Chapter 53: “Life-Saving Incantation”

Chapter 53: “Life-Saving Incantation”

Seeing that Audrey was willing to attempt the investigation, Delrau nodded gently and said,

“The detailed information will be given to you later, but I must remind you of one thing: this matter is quite dangerous. You absolutely cannot be careless.”

At this point, Delrau paused briefly before continuing,

“If you encounter an accident and cannot resolve it through your own strength, you may try saying a name. That will allow you to be saved.”

“What name?” Audrey asked, already making a guess inwardly.

Delrau’s expression immediately turned serious.

“It comes from the holy scriptures of the Creator from the Third Epoch. It involves the highest mysteries of the mind domain and is closely connected to a certain object belonging to our Psychology Alchemists.

“It is ‘Adam.’”

Adam… Audrey was not surprised in the slightest, yet on the surface, she still appeared puzzled, as though she did not know what the name represented or what it meant.

Delrau did not explain. Instead, he changed the topic.

“As a councilor of the council, you should, in principle, be entrusted with a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact. However, you and Wrath have only just entered these ranks and still require a period of observation. Furthermore, the previous councilor in charge of the Backlund region, Hvin Rambis, lost a rather important Sealed Artifact. We are considering whether to change how Sealed Artifacts are used, from personal custody to application-based use.

“In other words, all Sealed Artifacts will be kept in this city of the mind. Normally, you will not possess them. Only when you encounter an incident and make an application will you be able to use them temporarily.”

Madam Greed, who was in charge of Saint-Milon, the capital of Feysac, immediately shook her head.

“That method has a very serious flaw: we would be unable to respond to accidents. Whether facing an enemy or a monster, once we encounter them, they will not give us time to apply for Sealed Artifacts.

“I believe the current method is already good enough. Each person controls one Grade 1 Sealed Artifact to respond to accidents, and when there is a need, they can then apply for other items.”

Delrau gave a soft laugh.

“That was indeed better in the past. But now, you no longer need to worry.

“As long as you still have a chance to resist during an accident, you can directly enter this city of the mind to evade the enemy and apply for an item along the way.

“If you have no chance, then, as I just said, speak the name ‘Adam.’”

You’ve said Adam twice. That being may very well already be watching this place. No, perhaps He has been watching from the very beginning… Hearing this, Audrey nearly felt her heartbeat accelerate.

“Then how are we supposed to enter this place when we have not received your invitation?” Mr. Envy asked, nodding as he spoke.

Delrau pointed at his own face.

“Starting from this council meeting, you may bring your own personality mask out of this city.

“Wherever you are, as long as there are at least two humans around you—not counting yourself—you can enter this city by putting on the corresponding personality mask.

“And these seven personality masks are themselves illusory, closely connected to certain aspects of your cognition. They do not need to be preserved through any special method. As long as you wish it, you can take them out of the surrounding sea of collective subconsciousness at any time.”

At this moment, the gentleman wearing the Gluttony mask, who gave the impression of indulgence and obsession, considered briefly and said,

“Will bringing the personality mask out of this city negatively affect our mental state and true personality?”

“It will have a little effect and must be watched carefully. But I believe all of you are experts in the mind domain and have sufficient ability to resolve that problem.” Delrau spoke frankly.

Audrey was somewhat worried that the seven personality masks were connected to Adam, but within this city of the mind, she did not dare think in that direction. Forcing herself to rein in her thoughts, she responded to Delrau’s earlier words.

“I can accept either method of Grade 1 Sealed Artifact custody. I will patiently wait for the observation period to end.”

“Miss, you are not arrogant at all,” Miss Sloth, who looked as though she were asleep, commented with a smile.

After they finished discussing the mind dragon in East Chester County, the other five councilors successively introduced noteworthy matters within their respective regions, carrying out an exchange of intelligence.

During this process, Mr. Gluttony, who looked as though he might eat an entire cow at any moment and wear ten rings on his hands, said,

“The Constant region has not been very peaceful recently. Several near-miraculous incidents have occurred in succession.

“First, Constant City was rebuilt overnight. Second, the citizens of Belltaine City all lost a stretch of memory at the same time. Third, a powerful magician who delights in fulfilling other people’s wishes has been wandering along the eastern coast of the Midsea. His name is Merlin Hermes. Related to this is an item called the Fully Automatic Wish Machine.

“Besides these, I also noticed a small abnormality: quite a few rats, cockroaches, and crows in Constant City lost their minds in the days after the city was miraculously restored.”

“Why were you able to notice that problem?” Mr. Lust asked Gluttony with a gaze that seemed to look upward from below.

Gluttony swallowed and said,

“I have recently been studying the minds of ordinary creatures. Rats, cockroaches, and crows are all experimental subjects of mine.”

Several councilors immediately began a discussion around that research direction, and the meeting officially entered its third stage.

Their academic exchange gave Audrey no small harvest. She listened quite seriously and, from time to time, shared a few of her own insights.

“All right. This council meeting ends here.” After some time, Delrau lightly clapped his hands and spoke.

Audrey instinctively wanted to stand and lead the other councilors in bowing farewell, but she quickly came to herself. She remained seated and was only the second to last to stand.

Before leaving, she asked, slightly curious,

“Mr. President, does this city have a name?”

“It does.” Delrau smiled. “Eden.”

Eden… Seeing that the other councilors were walking toward the door, Audrey thoughtfully asked another question.

“There are many churches here, so they should symbolize faith itself. I wonder which existence the ‘residents’ here believe in?”

Delrau nodded once and answered with a solemn expression,

“The omniscient and omnipotent Creator.”

…

“Eden”… the omniscient and omnipotent Creator… If this wasn’t made by Adam, I’ll write my name backward! Above the gray fog, inside the ancient palace, Klein looked at the crimson star representing Miss Justice and silently muttered a few words to himself.

Moreover, the countermeasure of saying the name “Adam” when encountering danger practically revealed the issue without any disguise.

—Ever since Miss Justice entered Eden, the true vision provided by Sefirah Castle had been suppressed. Klein could only observe the surroundings through her perspective, just as when he had used the Queen of Mysteries, Bernadette, as a fixed camera on the primitive island. In a sense, this also indicated the status of Eden, the city of the mind.

Klein then lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table, manifesting paper and a pen, preparing to write down the thoughts in his mind.

It was not that he could not analyze them through pure thought. Rather, when facing an existence like Adam, repeatedly examining every detail was necessary. Putting them into written words made it easier to review everything again and again, searching for omissions.

“The basic premise is: Adam has advanced to Sequence 0 through the previous all-out war, becoming a true god who can be called Visionary.

“Miss Justice happened to become a Sequence 4 Manipulator some time after Hvin Rambis’s death. That might convince others, but it will not convince Adam.

“What does Adam want? Arranging for a Sequence 4 Saint does not fit His status as Visionary, unless He has another purpose…

“Is His true target that mind dragon, or me behind Miss Justice?

“I must raise my vigilance in this aspect and not be careless.

“Inside Eden, the church where the Psychology Alchemists council is located somewhat resembles Adam’s corpse cathedral, but only somewhat. Outside, the stone pillars are inlaid with skulls of varying number, while inside, it lacks the corresponding arrangements. Moreover, it is deep black and very gloomy. What does this represent?

“What does the grayish-white dragon coiled around the giant cross symbolize? Has the attempt to revive the Creator succeeded in taking its first step?

“Uh, Adam is already a Visionary. If His father or the Original Creator returned, the first one to suffer would definitely be Him. Is He willing to sacrifice Himself for this? Is that what Paranoid means?

“That rabbit is suspected to be Hermes… However, as an angel of the Spectator pathway, there is no reason He would be unable to remove Miss Messenger’s transformation curse for so long, especially when He has a Visionary above Him who can provide help… Mm, did Hermes do it deliberately?

“Right, Delrau, president of the Psychology Alchemists, said that for a Spectator, death only represents the end of one identity. He can still participate in other dramas elsewhere under other identities…

“Combining these points, can one conclude that upon reaching Sequence 3, or perhaps Sequence 2, the Spectator pathway can separate some of the identities one once possessed, allowing them to become ‘living people,’ and that even if these identities die, the main body will not fall?

“This truly does seem like a prerequisite for Visionary…

“Mm, Hermes separated out the identity of the rabbit He had become after being cursed and directly participated in the Psychology Alchemists? What exactly does He want to do? Back then, during the Twilight Hermit Order’s internal gathering, He sat beside the Emperor…”

After finishing, Klein set down the fountain pen and carefully read through the contents of the paper several times. His heart was filled with mysteries.

In the end, he could only decide to continue observing—with caution.

At this time, Justice Audrey had already taken the carriage in which she had come, left Eden, and returned to the park with the artificial lake in Queen’s Borough.

She did not hurry to pray to Mr. Fool, hoping for a better method to seal the Arrogance mask. Instead, she returned to her family’s luxurious villa as if nothing had happened at all.