Chapter 184: Storm of News

Chapter 184: Storm of News

Two Sequence 3 demigods guarding the main gate… As expected of the Giant King’s Court, the divine kingdom of an ancient god… Similar feelings rose naturally in the hearts of the Tarot Club members. The Sun Derrick did not pause, continuing with his account.

To him, when he had first discovered that the main gate of the Giant King’s Court was guarded by two Silver Knights, he too had been greatly shocked. Yet the series of things he had experienced afterward made this seem extremely ordinary, no longer enough to stir his emotions.

“…Following the information shared by Mr. World, we took a more concealed path and circled around to the rear of the Giant King’s Court… Along the way, the monsters we encountered were mainly resentful spirits, which the Unshadowed Crucifix restrained…

“After arriving at the Decaying Forest, I attempted an exploration and discovered that the Giant King’s residual will had fused with the power of the divine kingdom to form an evil spirit. It was guarding the tomb of his parents…” The Sun Derrick skillfully recounted what they had experienced along the way, while Justice Audrey, The Hanged Man Alger, and the other members quickly pulled their thoughts away from the Silver Knight guards and listened attentively.

They were all deeply interested in the secret hidden in the Decaying Forest. They wanted to know what matter the ancient god Giant King had kept from his queen and children.

Remembering the scene he had seen then, The Sun Derrick paused briefly before speaking.

“After purifying that evil spirit, we arrived before the tomb of the Giant King’s parents. Stone steles stood there, indicating the identities of those buried within. But the tomb and coffins had long since been opened by someone unknown, revealing the remains inside. Those were… those were two human skeletons…”

Human skeletons? The remains buried in the tomb of the Giant King’s parents were human skeletons? Godfather and godmother? No, religion didn’t exist back then… As a demigod who commanded much mysticism knowledge, The Hermit Cattleya’s first reaction was that those two skeletons had some other identity.

Immediately afterward, she recalled certain words the Queen had once mentioned—questions Emperor Roselle had voiced before his death, half inspiration and half murmured self-questioning:

Why did even ancient texts and historical documents call giants, elves, and vampires humanoid or humanlike creatures?

Why did they not call humans giantlike, elflike, or vampirelike creatures?

Could the source of all humanoid creatures be humans? Were giants, elves, and vampires mutations caused by Beyonder characteristics that could then be inherited? The Hermit Cattleya’s emotions settled instantly, and she began seriously considering possible reasons.

At that moment, she felt that when she returned to reality, her potion would definitely digest to a certain extent.

That was because Sequence 4 of the Mystery Pryer pathway was called Mysticologist, and the origin of giants, the source of humanoid creatures, was undoubtedly knowledge of mysticism with immense value—knowledge that normal demigods would never know!

The Giant King’s parents were human? That has to be fake… Alger, The Hanged Man, immediately suspected that someone had fabricated the scene.

But when he considered that this would not merely require removing the real remains and bringing in human corpses, but also preparing appropriate coffins so that the tomb’s specifications did not appear to belong to giants—and that such a forgery had no real meaning and would not produce any major effect on reality—Alger felt that no one would do something so pointless.

A “person” capable of entering the Giant King’s Court, suppressing a powerful evil spirit, and approaching those two tombs would at least be a saint. They would have long since passed the age of playing pranks!

Could it really be true… Were the ancestors of humanoid creatures all humans? Does that include elves? Because he had already witnessed too many things that shocked him deeply at the Tarot Club, and because the murals on that primitive island had once caused his faith to collapse, Alger’s emotions did not surge too fiercely this time. He merely could not help raising a hand and touching his deep-blue hair.

Did Mr. Hanged Man think of himself from this matter? The Giant King’s parents were actually humans… From this perspective, most currently circulating creation myths are false, deliberately compiled by later generations. Still, they do contain certain metaphors… Mr. Moon seems somewhat unable to accept this… Mr. World seems to have known it already… With the help of psychology abilities and techniques such as Placate, Justice Audrey was the fastest to control her state. She instinctively observed the reactions of the other members.

At that moment, The Moon Emlyn was the least calm one. His mind was filled with thoughts of “Impossible” and “This is impossible.”

If the ancestors of giants were human, what about the Sanguine? Are we merely monsters produced by mutation from Beyonder characteristics? Impossible. We were clearly personally created by the Ancestor. She holds the authorities of Life and Creation, completely unlike savage gods such as the Giant King and Elf King who knew only how to fight! As Emlyn’s thoughts rose and fell, he inexplicably felt as if his pride had cracked.

His intuition, reason, and mind all told him that The Sun Derrick had no motive to lie about this matter, and that the probability of some other existence fabricating the scene was extremely low. Thus, he subconsciously expelled giants and elves from the category of humanoid creatures, regarding them as branches of humanity instead.

The Star Leonard, The Magician Forsi, and Judgment Xio accepted the possibility revealed by The Sun Derrick’s words rather quickly. To them, whether the ancestors of giants were giants, humans, or even curly-haired baboons was not actually that important. At most, it indicated that many transcendent creatures originated from Beyonder characteristics accumulating within ordinary organisms, and that did not have much practical significance in reality.

The Sun Derrick calmed himself and, amid the strange silence, continued speaking.

“After leaving the Decaying Forest, we entered the interior of the Giant King’s Court through the Desolate Tunnel…

“…Along the way, the powers of Depravity and Concealment remained. We had to respond correctly in order to pass…

“…Within one palace, there were murals containing the power of a cycle of fate. Because of that, we were affected and transformed into people attending a gathering, repeating a very brief process. That process was the founding of Rose of Redemption…”

At this point, Derrick looked around and saw that all the members had temporarily broken free from their earlier state. They now showed great interest in the organization known as Rose of Redemption.

They all knew that it was an extremely secretive and ancient organization, one that followed and believed in the True Creator. It was the origin of the Aurora Order, and its members included great figures such as the Kings of Angels Ouroboros, Medici, and Sasrir.

Derrick withdrew his gaze, silently breathed out, and said, “The two conveners of Rose of Redemption were, respectively, Dark Angel Sasrir and Evernight Goddess Amanises…”

Huh? Justice Audrey, The Star Leonard, and Judgment Xio momentarily suspected that they had misheard.

All of them were believers of Evernight. No matter what, they could never have imagined that the Goddess had been a member and convener of Rose of Redemption.

It was like saying the Evernight Goddess was a member of the Tarot Club!

If they had not already known what kind of person Little Sun was and understood that he would not lie, they would definitely have doubted the truth of this matter. Now, however, for a brief moment, none of them could speak. They did not even dare think deeply about it.

The Hanged Man Alger unconsciously turned sideways and looked toward The Sun Derrick, listening as he continued in a slow and heavy voice:

“The participants included Pure White Angel Aucuses, Wind Angel Leodero…”

Alger’s eyelid twitched. He did not dare let any thought arise in his mind.

“…God of War Badheil, Earth Mother Omebella…”

The Moon Emlyn, who had originally been leaning against his chair, unknowingly sat upright. Only one piece of information echoed in his mind: Goddess of Harvest, Giant Queen, Omebella…

“God of the Dead Salinger, God of Spiritual Objects Tolzna…”

The Sun Derrick’s voice echoed again and again through the ancient, majestic palace. The Hermit Cattleya, The Magician Forsi, and the others looked at one another. No one dared speak, as though understanding even a little more would bring divine punishment upon them.

Even after Derrick finished, they remained silent. The scene became almost strangely quiet.

Finally, The Hermit Cattleya sighed and said, “Rose of Redemption was terrifyingly powerful. Before this, I could never have imagined that those existences would have been its members…”

The moment she finished speaking, The World Gehrman Sparrow had already said in a deep, hoarse voice, “It was an organization founded to oppose the ancient Sun God. Later, only a few Kings of Angels remained.”

…Hearing their conversation, Justice Audrey and the other members seemed to awaken from a dream. They all instinctively turned their gazes to the head of the mottled long table, toward the figure shrouded in gray fog, as though waiting for the judgment of an authority.

The Fool Klein had long anticipated a similar scene. He did not respond directly. He merely nodded lightly and sighed.

“The Fallen Creator was born because of this.”

It’s true… It’s really true… Mr. Fool’s hint about Rose of Redemption back then actually contained such deep meaning… What kind of identity did He hold in those ancient times? What position did He occupy in those events… Thought after thought instantly formed a storm, sweeping through the minds of every Tarot Club member.

The Sun Derrick looked around. Seeing that no one spoke, he had no choice but to talk about the later stages of the exploration.

“…Outside the Giant King’s palace, we encountered the leader of the King’s Court Hunters, Light-Slayer Milgongen. He said that Dark Angel Sasrir was sleeping inside that palace…”

Compared with what they had just learned about Rose of Redemption, the news that the mysterious Dark Angel was now asleep within the Giant King’s palace could no longer stir much emotional turbulence in The Star Leonard, The Moon Emlyn, and the other Tarot Club members. It merely satisfied a certain curiosity.

Of course, as a Mysticologist, Cattleya only wished that The Sun would say more.

“After that, we returned. Mr. Fool bestowed upon us the Silver Knight potion formula,” The Sun Derrick very honestly concluded his account.

Justice Audrey and the others were still immersed in the earlier matter, lingering in a panic almost as though they had blasphemed deities. For a while, no one responded. Only The Hanged Man Alger thought for a moment and said, “Since the True Creator’s birth originated from Rose of Redemption, He cannot be unfamiliar with what happened in the Giant King’s Court. Then why was that Shepherd elder Lovia utterly unprepared?”