Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

"That was… the Hero Bandit Black Emperor?

"Was it him who destroyed the Abyss of Flesh ritual?"

A Mandated Punisher blurted out in shock.

Due to the Spellsinger of God's focus on the Capim case, this Punisher had spent considerable time investigating the "hero" who had recently appeared in Backlund. Thus, he recognized the figure instantly.

"Impossible! How could the Lord's ritual be destroyed by a mere ghost who isn't even a high-sequence Beyonder?!" Mr. A's blood-red, indifferent eyes widened in disbelief, his expression betraying a rare trace of shock.

The reason he hadn't rushed to deal with the "insects" infiltrating the basement was that he was certain they lacked the power to disrupt the ritual. After all, in his experience, even the Church of the True Creator's saints had proven helpless against such rituals.

Though disbelief filled his heart, Mr. A quickly regained his composure. He too sensed the rapid approach of a Saint—if he didn't flee now, he might lose his chance to escape entirely. Without the ritual's blessings, he no longer had the ability to "resurrect."

Just as Mr. A prepared to act, Mysticism Magister Stuart raised his right hand and pointed at the stark-naked Mr. A, uttering a single word in Ancient Hermes:

"Imprison!"

Instantly, the space around Mr. A grew viscous, as if encased in a massive block of amber or surrounded by transparent, sealed walls.

Mr. A froze in place, unable to move even an inch.

With the Abyss of Flesh destroyed, the forces suppressing Stuart and enhancing Mr. A vanished simultaneously, allowing the former to momentarily restrain the latter.

The still-conscious Mandated Punishers seized the opportunity, unleashing their weapons in a well-coordinated attack on Mr. A.

Even Hazel reacted quickly, drawing her Fire Raven Shortbow and firing fiery arrows one after another.

Sacred light, flames, frost, thunder, and gusts of wind—all kinds of elemental effects rained down on Mr. A's restrained figure.

But the attacks hit nothing but air, landing instead on the opposite wall of the hall. Mr. A's body, which had spontaneously burst into flames, transformed into a delicate paper doll.

—After devouring Tand, Mr. A had naturally inherited the pre-prepared paper dolls in the Scribe's pockets.

Under the fiery onslaught of the Fire Ravens, the paper doll was quickly reduced to ashes.

Meanwhile, Mr. A's real body reappeared on the other side of the hall, alongside the trail left by the Fire Ravens.

At that moment, an elderly man in a white priest's robe and soft clerical hat arrived. Propelled by a mechanical "thrust system" under his feet, the Saint of the Church of Steam hovered at the edge of the rooftop's shattered opening.

Mr. A wasted no time. He swiftly retrieved a life-saving talisman left behind by Tand, the Scribe, and recited the activation incantation. His figure immediately vanished from the room.

As for the Hypnotist marionette, there was no time to retrieve it—it had to be abandoned on the spot.

The arriving Saint was none other than Horamick Haydn, the Archbishop of the Backlund Diocese and a member of the Divine Council.

Noticing that Mr. A had disappeared, Horamick activated a scanning device embedded in his left eye, performing a wide-range search. He quickly detected Mr. A's reappearance on a street about a kilometer away.

With a casual lift of his finger, Horamick unleashed a dazzling beam of Aurora—a power of the Astronomer pathway at Sequence 5, further enhanced by his saintly authority. The beam shot forth at an incredible speed, striking the astonished Mr. A just as he turned his head.

Under the impact of the Aurora, Mr. A's body transformed into yet another exquisite paper doll, which promptly disintegrated into dust and scattered on the wind. Moments later, the real Mr. A staggered out onto another street.

Even with the damage mitigated by his Paper Substitute, his body had been shattered by the Aurora's force. Fortunately, the Shepherd's incredible regenerative abilities kicked in, restoring his form almost instantly.

Damn it! If I hadn't instinctively shifted into my Demon state to sense the incoming danger, I wouldn't have even had time to activate the Paper Substitute!

Cursing internally, Mr. A dared not linger. A translucent, illusory book materialized before him, accompanied by an ethereal, distant chant:

"I come, I see, I record."

The book's pages flipped rapidly, settling on one filled with pale blue, phantom-like light.

That light enveloped Mr. A, blurring his figure before rendering him completely invisible.

This was the Teleportation ability recorded by the Scribe he had shepherded. The reason he hadn't used it earlier at the hideout was his fear that Stuart would simulate Prohibition or Distortion to disrupt the teleportation, leaving him completely stranded.

Back on the rooftop of the three-story building, Horamick frowned at his missed opportunity. He had been preparing to unleash more Aurora attacks, but Mr. A's sudden teleportation caught him off guard.

As for the Railgun he had used against Viscount Capim, that weapon was part of his latest-generation mech suit, which had been damaged by Sealed Artifact 1-025 during a previous battle and was still under repair. His current suit, an older model, wasn't compatible with the railgun.

Sighing with regret, Horamick gradually reduced the thrust power of his mechanical boots and descended through the rooftop's hole into the hall below.

The Mandated Punishers, along with Bishop Utravsky and Hazel, all greeted the saint respectfully, expressing their gratitude for his timely intervention.

"No need to thank me," Horamick replied with a wave of his hand. "I only came because I received an urgent telegraph from the Harvest Church."

Surveying the scene, he asked, "What exactly happened here? The man who escaped was clearly the True Creator's Envoy. And who was the ghost that bowed from the rooftop?"

The Mandated Punishers, realizing that their reinforcements had been summoned by the half-giant bishop, directed grateful gazes toward Utravsky and the beautiful young lady by his side.

Bishop Utravsky responded with a calm nod, while Hazel, under the weight of their appreciative stares, grew visibly flustered.

After briefly tending to the unconscious McConner, Stuart gave a detailed account of the events that had transpired, including the potential identity of the ghost. He ended his explanation by asking expectantly, "Your Grace, was Mr. A killed by your attack?"

"That was... the Hero Bandit Black Emperor?

"Was it him who destroyed the Abyss of Flesh ritual?"

A Mandated Punisher blurted out.

Thanks to Bishop Utravsky's timely Guardian, no Punishers had died, but many were gravely injured, especially those affected by the Hypnotist marionette's Frenzy. A few still hadn't awoken from the Nightmare Candle's dream.

"It's unfortunate," Horamick Haydn said as he shook his head. "That man had Teleportation abilities, and I couldn't stop him in time."

He narrowed his mechanical eye, his expression turning serious as he asked, "Are you certain the Aurora Order set up an Abyss of Flesh ritual this time? And that it was disrupted by a so-called 'hero'—the Hero Bandit Black Emperor—who isn't even a high-sequence Beyonder?"

The Abyss of Flesh was a notoriously sinister ritual, one whose few appearances in history always resulted in hundreds of deaths. In past incidents, even the timely intervention of church-affiliated Beyonder teams had proven futile. Once initiated, the ritual couldn't be forcibly stopped, and even its destruction would result in horrifying mutations and consequences.

For the ritual to end with no casualties this time was simply inconceivable.

Hearing that Mr. A had escaped, Stuart felt a twinge of disappointment but quickly adjusted his mindset. He respectfully replied, "I'm certain it was the Abyss of Flesh! Though I can't believe it myself, the Hero Bandit Black Emperor truly accomplished what even Saints have struggled to achieve."

"Is that so..." Horamick mused for a moment before glancing at Stuart and Utravsky. In a calm tone, he instructed, "Let's go to the site of the ritual and confirm whether it's truly been terminated. As for the rest of you who can still move, search this building thoroughly. If you encounter anything dangerous, you may leave it for now—reinforcements from the Machinery Hivemind will arrive shortly."

As if recalling something, he added, "There's been another Saint-level battle in the northern suburbs. Archbishop Anthony of the Church of Evernight has gone to investigate that and won't be able to assist here for the time being. Similarly, Archbishop Snake of the Church of Earth Mother is tied up by a Rose School of Thought demigod and can't make it either... He contacted me through special means and asked me to look after you all."

As the Archbishop of the Church of Steam, Horamick understood that directing the Mandated Punishers required a "legitimate excuse" to avoid conflict between churches. Using Spellsinger of God Anthony's supposed request as justification solved this neatly.

Whether Anthony had actually made such a request didn't matter—Horamick's other outdated mech had already been sent to assist Snake, making this retroactive "authorization" easily justifiable.

"Understood, Your Grace," Stuart and the others responded without suspicion. After entrusting the unconscious McConner to another team member's care, Stuart followed Horamick, Utravsky, and Hazel down the stairs into the basement.

In the basement, Witch Irene's corpse had vanished, and the idol of the True Creator lay broken into two pieces on the ground. Surrounding it was a ring formed by tarot cards, including Cups, Wands, and other numbered cards.

At the center of the shattered altar before the idol lay two main tarot cards: the Emperor and the Tower.

The entire scene resembled a bizarre ritual!

Seeing this, Stuart instinctively cast Retrospect, only to discover that the cards had been scattered after the Abyss of Flesh ritual was already terminated.

This wasn't a ritual—it was more like some kind of symbolic habit… Moreover, there were no traces of anyone left behind. Either the "ghost" had methods to erase their presence and tracks, or they possessed a high-ranking item that shielded them from his abilities.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Stuart, combining this with the Punishers' prior investigations, spoke up:

"A scene covered with tarot cards… This is the third such case in the past two months.

"The last two were confirmed to be the work of the Hero Bandit Black Emperor."

"The second was the Capim case, right? I've heard of it... What about the first?" Horamick asked in a deep voice.

Stuart replied succinctly, "The first was the incident where the True Creator attempted to descend using a con artist as a vessel.

"In that case, not only were tarot cards scattered at the scene, but two other 'heroes' appeared who were distinct from the Hero Bandit Black Emperor.

"Their aliases were The Fool and Iron Man.

"So, we speculate that these so-called 'heroes,' who always leave tarot cards at their crime scenes, belong to a single organization—a newly emerging organization."

While carefully analyzing the scene's traces with his mechanical eye, Horamick said thoughtfully, "Also tied to the True Creator? This organization's patron may well be an enemy of the True Creator—which explains why they consistently thwart and disrupt the Aurora Order's operations.

"We should investigate the Capim case more deeply. His abduction of girls and trafficking of slaves may also have connections to the Aurora Order..."

Stuart nodded slightly, about to add something, when a lightly injured Punisher came down from above, holding a stack of documents. Presenting them to Horamick and Stuart, the Punisher reported, "Your Grace, Exarch, we found these imprinted directives in one of the offices… They're marked as 'Oracles'!"

"Oracles?" Horamick, Stuart, and even Utravsky grew serious. They each took a page and began to read carefully.

"'The Fool'? The True Creator is searching for the believers and servants of 'The Fool'?

"'The Fool'… Could this be a deity on par with the True Creator? Otherwise, why would He care so much…?"

After pondering for a while, Horamick turned to Stuart and asked, "What's your opinion?"

"The Fool… That's also the name of a tarot card's major arcana. Today's events might be part of a conflict between two deities," Stuart said solemnly.

At the same time, in the northern suburbs of Backlund, Ince Zangwill and the military's demigod Testier were in a dire situation under Azik's relentless assault.

Once again, the feather pen slipped from their control, scribbling on a nearby rock:

"Today truly is Ince's unlucky day. Archbishop Saint Anthony of the Church of Evernight has detected the demigod battle in the northern suburbs and intends to personally investigate… Because of this, he has delegated the plea for aid from the Harvest Church to the Nighthawks.

"It's easy to imagine that once Saint Anthony joins the fray, he will definitely not assist Ince Zangwill."

(Chapter End)