Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

Fuyuki City, a city of hundreds of thousands, had been largely destroyed by the previous Servants' battles. Only the area east of Fuyuki Bridge, where the Church was located, remained intact.

However, because this was not the real world and the "Dream Labyrinth Tower" had absolute control over the scenario, the "Church" still "reasonably" concealed the matter, and people in the undamaged areas lived "normally."

In a puddle in a deserted alley, a slightly transparent figure appeared at some point. His skin was brownish, his face deeply lined with wrinkles, and his sparse white hair resembled autumn leaves, as if he had lived for many, many years.

Appearing with him was a "youth" wearing a wide ritual robe adorned with numerous lavish precious metal ornaments.

These were Jacks and his Magician-class Heroic Spirit.

"What kind of monster did that madman from the Aurora Order summon?!

"That Saber-class King of Conquerors, Archer-class King of Heroes, and the Assassin-class Heroic Spirit, who seemed more like a high-sequence 'Spectator' to me... each of them possessed Angel-level combat power in a short time... yet they were killed so easily?

"No, what's more terrifying than being killed is... they've all been herded by that monster!

"If my Heroic Spirit hadn't had that book with high-sequence 'Apprentice' abilities, I wouldn't have escaped either..."

Thinking this, he glanced at the big-eyed "youth" beside him, feeling a touch of helplessness.

As a Demigod of the Rose School, he had lived long enough and was quite proficient in various rituals, especially in "sacrifice."

Therefore, before performing the Heroic Spirit summoning, he, like Ebner, saw through the essence of the ritual and sacrificed the soul of a "Life School" Demigod he had on hand.

—That was a "Summoning Master" who had lived from the Fourth Epoch to the present, believing in the "Primordial Moon," but unfortunately perished in the previous internal strife of the "Life School," and his soul eventually fell into Jacks' hands.

"But this tower's Heroic Spirit system even implanted a 'hero' persona into him... which conflicted with his original spirit, causing him to be somewhat deranged since his summoning. Not only is he difficult to communicate with, but he also keeps saying inexplicable things.

"If I had known this, I might as well not have used the so-called 'Holy Relic.'"

While pondering, Jacks stared at the passing crowd outside the alley with "malicious" eyes, suppressing his "tyrannical" desires.

Although he had escaped successfully before, he was inevitably injured, and he had also heard the "Profane Presbyter's" incantation, causing his "curses," which could be ignored after becoming a Demigod, to manifest again.

As a member of the indulgent faction of the Rose School, his self-control was limited. If the crowd outside the alley were real living people, he probably would have rushed out to vent his desires long ago.

But unfortunately, this was an "imagined" world. He couldn't truly vent on those people, and might instead attract the Saint of the Aurora Order.

"If praying to a god were allowed, how could I be so pathetic! This damned 'Dream Labyrinth Tower'!"

Just as Jacks was growing increasingly irritable, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of a young lady wearing a small black soft hat and a Gothic court dress, sitting in a carriage that quickly passed the alley entrance.

The lady had light golden hair, a delicate face, clear blue eyes, and a pale complexion...

"Sharon..." Jacks subconsciously licked his lips, and the desire he had forcibly suppressed surged again.

Immediately after, his figure continuously flickered between shop windows, shallow puddles, animal eyes, and dewdrops on grass, always maintaining a certain distance from the carriage carrying Sharon.

Soon, Sharon got out of the car and walked towards a hotel by the roadside.

"A decoy?" Jacks stared at Sharon with bloodshot eyes, then pulled a monocle from his inner coat pocket.

It looked normal but shimmered with a pearly white glow in the dark.

This was a Beyonder item from the Life School, which could be used to detect many hidden secrets.

"There are traces of a ritual in the hotel... It might be a trap!

"But Sharon isn't accompanied by a Heroic Spirit, nor any other high-sequence Beyonder... While she could probably use a Command Seal to forcibly summon a Heroic Spirit... I can control her before that!

"This is my chance! Once she enters the hotel, the opportunity will vanish..."

Jacks was already a decisive person, and with his desires influencing him, he quickly decided to capture Sharon and use her to vent his desires.

.....

In front of the hotel, the delicate-faced lady, though pale, gracefully descended from the carriage, carefully lifting her elaborate skirt, and unhurriedly walked toward the hotel steps.

But just then, a figure suddenly appeared on the polished marble ground. The lady didn't even have time to turn her head before her eyes met his.

It was a pair of malevolent brown eyes, belonging to the sparsely white-haired, grotesquely wrinkled Jacks!

"Sharon's pure white eyes are truly captivating..." Just as he was about to succeed, Jacks couldn't help but feel triumphant, but he immediately reacted, and a crucial question flashed through his mind: When did Sharon's eyes turn pure white?!

Along with this thought, a fierce solar fire ignited on his body without warning, causing the "Disciple of Silence" to lose his ability to remain hidden in reflections. As his figure became visible, he began to scream in agony.

Realizing he had been tricked, Jacks endured the soul-searing pain of "purification" and used a Command Seal, trying to summon his Heroic Spirit to his side.

But to his despair, his mentally unstable Heroic Spirit did not immediately lead him to escape. Instead, upon seeing a blonde Heroic Spirit appear from the second floor of the hotel, he began to constantly murmur "Saintess," then pursued her into the hotel, getting trapped within the ritual barrier set up by the Roselle-version Medusa.

The one disguised as Miss Sharon to "lure the enemy" was naturally Ebner. He used the special nature of his Pure White Eye to successfully ambush the Demigod of the Rose School.

"It seems my Pure White Eye is truly the bane of pathways like the 'Chained' pathway, which manipulate others by forming reflections in their pupils.

"However, judging by how Jacks was burned, there must be a high-rank item from the 'Sun' pathway within the space behind the Pure White Eye! Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to burn a Sequence 3 existence into incapacitation just through a 'channel.'

"Could it be that there really is a 'Pure White Angel' in there?

"Plus, its consistently powerful 'analysis' ability...

"Is the Pure White Eye truly a combination of 'Pure White Angel' + 'All-Knowing Eye,' as I previously speculated?"

Ebner could ponder so calmly because the subsequent hunting work no longer required him.

When the enemy's Heroic Spirit was trapped in the hotel by their two Heroic Spirits, bolts of lightning, as if free for the taking, accurately struck Jacks, instantly disfiguring him beyond recognition.

—This was naturally the work of Mr. Fool's "Scepter of the Sea God."

Meanwhile, the 'Prophet' Tayles had also prepared the pre-arranged "secret art," simultaneously igniting Jacks' increasingly intense desires and emotions, as well as the "plague" that had long been buried deep in his mind.

How ruthless! Burnt and struck by lightning physically, and completely filled with "lightning" spiritually!

Watching this scene unfold, Ebner clicked his tongue a few times. He then waited for a moment, and after confirming that Jacks' Command Seals had disappeared and he was truly dead, he had the "Magic Mirror" release the "Devil" to go and collect the spoils of war.

Soon, the Devil retrieved several items from Jacks' corpse.

Ebner put the other things aside, picking up only one card with Roselle's female image on it.

"The Moon Card?"

Gazing at the crimson background of the card, Ebner narrowed his eyes, and couldn't help but recall the message Roselle had sent him through "Lion" Leon, who had traveled thousands of miles to Fossa:

"The activation incantation for the Moon card is 'Etna'...

"This is part of the 'Silver Moon Project'!"