Lord of Mysteries:Fire of Destruction

3 p.m. Above the gray fog, Sefira Castle.

After notifying Sun to prepare, preparing his smurf The World and ensuring his features didn't show up well, Klein finally extended his hand to the familiar crimson stars and lonely spotted flame.

A small flash later and the silent hall of giants exploded into life.

As was now the custom, Audrey Hall took a quick look around but, seeing no new members, she gracefully rose from her seat and, grabbing the edges of her dress, gave an elegant curtsy towards the top of the table.

"Good afternoon Mr. Fool~"

Before the happy Justice, the happy Klein couldn't help but raise his lips a little.

"Good afternoon Miss Justice"

Justice Audrey smiled a little. Having made her most important greeting, the young lady went on to greet the rest of the members of the Tarot Club.

However, she did not get very far because as soon as she saw the man in front of her, she paused for a moment. Her gaze became crystal clear as she entered the Spectator State.

Being a Spectator and already somewhat familiar with the victim of her gaze, Audrey could safely say of this case that the Hanged Man was tense.

'He's standing straighter than usual. He always tries to control his posture, not making many movements and managing every one he does. That's normal. Facing a Spectator, someone as experienced as him must not want his movements to be easy to follow, but therein lies the problem.

'Today Mr. Hanged Man is trying too hard!' Audrey silently scrutinized.

Something must have happened on his side, but it couldn't have been too serious since the man hadn't said anything yet. Maybe just a little scare?

Keeping these thoughts in her heart, the woman continued the greetings naturally, as if nothing had happened.

However, her small pause with the Hanged Man was noticed by the rest of the members who looked at the man.

'Miss Justice noticed something? What happened this time?' Frowning slightly, Klein kept his calm gaze on all the members, always imperturbable.

Adryan, for his part, frowned slightly at the woman's movement. His scarlet gaze focused on the man of the hour.

'Sigh.' Having been discovered, Alger could not help but be slightly disappointed. However, he did not allow himself to show it.

Knowing how to divert attention, the pirate focused on the chair of honor. Placing a hand on his chest, he bowed slightly. "I managed to obtain a few pages of the Diary, Mr. Fool. I will be delivering them all today."

"I also managed to get one page Mr. Fool." Not far behind, Adryan also showed his achievement with a simple smile.

At the last words, Klein felt his joy multiply.

Now that he knew that his fellow countryman also knew how to speak Chinese and that he no longer had to hide it, it meant that every page he handed in from now on would be one with valuable information!

Although Hanged Man had offered more, the possibility that he had useful information was just that, a probability. In contrast, Joa's were a sure thing.

'Of course, as the head of this meeting, it is not right for me to show favoritism...' Without saying anything to the men's words, Klein produced the goat parchment skin and the red fountain pen.

In a few moments, several yellowed pages reappeared in his hands and Klein calmly began to read, starting with the pages handed over by his fellow.

Although the possibility of the man repeating another 'His Mouth' was now practically nil and he was much more relaxed about reading the pages he had been given. Klein couldn't let his guard down completely.

You never knew after all...

 ...September 11. It's been a strange few months, some days I feel like I'm no longer me, but someone darker and crazier...

If the church doesn't want to tell me what that silly game was about, I always have other contacts who are sure to know something.

That mysterious organization is one of them. I'll try to ask about it at the next meeting.

'This must be in his later years. And that not feeling like he was the same person... That must be the dissociation and the other 'self' Joa mentions that happened when divinity overcame humanity within one.

'But does it happen already in Sequence 3? Well, it makes some sense... Being the door before Sequence 2 and about to become a true Mythological Creature, it's with good reason that some problems already arise... Sequence 3 is where one has to start having anchors before advancing.

'Also, what is this Project C and why did the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery wanted Roselle to read it and then disappear the book the next day? They can't be that bipolar!' Klein frowned internally at this problem but it was not his focus.

While Project C was intriguing, the lack of information meant that the most he could do was note it to review later. 

What caught his attention was the last line on the page...

This was the second time the Emperor had mentioned this mysterious organization. 

'Of course, an organization in control of the Second Blasphemy Slate must possess knowledge of great secrets. Not to mention that it has members that Roselle could never have imagined...'

Klein looked at this page for a few seconds before moving on to the next one, quickly noticing how short it was.

…5th June. I obtained an ancient book. It actually mentions the Primordial Demoness's name, not one of an honorific name!

'Her' name is Cheek, but that's a man's name.

Is this ancient book fake?

...

Klein's heart trembled momentarily as he read this short entry, just as he had to keep his lips from rising in an uncomfortable smile.

'It seems that my theory that the Primordial Demoness was once a man is true... Perhaps this is why She became an Evil God? Like my former self - without experience and knowledge - the former him thought it would be a man's path and decided to take the potion only to realize that, yes, it was a man's path, but for them to come to you!' Unable to help himself, Klein joked a little to alleviate the bad feeling that reading this caused him.

This was the first name of a True God he learned, something Klein wasn't sure whether he should be happy about or not. After all, names have power.

'By knowing Her name She won't know of my existence and curse me like that, will She? Since Roselle went far with his life, I doubt that's the case... How lucky.'

Of course, perhaps knowing the name wasn't dangerous, saying it certainly would be.

Sighing inwardly, he continued reading, noticing that although both entries were on the same page, the dates were different.

'A copying error, no doubt.'

... 11th February. Today, I found out about a secret of the Sauron family. Hahaha! I'm going to die from laughter! Hahaha!

"So it turns out that the Hunter pathway that they possess will change gender at Sequence 4. Men wouldn't change, but women will change into men! It's no wonder that none of the High-Sequence Beyonders of the Sauron family that I'm aware of are female. The Iron-blooded Knight is indeed a true man!

…

'Hunter Pathway... That was one of the pathways Joa offered Miss Justice! The wretch wasn't lying when he said she would become a man if she chose it, but that would only be in Sequence 4 Iron-blooded Knight...

'Isn't that unfair to those who chose the Assassin's path? 

'For them, their gender change is in Sequence 7 while for the Hunters it is in Sequence 4! If a woman takes the Hunter potion without knowing about the gender change, she wouldn't have to fall into despair.

'Most of the paths are interchangeable in Sequence 4, so all she would have to do to avoid the change is to jump to the path adjacent to Hunter'

Internally shaking his head at the injustice of the world, he turned to the last page handed to him by the Hanged Man.

... 48 Enruar. Foxes, madness to bite super!

Klein looked at the nonsense in his hands with expressionless eyes. 

It was no surprise that this kind of page came from the Hanged Man, however stereotypical it may be.

'First fake page I've come across... Well, Mr. Hanged Man attended a pirate gathering, so he must have gotten these pages there. He doesn't have the guts to fake one so it must have been from whoever bought it. If I were an Evil God I would punish him for a mistake like this, even if it's not his fault and he can't even read what he bought, but luckily for him I am a Benevolent God who will say nothing about it...' Poking around a bit, the pages in his hands disappeared like an illusion.

Smiling at the lucky man, he said calmly, "Is there anything you want in exchange for this, or do you want to accumulate contribution points?"

"I don't have any questions right now, Mr Fool," the Pirate said respectfully.

What he had to say was better to wait for free time instead of now, and he didn't think missing the opportunity to accumulate contribution points was worth it either.

The mysterious figure of the Fool only nodded without saying anything else. After Chariot said the same thing, the trading time began.

That said, Alger immediately focused on Miss Magician, "I managed to get the Crystallized Blood of the Lavos Squid, 720 pounds." 

"It's an object that easily loses its special qualities if exposed to sunlight, so don't open the container until you're about to use it." Quickly giving his advice, the man turned his attention to the woman before him.

"I got the spinal fluid from the Farsman Rabbit's, but the price went up quite a bit. Instead of the 500 discussed, it will be 800 pounds."

"No problem." Although she was scared for a moment, Audrey calmed down once she heard the price. It was still something she could easily afford.

Nor was she surprised that the price had gone up. According to what she knew thanks to the Tarot Club, the materials of the Spectator Pathway were jealously guarded by the Psychology Alchemists, so it was normal for the price to increase so much.

'I wish I had 300 pounds as an emergency fund. At the current conversion rate that's 900 sassem...' Klein didn't know what to feel anymore. With so many rich people around him, the weight of his wallet was becoming hard to ignore.

Alger said nothing, he just turned to look at the tall young man next to him, "I have the information you requested. Would you like to trade privately?"

Derrick smiled, "It's not necessary, Mr Hanged Man, since I offered this deal to the rest of the club, privacy is unnecessary. If anyone has anything else to give, they can do so.

"Since what I asked for is something that will inevitably have repeated information, everyone who gives something will receive the list."

This immediately enlightened Audrey, whose corners of her lips rose slightly.

'With Mr Hanged Man, Mr Chariot and Mr World, I thought I would have to buy the list in a different way, it's impossible for me to know more than those three. But Mr Sun said it doesn't matter if the information is repeated! What luck!'

She may be rich, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to handle her money. If there was an opportunity to save, she would take it!

'It seems that while Sun has matured a little, he is still a child. He could easily have rewarded those who gave more intense information, but he didn't take the opportunity...' Klein noted with an internal sigh.

'A step is a step. Maturity is a gradual process, a seed is not instantly a tree once it comes out of the ground...' Adryan looked at Sun and rolled his shoulders slightly.

As Mr. Overthinker neither spoke nor looked at him, his artifact had not yet been found... 

It wasn't long before Justice, World, Hanged Man and Chariot gave their share of the requested information.

Sun greeted them with a smile, but his eyes were inevitably drawn to the only one who had not given anything. A little curiosity in them, but minding his manners, he did not ask about it.

Fors pressed her lips together and glanced out of the corner of her eye at the redhead at the end of the table, 'I know it was your order, but it's a bit embarrassing not to have given anything...'

Adryan, getting an idea of what was going through the writer's mind, smiled knowingly—a smile that quickly became mischievous once he saw how the Hanged Man and Justice turned to look at her for a moment.

'Why didn't she give anything? It's not because she knows nothing about what Mr. Sun asked for, much less because she already knows what materials the City of Silver has... There must be an ulterior motive... Could it be... could it be that she has another way of obtaining the list that Sun will give? The simplest method is to give the information now, why complicate things?' Alger failed to understand the reason for such a move.

No matter how much he thought about it, it didn't make sense!

Justice also noticed this and showed no reaction, only narrowing her crystal clear eyes very slightly at the woman beside her. 'Miss Magician is quite curious... What kind of secrets does she have?'

'You're a devil, you know that, don't you?' Klein looked straight at his soul brother, quickly seeing what he was doing.

Miss Magician was his subordinate, so there was no need for her to give anything away, Joa could give her the information later. The same reason why she hadn't given any pages of the diary until now.

In the Tarot Club, it could be said that Magician's place was the same as Chariot's. Where she would stand, he would be behind and vice versa.

Although he already knew that, the other members did not. The redhead wasn't even trying to hide it; for him, it was a game of who discovered their relationship first.

In other words, he was being mischievous.

Following this brief event, Sun decided to read this information once he was at home to learn it more calmly.

There was no procedure; therefore, free time arrived.

Alger let out a silent sigh and said, "During my trip to the pirate audition, something happened that I would like your perspective on.

"I was about 4 days away by boat from the island where the function would occur. It was 3 in the morning so the moon was up.

"Normally I would be sleeping at that hour but a dense fog covered the sea. That is normal at this time of year, so I was standing guard and ensuring the ship was going in the right direction.

"Being a Seafarer, I noticed how the water currents suddenly changed. Following my instinct, I asked one of my men who had gone up to the top to have a look.

"Contrary to all logic, we were only a few minutes away from reaching an island." 

Pausing for a second, Alger continued gravely, "I have memorized numerous nautical charts and updated them with the islands I have encountered at sea.

"That's why I knew for sure, there shouldn't be an island there.

"I immediately took the wheel and we turned back the way we came. Not only was the island a complete anomaly, but the fog seemed to have changed in a way, as if it had noticed that we had discovered its trap and was considering whether to let us go.

"After twenty minutes, we emerged from the fog and to my surprise, we found ourselves in the group of islands where the performance would take place. Four days of travel were completed in 2 hours.

"Knowing what caused this, I turned to look at the fog bank we had come out of, but it was almost completely dissipated. The only thing I could see was the illusion of a huge island hidden in the fog, very similar in size to a city..."

"I'm not sure what it was. But my instinct told me that not following our path saved us from a potential trap..." Alger finished with a sigh

"..."

For a few moments, the moldy bronze table was silent, and everyone was processing the pirate's story.

'An island hidden in the mist whose only way to find it is for it to find you. It is elusive and fast, with unknown dangers in its waters... This is perfect for a horror story!' Although she felt a cold sweat rise on her back, Fors also saw the first steps to a new story!

Audrey placed her hand on her chest, feeling her heart beat faster.

"You know what, Mr. Hanged Man? You have a talent for telling horror stories. Maybe you should have followed that." Adryan's praise was honest.

If Sequence 5 of the Sailor Pathway were called Ocean Historian and not Ocean's Songster, maybe people's ears wouldn't bleed as much.

'Although I wouldn't know if his singing was worse than the Rapper...'

Leaving that aside, Adryan rested his chin against his palm, "Are you looking for answers or are you just telling a story?"

Alger looked at the redhead and nodded, "I'm still on the island of the function so yes, an extra opinion could help."

'Specifically one of mine or that of our great Mr. Fool, no?' Adryan blinked boredly and closed his eyes.

'No other member here can give you a better opinion of what to do other than yourself, Mr. Hanged Man...' Klein noticed that the man seemed to want to seek information from the 'experienced' ones, wondering if he should say something.

The Hanged Man said he wasn't sure what it was, not that he didn't know. Therefore, the man had an idea—something that Klein did not.

Since this was something he didn't know much about, if not to say almost nothing, saying something like Mr Fool was very risky. 

Luckily, he had his secondary account!

The World said dryly, "I haven't been to sea like you, so I don't know what you saw. But I don't think that's a problem. Mr Hanged Man, you already seem to know what it was."

Alger did not react to this, just giving a slight nod. "There are several legends of floating cities at sea. I always took them as fairy tales, but even in fantasy, a little truth lies."

With nothing more to say, the man sat back.

Klein restrained the urge to take out his mace and decided to wait until the end of the Tarot Club to ask his partner if he knew anything about it.

Seeing that no one else said anything else, Derrick decided to add a little, "The exploration ended yesterday. There were no incidents, and everything went smoothly."

"It's good to hear that, Mr Sun." Audrey breathed a sigh of internal relief.

"Just remember to be vigilant. Although it's safe now, you never know what might happen." Although everything had gone well, Alger still offered his advice.

The young giant smiled slightly and nodded happily. "I'll make sure of that. Thank you very much, Mr. Hanged Man."

Pausing for a moment, one thing that quickly crossed his mind that he should also mention, "Oh! I also made my first friend! He's another boy my age who also wants to get the Silver City out of the clutches of despair, he's quite cheerful and sociable, as well as pleasant to be around."

'Is this pride in your child's growth?' Adryan thought, somewhat surprised at the warm feeling in his chest...

The connections of the crimson stars were cut, freeing all but one of the members. Klein swapped places with his copy while closing it.

Changing the palace's appearance from that of giants to that of his living room, Klein stood before the redhead. Before he could say anything, the man asked a question so quickly that it made him stop.

"Did you know that Roselle liked to wear women's dresses?" Adryan asked with a raised eyebrow in genuine curiosity.

Klein blinked like an owl, his mouth half open.

"… Excuse me?" What he had just heard was so random that he didn't think he had heard correctly.

Adryan nodded. "Roselle liked to dress as a woman. Would you like me to show you the page?"

Giving permission and with morbid curiosity, Klein grabbed the newly revealed diary page and read it with fixed eyes.

"..." Reading the last sentence in a daze, he blinked slowly.

Although it had long since been destroyed, his image of the magnificent Emperor was now distorted.

"Hey, do you think he was so open to the idea because that woman Ameliee 'opened' his mind with three fingers?" Adryan finished amusingly with a mischievous wink.

For a moment, Klein froze, but his mind did not. It was busy recalling that crazy page where the Emperor made a sacrifice...

"PFT!" Saliva spurted from his lips and the Mage could barely cover his mouth to avoid exploding with laughter.