Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1429 Relationship?

During that brief period of darkness, Christina was able to notice everything around her because she was holding the powerful sealed artifact, the "Wishing Lamp." This not only allowed her to see everyone's actions but also made her feel the gaze of the shadowy creature on the iron-black throne deep within the hall. She knew that the creature's gaze could cause "corruption," breeding dissatisfaction and resentment towards oneself and one's companions, and even causing the self-aware sealed artifact to betray its master.

This includes the flesh and blood in the glass bottle that Franka threw out, as well as "Arods," who had saved them several times before.

The mirror, now possessing a living quality, immediately broke free of its shackles and began questioning those around it, forcing them to choose between answering shameful questions or accepting punishment. The questions became increasingly pointed and difficult to answer.

Seeing this, Tina could only turn to the "genie" in her heart for help, just like when the two sisters were kidnapped, asking for a wish in advance to help her escape danger.

Otherwise, even if Dorothy answers the question, Tina will be next, and she can't predict when the "Wishing Lamp" will "fall from grace" and escape her control.

By then, everything will be beyond repair. Franka and Jenna both have ways to protect themselves, but Tina and Dorothy do not!

Fortunately, the genie, who usually remained silent and pretended not to hear Tina's thoughts, didn't feign death this time. Instead, he chuckled inwardly and asked:
"Even if this journey ends successfully and I break free of the seal, I will only grant you three wishes. Are you sure you want to waste your second one here? The shadows in the hall don't have a physical form, so I'm pretty sure you and your sister won't be in any danger, but the other two might be in a different situation."

Although Tina had already decided to save the people first, she still hesitated and remained silent when she heard the genie's question.

She went to great lengths, ran away from home, and faced danger several times, all to fulfill the genie's request and obtain these three precious wishes. She was kidnapped in Liberation Harbor before and had to use one of them because her life was in danger. Now she has to use the second one?
But seeing Franka punished for her wrong answer, even after dodging the attack with her Stand, still looking disheveled, seeing Jenna struggling to answer, and seeing thunderclouds gathering above her sister's head, about to strike with lightning, Tina finally made up her mind:

"I agree to use the second wish!"

The next second, a figure kicked open the door and appeared in the golden twilight light, like a god descending to earth.

"Mother?"

Seeing that tall figure, long hair and eyes that were almost the same color as her own, and features that resembled her own reflection in a mirror, Tina subconsciously cried out.

Did my mother find out about Dorothy and me running away from home beforehand, and then come all the way to the East to drag me home and put me in solitary confinement?
A wave of despair washed over her, and the shadows around her seemed to grow even darker.

But the next second, Tina suddenly noticed the difference between the woman in front of her and her mother.

Her hair had red highlights at the ends, and unlike Angel, whose long hair was tied back, she braided some of her hair into fishtail braids and coiled them on her head, while the rest was left loose down her back, like wearing a woven flower crown. Her facial features and contours were seven or eight parts similar to Tina's, but she also presented a neutral, beautiful and handsome appearance. The combination of a high-collared women's shirt, tight trousers, and leather boots, along with the aura of authority surrounding her, made her look like a general who had just stepped off the battlefield.

Her temperament was completely different from her mother's, like two extremes... Tina muttered to herself, finally realizing that the person in front of her was not her mother.

Of course, it wasn't just appearance and temperament that made her judgment. The other party had clearly kicked open the heavy palace gate, and the aftershocks of the door hitting the wall were still echoing inside the hall. This was something that no ordinary person, or even an ordinary extraordinary being, could do. Based on Tina's shallow knowledge of mysticism, the other party was at least a saint, or even an angel like Ariana before.

In comparison, although Franka and Jenna, whom she met in Afternoon Town, were also extraordinary beings and their sequences should be quite high, they couldn't even open the self-sealing door from inside the hall, let alone find the hidden exit through the shadows. Clearly, they were not on the same level as this lady with long golden and red hair.

Furthermore, Tina noticed that Franka's expression changed immediately after this woman appeared, showing a mixture of surprise and relief. This indicated that she knew the woman and was aware of her strength, which could help her easily escape the current crisis. Based on this alone, this woman could not possibly be her mother.

After figuring this out, Tina felt a little disappointed. After experiencing so many events that followed today and learning about the wonders of the extraordinary world, she actually hoped that her parents were powerful extraordinary beings hiding their identities.

Oh right, about the question Arrodes asked Dorothy earlier… Tina's mind raced, and she looked at Dorothy, only to find that the latter was also staring intently at the figure at the gate, her eyes gleaming. The thundercloud above her head, which had been brewing “punishment,” had disappeared without her noticing.

"Lady 'Chariot'!"

Franka's shout interrupted Tina's thoughts.

The witch, who had just been punished by the Magic Mirror's quiz and still bore the marks of electricity passing through her body, stepped forward and bowed respectfully, her attitude like that of a subordinate to a superior.

The Chariot… That sounds like the name of a card in the Tarot. I just noticed that Franka took out two cards and chanted an incantation I couldn’t understand, and one of the cards was “The Chariot.” Was she asking this lady for help?

Tina watched Franka's actions, her mind racing with speculation.

The woman known as "Chariot" gave Franka a barely perceptible nod, then her gaze swept across the still-dark hall. Wherever her eyes fell, the pitch-black figure on the throne vanished, and the veils of shadow that shrouded every pillar and every wall faded away. Arodes, who was turning to Tina and whose mirror was displaying new text, also stopped all movement.

With a crash, the silver mirror fell onto the hard stone floor, and the problem that had not yet fully manifested was obscured by lines of silvery, messy characters:

"After reading a romance novel borrowed from a classmate, do your fantasies include...?"

"Arods was wrong! Arods will never dare to do it again! Arods shouldn't have used the opportunity of 'falling into depravity' to ask reckless questions!"

"As long as my master doesn't abandon Arodes, Arodes is willing to do anything!"

Seeing Arodes begging for mercy with extreme obsequiousness, Tina was dumbfounded and could not believe that this was the same sealed artifact that had just used lightning as a threat and arrogantly asked questions one by one.

Dorothy was also shocked until the silver mirror was lifted by the "Chariot" lady and placed into her arms, at which point she subconsciously took it.

"Keep it safe. Although it usually follows a strict question-and-answer format and the punishment is not fatal, it will unleash its wild nature whenever it has the chance, taking pleasure in seeing those around it make fools of themselves."

"Chariot" spoke in a softer voice that didn't quite match his appearance.

The voice sounded so much like her mother's… As Tina was lost in thought, the other person looked at her again, a slight smile playing on their lips, and continued:

"Also, I am not your mother. Don't go around claiming relatives indiscriminately, as it could bring disaster to others."

Tina's face flushed and burned quickly, and she averted her gaze, filled with shame.

Disaster? Why would it bring disaster to others? At most, it would only make Mom a little unhappy, provided she knew about it... She mentally justified her actions a few times.

Franka, standing nearby, also secretly watched the "Chariot" lady, occasionally glancing at Tina. Comparing the two's appearances, she was surprised to find that, if it weren't for the former's overflowing "conquering" power, the two were remarkably similar, almost to the point that outsiders could mistake them for mother and daughter or sisters. In contrast, Dorothy, who was actually Tina's sister, seemed like an outsider.

When I first met them, I didn't notice anything amiss, only the color of their eyes... Perhaps it's because I'm usually afraid of being captivated by His charm and don't dare to look directly at Lady "Chariot," so I didn't make a detailed comparison... Franka muttered to herself, seeing that the shadows in the entire hall completely dissipated after the angel stepped in, and the twilight light from outside shone through the glass windows on both sides, illuminating the towering hall, she then walked towards her superior in the Tarot Club and began to quietly recount the whole incident.

Upon hearing Franka's observation of the black figure on the throne, her pronouncements that "anyone who looks upon him will fall," and her subsequent swift summoning of the "chariot" indicating the figure's power far exceeded her own capabilities, the angel nodded slightly in agreement.

“Your choice is correct. That shadow comes from the ‘Dark Angel’ Sasriel. His true form is an angel king, whose rank is even higher. He once made even the gods feel troubled and unable to deal with him.”

The King of Angels... It sounds like he's even more powerful than the archangels of Sequence 1, comparable to gods... Franka has multiple identities, and Rosell's diary and the exchanges at the research institute have given her knowledge and vision far beyond that of ordinary Sequence 5s, but she was still somewhat surprised when she heard this term.

To escape alive from the clutches of such a being, I am truly a lucky one!
“Of course, if Sasriel were still alive, let alone his avatars, even a wisp of his aura or a single glance from him would be enough to make you and Jenna lose control on the spot and turn into deformed monsters covered in snakes.” Seeing the smug look on her face, the “Chariot” lady smiled and added, “The ‘Dark Angel’ evil spirit was defeated more than ten years ago. All that remains in this hall is a remnant of its consciousness, but even so, if you make the slightest mistake, you will lose yourselves in the ensuing corruption and betrayal, or you will kill each other and all die here.”

I almost got into a fight with Jenna because of the darkness growing in my heart. Luckily, Christina yelled and woke us up... Wait, she should just be an ordinary person, so why was she the least affected? Franka was stunned and subconsciously looked at the girl she had met in the afternoon town. She saw her quietly walking towards the iron-black throne deep in the hall, struggling to climb the stone steps, trying to place the golden lamp she had been holding next to the huge throne.

What is she doing...? Franka was about to stop her when she noticed that the "Chariot" lady beside her only glanced in that direction and then stopped paying attention. Suddenly, a guess formed in her mind.

……

Just as Tina affixed the "Wishing Lamp" to the iron-black throne made of an unknown metal, she heard the genie's sigh echo in her mind:
"It's going very smoothly. This is the fifth seal already. I'm not far from gaining my freedom."

"Things didn't go smoothly at all. Dorothy almost got electrocuted by Arodes just now!"

She uttered a silent complaint.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible,” the genie denied immediately. “I will not let you die until you help me break the seal… Of course, the two witches are another matter, so your ‘wish’ saved their lives.”

But every time you're really in danger, you start playing dead... I always feel like this guy is trying to tempt me to use up the three wishes I'm entitled to ahead of time. Now there's only one left, and I can't let him succeed... Tina muttered to herself, picked up the magic lamp and carefully put it away, then looked at Franka and Jenna standing by the hall door.

One wish for two lives, what a bargain… She suddenly smiled and walked briskly toward them.

As Tina approached the "Chariot" lady and Franka, who were talking, their conversation reached her ears:

"...Afterwards, write a report about what happened today and give it to the Archbishop of the End Times Church under your direct command, but don't include me or the Tarot Society. Just say that you sacrificed a precious sealed artifact, fought with all your might to overcome that shadow, and saved the two girls, as well as yourself."

"If I'm not mistaken, you should receive the reward you deserve."

Wasted seal artifacts... Tina looked back into the depths of the hall and saw that the fleshy body that had emerged from the glass bottle that Franka had thrown out earlier had been charred black under "Arods's" punishment and had long lost its vitality. Scattered bright red light was gathering on a piece of rotten flesh with visible fascia and blood vessels.

Unlike the wishing lamp that withstood the "fall" and did not succumb, and Arodes who begged for mercy as soon as he saw the angel descend, it became the only victim in this battle.

“Yes, Ms. 'Chariot'.”

Franka answered seriously, then led Jenna toward the extraordinary characteristics of the "Rose Bishop," intentionally leaving space for Tina to get closer to the "chariot."

Seeing this, Tina finally blurted out the question that had been buried deep in her heart:

"Lady Chariot, hello. I'd like to know if you know my and Dorothy's mother, or if you have a sister or relative who looks very much like her?"

Because Franka and Jenna were also present, the cautious Tina did not reveal her mother's name, lest it attract the attention of the "Church of the End Times" later.

From the brief conversation she had just overheard, she had realized that Franka was a member of the "Church of the End Times" and seemed to also belong to an organization called the "Tarot Society".

"Chariots" are naturally one of them.

But Tina didn't care about these mystical matters; she only cared whether this powerful and extraordinary being, who could make Arodes beg for mercy and dispel the shadow with a single glare, knew her mother.

After all, the two are too similar, and that one glance is quite reminiscent of Tina's mother.

Under the expectant gazes of her and Dorothy, who had somehow joined her, Lady Chariot's lips curled up again, revealing a gentle smile.

She nodded:
"Of course I do."

As soon as she finished speaking, she touched Tina's head with one hand and reached out to Dorothy with the other, stroking their hair as if soothing small animals.

The next second, with a "crack" of shattering glass, the three of them disappeared into the orange glow of the twilight.

Franka, who had just reclaimed the title of "Rose Bishop," turned around and gazed at the spot where they had entered the "Mirror World." After a moment, she shook her head and said to Jenna beside her:
"I knew it. Lady Chariot must be connected to those two girls, especially the blonde one."

In that instant, she had already imagined tens of thousands of words of scripts about love triangles, love and hate, and real and fake heiresses; all she needed was an author who could write these stories into a book.

"We can give it to Aurora, and then we can split it 50/50..." She thought of her good friend in the Curly-haired Baboon Research Society, and then of Aurora's younger brother Lumian, who had already embarked on the "Hunter" path, and of the sharp questions Arrodes had raised during the "Fallen".

Unbeknownst to her, Franka felt Jenna's gaze from the side become increasingly intense.

P.S.: There's another event in the book club! Everyone can participate for a chance to win 500 coins.

(End of this chapter)