Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

"Amon?!" Leonard almost threw the worm in his hand upon hearing the name.

The name "Amon" didn't just refer to a noble surname from the Fourth Epoch—it was also the name of the one who had driven the "Old Man" parasitizing Leonard's body into such a wretched state.

Although Leonard didn't know the Old Man's true status, the mere fact that he could parasitize someone proved he was at least a demigod. That someone like Amon had cornered him to this extent spoke volumes about Amon's terrifying strength.

"What's there to fear... Let me finish. This is the remnant of one of Amon's avatars, which you can call the 'Worm of Time.'" Pallez's ancient voice echoed again, tinged with a hint of amusement.

"'Worm of Time'? What's it used for? No, wait—is this some kind of trap?" Leonard composed himself and pondered before asking.

"Heh, finally using your brain—good. That's progress." Pallez teased before explaining, "If it were one of Amon's other avatars, even if dead, I'd tell you to get as far away as possible. For Amon, losing an avatar is just a minor inconvenience—nothing substantial. He could even use the avatar's death to observe changes in fate and trace back the source of any disturbances or 'ripples.'"

"He?" Leonard caught the key term.

"Yes, He—an Angel of Time," Pallez confirmed after a brief silence.

Noticing Pallez's reluctance to elaborate, Leonard wisely refrained from pressing further and returned to the previous topic. "You said I should avoid the other avatars, but this one's different?"

"This particular avatar... was killed. Even Amon can't glean anything useful from it—at most, He can speculate based on leftover traces."

"Killed by what? I didn't hear..." Leonard's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Are you sure you want to know? If I explained it thoroughly, you might immediately transform into a monster," Pallez replied with a chuckle.

Though spoken jokingly, Leonard detected genuine apprehension in the Old Man's tone, which left him inwardly shocked. Outwardly, however, he shifted topics. "So, does this worm have any use?"

"Leave it to me... I'll need to handle it carefully," Pallez said, promptly taking the small worm without further explanation. He changed the subject, adding, "If Amon's avatar fell from a mirror, something major must've happened on the Southern Continent. Your mission might wrap up sooner than expected."

"How could that be? Even if the military caused a big stir, we still need to investigate thoroughly before returning," Leonard countered, though he tacitly accepted Pallez's actions.

"Such a massive commotion, yet the Evernight Goddess and the Lord of Storms remained passive? Do you really think They weren't aware of what the military was up to?

"In my view, your deployment alongside the Mandated Punishers was just a smokescreen to make certain groups or individuals believe the Church was issuing a 'normal' and 'reasonable' response.

"Just like how your own mission was supposedly to investigate 'Doctor Strange.'

"Heh, a two-layered scheme is far more deceptive. Even I almost fell for it at first."

Pallez snorted.

Leonard rubbed his temples, torn between wanting to rebuke the Old Man for slandering the Goddess and admitting that his words made sense. He fell into silence.

Knock, knock, knock!

The sound of knocking pulled Leonard back to reality. He opened the door to find his team leader, Sost, standing there with a serious expression.

Glancing at Leonard's packed luggage, Sost cleared his throat. "Don't disembark. We're setting sail immediately."

Was Pallez right? Leonard looked surprised. "Why? Aren't we investigating the military's objective?"

"I'm not entirely sure... but the cathedral sent updated orders—the military's objective has already been clarified, and our mission has changed," Sost explained.

"Changed? What's the new task?" Leonard asked thoughtfully.

"Investigate and seal the items that fell out of the 'mirror' along the way."

...

Above Daniel Lake, over a dozen saints had been trying to open the entrance to the mirror maze. Suddenly, the demigods of the Rose School collectively went mad, launching indiscriminate attacks on both the Loen forces and the royal faction of the Numinous Episcopate.

The initial assault caught the latter off guard. Fortunately, Duchess Georgina of Loen and Bruna from the Numinous Episcopate's royal faction reacted swiftly, jointly fending off the Rose School's fierce onslaught.

Georgina activated the crown of thorns on her head, summoning pure radiance that condensed into a blazing spear. White wings unfurled on either side of the spear's tip, forming an angelic embrace as it shot toward the Rose School's "Puppets" and "Disciple of Silence," forcing them to retreat.

Meanwhile, Bruna unleashed a Dirge of the Dead, compelling the zombies and ghosts under the Rose School's control to return to the Underworld.

Only then did they stabilize the situation.

However, the saints of the Rose School of Thought all wore expressions of agony, as if truly driven mad, launching yet another frenzied assault. This time, they ignored attacks potent enough to severely injure them.

The demigods on Loen's side exchanged glances, concluding that Prince Mountbatten had likely secured his objective. Thus, they fought as they retreated toward the colonial city, where church saints were stationed. If the Rose School continued to pursue them relentlessly, they could join forces with the church to teach them a lesson.

Only Princess Vera glanced back toward Daniel Lake before leaving, speculating, "That sensation just now... was the Chained God's Uniqueness detached from the Mother Tree of Desire's control?"

As for the demigods of the Numinous Episcopate, after breaking off from the other two factions, they were no longer attacked. They simply stopped intervening altogether—after all, both the Rose School and Loen were enemies of the East Balam Restoration Army.

Bruna did not travel with the other saints. Instead, she used a mirror to determine her direction, then traversed the spirit world alone toward the southwest.

Soon, the vivid hues of red, yellow, white, and black faded, and she reappeared before a cascading waterfall.

There, two Beyonders were locked in combat.

One wore a hooded black robe and wielded a massive scythe in both hands.

The other was a bald, elderly man gripping a gleaming longsword that radiated chilling light.

They were none other than Jane and Chief Fate, who had both exited the mirror world.

For some reason, despite using different mirrors to leave the grand hall, they had landed remarkably close to each other in reality.

Enraged by Jane's earlier actions and driven by his fanatic devotion, Chief Fate had sensed the Mother Tree's fury and attacked without hesitation.

However, his demigod-level abilities had been exhausted during his confrontation with Prince Mountbatten in the grand hall. Despite his numerous Beyonder items, he failed to gain the upper hand.

Suddenly, Bruna's figure appeared beside Chief Fate. She merely glanced at him, and the once-powerful and arrogant chieftain closed his eyes, gently falling to the ground, dead in peaceful repose.

Jane even saw corpse spots rapidly spread across his bald head!

When Bruna's gaze shifted toward her, Jane's already pale complexion turned ashen. Despair and regret filled her heart.

Despair stemmed from knowing she'd once killed the Numinous Episcopate's "Admiral Hell "—what fate could await her in the hands of one of their demigods?

Regret gnawed at her for not escaping instead of tangling with the bald "Wraith" earlier.

Still too arrogant, thinking she could take him down...

Would Ebner...

As Jane's thoughts spiraled, Bruna suddenly smiled and shook her head. "Don't be afraid. I mean no harm.

"You were sent by Bernadette, weren't you?"

...

On Sonia Island, High Pontiff Larion of the Church of the God of Combat stood holding the Book of Brass, surveying the ruins of the once-silent town below. Shaking his head, he murmured to himself,

"What a pity...

"Though that Devil Monarch was judged by the Night Emperor in the Fourth Epoch and sentenced to a two-thousand-year imprisonment, it allowed Him to avoid complete erosion by that one outside, retaining some autonomy.

"If He had temporarily escaped control through this ritual, I could've used 0-02 to help Him...

"But alas, to borrow Roselle's words—this was like building a mountain only to fail for want of a single basket of soil."

As he sighed, he failed to notice a figure slowly rising from the rubble of a destroyed church not far from the town.

The figure dusted off his clothes and adjusted a monocle over his right eye.

"A dead avatar yielded no intelligence—neither fate nor information. Nothing at all...

"But my intuition tells me that the events here may somehow be connected to what's happening over there..."

(End of Chapter)