Chapter 191: Witness

"In the name of Emperor George III..."

George III on the high platform was delivering an inspiring speech.

On the other side of the Memorial Square, Miss Kelaien, wearing a black wool coat, prayed along with the people around him, showing no sign of anything unusual.

At the same time, he used a marionette pigeon on the roof of a nearby building to carefully observe George III's every move, trying to find signs that the king was about to quietly leave, enter the mausoleum, and take the potion.

Strange—George III didn't plan to take the potion at this moment? A hint of anxiety rose in Miss Kelaien's heart, and then a flash of inspiration from nowhere pricked him.

Miss Kelaien's expression grew a touch Solemn; he had just thought of a possibility.

Silently, Miss Kelaien swapped places with the marionette Enuni hidden in the sewers. The latter was dressed the same as him, looked the same as him—to any outside observer, there was no difference at all.

Immediately after, Miss Kelaien retreated four steps backward, rose above the gray fog, and, borrowing the deep red star representing Miss "Justice", used "True Vision" to observe the situation in the square.

As expected, the George III giving the speech was a figment conjured from imagination!

'Why did I say "as expected"?'

At this moment, a sense of déjà vu arose in Miss Kelaien's heart, as if he had long known of this scene, this possibility. His spirituality urged him to quickly contact the mysterious queen, Bernadette.

It's been strange lately—there often comes this inexplicable feeling...

Miss Kelaien quickly divined and found nothing abnormal, which meant that the sense of disharmony he now felt was harmless to what he was about to do.

He began to subconsciously ignore this strange feeling. After all, the urgent task was to stop George III; it was perfectly reasonable for him to overlook some trivial matters.

Through the "True Vision" domain above the gray fog, Miss Kelaien discovered that beneath the speaker's platform, in the underground, an abnormal, tremendously vast dark power was secretly sprouting.

After confirming that the power below came from the Black Emperor's related forces, Miss Kelaien contacted the mysterious queen, Bernadette, and began to act.

Ahowa County—one of the nine secret mausoleums of the Black Emperor was located here.

Miss Kelaien, who had arrived here in a concealed state, did not alert anyone. Time was tight, but he still did not rashly approach the mausoleum to draw a symbol and open the door. Instead, he stretched out his right hand and grabbed at the air in front of him.

'Lady Arianna actually took the initiative to help me? Weren't the Church of Evernight originally planning to give up on participating in this matter?'

'What made her—no, what made the Goddess change her attitude?'

'Well, that saves me one slot for a historical projection.'

After five consecutive grabs, the muscles in Miss Kelaien's arm suddenly tensed, as if he were pulling something extremely heavy.

As his right hand drew back, a human figure swiftly took shape.

This figure had bronze-toned skin, a medium build, black hair and brown eyes, soft features, and a very small black mole just below the right ear—it was Azik Eggers.

Then Miss Kelaien instinctively grabbed at the air in another direction. After three grabs, another human figure took shape.

This figure had fair skin, a slender build, long black-brown hair tied in a ponytail, the ends of the hair fading from black to brown, molten-gold eyes, and a strikingly handsome appearance.

'This is Mr. Morax, an angel I met during my adventures in the Southern Continent. He's mature and steady, well-read, and apart from not liking to carry money... I have a good relationship with him.'

'But why do I suddenly feel a strange sense of safety, as if I want to stay behind him and charge in with my real body?'

'Where does this inexplicable sense of safety come from? Forget it, I'm a Seer, not a Hunter.'

Miss Kelaien cast the strange thoughts in his mind out of his mind and summoned his concealed self from a dozen seconds earlier. He tossed the small metal vial containing the blood of various Beyonders to his historical projection, while his real body entered the historical gap within the gray fog.

His spirituality guided the blood flashing inside the vial, swiftly sketching in midair the symbol given by Mr. "Door".

After a brief resonance, that symbol reacted with a certain point in the underground mausoleum, and an illusory great door appeared ahead.

After completing all this, Miss Kelaien shifted his consciousness into the avatar of his historical projection and walked toward the mausoleum with the projections of the two angels.

Somewhere in Backlund, the former former Duke of South Wil, Derrick Augustus, and Prince Grove were watching the transmitted vision.

Prince Grove frowned and said,

"That's Azik Eggers—no, wait. He's very stiff, like a historical projection summoned by the 'Ancient Scholar' of the Secret Order."

"The other one is also a projection. I don't recognize him, but he carries a strong divine aura of a Farmer—should be an angel too."

"These Ancient Scholars are truly annoying."

Prince Grove was a Sequence 3 "Chaos Hunter", and he and the Duke of South Wil both belonged to the faction of nobles who supported George III.

The prepared ritual opened a passage, descending into that secret mausoleum.

Derrick Augustus had a clean-shaven face, with quite a few silver strands mixed into his black hair—a rather imposing elder. He gave an arrogant laugh and said,

"That 'Ancient Scholar' is just off to the side. He should be in some kind of concealed state. I can handle it myself. The historical projections of the two angels can only tie him down for a while."

"Even if you carry a Grade-0 Sealed Artifact, you still can't take down the target together with me in a short time. Besides, our goal was never to eliminate the intruder, but to buy time."

"If too great a disturbance is caused during this period and damages the mausoleum, the loss would outweigh the gain. You stay behind to prevent him from misleading us. If his real body isn't here, we'll deal with him later."

"An 'Ancient Scholar' without historical projections can't stir up much trouble."

Derrick Augustus stepped into the passage opened by the ritual, leaving Prince Grove to stand guard inside.

Inside the secret mausoleum in Ahowa County, Azik Eggers, his gaze indifferent and expression icy, looked toward the pyramid mausoleum ahead. Suddenly he swelled and released his Mythical Creature form, transforming into a feathered serpent that blotted out the sky above the mausoleum.

From the gaps between his dark-green scales grew clusters of white feathers, stained with a kind of filthy grease.

Pale flames burned in his eye sockets, and a pair of exaggerated, thick wings unfurled behind him. He opened his mouth and spewed pale flames capable of covering the entire mausoleum.

This torrent of flame could almost cover the entire mausoleum, yet in the air above it was as though it had struck an invisible wall and could not advance a single inch.

A faint, slightly deep light flew out from within the mausoleum and coalesced into the real body of "Derrick Augustus". The mere appearance of this Sequence 2 "Balancer" caused Miss Kelaien to briefly fall into a stiff daze; he felt his thoughts gradually growing sluggish.

The projection of "Morax" stepped forward, and along the connection, a power spread to Miss Kelaien within the historical gap, and his mind cleared once more.

'It can work like this? Mr. Morax is more capable than I imagined!'

This truly gave Miss Kelaien a pleasant surprise and made him abandon the thought of swapping places with his marionette to return to the outskirts of Ahowa County.

He decided to observe a while longer, to see if he could find an opportunity to secretly sabotage the current mausoleum. If not, he would head to the secret mausoleum downstream of the Tasoq River.

Nine secret mausoleums—as long as one or two were destroyed while George III was taking the potion, George III would lose control.

Swish—

That Mr. Morax drew a long spear woven from the two colors of Jin Xuan from the void and thrust it toward Derrick Augustus with a howling sound that tore the air.

The ground he left behind was covered in cracks—first fine as a spider's web, then gradually widening, spreading faster and faster toward the pyramid ahead.

Below Derrick Augustus was Morax attacking with a spear; above was Azik in his Mythical Creature form. His expression unchanged, he flicked a finger.

Crack, crack—

Cracks appeared in the sky, gradually widening and spreading upward and downward; the cracks on the ground vanished abruptly at a certain point, as if sliced clean through at the waist.

This was the power of the Arbiter pathway's 'Sequence 2: Balance'.

Derrick Augustus tampered with the spatial balance between earth and sky, diverting the attack left by Morax into the heavens. At the same time, He began altering the rules to affect the power output of the two historical projections, weakening their strength.

"Mythical creature forms are forbidden in this domain!"

"Weapons are forbidden in this domain!"

Faint, illusory light flared around Morax and Azik. Both were violating the rules set by the Balance and receiving punishment. His left hand clenched in the air, and an invisible, tremendous force slammed down upon the two.

Unexpectedly, the weapon in Morax's hands shattered. Crossing through space in a flash, he appeared to the right side of Derrick Augustus. Both arms bent and drew back, hands clenched into fists, as he coldly stared at the Duke of South Wales before him.

Derrick Augustus's spirituality screamed a frantic warning. His eyes widened as he looked to one side, those gilded eyes brimming with cold intent.

【Danger!!!】

The instant this thought arose, He tampered with the distance between his opponent and himself, and with the direction of the attack.

Morax threw his right fist. One after another, Shi Zhu arched up rapidly from the surrounding space—above, below, left, right—and finally a sharp metallic spear-tip smashed into the ground.

Originally this had been an enormous rock spear, but Derrick Augustus had twisted the space and direction of its thrust.

Not done yet! Another fist was thrown, and this one crossed through layer upon layer of folded space to arrive right before Derrick Augustus's eyes.

【Balance Force!】

Borrowing Azik's bone claws that were attacking him, He met Morax's punch head-on. The aftershock of the three-way clash made this stretch of space tremble faintly.

Miss Kelaien was somewhat surprised; he had not expected Mr. Morax to possess such combat power. Combined with Mr. Azik joining forces, they had actually gained the upper hand.

Yet Derrick Augustus, having to face enemies while also protecting the Jin Zita behind him, had for the moment fallen into a disadvantage.

'He still has some kind of Sealed Artifact. I'll have to try personally to destroy it.'

Miss Kelaien had his historical projection manifest from the hidden, drew out the silvery-white adventurer's harmonica, brought it to his lips, and blew once.

Reinette Tinekerr, clad in a somber, elaborate long dress, stepped silently out from the spirit world. Of the four heads in her hand, one bit down on a rectangular, diamond-like sigil, while another spoke in ancient Hermes:

"Yesterday."

No reaction. Nothing happened at all.

"Hehehe." An old man in a grey-white robe stood at some distance, no one knew when he had arrived. His smile was kindly, yet it made Miss Kelaien's spirit tighten.

"Using ancient Hermes before me is useless."

He seemed to be merely reminding. Miss Kelaien instantly realized this was Hermes himself—the creator of ancient Hermes!

He supports George III too?! But why does He seem reluctant to join this conflict? Miss Kelaien couldn't tell whether this was a form of misdirection from the Spectator pathway; it looked like He was going easy.

Reinette Tinekerr's four heads merged back into one and returned to her neck. Constrained by the rule forbidding mythical creature forms, she transformed into a shadow and began to clash fiercely with Hermes, whose body was now covered in dragon scales.

'Now I'll have to rely on myself.'

The instant this thought arose, a scene suddenly surfaced in Miss Kelaien's mind—his marionette placed near the lower reaches of the Tarsok River had run into trouble!

In the vision, a pitch-black church stood ahead. The great doors inside the church were flung open, and within hung men dressed as workers, noble Young Ladies in splendid Western dresses, and gentlemen in top hats—all swaying in the wind from the church's ceiling like marionettes on strings.

A flock of black crows circled the church's spire, letting out heart-jarring cries. Together with the men and ladies hanging inside the church, they softly called out:

"Welcome back."

Miss Kelaien saw this horrifying scene and hurriedly severed the spirit body thread between himself and the marionette.

Zaratul!

Too late—He's discovered me!

The moment the connection was severed, Miss Kelaien saw countless black lines surging like a tide along the link just used, rushing toward the direction of Ahoa County.

He's caught up!

Miss Kelaien quickly snapped his fingers. A ball of flame appeared on the leather wallet pulled from his pocket, then swiftly died out. Without time for disappointment, Miss Kelaien hurriedly drew out the gloves "Creeping Hunger" and attempted to teleport using the Shepherd ability.

His figure turned transparent for a moment, then returned to normal—failure! He could not escape this area!

Following his spirituality's warning, Miss Kelaien looked up into the distance. A figure in midair had arrived before Zaratul, taking shape.

That figure wore rather splendid clothing, had chestnut, slightly curled long hair, blue eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin lips—it was precisely Roselle Gustav from the era of the Emperor of Knowledge.

He had just transformed himself into knowledge symbols, ignoring the distance of space, to arrive at this mausoleum.

He glanced down at Miss Kelaien from above, and countless illusory symbols appeared in his eyes.

Miss Kelaien's mind instantly swelled, flooded with vast amounts of knowledge and information of unknown usefulness, among which some strange things flashed and vanished.

【π equals】

【Witches really taste nice witches really taste nice witches really taste nice】

【The cheat code is up up down down left right left right baba】

【Touch my daughter and I'll kill you touch my daughter and I'll kill you touch my daughter and I'll kill you】

【Snacks are gone snacks are gone snacks are gone】

【Bring on some AAA masterpieces bring on some AAA masterpieces bring on some AAA masterpieces】

Not attempting to comprehend that knowledge, Miss Kelaien was now in such splitting pain he could think of nothing. Instinctively, Miss Kelaien offloaded this junk information onto the Spirit Worms within him.

After recovering, Miss Kelaien dismissed the historical projection outside.

Good news: there are now 6 angels outside. With Zaratul arriving shortly, that makes 7. A massive free-for-all among angels—this area is essentially secured.

Bad news: Mr. Fool is about to be taken down too.

Clearly, Miss Kelaien was not yet prepared to sacrifice himself to destroy George III's ritual.

He wanted to summon a new historical projection, but the Emperor of Knowledge, Roselle, was lurking right outside watching—how was he to handle this?

Boom—

A rock pillar thrust into the ground, golden waves spread out from the earth, and a rhombus-shaped light screen appeared at Miss Kelaien's location in reality.

Miss Kelaien was both surprised and delighted. What surprised him was discovering that Mr. Morax's historical projection had actually taken the initiative to analyze the situation.

Could Mr. Morax have descended through consciousness from the Southern Continent to help him?

Mr. Morax is really kind. Huh? Is it because I paid for him?

Miss Kelaien stopped overthinking, slipped out from the historical gap, silently chanting the honorific name of the "Evernight Goddess" in his mouth, attempting to seize from history a vessel the Evernight Goddess had once descended into.

Once, twice, five times.

He finally touched a certain image within the historical gap.

A figure swiftly took shape, becoming in reality a lady wearing a dark robe and a wide hood, with a delicate face and slightly dazed, pitch-black eyes.

Miss Kelaien could not tell whether this was the Evernight Goddess or that former Mother of the Sky, but none of that mattered anymore.

As this lady's existence appeared, she looked toward the mausoleum below. The entire underground began to tremble with her gaze, ripples appearing in the space, and everything here would be moved into a hidden world.

'Now Zaratul can't catch up to me. He probably doesn't want to be hidden away again. I don't mind, anyway — I'm the Goddess's favored one.'

Just at that moment, two arms broke straight through the wall from the outside above, reaching in — one grabbing at Reinette Tinekerr, the other grabbing at Miss Kelaien.

The two arms were covered in all kinds of slime and alien shapes. Those alien shapes opened their mouths, revealing tongues covered in barbs — a Sequence 1 "Filthy Monarch," Sia A!

But mid-motion, His action met the gaze of the hidden angel beside Miss Kelaien. He was startled, and various illusory transparencies appeared over His body. He hurriedly contracted, channeling His power into resisting the force of concealment.

Seven angels, one divine-descent vessel.

Miss Kelaien silently looked up at the two giant hands in the sky, calculating the numbers in his mind. He felt that Mr. Morax's barrier seemed quite durable, and with this lady beside him, Miss Kelaien was not panicked.

At this moment, the two other historical images Zaratul had summoned also caught up, and two more figures appeared in midair above the underground ruins.

They were William Augustus I, the first king of Loen, and an abstract angel composed of pure light.

The entire space shook more and more violently, like a great earthquake in progress.

Nine angels, one divine-descent vessel.

Miss Kelaien felt a slight panic within, but quickly regained his composure.

No big problem — the current situation is within expectations. This great brawl is exactly what he needs. Since he can't break through the opponent's defense line, he'll create a thorough upheaval.

Under the aftershocks of battle, this place would suffer destruction no matter what.

Zaratul should be arriving. Miss Kelaien weighed the pros and cons and smiled.

"Then let's make it even more chaotic!"

In midair, gray-white mist emerged from above the spirit world, and a majestic palace flickered in and out of reality — the Source Castle!

Miss Kelaien deliberately exposed the Source Castle. At the same moment, a bird with dark circles around its eyes changed the direction of its gaze.

————————

Inside "Ruins No. 1" in the suburbs of Backlund.

Dozens of Kingsguard clad entirely in crimson armor with wings on their backs were locked in fierce combat with Prince Grove, who bore a 'Grade 0 Sealed Artifact' atop his head.

The heavily wounded witch Triss took a deep breath, drew a sapphire ring from the history of the past, and smiled as she placed the ring against her brow.

How laughable were the memories she had just seen.

There was him, wandering the streets as a child; him, controlled by the gang, swindling, deceiving, kidnapping, and stealing.

There was him, who joined the Psychology Alchemists and, after becoming an "Assassin," reveled in bloody slaughter, enjoying people being incited to tear off their masks and reveal their beastly nature.

There was her, who for various reasons had no choice but to actively become a "Witch."

There was her, arranged by the Monujiao Sect to become Prince Edesak's mistress.

Indulging in pleasure, yet living in constant terror, she longed for release day and night but could not obtain it.

"Hahaha" she laughed heartily. With her laughter, all things shed their original colors and turned gray-white, and this gray-white was still spreading rapidly — the guards, the supernatural powers, the great doors, all gradually being petrified.

Red meteors representing disaster streaked across space with long tails, falling one after another.

A hurricane tearing the heavens appeared out of thin air, dragging everything into a vortex and shredding it.

The furious voice of George III came from within the secret mausoleum that formed its own world: "Are you mad?"

She was forcibly accepting the descent of the Primordial Witch Chik at Sequence 0 with the standing of Sequence 4!

Triss laughed. The hair on her head became thick, sturdy serpents; the skin of her face was stretched to the limit, cracking inch by inch like parched earth, and blood and flesh spilled out from these fissures.

"Isn't the ending of a beautiful story supposed to be that all the bad people die?

"For example, you — and also me…"

The feast of natural disasters appeared in the same space. Meteorites carrying special powers rained down upon the place one after another.

The mausoleum, isolated from reality, finally appeared before Triss. Her ferocious, terrifying face sketched a pleasant smile before dissolving into a puddle of blood and flesh.

Beneath the exposed dome, George III let out a Horned Sihou, reaching out to touch that illusory divine throne.

However, in the end, he was swallowed along with that surging puddle of blood and flesh into the endless storm of Lei Ting.

Prince Grove, bearing '0-36' atop his head, was about to retreat when a pure-white light sword pierced out from behind his heart. He strained to look back, and saw that the puppet, which had previously been unable to breach his defenses and could only entangle him in combat, was now pressed against his back.

"Who are you?"

"A witch dies for love; a conspirator dies by a backstab." The young man's voice came from behind the crimson helmet. "Good night, broken cabbage."

The man removed his helmet, revealing Su Lin's face. "Alright, according to the logic the main body set for me, next I should clean up the battlefield."

He picked up the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact shaped like a Wang Guan with the sound of ocean tides from the ground, glanced at the ruins ahead, sighed, and planted a cross on the ground.

(End of chapter)