Lord of the Mysteries

After setting up the candles, Colin Iliad found a piece of pure silver and picked up a carving knife beside it. With steady strokes, he carved out a palm-sized charm vessel.

Then, he followed Derrick Berg’s description, drawing the secret symbol of The Fool on both sides of the silver piece.

The entire process was completed quickly. If an observer was watching, they wouldn’t have been able to discern his actions. Yet, the final product didn’t show any flaws. It looked like a piece of art that had been slowly carved out.

Right on the heels of that, Colin Iliad found another bottle of mercury. Directly using his powerful spirituality, he guided the liquid inside to trickle into the charm and fill all the patterns. He prevented the mercury on the side facing down from dripping due to gravity.

Repeating the process, he made a second charm. Colin Iliad placed them in front of the candles and placed a translucent ringed worm on each of them.

Compared to him standing up silently, the present Colin’s every move was stable, calm, and firm. He didn’t show any signs of hesitation, just like how he faced powerful monsters that came out of the darkness.

After finishing the ritual, he took two steps back and removed the crossed swords that were hanging from the wall. He stabbed them into the crevices of the floor tiles at the door.

He then closed his eyes and muttered. Pure and thick beams of light emerged out of the void as they enveloped the two swords with a holy and glorious feeling.

The light beams increased in quantity, slowly transforming into liquid water that flowed across the cracks in the floor tiles and the walls, forming a “cage” that isolated him from the outside.

As a senior Demon Hunter, Colin Iliad didn’t wish to take such precautionary measures when holding a ritual. This was because there was a tiny chance of angering the target, bringing about dangerous developments. However, he had no choice but to do so because he needed to be certain that even if the ritual failed, even if The Fool was an existence filled with malice, and even if he were to die at the altar, he would not bring too much harm to the City of Silver.

In regards to the defensive power of the “cage,” Colin was rather confident because this directly stemmed from a god-like Sealed Artifact—a crown which the Giant King Aurmir wore: “Proof of Glory!”

This was one of the main reasons why the City of Silver could survive wave after wave of monster assaults in the Dark Ages.

With all his preparations completed, solely using his spirituality, Colin Iliad used his desk as an altar and created a sacred and clean environment that no one could disturb. He then lit the three candles.

The pale yellow light flickered as they reflected in his eyes. He bowed his head and scattered the plant powder, monster hide, and fur into the candle flame or lit them and threw them into a cauldron so as to please the secret existence he was about to pray to.

Such acts weren’t rare in the City of Silver. Known to all, there were rituals held that targeted the Creator, but from time to time, certain residents would be enticed by unknown existences during their patrols or exploration, tempted to hold all kinds of rituals.

Most of the latter was a passive act, but there were a few that were done proactively. On the one hand, the cumulative despair of not receiving any response from the Creator had made them eager to grab onto any other existence to rely on, and on the other hand, many generations of the six-member council had come to a common consensus that the Creator who had abandoned the land might very well not return again. Seeking out other alternatives was something that had to be expedited, but unfortunately, such attempts only led to nothing or death, nothing else.

And it was because of this reason that regardless of the difficulties faced or how many times they discovered cities that were destroyed because of “evil gods,” the City of Silver continued their exploration of regions that were further away.

As for Colin Iliad himself, the discovery of the outsider, Jack, brought him an indescribable sense of surprise and hope. The encounters when they explored Afternoon Town and the prophecies of the Kings of Angel’s ploy and the ecclesiastic had made him feel a more pressing sense of urgency. He no longer held hope for the Creator’s return.

With the two reasons combined, along with Lovia’s and Derrick’s abnormality, as well as the prophecy of the apocalypse, as Chief of the six-member council, senior demigod and powerful Demon Hunter, Colin Iliad had no choice but to attempt to dance on the edge of a knife. He had no choice but to consider making a transaction with a hidden existence.

Silently exhaling, Colin took a step back and chanted with a weather-worn tone, “The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era.

“The mysterious ruler above the gray fog.

“The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

“I pray to you, praying for the strength that stems from mystery, and praying for the bestowment that stems from good luck. I implore you to make these items on this altar turn into charms...”

Just as Colin spoke with a cadence of mystery, he saw the altar in front of him immediately turn dark. It was as though an indescribable godhood was emanating from the candle in the middle.

The candle’s flame instantly burgeoned, but it failed to light the surroundings. Instead, it made everything turn illusory, making countless shapes produce seemingly nonexistence transparent shadows as they covered every inch.

High above this illusory world and countless figures, there were seven lustrous brilliances of different colors spiraling. They seemed to possess immense knowledge.

And above these seven lustrous brilliances, there was an endless grayish-white fog, and sitting above was an ancient palace that looked down upon everything.

Demon Hunter Colin temporarily forgot everything else as he stared intently at the scene above the altar. It was as though something that only existed in books or ancient tomes had taken a step through the illusory and entered reality, appearing before him.

If he recalled correctly, this was likely the projection of the spirit world.

Before the disaster, before the time the Creator abandoned this land, it was easy to observe and enter the spirit world!

The spirit world now only existed in the City of Silver’s textbooks and various records, but no one could touch it!

At this moment, a creaking, illusory sound sounded. The ancient palace that overlooked the gray fog and spirit world seemed to open its doors.

Right on the heels of that, Colin saw the unformed charms in front of the candle produce a grayish luster. Their patterns were then “lit up,” as they intercrossed with each other, suddenly bursting into a blinding radiance, enveloping the pure silver foils and the ringed worms.

The dark world above the entire altar also instantly warped.

Everything was quickly restored to normal as two strange black crystalline charms appeared on the altar. They were like a pair of eyes of some existence that silently observed the world.

Demon Hunter Colin was taken aback as he retracted his gaze and bowed his head. With a deep voice, he said, “Thank you for your blessings;

“Praise you.”

He didn’t delay as he immediately ended the ritual and removed the seal.

After doing all of this, this City of Silver Chief of the six-member council returned to the desk and picked up the two charms made from the two Amon avatar remnants.

At this moment, his mind was still fixated on the scene he had previously seen.

Based on his knowledge in mysticism, those that were situated high in the spirit world were mentioned to be the Seven Lights in ancient tomes. They were believed to be close to that of deities, but none of the records indicated what was above the Seven Lights or what the gray fog represented. They didn’t indicate what the ancient palace which was enveloped by the gray fog while overlooking the entire spirit world represented.

And during the entire ritual, Colin Iliad only felt that The Fool he was praying to was staid, mysterious, and almighty, nothing like the evil beings who often liked to express their powers as though eager to showcase something.

Such a performance had a close parallel in the records of the City of Silver—the Creator!

As he looked at the charms in hand and his condition, the grizzled Demon Hunter Colin suddenly closed his eyes as figures flashed past his mind for some reason.

They were his father, mother, elder brother, younger sister, oldest son, youngest son, daughter, and oldest grandson whose lives he had personally ended.

This already old Chief remained silent for a very long time before he suddenly sighed softly.

“It’s been 2,583 years...”

After 2,583 years, the City of Silver had finally received a normal response.

...

In the library in the steeple.

Derrick was in the ancient myth section he often browsed when he saw a notebook he had never seen before.

This notebook’s cover was made from a particular monster’s hide. There were clear patterns on it, and the pages inside were old and yellowed. The records included the experiences of the original author when he encountered different monsters.

These monsters were mostly accessible among the City of Silver’s textbooks. Even their special traits were the same. However, the thoughts and experiences from the numerous battles left Derrick reading in relish as he read seriously.

As he flipped through it, he suddenly noticed a monster named “Shapeshifter.”

Such monsters didn’t come equipped with the intelligence to communicate, but they were adept at setting up traps to deal with targets. Furthermore, they could disguise as others, using what seemed like fascinating methods to complete a hunt...

The notebook’s owner had commented on them as being bizarre and dangerous.

This is very similar to Mr. World’s guess of the Bizarro Bane’s traits... Could Shapeshifter be the Bizarro Bane? Derrick felt delighted as he quickly read the rest of the entry. He discovered that this type of monster lived towards the north, in a faraway city’s ruins. And the monsters in that area’s darkness were powerful and terrifying. Even the six-member council wasn’t able to deal with some of them; therefore, after two attempts, the City of Silver paused any exploration of the area. To date, exploration of the area hadn’t been resumed. Due to such reasons, the City of Silver’s textbooks didn’t make mention of the unique monsters there.

After reading the record, Derrick subconsciously flipped the notebook to the last page, wishing to know who had experienced the two harrowing explorations.

As he flipped through it, he saw a name: “Colin Iliad.”

...

Desi County, Eskelson Harbor.

Klein returned to the real world, rubbed his temples, and collapsed into bed.

To give the City of Silver’s Chief a better impression of The Fool and generate more trust, he had proactively added some special effects when responding, expressing the might of the mysterious space above the gray fog during the secret deed ritual and sacrificial and bestowment ritual. This expended quite a sizable amount of his spirituality, exhausting him.

I’ll find food for Creeping Hunger when I wake up. I’ll let it have a good nap above the gray fog... Klein thought in his stupor and soon fell asleep. He was woken up by his rumbling tummy after sleeping from morning to the afternoon.