Lord of Mysteries:Fire of Destruction

They walked for a short 5 minutes through the dark alleys of the town before Flora stopped in front of an unremarkable wall.

Adryan looked around curiously. What would the entrance to the meeting be like?

Flora calmly raised her hand. The silver coin in her right hand shone a little before she placed it between her fingers and threw it towards the wall.

Click!

Instead of falling to the ground as it should have, the coin stuck to the wall like a magnet.

The moment the coin made contact with the stone, the symbol of "fate" and "concealment" looked them in the face. The wall itself also seemed to change in some way.

The old rocks that formed part of its body seemed to be 'flickering,' some changing places with others and others coming out of their places completely, as if suddenly they didn't quite fit.

The best way Adryan could describe it was as if the wall had suddenly suffered a texture error.

The white-haired woman turned slightly and looked at him serenely, "I will be the one to speak. Don't say anything unless you want to buy or are looking for something. Mistrust will be the least of our problems when we enter."

As it was rare for his dear worm to be so serious, the dark-haired man gave a slight nod in understanding.

The most he would try to find at this gathering would be the ingredients for Jerry's potion, along with maybe a few pages from the Emperor's diary.

Although he knew that the Jacob family had been one of the five Angel families to support the reign of the mad Blood Emperor during the Tudor Empire, Adryan doubted that they had any Red Priest Pathway formula that would interest him due to the status of the families in the organization.

Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to ask... A Conspirator must always be looking for information after all~

'Who knows? If they at least have the complete Iron-Blooded Knight formula, it would save me a lot of trouble and time~' Smiling calmly at his companion, Adryan said, "I'll be a good boy."

Flora just looked at him for a moment in silence, her gaze flat.

After about five seconds, she shook her head with the same expression: " I bet you will."

Turning her attention back to the strange wall, she added, "Stay close."

Adryan laughed softly but said nothing more. He stood next to his partner.

With her, they both took a step and went through the wall.

The first thing the Conspirator noticed was how everything seemed to twist and stretch, the silver coin remained unperturbed, always in the same place and giving off a slight sparkle.

Suddenly, that sparkle pulsed, and an illusory wave covered his entire vision. He felt it pass through his whole body like a cold, ghostly breeze.

The sensation only lasted a moment, disappearing as quickly as it had come.

Clink!

The coin detached itself from the now brick wall and flew back to Flora, who calmly caught it mid-air.

Closing her fist and the coin disappearing, the white-haired woman smiled calmly at him, "Welcome to the Hermits of Fate."

Adryan looked around curiously.

"This... I wasn't expecting this..."

They were now in a large room that looked like something out of a fantasy book.

A large fireplace stood in the middle of the wall, its soft but warm orange flames illuminating their room.

Several high-quality sofas, bookcases, and tables display various fruits. The room is adorned with a thin but highly delicate purple carpet with crimson details.

A large door made of what appeared to be oak wood was at the end of the room, where it led was unknown...

This was the room one would think a princess in a world of magic would have. Extremely old but with a remarkable class about it.

Adryan looked deeply at his companion, the clothes she chose to wear, and her beauty.

The corners of her lips were slightly raised in a small smile, without breaking the cheek, a smile worthy of nobility.

"..."

He just looked at her, making the smile on his companion's face grow a little wider.

Finally, after 15 seconds, Adryan broke the silence...

"... You're not a Jacob's princess, are you? Because I wouldn't have imagined there was such a perverted princess."

The woman's smile tightened, and one of her eyelids flickered momentarily.

"We only became Dukes at our highest point, so there was never an opportunity for one to exist..." Flora replied calmly.

"Mhm..." Seeing that he had elicited a reaction, Adryan laughed softly and looked around, "Is this your private room?"

Being one of only three demigods among the Jacob and Zoroast families, Adryan could tell that it came with certain benefits. A private room was the least of them.

"In part." Flora nodded, "I was given this place once I was promoted to Parasite."

She raised one hand elegantly as if she were presenting the whole place.

"This room is part of the last remaining pride of the Jacob family, as well as the only reason why the Hermits of Fate still exist..."

After pausing for a few seconds, she said, with deep emotion in her eyes, "This place is the legacy left by our ancestor before 'He' died at 'His' hands... The Castle Jacob."

"A castle straight out of the Fourth Epoch..." Looking around, the dark-haired man whistled in appreciation, "To remain standing to this day shows how special it is..."

It would not have helped the Jacob family if it were merely a regular castle. They would have been 'eaten' long ago if that were the case, so it had to have some unique feature.

From the feeling of 'stretching' when they went through the 'door,' they had most certainly traveled to another place, but where?

Flora nodded, "It's a special place, but not in the sense you think.

"In reality, where we are now is a reflection of what the Castle Jacob was like during the Fourth Epoch. The castle no longer exists; it was destroyed during the War of the Four Emperors, but its reflection still exists in the Mirror World.

"Using the Mirror World specialty, we make this place impossible to access unless you have a 'pass.'"

"Using the most dangerous jungle in the universe while ensuring that he doesn't come across it here by accident doesn't mean he can't steal one of the passes," Adryan remarked calmly with one hand on his hip, his eyes looking around with much more interest.

'So this is the mirror world? I didn't even notice... It's no lie that it's a 'reflection' of reality...'

Although they had already dealt with the fact that finding this place was extremely dangerous and challenging, that didn't solve the Raven's best skill: looking for cracks to sneak through.

Flora smiled knowingly, "Exactly. But the coins don't just work as an entry. They're a trick.

"Using so many methods unique to the Marauder Pathway, like deciphering the key, is more like decoration with no functionality. Of course, you can see them as valuable distractions that take time.

"All it takes is 2 seconds for the 'check' to be completed..."

The white-haired woman's smile grew a little, "The objective of that is simple: to check the fate of the person who wants to enter the castle.

"If it detects the slightest change in their fate, the entrance will be cut off, and the would-be entrant will be thrown into the Mirror World, where they could end up anywhere on the planet.

"We achieved this thanks to the only Grade 0 artifact we still have in combination with another one of Grade 1. Thanks to the combination of these two, we managed to protect the castle for so long."

Laughing softly, Flora sighed soundlessly. "I'll explain it better once we enter the stronger control zone. I doubt you know what I'm referring to-"

"I think I have an idea." Adryan tapped his chin with one hand, a somewhat reflective expression on his face.

"Do you?" With eyes slightly open, Flora tilted her head slightly.

Adryan nodded.

"I'm leaning towards two possibilities.

"The first is the Grade 0 artifact, which is made of the characteristics of a Trojan Horse of Destiny, while the Grade 1 artifact is made of the characteristics of a Secret Sorcerer.

"The grade 0 artifact detects the change in destiny. And the grade 1 artifact is the one in charge of expelling the target.

"The second is almost the same; only the Grade 0 artifact is made from a Soothsayer's characteristics. Something that can see destiny much better and detect change more easily. The grade 1 artifact remains the same..."

"It's simple but quite useful." He said honestly.

Adryan had thought that initially stealing someone's destiny was a perfect change that no one would notice, but it turns out that even the Raven's theft leaves visible traces.

'Of course, the only way to see them is by using Angel's abilities, which are also related to destiny...' Adryan added in his heart before sighing slightly.

That pathway was scary, no doubt about it.

Lowering his hand while shaking his head slightly, the man smiled sweetly, "Did I get any right?"

"..." Flora blinked owlishly a couple of times.

She knew the guy had a deep knowledge of all the pathways, but she didn't think it was to this extent.

By having a general idea of what the artifacts did, he had identified precisely which pathway they belonged to, not only that but also their Sequence. He also seemed to know much more about the Marauder Pathway than she thought.

'Well, at least that explains why every time I tried to use 'steal' based on his knowledge, the theft never failed...' Saying in her heart, the woman sighed.

"… It's the first option…" Jacob murmured dazedly. I don't know which pathway the Soothsayer is…"

"Ah, looks like I got it right." Laughing softly, Adryan winked mischievously, "Soothsayer is Sequence 2 of the Monster Pathway, by the way."

"…" Flora, after a few moments, could only huff ungraciously and roll her eyes.

Shaking her head slightly, the white-haired woman walked over to the fire and, grabbing something from the shelf above it, she threw it at the red-haired man.

"Put this on. That will signal that you're with me, and no one will ask any questions."

Catching it effortlessly, the dark-haired man raised an eyebrow and opened his palm.

His words died in his mouth when he saw what it was...

It was a ring made of what appeared to be gold. It had fine details, a small gem in the middle, and a symbol drawn on it.

The symbol was a hand with five fingers. The ring finger and little finger are curled up, while the other three fingers are naturally spread out, symbolizing the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand.

Adryan could recognize it as the coat of arms of the Jacob family.

Unable to help it, the man laughed incredulously and looked at his partner with extreme pleasure.

"Wow, Flora. Usually it's the man who gives the ring but I'm not complaining, it's beautiful, it feels good to be spoiled once in a while."

Jacob's expression trembled and she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, "Just put the ring on and let's go, we've already wasted enough time."

"Fufu~ Ya ya. Don't rush." Laughing a little more, he walked over to the woman's side and placed the ring on his left ring finger.

As he had expected, the ring grew and adjusted to his finger, fitting him perfectly.

"Don't you think it looks divine?" Like a woman who had just been proposed, he opened his palm and showed off the ring to his partner, even placing a hand on his waist.

"You're hopeless." Flora tried to hide it by adjusting her cloudy hair a little, but it was harder to hide the red tips of her ears.

She had already expected the man to do that, but it didn't mean she wasn't surprised.

Looking at the guy's brilliant smile and flashing eyes, she refused to go along with it and elegantly turned away.

"Come on, the meeting shouldn't be long now." The Jacob said, her face serene, "Like I said, don't wander off on me."

"I'll be in your care." No longer playing along, Adryan took his hand and silently followed the woman.

The two then crossed the oak door, leaving the room and making their way to the meeting...