Chapter 117: The Lord’s Left Hand

Chapter 117: The Lord’s Left Hand

In a relatively remote part of the city of Pesot stood a church built from stones. Its exterior was rough-hewn, as though still awaiting proper polishing.

The most striking and refined thing inside was an altar. Upon it stood a wooden cross and a tall statue of a figure bearing that cross.

The ascetic Snowman sat in the very front row. Facing the statue, he bowed his head, closed his eyes, and prayed with total concentration.

He was a middle-aged man who could not be considered old, though a few wrinkles marked his face. He wore a plain white robe that had clearly been washed more times than anyone could count. His brown hair was cropped short, and his exposed arms, shoulders, calves, and feet were covered in all sorts of old scars.

At that moment, two men and one woman entered the church.

Both men wore black windbreakers and matching trousers that stood in stark contrast to the surrounding environment. One paired his outfit with a vest, a half top hat, and a formal bow tie; the other had only casually put on a white shirt. The former had deeply defined lines and a cold, stern face. The latter had black hair and green eyes. His appearance was quite handsome, yet he carried the unrestrained, languid air of a poet.

The woman wore a white dress cinched at the waist. The cuffs were decorated with ruffles, and flowers woven from lace adorned her chest. On her face was an exquisite silver-white mask, revealing only emerald-like eyes, a tall nose bridge, lips lightly coated in gloss, and the lower half of her cheeks. Anyone who saw her could not help wondering how beautiful her complete face must be.

The three of them were extraordinarily eye-catching, no matter from which perspective one considered them. Yet the pedestrians passing in and out, the few believers inside the church, and the ascetic absorbed in prayer did not look at them at all. They completely ignored them.

This was the combination of Illusion and Psychological Invisibility.

Justice Audrey had already entered the state for formal action. She no longer displayed obvious curiosity. Her gaze swept over the area, and she said in a gentle voice,

“The most important problem right now is making Mr. Snowman fall asleep. Otherwise, we will have to wait until night.”

The night of this world.

“Relax. A small matter.” The Star, Leonard, smiled as he replied.

Compared with Miss Justice, who had only experienced a limited number of supernatural incidents, Leonard, as a Nighthawk, had seen far too many things in this field. His state of mind was extremely calm. He even felt like cracking a few jokes with Klein.

Of course, he did not know that Miss Justice had only recently “hypnotized” a demigod.

Klein glanced at his former teammate.

“Then begin.”

He “carried” the Unshadowed Cross with him. In less than three hours, he would regress to Sequence 5 and expel his Bizarro Sorcerer Beyonder characteristic. Naturally, he had no desire to waste time.

He has returned to the state of a mad adventurer again. Tsk… Leonard did not ramble. He raised a hand, straightened his hair, and his emerald-green eyes suddenly turned deep and dark.

Silently and soundlessly, the ascetic Snowman, who had been praying with his eyes closed, fell asleep.

So this is the Beyonder power of a Nightmare… Justice Audrey watched with bright eyes, musing silently.

She had actually seen a Nightmare in action before, during the operation against the Sanguine viscount Ernest Boyar. But because the process had been rushed, she had not been able to properly experience it. Only now had she fully observed it.

Immediately afterward, she raised both hands and separately took the arms of The World and The Star. Using a Dreamwalker’s ability, she brought them leaping into Snowman’s dream.

“I can manage on my own…” Leonard muttered the instant he entered the gray world.

Klein and Audrey did not listen to what he said. They quickly swept their eyes around, taking the full state of Snowman’s dream into view.

This was likewise a church. An extraordinarily magnificent church.

One classical stone column after another supported the towering dome, yet they did not divide the hall into fragmented sections. It remained wide to an exaggerated degree.

The church doors were so high and broad that even giants would find them excessive. On both sides, candles placed in silver cups emitted warm light.

At the very front, the altar was grand and majestic. Above it stood a grayish-white cross and a statue bearing that cross.

The statue’s face was not especially clear, yet it carried a feeling of pity for the world.

Snowman sat in the first row as well. Facing the altar, he lowered his head, closed his eyes, and prayed with concentration.

“This place is very similar to the abandoned church in Afternoon Town that Little Sun once showed us. It should be a building from the same era,” Justice Audrey said softly as her gaze swept over the brick-and-stone arches.

At the same time, she worked hard to calm her inner curiosity and told herself to be peaceful.

Little Sun? What’s little about him? That fellow is clearly taller and stronger than I am… Afternoon Town’s abandoned church… The Star, Leonard, half grumbled and half wondered inwardly.

By the time he had joined the Tarot Club, The Sun Derrick had long since returned to the City of Silver. Although he occasionally mentioned the exploration of the Giant King’s Court, he had not manifested the corresponding scenes again.

“Indeed.” Klein withdrew his gaze, agreeing with Miss Justice. Then he said to her, “Try guiding Snowman’s dream. Have him speak the important information hidden in his subconscious. Focus on anything related to Kings of Angels.”

Both a Nightmare and a Dreamwalker could accomplish this task. The reason Klein had Miss Justice do it was that he wanted to give her more opportunities to digest her potion. Leonard had long since passed that stage anyway. Moreover, regardless of anything else, when subconscious matters were involved, Beyonders of the Spectator pathway were certainly more professional, and their operations more precise and effective.

Only then did The Star, Leonard, belatedly discover something:

The ability Miss Justice had just displayed involved the domain of dreams.

In other words, she had already advanced to Sequence 5—Dreamwalker!

That is far too fast, isn’t it? Leonard was inwardly astonished, finding it difficult to believe.

He remembered that when he had joined the Tarot Club, Miss Justice had mentioned during an exchange that she had become a Hypnotist less than a month before. Now, only about three months had passed since then.

She had indeed already attempted to purchase advancement materials at the Tarot Gathering, but fully digesting the Sequence 6 Hypnotist potion in under four months was still astonishing enough… As thoughts flashed through Leonard’s mind, for some reason, his pride in being a Red Glove captain, a quasi-high-ranking member of the Church, and a Sequence 5 Spirit Warlock suddenly lost much of its shine.

While his thoughts surged, Justice Audrey gave a soft “Mm,” took a few steps forward, and came to Snowman’s side.

Her emerald-like eyes suddenly rippled with ring after ring of illusory waves. Those ripples sank continuously into the depths, merging into darkness and tranquility.

An invisible fluctuation appeared, and the altar at the front of the church suddenly blurred.

This grand, majestic object, together with the cross and statue above it, simultaneously turned illusory and twisted. Then, all at once, it unfolded and erupted with light and shadow that was not especially intense.

The light and shadow interwove into a three-dimensional image. It showed a lofty, continuous mountain range. Its main peak towered into the clouds, but the white clouds did not dare conceal that peak and instead separated to either side on their own.

At the summit of that mountain stood a gigantic cross taller than the mountain itself. Before it sat a majestic figure veiled in layer upon layer of radiance.

Angels with two wings, four wings, and six wings circled and danced around that majestic figure. Some held horns, some plucked harps, and some played flutes, sometimes praising and sometimes singing.

Eight blurry figures with twelve pairs of wings each clustered around the majestic deity. Some sat at His feet, leaning against Him with complete dependence. Some floated to either side, awaiting orders.

Klein had seen such a scene before. He knew that the deity was the ancient Sun God, and he knew that the figures with twelve pairs of wings were the Kings of Angels.

At that moment, the ascetic Snowman opened his eyes, looked at Justice Audrey, and spoke in a low yet solemn voice, like a teacher instructing a student:

“Only Holy Spirits can truly serve the Lord. That is the goal I have pursued all my life…

“I saw the Lord stand above billions upon billions of radiance. His mercy filled heaven and earth, and by His side stood eight Kings.

“The Dark Angel is the first angel created by the Lord. He is His left hand, His proxy, the vicegerent of heaven;

“The Angel of Imagination is the Lord’s eldest son. The Lord said: in the distant future, you shall become the savior of all living beings;

“The Angel of Time is the Lord’s second son. The Lord said: you are the god of cunning, the god of mischief, and the light when doomsday descends;

“The Pure White Angel, the Angel of Wind, and the Angel of Fate are the Lord’s loyal followers—steadfast, heroic, pious, and unchanged from weakness to power;

“The Angel of Wisdom was redeemed through repentance and sanctified through redemption, precisely the opposite of those who ate the fruit of sin and fell to earth;

“The Angel of War is the Lord’s anger, the Lord’s punishment. He descends to earth so that blades and soldiers may be raised there…”

It seems this ascetic had never gone to the ancient Sun God’s divine kingdom, nor had he truly seen any King of Angels. What he is showing and describing should all be contents from religious scriptures of that time… In other words, what he just said belongs to the official wording… From that perspective, the Dark Angel Sasrir was indeed the leader of the Kings of Angels, the one most trusted by the ancient Sun God, called the vicegerent of heaven. And yet even such an existence was, hmm, tempted… I wonder what His final end was, and why no trace of Him exists now… Klein listened seriously to the ascetic Snowman’s narration and gained an increasingly clear understanding of the Kings of Angels.

What he had not expected was that the ancient Sun God had actually prophesied that Adam would be the savior. This left him somewhat puzzled.

So this is the complete set of eight Kings of Angels… The Star, Leonard, listened with equal focus. This was something the Old Man had not explained to him in detail. It was a true ancient secret, and one belonging to the time before the Cataclysm.

Justice Audrey had seen the mural of the three Kings of Angels devouring the Creator of the City of Silver, and through their corresponding images, she had connected them with the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. At this moment, she was not too astonished. Turning her head slightly, she looked toward The World and The Star and calmly interpreted the hidden implications in those sentences.

“According to Mr. Snowman’s statement, the Dark Angel was created. The three Kings of Angels—Pure White, Wind, and Fate—followed the ancient Sun God from a weak stage and grew step by step. Mm, here, ‘weak’ might refer to Sequence 4… The Angel of Wisdom should have been an outsider who joined later, and may originally have belonged to an opposing faction…”

Hearing Miss Justice’s words, Klein suddenly remembered a name from the mythological legends of the City of Silver: Herabergen, the Dragon of Wisdom.

He then nodded, indicating that Miss Justice could continue.

After Snowman recited several more related scripture passages, his expression suddenly became grave, and he said,

“There are cultists who believe in Evernight hidden within our parish!

“This is the oracle descended by the Kings.”