Chapter 11: A Change in Level

Chapter 11: A Change in Level

Hearing Mr. Fool’s words, Alger, The Hanged Man, felt his heart inexplicably tremble. All of a sudden, he had the sensation he experienced when praying to the Lord of Storms on Pasu Island.

When he had bowed and greeted The Fool just now, he had not noticed any change in the other party. Everything had seemed the same as usual. Yet at this very moment, he believed that Mr. Fool was no longer the same as before.

This was an experience of spiritual intuition. Alger could not accurately describe it in words. He only felt that the body hidden within the grayish-white fog contained a terror thousands, even tens of thousands, of times greater than before. A seemingly ordinary sentence, or a simple movement, could exert absolute suppression at the level of status.

Mr. Fool has recovered another step… After The World went to the Forsaken Land of the Gods and brought out the City of Silver, Mr. Fool recovered another step… Does He now already possess the status of Sequence 0? If not for the Sailor pathway’s sensitivity toward the levels of high-ranking existences, I might not even have noticed… Alger, The Hanged Man, had originally intended to speak, but at this moment he forgot what he had wanted to say.

The Star Leonard looked around. Seeing that the other members all remained silent, he tentatively opened his mouth.

“According to the intelligence gathered so far, a divine war did indeed occur earlier. What can be confirmed is that the Evernight Goddess, the God of Combat, and the Earth Mother appeared in the sky above Backlund. As for the result, I think everyone knows it clearly. What are your thoughts?”

During the previous week’s Tarot Gathering, Leonard had already mentioned the matter and had taken the initiative to ask Mr. Fool what exactly had happened.

Unfortunately, Mr. Fool had only told him, “What I have been paying attention to recently is the Forsaken Land of the Gods,” and had not given a direct answer.

“I cannot understand why such a result would occur. The Earth Mother and the God of Combat—mother and son—joined forces, yet were defeated by the Evernight Goddess…” The Hermit Cattleya did not conceal her confusion.

The Hanged Man Alger drew back his thoughts and said after weighing his words,

“I received a piece of intelligence. Shortly after the divine war ended, Feynapotter changed sides.”

“That means…” Justice Audrey vaguely grasped something.

At that moment, The Sun Derrick imitated the lady across from him and raised his arm slightly.

“I roughly know why.”

“You?” The Moon Emlyn voiced his distrust. After all, The Sun had previously been isolated in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. His understanding of the outside world depended entirely on the other members of the Tarot Club. How could he possibly know more about the details of the divine war than everyone present?

Knowing that The Sun had always been honest, The Hanged Man Alger restrained both his curiosity and the faint excitement that came from the depths of his heart. In a low voice, he asked, “Why?”

Derrick looked around and said steadily,

“You must promise before Mr. Fool that you will not reveal what I am about to tell you.”

“No problem,” The Hermit Cattleya said first.

After everyone made their promises under The Fool’s witness, The Sun Derrick nodded.

“The Earth Mother is not the Giant Queen Omebella. The real Omebella died long ago. Her remains are in the City of Silver.”

This piece of news was like a bomb dropped into the minds of the other Tarot Club members, setting off a storm capable of destroying reason itself.

For a moment, The Hanged Man Alger, Justice Audrey, and the others were unable to speak. It was as if they had been struck by lightning, each paralyzed in their seat like a stone statue.

Only after quite a while did The Star Leonard ask in disbelief,

“Are you certain?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted asking such a question. Since the City of Silver possessed the remains of the Giant Queen Omebella, that meant the credibility of the entire matter was extremely high.

Subconsciously, Justice Audrey, The Magician Fors, Judgment Xio, and the others all looked toward the figure at the very end of the mottled long table. They found that Mr. Fool’s eyes contained a faint smile, and He maintained the same seated posture as before, without the slightest change.

This indirectly means He approves of the intelligence Little Sun just provided… Before The Sun could answer The Star’s question, Justice Audrey nodded imperceptibly and said,

“This can explain many things. But if the Earth Mother is not the Giant Queen, why would the Angel of Fate, Ouroboros, believe She is Omebella?

“Mm. Why would the God of Combat seek cooperation with Her? Who exactly is She?”

Hearing Miss Justice’s series of questions, The Hanged Man Alger suddenly felt something stir within him.

The topics discussed by the Tarot Club had finally risen from Kings of Angels to true gods!

Previously, although they had stopped the descent of evil gods and exchanged hidden histories, they had rarely discussed the true gods directly. This had been a kind of instinctive fear, a profound imprint left on them by the world they lived in.

And now, without realizing it, the members of the Tarot Club had lost that reverence born from the depths of their souls.

The Hermit Cattleya did not notice this. She focused on Miss Justice’s question and said thoughtfully,

“Perhaps that Earth Mother has always been impersonating Omebella. She deceived the Angel of Fate and also deceived the God of Combat…”

“How is that possible…” Judgment Xio instinctively murmured.

The Magician Fors drew in a soft breath.

“What a terrifying story.”

At that moment, The World Gehrman Sparrow, who had remained silent, spoke.

“Nothing is impossible.

“What if that concealment was aided by the Evernight Goddess and another true god?”

“…A conspiracy spanning two to three thousand years…” The Hanged Man Alger’s gaze froze slightly. Instinctively, he shrank back a little, feeling a fear that seemed to come from the depths of his soul toward the Evernight Goddess and the Earth Mother.

The members of the Tarot Club fell silent again, until The Star Leonard repeated Miss Justice’s final question.

“Who exactly is the Earth Mother?”

As he spoke, he glanced at The World, Klein Moretti, attempting to obtain an answer from his former colleague.

Just then, they heard a familiar tapping sound that had been absent for a long time.

It was Mr. Fool lightly tapping the tabletop.

Justice Audrey and the others felt their spirits rise. At the same time, they turned toward the end of the bronze long table and respectfully awaited Mr. Fool’s answer.

The Fool Klein chuckled softly.

“I can give you a few hints.”

He looked left and right, then continued,

“Why does the Church of Earth Mother enjoy developing Sanguine into believers?

“Earth and Moon are two neighboring pathways.

“According to legend, during the Second Epoch, the ancient god Lilith, who represented the Moon, fell because of the Giant King’s betrayal.

“She occasionally responds to the Sanguine’s prayers, as though She has not completely perished.”

After these four hints, all the members of the Tarot Club, including The Moon Emlyn, thought of the same answer:

“The Earth Mother’s true identity is the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith!”

Emlyn’s eyes abruptly widened. Instinctively, he straightened his back. His mind became a complete mess, filled with every kind of thought.

The Star Leonard was first astonished, then thoughtfully muttered,

“Starting a few days ago, the Evernight Church stopped promoting the title ‘Lady of Crimson’ and renamed the prayer gesture of drawing the red moon ‘dotting the stars’…”

As a Senior Deacon of the Nighthawks, he was qualified to read the corresponding documents.

“The Evernight Goddess made an exchange using the authority in the domain of the Moon?” The Hermit Cattleya voiced the conclusion lingering in everyone’s heart.

At this point, they no longer had any doubts regarding the Earth Mother’s true identity.

“Thank you for your hints.” Justice Audrey immediately bowed to Mr. Fool.

After the others each expressed their gratitude, they successively looked toward The Moon Emlyn, who still sat frozen in place.

The Mother Goddess is the Ancestor… the Ancestor is the Mother Goddess… So I never changed my faith at all… No wonder, even without psychological suggestion from the priest, I still habitually went to the Harvest Church… It was because my intuition told me the Mother Goddess was the Ancestor! Therefore, the Ancestor favored me and made me the savior of the Sanguine… Thought after thought flashed through Emlyn’s mind, finding reasonable explanations for all the things that had previously made him feel guilty.

He began to firmly believe that he was the most devout Sanguine!

After looking at this “Earl,” The Magician Fors smiled with great interest.

“Mr. Moon, after a while, perhaps you’ll become an archbishop of the Church of Earth Mother. No, perhaps you’ll be the plenipotentiary representative of the Church of Earth Mother stationed with the Sanguine.”

The writer lady invented a title on the spot.

“Why?” The Moon Emlyn asked in confusion.

He had thought the Ancestor would allow the Sanguine to maintain their previous state and not directly merge with the Church of Earth Mother.

The Star Leonard smiled.

“Since the Evernight Goddess no longer has the title ‘Lady of Crimson,’ then the Earth Mother will soon possess a similar honorific name. There will be no way to hide it from the other Churches.”

The Moon Emlyn roughly understood what this high-ranking member of the Evernight Church meant. He nodded lightly and imagined scene after scene.

Those clansmen who had once mocked his faith in the Earth Mother would line up before him and receive baptism from him.

Once he thought of this, Emlyn’s mood became extremely pleasant. He could not help slightly lifting his chin.

After they finished discussing this matter, the members of the Tarot Club fell briefly silent, unsure of what else to say.

Several seconds later, The Hanged Man Alger broke the silence and said steadily,

“Most members among us are now demigods. Our advancement cycles have become much longer, and we each possess our own factions. Our need for Beyonder characteristics, potion formulas, and Sealed Artifacts may only arise once every several years. Perhaps the focus of the gathering should shift toward intelligence exchange and covert cooperation.”

Justice Audrey, The Hermit Cattleya, The Star Leonard, and the others nodded one after another, agreeing with Mr. Hanged Man’s words.

At that moment, The Fool Klein looked around and said with a soft chuckle,

“As the matters related to the Forsaken Land of the Gods come to an end, my condition has recovered considerably. You may exchange with me for higher-level things.”

He deliberately and calmly spoke of the “fact” that he was recovering. To every member of the Tarot Club, this was an answer they had already guessed.

Just as Justice Audrey and the others inwardly guessed what level Mr. Fool had now recovered to, Klein added with a smile,

“Those higher-level things include:

“The identity, status, and strength of the Sea God.”