Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1419 Divinity and Anchor

"I had a feeling that Lady 'Flame' looked a bit disheveled as she left..."

On the spacious deck, gazing at the receding Bayam Pier, Christina spoke to her sister Dorothy beside her.

"Really? I saw her smiling foolishly and thought she was happy because we had left."

Dorothy replied, turning to look at the dark black deck that was getting hot in the sunlight, and the monolithic turret that was several times taller than them and was essentially a giant building in itself.

She grew increasingly curious about the ironclad ship that seemed to have no pilot and no crew members after boarding. However, the "magic lamp" in Tina's handbag had quietly told them upon arriving at the dock that taking this ship would allow them to reach their next destination as quickly as possible, so she didn't refuse out of her wariness and caution.

Now that we've left the dock, it's time to ask the genie a question.

As if sensing her thoughts, a wisp of golden, viscous, liquid light emerged from the handbag that Tina had been tightly clutching, quickly forming a figure with already solidified edges in front of the two of them.

Upon reaching the third destination and further breaking the seal, this being seemed to be able to leave the sealed object and appear in the outside world on its own without being summoned!
"It's good that we've left that city," the genie said, gazing at the silhouette of Bayam, the "City of Generosity," on the horizon, in a less majestic and grand tone. "Do you know that just now, more than one angel was watching us?"

During her short but fulfilling journey today, Tina has received a great deal of education in mysticism, which has been directly imprinted into her mind. She now knows that "angels" are no longer a title of respect for certain great believers in religion, but rather extraordinary beings who have entered the Sequence 2 level in the divine path, powerful beings whose life forms are different from those of humans.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she still couldn't figure out why she was being targeted by such beings, and not just one.
"Is that 'Flame' lady actually an angel, and has she been deceiving us all along?"

she asked confused.

"Of course not. That guy was obviously kept in the dark too. He's probably already having a nightmare. If I hadn't reminded you to get on this ship and leave as soon as possible, you probably would have been stopped and forced to enter the 'Night Theater' to watch all sorts of interesting dramas and magic shows and enjoy the local cuisine. You wouldn't have wanted to leave at all."

The genie chuckled in response, whether laughing at the unfortunate Denise or feeling pleased with his quick thinking in averting a "disaster," it was unclear.

Magic shows and delicious food, can that be called coercion...? Right, this guy wants to break free of the seal and leave that magic lamp as soon as possible. If Dorothy and I are reluctant to leave, it will indeed be a disaster for him... Tina muttered to herself, realizing that the magician who just gave her the free tickets was probably the "angel" the genie was talking about. As for who the other one was, judging from the birth of the Night Theater, he was most likely one of the "siblings".

Dorothy, standing nearby, had clearly thought of this as well. Pointing to the black ironclad ship beneath their feet, which was cutting through the waves at high speed but had no crew in sight, she said:
"But if the owner of the Night Theater really is an angel, and wants us to stay, then there's no point in getting on this ship, is there? Aren't angels powerful beings capable of easily destroying a city?"

The golden genie shook his head and said:
"No other ship could stop the two angels, except this one."

"Because it's a...ghost ship."

As soon as she finished speaking, Tina felt a strong sense of weightlessness, and her body began to fall uncontrollably, even spinning.

The black turret in front of her, the tall superstructure, the blue sky above, and the surrounding sea all vanished instantly, replaced by a thick darkness that surged in like a tide.

At this moment, Tina felt as if she had returned to the dark and damp basement, listening to her own heartbeat and breathing in absolute silence, counting down the seconds as she hoped for the end of her confinement and for the wooden door to open so that light could pour in.

Before she could even land from the weightlessness, she curled up, hugging her knees, and entered a state of stress. Her eyes were tightly closed, and a few tears were squeezed out of her eyes and floated into the air.

She prayed silently, hoping this time it wouldn't take too long.

But the expected impact did not occur. Tina was lifted up by a force, as if she were being held in the palm of a hand, and slowly stopped falling, her feet landing on the hard ground.

She slowly opened her eyes and found that, as she had guessed, the surroundings were indeed pitch black, but the environment was not the cold and damp of a basement, but rather a dry and scorching heat.

Am I... inside that ironclad warship? The genie just said it was a ghost ship... Realizing this, she touched her handbag and found that the golden, high-quality lamp was gone again.

Genie?

She called out in her mind, but received no response.

"Dorothy, are you there?" Tina called out, her slightly shaky voice echoing in the cramped cabin. "Mom? Dad?"

No one answered her.

Calm down, calm down, Tina, you're still on this ship. Dorothy must be here too. Maybe she just fell into the next cabin and will be here soon... She tried to reassure herself, but her body trembled involuntarily as she groped her way to the edge and corner of the cabin.

She could only feel at ease when she had her back against a solid wall and tried to shrink into a corner where no one could notice her.

Then comes the wait for the seemingly stern and heartless mother, who wouldn't truly abandon her, to open the basement door...

Just then, a deep, rumbling sound came from a direction not far away, which made the entire cabin tremble, followed by the creaking sound of metal colliding and rubbing.

boom--

The hatch was opened from the outside, and a silvery-white light illuminated the surroundings. Tina then realized that she was in a small room with no furnishings. The round porthole was sealed shut, and pipes of varying thicknesses ran through the area near the ceiling. The only hatch was a ring with straight sides and a semi-circular top and bottom, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

At this moment, Dorothy stood by the door, holding an antique silver mirror in her hands, surrounded by flashes of electricity that illuminated the surroundings, like an angel who pushed aside the darkness to bring light.

"elder sister!"

With tears in her eyes and a surge of joy in her heart, Tina rushed towards the other person and hugged them tightly. However, because their close embrace pressed down on the Mirror of Arodes, causing the surrounding light to dissipate, she had to let go. Her cheeks flushed, she explained:

"I just, just..."

"Okay, I know, don't be afraid."

Dorothy did not respond coldly as usual, but instead comforted her sister, who had been afraid of the dark since childhood, with a smile until she calmed down.

“But…” Sniffling, Tina wiped her tears on Dorothy’s clothes, composed herself, and said haltingly, “The genie, the genie is gone, and we’re trapped in this ship too…”

Although her sister appeared and brought light, the disappearance of the sealed artifact still left her feeling very disappointed, with a sense of grievance that she had to give up halfway through the mission.

“If this ship really had malicious intent, it could have just thrown us into the sea. Even if we could swim, we wouldn’t survive in waters far from Bayam,” Dorothy calmly analyzed. “It must have some purpose in locking us in the cabin.”

As if to confirm her guess, a series of pattering footsteps came from outside the cabin where the two were, and soon, a white figure appeared at the edge of the light brought by Arodes.

It was a black-haired girl who looked about the same age as Tina, but was smaller in stature. She was wearing a simple white dress and had beautiful, expressionless face. Her golden eyes shone brightly at the edge of the darkness, but her bare feet were on the cold metal floor. She walked over step by step, making the same clattering sound as before.

White dress, bare feet, expressionless face... Tina immediately thought of female ghosts from various novels and legends, and her emotions, which had just been calmed down by her sister, became agitated again.

Just as she was about to drag Dorothy away, the girl, who was only a few meters away from them, finally stopped.

“She’s right, I really didn’t mean any harm,” the girl suddenly spoke, her clear, slightly childish voice ringing out. “I invited you here just to isolate the ‘Wishing Lamp’ from our conversation, so that He wouldn’t know about it.”

“I noticed you when I passed through Bayam, and I noticed the existence of this sealed artifact, which is why I docked at the pier. Sure enough, you came here and boarded this ship.”

The wishing lamp…is it a sealed artifact imprisoning the genie? Wait, this girl used “He”? That’s a term used to refer to angels or higher-ranking deities. Could the genie be of such a high rank…? Tina, whose mind had been blank as the ghost drew closer, began to race, a series of thoughts surfacing. “Then who are you? Why are you afraid of being discovered by the genie?” Reflecting on the implications of the girl’s words, Tina began to guess, “Could it be that you are the captain of this ghost ship?”

The girl shook her head:

"I am not the captain of this ship."

"I am this ghost ship."

……

An awkward silence fell over the scene.

"You mean, you are this ironclad warship beneath our feet? And not, well, a living person?"

After a long pause, Dorothy, who reacted more quickly, repeated in a low voice.

"Both are true. After advancing to Sequence 1 and becoming the 'Prince of Assassination,' I have a real physical body, but my true body is still this living warship. Both are part of my body."

The girl answered earnestly.

Sequence 1, lawyer, or rather, the "Black Emperor" pathway of "Prince Killer"... Tina felt a chill run down her spine, finding it hard to believe that a high-sequence extraordinary being, the most powerful being below the gods, was standing right in front of her, and even said that she was a ghost ship sailing on the sea.

But on this day she had already encountered too many magical things: a golden lamp that could grant people's wishes, a silver mirror that could perform divination and quiz games, a door that could instantly teleport people thousands of miles away, and an extraordinary being who could change size at will between men and women.

A ghost ship that can transform into human form doesn't seem like such an unacceptable existence.

As for the appearance of a Sequence 1 angel, or, according to the concepts of the mystical world, an archangel, it was not the biggest problem for Tina, who had only been in contact with this world for a day and had not yet formed a concept of the strength of extraordinary beings. On the contrary, it verified what the genie had said before: once on this ship, the two angels of Bayam would not be able to leave their mark.

After all, 1 is greater than 2, and there are differences among angels as well.

Having prepared herself mentally, Tina mustered her courage and asked the indifferent-looking girl:
"So, how should we address you?"

“I am Adele Trensault, you can call me Adele, after all, I look about your age now.”

The girl who claimed to be from a ghost ship did not hide anything and revealed her name.

They look about the same age, which means they're actually quite different... Tina had barely reacted when Dorothy, standing beside her, repeated in surprise:
"Trensost?"

"Is it the powerful Tronsost Empire of the Fourth Era? That must be the royal family's surname back then, right?"

Why would a ship be named this? Did it originate from the Fourth Age, belong to the Empire, or is there some other, deeper reason?

Upon hearing this name, Dorothy, who was more interested in history and the cultures of different countries than her sister's favorite adventure novels, couldn't help but have some thoughts.

Adele nodded slightly and answered in a somewhat detached tone:

"This surname has a long history. It was originally the angelic family of the Solomon Empire, and then it established a united empire with the 'Blood Emperor' Tudor. Eventually, the two sides parted ways and each occupied half of the Northern Continent. It was not until the War of the Four Emperors broke out, and the Paleness swept across the land, burying all the gods in the mortal world, that the Fifth Era of the Seven Gods came and disappeared into the long river of history."

“I was born during the chaotic period when the Black Emperor Solomon first fell and the Ternsault family inherited part of his legacy. I inherited the excess ‘balancer’ characteristic from my father, which of course also became an insurance policy for Him, a means of resurrection.”

"The ghost ship manufacturing method originates from the Solomon Empire. It requires first building the hull, and then using the power of demigod 'alchemists' to seal the necessary extraordinary characteristics into it, creating a ship-shaped sealed object with living characteristics. However, the more special ones are formed by combining the spirit, extraordinary characteristics and power of the most powerful warships with the spirit, extraordinary characteristics and power of the most powerful saints or even angels. Such ghost ships may develop self-awareness and even self-cognition, and take on the appearance they had in life."

She felt she was hearing many descriptions different from historical records… Was Adele the latter kind of ghost ship He spoke of, which was why she possessed archangel-level power? Dorothy's pupils widened slightly, and she was about to ask about what she didn't understand when Adele changed the subject, as if unwilling to delve further into her origins:

“In the past, I have seen that powerful sealed artifact you carry many times. It is called the ‘Wishing Lamp’. In the Fifth Era, it was classified as a Level 0 sealed artifact by the Church of the Seven Gods, with the number ‘05’.

"It has had many masters, but none of them had a good ending. They either died from twisted desires or the terrible consequences that followed, or they were deceived by the 'genie' inside and met with misfortune. Even angels or true gods could not avoid it. In fact, the fall of my father, the emperor of the Ternsost Empire, and the outbreak of the war of the four emperors were closely related to this sealed artifact."

This lamp is truly a Level 0 sealed artifact, and one of those with a particularly high number... Tina, who was feeling somewhat lost due to her exposure to historical knowledge, suddenly heard a familiar keyword and instantly straightened up as if waking from a dream. The question that had been troubling her had become a reality, and she couldn't help but ask:

"Something bad happened? Would a 'genie' deceive its owner? He promised to grant me one, no, three wishes!"

Adele nodded first, then shook her head, and said in a complicated tone:
"Normally, this sealed artifact can grant its owner a maximum of ten wishes, but only the first two wishes can be protected from harm by making prior preparations. From the third wish onwards, unpreventable and unavoidable distortions will occur."

"If you want to have an endless amount of money, you might be turned into a money-printing machine that works forever; if you want a long life, you might be transformed into an immortal creature."

"But the wishing lamp has the characteristic of being alive, or rather, the 'genie' in the seal has his own thoughts, and his greatest wish is to break free from the seal and return to the starry sky. So if the holder is willing to fulfill this wish, he should cooperate to a certain extent, including any additional wishes promised, which will be fulfilled in a normal way."

So although "0-05" is dangerous, the genie inside can be communicated with and negotiated with... Tina felt a little relieved. This statement was very consistent with the obsession she had felt with the genie along the way. The other party was indeed using every means to break the seal as soon as possible and get rid of the genie's restraint.

If that's the case, then perhaps her three wishes can really be fulfilled.

But another question immediately arose in her mind:
If the genie has such strong "subjective initiative," then why does he stay quietly in his own basement instead of using his parents or even a passing thief to leave early on?
It couldn't be because he was worried about being found out by his parents, could it? He's not me; I'm more afraid of my mother's stern gaze than the dark… Tina muttered to herself, and continued to ask:
"So, to us, the genie is a friendly and kind being. If we grant his wish, he's willing to grant ours too?"

Adele smiled slightly, and her expression instantly became more lively:

"This is true from the perspective of transactions and promises, but that does not mean that He is good. For such a being, simple good and evil are no longer distinguishable. He is driven only by divinity, without such human concepts, and does not follow human morality. If He did not symbolize order, He would not even have the instinct to 'keep promises'."

"Instead, it would be more accurate to say that the gods and great beings currently existing on this planet are full of humanity and are generally benevolent, making them outliers in the universe."

Humanity, divinity... words that Tina recognized but didn't understand the true meaning of burrowed into her mind, making her dizzy and disoriented as she was only encountering the world of mysticism for the first time today.

The genie hadn't had time to teach her this knowledge, or rather, he wasn't willing to.

Dorothy, who had been frowning the whole time, nodded as if she understood, and asked in return:
"You mean that the gods in mainstream religions, and those in declining religious beliefs, are all benevolent?"

“That is indeed the case at present. They all ascended to godhood step by step from mortals. Compared to mythical creatures born with humanity, they are more human. And the anchor of faith provided by their followers is the key to maintaining their humanity.” Adele answered at an extremely fast pace, as if she wanted to teach these two this knowledge as soon as possible. “The quantity and quality of followers are equally important. Therefore, high-ranking saints and angels all have their own gods to believe in. This is their duty to exist. Of course, the rewards from the gods are equally generous.”

Gods also need believers, and not only ordinary mortals, numbering in the hundreds of millions, but also beings of higher status... No wonder the struggle between faiths has never stopped, only recently seeming to have eased... Tina suddenly understood many things she hadn't quite grasped before, which made her feel a little guilty for not having a firm belief in herself.

As for the idea that gods are born from mortals, the "genie of the lamp" had already mentioned this when he taught her about the path to divinity.

It seems I should embrace a deity as soon as possible, both to receive protection and to provide some anchor of faith for the benevolent ones. If I had to choose, would it be "Eternal Darkness," which my parents both worship, or Mr. Azik's "The Fool"? The followers of the Goddess of Calamity seem to have done many good deeds as well…

As she pondered, Adele, dressed in white with black hair and bright golden eyes, tilted her head and suddenly said:

"You have arrived at your destination."

(End of this chapter)