Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

At the villa, after Heroic Spirit Lya progressively separated the characteristics of a "Disciple of Silence," "Puppeteer," "Revenant," and "Zombie," Ebner told her to stop.

After all, materials and Beyonder characteristics from the "Prisoner" pathway had a small audience, and anything below "Zombie" wouldn't fetch a good price anyway.

Handing the "Puppeteer" characteristic to Miss Sharon, and seeing her control Jacks' corpse to take the characteristic back to the bedroom, Klein hesitated for a moment before getting up and following her in.

He guessed that Sharon probably wanted to temporarily store the corpse and characteristic above the gray fog, and "Mr. Tower" would certainly guess the same. At this moment, using the excuse of going to the washroom might expose Mr. Fool's weakness to "Mr. Tower." That's why he endured the playful gazes of others—mainly Ebner—and followed Sharon into the bedroom.

Though Miss Sharon was also very intelligent, her imagination simply wasn't as expansive as "Mr. Tower's."

In fact, Ebner understood their intentions perfectly well, but this didn't stop him from secretly "recording" the scene, intending to show it to Melissa later...

—For simple "recording," Ebner no longer needed auxiliary tools; both the "Magic Mirror" and his developed "Secret Arts" could accomplish it. He created the "Square of Order" purely for his company employees to use.

About ten minutes later, Klein and Sharon returned to the living room. At this point, the 'Prophet' Tayles also returned, bringing each person a black book with three "Command Seal" markings on its cover.

"Is everything ready? If there are no issues, we'll depart now." Tayles asked with a serious expression after Ebner and the others put away their "Book of Command Seals."

Ebner and Klein both nodded slightly, indicating they were ready. Edwina and Sharon naturally had no objections either.

Seeing this, Tayles walked to the "Live Sand Table," covered his right hand with spirituality, then picked up the "mini" villa representing their location on the map and directly placed it on an open space several blocks away from the Aurora Order Saint.

As he completed this action, Ebner felt the floor beneath his feet vibrate.

At the same time, he could feel an invisible hand "gripping" him. The hand's force wasn't strong, yet it effortlessly propelled him through space.

Ebner did not resist, as he could sense that the aura on the invisible hand came directly from Tayles.

No wonder Tayles said this sand table was a "strategic" item before, but ineffective against enemies... Exposing one's aura so completely means only acquaintances would obediently allow themselves to be manipulated... If it were an enemy, there would be many ways to exploit the aura!

While making this judgment about an item from a certain movie, Ebner felt the pushing force on his body suddenly disappear, and the invisible hand vanished abruptly.

Everyone emerged cautiously from the villa and then saw a scene akin to the end of the world.

Aside from their villa, almost none of the surrounding buildings were intact. The hotel where Klein and Sharon had previously stayed was broken in half, its collapsed ruins destroying countless nearby civilian houses.

Above a mountain peak several blocks away, dark clouds currently gathered, and countless bolts of lightning struck down from between the clouds, engulfing the entire mountaintop.

In the center of the numerous lightning bolts, a vast quantity of black, viscous liquid gushed from a hole that was between illusory and real. They twisted and expanded, growing varying numbers of hands and feet, transforming into one monster after another, spreading across the entire mountain.

"Chaos Sea?!" Ebner was startled and quickly looked at Edwina and Sharon beside him.

He and Klein both had "cheats," so seeing the Sefirah from this distance was fine, but those two ladies might be "contaminated."

As for Tayles, he hadn't thought about him for a moment.

But to Ebner's surprise, Edwina and Sharon showed no discomfort other than some dizziness.

"Perhaps, the gushing 'Chaos Sea' is just an illusion? Or, the 'Dream Labyrinth Tower' itself added a 'filter' to it?" Ebner confirmed they truly had no major problems before stroking his chin in thought:

"However, what did that 'Saint of Shadows' from the Aurora Order use to summon a Heroic Spirit that could actually communicate with the 'Chaos Sea,' which is the core of the seal in the 'Dream Labyrinth Tower'... No wonder 'King of Conquerors,' 'King of Heroes,' and 'Hundred-Faced Hassan' lost so quickly!"

Klein, however, found the black viscous liquid increasingly familiar the more he looked at it. After a brief recollection, he remembered the appearance of Miss "Judgment" when she was "contaminated" before...

What exactly is this black mud? Klein frowned, but chose not to ask at this moment.

"We cannot let the 'Saint of Shadows'' ritual continue, otherwise he really will win the 'Holy Grail War'!" Tayles said gravely upon seeing this.

No matter who won this "game" among those present, they would survive; only the "Saint of Shadows'" victory was unacceptable.

Although throwing out a "Historical Projection" charm would likely solve the problem now, that would certainly disrupt the gods' plans, so Ebner decided to continue the "act."

And he wasn't particularly averse to this. After all, Lilith, the Goddess, and the God of Knowledge had already provided "gifts" in advance.

It's just that the Seal of Calamity hasn't given me anything, and I still have to act according to his wishes, which is a bit annoying... Forget it, I'll give my fellow transmigrator some face.

"Lya, go stop the enemy's scheme and strive for victory with all your might." As Ebner spoke, he expended a Command Seal, buffing his Heroic Spirit.

This enhancement was similar to a "Notary's" notarization ability, but also different; it should be considered a "Secret Art."

"Yes, My Lord, I shall dedicate glory to your banner." The "girl" Heroic Spirit knelt on one knee in response, then raised her spear and flew towards the small mountain.

Behind her, the Roselle-version Rider-class Medusa, and the Magician-class Heroic Spirit "Bluebeard" Marshal Gilles, who had been muttering "Saintess," also followed.

At the same time, Tayles's expression changed continuously, as if he was struggling, but eventually, he clenched his fist and "flew" up.

As a Demigod and a "Prophet" with numerous methods, even if he wasn't a match for the Heroic Spirit, he was a competent support.

On the other side, just as the three Heroic Spirits were about to reach the mountain peak, three black-spotted figures flew out from within the mountain gate.

They were the Heroic Spirits King of Conquerors, King of Heroes, and "Hundred-Faced Hassan," all herded by the "Profane Presbyter" summoned by the Aurora Order Saint.

Three against three. Just as the battle was about to begin, the Roselle-version "Medusa" seemed to suddenly lose her abilities. The Pegasus beneath her abruptly vanished, and she herself was caught off guard by the prepared "Assassin-class" Hassan's sneak attack, nearly suffering a direct fatal blow.

Even so, she sustained extremely severe injuries.

How could this be? What kind of ability is that? Klein, observing from the rear, couldn't help but frown at this scene.

Ebner, who also witnessed this, felt a stir in his heart and vaguely guessed the reason.

Unless summoned using a "Holy Relic" and providing a high-level soul themselves, the power of the so-called Heroic Spirits in this scenario is actually bestowed by the "Dream Labyrinth Tower"...

And earlier, Lya and "Bluebeard," summoned with "Holy Relics," had no problems. Only Medusa seemed to have lost most of her abilities... She must have been directly stripped of them by the opponent!

No wonder the King of Conquerors, King of Heroes, and Hassan died so quickly before... They probably fell the same way...

Did the "Saint of Darkness" usurp part of the "Dream Labyrinth Tower's" authority? How did he do it?

This tower should be firmly controlled by Roselle, at most his different personalities are warring...

As thoughts raced, Ebner suddenly recalled his earlier speculation about the "Dream Labyrinth Tower's" composition, derived from its appearance:

Roselle killed a "Profane Presbyter" who herded "Wisdom Angels," and combined it with the "Chaos Sea" and Zaratul to create the "Dream Labyrinth Tower"...

"Other Heroic Spirits, even if their souls are of Angelic rank, can only maintain Angel-level combat power for a short time. Only the 'Saint of Shadows'' Heroic Spirit is a complete 'Profane Presbyter'...

"Through a ritual, directly connecting to the 'Chaos Sea' and being able to arbitrarily strip other Heroic Spirits of their abilities...

"Combining these, if I boldly guess...

"What if... that 'Saint of Shadows' brought the True Creator's divinity into the first floor and used it to awaken the spirit of the 'Profane Presbyter' that constitutes this tower... allowing it to join this 'war' as a Heroic Spirit? Then everything makes sense!

"Heh, no wonder the contaminated Roselle is somewhat anxious. As the core seal of the 'Dream Labyrinth Tower,' once this 'Profane Presbyter' gains maximum authority, he will definitely destroy all of Roselle's resurrection arrangements first!

"Of course, the Mother Goddess of Depravity similarly wouldn't want to see that.

"A plan brewing for so many years, if destroyed like this, She certainly wouldn't agree...

"In this environment where the Gods within Earth cannot intervene, by adding some investment, She can preserve the plan, and even obtain the Sefirah Castle...

"Can She resist that temptation?

"And in a situation where She cannot descend in person, the best method would be to throw the 'Goddess of Beauty' characteristic in Her possession into the 'Summoning Gate' of that 'Life School' summoning master, right?

"And this is Lilith's goal!

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