Clack clack clack, an illusory white paper was spat out from the radio telegraph, on which was written in Loenese:
“Great master, your loyal and humble servant Arrodes has finally, finally caught up with your footsteps!”
…Don’t be so excited… Hmm, the Magic Mirror Arrodes’ speaking skills are as professional as ever. It didn’t express any “resentment” for being out of contact for so long, nor did it ask why I hadn’t contacted it for so long. It directly blamed the problem on itself, thinking it hadn’t kept up with my pace… This made me a little guilty, but what needs to be guarded against still must be guarded against… Klein didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
Arrodes didn’t wait. Using the radio telegraph, it produced an expression of cautiously peeking out on the illusory white paper:
“Great master, ruler above the Spirit World, your servant feels that you are one step closer to returning to your holy seat, is that right?”
This thing has evolved so fast, from using emoticons to the prototype of building expression packs… In Arrodes’ cognition, I am a true god who is gradually recovering myself? So, although it clearly perceives that I am currently only Sequence 5, it shows no contempt at all, but is even more humble? Klein understood that the “Magic Mirror” was deliberately asking, and nodded frankly:
“Yes.”
“You have answered my question. In exchange, as a rule I must abide by, you may ask me one question.” Arrodes “typed” quickly and appended a “smiley face” at the end.
Klein didn’t hesitate and directly asked:
“Where can I get the potion formula for ‘Faceless’?”
The illusory white paper was suddenly spat out a long section, covered with countless complex symbols. Then it formed a mirror, presenting a real scene:
It was a deep hall with no natural light, inside which there was a huge wriggling thing. It was so blurry that it was like a pencil drawing erased with an eraser, and no specific details could be seen at all.
However, the Magic Mirror Arrodes attached a long paragraph of text below this scene:
“This is Zaratul. He lost control during the process of advancing to Sequence 1 ‘Mystery Attendant’ and turned into a monster. However, great master, you must be careful. He is a very cunning fellow. Perhaps all this is deliberately faked by him.
“I cannot look directly at him; it will harm me. Apart from him, you cannot obtain the potion formula from any demigod of the Secret Order, because Zaratul directly provided the high-sequence potion, and it’s almost impossible to reverse-divine it from Beyonder characteristics.”
The answer was so detailed, and it also let me know that the Sequence 1 corresponding to the Seer pathway is ‘Mystery Attendant’… Does it mean an angel serving mysteries? It seems that on the Secret Order path, only by facing Zaratul directly can one get the potion formula, and I can’t even look at him directly… No wonder the ‘Serpent of Fate’ Will Auceptin only said to find the mad Zaratul, not mentioning the Secret Order… Klein was even a little moved by the Magic Mirror Arrodes’ attitude. If he didn’t feel he still lacked the status and strength to control this sealed artefact, he would have truly regarded it as his servant.
With crisp clacking sounds, the illusory white paper grew another section, showing another scene:
It was a towering mountain, on which stood a ruined palace. Inside the palace, a huge stone seat could be vaguely seen.
Klein was all too familiar with this scene. Without needing the Magic Mirror Arrodes to annotate, he knew what it symbolized:
The Antigonus family treasure hidden in the main peak of the Honarcis Mountains!
The white paper continued to be spat out, and a new scene appeared, with changes in camera perspective like a movie:
The first thing that came into Klein’s view was a tall Gothic bell tower and the surrounding gorgeous palaces. The former represented the “Bell of Order”, the latter represented Sodrak Palace, both landmarks of Backlund.
The camera moved, and soon there was a new building on the paper, a pure black church with two symmetrical bell towers.
The church grew larger and larger in the scene, soon showing its interior, and then stopped at an iron-black double door somewhere underground.
The door was extraordinarily heavy, engraved with seven holy emblems of the Dark, like guardians of the Deep Dark Heaven.
“Chanis Gate… Saint Samuel Cathedral…” Klein recognized the door with its familiar style and, based on the architectural features, determined that the church was the headquarters of the Church of the Goddess of the Night’s Backlund diocese: Saint Samuel Cathedral!
The white paper spat out, and the scene changed. In the deep darkness, on an empty bookshelf made of bones, lay an ancient notebook. Its cover was made of cardboard and dyed black.
Klein recognized the notebook at a glance:
It was the Antigonus family notebook that caused the death of the original owner of the body!
After going round and round, everything returned to the starting point!
Klein watched quietly for a while, and only after the image disappeared did he regain his thoughts:
“That’s right. Back then, the people from the Aurora Order saw the potion formula for ‘Clown’ from this notebook. Now that I have its recognition, if I look through it again, the content presented will definitely be completely different from before. It should have the potion formula for ‘Faceless’, just lacking materials or characteristics.
“So this notebook has been sealed behind the Chanis Gate of Saint Samuel Cathedral. To get it from this place would be no less difficult than finding and facing Zaratul directly… Back then, the Great Smog of Backlund, which involved high-sequence existences, was quickly suppressed after I reported it to the Church’s Backlund diocese through Miss ‘Justice’. This shows the strength of the Backlund diocese, whether demigods or sealed artefacts, there is no shortage… Hmm, regardless, I’ll go back to Backlund first and see if there’s an opportunity. Comparatively speaking, I don’t want to go to the Honarcis Mountains…”
Collecting his thoughts, Klein looked at the radio telegraph that had become dim and deep and said:
“Who was the demigod on ‘Mad Captain Connors Victor’s’ ship last night?”