Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1394 The chaotic battlefield

Long before the war of the end times began, Angel learned from Klein, Grisha, and Amon, who had returned from the stars, about the characteristics of all the Old Ones outside the barrier, as well as the source matter and extraordinary pathways they needed.

Even including the "Uncertain Mist," which has already suffered severe damage and is licking its wounds somewhere in the universe, "Primal Hunger" poses one of the top three threats to Angel among the ten Outer Gods.

This is not only because His name is “the primordial hunger, the symbol of devouring, the insatiable assembly, the sweeper of all things,” which contains the “aggregation” instinct belonging to the original Creator. He can not only attract His thirsty enemies to His side, but also tear away a part of their power and authority through direct devouring, reducing or even temporarily eliminating the corresponding symbols.

This is a difficult enemy for Angel to deal with. If she is devoured by the corresponding ability of the Mirror Master, it may even cause instability in her own state, because she is composed of herself and the Mirror Man, rather than two independent individuals. This is a good thing in terms of stability, but if the Mirror Man Gray is disturbed, it will become a bad thing.

Although Earth's good friend, the "Ring of Fate," will prevent this from happening, no one can guarantee that the part bitten off by the primal hunger will return to Angel as time rewinds. This ancient being, whose mind is filled with thoughts of aggregation, will not consider whether his actions will cause a cosmic catastrophe.

He just wants to eat!

The primary target of "Primordial Hunger" is naturally the "City of Calamity" related to "Primordial" and "Chaos." Containing this source matter will greatly strengthen its corresponding symbolism. Secondly, if "God" falls, it will consider consuming but not truly digesting the source matter of the "Chaos Sea," absorbing the uniqueness of the "Hanged Man" and other related entities. However, at that time, no one knows whether it can resist the instinct to aggregate and truly contain this source matter, breaking through the upper limit of the "Pillar" and causing more trouble.

Of course, for Angel, the Outer God who can accommodate the "City of Calamity" is also her goal. As an ordinary Great Old One with a single source matter who is still some distance away from the pillar, she can accommodate another source matter and corresponding uniqueness without affecting her own stability. She can also accommodate the "Superstar Overlord" who has the symbolism of "Stars" and controls the basic power to cause various disasters on the reality side, the "Ring of Destiny" that symbolizes the destined ending and the end, and the "Primal Hunger" in front of her.

The exception is "The Decaying King." Once this ancient source is contained, Angel will inevitably be unable to resist doing something with "Eternal Darkness" Amanisis, either devouring Him or being devoured by Him, so that the symbol of the "Fourth Pillar" is truly complete. Whether it is the birth of this pillar that causes the end of the universe, or the end of the universe that triggers this convergence, only the "Ring of Fate," which hastily rewinds time each time to prevent this from happening, knows the answer.

Therefore, upon seeing the "Primordial Hunger" flowing with chaotic liquid and full of white teeth in the vortex, Angel immediately created numerous disasters within the now empty solar system, causing supernova explosions and black hole tearing to surround the chaotic vortex.

Although the "Cataclysmic Destruction" combines a devastating attack in reality with the conceptual "End" and "Chaos," the reality enhancement and mystery weakening effects created by the "Unending Whispers" still exist in this star field, so Angel naturally chooses the former first.

Clusters of brilliant starlight erupted around "Primal Hunger," and several rapidly expanding black hole accretion disks influenced each other, merging into one, turning this place into a hell where nothing could exist.

But “primal hunger” is an exception.

Its mouth, filled with enormous teeth, opened to the size of its own chaotic vortex, swallowing a black hole and a gravitational force capable of tearing stars apart.

With a few crunches, the primal hunger chewed and absorbed the most terrifying celestial body in the universe, feeling a sense of comfort.

His body, which desperately needed to digest something, finally received some satisfaction, but that was not enough. His purpose in coming here was not to eat a few black holes or supernovae that were everywhere, but to devour and digest the source matter!
So He looked at "Destruction Catastrophe" again, who was also frowning and staring at Him, assessing the combat strength of both sides.

Attacks in the real world seemed to have no effect on Him, only filling His stomach. Perhaps some conceptual method to restrain His power was needed, but "Foolishness" was clearly not among them. Otherwise, under the influence of Klein's pervasive authority of foolishness throughout the galaxy, "Primal Hunger" would have foolishly gone to find the source matter He didn't need, instead of coming straight for me... In His current state, even the roar of "Eternal Whisper" just now had no effect. He had even devoured the inner whispers... Angel pondered, not trying to drag "Primal Hunger" into the mirror world to fight in a familiar environment, just like when he dealt with "Eternal Whisper," which was difficult to reach through the power of reality.

She was worried that the omnivorous Old One would bite a huge hole in the entire mirror world, affecting the Earth hidden within it.

A fragile planet and hundreds of Earth and Outer God angels combined probably wouldn't be enough for Him to eat.

After thinking for a moment, Angel summoned the black hole containing the power of "End" once again, causing the Primal Hunger to bite into the star swirling with black flames around it, roaring as if its mouth had been burned. Angel then bypassed the star, entered the astral plane, and flew towards the "Ring of Destiny" and the other ancient battlefields of Earth.

There must be a way to deal with this Outer God there.

Behind her, "Primal Hunger," which had already swallowed yet another black hole, quickly followed. It struggled to enter the astral plane that resisted it, devoured a new passage, and advanced at a speed no less than Angel's.

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 another chaotic battlefield, the "Ring of Destiny," composed of three humanoid bodies with expressions ranging from ferocious to compassionate, turned its silvery-white "present" form in front of it, facing "Eternal Darkness" Amanisis with a pained expression and its hands clasped together.

He reproduced the vast and useless knowledge that had just been instilled into his three heads by the "Fairy of Knowledge," Stiano, and inflicted this suffering on his enemies using the power of the "Sufferer."

The "Eternal Darkness," with its six hands gripping an alien scythe, a twilight greatsword, and a book coiled with feathered serpents, was instantly submerged by an ocean of knowledge that even the ancients could not absorb for long. The information that already existed in its mind was directly activated, turning into bizarre and illusory creatures that began to tear at and influence its thoughts and spirit.

His giant scythe, which was slashing at the "Unending Whispers," paused, allowing the invisible figure, whose outline had been revealed by "Augmented Reality," to escape from "Eternal Silence." Instead, it pounced on the "Knowledge Demon," which had also transformed into a dazzling stream of information, wanting to merge the two and possess Him. In this way, He could avoid subsequent attacks and find a way to erode and contain this newly ascended and still unstable Old One.

Seeing this, the "Ring of Destiny" also breathed a sigh of relief. Its "past" form, which was completely black and had a ferocious face, looked at the golden giant Buddha floating high above the battlefield, its sinful eyes revealing an undisguised desire.

Just a minute ago, "Unending Whispers" joined the battlefield on instinct, allowing Him, who had been fighting four against one and barely managed to hold on by relying on time reversal several times, to catch his breath and the instinct to absorb the "Key of Light" resurfaced in his mind.

Preventing the birth of the fourth pillar or the resurrection of the "original creator" is of course a top priority, but the true purpose of His coming here is to merge with the second source matter and strengthen His own symbolism.

Although the battle was between two Outer Gods and four Earth-based Old Ones, the "Key of Light" and the "Shadow World" were not complete Old Ones. They could use some authority and symbols, but they could not truly fight independently. He believed that he still had a chance.

For Him, who controls the tributaries of destiny and can choose developments that are advantageous to Himself, one point is everything.

But before He could make any further moves, the astral radiance dissipated, and a figure, not large, but one that alerted the "Ring of Destiny" and the "Eternal Whisper," returned to reality.

Angel, the Cataclysm, arrived at this battlefield, accompanied by the Primal Hunger, which had been devouring the astral plane at a pace not much slower.

The arrival of the two forces in succession brought about a slight change on the battlefield.

The "Ring of Destiny" subconsciously observed the position of the "Decaying King," and the figure of the information stream that the "Unending Whispers" was entangled with also paused, as if it had seen the nemesis it least wanted to see. Even the desire to unite that filled its mind subsided.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, "Eternal Darkness" Amanisis caused the activated knowledge in her mind, which was originally launched by the "Knowledge Demon" to attack the enemy but was used by the enemy to attack her, to fall into slumber, breaking free from the ocean of knowledge. The "Knowledge Demon" Steano also escaped the pursuit of the invisible figure, surrounding the golden giant Buddha and the illusory shadow that seemed to contain an entire world, protecting them, and letting them protect her in return.

Both sides had a brief respite, which also allowed them to observe the battlefield and assess the current situation.

Angel's gaze swept across the area, and based on his understanding of the "legion's" internal workings, he immediately grasped the details of the battle that had taken place in the last few minutes.

Undoubtedly, even if they temporarily gain the upper hand, "Eternal Darkness" and "Knowledge Demon" lack the ability to severely damage or even kill "Ring of Destiny." "Key of Light" can make the battle develop in a favorable direction, but it cannot provide decisive assistance.

The "Shadow World" had already encountered some problems during the previous roar of "Unending Whispers." The intense malice contained within this source essence was aroused, and there was no unified consciousness to control it. If Angel had not absorbed the negative status of all his teammates and forced the "Ring of Destiny" to reset this period, he would probably have been the first to run into trouble.

Although the state of the Shadow World improved due to the fall of the Mother Tree of Desire, it is clearly not something that can be done in this apocalyptic war to convert this advantage into combat power. Therefore, it and the Key of Light are only equivalent to half of the Old Ones, and even combined they are hardly a complete one.

Although the "Unquenchable Whisper" had been severely damaged beforehand, and under the influence of "Foolishness," it actively amplified reality and weakened mystery, putting itself in a disadvantageous position to escape the "Mirror World," it symbolizes the indestructible spirit of the original creator. It has a great advantage over entities like the "Key of Light" and the "Shadow World," which are composed of multiple spirits. If its injuries are healed, it alone can suppress the two half-Old Ones from Earth, and even have the power to influence other targets.

The "Ring of Destiny" can reverse unfavorable battle situations and counteract the influence of the "Key of Light," attacking Earth's ancient past from the perspective of the River of Destiny. It is an enemy with weak lethality but extremely strong disruptive power.

Based on this, "Primal Hunger" can devour most direct attacks. Although its primary target is Angel's "City of Calamity," once it becomes ravenous, it will likely bite anyone it sees, making it an unmistakable mad dog on the battlefield. Its existence prevents the "Shadow World" from recklessly igniting the surrounding desires, fearing it might become the one being chased by the dog.

Amanisis and Steano could both temporarily halt "Primal Hunger," but they were easily distracted by "Ring of Fate." If I were to deal with "Ring of Fate," I would inevitably be bitten a few times. "Unquenchable Whispers" was still lingering, and once it found an opportunity, it would try to attack "Knowledge Demon." However, I guessed that it also needed a part of the symbol of "Shadow World," so I had to guard against its sudden change of direction... As thoughts flashed through my mind, Angel immediately determined what he should do based on his war instincts, while simultaneously coordinating other legion members in "Connection" and issuing corresponding instructions.

The next instant, the destructive greatsword in her hand was stained with a darkness that silenced everything, and its tip even tilted, becoming a strangely shaped giant scythe. At the same time, it swapped positions with the constantly wandering "Knowledge Demon," thereby closing the distance with the "Unending Whispers."

She wanted to take advantage of the precious time before this formless old self had recovered its strength to severely damage Him.

Before the "Primal Hunger" appeared an unusually large woman dressed in a black dress with her face covered by a veil, whose aura, carrying a cold touch of death and eternal silence, was somewhat irritating to Him.

It's not what I want to eat, so I'll just skip it... As soon as His simple brain made the decision, His thoughts, spirit, and the instinct to devour were enveloped in coldness and fell into a deep sleep. The huge mouth full of giant teeth and chaotic liquid slowly closed, and a phantom bubble emerged from inside.

Seeing that "eternal sleep" was effective, Amanisis did not continue to use the symbol of "death" to deal with this simple-minded old man, which would only awaken the sleeping enemy and let him devour everything by instinct.

He lowered the hands that held the scythe and the greatsword of twilight, and held the illusory book decorated with feathered serpents. He opened it, and it was filled with the name "Ring of Destiny." The Ring of Destiny, whose bodies of "past," "present," and "future" were fused in a ring, suddenly felt its river of fate being eroded by some invisible, illusory water. All the tributaries were trimmed, leaving only the main trunk leading to the final destination of "death."

Without the slightest hesitation, He connected the "present" with the "future," allowing this symbol to appear in the future rather than affecting Him in the present.

As for why it doesn't connect to the "past," it's naturally because the death of the past will fix the outcome of the present, while the future belongs to the part that can be interfered with and saved.

Aside from the original creator who made the impossible possible, perhaps only the "Lord of Mysteries," with the symbol of the King of Time and the help of an ancient being in matters of destiny, could barely influence the past, and not even the distant past.

Taking advantage of the brief respite of letting the River of Death flow into the future instead of the present, the "Ring of Destiny" barely escaped danger. It then looked at Angel, who was wielding a giant scythe that combined the power of "Eternal Darkness" and "City of Calamity" and was slashing at the fleeing "Unending Whispers," and hesitated whether to use time reversal to save this poor comrade-in-arms... well, only a temporary comrade-in-arms.

His symbol of "the man in the ring" cannot be used indiscriminately. Each time, it will open up more tributaries on the original river of fate, making the next rewind even more difficult. These opportunities are naturally reserved for critical moments that prevent the "fourth pillar" from merging.

But now, the "declining monarch" is not present...

Suddenly, the distance between this star field and a distant location was "distorted," and two figures, one large and one small, appeared, bringing a new order to the place and a symbol of the inevitable decay of all things.

Those were the "Shadow of Order" clad in black armor and wearing a crown, and the "Decaying King" the size of a planet, covered in gold!
The fleeing "Whispers" and the "Natural Calamities" that were chasing after it slowed down, and the garbage information that the "Demon of Knowledge" was about to deliver to the "Ring of Destiny" was also annihilated in the river of time.

But "Ring of Fate" felt a sudden tightness in his chest, instinctively sensing that something was amiss.

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 the very center of the solar system, containing boundless energy, the "Mother Tree of Desire" was split in two. The pillar of light that had directly fallen had dissipated, and the giant humanoid tree twisted into swirling clumps of black liquid that splashed everywhere. A shadow that seemed to contain the entire world was barely managing to attract those liquids, but it appeared somewhat powerless.

Before true consciousness is born, mere aggregation is insufficient for the source matter to absorb all the extraordinary characteristics and corresponding uniqueness of its surroundings.

Of course, given time, the spirit of the "Mother Tree of Desire" may very well be reborn from some extraordinary characteristic that originally belonged to Him, or even allow the immortal spirit to revive directly within the source matter. But the premise is that no other being can accommodate these parts and suppress Him with its own will, which is also from the past, slowly eroding the spirit within and taking the authority and symbol for itself.

Each of the three pillars has a way to accelerate or slow down this process.

Having already moved close to the scattered extraordinary properties and half of the "Shadow World" through her body movement, the "Fallen Mother Goddess" was surging with crimson light. She was about to use "rebirth" to revive the recently fallen ancient being within the source matter, and use her own status to immediately absorb the surrounding extraordinary properties as support to restore the ancient being's power.

But this moonlight was immediately grafted onto the "Super Star Overlord," making Him, who was just feeling somewhat frustrated because he had killed one of his own great beings, feel a chill.

As an ancient being that emphasizes "reality," the Superstar Overlord instinctively resists all overly mysterious powers and symbols. He is also aware that "new life" brings many problems. If he becomes too dependent on it, it is easy for a new "Superstar Overlord" to emerge within him and compete with him for dominance.

Therefore, He quickly left the moonlight and quietly departed from that "great mother".

Meanwhile, "God" Grisha slightly modified the rules regarding the extraordinary properties of the source material aggregation, causing the black liquid to quickly disperse and fly to different star regions. The largest clumps, along with the "Shadow World," were swiftly sent by Klein to a corner of the universe far from the solar system through the symbol of "change," and he carefully avoided placing them together with the "Mother Nest."

Sure enough, during this process, a new self-awareness emerged in the "Shadow World," which was quietly stimulated by the "Fallen Mother Goddess" bypassing the grafting between them. She obviously wanted to use this method to find the whereabouts of the "Mother Nest" and retrieve her part of the source matter after the war.

Seeing that his purpose had been discovered, the pillar did not care and approached the "Goddess of Fate" who had broken away from the River of Fate and restored herself to the appearance of three graceful bodies standing side by side.

Although the "Mother Tree of Desire" is now missing, one pillar plus two ancient beings must simultaneously face the two pillars, "God" and "Lord of Mysteries." The situation is not optimistic at this time, but as the embodiment of "immortality," He is not worried that the outcome of the war will affect Him. As long as the fates of all things are still intertwined and converged into a river, the Goddess of Fate can be reborn from it and is not afraid of temporary death.

As for the "Superstar Overlord" who focuses on "reality," although the two pillars can make him run around in circles, they lack the means to deliver a decisive blow and find it difficult to easily defeat him.

Klein, the "Lord of Mysteries," shared the same thought. He looked at the mother and daughter who seemed poised to fight side by side, as well as the "Super Star Overlord" who was loosely allied with them, and for a moment found it difficult to make a move.

On the one hand, Earth has already gained enough benefits; the "Mother Nest" and the two corresponding pathways have not been taken away, and the "Shadow World" belongs to them completely. To continue the fight would be far more risky than rewarding.

On the other hand, he also had some headaches about the two de facto "immortals".

Of course, after learning that the symbol of the goddess of fate was closely connected with the long river of fate in this world, Klein did consider corresponding countermeasures.

As long as "God" Grisha takes his place in entangled with the "Fallen Mother Goddess," he can free up his hands to temporarily trap the "Super Star Overlord" using the previous methods, and then focus all his efforts on attacking the "Goddess of Fate."

The "Lord of Mysteries" possesses the symbolism of the Beacon of Destiny, which can largely restrain this Ancient One. As long as the opponent is suppressed, Klein can summon the "Key of Light," a source substance that also possesses the symbolism of destiny, at the crucial moment. The two work together to replace the "Goddess of Destiny" in the river of time, taking her destiny and burying her forever.

This method is equivalent to the "Key of Light" containing a second source, which will give birth to a new Great Old One with pillar power but without the corresponding status and symbolism.

However, there is a problem: the "Key of Light" currently lacks a unified consciousness. Instead, it is controlled by a mixture of the spirits of the Dao-merging "Holy Monk" from the Western Continent and the two Serpents of Destiny. Once this new Old One is born, it remains unknown who will ultimately dominate it. Klein even suspects that the "Goddess of Destiny" might return in this state and, in turn, contain the "Key of Light," which could be a cruel joke of fate.

Therefore, this is a last resort that should only be used as a last resort.

Considering both the present and the future, there is only one way to permanently strengthen Earth's power and resolve the potential for a second apocalyptic war...

With this in mind, He briefly communicated with the other members of the "Legion" in His consciousness.

Then, countless Kleins wearing top hats emerged from the gray mist. Some of them used layers of star gates to trap the "Super Star Overlord" again, causing His angry roar to be drowned out by the void. Others approached the "Goddess of Fate".

This immediately alerted the "Fallen Mother Goddess." More than half of the "Klein" developed self-awareness and turned against the other trench coat-wearing men beside her, while the rest grew terrifying tumors and were quickly transformed into human forms.

But the shadows beneath the feet of these newly born, deformed Klein instantly expanded and merged into one, highlighting a shadowy humanoid with five heads, while the giant of light with five heads above also pounced straight toward the "Fallen Mother Goddess".

Unable to distinguish between the real entity and the imagined phantom, the "Fallen Mother Goddess" could only retreat temporarily, distancing herself from the two figures, one of light and one of darkness, and allowing the giant oak tree supporting the heavens and earth to be projected onto the body of the obviously more threatening giant of light.

This would "fix" the target to reality, making it difficult to continue utilizing the astral plane, arbitrarily modifying symbols and authority, and interfering with the battle.

He devoted all his remaining energy to his eldest daughter, the "Goddess of Fate," whom he cared about most.

Klein knew about the weaknesses of fate, and as a mother, she naturally knew them too. Of course, she had to guard against the sudden arrival of the "Key of Light" and prevent her eldest daughter from having her fate replaced and sinking into that endless river.

Sure enough, as the two pillars moved and the "Super Star Overlord" was imprisoned, a new figure appeared behind them.

Dominating "reality," the most sensitive "Fallen Mother Goddess" immediately locked onto the opponent and attempted to use the same method as before—fixing the enormous light and shadow of "God"—to trap Him and interrupt the joint attack of the "Key of Light" and the "Lord of Mysteries."

But what was reflected in the eyes of His exquisitely beautiful female face was Angel, the "Cataclysmic Destruction," whose entire body was engulfed in black flames and who wielded a giant, alien scythe, rather than the golden Buddha one might imagine.

As soon as Angel appeared, her figure was dragged back towards the original battlefield, as if a huge, irresistible force was pulling her back to her original position.

But the unconfined shadow "God" pointed forward, causing a phantom image to appear on Angel's body, sending this imagined "catastrophe" back into the mouth of "Primal Hunger," which was holding Angel back with its extremely strong cohesive power.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Angel has already raised the Destruction Scythe, which combines the symbolism of "Eternal Darkness" with all his own authority.

Her target was neither the "Goddess of Fate" who could not be killed by ordinary means, nor the "Fallen Mother Goddess" who was immortal and indestructible, but rather...

"Super Star Overlord"!
(End of this chapter)