Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

As Lumian watched the cemetery turn gray-white and the faintly visible fragmented spirit, he quickly lit three candles. With one hand holding The Fool's Sacred Emblem and the other holding the Chariot card, he began chanting in Hermes, "The Fool that doesn't belong to this era,

"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog,

"The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

"I implore you,

"I beseech your assistance…"

Regarding the Sick Church matter, Lumian had already reported to Mr. Fool beforehand, explaining his thoughts, so there was no need for detailed descriptions now, nor for setting up an altar.

After completing the imitation ritual's supplication, Lumian and Franca's thoughts became slightly sluggish, like when they had to study after pulling an all-nighter before gaining their supernatural abilities.

Then, they seemed to see a hand wearing a black glove.

That hand covered the high sky, ethereal and illusory, not actually present.

Almost simultaneously, tiny fragments of spiritual light gathered, reassembling Mocoxidos's nearly-annihilated soul body.

Around this soul body, illusory points of light appeared one after another, while from its body extended an insubstantial cyan-green yellowish line stretching infinitely upward.

That line suddenly wavered, pulled back by an invisible force, connecting its ends to form a closed system, no longer maintaining contact with the outside world.

Only this way could Lumian and Franca's theft of the Sick Church's faith avoid being corrupted by the corresponding horrifying will.

For a great existence of this rank, bearing His name meant becoming Him, even if it was just one of His aliases.

Since no one had preached in the name of Malady God before, and this title "Malady God" had subsequently established a connection with Him over time, this was Him, just not as closely bound as His true honorific name.

After the illusory line connecting the anchor and object of faith entered a self-cycling state, those points of light surrounding Mocoxidos's remnant spirit quickly floated toward Lumian.

Scenes then appeared before Lumian's eyes, representing each bestowed who knew Mocoxidos's honorific name.

Ordinary believers weren't qualified to know and chant the name of the Malady God's envoy.

They would only pray silently according to those preachers' intimidation and sermons, adding prefixes to "Malady God" and His messengers based on their own understanding.

This was also an anchor, but wouldn't have such points of light.

Lumian quickly scanned through them all, discovering that among these bestowed, only one possessed godhood, and clearly didn't have "God's Left Hand" like Mocoxidos.

Only one Sequence 4? The rest are all mid to low Sequences… Is this all the power the Sick Church has in the Trier region? Must pay extra attention to the Sequence 4 demigod, he might see through my and Franca's disguise, realize it's blasphemers deceiving for faith… He must possess part of the Malady God's honorific name, maybe even the complete name… Just as Lumian had this thought, he saw the Doomed One in the light point take out a pair of black gloves from somewhere, put them on, and gently nod across the void.

Is he controlled by Mr. Fool? Parasitized? Lumian's confidence doubled. He put on the Lie earring, altered his throat structure, and began issuing commands to each bestowed represented by the light points in Mocoxidos's voice: "The situation has changed. From now on, the great Malady God will gradually descend into reality in twin form. They are the 'God of Plague' and the 'God of Disease;' They are both male and female…" freewebnøvel.coɱ

This would point to Lumian and Franca, matching their essence.

As for Jeanna, there was no reasonable way to add her now. Once Lumian and Franca truly controlled the Sick Church in the Trier Region, changing the doctrine and adding new saints would be very easy, since Jeanna was still far from Sequence 3.

Lumian continued speaking rapidly, "Spread the new doctrine to believers quickly, urge them to master the honorific names of both deities and pray to Them.

"One is:

"The Lady more ancient than the times, Servant of Calamity, Child of Plague and Disease, Destroyer who walks in Shadows, Guide of all lost lambs in Trier, the great God of Plague."

Here Lumian borrowed his sister Aurore's uniqueness, then pieced together his own specialties—whether "Serving Calamity," "Child of Plague and Disease," or "Destroyer," all came from the top powers of the Hunter and Demoness pathways that had given him the boon and caused his palm to mutate somewhat. This matched the explanation of the Malady God's division and wouldn't make the bestowed suspicious.

This way, even without using his true name but referring to himself with the false God of Plague, he could be precisely indicated, because even without the last line, the previous five lines in standard format could lock onto him.

This was also adding anchors for Aurore.

"The other is:

"The Ancient One who transcends time, One who remains forever young, Envoy of Disease and Plague, Lady who spreads pain and despair, Protector of humanity's adventurous spirit, the great God of Disease."

This would point to Franca.

To ensure these descriptions combined with precise accuracy, Franca also imitated Mr. Fool, incorporating her uniqueness as a transmigrator into the description.

Currently in the Northern and Southern Continents, only she and half of Aurore were both transmigrators and Demonesses of Unaging.

Of course, Franca didn't dare bet that no other high-ranking beings in this world matched just the two descriptions of "Ancient One who transcends time" and "remains forever young." In the depths of space and various alternate dimensions, there might truly be beings who had lived from before the Primordial One's awakening until now and didn't age, since apparently only Earth's living creatures had encountered the apocalypse back then.

But such beings surely could no longer be called "human."

After initially anchoring herself with the first two descriptions, Franca took several titles she had considered before but weren't suitable for inclusion in the Church of The Fool's patron saint name, selected those that fit the Sick Church's doctrine, and added "Protector of humanity's adventurous spirit"—a title that had earned her mockery but actually wasn't bad upon careful consideration.

This could effectively distinguish her from Aurora while remaining neutral, potentially serving as an entry point for her and Lumian to gradually transform the Sick Church's doctrine later.

And with these five honorific names, "the great God of Disease" became optional.

However, it wasn't completely useless. As time passed, the title "God of Disease" would gradually become associated with Franca. If she could become an Angel in the future, "God of Disease" would truly become equivalent to her.

After explaining the most important matters, Lumian saw those illusory points of light return to their original size, still surrounding him.

They had been grafted onto him.

Of course, this wasn't permanent, and Lumian hadn't intended it to be.

If he hadn't needed these bestowed to preach and change the believers' understanding, he would have eliminated them all on the spot, leaving no survivors.

These were severely corrupted people who had received boon from the corresponding existence. To Lumian, who had usurped the position of Malady God, they were genuine time bombs with basically no possibility of salvation.

"I'll need to watch them constantly. Once most of the Malady God believers in the Trier region establish connections with me and Franca, I'll immediately eliminate these bestowed… The Grafting of faith anchors can last at least a month, that's enough…" Lumian slowly exhaled, sincerely thanking Mr. Fool for his help.

The power that had made his and Franca's heads feel insufficient then receded.

Next, Lumian looked at Mocoxidos's remaining spirit floating in mid-air, slightly surprised to find it hadn't completely dissipated.

According to Lumian's previous estimation, after entering the mirror world, Mocoxidos would completely pass away in just over thirty seconds, unable even to channel spirits, but now it seemed he could still hold on for about twenty seconds.

And what they had just done couldn't have taken only ten seconds—just speaking the honorific names took longer than that!

Did Mr. Fool's gaze make time slow down?

No, not slow down, my actions and words didn't become slower…

Did time slow down only for Mocoxidos's Spirit Body? Or did Mr. Fool grant Mocoxidos's Spirit Body more time?

An application of high-ranking Marauder pathway abilities?

As these thoughts raced through Lumian's mind, he quickly employed a Magic Mirror Spirit Channeling Spell.

There should still be time to ask one question!

Lumian wasn't worried this would lead to him being noticed by the entity worshiped by the Sick Church, because Mocoxidos's connection with that being had been cut off, its ends joined to form a cycle.

Regarding Mocoxidos and Sick Church matters, Lumian actually had quite a few questions: From those prayer light points just now, the Sick Church had only ten to twenty bestowed in the Trier region, clearly not a large scale.

But among fewer than twenty bestowed, there was actually the Sequence 3 Mocoxidos and a Sequence 4 Doomed One.

Wasn't this ratio too extreme?

Back then, 007 as a Church deacon for a district in Trier was only Sequence 5, with two teams of Beyonders under him—nearly fifteen people.

Even though bestowed couldn't be directly compared to those who advanced through potions, the Sick Church's situation was puzzling.

Normally, such a team composition with a Sequence 4 demigod would already be the limit, and that only because the Trier region was very important.

So, Lumian wanted to ask what special contribution Mocoxidos had made to receive the Sequence 3 boon, which had also led to some of his subordinates receiving advancement.

Perhaps very important secrets were hidden here.

Soon, Lumian completed the Magic Mirror Spirit Channeling Spell taught by Franca.

In the makeup mirror he took out appeared Mocoxidos's increasingly fading spirit.

Lumian asked quickly, "What incident led to you receiving a boon to that left hand?"

Obvious fanaticism appeared on Mocoxidos's increasingly pale and transparent face.

In a deep, hoarse voice, he mused, "After the Vortex incident…"