Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1405 Going Home (End of Main Text)

"So, after Gray returned to our current point in time, the 'closed loop' was actually completed..."

Having arrived early into the gray fog, Angel, sitting in the high-backed chair belonging to the "Queen," lay bored on the bronze table, propping his head up with his hand as he looked at "The Fool" Klein and asked.

“This is also a way to deceive the ‘world’,” replied the “world” sitting at the other end of the long table, deliberately shrouded in mist to appear somewhat gloomy. “This is an inspiration I got from an old work. As long as Angel Grey believes that everything is true, then everything is true.”

“But it took me a lot of effort to calm her down. At that time, she was in the same mood as I was when Adam told me that I was a false person, a personification He had created. She was frustrated, desperate, and just wanted to disappear from this world.”

Angel turned to look at Klein on the other side and muttered to himself.

Of course, Adam did not deceive Angel at that time. Even he himself believed that the Grey hidden in the mirror world was the real one, while the one in the real world as Angel Granger was a false "mirror man".

Is this what it means to deceive the world? It wasn't until June 28, 1354, that the deceitful "Lord of Mysteries" and "God" realized what they should do... She pondered, and her feelings of guilt for being saved by the information transmitted from "another timeline" but unable to help them in return also improved.

With Angel's encouragement, Gray's emotions stabilized, and the two came up with a preliminary plan on how this new self-aware person in the mirror should interact with the original body.

Now that Gray has returned to her original form, she is essentially a complete clone, able to draw upon most of the power, including her uniqueness. Her strength is similar to that of an angel king who has not undergone the ritual of becoming a god. Therefore, Angel intends to make her the pope of the "Church of the End Times," to manage the faith in the real world on her behalf, to restrain the witches who have joined the church while bearing sins, and to appropriately demonstrate miracles to strengthen the cohesion of the believers.

Of course, once Angel truly absorbs the power of the "Superstar Overlord" and becomes a dual-source Great Old One, the Church of the End will also need to undergo certain reforms, which can also be done by Gray.

I still feel like she's doing all the hard labor... Or maybe we could take turns, I do it one day, she does it the next?
Angel's thoughts were somewhat scattered until he realized another problem, at which point he brought them together and continued to ask:

"If there isn't another parallel world destroyed by the apocalypse, and the entire time travel is a 'closed loop' arranged by you, then where did Gray get the information from?"

Simply put, this is the problem of the "first mover." Gray's information about traveling back in time all came from the present "Lord of Mysteries" and "God." These two pillars learned everything from Angel Gray in 1349, knew the secret of the "Primal Witch" Chick, and knew that the birth of the "Lord of Mysteries" was the key to everything.

While this could form a complete cycle, since the tragic "end of the world" never happened, who provided this crucial information?
“I had a conversation with Grisha about this, and I think this kind of interference might come from a higher dimension. Of course, this does not refer to the ‘higher-dimensional observer’ who has the power of dimensions and imagination, but rather to real, conceptual help from a higher dimension.”

Klein replied, but his tone was as uncertain as Angel's.

Grisha, on the other hand, believed that this kind of "salvation" that transcends time and space is a manifestation of the Creator's consciousness, an act of self-salvation for the universe. This is similar to the redemptive instinct of the "Circle of Fate," which will interfere with the entire timeline even after the Creator's fall.

"Only the status of the Creator can influence the past from the future. And with the two pillars of 'Lord of Mysteries' and 'God' together, plus you who are the 'Creator in the Mirror', there is hope to make this interference a reality."

The original Creator... Under His personhood, time, space, and even the law of conservation of extraordinary properties would be broken. On the one hand, the Creator longed to awaken, but on the other hand, He feared that the reunification after awakening would cause everything to restart. In particular, the original Creator who fell, the original Creator in the mirror, and the Creator conceived by the "Fallen Mother Goddess" were in competition. If one appeared, the others would no longer have a chance... Thinking that this matter might be related to the Creator, Angel frowned.

Fortunately, the "creator in the mirror" within her body was still separated into masculine and feminine parts and had not truly awakened after merging. She also planned to use the self-awareness already possessed by the feminine side to completely eliminate the possibility of yin and yang fusion, so she did not continue to dwell on this issue.

Compared to Angel, who still had some doubts, Klein was much more at ease. Since becoming a pillar meant he could only complete the process according to a "closed-loop" approach and couldn't see the power behind it, there was no point in worrying.

Seeing that it was almost time, he looked at the stars twinkling in the gray fog and had the Tarot Club members appear in their respective high-backed chairs.

The monthly gathering has arrived once again.

Klein was initially hesitant about whether to continue the Tarot Club. This gathering originated from an experiment on the power of the gray fog, and then grew larger and larger because it allowed them to gain some personal benefits as "the Fools," eventually becoming a deity, an ancient divine council.

Now that everything has settled down, this gathering has fulfilled its historical mission and no longer needs to be held regularly. If members of the Tarot Society need it, they can pray to Him at any time and gather in the form of an ad hoc meeting. This is consistent with the form of pre-divine meetings in other churches.

However, Klein maintained the habit of holding a gathering at 3 p.m. on the first Monday of each month, and Angel did not object to it, continuing to participate as the "Queen".

They all believed this would help preserve their inevitably diminishing humanity, and Klein even planned to fill all 22 seats to make the regular gathering even more lively.

Once this long table is full of people, and some of them leave Earth and enter the stars, sharing their travel experiences each month, it will be very interesting... Thinking this, Klein smiled and nodded, responding to the Tarot Club members, including "Queen" Angel, who stood up and bowed to him.

Even the previously absent "Chariot" lady is now on the list.

Sitting back in the high-backed chair, "Justice" Audrey was the first to notice the extra member, and felt a surge of joy.

She had long deduced from previous clues that "Chariot" equaled "Queen," equaled the goddess of calamity, just as "World" was essentially Mr. Fool. Now that "Chariot" had returned, it meant that "Goddess of Calamity" had recovered from some state, which naturally made her happy.

Mr. World returned to his seat. The fact that both great beings had sent their avatars to appear—what did that mean…?

As she pondered, Audrey withdrew her gaze from the figure, glanced around, and set aside her planned report on the policy changes Rune would soon make under her influence. Instead, she spoke:

"Mr. Fool, I'd like to share something interesting."

"It's about a 'Punishment Knight' who found himself unable to beat his sister's dog."

At this point, she glanced furtively at Mr. Fool and noticed that he was expressionless. Then she realized what was happening and turned to look at "The World," noticing that this member had shifted his body and assumed a posture of attentive listening.

Audrey felt relieved and continued:
"...It all started a month ago when I took the initiative to tell my parents and brother that I had become an angel..."

Subsequently, other members of the Tarot Club also shared interesting stories they had encountered, rather than some dry reports that had been prepared in advance.

"...He stood with another angel king, an old man wearing a robe of the Church of Knowledge with brass threads, holding a heavy book in his hands. I think this is very likely the legendary 'Cherubim'."

"Many immigrants yearning for a free life are flocking to the Southern Continent, but they have recently found a new destination—the Eastern Continent, waiting to be explored, because there are rumors that as long as they settle there, they will be allocated housing, jobs, and even wives..."

"We docked at the largest port on the Western Continent, where there are trams with overhead wires, two-wheeled carts pulled by human power, and even bicycles that have only recently appeared in Backlund." "The World," Klein listened quietly, leaning back in his chair with a faint smile.

He noticed that "Queen" Angel was just like him, but her gaze kept drifting toward "Chariot" Gray, who was silent and rarely spoke at tarot meetings.

At some point, the palace in the gray fog quieted down. Everyone had finished recounting their experiences and interesting stories from the past month, and everyone quietly looked toward the "chariot," as if waiting for this member to speak.

Under the expectant gazes of everyone, Gray finally moved and spoke in a voice that was indistinguishable from Angel's:

"What I want to share is the story of an unfortunate witch who was deceived by two pillars..."

Klein's expression stiffened, and his back straightened unconsciously.

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.

Back in reality, Klein found himself in the North District of Backlund, standing on a street lined with rows of houses, near the tall, black bell tower of St. Samuel's Church.

Not far away, a church belonging to the "End Times Church" is under construction, and workers on the scaffolding are inlaying black decorations with solidified lava patterns on the exterior walls of the stone church.

How did I get here... He looked around, then looked down at himself and found that he was wearing black trousers and a white shirt, with a black vest and a thin trench coat on top, a half-high silk hat on his head, and a black cane inlaid with silver in his hand.

Klein had only intended to wander around aimlessly, but he found himself here under spiritual guidance, wearing these clothes, which made a certain idea in his mind even clearer.

In the period following the apocalyptic war, Klein had allowed the "Celestial Being" consciousness within him, which had been slightly revived due to the battles of the past, to fall back into slumber.

This is quite a difficult task.

That Celestial Venerable not only had his own thoughts, but also believed that he could endure for ten thousand or even a million years, waiting for the final complete fusion with Klein, to be resurrected in the form of a "Celestial Venerable" mixed with the most intense part of Klein's humanity, or conversely, to return in the form of "Klein" mixed with some Celestial Venerable consciousness.
He also possesses a divine, uncontrollable instinct to revive, which Klein cannot resolve through mere exchanges of benefits and compromises.

Fortunately, Klein had extensive experience dealing with divine instincts, having risen through the ranks from Sequence 9. In the end, the "Celestial Being" fell into a deep sleep, giving Klein a period of peace.

He believed that the other Old Ones, especially "God" Grisha, were also working to delay the inevitable day when they would merge with the consciousness of the original "Old Ones."

To help them, Earth must develop its population and technology as quickly as possible, expand beyond the solar system, and steadily improve the number and quality of believers.

For these great beings on Earth who are promoted rather than born, the anchor provided by believers remains important, even more so than in Sequence 0.

But none of that matters. My purpose in coming to the North District is... Just as he was getting back to his senses, he noticed that there was someone else beside him.

It was Angel, wearing a light-colored knee-length dress, with her long blonde hair tied in a single ponytail and her purple eyes sparkling.

At this moment, she did not possess the extreme charm and alluring aura that naturally emanated from a high-ranking witch, nor the captivating quality that made it impossible to look away. She was simply beautiful and composed.

She looked just like that young lady from Tingen City, who had only recently met Klein and was also a new Night Watcher.

As he gripped his cane, Klein's height and build subtly changed. He was a little shorter and thinner, and his expression no longer carried the complete confidence and profundity, but rather a scholarly air that of someone who had just graduated and entered the workforce.

"Good afternoon, Miss Angel Granger."

He adjusted his top hat and greeted Angel.

The latter chuckled softly, took his arm (the one not carrying his cane), and said:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Klein Moretti."

The two looked at the row of houses in front of them in tacit agreement, walked closer to one of them, and Klein raised his hand and hesitated before knocking on the door.

dong dong.

A moment later, the door opened, and Melissa, wearing dark culottes and an apron stained with engine oil, poked her head out, her gaze lingering on the two people in front of the door.

Her expression shifted from confusion to horror, and finally calmed down as if she had realized something.

Before she knew it, her brown eyes were already brimming with tears.

"You...you..."

She repeated herself somewhat incoherently, unsure of what to say.

Angel bowed slightly and embraced Melissa, whose mind was in a state of shock and confusion. Klein then pushed open the door and saw Benson and Lily, who had rushed over after hearing the noise, their expressions equally blank.

"We're back."

He took off his hat and greeted his family.

(End of text)

(End of this chapter)