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Chapter 1038: The Team
Circle of Inevitability

After Franca put away the Demoness of Unaging Beyonder characteristic that had coalesced after being shattered, Madam Magician said to the three of them. "Apart from some easier-to-find materials that are merely symbolic, we should have everything else. What remains is preparing for the ritual. I can help anytime."

"Thank you," Lumian thought for a moment and asked, "Should we leave now?"

Madam Magician smiled and said, "Angel-level Beyonder characteristics, especially Sequence 1, are not only limited but very rare, and their locations are relatively certain. If there were anything similar in this treasure trove, it could only be Sequence 2, and most likely from the Hunter pathway."

Lumian pointed to the end of the deep corridor. "As one of the Blood Emperor's resurrection arrangements, the corresponding Beyonder characteristic is behind that mirror, together with His Mirror Person, perhaps even already absorbed and merged by His Mirror Person?"

In other words, it was almost impossible to find Angel-level Beyonder characteristics, including Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, in other rooms along the corridor, so Lumian and the others had no need to continue exploring.

Of course, this was just one reason. More importantly, the Blue Avenger belonged to Mr. Hanged Man, and theoretically this treasure vault was also his- equivalent to his private property. He had only allowed Lumian and the others to take the corresponding materials earlier based on a promise. If Lumian and the others were to open other rooms and take other items. it would be too disrespectful to the owner.

Though Madam Magician didn't explicitly say this, all three Demonesses understood and expressed their wish to leave now and think about how to arrange the ritual.

Mr. Hanged Man nodded without any change in expression.

"You can return through the mirror world. Madam Magician and I still have some matters to attend to."

"Alright," Lumian replied with a smile.

He could roughly guess what Mr. Hanged Man wanted to do.

As captain of the Blue Avenger, Mr. Hanged Man had no Tudor remnant aura, no corresponding bloodline, and wasn't on either the Hunter or Demoness pathway. Though guarding a treasure vault, he had difficulty entering it and could only wait for Lumian to open the "access control." Only with Madam Magician's positioning and help could he enter. Of course he couldn't miss this opportunity and had to explore a bit and take some useful items.

These might be Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts that could help improve his strength, or Beyonder characteristic- related items that could help him cultivate more and stronger subordinates, or special items that could either be useful at critical moments or point to certain secrets of the Tudor Empire.

How others explored their own vault was none of Lumian's business. He took out a mirror and led Franca and Jenna out of the vault, then used teleportation to return to the luxurious villa in Trier.

Since the matters of Madame Pualis and infant Omebella were still under investigation, Lumian hadn't returned to his originally rented apartment to meet with his subordinate Lugano. He was still wary of potential issues related to the Great Mother that might exist with him.

"Where's Ludwig?" Jenna looked around the living room and asked Anthony, who was focused on reading the newspaper.

Anthony pointed toward the villa's annex.

"In the kitchen.

"After eating Trier's food for several days, he misses the food from the dream city and wants to try making some himself."

Suddenly, an image appeared in Lumian and the others' minds: Ludwig moving a chair into the kitchen. then standing on it, struggling to handle kitchen utensils that didn't quite match his size and height...

"I miss it too," Franca said excitedly, "Look, look, this is what a professional Chef is like-just eight years old!

Jenna nodded and said to Lumian and the others, "I'm going to the telegraph office nearby to send a telegram to Julien. He's coming back to Trier next week, and I need to ask about the specific time and whether he's taking a boat or steam locomotive."

She wasn't in a rush to discuss her own ritual, as there was already a preliminary plan.

Once Lumian became a Demoness of Unaging and borrowed the Gift of the Land, after communicating well with the Tarot Club and the Church of Knowledge, they would take her to the City of Exiles to advance using the criminals there.

The only problem with this plan was that once Jenna successfully advanced, she would become a Sequence 4 demigod, which conflicted with Morora's rules and would cause negative changes to 0-01.

The current solution was to ask the Church of Knowledge for help, assisting Madam Magician, so this Door pathway Angel could transfer the newly- advanced Jenna away directly using pre-left marks without entering Morora.

Lumian had privately asked Jenna if she wanted to consider using the Sword of Courage to switch to becoming an Iron-blooded Knight. With the current team's composition and rapport, the corresponding ritual wouldn't be difficult after some time adjusting. But Jenna still hoped to continue on the path of pure female Demonesses.

She told Lumian this was currently her only special trait, and once she switched to Hunter, she would lose it. Special traits represented both unknown, huge risks and potential encounters and significant gains. With the apocalypse seemingly approaching early, she was willing to take the corresponding risks in exchange for rapid sequence and power growth to better protect those she wanted to protect.

Lumian didn't try to persuade her further at the time. only sighing and quoting a dream city saying, "Fortune favors the bold."

After Jenna put on her sunhat and lowered her black veil to cover her face, leaving the luxurious villa, Lumian said to Anthony. "Do you want to continue with the Psychology Alchemists mission?

Anthony had already been assigned to Lumian, the new Mr. Chariot, and could completely stop the original mission given by Madam Justice.

Before Anthony could respond, Lumian laughed.

"You're about to become a Sequence 4 Manipulator. Those people who play with people's minds won't let a demigod not cultivated by their own organization enter their core levels."

Anthony had digested the Sequence 5 potion Dreamwalker faster than Lumian and the others because during this time, he had been active, walking. and working in a great existence's true dream.

"About to?" Anthony asked puzzlingly.

Had the Major Arcana cardholders found the corresponding Beyonder ingredients?

That couldn't be so easy, right? If it were that easy, Madam Susie would have become a demigod long ago.

Lumian tucked his falling hair behind his ear and smiled. "Madam Justice has been searching for an ancient dragon. She's had some results but kept missing it. After Mr. Fool Initially awoke, he gave her a revelation that should be very useful. We might see results soon."

Anthony nodded and after considering for a few seconds said, "I want to continue my contact with the Psychology Alchemists, but no longer seek to enter their core levels.

"After becoming a demigod, I'll also hide my Sequence and deal with them in my current state. This is a very good intelligence channel, and I don't want to give it up."

"Alright," Lumian indeed needed such intelligence channels.

After exchanging a few more words, he and Franca went upstairs.

Walking on the thick carpet in the corridor, Lumian turned his head toward Franca. "You no longer need to do the Demoness Sect's mission."

This was a mission from Madam Justice, and since Franca was now subordinate to The Chariot, Lumian had full authority to help her stop this matter.

Franca was silent for a moment, then sighed, "Since you've chosen this current path, I think figuring out the situation with the Primordial Demoness and the secrets of the special mirror world are inevitable tasks, and none of these can bypass the Demoness Sect.

"Whether or not I've been exposed, even if they use me or set traps through this, it's still a good entry point. Having connections means having opportunities."

Lumian looked at Franca without speaking.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, Franca could only ask with a smile. "Are you moved?"

"Yes." Lumian nodded.

"Oh... why aren't you being stubborn this time? Now I don't know how to respond..." Franca mumbled. "Actually, Jenna continuing on the Demoness pathway also involves this kind of thinking."

Before Lumian could speak again, she forcefully changed the topic. "Let me ask a question, purely out of curiosity.

"If you briefly use the War Bishop power within the seal, will your body change?"

Normally, physical changes brought by a boon's power, as long as they didn't cause immediate collapse, occurred gradually and subtly over time However, the boon powers of both Hunter and Demoness pathways inherently possessed the quality of changing the body.

"Yes, the body will, but the spirit won't" Lumian explained simply.

Taking potions to change gender would affect the spirit as well, like Franca-when her Astral Projection roamed the spirit world, her form was also female. But changes brought by boons were limited to body and mind, meaning that even if Lumian returned to a male state using the War Bishop powers within the seal, his spirit would still appear as Lumina.

Franca immediately became excited. "Can you try it, let me see?"

If this worked, she could seek corresponding boons in the future. Then she could be a man when she wanted to be a man, a woman when she wanted to be a woman, and neither if she preferred!

After all, Lumian's goal was to resurrect Aurore, which meant he would reach very high levels, and seeking temporary boons from him wouldn't have any hidden dangers.

Before Lumian could respond, Franca shook her head.

"Never mind, never mind. The Lie earring uses corresponding Beyonder power to change the body without any pain, but changes brought by this kind of boon powers come with the power itself-they're forced, uncontrollable, and must be very painful. Never mind."

"You've been both a Demoness of Affliction and a Demoness of Despair, what pain are you afraid of?" Lumian teased, as his body suddenly changed.

There was both the writhing of flesh and the creaking of bones.

Lumian's face contorted for several seconds before settling into his original male appearance, but more handsome, with more of that masculine charm.

Franca watched with both concern and curiosity, then said, "It really works..."

Her eyes moved slightly, and she added, "Can you close your eyes?"

Lumian didn't refuse.

Then, he heard Franca sigh and say,

"We all know you see your female body as your sister's, and unless she agrees, you won't do anything suggestive with it. We respect your thoughts and Aurore herself, but, but sometimes we still want to see Lumian, to hug Lumian…"

Just as Lumian was about to speak, a warmth pressed against his lips.

After a peaceful, serene, and sweet moment of entanglement, Franca pulled back.

Lumian opened his eyes to see she was suddenly slightly taller than him.

Instinctively, Lumian looked down and discovered that several layers of ice crystal steps had formed beneath Franca's feet at some point.

Franca opened her eyes wide and said, "This time I took the initiative, and I thought kissing you from above felt more appropriate for the current mood!"

"Whatever you like," Lumian said noncommittally.

Franca jumped down from the ice crystal steps and sighed again. "Change back now, minimize the influence of the boon."

She then pressed her lips together, clapped her hands once, and said with a smile, "With the apocalypse approaching and everyone in this situation, let's just make do for now!"

***

Thanks to the user "Максим Довбняк" for the chapters provided!

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  1. Offline
    sleepy▶
    sleepy▶
    + 10 ⋅ 0 -
    Lumian tucked his falling hair behind his ear and smiled. "Madam Justice has been searching for an ancient dragon. She's had some results but kept missing it. After Mr. Fool Initially awoke, he gave her a revelation that should be very useful. We might see results soon."

    This poor dragon is not only lusted after by a rabbit but by a dog.....
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  2. Offline
    TempestUknow
    TempestUknow
    + 14 ⋅ 0 -
    1052 Reluctantly Showing Off






    Late at night.

    Neither Anthony's intelligence channels, nor Franca's gang informants, nor Jenna's neighborhood contacts were able to provide any information related to the Sick Church.

    Franca sat down at the mechanical typewriter, turned on the wireless telegraph transceiver, preparing to ask 007 if the Eternal Blazing Sun Church had gathered any valuable intelligence.

    'Ding, group message notification: Hidden Blade, who did another good deed today, has joined the chat!' Franca announced her arrival in the telegraph group.

    Before she could send a second message, she saw a telegram come in with 007 as the header: 'Hidden Blade, you didn't actually advance to Sequence 4, but to Sequence 3, right?'

    The other telegrams that should have responded to Franca suddenly came to a halt.

    Franca was stunned at first, then understood.

    Wow, I originally didn't want to show off about this, but you helped me do it anyway?

    She felt she should display three parts helplessness, three parts pain, three parts confusion, plus one part inevitable secret joy, so she carefully replied: 'Ah… yes.'

    After a brief, indescribable silence, one telegram after another was spat out by the small analyzer under queue control, accompanied by clicking sounds.

    The mechanical typewriter seemed overwhelmed, working so hard it might start smoking.

    'Are you serious?'

    'Hidden Blade, that kind of joke isn't funny, it's too cruel!'

    'Hidden Blade, I remember you mentioning just a month ago that you were a Sequence 5 Demoness of Affliction, and now you're Sequence 3 in just a month? Even a rocket isn't that fast!'

    'Have you been blessed by the God of Fortune lately?'

    'A Sequence 3 Demoness, I can't imagine how beautiful and charming…'

    'Really, are there any secrets to advancing? Name your price, we brothers might be able to scrape together a down payment.'

    'Hidden Blade, did something happen to you? Do you need any help? At my sequence, I might not be able to participate in combat, but I can help curse those people!'

    '…'

    '007, how did you know?'

    After the expression of various emotions and feelings, someone finally brought the topic back on track.

    007 replied: 'Hidden Blade is now a patron saint of a cathedral, with her own honorific name.'

    Sure enough, the changes at Saint Franca Cathedral had been noticed by the Eternal Blazing Sun Church, and 007 had known before that I was 'Red Boots' Franca Roland… Franca's speculation was confirmed.

    'Patron saint… honorific name… I really can't connect these two terms with the 'life is short, why not give it a shot' Hidden Blade.' Moon King was the first to marvel.

    'Indeed.' Wind Sound sent a telegram in response. 'It's too surreal, too surreal, more surreal than any fantasy novel!'

    'Please show some respect to the great Hidden Blade!'

    'Lord Hidden Blade, is there any chance you could take me as your apprentice?'

    'You want to become a Demoness too? If I remember correctly, you can switch.'

    'I can't accept that the strongest in the research society is now the silly Hidden Blade…'

    'Hey, if you put it that way, wouldn't that make us even more silly and stupid?'

    '…'

    Looking at these telegrams, Franca couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile.

    I have to say, showing off like this feels pretty good!

    Moreover, those joking remarks gave her a sense of still being grounded, still connected to the masses.

    'Hey hey hey,' she quickly typed out the words, 'You don't really think I'm brainless, do you? I was just being approachable before, trying to get along with you all.'

    Then, she humbly added: 'Madame Hela should also be Sequence 3 now, either a bit earlier or later than me.

    'As for the President, I'm not quite sure.'

    'So you really are Sequence 3… Is there anything you can tell us about it?' Wind Sound and others asked in succession.

    Franca elaborated a bit more than before: 'In advancing to Sequence 4, digesting the Sequence 4 potion, and advancing to Sequence 3, I met some special conditions as a transmigrator that allowed me to take shortcuts, so I became a Saint with an honorific name within a month.'

    She didn't mention that she had completely digested the Sequence 3 potion, after all, the telegraph group had quite a few members, and most of which she hadn't met in the real world. Although she was willing to trust their character, she couldn't gamble on their circumstances—critical information about her Sequence abilities still needed to be kept secret.

    Besides, if someone asked what a Sequence 3 Demoness was called, Franca didn't want to hide it, because after 007 pointed out that she was already a patron saint of a cathedral, her honorific name couldn't be hidden from those who paid attention. This way, some telegraph group members might make certain connections between the instant digestion of a Sequence potion and the name Demoness of Unaging.

    'One month…'

    'Really only took one month…'

    '…'

    At this point, Moon King, Wind Sound, and others seemed to have lost even the mood to joke.

    'So what kind of Demoness are you now?' After a while, group member Little Peppa asked.

    I knew it! Franca immediately replied: 'Demoness of Unaging.'

    'Unaging… eternal youth?' Little Peppa seemed somewhat envious.

    Moon King then asked: 'Can you also extend lifespan?'

    'Theoretically speaking, living another two thousand years wouldn't be a problem.' Franca tried to control her pride.

    'So envious…' Group members responded with similar words.

    One after another, all expressing genuine feelings.

    Who wouldn't want to be immortal and ageless?

    As for the negative effects of the potion, there were no ordinary people in this group!

    Franca thought for a moment, then typed out more words: 'For those in the Trier region, if you have difficulties and need help, you can recite my honorific name.

    'For those not in the Trier region, I can't help—I won't hear it and can't respond.

    'My honorific name is:

    'The One Who Never Ages, Keeper of Diseases and Plagues, the Demoness Accompanied by Strife and Catastrophe, the Cup Bearing Joy and Pain, the Great Franca Roland.'

    Seeing this honorific name, seeing the prefix 'Great,' the telegraph group members truly realized that Hidden Blade had obtained godhood, was half-god half-human, and possessed an honorific name, was a patron saint of a cathedral, could respond to prayers, and bestow power.

    After a while, Little Peppa sighed.

    'I feel like there's now a sad, thick barrier between us…'

    'Want to call me lord and let me hear it?' Franca very skillfully responded to these words.

    After discussing her own matters and explaining that Cup took its concept from the Tarot Cup cards's corresponding symbolism and the sacred object that bore joy and pain, she finally asked 007:

    '007, do you have more intelligence about the Sick Church?'

    Based on their team's collection and analysis of information, they believed that the Order of All Extinction and the Sick Church probably worshiped the same evil god, but the former mainly corrupted the upper and middle classes, while the latter targeted the lower classes, preaching about the authority of the Malady God and the terror of illness, developing followers through intimidation.

    007 typed neither fast nor slow, with telegrams coming in line by line: 'The several Sick Church-related cases discovered earlier have been handled, and the corresponding Blessed have been eliminated, but we still haven't found their upper ranks.

    'Those followers who only know the name Malady God, we now have sufficient manpower, with Mid-Sequence Beyonders watching them, to see if anyone will contact them or if any unusual events occur.

    'Besides these, there's no other intelligence. The cultists in Trier have been very quiet for the past month or two, hiding very deep.'

    Very well-behaved? This is very similar to the state before the Hostel incident… Is something big really going to happen within a year or two? Other great existences might not know what the Great Mother wants to do and how She would do it, but They should have foreseen that something would happen, after all, we've all made some guesses, so They've restricted the Blessed in Trier, letting them either transfer elsewhere or wait patiently to fish in troubled waters when the time comes? Franca made her own speculation based on 007's words.

    At the same time, she also caught another hint from 007.

    Followers who only knew the name Malady God could be saved.

    Indeed, those great existences all preach using aliases, not letting followers truly understand Them. This isn't because They're merciful, but because truly understanding Them inevitably leads to corruption. Some might be fine, only experiencing personality alteration and extreme mentality, but most would have their bodies collapse, becoming monsters that constantly spread corruption, making it impossible to preach in secret, as it would be easily discovered by official forces… Franca muttered silently.

    One reason why seeking boons required performing rituals was to protect the corresponding humans through the ritual, and after establishing a stable but temporary channel, the corresponding being could consciously contain the mental and will corruption in the boon, preventing the bestowed from collapsing on the spot.

    Even Saints like Franca and Lumian's understanding of those great existences was limited to aliases, but compared to other Sequence 4 and Sequence 3 demigods, they also know that these existences stand at the top of multiple paths.

    In reality, among the great existences, the only one who didn't preach using an alias was the Mother Tree of Desire.

    Madam Magician mentioned that Mother Tree of Desire was a small segment of the corresponding existence's long string of honorific names. There were two reasons why understanding and reciting it didn't directly bring corruption: First, it was only a small segment, incomplete; second, the Mother Tree of Desire indirectly controlled the one worshiped by the Rose School of Thought in the real world and the Devil Monarch in the Abyss, so when this honorific name was mentioned, under conditions of limited understanding and while the barrier still existed, the proximity-based mystical phenomenon occurred, making it not so dangerous.

    'What can we do…' Franca didn't hide the troubles of a Saint with an honorific name.

    007 quickly replied: 'Trier has gathered a large amount of official force, those cultists won't surface for now. Later, we'll have enough manpower to investigate everyone in key positions.

    'That's how it is in Trier, but in the marginal towns of the Trier region, in places where the Church and government forces are weak, there might still be active cultists. You can go look in those places.'

    Right, with Trier's current situation, we definitely won't find anyone, but we can search in the suburbs and villages… Indeed, only official Beyonders have this kind of vision and experience, we would have wasted some time before possibly thinking of this… Franca immediately replied to 007: 'Genius!'
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  3. Offline
    purple_emperor
    purple_emperor
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    Weird the site hasn't updated here at all for 7 days lol
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    1. Offline
      Максим Довбняк
      Максим Довбняк
      + 12 ⋅ 0 -
      The author took a 5 day break, hence the delay. Only chapter 1039 is open now
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  4. Offline
    Максим Довбняк
    Максим Довбняк
    + 27 ⋅ 0 -
    link to the channel in profile description

    Chapter 1051: Protector


    Having considered his next direction, Lumian looked out the carriage window.

    By now, the hired carriage had reached the gray-white city walls encircling Trier, queuing to leave the city.

    The Church of The Fool's newly established cathedral in Trier was located in the suburbs, right next to where the Srenzo River curved. The river was wide there, with convenient transportation, both a dock and a station, in a picturesque town.

    After arriving at this town called Ramb, Lumian discovered it wasn't small at all, with numerous steamships at the dock and streets bustling with people, extraordinarily lively.

    After asking the carriage driver, Lumian roughly understood the reason.

    Most goods entering Trier had to pay an entry tax. though rates varied. Therefore, many goods that didn't need to be sold in Trier or transit through it were unloaded at Ramb and sent to surrounding towns. This gradually made the town prosperous, attracting many maritime merchants, adventurers, and sailors, bringing with them the faith of The Fool.

    Lumian had heard from Franca that the Eternal Blazing Sun Church had long wanted to abolish the entry tax to promote commerce and improve circulation, but this tax was one of the Intis Republic's main sources of revenue, and Trier's entry tax alone equaled the sum of several major cities' entry taxes. The government simply couldn't give it up.

    Lumian put on a wide-brimmed hat, letting the black veil fall, and began wandering around Ramb.

    Soon, he found what was now called Saint Lumian Cathedral, the Church of The Fool's location, but didn't rush to enter. He just stood on the street for a while, admiring the large glass windows and plain walls.

    I hope one day, no clergy will say that Saint Lumian will have to make do with their actions... After making this self-deprecating joke, Lumian continued walking.

    The main faith in this town was the Eternal Blazing Sun, worshiping Trier's patron angel Saint Viève.

    Lumian examined the white stone angel statue for a few moments before walking into a bar diagonally across the square.

    This bar had good business, and on weekends, many people from Trier would come to freely enjoy various alcoholic beverages that didn't require entry tax.

    As soon as Lumian pushed open the bar's heavy wooden door, he felt gazes turn toward him-some surprised, some amazed, some greedy, some excited, and some like snakes slowly slithering across his body.

    He then remembered that he was now a lady, an extremely charming lady, even with her face hidden behind a veil.

    It was never like this when he was a man before-at most, thieves would observe to judge if there was any value or possibility of theft... Ah, the sense of belonging at "home" is gone… Lumian slowly shook his head and directly took out a revolver from his Traveler's Bag.

    He placed his hand on the doorframe, pointed the revolver at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

    Bang!

    The bullet brought down clusters of dust, and the people in the bar, like athletes hearing the starting gun, quickly scattered in all directions.

    This left Lumian a spacious path to the bar counter.

    When the chaotic scene of people taking cover had somewhat settled, Lumian deactivated the Bottle of Fiction and, holding the revolver, walked toward the bar counter while saying in an icy but soft voice, "I just want a drink."

    He then sat on a barstool, tapped the counter, and said to the bartender who was staring at him blankly. "One La Fée Verte"

    The bartender finally snapped out of it and hurriedly poured Lumian an absinthe with a splash of lemon juice.

    Lumian didn't remove his hat or lift his veil, slowly sipping the bitter and fragrant liquor.

    The other people in the bar gradually returned to normal. In this small town frequently visited by pirates and adventurers, they were used to such things, which explained their practiced response earlier.

    Lumian quietly listened to their chitchat and whispers. trying to discover useful intelligence, especially anything pointing to the Sick Church.

    But unfortunately, what he heard was mainly discussion about himself.

    The most discussed topic was what it meant to be a person of dual bodies.

    There were artistic interpretations, such as "having a male body but also a female side, being both flame and frost," and there were vulgar ones, like "busty up top, hard down below."

    Lumian turned his gaze toward the drunk who had said the latter.

    His highland lake-like eyes were like mirrors, reflecting the other's figure.

    The drunk was making obscene gestures to accompany his earlier description when his chest and lower body suddenly experienced intense pain, as if being burned by flames.

    He screamed in agony and fell to the ground, rolling in pain.

    This stunned those around him who had been agreeing with his joke.

    After about ten seconds, the drunk finally came back to life. He supported himself on a nearby chair and stood up trembling.

    "What just happened?"

    "Sudden illness?"

    "You should go to a clinic right away!"

    The people around him spoke up in a jumble.

    The drunk shook his head in confusion.

    "It just hurt suddenly, but now I'm fine…"

    As he spoke, he looked down to check his physical condition and was surprised to find his chest had strangely swollen from unknown burns, while his lower half had become like stone, tenting his pants.

    Almost simultaneously, those around him also noticed this condition.

    "Busty up top, hard down below..." someone repeated the drunk's earlier words.

    Wh- The people around quickly moved away from the area, all looking at the drunk with wary gazes: It was him who insulted the saint, it has nothing to do with us!

    We weren't standing next to him either, don't let the lightning strike affect us!

    In their fear, everyone present unconsciously had the same thought: Is the Church of The Fool's new patron saint really this efficacious?

    Lumian withdrew his gaze, letting the reflected figure in his eyes disappear.

    This was a small punishment, not affecting any essential functions or physical health.

    For Lumian, he didn't care at all if someone insulted him-he would just find an opportunity to play a prank. But insulting Aurore was not acceptable.

    Moreover, this was also an opportunity, a chance to reasonably use fear to spread faith.

    It could also help digest the Witch potion.

    Lumian looked at the absinthe in his hand, seeing his veiled, half-visible face reflected in the dreamlike green liquid.

    …

    The deep red wine swirled gently, with three faceless wooden dolls placed beside it.

    Franca leaned back in her chair, leisurely admiring the blood color permeating the wooden grain and the hair that had slipped into the crevices.

    After looking for a few seconds, she turned to look at the three men standing in front of the desk and smiled, saying, "I only have two requirements for you:

    "First, help me collect various intelligence, and second, follow these thirteen rules I've established and treat those dancers and streetwalkers well."

    After Franca finished speaking, Jenna, standing beside her, held up the paper and began reading.

    "First, no coercion,

    "Second, ensure adequate rest;

    …

    "Thirteenth, provide basic medical care."

    "We're the mafia, not some damned charity!" burst out the most hot-tempered of the three.

    Franca laughed.

    "Right, I'm not doing charity either."

    She then flicked out a quiet black flame, letting it fall on one of the wooden dolls.

    The doll was immediately covered in black flames. silently burning.

    The gang leader who had just spoken suddenly screamed in agony as strange black flames erupted from within his body.

    He fell to his knees in pain, his face contorted as he shouted, "I-I was wrong.

    "I am doing charity!

    "I agree! I agree!"

    Neither Franca nor Jenna responded, watching silently until the gang leader collapsed to the ground, convulsing until death.

    Only then did Franca look at the other two gang leaders and ask with a smile, "Any objections?"

    "None." The two gang leaders seemed to be competing to see who could shake their head faster.

    After Jenna posted the paper with the thirteen rules on the wall, Franca stood up and said.

    "Remember to look at it every day, and if there's any violation..."

    Franca picked up the remaining two wooden dolls.

    "You should know what they represent-they're a Demoness's curse medium."

    After becoming a Demoness of Pleasure who could directly curse through mirrors, Franca no longer used such black magic in battle, but mirror curses were real-time and couldn't be fixed in place. To control these two gang leaders and make them obey, she still needed to make media like dolls using their blood and hair.

    And for a Demoness of Unaging, possessing such media could also affect the targets' direct relatives.

    "We know, we know." The two gang leaders began their nodding competition again.

    Jenna thought for a moment and said to Franca, "May I add one rule?"

    "Of course." Franca smiled.

    Jenna picked up the pen and added another rule to the posted paper: "Rule Fourteen, loan shark annual interest cannot exceed 36%, and no additional fees such as handling fees or service charges can be collected."

    "No problem, right?" Jenna turned and smiled.

    The two gang leaders being questioned dared not object.

    Franca put away the two curse dolls and casually said as she walked toward the door,

    "I know you have some supporters behind you. I don't care what they think, nor will I interfere with your territory disputes or making money here. I only want those two things I mentioned earlier.

    "If your supporters aren't satisfied, let them come see this statue."

    As she spoke, strands of gray-white light spread out and fell on the dead gang leader's body.

    The corpse quickly turned into a stone statue.

    "No problem with that, right? You'll quietly notify me if they want to move against me, won't you?" Franca turned back to look at the remaining two gang leaders and asked with a smile.

    The two gang leaders first showed uncontrollable fascination, then hurriedly responded, "We will! We will!"

    Leaving the room, Franca walked toward the dancers and streetwalkers waiting nervously at the stairway.

    "Boss..." several girls called out joyfully.

    Franca nodded gently and said, "Things will go back to how they were before.

    "But I still want to say, this isn't a long-term profession."

    …

    Across from the Théâtre de l'Ancienne Cage à Pigeons, Franca and Jenna sat on a street bench, calmly watching the audience and actors coming and going.

    "Not going over to say hello?" Jenna asked.

    Franca smiled. "No need, since they're doing fine, there's no need to go over."

    "That's true." Jenna nodded slightly.

    Franca then turned her head and said, half serious and half joking. "This is left for you-in the future, you'll be the protector of actresses."

    After watching for a while longer, they returned to the luxury villa.

    By this time, Lumian had already returned and was saying to Anthony, "Help me collect intelligence on the Sick Church."

    "The Sick Church..." Franca suddenly understood what Lumian wanted to do and quickly smiled, "I have intelligence sources now too, I'll have them keep an eye out!"
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    1. Offline
      Kiber
      Kiber
      + 3 ⋅ 0 -
      11.3K лайков и 64 дизлайка, Это просто Невероятно hokage
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  5. Offline
    TempestUknow
    TempestUknow
    + 14 ⋅ 0 -
    1050 Response







    Lumian recalled the faith-related materials provided by the Tarot Club and carefully said, 'This should be the mystical manifestation of faith anchors, and the result of chanting your honorific name.'

    'Oh, oh, oh, I'm receiving their prayers…' Franca suddenly understood.

    She immediately continued, 'Fortunately, we're now unified both inside and outside the mirror, with our consciousness existing both within and without. This allows our mirror self to handle matters related to believers without affecting our daily life and combat state. Otherwise, if we were suddenly hit with prayers during intense combat, it would be easy to get distracted and have accidents.

    'However, I think some pathways' Sequence 3 should be able to effectively use these prayers to temporarily strengthen themselves, like the Sun pathway?'

    'War Bishop,' Lumian smiled. 'Within a certain range, the more anchors, the stronger a War Bishop becomes. His soldiers are all his anchors.'

    Franca nodded, browsing the points of light with interest and listening to the illusory voices to understand what the believers were praying for.

    'Continued good health…

    'Family being safe and sound…

    'Business success…

    'No dangers during sea adventures…

    'Stay away from chaos and war…

    'These are all generic prayers, I can't respond or help—they're too vague,' Franca muttered to herself.

    She glanced at Lumian.

    'Your fate domain powers could actually be useful here—there's nothing that good luck and fortune-turning can't solve.

    'Why isn't anyone praying to curse their enemies?'

    At this point, Franca paused. 'There's one prayer asking for their illness to be cured…

    'I'm professional at making people sick, but healing isn't within a Demoness's authority…'

    Jenna thought for a moment and said, 'Don't you still have some of those healing agents left from Mr. Moon?' Jenna thought for a moment and said.

    Lumian had 11 bottles in his Traveler's Bag, while Franca, Jenna, and Anthony each had two bottles.

    'You're right, nobody said a patron saint can't use external help,' Franca immediately took out a potion from the Traveler's Bag.

    While recalling the mystical materials provided by the Tarot Club, she imitated their contents along with knowledge from pre-crossing textbooks, magnified the corresponding prayer light point, and extended her Demoness spider silk—so fine it was invisible—into it, quietly inserting it into that believer's nostrils and reaching their stomach.

    During this process, she used her Petrification powers to make the flesh touched by the spider silk enter a paralyzed state, preventing the prayer from noticing anything unusual.

    Then, Franca unscrewed the healing agent's cap and let the liquid flow along the spider silk to its destination.

    After completing all this, she withdrew the spider silk and removed the paralysis.

    That plainly dressed believer with many patches suddenly felt their stomach become slightly heavier, as if they had unknowingly drunk a glass of water.

    They didn't pay it much attention and finished their prayer, continuing to listen until the half-giant bishop completed the sermon and began distributing communion.

    Just then, that believer let out a surprised sound. 'Huh…'

    Seeing people around looking at them, he said with both confusion and joy, 'My spirit feels better, my body feels lighter…

    'My illness is cured!'

    They finally realized what had happened and told the fellow believers watching them with some fanaticism.

    'I just prayed to Saint Franca for healing from illness!

    'She blessed me!

    'Praise you, Keeper of Diseases and Plagues, Great Franca Roland!'

    Hearing this from her corner, Franca felt both embarrassed and secretly delighted.

    Helping others feels pretty good!

    Getting sincere praise from others feels nice too!

    After this batch of believers left Saint Franca Cathedral, Franca lowered her voice and said to Lumian and Jenna, 'We can't rely on healing agents every time, right? Since my honorific name includes Keeper of Diseases and Plagues, future prayers will definitely include plenty of such requests.'

    Without waiting for her companions to respond, Franca muttered to herself, 'Actually, at Sequence 4, one can create their own unique plague varieties or mystical pathogens. I want to invent a mystical pathogen whose characteristic is devouring other pathogens, while its effect on humans is just causing drowsiness, fatigue, or laziness for a period of time. This could cure most diseases in ordinary people except for their own physical mutations…'

    'If you succeed, this could also be used in battles with other Demonesses,' Lumian was quite looking forward to the mystical pathogen Franca described.

    Of course, this was just a concept, and whether it could actually be created remained unknown.

    Franca thought seriously for a while, then suddenly smiled. 'There's another illness that Demonesses can cure.'

    'What?' Jenna asked curiously.

    'Functional disorders in that matter.' Franca clicked her tongue both self-mockingly and with feeling. 'Just throw a Charm at them and it works for a certain time, though it can't be permanently cured. Damn, what kind of thing is this…'

    Lumian and Jenna fell silent for a moment.

    Franca thought for a bit and continued, 'When I advanced the other day, I felt there were anchor points besides you two, some others seemed to come from the market district…'

    'The dancers and streetwalkers you helped before? Especially those who changed their lives through learning theater performance?' Jenna realized.

    'That's another kind of anchor…' Franca sighed. 'No good deed goes unrewarded. However, with the Savoie Mob gone and us being forced to leave the market district, their situation must have worsened again, so they miss the past. I'll return to the market district later, find the people currently in charge of related matters, 'persuade' them, and control them. It's a pity this is Trier, and we can't completely solve these problems. If we don't have to stay in Trier in the future, I want to find a place to build a new society!'

    Acting on her words, Franca and Jenna quickly left the cathedral for the market district.

    Lumian didn't follow them, worried that doing so would split Franca and Jenna's anchors.

    He chose to take a carriage to the outskirts to look at Saint Lumian Cathedral.

    On the way, fifteen to twenty points of light suddenly appeared before his eyes, and illusory prayer voices echoed in his ears.

    The preaching about me has begun too… Lumian nodded imperceptibly and browsed through the different believers' prayers.

    As Franca had said earlier, the vast majority were vague, difficult to achieve, everyday requests, and Lumian temporarily had no intention of using his fate domain powers to help turn their luck around.

    While browsing, he discovered a relatively special request.

    This wasn't actually a request, but rather an elderly woman telling the patron saint about her regret.

    When she was young, her family was poor and couldn't afford photographs. By the time their circumstances improved, she had aged and could no longer capture her youth, leaving that part of her life unrecorded.

    I also regret not cherishing those early years in Cordu properly… After pondering for a moment, Lumian decided to respond to this request.

    He magnified the corresponding light point and saw the old lady with obvious wrinkles wearing a conservative black dress.

    Layers of mirror worlds then appeared in Lumian's eyes, reflecting the old lady's different stages of life—her as a child, her innocent self, her youthful and simple self, her mature and steady self, and her kind and benevolent self…

    Sitting in the carriage, Lumian quickly chose the mirror trace of her at seventeen or eighteen years old.

    The wrinkles on the praying old lady's face visibly contracted, and her skin quickly gained luster.

    This was an application of the Unaging characteristic, but when used on others, it could only last for a very short time, no more than half an hour, since the mystical connection was only established with the illusory trace in the mirror—not real and not stable.

    In Lumian's view, this was half temporary rejuvenation, half mirror illusion.

    After the old lady returned to her seventeen or eighteen-year-old appearance, Lumian transmitted a message in a female voice, 'Hurry.'

    The old lady immediately broke from her prayer state, not knowing where that somewhat cold and deep but pleasant female voice came from.

    'You, you…' Those around her all widened their eyes.

    'What about me?' the old lady asked these fellow believers in confusion.

    The next second, she discovered her voice had become quite sweet, just like when she was young.

    'You, you, you…' The nearby believers still couldn't form proper sentences, but someone handed over a mirror.

    The old lady looked in the mirror and froze in her seat.

    This, isn't this me when I was young?

    What's going on?

    Have I regained my youth?

    Did my prayer to Saint Lumian receive a response?

    As thoughts raced through her mind, the old lady recalled the female voice she had just heard. 'Hurry.'

    She suddenly understood, abruptly stood up, and said to the surrounding believers with a smile, 'I'm going to get my photograph taken!'

    She quickly squeezed out of that area and walked briskly toward the cathedral door.

    As she walked, she lifted her skirt and began to run, getting faster and faster, just like when she was seventeen or eighteen and ran desperately for a job opportunity.

    She ran to the nearest photo studio and sat in front of the backdrop.

    Click, a flash of light captured a youthful and radiant smile.

    In the moving carriage.

    Having responded to the prayer, Lumian seriously considered a Demoness's faith anchor issue.

    War Bishop is actually simpler—recruit soldiers, cultivate a team, and that's it…

    Most of a Demoness's abilities tend toward disaster, making it difficult to use them positively to develop believers… Those Demonesses of Unaging in the Demoness Sect probably rely on seduction, charm, and fear from disasters…

    In the early stages of faith, making people fear is also a method of developing believers, the most standard method…

    But since we're affiliated with the Church of The Fool, we can't do that…

    Fear…

    Lumian suddenly thought of a sect that deliberately spread fear of disease.

    The Sick Church!

    His eyes, like highland lakes, immediately brightened.

    Is it possible to take over the Sick Church, eliminate all the Blessed and those corrupted by evil gods, then steal the faith directed at evil gods and make certain alterations?

    This is somewhat similar to that section about the Sea God Church in scripture… This could also weaken the corresponding evil gods' influence on the real world…
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    1. Offline
      Ken
      Ken
      + 0 ⋅ 1 -
      webnovel ?
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      1. Offline
        TempestUknow
        TempestUknow
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        if you meant to ask if this is from webnovel then yes
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    2. Offline
      YellowFlame
      YellowFlame
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      Yes anchor stealing time swindler
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    3. Offline
      Error404
      Error404
      + 3 ⋅ 0 -
      Amon :- I raised that boy
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    4. Offline
      Kiber
      Kiber
      + 3 ⋅ 0 -
      Украсть Влияние Церкви... Не зря Люмиан долго находился рядом с Амоном, Заратулом и другими хитрыми существами, Мой мальчик вдохновился welldone
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      The_Parasite
      The_Parasite
      + 2 ⋅ 0 -
      Fool pathway miracle invoker is the best for anchor stablising and granting wishes of followers.
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  6. Offline
    Максим Довбняк
    Максим Довбняк
    + 25 ⋅ 0 -
    link to the channel in profile description

    Chapter 1049: Patron Saint


    After being stunned, Franca's first reaction was, How does she know?

    Although Franca had long suspected that the one at the Star Dream Provisions Store was the Evernight Goddess, and believed that Madame Hela was highly valued by this deity; otherwise, that ancient palace in the Nation of the Evernight wouldn't have been offered as a meeting place for the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society. She never imagined that the Evernight Goddess would tell Hela about something as trivial as their entry into Mr. Fool's dream.

    Shouldn't She have only mentioned Mr. Fool's initial awakening?

    Hela continued, "Actually, I've known the truth about the transmigration for a long time."

    Franca, who had carefully prepared an explanation and planned to gradually tell Madame Hela about the transmigration to avoid shocking her too much, was completely dumbfounded.

    When did this happen?

    Before we knew?

    How does she know?

    At this moment, the waiter brought over a glass of absinthe swirling with dreamlike green color and a triple shot of Reem coffee.

    After drinking the glass of absinthe in one go, Hela's pale, cold face showed a bit more expression.

    "After Port Santa's sea prayer ritual.

    "After seeing the fairy tale-like magic used by the helper you invited."

    "Like Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty?" Franca recalled Ma'am Hermit's performance then, muttering, "I thought they came from Emperor Roselle's fairy tales..."

    Hela gazed at Franca with her pitch-black eyes.

    "I requested materials about this and learned what the core ability of Sequence 4 Mysticologist of the Mystery Pryer pathway is.

    "It's called Mystical Re-enactment, which can draw power from mystical knowledge to create magic or witchcraft. The less known and spread the corresponding mystical knowledge is, the stronger the created spells become."

    Franca vaguely began to understand.

    "Those fairy tales aren't just stories, but mystical knowledge?"

    "This proves they actually happened, in this current world," Hela stated her conclusion. "From that day on, I knew we had always been in our original world, only time had passed."

    Franca suddenly remembered Hela's gaze and attitude when she mentioned Harrison and the hope of returning home at the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society gathering.

    At that time, she had already guessed the truth...

    At that time, she was looking at us with sadness and pity…

    Hela finished her triple shot of Reem and continued, "I had originally planned to hint at this to you all, but then the Harrison incident happened, and many of you became very excited, very hopeful."

    "Like me," Franca said with a self-deprecating smile.

    She took a sip of her coffee and hesitantly asked, "Madame Hela, should we tell the other members the truth about the transmigration?"

    Hela had already thought about this. "Not for now. Let those who haven't accepted reality live with hope.

    "After we survive the apocalypse, if everyone's still here, we can gradually tell them the truth."

    "Indeed, having something to hold onto is good," Franca sighed in agreement.

    She added, "However, we can't let these hopes become too strong, too intense, or too urgent. Otherwise, I'm worried some of them might make rather extreme choices and actions."

    After speaking. Franca saw a slightly relieved expression appear on Madame Hela's face.

    Hela nodded and said, "This is good enough for now. don't actually catch Harrison."

    "Even if we catch him, we can't tell them," Franca replied, showing their mutual understanding.

    She then inquired, "Should we talk about the apocalypse?"

    "We can mention a bit, focusing on emphasizing hope," Hela answered.

    Just like what I was thinking... Franca proceeded to ask. "When is the next gathering?"

    "Aiming for sometime this week," Hela decided.

    Having discussed the important matters, Franca gazed at Hela's pitch-black eyes and pale face, remained silent for a few seconds, then spoke from her heart, "Speaking of hopes earlier, do you have any hopes left?"

    This wasn't really a question-she didn't expect an answer. She was just reflecting.

    To her surprise, Hela actually answered. This lady dressed as a black widow said with a faint smile,

    "My biggest hope now is to survive the apocalypse.

    "If the apocalypse crisis is resolved, and we're all still alive..."

    As she spoke, she seemed to drift into memories.

    "The most memorable gift in my life was the telescope my parents gave me, because I loved watching stars since childhood, and loved imagining what existed in that vast cosmos.

    "If we truly survive the apocalypse, I have two dreams:

    "First is for this world to develop into something Nike our original one-it doesn't have to be exactly the same, just similar.

    "Second, provided those evil gods are gone and I can protect myself, I want to use my abilities or help from certain Sealed Artifacts to explore the stars, visit different galaxies, and experience different civilizations…

    Franca gradually became lost in the reverie.

    Such a life doesn't sound bad...

    Usually staying in Trier, enjoying modern life, and when bored, inviting Jenna, Lumian, and Aurore, along with Anthony, Ludwig. Madam Judgment, 007 and others to form a travel group, touring other countries, continents, planets, and civilizations together…

    The cosmos is indeed dangerous, and we might not survive the apocalypse, but people need something to hope for…

    Looking at Hela speaking softly, Franca suddenly felt this lady's image become much more vivid in her mind.

    She waved over the waiter who had been sneaking glances at her from afar, and ordered two glasses of sweet wine and two glasses of absinthe.

    Picking up one glass of sweet wine, she made a toasting gesture. Hela didn't quite understand but still raised her absinthe.

    "This toast is to our homeland," Franca clinked glasses gently and drank her sweet wine.

    After Hela finished her glass of green liquid, she picked up another glass of sweet wine and said, half-smiling. half-wistfully. "This toast is to distant horizons."

    With a gentle clink, the two different colored liquids swayed, their contained light dispersing outward.

    …

    After returning to the luxurious villa in the arts district. Franca said to Lumian, "Madame Hela said she'll convene a meeting this week, aiming for before Saturday."

    Lumian nodded and continued, "Madam Judgment has also replied to us. The Church of Knowledge has agreed to our request, but they need to do some preprocessing and necessary preparations. The time to go to the City of Exiles is set for next Monday."

    "That's good, Julien won't return to Trier until next Thursday." Franca looked toward Jenna beside her. "Honestly, we need to trick your brother into leaving soon and not return to Trier for two years. If the information from 007 is correct, Trier will be a key point in the outbreak of the apocalypse."

    Jenna nodded solemnly. "I'm working on it."

    "There's suddenly nothing much to do." Lumian smiled as he picked up his wide-brimmed hat with veil from beside him. "Let's go for a walk."

    "Your attitude has really improved. In the past, you would definitely have been anxious-waiting time was always the hardest to endure," Franca remarked teasingly.

    Jenna asked instead, "Where to?"

    Lumian smiled.

    "Let's go to Lavigny Docks, to Mr. Fool's cathedral. The establishment and preaching about the patron saint should have already begun.

    "I want to go listen."

    "Listen to others talk about yourself? Wouldn't that be too awkward?" Franca's face showed resistance.

    Neither she nor Lumian had told Madam Magician which cathedral they wanted to be assigned to, because they both wanted to be modest, yet felt the other wouldn't agree, so they simply let the Church of The Fool decide.

    "I don't mind," Lumian smiled. "Besides, we should also look around the area to see if there's any way to collect anchors."

    "Fine," Franca sighed. "If this were in the dream city, I'd debut as a celebrity! Those fans would be my anchors! Though there are problems with that too these kinds of anchors have an expiration date and can't be passed down. Plus, the different attitudes and focus points from fans would bring conflicting perceptions, which might affect my state."

    "That's one way," Lumian looked at Jenna. "When you reach Sequence 3, you could consider becoming the most famous theater actress in the Northern and Southern continents. Of course, this is assuming you receive Mr. Fool's protection, or..."

    Lumian didn't finish his sentence.

    …

    At the square district, Lavigny Docks, inside Mr. Fool's cathedral with its wide, clear windows.

    Lumian, Franca, and Jenna, wearing hats with lowered veils, settled into a corner of the rows of seats.

    At this time, the half-giant bishop-with golden hair, standing over 2.5 meters tall, wearing a custom-made coat and silk top hat-was preaching.

    On one wall that had previously been bare, artists were using scaffolding and various tools to create new murals.

    In this world where the Church held such high status, being commissioned to create religious murals for a cathedral was the highest recognition and praise a painter could receive.

    Shortly after Lumian and the others sat down, removed their hats, and lowered their heads, the half giant bishop proclaimed in a solemn, resonant voice "Let us praise Mr. Fool."

    "Praise The Fool!" All the believers, including the bishop, stood up and pressed their hands to their chests.

    The half-giant bishop continued, "Let us also praise this cathedral's patron saint, the great Saint Franca.

    "Our cathedral is thus named!"

    Franca's toes began to curl tightly inside her boots.

    The half-giant bishop continued, "Saint Franca is Mr. Fool's cup, bearing people's joy and pain, keeping disease and plague at bay, she is the ageless one, the Demoness who spreads strife and catastrophe to enemies...

    "She once walked in Mr. Fool's dream, working for the Lord's return, she broke through illusion and reality, bringing the Lord's grace to the land..."

    Dammit, they make me sound so impressive. Franca felt both embarrassed and somewhat pleased.

    After recounting Saint Franca's deeds, the half-giant bishop said, "Let us praise Saint Franca!

    "Praise the One Who Never Ages, Keeper of Diseases and Plagues, the Demoness Accompanied by Strife and Catastrophe, the Cup Bearing Joy and Pain, the Great Franca Roland!"

    The believers began to pray along with the bishop.

    Franca suddenly froze, and turned her head toward Lumian and Jenna with a slightly bewildered expression.

    "I hear some illusory voices, and I see some points of light..."
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    1. Offline
      IzuChukwu
      IzuChukwu
      + 4 ⋅ 0 -
      Praise the AI —Fool.
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    2. Offline
      Without time
      Without time
      + 4 ⋅ 0 -
      I don't understand how she could guess that it was the same world, just different periods. Yes, maybe she thought that there was no magic in their world, but its presence doesn't mean anything, their world even had CW, which moved them between worlds
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      1. Offline
        Максим Довбняк
        Максим Довбняк
        + 10 ⋅ 0 -
        I agree, the moment is strange. By the way, Klein also saw the reconstruction magic from Cattleya, but did not understand anything, since there are many explanations, and not only the truth about this world. Maybe she is hiding the truth and found out from Evernight?
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          TempestUknow
          TempestUknow
          + 3 ⋅ 0 -
          this gonna be a plot hole if its not explained fully

          and tbh the whole character of Hela feels kinda off to me
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        2. Offline
          FunFact
          FunFact
          + 4 ⋅ 0 -
          The way Klein explained it back then is that mysticism might really exits in his home world, this reaction shows a bit os escapism mentality trying to ignore the clues while Hela faced the possibility directly and because Hela recognized the possibility she immediately saw tell tale signs of it being true just like how Klein also recognized some of the clues he encountered along the way when he realized the truth. Not really sure though because I don't remember exactly what happened in that part of book 1.
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      2. Offline
        FunFact
        FunFact
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        I think it's because the way the construction magic works is that it can only recreate stories or myths with mystical origins which means that it should be based on somewhat true mystical stories. That means that those stories from their hometown really came from mystical origins and Hela made a guess that this world in their home world might be the same only a time has passed but back then she still might be abit skeptical about it. The way Klein explained it back then is that mysticism might really exits in his home world, this reaction shows a bit os escapism mentality trying to ignore the clues while Hela faced the possibility directly. Not really sure though because I don't remember exactly what happened in that part of book 1.
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      3. Offline
        Kiber
        Kiber
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        Мне Кажется что Хела это аватар Богини Вечной Ночи 16
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  7. Offline
    Nightblade
    Nightblade
    + 11 ⋅ 1 -
    Chapter 1048: Information Revealed by 007
    Mr. FoolOctober 26, 2024


    After sending the meeting request through the skull- headed messenger, Franca turned on the wireless telegraph transceiver and small analyzer machine.



    Click-clack, messages were typed onto paper by the mechanical typewriter one after another,



    Franca read for a while before joining the group chat.



    "I'm the group's early sleep assistant. Those members who haven't gone to rest yet must pay a fine-only gold accepted!"



    As she sent out the telegraph, she recalled life in the dream city.



    Group chatting over long distances in the real world is so difficult! Franca felt inexplicably melancholic and nostalgic, suddenly losing the desire to show off her honorific name.



    What about Sequence 3? Even Sequence 3 can't solve the problem of real-time long-distance group chat!



    If we ultimately survive the apocalypse, I hope the God of Steam and Machinery-no, the God of Electric Power and Information Technology will bring about a new industrial revolution.



    I am a Demoness of Unaging, I can wait!



    Moon King was the first to reply to Franca: "Look at my nickname-obviously the type who's only active late at night!



    "By the way, Hidden Blade, you haven't been online for almost a month. What kind of mission doesn't even leave you time in the evenings?"



    "Look at you, not even knowing that secret missions require turning off phones and cutting off all contact with the outside world. You clearly haven't dealt with such things before, 007, am I right?" Franca suspected Moon King was joking with her, but had no proof.



    007 replied: "I was also locked away for a while."



    Franca immediately perked up. "You... advanced to Sequence 4?"



    "Yes, I got the qualification." 007 didn't hide it.



    The other group members exploded:



    "The demigod?"



    "The first Saint among us!"



    "Besides Hela and Gandalf, this is the Research Society's third demigod, right?"



    "007, didn't you say that even with the qualifications, you'd have to queue and wait for a long time?"



    After the rapidly spitting paper slowed down, 007 explained: "I also thought I'd have to wait longer, but recently, the Church not only brought out many stored Sequence 4 and Sequence 3 Beyonder characteristics, but also crushed some Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts. Most candidates who currently qualify and meet all prerequisites have been scheduled for advancement, though some failed.



    "This situation makes me suspect major events will occur within the next year or two, which is why the Church is mass 'producing' demigods regardless of consequences and costs."



    This matches the speculation about the apocalypse coming early-the Eternal Blazing Sun Church thinks so too? Franca noticed the other group members suddenly fell silent, clearly also thinking about the major crisis, wondering if they would be affected and whether they could handle it.



    Franca could tell that 007 probably knew part of why the Eternal Blazing Sun Church was doing this, given that he was now a Saint, but he couldn't say directly and could only hint at it.



    "Did you become an Unshadowed?" France changed the subject.



    She actually didn't want 007 to continue advancing on the Sun pathway, feeling that the Unshadowed were too pure, and being within the Church, would inevitably become fanatical. If so, the 007 who would complain about her always finding things to keep him too busy to rest might never speak such words again.



    This gave Franca the feeling of watching a friend gradually slip away before her eyes.



    However, she had never tried to persuade 007, only pointing out the possible changes that becoming an Unshadowed might bring, letting 007 make his own decision with full knowledge.



    Everyone's life should be their own to control-she had always believed this.



    She was also grateful that when she was hesitating between becoming a War Bishop or advancing to Demoness of Unaging: Lumian and Jenna only presented options without trying to persuade her. Although they probably had their own thoughts and preferences, they never showed them, never manipulated, never pressured. Judge actions, not thoughts-that was very, very good, since everyone inevitably had dark and selfish thoughts, but ultimately not acting on them showed they'd overcome themselves, proving they're not that kind of person.



    An Unshadowed might not have dark, selfish thoughts, but I actually hope 007 does... Franca silently sighed.



    007 quickly replied to her: "Yes."



    Staring at this word on the telegraph paper, Franca let out a long sigh. "Ah…"



    007 continued: "Some colleagues have switched to other pathways, and some colleagues not in neighboring pathways have also gained advancement."



    At this point, Franca quickly adjusted her mindset.



    She kept telling herself, 007 just deliberately hinted and reminded everyone to prepare for major events and disasters, showing he still retains his positive emotions and humanity!



    As people age, everyone changes and becomes somewhat different from before, 007 has just changed a bit more, but in terms of friendship, he's still that same 007.



    "What major events will happen in the next year or two?" Another telegraph group member Wind Sound pressed.



    "I'm not sure," 007 answered concisely.



    "Stop asking, stop asking." Franca forcefully inserted herself into the conversation to prevent 007 from being put in a difficult position. "What we can do is take opportunities to improve ourselves and enjoy life in the meantime."



    "Hidden Blade, you seem to know something?" Moon King telegraphed.



    Franca wasn't bound by secrecy restrictions, but she didn't dare speak too clearly, fearing some group members might become too desperate and turn to extremes.



    After careful consideration, she said: "If I tell you that the apocalypse is approaching, but there's hope of surviving if tall figures shield us and everyone is prepared, would you believe me?"



    The previously constant incoming telegraphs suddenly stopped.



    After a long while, 007 replied: "I believe you."



    "Dammit, I'm panicking."



    "Great Lord Hidden Blade, introduce me to a Demoness, I'm going all in!"



    "Damn, I hope it won't be a case of dying before spending all my money."



    "I need to buy land and dig a bunker..."



    With 007's endorsement, Wind Sound and others truly believed Franca's words.



    Those who could join this telegraph group were either laid-back, good-natured, or decent people. Although they were all quite nervous and worried at the moment, they could still express their inner emotions in rather lively and playful language, with no one particularly depressed or desperate.



    Seeing her initial purpose achieved. Franca seized the opportunity to say: "I've actually become a demigod too."



    "Now I really believe something big is going to happen."



    "Good heavens, Hidden Blade has become a demigod?"



    "Still a Demoness, or did you switch to the Hunter pathway?"



    "…"



    The group members Immediately burst into chatter.



    Don't you know to chat! Franca snorted and responded: "Still a Demoness."



    "Demoness of Despair?" 007 suddenly inquired.



    What does 007 mean? Right, he's already an Unshadowed, a church higher-up, and while Demonesses mainly operate in Intis and the Southern Continent, even if he doesn't know the exact Despair potion formula, he must know ow the corresponding advancement ritual to detect anomalies and stamp out plague outbreaks early... Franca replied with understanding: "Don't worry, I didn't harm any innocent people, and I used a shortcut method."



    "Shortcut? Rituals can have shortcuts?" Moon King's words revealed surprise.



    Wind Sound sighed: "Hidden Blade, how can you advance so quickly, are you even human anymore? Oh right, not human, half-god half-human..."



    Franca considered carefully before saying: "Actually. we transmigrators all possess certain special qualities.



    When conditions are met and the pathway is suitable, these qualities manifest, helping us make tremendous progress at certain stages.



    "In a sense, we are chosen ones."



    Chosen by the Celestial Worthy!



    Afraid the group members would become arrogant. she quickly added: "This isn't entirely a good thing."



    "What special qualities?" 007, Moon King, and others telegraphed almost simultaneously.



    Franca chuckled and typed quickly: "Can't say, if you know, you know. You'll know when you encounter it."



    Not giving the group members a chance to ask follow- up questions, she quickly changed the subject: "007, are you still in Trier?"



    Now that he was an Unshadowed, an archbishop or senior deacon, he would need to guard a diocese, and the Eternal Blazing Sun Church had sufficient forces in Trier, even with Angels hidden there.



    "Still in Trier," 007 replied. "Many of the Saints who advanced this time have stayed in Trier as mobile forces."



    Many stayed in Trier? Franca suddenly became alert.



    Does the Eternal Blazing Sun Church think Trier is where problems are most likely to erupt?



    Franca couldn't help but lower her head to look at the floor.



    What she was really looking at was the Fourth Epoch Trier and the special mirror world sealed beneath Trier.



    Will the apocalypse's outbreak start from beneath Trier rather than the high-altitude barrier? Franca slightly furrowed her brows as this thought fleshed through her mind.



    At this moment, Madame Hela's silver skull-headed messenger returned, letting a paper held between its teeth float down before her.



    Franca caught and read it: "Tomorrow morning at ten, Rue Ancienne, Little Dairy Cow Café."



    …



    Quartier de I`Observatoire, Rue Ancienne.



    Franca, who only dared go out after using Lie to lower her looks and suppress her charm, arrived at the Little Dairy Cow Café fifteen minutes early.



    She sat by the window, watching with interest as people came and went outside, as bicycles, bionic mechanical devices, and steam robots hurried past.



    Soon after, Hela, dressed as a black widow, appeared at the door.



    The moment she saw this lady, Franca suddenly had a strange feeling that she walked between darkness and sunlight, death and life.



    Hela's complexion had grown slightly paler, the sense of being alive seemingly fainter.



    Has Madame Hela advanced again? Indeed, if the Eternal Blazing Sun Church is mass-producing demigods, how could the Evernight Goddess Church not do the same? She switched back to the Death pathway, Sequence 3 Ferryman? Wonder what special abilities come from combining the Darkness and Death pathways... Franca now had very rich mystical knowledge.



    "Good morning." She stood up, smiling in greeting.



    After Hela replied, she said to the café welter, "A glass of absinthe, and a triple espresso shot."



    After they both sat down, Franca fiddled with the veiled hat placed beside her and said with a smile,



    "I went to a place recently with skyscrapers, electric cars, mobile phones, and the internet. Unfortunately, it was just a dream."



    Madame Hele listened carefully before nodding slightly. "I know you went there."



    "Uh Franca was stunned.






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  8. Offline
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    Quote: Максим Довбняк

    "Mr. Fool only said he knows." Lumian told Franca and the others, "It seems we'll have to wait until I bring the Gift of the Land to the City of Exiles and meet with Hand Bro before getting new revelations."


    There is never a lack of a good "I know" from Mr. Fool
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      Fool :- Yeah you told me now I know.
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  9. Offline
    Максим Довбняк
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    Chapter 1046: Hidden Sage


    "The beginning of everything..." Lumian softly repeated Franca's interpretation.

    Jenna listened with inexplicable terror.

    "Did the Cordu Village disaster actually start when Aurore summoned White Paper, rather than when April Fool's set their sights on her?

    Lumian stared at White Paper for a while, then dismissed the summoning.

    Then, he muttered to himself, "From Aurore's memory fragments and grimoires, she was first infused with knowledge about White Paper, and it was only several months later that Madame Pualis followed her husband to Cordu.

    "I originally thought Madame Pualis was simply looking for a rural village with weak church and government influence to develop her own 'territory' and prepare for the formation of Paramita and obtain higher boons, which is why she targeted Béost who was about to become the administrative officer and territorial judge of Cordu. Now it seems this may not have been a coincidence.

    "She came specifically for Cordu Village, though she may not have known why she needed to do this-she likely just received divine revelation from the Great Mother.

    "Yes, that's right!"

    At this point, Lumian's lips curled into a slightly grotesque smile.

    "This answers why Omebella's first incarnation was in Cordu!"

    A flash of insight struck both Jenna and Franca.

    The former blurted out.

    "Madame Pualis's affair with the padre and her pregnancy happened before Aurore used Soul Summoning, or before her condition worsened due to the treatment from I Know Someone, which led to the spread of the Inevitability faith."

    "Unless someone had prophesied the development and outcome of the entire Incident, Madame Pualis probably hadn't thought about using the Inevitability believers' ritual sacrifices at that time-Cordu didn't even have any Inevitability believers then!" Franca followed up, "And the Cordu incident involves very high levels, so even the Great Mother probably couldn't see the specific shape of the results in the initial stages."

    Lumian nodded.

    "Simply seducing the padre of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, having an affair near the cathedral altar, becoming pregnant, and obtaining the corresponding symbolism-couldn't this have been accomplished in any remote village? Why did only Madame Pualis in Cordu succeed? When she successfully became pregnant with Omebella, there wasn't even any power of Inevitability to utilize!

    "Thinking about it in reverse, we can reach a conclusion: when Aurore summoned White Paper certain things related to Omebella secretly arrived in Cordu, nurturing power invisibly, and then Madame Pualis received divine revelation to come to Cordu."

    Reflecting on the changes in White Paper's state before and after, Lumian thoughtfully said, "Amniotic fluid?

    "Did White Paper once carry the amniotic fluid that nurtured Omebella?

    "After the amniotic fluid came into reality, did it quickly merge into Cordu's overall environment?"

    "Amniotic fluid..." Franca and Jenna were momentarily bewildered.

    Lumian briefly described White Paper's appearance when first summoned and its subsequent changes, then gave a cold laugh.

    "If this is true, that infusion from the Hidden Sage was definitely not random, but intentional."

    Jenna quickly nodded.

    That's what she had said earlier.

    Franca spoke with confusion, "But the Hidden Sage didn't gain any benefits from this whole incident. So far, we haven't seen how He benefited from it…

    "Pure harm without self-benefit?

    "Also, wasn't April Fool's targeting of Aurore also a coincidence? They weren't aiming for Omebella's incarnation..."

    "We need to reassess what we know about April Fool's now; we can't fully trust it." Lumian scoffed, "After experiencing the dream city, don't you have a deeper understanding of 'foolery'? What April Fool's believes may not be the truth, just like in the sea prayer ritual. they overlooked some key issues, being presumptuous and ultimately becoming the jester."

    "Is the Celestial Worthy secretly helping the Great Mother?" Franca suddenly realized, Lumian gave a sound of agreement.

    "As for why Hidden Sage deliberately infused that knowledge, I can't think of a reason right now, but I'll ask Him eventually."

    As he spoke, Lumian paused.

    "I remember Ma'am Hermit's main task was to investigate Hidden Sage's condition and the reason His mutation back then caused the one from the Church of Steam to leave the Moss Ascetic Order…

    "Did His coming to life, His abnormality, come from the Great Mother's influence?

    "How was it accomplished? The barrier was still quite solid at that time..."

    Franca, Jenna, and Anthony exchanged glances, with the former reminding.

    "Should we report this to Mr. Fool?"

    "I'll pray now." Lumian nodded slightly.

    After Mr. Fool had initially awakened through the image of Gehrman Sparrow, praying to him wasn't as troublesome as before when they needed to leave long intervals between two prayers.

    Soon, Lumian completed his prayer, reporting everything about the changes brought by Aurore's soul fragments further awakening after he became a Demoness of Unaging, White Paper's symbolism, the new interpretation of the Cordu Village incident, and his speculations about Hidden Sage.

    "Mr. Fool only said he knows." Lumian told Franca and the others, "It seems we'll have to wait until I bring the Gift of the Land to the City of Exiles and meet with Hand Bro before getting new revelations."

    "Alright." Franca sighed.

    Lumian thought for a moment and said,

    "I'll also synchronize my speculations about Hidden Sage with Ma'am Hermit later, hoping it might give her some inspiration."

    After Anthony took Ludwig downstairs to prepare dinner, Lumian looked at Franca and thoughtfully asked,

    "Do you plan to tell all members of the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society the truth about the transmigration?"

    Franca appeared troubled.

    "I'm afraid the shock would be too great, some people might not be able to accept it and lose control on the spot."

    As she spoke, she mocked herself.

    "If I still hadn't digested half of the Despair potion, saying this much is about all that's needed."

    She made a sound of agreement and continued,

    "I plan to meet with Madame Hele first, give her a hint of it. She's emotionally stable and should be able to accept it, then we can discuss how to proceed."

    After pondering for a moment, Lumian said.

    "By the way, help me ask when the next gathering will be."

    "Do you have something in mind?" Franca asked curiously.

    Smiling, Lumian replied.

    "I want to clarify one question:

    "Why Aurore?"

    "Why Aurore..." Jenna pondered, "Why did Hidden Sage specifically choose Aurore as the target for infusing that knowledge?"

    Lumian clicked his tongue and continued,

    "The conditions of being a transmigrator, having the gray fog's aura, being female, and being a Warlock- almost no one in the outside world could satisfy all of these simultaneously, but within the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society, there are several who do.

    "Why did the Hidden Sage pick Aurore?

    "Was there something else about Aurore herself, was Cordu already harboring abnormalities, or was she simply unlucky and randomly chosen by Hidden Sage?"

    "Indeed." Franca nodded in agreement. "We should investigate this."

    After discussing these matters, Jenna intentionally changed the topic to keep the atmosphere from becoming too heavy.

    She said to Franca and Lumian,

    "You need to design your honorific names now."

    Lumian and Franca, both with relevant mystical knowledge, looked at each other, feeling inexplicably awkward.

    Of course, besides feeling awkward, Franca was also a bit excited.

    I'm going to have an honorific name, this is unprecedented!

    "I'll go first," she volunteered.

    Seeing both Lumian and Jenna looking at her, she took paper and pen from the table, saying with a smile,

    "The phrase 'the Great Franca Roland' needs to be there, but how embarrassing as an ending."

    As she spoke, she wrote down this phrase.

    "The other descriptions should reflect your abilities and characteristics." Lumian reminded her.

    Franca thought for a moment and spoke,

    "Should the first line be Demoness of Unaging? No. wouldn't that affect Mr. Fool's reputation? As his saint, I should lean towards the positive side. Hmm, 'One Who Never Ages.'

    "Should the second line be 'Spreader of Diseases and Plagues'? That sounds like a villain; need to rephrase it, 'Keeper of Diseases and Plagues,' what do you think? This implies both the containment of plagues and the authority to bestow illness as punishment."

    "I think that works," Jenna expressed agreement, and Lumian had no objections.

    Franca pondered for another while.

    "I think the description of Demoness should be m included, as that's my current essence, but it needs to sound better.

    "The Demoness Accompanied by Strife and Catastrophe? Hehe, I'm not the one creating the strife and catastrophe, they just follow me around, Good, that's the third line.

    "For the fourth line, should we showcase a Demoness's charm or my personal characteristics? But if we add 'pleasure' to the description, what if people start praying to me for pleasure?"

    "As a saint of the Church of The Fool, we should indicate your relationship with the Church." Lumian helped think. "Also, don't use pleasure, that's too suggestive. Use joy, it encompasses more meanings, and you do bring joy-it's your characteristic."

    Lumian paused and said,

    "Fourth line: 'The Cup Bearing Joy and Pain.'

    "The Cup refers to the Cup card, Indicating I'm Mr. Fool's Minor Arcana card, using his status? Mm, the Cup card also symbolizes emotions and feelings, which perfectly matches the joy and pain brought by a Demoness. Perfect, let's use that!" Franca clapped her hands and smiled brightly.

    She quickly wrote down the complete honorific name:

    "The One Who Never Ages, Keeper of Diseases and Plagues, the Demoness Accompanied by Strife and Catastrophe, the Cup Bearing Joy and Pain, the Great Franca Roland."

    After reading it several times, Franca said with lingering interest,

    "I see many Sequence 3 Saints have 'protector of something' in their honorific names, should I add that too?

    "But I don't have anything to protect right now, I still lack accumulation and have been a saint for too short a time. I can't be the protector of Lumian and Jenna. can I?"

    "Protector of Human Trials and Spirit of Adventure?" Lumian joked.

    Franca rolled her eyes at him.

    "Your turn!"
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    1. Offline
      Максим Довбняк
      Максим Довбняк
      + 22 ⋅ 1 -
      Chapter 1047: Honorific Name


      Lumian took the paper and pen from in front of Franca and said with a smile, "We can always add descriptions about being someone or something's protector later when it actually happens. After all, every demigod can have many descriptions, though they don't use all of them."

      He then wrote down the last line of his honorific name with the pen: "The Great Lumian Lee."

      Then he smiled at Franca and Jenna. "The first line should leverage Mr. Fool's status."

      As he spoke, he wrote down his first honorific line: "The Chariot of Mr. Fool."

      Before Jenna and Franca could speak, he made a self- deprecating comment. "The second line will continue to leverage, this time from 0-01."

      "Proxy of the God of War?" Franca blurted out.

      "No good," Lumian shook his head. "Lady Magician mentioned before that the title 'God of War' refers to both 0-01 and Red Angel Medici. If I call myself the Agent of the God of War, He might laugh uncontrollably -wouldn't that be like giving Him a free gift?"

      "Try something else, like Proxy of the Lord of War?

      These will all point to 0-01 anyway," Jenna suggested.

      "I think it should be more conceptual, to minimize Red Angel's influence as much as possible," Lumian thought for a few seconds and wrote, "Proxy of Chaos and War."

      Seeing this description, Franca suddenly laughed.

      "If you really want to leverage, you should continue. Let me do a count.

      "Heir of the Blood Emperor, Divine Child of the Great Mother, Friend of the Underworld Daoist, One Who Serves the Peak Beings of Both Calamity and Sacrifice Pathways…

      "Tsk, better forget those. If you really added them as your honorific name, you might drop dead on the spot."

      "A room can't hold that many people." Lumian glanced at Franca, responding with an old joke.

      Holding the pen, Lumian continued, "I thought of the third line before going to bed."

      "What is it?" Franca asked curiously.

      Instead of answering her, Lumian directly wrote down a description: "The Dual-Bodied One Forged by Fire and Frost."

      "Dual-Bodied One." Jenna read the latter part aloud. suddenly understanding this was preparation for Aurore's further resurrections, allowing the corresponding anchors to point to her as well.

      "Dual-Bodied One refers to both you and Aurore, and also to the female Demoness and male Hunter, as well as the me outside the mirror and the me inside it. Brilliant!" Franca sincerely praised. "Fire and frost correspond to the Hunter and Demoness abilities, and being forged by fire and frost would inevitably bring intense pain-only sufficient obsession and strong will could endure it. This also represents your journey to become who you are now..."

      As she spoke, Franca shut her mouth.

      Then, feigning world-weariness, she sighed and patted Lumian's shoulder. "Things will get better!"

      "Indeed," Jenna said hopefully.

      "After reconciling with myself, my condition has actually improved quite a bit." Lumian laughed, looking at the paper on the table. "For the fourth line, I want to show both my current highest Sequence characteristics and point out how I differ from most Beyonders on the Demoness and Hunter pathways."

      "You have abilities merged from two pathways, most notably the Fire of Destruction. And the most obvious trait of the Demoness of Unaging Sequence is eternal youth," Franca pondered.

      Lumian nodded slightly and wrote carefully: "Unaging Saint Holding Destruction?"

      "Make it 'Bearing'-although 'holding' makes me imagine a beautiful Demoness extending both hands holding black flames of destruction, 'Unaging Saint Bearing Destruction' sounds better." Franca imagined the corresponding scene.

      "That works too," Lumian accepted Franca's suggestion.

      Finally, his honorific name was determined as: The Chariot of Mr. Fool, Proxy of Chaos and War, the Dual- Bodied One Forged by Fire and Frost, Unaging Saint Bearing Destruction, the Great Lumian Lee."

      Putting down the pen. Lumian made a self - deprecating comment. "Just thought of a hellish joke - I could also add 'Protector of Cordu' to my honorific name."

      Jenna and Franca exchanged glances, both feeling that Lumian's mental and spiritual state had indeed improved somewhat.

      "Alright, we can now summon Madam Judgment's messenger to inform her of both our honorific names, and ask her to contact the Church of Knowledge on our behalf, hopefully getting an opportunity to visit the City of Exiles soon. Hmm, only after the time is confirmed can I go borrow Gift of the Land-that Sealed Artifact is too dangerous, I can only use it briefly." The latter half of Lumian's words were meant for Jenna.

      He knew that although Jenna appeared calm on the surface, she was quite anxious inside.

      Obviously, Jenna hoped to become a Demoness of Despair before Julien returned to Trier, which was only a week away.

      "Alright." Franca didn't delay.

      After sending letters to both Madam Judgment and Ma'am Hermit through their respective messengers, the three Demonesses waited for Madam Judgment's possible reply.

      Franca looked out the window at the early evening lights and said somewhat emotionally.

      "The scenery here is beautiful, and the environment is nice, but it feels somewhat stuffy living here."

      This luxurious villa had just been gifted to them yesterday by Madam Justice, as additional compensation for awakening Mr. Fool.

      Franca had also moved her belongings, especially that small analyzer machine, and announced her return to the telegraph group last night.

      "Stuffy?" Jenna was a bit confused.

      Franca smacked her lips and said, "Maybe I'm just not the type who likes living in villa districts.

      "I prefer having lots of shops downstairs, street vendors gathering in the morning, but sleeping in a room away from the street to avoid being disturbed.

      "Whatever I want to eat, I can go down and buy it anytime. When there's nothing to do, I can stand by the living room window and watch children chase and play, see how vendors do business, watch what stories passersby might act out, and sometimes, with a non- ordinary one's hearing, faintly catch some gossip and rumors."

      Franca's voice grew softer, as if immersed in such scenes.

      After a few seconds, she sighed and said with self- mockery, "Living here is good too, at least we don't have to worry about affecting Innocent people when fighting."

      "With Saint-level abilities, that would be difficult," Lumian reminded her.

      To this, Franca could only respond with a brief interjection, "Ah…"

      Soon after, Madam Judgment replied through her jellyfish-like messenger Ongla: "Results from communication with the Church of Knowledge will come tomorrow at the earliest, or the day after tomorrow at the latest."

      "Tomorrow or the day after..." Lumian nodded and smiled, "Then there's nothing urgent for now, we have some leisure time."

      He then left the bedroom and went downstairs.

      Then, he went to the study, took several popular novels and a pile of recent newspapers and magazines, came to the living room, and started reading under the bright crystal gas chandelier, appearing very relaxed.

      "Why are you reading these?" Franca asked curiously.

      Lumian didn't hide anything and said with a slight sigh and smile, "The conversations with Mr. Fool and the exchange during self-reconciliation helped me understand some things. Since the end of the path is already determined-whether it's the apocalypse or resurrecting Aurore-then during this journey, if there really isn't anything urgent, I might as well be a bit kinder to myself."

      Yes, Lumian Lee deserves to enjoy life too! A smile gradually bloomed on Jenna's face.

      She extended her right hand to Lumian. "May I invite you to watch a play or opera tonight?"

      "Sure." Lumian reached out and touched hands with Jenna.

      Jenna then turned to Franca. "May I invite you too?

      "Of course, I thought I was going by default," Franca tried to smile lightly, but it turned out quite radiant.

      Jenna then looked at Anthony, who was also reading newspapers in the living room.

      Anthony put down his newspaper and cleared his throat. "I'll pass. After staying in the dream city for half a month, I haven't contacted many of my intelligence sources in reality for a long time. I already have appointments tonight."

      "Alright." Jenna then said to Ludwig, who was waiting for the stew to finish cooking in the kitchen, "You must come."

      Otherwise, no one would watch him!

      Ludwig only raised one question, "Does the theater have food?"

      "We can get you candy-like food, the kind that doesn't make noise when you eat it," Jenna smiled and said.

      Franca then said to Ludwig. "You really should experience more things, life isn't just about eating."

      Ludwig looked at her, his gaze full of "I don't think so."

      Speaking of eating, Franca suddenly got excited. "How about hot pot tomorrow?"

      "Does Trier have all the ingredients for a hot pot base?" Jenna looked toward Ludwig.

      Before Ludwig could respond, Franca said quite happily, "We can have another version of hot pot, with bone broth. It's not as complicated, and we can use garlic, Feynapotter chili, salt and such for dipping sauce. It's equally delicious-those who want spicy can add spice, those who don't want it don't have to, everyone chooses for themselves.

      "Hmm, we can use pork bones or beef bones for the broth, add some common spices, plus mushrooms…"

      Hearing this, Lumian, Anthony, and Jenna said in unison, "Skip the mushrooms!"

      After discovering their very "unanimous" opinion, the three immediately burst into laughter.

      "Gulp." Ludwig, who had been made hungry by the talk, swallowed his saliva.

      This made Franca laugh too.

      Laughter echoed in the living room.

      …

      When they returned from the opera, it was already late at night. Franca walked back to her bedroom with light steps.

      In one corner of the bedroom sat that small analyzer machine connected to a mechanical typewriter and wireless telegraph transceiver.

      I'll chat a bit before sleeping. Franca walked to the complex machine and said silently to herself. How should I tell 007 and others tactfully and without showing off that I'm now someone with an honorific name?

      Oh right, first summon Madame Hela's messenger to request a meeting in reality!
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    Chapter 1045: White Paper


    Summon White Paper?

    When Lumian saw the words on the paper, he was clearly stunned.

    A strange trembling, surprise, and fear immediately welled up from the depths of his heart.

    Had Aurore, whose soul fragment had further awakened and merged with me, struggled to control my body while I slept, just to leave this reminder?

    Theoretically, this should be very important.

    But why White Paper?

    Lumian certainly remembered what White Paper was - it was Aurore's contract creature, very weak, from the spirit world. Besides being spiritually connected to Aurore, its only function was to temporarily carry one Beyonder ability of the contractor, and even then, it was limited to simple and weak types.

    What was there to care about with such a contract creature?

    The real reason for Lumian's intense emotional reaction was: he had originally thought everything about Cordu Village was very clear, that every important symbol had been interpreted, that who all the participants were and what roles they played were sufficiently clear, with no more questions, lacking only some specific details that didn't affect the overall truth.

    But now, after Aurore's soul fragment had further wakened, the first thing she did was tell him to summon the contract creature White Paper!

    Are there still important symbols in the Cordu Village incident that haven't been interpreted?

    Is the current truth not the complete truth?

    Are there still crucial secrets hidden?

    Lumian forcefully suppressed the turmoil in his heart and quickly reviewed the key points of the Cordu Village incident.

    Initially, Madame Pualis followed her husband, the local administrator, Béost, to Cordu, secretly planning to develop Cordu into her 'territory' to establish her own Paramita;

    Madame Pualis began an affair with the padre and became pregnant;

    Aurore, influenced by members of April's Fool attempted a Soul Summoning and ran into problems;

    Aurore sought treatment from I Know Someone, her mental state fluctuating until ultimately allowing Roche Louise Sanson to return;

    Some villagers who were close to Aurore were influenced by Roche and believed in the constellation heresy, gradually spreading it outward;

    The padre, while dealing with those involved in the constellation heresy, was bewitched by Roche and became a believer in Inevitability:

    At this time, or perhaps later, the deity worshipped by the Aurora Order noticed Aurore's abnormality and the problems in Cordu Village, and began plotting Amon's return;

    Several shepherds began bringing 'sacrifices' into the village, secretly conducting several ritual;

    Reimund, Ava, and others discovered the village's abnormalities and were subsequently silenced;

    I stumbled upon this matter and was nearly killed by the padre's group, fortunately saved by Aurore;

    She also discovered something was wrong, we began seeking help from the outside world, but the truly useful approach was blocked by the tiny lizards;

    Aurore was increasingly becoming Roche Louise Sanson;

    They raided Madame Pualis's castle, and the padre killed his own child;

    Madame Pualis left Cordu with her husband, butler, and maid, but left behind that empty cradle and other hidden arrangements, achieving some purpose through the final ritual;

    The ritual officially began, Aurore pushed me off the altar, and Cordu was subsequently destroyed....

    Lumian carefully recalled everything but couldn't find where White Paper had played any important role or key part in these events.

    It had only served as eyes for Aurore or Roche at certain moments, helping them observe corresponding targets and specific battlefields.

    Among all the key points, the only unclear one is what role Madame Pualis's empty cradle, and hidden arrangements played, but preliminarily it can be linked to the true birth of the Mother's Child of God Omebella, which isn't very questionable-this was confirmed by both Mr. Star's previous interpretation and the later scene of Madame Pualis appearing with baby Omebella...

    Did White Paper observe some detail then that Aurore found useful, or rather, strange?

    Just as Lumian thought this, he heard a knock at the door.

    "Come in." His emotions had largely calmed down.

    Franca and Jenna opened the door and entered. The former looked around and said, "We sensed you were awake but hadn't opened the door, so we came to check on you."

    Lumian pointed to the paper on the desk and said. "While I was asleep, Aurore might have briefly awakened and used my body to leave this message."

    Both Franca and Jenna were startled and quickly came to the desk, looking at the paper pressed down by the ink bottle.

    "White Paper your sister's contract creature?" Jenna recalled Lumian's previous accounts.

    "Why did Aurore want you to summon White Paper? Franca asked, puzzled.

    Lumian shook his head slowly, "I don't know either.

    "I thought everything about Cordu Village was already clear, but now..."

    Franca suddenly had an inspiration and said thoughtfully, "Could this be the useful change that would appear after becoming a Demoness of Unaging in Mr. Fool's revelation?

    "Is this the correct interpretation of that prerequisite?"

    After thinking for a while, Lumian said, "Very likely.

    "I had previously examined the characteristics and abilities of a Demoness of Unaging and hadn't found anything that could play a key role in subsequent events. I thought something would only emerge when I brought the Gift of the Land to meet the Hand Bro in the City of Exiles.

    "Now it seems Mr. Fool required me to advance to a Demoness of Unaging before borrowing the Gift of the Land because once I became a Demoness of Unaging. Aurore's soul fragment would further awaken and better merge with me, able to provide very important reminders."

    "So you're saying White Paper might have recorded key information about Madame Pualis and her baby Omebella?" Jenna made this conjecture based on Lumian and Franca's words.

    Lumian nodded. "Go get Anthony and Ludwig upstairs. I'm preparing to summon White Paper now.

    "Since Aurore hasn't completely died, her contract with White Paper still exists, and since Aurore is now part of me, I can summon White Paper in her name."

    Lumian wanted Anthony and Ludwig present because he wasn't sure what state White Paper would be in- perhaps they would need a Spectator or Gourmet to interpret the corresponding information.

    "Alright." Franca and Jenna easily understood Lumian's intentions.

    After Anthony and Ludwig arrived in the bedroom and found their positions, Lumian quickly set up the altar.

    Finally, he took out his Major Arcana card: "The Chariot"!

    While placing "The Chariot" card at one corner of the altar, he took out The Fool's Sacred Emblem and pressed it on top of "The Chariot" card.

    This matter might involve the Great Mother, so he had to be careful.

    After completing all preparations, Lumian watched the quietly burning candle flame and, within the wall of spirituality, stepped back twice and called out in ancient Hermes, "I!"

    Then, Lumian switched to Hermes.

    "I summon in my name:

    "The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, a friendly creature that can be subordinated, a Contract Companion that belongs solely to me..."

    After reciting the incantation, Lumian saw the candle flame gently start to flicker, taking on a ghostly blue tinge.

    A cold wind suddenly swept through, and a transparent, blurry sphere like a soap bubble appeared above the candle flame.

    It quietly faced Lumian, giving him a sense of both familiarity and strangeness.

    This was indeed White Paper, just as he remembered it, yet there was also an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity.

    As I remembered... Lumian suddenly felt a pain in his head.

    He slightly furrowed his brow as images flashed through his mind.

    He remembered now that he had never actually seen White Paper because before Cordu's destruction, he wasn't yet a Beyonder, and even with Aurore's guidance, he hadn't successfully activated Spirit Vision, and at low to middle Sequences, one couldn't see White Paper without Spirit Vision.

    His memories of White Paper's appearance all came from Aurore's soul fragment.

    As scene after scene flashed by, Lumian, through the further awakened soul fragment of Aurore, barely recalled the circumstances of her first summoning of White Paper.

    At that time, White Paper was also such a fragile, soap bubble-like sphere, but there seemed to be liquid inside the sphere-clear liquid with hints of pale yellow and milky white.

    And as time passed, those liquids gradually disappeared, and White Paper eventually settled into its current form.

    Why had there been such a change? Lumian looked at White Paper, feeling it was indeed spiritually connected to him.

    But spiritual connection didn't mean White Paper had enough intelligence to understand the meaning of words-it could only accept simple commands and couldn't answer Lumian's questions.

    "There's nothing abnormal, nothing noteworthy…" Franca frowned, turning her gaze to Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig.

    Jenna and Anthony shook their heads in turn, indicating they also hadn't seen any important information contained in White Paper.

    Ludwig licked his lips and said softly. "It used to have a very tempting scent, but now it's gone."

    "Used to have a very tempting scent..." Franca fell into thought.

    Jenna muttered to herself, "This indicates there was indeed a problem, there used to be a problem?

    "The knowledge Aurore used to summon White Paper came from the infusion of that evil god Hidden Sage... an intentional infusion?"

    "Mm." Franca nodded slowly and solemnly, "What was the problem that used to exist?"

    She looked at Ludwig again.

    "Don't know." Ludwig shook his head.

    At this point, Lumian, who had been watching White Paper and listening to his companions' dialogue, spoke in a deep voice.

    "If we treat the Cordu Village disaster as a story, what does White Paper symbolize in this story?"

    Franca and the others looked at each other, each lost in thought.

    After a few seconds, Franca carefully said, "I don't know what the contract creature White Paper symbolizes, but when the concept of white paper is connected to the story, it symbolizes..."

    She paused, her throat inexplicably tight, her voice unconsciously becoming deeper.

    "It symbolizes the state before a story is written-it symbolizes the beginning of everything."
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    1. Offline
      Kiber
      Kiber
      + 2 ⋅ 0 -
      Я не очень понял Роль Белой Бумаги в этой истории frost ... Мне нужны гуру этого сайта monk
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      1. Offline
        Максим Довбняк
        Максим Довбняк
        + 10 ⋅ 0 -
        It seems that the White Paper had signs of corruption from the Hidden Sage. If we look at it from the point of view of symbolism - this means the beginning of everything, the story that we saw in the Cordu village, or the beginning of a completely new story (for Aurore). Then we wait for the next chapter
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      2. Offline
        Deypa
        Deypa
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        я подумал про выражение "начать с чистого листа", не знаю почему
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      3. Offline
        Digital Evil
        Digital Evil
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        A white book means an empty book with no content, the text means that at the beginning there is only an empty book and a story is written in it.
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