowledge that filled its mind, allowing it to affect itself only in the "future," and then surveyed the battlefield, confirming that its side still had the advantage.

But even as the "Eternal Darkness" awoke from the pain it had inflicted upon itself and allowed the river of end and death to flow once more, the three "comrades" it was expected never appeared.

The "Ring of Destiny" suddenly discovered that the river of fate it was peering into seemed to have encountered a slight problem.

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.

The "high-dimensional observer" observes reality from an inaccessible dimension and soon discovers that the battlefield has been divided into multiple parts.

The "Lord of Mysteries" is independently delaying the "Mother Tree of Desire," the "Goddess of Fate," and the "Super Star Overlord," while also fighting against the "Fallen Mother Goddess." Although the situation is somewhat precarious, the balance will not be broken in the short term.

The "Ring of Destiny" seems to have been tricked and lost its senses, plunging headlong into the encirclement of several ancient Earthlings. Its three intended allies are all blocked and unable to provide support.

Among them, the "Decaying King" was intercepted by the "Shadow of Order," but this one of the most powerful Old Ones in the universe did not need the "Disordered Kingdom." He only wanted to rush to the Ring of Fate and seize the source of the "Eternal Darkness."

But the higher-dimensional observer needed the primordial substance that symbolized rules and order, so it decided to offer the "declining monarch" a small amount of help.

He began to lower his dimension, approaching the battlefield, symbolizing that His shadow in the real dimension was gradually becoming three-dimensional.

Suddenly, a cloud of white mist enveloped the shadowy area.

It is a "fog of war" that can isolate observation and perception!
The higher-dimensional observer, possessing the symbol of "reality," is naturally unafraid of interference from this real-dimensional world. It plunges into the fog and instantly emerges from the other side, its direction unaffected.

But what awaited Him was a giant black flame sword that bound the power of destruction and annihilation.

boom--

The Outer God immediately raised his dimension, barely escaping the attack from the "Cataclysmic Destruction," but he found that his dimensional ascension speed had become extremely slow, as if the relationships between all dimensions had become less close, and the way of calculation had changed.

That was interference from the "Lord of the Stars," an influence from the level of rules, unaffected by dimensional barriers!
Before He could think of a way to break the deadlock, the Greatsword of Destruction came crashing down.

P.S.: I'm feeling unwell due to sitting for too long, so I might not be available tomorrow and may have to take a day off...

(End of this chapter)