Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

In an apartment with insufficient lighting, the classic clock's hands ticked away.

Lumian, Franca, Jenna, and Anthony were gathered around a corpse, watching Ludwig tie a white napkin around his neck.

"He's quite well-mannered…" Lumian quipped.

The corpse in the room belonged to the remaining Sequence 4 demigod from the Sick Church in the Trier region, named Sathipo Eir. Previously controlled by Mr. Fool, he had recently completed the task of making his followers pray to the God of Plague and God of Disease. Then, Lumian received a revelation from Mr. Fool, instructing them to come to this apartment at the current time to handle the subsequent matters.

As soon as Lumian and the others knocked on the door, they saw Sathipo Eir collapse and die in front of everyone.

Fortunately, Lumian had already pulled this apartment and all its contents into the mirror world, and had Anthony quickly place the Winter is Coming pistol on the corpse.

Thinking about Sathipo Eir, who had been busily helping himself and Franca connect with followers and spread new doctrines and was essentially Mr. Fool's avatar, Lumian felt something was off.

Isn't it strange that the god he believed in would go to such lengths, meticulously and diligently running around to recruit followers, preach doctrines, and spread his honorific name?

Would a great existence be so hands-on?

Recalling the stories about Amon that Madam Magician had told him and the abilities of high-ranking Beyonders from the Marauder and Seer pathways, Lumian thought this seemed somewhat normal: A thousand avatars, all of which are oneself!

"Can I eat now?" Ludwig raised his head, looking eagerly at Lumian.

"Should we first channel the spirit?" Lumian turned his head and asked Franca.

Although Mr. Fool had certainly grasped all of Sathipo's information through Parasitism, Lumian felt that they should still channel the spirit. They couldn't always trouble Mr. Fool with everything.

Franca looked at Sathipo's floating spirit and pondered, "The decay is slower than expected. Mr. Fool must have done some processing. Let's not rush to channel his spirit. Do we know what to ask?"

Jenna chimed in, "We might as well search the apartment first and see what clues we can find. Then we can channel his spirit, which will help us know exactly what to ask."

"Okay," Lumian said, seeing many green and yellow light points had settled on Anthony's Winter is Coming revolver. He smiled at Ludwig, "Go ahead."

He had previously asked Ludwig if returning to Sequence 4, or Sea Monster, would cause him to transform into a grotesquely sized sea monster, which would make it impossible for him to stay in Trier unless he constantly hid in the mirror world.

Ludwig had looked at his hands and body for a few seconds and unexpectedly became sad, crying, "Not yet."

He was clearly disappointed.

He told Lumian that his appearance shouldn't change much, but he would need to be taken to the ocean daily to have a proper feast—something easy for Lumian, who had teleportation abilities.

With the godfather's approval, Ludwig cheered and lunged at the corpse.

Franca and Jenna instinctively turned their backs.

Amid sounds of tearing, chewing, cracking, and crunching, the two Demonesses began examining every corner of the apartment.

Mechanical music boxes, classic clocks, fabric sofas, red desks, brass gas meters, and exquisite small statues passed before Franca and Jenna's eyes.

Suddenly, Franca walked to the desk and opened a drawer.

Inside were various denominations of gold coins, including several 20 Louis d'or coins.

Franca's hand moved through the coins, picking up a coin with a dark gold, less lustrous color.

It was a gold coin, but not of any current legal tender.

Franca brought the dark gold coin close to her eyes, noticing a male head profile on the front, with long hair, wearing a crown, with rigid lips and sharp facial lines.

On either side of the male head were layered doors and a raven with one eye large and one small, surrounded by changing lines, a vertical sword, and an extended hand.

Hmm… Franca had a vague guess.

She turned the coin over, finding a number "7" on the back.

Around the "7" were images of gathered soldiers, sharp weapons, and flowing blood.

"Is this a Tudor coin?" Franca spoke aloud.

Her spiritual intuition told her so.

The Tudor dynasty of the Fourth Epoch had issued its own currency, but perhaps due to the Blood Emperor's mental state or influence from the original pathway, its value and conversion were perplexing—unlike the normal 1, 5, 10, 20, but with seemingly random values like 2, 7, and 13.

These coins had long since disappeared over a thousand or two thousand years, either remelted into new coins or gold items, or buried in ancient tombs. Currently, one could only see them in museums or some collectors' vaults.

"How could there be a Tudor coin?" Jenna looked over.

"I'm also puzzled. You can't even use this thing. Were they planning to sell it as an antique?" Franca pondered for a few seconds. "We'll ask during the spirit channeling."

While the two Demonesses carefully searched the apartment, Lumian suddenly said to Anthony, "You can pick up the revolver now."

He intuitively believed that Winter is Coming had reached its limit in bearing the bestowed power, and continuing might damage it.

Of course, no matter how damaged, it would still be a weapon with Beyonder power, though the negative effects might change and become unbearable. freewёbnoνel.com

Anthony, who had already quietly cast Placate on himself, squatted down and picked up the artistic Winter is Coming revolver from the bloody, mutilated corpse.

"The Certain Death and Sure Hit charges have been enhanced to nine times…

"Even if this revolver shatters, it can be reassembled…

"No other changes…"

Lumian used Magic Mirror Divination to inform Anthony about the current state of Winter is Coming.

Anthony, who had received a Traveler's Bag as a bonus from the dream mission, breathed a sigh of relief and placed the revolver inside.

At that moment, they heard a loud, prolonged "burp".

It came from Ludwig.

Ludwig had only eaten half the corpse and seemed already full.

He sat there, with what felt like a mass of air in his stomach, occasionally distending his belly and causing crackling sounds in his chest.

Beneath his facial skin, countless insects writhed, creating multiple bumps.

At this moment, Lumian and the others distinctly felt that a terrifying beast was about to tear through Ludwig's skin.

Ludwig's body alternately stretched tall, causing skin cracks, and then swelled, nearly bursting his clothing.

After ten to twenty seconds, his state finally stabilized, still looking like the same seven or eight-year-old boy.

The Church of Knowledge's seal is indeed of high quality… Lumian thought to himself.

Ludwig suddenly looked at him, his eyes filled with blood vessels and desire. "I want to go to the sea, I want to eat!"

Lumian nodded, grabbed Ludwig's shoulder, and disappeared from the room.

Somewhere in the Fog Sea.

Lumian's figure took shape in mid-air, throwing Ludwig toward the blue sea surface.

Ludwig didn't mind at all, already opening his mouth while still in the air.

That mouth kept opening wider, until eventually, his entire head and body seemed to become part of the mouth, with sharp teeth reflecting the brilliant sunlight.

With a splash, Ludwig fell into the sea.

Then, the seawater descended, and an inexplicable whirlpool appeared.

The whirlpool gradually expanded, and fish nearby involuntarily rushed over, swimming toward its bottom.

These marine creatures numbered in the thousands, streaming endlessly.

Splash! The massive whirlpool's appearance triggered changes in this sea area, with water currents becoming turbulent and massive waves rising in the distance.

A large steam ship was passing near the sea's edge but appeared tiny beneath the towering waves.

The passengers were frightened and scattered, with the captain ordering the crew to change course immediately.

Splash! A huge wave approached.

But before it could truly arrive, it suddenly froze in mid-air.

It quickly disintegrated, each fragment like a snowflake or ice crystal, beautiful under the sunlight.

In Sathipo's apartment, Franca performed the Magic Mirror Spirit Channeling Spell.

Facing Sathipo's mirror image, she directly showed the Tudor coin. "Where did this come from?"

Since Sathipo had been Parasitized by Mr. Fool and his faith Grafted, she didn't need to worry about any corruption from divining this Sick Church demigod.

Sathipo's pale face responded mechanically, "A gift from God."

A gift from God… Wait, where did your god get a Tudor coin? This is within the barrier… Franca pressed, "Through what method was it given?"

Sathipo responded at a steady pace, "First, the great Malady God gave a revelation, telling us to wait before a mirror. Then, the coin fell out from inside the mirror."

Look at this, does this look like a gift from the Malady God? If you said it was from the Primordial Demoness, I might believe it… From what we know, the Malady God doesn't have authority over the mirror world… Franca asked again, "Besides you, who else has one?"

"Mocoxidos," Sathipo answered.

We hadn't found it back then… Well, Mocoxidos had used his rotting power to decompose himself into pathogens; everything on his body should have rotted away and disintegrated… Franca asked several more questions but couldn't get useful answers.

Sathipo didn't know what the Malady God wanted to do, only that he was instructed to wait patiently in Trier.

At this moment, Lumian returned with a soaking wet Ludwig.

"Ate about ten to twenty tons of fish and shrimp. Can't afford to feed him, can't afford to feed him," Lumian said, clicking his tongue.

Having just become a Sea Monster, his appetite had already instantly changed by orders of magnitude!

Franca echoed the sentiment, then told Lumian the spirit channeling results, adding, "Since it wasn't directly given by the Malady God, we can divine where this Tudor coin came from."

Lumian nodded, taking the coin.

Being cautious about matters involving great existences, he specially sought Mr. Fool's observation and help before performing Magic Mirror Divination to inquire his own spiritual intuition, "Who was the previous owner of this coin…

"Who was the previous owner of this coin…"

Soon, the mirror's surface rippled with water, becoming profound.

In the next second, Lumian saw a pair of eyes, eyes so dark they were without light.

Wh— Lumian blurted out, calling a name in a deep voice, "Zaratulstra!"