Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

After a moment of thought, Ebner temporarily put aside the matter of Amon. After all, even if that butler truly was an Amon clone, His primary targets would be the "Men in Black" who are also of the Marauder pathway, and it was unlikely He would specifically target Ebner and Edwina.

Moreover, although Ebner's demigod-level "imitation" experience had ended, he still held a "historical projection" charm bestowed by the Goddess. In crucial moments, he could even use it to invite Lilith's divine descent… Therefore, he wasn't overly afraid of Amon's clones.

As for the thought of Amon stealing the charm and using it? It must be said that the Reader pathway's ability to think in multiple threads and "analyze" after becoming a demigod is very "restraining" to such thought-stealing actions, and Ebner, through his Pure White Eye, had been accustomed to this "multithreading" since Sequence 9.

After dealing with Lister and his confidant, Ebner instructed Chesi, who was possessed by the Devil, to find a place for afternoon tea, while he himself, carrying the Magic Mirror's main body, followed Madam Denise, who had left earlier.

—He suspected that the "Men in Black" stronghold might not actually be in the real world… or perhaps it was in a space that overlapped with reality, so he left Chesi there as a "locator."

As a noblewoman of the Varian family, the actual controllers of Tosk, Madam Denise naturally wouldn't use the sewer "entrance" in the lower-class civilian area that Arrodes had shown in his vision to enter the "Rat Way."

Instead, she first took a carriage to a very secluded villa, then entered its basement and opened a hidden door.

Stepping through the hidden door and walking through a relatively "clean" passage, she entered the truly cold and damp "Rat Way."

However, Madam Denise did not venture deeper. Instead, at a corner of a "crossroads," she placed four torches according to a specific orientation and softly chanted a Hermes word: "Guide."

About five or six minutes later, a figure clad in a black cloak appeared at the intersection. He glanced at Madam Denise, then extended a claw to take a special emblem from her hand before turning around and beginning to lead the way.

During this time, he used a special ability to check, but failed to detect Ebner, who was under "Evans' Secret Barrier."

Ebner, however, saw through his true nature.

"Although called a 'guide,' it's actually just a strange ghost…"

"And Madam Denise clearly knows this, so she didn't try to converse with him."

While thinking, Ebner also followed closely behind Madam Denise, stepping in her footsteps to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

Initially, they were still traversing normal sewers, only the "paths" went up and down, turning left and right, very misleading… However, this wasn't much of an obstacle for a Reader, who easily memorized the route.

But then, Ebner was completely shocked by the complex structure of the "Rat Way" and was glad he chose to find a "guide" rather than relying on his Pure White Eye to decipher it.

Because this labyrinthine path not only had various "twisted" and "magnified" sections, but also various hidden "doors," and intermittent "nightmares."

Yes, some sections required crossing strange "dreams," and those dreams contained various monsters. If not for the "guide," they would surely have attacked.

And most importantly, this so-called "Rat Way" seemed specifically designed for Beyonders with "analysis" and "deciphering" abilities; the more one "analyzed" it, the more it changed!

To be honest, several times when following Madam Denise through a "door," Ebner felt that he had actually been exposed… But strangely, this large "labyrinth" gave no "warning."

At this point, he couldn't retreat, because even if he wanted to, he couldn't find his way back…

Squeezing the "historical projection" charm in his hand, Ebner felt a renewed sense of confidence. He followed closely behind Madam Denise's footsteps and arrived in a cave roughly twenty square meters in size, containing several storage lockers.

Upon arriving here, the "guide" disappeared on its own, and Madam Denise skillfully took off her clothes and changed into the garments prepared in the lockers.

This made Ebner, who was watching from the side, a little awkward. Just as he was wondering whether to find some clothes here to change into as well, Madam Denise had already walked towards the "door" on the other side of the cave.

Seeing this, Ebner no longer hesitated and immediately followed.

After crossing this last "door," Ebner's vision suddenly cleared, and he found himself in an underground space the size of a football field.

The dome was very high, at least 30 meters or more, and embedded with multiple glowing orbs, preventing the entire space from being dim.

"Denise, you're here…"

At this moment, a man who looked to be in his thirties with dark golden hair came forward, greeted Madam Denise, and then embraced and kissed her.

After a full half-minute, Madam Denise struggled to push him away, chiding him alluringly, "Gute, I'm here for something serious!"

"What is it?" The man named Gute was startled for a moment, then picked up Madam Denise horizontally, "Let's talk about it on the bed…"

Soon, intermittent "conversations" emanated from the private room partitioned off in a corner of the space.

This scene left Ebner dumbfounded. After a comment about "Intis truly being open," he no longer paid attention to them and began to use the secret art Polymath Reconnaissance to locate Edwina.

—This was one of the three "secret arts" he received upon his promotion to Mysticism Instructor, which could improve along with him.

Since there were no other Polymaths in this space, it only took Ebner two minutes to successfully pinpoint Edwina's location—right in the room next to Gute and Madam Denise…

He used his Door ability to walk straight into that room and saw Edwina, looking slightly pale, leaning against the headboard of the bed, holding a book.

However, as the "conversations" from next door grew more intense, her attention was clearly not on the book. Instead, she was closing her light blue eyes, suppressing something.

As "Vice Admiral Iceberg," as a Pirate General, she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with such matters. Although she hadn't practiced them herself, she had witnessed quite a lot… After all, she could also "revert" time.

In the past, even without Mechanical Mind, she could remain calm about this, but after her spirit body was infected by the corrupting power of the Black Knight, she involuntarily began to have chaotic thoughts.

While this wouldn't cause her to immediately fall and lose control, it was still a severe test of her willpower.

After Ebner entered the room, a brief scan revealed Edwina's predicament. He then "simulated" the Judge's ability, blocking the transmission of "sound" between the room and the outside.

The disappearance of the "conversations" made Edwina sigh in relief. She opened her light blue eyes, as clear as spring water, and tentatively asked, "Ebner?"

"It's me," Ebner materialized and replied.

Then, he stepped forward to examine her body and frowned, "Blade of Flesh and Spirit?"

"Yes!" Edwina still had little strength and answered concisely.

"This is quite troublesome… Violet's Perfect Recovery Spell wouldn't work too well on such an injury… This requires a high-level ritual from the Sun domain!"

As Ebner spoke, he recalled the scepter housing the evil spirit of the Pope of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.

Using it as a medium should be enough to extract the corrupting power from Edwina's spirit body… but this place is clearly not suitable…

But how to get Edwina out? I just tried, and there's a "space" barrier here, so "teleportation" probably won't work…

As Ebner was pondering, an old voice suddenly sounded in his ear:

"Oh, person of the Great Emperor's prophecy…

"Welcome to 'Kaspersky,' the 'Men in Black's' last base."

Kaspersky? That name itself shows deep malice towards Amon!