Faced with Lumian's question, Madam Magician pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Whether it's investigating the state of the Primordial Demoness, exploring the secrets of the deepest layer of the special mirror world, uncovering the essence of the mirror self, or mastering the secret of resurrection and rebirth of the Demoness of Unaging, it's impossible to bypass the Demoness Sect.
"These are equally important for you now.
"So, my opinion is to let the Two of Cups continue to contact the Demoness of Black, while you lurk in the shadows to prevent accidents.
"The Demoness Sect has probably already suspected the Two of Cups' background and intentions, but I'm not sure what countermeasures they will take. If they want to use the Two of Cups to do some things and achieve certain goals, we can take advantage of such arrangements to peek into the secrets of the Demoness Sect and the special mirror world, and incidentally obtain subsequent resources for the Demoness pathway. If they prepare to eliminate hidden dangers and wipe out the Two of Cups, you, lurking in the shadows, must immediately act and quickly rescue the Two of Cups. The mission with the Demoness Sect shall then end there.
"This is indeed already a fairly high-risk matter. Both the Two of Cups and you have the right to refuse."
Lumian listened attentively and then smiled and said, "I think the Demoness Sect won't do anything to Franca for the time being. It's more likely they'll use her. Otherwise, in the underground mausoleum of Morora, Julie in her divine descent state wouldn't have thrown me out of the special mirror world. And after I achieved my goal, obtained the Black Tear, and returned from Morora, the Demoness of Black wouldn't have been so easily patronized by Franca."
Madam Magician nodded almost imperceptibly.
"If this isn't that individual's arrangement, it means the Primordial Demoness also hopes for a Beyonder who harbors hope for Tudor's resurrection and is closer to the top powers of the two Calamity pathways than Her to grow up according to the method currently considered closest to the correct answer, in order to achieve a goal that is very important and crucial to Her."
Lumian twisted his mouth and said in a self-mocking tone, "One of the ways to counter a true god's arrangement is to place oneself in the plans of another or several true gods, whether those plans are good or bad."
"The principle is the same as balancing the corruption on oneself." Madam Magician shook her head and smiled. "But you should remember that before Mr. Fool awakens, no true god can compete with that individual in arranging this matter, even if several Sequence 0 true gods unite. Of course, this can indeed interfere with and influence that individual's arrangements, giving you a chance to detect anomalies in a timely manner or in advance."
Lumian nodded solemnly. "Whether Franca continues the Demoness Sect mission or not, I will follow up on these matters. Madam, can you give me more intelligence about the Demoness Sect? The Demoness of Black only reveals very little to Franca each time."
Madam Magician said in an appreciative tone, "You now indeed have the ability and mindset to independently handle one aspect of affairs. If Mr. Fool wakes up, you are completely qualified to draw a Major Arcana card.
"From now on, matters concerning the Demoness Sect will be consolidated under you. If you need assistance or want to mobilize resources from other Major Arcana card holders, you can find me or Judgment at any time.
"Well, because the Demoness of Unaging can be resurrected, can be reborn, is difficult to kill completely, and stays forever young without aging, she can live for many, many years, even longer than the lifespan of Angels from many pathways. So, if we don't count Sequence 4 Demonesses of Despair, and only consider the accumulated number of currently living Sequence 3 and Sequence 2 Beyonders, the Demoness Sect has more than any orthodox god church.
"In this regard, only Sanguine, whose lives are equally long, can compare with them, but still fall short.
"Of course, a large part of the high-level power of orthodox god churches is in Grade 0 and Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts and Holy Artifacts. If encountering major disasters, those Sealed Artifacts and Holy Artifacts can also play the role of corresponding high-level beings to some extent, and a large part of them can be relatively smoothly converted into Beyonder characteristics that rapidly strengthen reserve forces."
Lumian recalled and said, "According to the Demoness of Black, at Sequence 3, one can name oneself with a color. There are thirteen such 'Color Demonesses' in total."
"Among them, four are Angels, Sequence 2 Angels. In this respect, the Demoness Sect is inferior to orthodox god churches, because their high-level members must be Demonesses, and there are no angels from other pathways. Orthodox god churches, on the other hand, can potentially use Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts or Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics of other pathways they possess to create Sequence 1 Archangels." Madam Magician gave a detailed introduction.
"Why can't there be Sequence 1 Demonesses?" Lumian expressed his confusion.
Madam Magician chuckled. "What I'm about to say is one of the highest-level mystical knowledge of the paths of the divine.
"Each pathway has its own distinct Uniqueness. Occupying and accommodating the Uniqueness is the key to becoming a true god, but it's not the only condition. A true Sequence 0 also needs all the Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics of its pathway to support the Uniqueness, which is three in total. So, with the Sequence 0 Primordial Demoness, there can't be Sequence 1 Demonesses of Apocalypse, only Sequence 2 Demonesses of Catastrophe.
"Similarly, orthodox god churches can't have Sequence 1 Archangels corresponding to their own deities. Well, except for some pathways with special abilities."
As Lumian suddenly came to a realization, he very keenly asked,
"I can't advance to Sequence 1 of the Demoness pathway and become a Demoness of Apocalypse unless the Primordial Demoness falls before that?"
"Correct." Madam Magician specifically reminded, "There's only one Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic left for the Hunter pathway. The Red Angel has already occupied two, which is why He can become a King of Angels again."
"Is the definition of a King of Angels occupying multiple Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics or accommodating the Uniqueness?" Lumian had some understanding of the concept of King of Angels before, but today was the first time he clearly recognized what this title represented.
Magician nodded. "Yes, whether it's occupying two Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, or three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, or accommodating the Uniqueness, as well as the Uniqueness plus one Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, the Uniqueness plus two Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, they are all Kings of Angels.
"The only King of Angels composed of the Uniqueness plus three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics was my mentor, Mr. Door, but He used His own sealing authority to resist the tendency to converge. If not for this, after three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics and the Uniqueness are placed in the same Beyonder's body, they would inevitably converge rapidly, and the possessor would either immediately become a god, lose control on the spot, or die directly."
No wonder Mr. Door was the highest-ranking nobleman in the Tudor Empire Lumian asked with undisguised concern, "Where is the last Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic of the Hunter pathway?"
Is Red Angel Medici about to get it?
"It's rumored to be with the Primordial Demoness." Madam Magician didn't conceal this intelligence, "And the one who reportedly brought that Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic to the Primordial Demoness was the Demoness of Black, Clarice."
Lumian nodded thoughtfully.
Madam Magician continued to introduce the situation of the Demoness Sect, "Besides the Demoness of Gray Judith, the Demoness Sect has three other Sequence 2 Demonesses of Catastrophe, namely the Demoness of Yellow, the Demoness of Blue, and the Demoness of Purple.
"There are currently nine Sequence 3 Demonesses of Unaging. Besides the Demoness of Black and the Demoness of Cyan that you know, there are also White, Scarlet, Silver, Green, Gold, Brown, Orange"
After hearing this, Lumian keenly noticed a problem. "Trier with its special mirror world should be one of the most important areas in the eyes of the Demoness Sect, yet they didn't send a Demoness of Catastrophe to be in charge, leaving all affairs to the Demoness of Black"
This doesn't seem normal.
Or, is one of the Yellow, Blue, or Purple Demonesses of Catastrophe hiding in Trier?
"Moreover, the one responsible for keeping the Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic of the Hunter pathway and using methods like sacrifice to give it to the Primordial Demoness was also only the Sequence 3 Demoness of Black, not any Demoness of Catastrophe. Wasn't the Demoness Sect worried at the time that the Demoness of Black's status wasn't high enough, her strength wasn't enough, and something might go wrong?" Madam Magician reminded Lumian that there was another detail that was problematic.
After exchanging intelligence about the Demoness Sect for a while longer, Madam Magician looked at the sky that had completely darkened and said, "Tomorrow, Mr. Sun will send someone to take you to the Twin Towers to read the records the City of Silver has on Omebella's remains and to make contact with that Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
"After that, you decide for yourselves when to return to Trier."
"Yes, Madam Magician." Lumian replied, watching as this holder of a Major Arcana card turned into points of starlight and disappeared before his eyes.
As the night settled in, Franca paced in the living room, muttering to herself, "Why hasn't Lumian come back yet?"
Wasn't he just reporting his encounter to Madam Magician and exchanging intelligence?
It's been so long!
Jenna was also a bit worried. She walked to the window and looked out at the street.
Suddenly, her gaze froze.
"There." She pointed to the top of the bell tower attached to The Fool's cathedral.
Franca took a few steps over and saw at the top of the bell tower, in a place without any railings, sat a woman wearing a black cloak, with some black hair falling down, delicate and fine features, and a grand and radiant face.
It was Lumian.
At this moment, Lumian was sitting there, legs dangling outside, gaze quietly looking down.
Franca and Jenna exchanged a glance and quickly rushed to The Fool's cathedral, climbing up the bell tower.
Seeing Lumian's back, they didn't immediately inquire about the situation, but remained quiet, each walking to one side, following Lumian's line of sight to gaze at what he was intently watching.
It was the giant buildings that had lit up with yellowish lights in the dark night, the various mushrooms that were faintly visible in the streetlight glow, the silhouettes of giants and half-giants behind glass windows, raised wine glasses, wisps of cooking smoke, songs from nearby squares, the noise spilling out from bars, and the faint sounds of joy and laughter from different houses.