Silently, a rust-stained face was reflected on the mirror's surface.
On this face, all the facial features were abnormally tilted and distorted, covered with a layer of dark red rust like dried blood. One eye bulged out, while the other was abnormally shrunken.
The face lacked expression, like a poorly made puppet reluctantly cobbled together from flesh and rusty discarded materials.
It had no physical support, only a head floating in mid-air, missing its back half. Its crooked mouth opened and closed, emitting a low, hoarse voice:
"Who are you communicating with?"
On the mirror surface it was staring at, ripples spread out, and one after another, Loens words flowing with fresh red blood emerged:
"There is no one else here besides you."
"Who are you communicating with? With whom? With whom!!!"
The strange head floating in mid-air did not pay attention to the answer appearing on the mirror, continuing to ask, its tone becoming increasingly agitated, finally turning into a roar.
The silver mirror placed on the table once again rippled, and the crimson words on it changed:
"This is the second question. According to the principle of equivalent exchange, you need to answer one of my questions first."
"You are not Horamick Haydn, are you?"
The roaring head suddenly stopped, looking at the words appearing on the silver mirror with abnormal stillness, motionless, without any expression on its face, as if frozen in place.
After an unknown amount of time, this head suddenly became distorted. Its black hair tangled together, continuously extending, turning into dark cables that, like flexible tentacles, wrapped around the silver mirror and brought it to its mouth, which was constantly dripping black, oily liquid.
Boom!
A silver-white electric light appeared out of thin air in the carriage, striking the head floating in mid-air, which had grown cables.
Electric arcs crackled, and pieces of iron-black debris fell from the head. The flesh on the head's surface became charred and fell off in chunks, revealing the mechanical parts beneath.
On both sides of the silver mirror, wrapped in black cables, a pair of illusory small hands condensed and then dissipated. One by one, crimson words floated again on the mirror's surface:
"Punishment ended. Second question."
"You are not a creature of this world. You are a stowaway, a stowaway parasitic on Horamick Haydn, aren't you?"
"Hehehe~"
As its skin peeled off, transforming into a mechanical sphere with dark cables extending from it, the head let out a few hoarse, low laughs, pulling the wrapped silver mirror even closer, as if staring into its reflection.
After a while, this mechanical sphere seemed to regain some sanity, putting down the silver mirror and whispering like an old man in his twilight years:
"No, I am Horamick Haydn, an honorary professor of the Physics Department at Backlund University, the Archbishop of the Steam Church's Backlund Diocese, and a member of my Lord's Council."
As it spoke, its tone gradually grew frantic:
"Do you know what waves are? The World we see is merely an illusion, the feedback given to the brain after our bodies receive changes in waves. The essence of The World is countless waves of different frequencies and amplitudes mixed together."
"Information is also a type of wave, so your communication with the outside world cannot escape my notice."
The carriage suddenly became very quiet, so quiet that there was not even the sound of breathing.
On the surface of the silver magic mirror, silver-white words appeared one by one:
"The great Arrodes knows everything."
"Your question has been answered. Do you have any more questions?"
On a coast in Desi Bay, Loen, the bright, scorching afternoon sun suddenly dimmed, and streaks of starlight descended from thin air, transforming into brilliant starlight, rippling and swirling on the sea surface.
The starlight flickered for a while, then transformed into fragments of starlight that re-gathered internally, revealing Leyton's figure.
Looking at the waves lapping against the beach before him, he sighed:
"It got away again. Although it's been circling, I can roughly deduce its destination now: southwest of Feynapotter. I wonder what's attracting it there."
He looked up at the sun overhead, estimating that it was almost three in the afternoon, nearly time for this week's Tarot Club.
He shook his head, letting tendrils of verdant pea vines descend, quickly engulfing his figure and making him disappear from the real beach.
Above the Gray Fog, within the ancient palace that resembled a Giant King's abode, streaks of deep red light rose precisely on time, condensing into blurred figures on either side of the mottled long table.
Klein's gaze swept over everyone, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
War is indeed the best way to make people grow, it's just a bit too cruel. Now, the weakest members of the Tarot Club are already Sequence 5 Beyonders, and most of them have already crossed the demigod threshold.
As he pondered, Justice Audrey had already risen, bowing to the figure at the head of the mottled long table:
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
Audrey's tone lacked its usual lightness. Although the war had ended, and whether it was the Northern Continent, the Southern Continent, or the Five Seas, all had fallen into a rare period of peace and stability, her mood remained heavy. Like most people, she had not yet fully recovered from the war.
After everyone had bowed and nodded to each other, Klein leaned back against his chair and gently nodded:
"You may begin."
The first to speak was "Star" Leonard. He glanced around and cleared his throat:
"According to the information I've gathered, there was more than one War of the Gods. Among them, those that occurred in Backlund, and on the battlefields of Loen, Feysac, and Feynapotter, involved the Evernight Goddess, the God of War, and the Earth Mother. As for the results, I believe everyone is well aware."
"Hermit" Cattleya looked at Leonard with a hint of deeper meaning, then continued his words:
"On the Berserk Sea, battles also occurred between Eternal Blazing Sun, Lord of Storms, and True Creator. The process is unknown, but the outcome is very clear."
"In addition, from what I understand, there was also a War of the Gods in the Astral World. The Hidden Sage, in conjunction with the returned Emperor Roselle, defeated the God of Steam and Machinery, becoming a Sequence 0 True God who mastered two pathways, calling himself the Erudite."
After a brief silence, "Hanged Man" Alger raised his hand and straightened his body, speaking in a slightly heavy tone:
"Recently, the atmosphere among the Church of the Lord of Storms' high-ranking members has been very heavy, even somewhat peculiar. The Lord of Storms has issued a divine oracle, changing the honorific name used when praying and offering sacrifices to Him. At the same time, His frequency of responding to prayers has also decreased."
"The Lord of Storms changed His honorific name? What did He change it to?" "Chariot" Anderson asked curiously.
"Hanged Man" Alger turned his head to glance at Anderson. Just as he was about to answer, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of Mr. Fool at the head of the table making a move. He immediately composed himself and turned to look at the head.
Under the shroud of Gray Fog, Klein leaned back in his chair, smiling leisurely:
"He lost His Sequence 0 status."
As his words fell, a strange silence fell over the Tarot Club. No one spoke.
Since the Fifth Epoch, this was the first time a war between gods had erupted, and it was so intense that two of the original seven Orthodox Gods had fallen, and one had lost his status... As thoughts swirled, "Hermit" Cattleya instinctively turned her head to glance at Leyton, who was diagonally opposite her.
The latter leaned back leisurely in his chair, appearing unconcerned with the issues they were discussing, as if he had already known all of this.
Noticing Cattleya's gaze, Leyton looked back, guessing what she was thinking. He chuckled softly:
"Although many things happened all at once, very chaotic and intense, everything was also traceable. This multi-party war was the result of the combined push from the symbolic domain, the spiritual domain, and the real domain. For it to end so quickly is already the best outcome."
"The key to this war was the Earth Mother, involving a conspiracy that had been brewing for two or three millennia."
"Why?" Cattleya instinctively asked.
"Sun" Derrick raised his hand and said, "I probably know why."
"You?" "Moon" Emlyn retorted with a hint of mockery.
Everyone turned their gaze towards him, with doubt and questioning.
Seeing the conversation reach this point, Klein manipulated the small "World" to speak: "He does know."
With "The World"'s assurance, the members of the Tarot Club became even more curious about the information "Sun" Derrick possessed. "Magician" Fors couldn't help but ask:
"Why?"
"Sun" Derrick's gaze swept over everyone before he said:
"The Earth Mother is not the Giant King's wife, Omebella. The real Omebella died long ago. Her remains are in the City of Silver."
Gulp~ The sound of swallowing was unusually clear in the quiet hall.
After a long silence, "Chariot" Anderson murmured, as if finding the news hard to accept:
"How is that possible? If the Earth Mother isn't Omebella, how did she hide it from the Seven Gods? Especially the God of War, they are mother and son."
Leyton chuckled softly: "Nothing is impossible."
"Among the known great existences, there is a Mother of Concealment, and also an Ancient Sun God who once wielded the authority of 'Error'."
"Magician" Fors inhaled sharply, exclaiming, "...What a terrifying conspiracy."
"Chariot" Anderson leaned back in his chair, looking as if he no longer wanted to think, and sighed softly:
"No wonder the Church of the Earth Mother in the Southern Continent has always been ambiguous towards the new regime. The True Creator, who inherited the Ancient Sun God's legacy, must also know this secret."
"Heh, I suddenly feel that the God of War and the Lord of Storms didn't lose unjustly. Or rather, the Lord of Storms, who survived the war, is already very impressive."