Chapter 474: Weather

In the pouring rain, the Hanged Man, Alger, completed his prayer.

His body straightened involuntarily, his head lifting up.

The Tyrant card in his hand suddenly thickened and glowed, as if forming a book made of light.

The book flipped rapidly, revealing different forms of Emperor Rosser: sometimes dressed as a sailor, sometimes wearing a seafarer's cap, sometimes singing proudly atop the waves…

The image finally settled on the Emperor wearing a triple crown and draped in the papal robes.

"He" resonated with the dim sky, summoning a massive lightning bolt that pierced through the clouds.

Boom!

Amid the thunder of the lightning, the phantom figure of Emperor Rosser merged with the Hanged Man, Alger.

His demeanor instantly became extraordinarily majestic; the Serenzo River rippling around the Azure Avenger instantly calmed, like a windless lake.

Wearing the triple crown and draped in the papal robes, the Hanged Man, Alger, now held a staff of pure lightning, silver-white and radiant.

He took a step forward, carried by the wind into the sky.

Boom!

Above Trier, countless thunderclaps erupted simultaneously; visible hurricanes gathered countless dark clouds into a vast, dark, terrifying vortex.

Within the vortex, countless lightning bolts of varying colors intertwined or stretched out wildly, encircling the blazing sun, positioned to the west.

Splash!

Rain poured down like an opened faucet, drenching every corner of Trier, spraying mist that covered everything.

In the blink of an eye, the ground, illuminated simultaneously by sunlight and lightning, was covered in standing water.

The citizens, just awakened by the light, gazed at this scene—the blazing sun and serpentine lightning unable to dispel the pitch-black backdrop—and felt an overwhelming sense that the end of the world was descending.

…………

Within the deep darkness corresponding to the Breeze Dance Hall, the giant Lu Mian—now with two phantom heads and four exaggerated arms, his body over ten meters tall—saw the mysterious door beneath him slowly creak open backward with heavy friction, gradually splitting into a crack, within which faintly burned invisible flames.

This time, the spiritual light points nearby had dwindled to less than one-tenth; all mystical symbols and connections had either vanished or been weakened to near nothingness.

The iron-black door, stained with blood and rust, finally broke free from its bonds, the crack becoming unmistakable.

Before the rain and lightning clashed with the sun, the invisible flames burning behind the door retreated silently to either side, revealing a path with no visible support and no end.

Clutching Yu Jianna, Lu Mian, under the terrifying pull, could not resist falling into the doorway.

A glow ignited in his left chest, carrying the entire "Inn," along with the other twelve "rooms," through the mysterious double door.

…………

The true market district, second floor of the Breeze Dance Hall.

When the world began to invert, reality and illusion reversed, Gardner Martin and "Supervisor" Olson did not briefly become part of the painted world like ordinary citizens and members of the Iron Blood Cross who had set fires at Rister Wharf.

They remained on the ground, beside the deep darkness representing the Breeze Dance Hall, for behind each of them, at some unseen moment, a figure had appeared.

Behind "Supervisor" Olson stood a man in formal attire but without a tie, appearing thirty to forty, with a sharply prominent nose, deeply sunken eye sockets, pale blue eyes, slightly curled brownish hair, and unnaturally rigid facial contours; his gaze openly displayed contempt and arrogance.

To Gardner Martin's side and rear stood an elderly man with neatly combed deep red hair, dressed in a blue military dress uniform adorned with sashes and medals.

Though his face bore clear wrinkles, his dark eyes were piercingly sharp, as if his gaze could shatter houses and upturn the ground.

They were the chairman and the strongest vice-chairman of the Iron Blood Cross; it was under their protection that Gardner Martin and Olson had escaped the ritual's influence and avoided being flipped into the painted world.

As for other high-ranking members of the Iron Blood Cross, they were creating chaos in different parts of Trier, scattering the forces of official Extranormalists.

Seeing the deep darkness of the Breeze Dance Hall twist into a double, bloodstained, iron-black door, these four members of the Iron Blood Cross moved forward without hesitation—as if they had rehearsed this countless times.

…………

Red Tianebao, deepest chamber of the underground labyrinth.

Barefoot and clad in a robe, Count Puyfer had arrived here, gazing across the rows of lit white candles at the rusted, bronze coffin.

The coffin's lid had slid to the side, revealing its interior filled with phantom purple flames.

These purple flames were drawn toward the iron-black circular ring embedded in the ground, bound beneath the coffin, merging with the viscous blood and withered hearts within the ring.

This formed an entrance—a deep, bloodstained, rusted entrance.

Through this entrance, a lofty, bloody, insane aura emanated from the corresponding underground.

Affected by the aura, Count Puyfer's body trembled uncontrollably, yet his eyes burned with fanaticism, showing not a trace of fear.

For the first time, he felt his ancestor's spirit so close!

A twisted smile appeared on Puyfer's face; he stepped forward, passed through the outer ring of candles, and drew near the mutated bronze coffin.

The entire world, save for members of the Soren family awaiting the right moment with the requisite talent, the mysterious leader of the Secret Order, and the long-dead Emperor Rosser, knew nothing of the fact that beneath Red Tianebao lay another breach in the seal of the Trier of the Fourth Era.

It had been sealed long ago, using the hearts of successive important Soren family members—but the damage was irreversible:

Vemonda Champagne Soren, who once ruled the entire Soren family, went mad and ascended into the upper layers of that Trier of the Fourth Era.

Since then, his mad spirit had lingered unextinguished at the seal, his agonized screams occasionally echoing, affecting every resident of Red Tianebao and every blood relative.

Now, it was time to end this curse that had weakened the Soren family and trapped one Soren after another in nightmares!

Filled with a powerful sense of mission and immense honor, believing he would die in this act, Count Puyfer laughed wildly as he pressed his hand against the edge of the bronze coffin and lay down inside.

His figure plunged abruptly into the deep, bloodstained, rusted entrance.

No sooner had Count Puyfer vanished into the bronze coffin than Eloise Einhorn, clad in a beige hunting outfit with her hair tied in a ponytail, entered the chamber.

She first glanced at the row of white candles and the bronze coffin, assessed the changes in the seal, then sliced her finger with her nail and dripped three drops of crimson blood onto the floor.

Immediately, the young woman bowed her head and solemnly chanted:

"Embodiment of iron and blood, symbol of war's calamity, priest who commands the weather, great Sernarna Einhorn…"

After Eloise finished reciting the incantation, the blood dripped onto the floor began to boil.

It instantly grew, forming a lake of crimson, then coalesced into the figure of a man clad in iron-black, bloodstained armor.

The figure stood over one meter eighty, with long deep red hair, wearing extravagant golden earrings, and androgynous features—handsome yet delicate.

His darkened brown eyes turned to Eloise and gave a slight nod:

"Well done. In the previous war, the family lost its most vital thing; we must seize every opportunity, any chance to compensate for the loss—even if only partially."

With that, Sernarna Einhorn's figure flickered and entered the deep entrance within the bronze coffin.

Eloise watched this, her gaze flickering several times.

Finally, she sighed:

"Regardless, the Soren family's curse will end because of this…"

…………

No. 3 White Coat Street, Apartment 601.

Fleurka, both astonished and worried, took out the white bone statue of the Primordial Witch and the ancient silver mirror she had retrieved from underground.

She was uncertain whether the transformation of these two items was good or bad; her only option was to place them farther away, observe further changes, and then decide what to do.

At that moment, the classical silver mirror reflected the Primordial Witch statue—though it was not within its field of view—and the entire White Coat Street, the entire inverted zone, trembled violently.

Dark light erupted from the mirror; Fleurka and Anthony Reed had no time to use any ability before being engulfed.

When the darkness receded, only the coffee table and sofa remained in Apartment 601.

Beside the mural depicting part of the market district, the delighted "Painter" stood as the ancient silver mirror detached from the painted world, drifting gently downward into the darkness brought by shadows, sinking deeper and deeper until it vanished.

…………

Amid indescribable heat and a sensation of whirling vertigo, Lu Mian and Yu Jianna landed on a floor paved with pale black tiles.

The first thing that met their eyes was a magnificent city far away—its buildings asymmetrical and black, its houses vividly colored in startling crimson.

The city was veiled in thin mist, appearing and disappearing, as if the illusion occasionally seen by pirate sailors.

Outside the city, in the wilderness, dark clouds gathered, lightning flashed continuously, thunder roared, and torrential rain poured; a colossal figure dozens of meters tall was surrounded by these natural phenomena, barely visible, indistinct.

"He" wandered outside the city, amid smoke, fire, hail, lightning, rain, and gales, as if never ceasing.

Is this the Trier of the Fourth Era? Lu Mian suspected, yet dared not be certain—it was not what he had imagined.

Yu Jianna instinctively turned her head to look at him and saw he had returned to his original form—no longer gigantic, no longer with three heads and six arms.

(End of Chapter)