866 The Painting

In Trier, within the botanical garden, inside the wooden house.

Lumian and the others were blinded by the sudden bright light from the sky, unable to open their eyes for a full minute.

Ludwig was the first to recover. He ran to the window and looked out at the plants, as if searching for something.

Lumian was the second to recover. He frowned and said to Franca, Jenna, and Anthony, "Is this the start of the vortex? It's quite a commotion."

"I wonder if it will affect us," Franca said just as a strong sense of danger washed over her.

In such matters, Demonesses always had keen intuition.

Almost simultaneously, Jenna exclaimed, "It will definitely affect us! I have a feeling we can't stay here any longer!"

Lumian paused for a moment, then quickly whispered, "Termiboros, you didn't warn me because what's about to happen is something you want to see?"

As he spoke, Lumian signaled to Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Lugano to come closer. They each grabbed his arm, shoulder, and vest.

The only one who lacked the tacit understanding was Ludwig.

Lumian looked at the young boy and said sternly, "Do you want to be punished with homework? Get over here!"

Ludwig's face showed fear, and he instinctively turned his body. But the next second, he reluctantly looked back out the window.

He didn't know what he was waiting for; he just felt he should stay here, waiting for something very important.

"Hmm?" Lumian urged again.

Ludwig's expression changed, and he finally couldn't resist the authority of his godfather and his fear of schoolwork and exams. He ran over to Lumian, grabbing his black vest.

Still lacking tacit understanding, the ritual can't be considered complete... Lumian sighed inwardly and activated the black mark on his right shoulder.

He needed to teleport this large group to the New City of Silver, to the headquarters of the Church of The Fool!

Lumian saw layers of dense colors and countless transparent, strange figures, along with the seven pure, bright lights always far overhead.

He was about to travel through the familiar spirit world to the coordinates representing the New City of Silver when his body suddenly felt heavy, pulling him away from this fantastical, mysterious, mad, and illusory world.

Lumian found himself and the others back in the wooden house within the botanical garden, in the same state as when Ludwig had just grabbed his vest.

With his extensive experience, Lumian's eyes narrowed, and he warned his companions, Franca and Jenna, "Circle Inhabitant!"

...

Outside Emperor Roselle's mausoleum on the primitive island, in the area in front of the tomb shrouded in thin white mist.

The three pieces of information that flew out from the point of light where Fate's Attendant Hloise was located landed on three different points of light.

One was where Higdon of the Order of All Extinction was, another seemed to be inside a tunnel under Trier, where a figure holding a carbide lamp, dressed in a black robe, and looking different from those from the Northern and Southern Continents, was the visitor from Easter Island named Harrison.

The third point of light first showed darkness, then outlined a figure. This figure was in his fifties, with a thick head of hair with a hint of white, and clear, deep lake-blue eyes.

He was a man with neatly trimmed facial hair, and his features were well-defined.

Even at his age, he could be considered handsome.

Voisin Sanson!

Circle Inhabitant of the Sinners, Voisin Sanson!

The father of Roche Louise Sanson, the original identity of Aurore, a follower of Inevitability, Voisin Sanson!

As soon as Voisin Sanson, dressed in a black suit, received the information about Lumian, Ludwig, and the others' location, he disappeared into the darkness of the expanding point of light.

Higdon of the Order of All Extinction also quickly left his room, no longer participating in this real-time, complex trade without physical distance.

Overseer Perle showed no surprise at this. With her ethereal voice, she announced the progress of the trade, "Voisin Sanson of the Sinners has obtained crucial information about the recovery of the Inevitability Angel. The corresponding price will be paid by the great Circle of Inevitability.

"Mr. Higdon of the Order of All Extinction has begun his actions. The reward will be given after he completes the recovery of the Angel of Primordial Hunger and provides some assistance to Voisin Sanson, paid by Loki of April Fool's..."

As Perle's words spread, and with the invocation of those honorific names, the area around the white mist grew increasingly dim and uncertain, shadows rising as if a terrifying will was about to descend.

Normally, Perle shouldn't have known or spoken of information regarding great beings, as it would bring extremely terrible and severe consequences. After all, after convincing the gray-leaning Queen Mystic Bernadette with previous events, she had only received a new blessing through a substantial sacrifice, becoming a true Vortex Weaver, but not yet reaching the rank of an Angel.

However, she was currently under the protection of the vortex ritual and had just accepted a wisp of mist transmitted by her faith's truth, the Uncertain Mist, allowing her to remain unaffected. Her understanding of those great beings came from that wisp of mist, previously only contacting corresponding secret organizations and underground cults to reach relatively certain agreements.

At this moment, Bernadette disintegrated herself into strands of information, surging towards Perle's face within the gray mist in a vast torrent.

She hoped to influence the other party in this way, preventing the subsequent trades from progressing but without destroying the current ritual.

Perle's face, composed of mist, suddenly dispersed, disappearing from Bernadette's perception.

The vast torrent of information surged forward, seemingly lost in the white mist, unable to find the true location of the target.

Soon, the torrent of information separated from the white mist and reformed Bernadette's body. Perle's face then reappeared in different parts of the white mist, sometimes smiling, sometimes cursing, sometimes pretending to be friendly, sometimes babbling.

These faces converged inward, once again forming Perle's sometimes distorted, sometimes normal blurred face within the depths of the white mist.

Perle continued speaking with the Words of Order, "Harrison from Easter Island has received information about Lumian Lee's location. After the vortex ritual ends, he will use the special mirror world to visit Fourth Epoch Trier, paying a special item of the Fate pathway as a reward.

"This is the item Fate's Attendant Madam Hloise wishes to obtain..."

As Perle announced the new trade, a half-body figure that was nearly transparent and quite ethereal grew from Bernadette's back.

This figure looked identical to Bernadette, even in clothing. She held a pale mask with only holes for the eyes, shining with a metallic luster, and quickly put it on.

Pale Death!

Another Grade 0 Sealed Artifact Sealed Artifact owned by Bernadette, Pale Death!

She intended to use this to control Perle.

At that moment, Bernadette's vision blurred suddenly, and the surrounding environment and distances became exceptionally chaotic.

She was passively shifted in position, hearing an unusually familiar deep voice in her ear: "Bernadette..."

...

Outside the Black Emperor's mausoleum, within the increasingly dense and varied white mist.

In an underground location somewhere in Trier, within his corresponding point of light, Harrison took out an item.

It was a thumb-sized, colorful bead with a glass-like texture, exuding a calming aura.

Harrison then threw the bead into the surrounding white mist.

Under Overseer Perle's gaze, the bead passed through Harrison's corresponding point of light, through the dense white mist, and into the point of light where Dreamseeker founder-Hloise-was.

The delicate woman weaving fate caught the colorful, glass-like bead with her remaining right hand.

Her tightly shut eyes suddenly saw a scene: A bald man in a yellow robe with a strange cape sat cross-legged on a bed, a halo of pure light behind his head. Deep within the halo seemed to lead to the unknown, hiding many things.

Hloise put down the bead, pulled out another strand of hair, and completed the last bit of her task.

It was a blessing.

A blessing from fate!

"Project Vortex will be successfully completed."

Hloise's black hair carried this message, woven into the previous threads.

With a swish, a large piece of skin on the right half of Hloise's face was torn off by an invisible force, revealing the bloody, wriggling flesh beneath.

She had not yet become an Angel and could not normally weave such far-reaching fate. She could only forcefully complete it with the goddess's statue, but each weave brought severe damage. Her eyes had gone blind in the process, and her feet, legs, left arm, and fingers had also been broken.

Of course, as long as she did not die on the spot, she could obtain special medicine for treatment through transactions with Brokers.

Overseer Perle's face in the white mist turned her gaze to another point of light.

This point of light showed a scene of an altar inside an ancient castle, surrounded by intact but lifeless bodies, their flesh and bones made into brushes and paints.

A man with long hair, empty eyes, and a frenzied expression had completed the preliminary preparations at the center of the altar.

It was a nearly finished, eerie oil painting, just two strokes away from completion.

The painting depicted an endless, dark starry sky with blood-red circles on the left, resembling a special tunnel or a creature's mouth. On the right, numerous silver-white and black flickered from bone powder, just short of forming a ring.

Overseer Perle's voice resonated.

"The string believer, Mr. Sage of the Fantasy Association, has sacrificed many bestowed and followers and is about to complete a magnificent and outstanding painting!

"Next, we will witness the unveiling of that painting. Mr. Sage's reward will be personally given by the great Uncertain Mist at the end of the vortex ritual, which is also what the great being he believes in wants to see."