Sighing, Klein leveraged a sliver of power from the Gray Fog and infused it into the dressing mirror in his hand.
Almost in the next instant, ripples appeared on the mirror's surface, and golden Loen words emerged one after another:
"My great, supreme, and exalted Master, you've finally come to find me!"
"Your humble, loyal, and pitiful servant Arrodes misses you so much!"
Klein's mouth twitched. Resisting the urge to throw the dressing mirror away, he glanced at Leyton and casually asked, "Where were you taken?"
The golden words on the mirror disappeared, and silver words soon emerged:
"I don't know either. This place is very strange, not a normal world. What I can see is very limited."
"Great and supreme Master, please come and save me! Horamick Haydn has gone mad; he's a Monster now. He actually ate those dangerous Sealed Artifacts one by one. If I stay here any longer, he'll eat me too."
Klein frowned slightly. He detected a hint of a whimper in Arrodes's reply; this shameless magic mirror seemed genuinely on the verge of tears... if it had a mouth and could make sounds.
There aren't many things Arrodes can't see clearly. Besides True Gods and normal Angels, it can even peek at a mad Zaratul. Is this related to Horamick going mad? Is it a chain reaction caused by the disappearance of the God of Steam and Machinery?
Lost in thought, he looked at Leyton and asked in a low voice, "What do you think?"
Leyton replied with his arms crossed, "I think with my eyes."
Klein choked, losing even the desire to retort. After a pause, he fixed his gaze on Leyton's eyes.
Leyton's light blue eyes became extremely deep, tinged with a thin layer of silvery white, his gaze vast and empty, like the sea before a storm.
He was borrowing the "Clairvoyant" ability of "Prophecy" from his Astral World main body!
In this state, his gaze penetrated reality, seeing the illusory silver-white River of Fate, and through the connection brought by Arrodes, he peered into the hidden secrets of fate. Images emerged in his mind:
Under a dim sky, colorful meteors streaked across the sky, one of them growing closer and brighter, finally crashing into a Steam train stopped on the tracks.
Amidst the rumbling sound, the ground continuously shook, colors fading and receding. The Steam train seemed to be erased bit by bit by an invisible eraser, rapidly fading and disappearing. The surrounding plants, the soil on the ground, bricks, stones, and iron rails all disintegrated silently, turning into scattered fragments, leaving only a huge crater in place.
The scene shifted. In the deep night sky dotted with stars, an old man in a white priest's robe and a soft clerical cap walked out of the darkness. He had a very gentle and kind face, but his expression was unusually serious.
Behind him, several other old men, identical to him, followed, though their attire and demeanor differed, lacking the necessary vivacity and freshness of real people.
They carried metal boxes engraved with numerous complex and strange runes, boarding a dark, metallic-lustered Steam train in an orderly fashion.
Amidst the whistling of the whistle and the starting of the Steam engine, the dark Steam train began to move on the silver tracks paved with starlight, heading towards a void Cosmos interwoven with electromagnetism and gravity.
The void Cosmos seen through "Prophecy" continuously magnified in Leyton's mind, as if to occupy all his thoughts.
In a haze, he felt as if he were in the true Cosmos, seeing countless stars, some brilliant, some dim. They converged into a magnificent galaxy, intertwining into nebulae so grand they were indescribable, growing distorted faces, tentacles, and claws.
At the same time, gazes began to cast down from the Cosmos, looking at the ground, looking at Leyton.
A pair of cold, indifferent, lashless eyes containing countless brilliant stars appeared behind Leyton.
The next second, his figure instantly became transparent, as if turning into a statue formed by countless starlight, then quickly recovered, all anomalies disappearing as if they had never appeared.
Klein watched Leyton's face gradually turn serious and asked, "What did you see?"
Leyton shook his head, not answering directly, but instead said:
"Your mirror probably won't be found for a while. That thing is very good at running, and it's dangerous. Even for an Angel, facing that thing directly could lead to corruption."
"I'm just a small account now. Although I can borrow power from the Astral World at any time, it's inconvenient. With the other party deliberately hiding, I might not be able to catch it quickly."
"It? Not the Archbishop of the Steam Church? Or, as Arrodes said, has he completely gone mad and become a Monster?"
Klein keenly grasped the key point, his questions spilling out. At the same time, he looked down at the dressing mirror in his hand, wanting to know what kind of answer Arrodes would give.
"Great Master, I don't know what state Horamick Haydn is in now, or what his relationship with that thing is. Many things cannot be seen or spoken of. I can only give a hint: all of this is related to the Cosmos."
"Great and supreme Master, you, you will save me, right?"
Again, the Cosmos. What exactly is dangerous about the Cosmos? Amidst these thoughts, Klein suddenly felt a dangerous intuition. He instinctively stopped his thoughts and focused on Arrodes's request, no longer thinking about anything related to the Cosmos.
Looking at Arrodes's aggrieved, almost crying tone revealed through the text, he sighed:
"If there's a suitable opportunity."
"Great Master, he's coming for me! I can't stay here anymore. Goodbye, Master~, your loyal servant Arrodes awaits your summons at any time."
On the mirror's surface, one Loen word after another emerged, followed by a small figure waving a handkerchief and shedding tears.
This scene lasted less than a second before all of it dissipated. The abnormal aura on the dressing mirror returned to calm, turning back into an ordinary mirror.
Klein sighed, made the dressing mirror in his hand disappear, and turned his head to Leyton, saying, "I originally wanted to ask it some things. It seems the changes that happened to Archbishop Horamick have frightened it too."
After a pause, he continued, "When do you plan to find the Archbishop who escaped with the Sealed Artifact? Also, what's the situation in Intis and Feysac now?"
"I'm already looking. It's intentionally hiding, so it won't be found that quickly."
After a brief reply, Leyton walked aside. Specks of starlight sprinkled down, forming a dazzling starlit high-backed chair behind him. After sitting down, he continued:
"With prior preparation, the division of Intis went smoothly. After all, Roselle's popularity in Intis hasn't faded with time; he's still a legend, and now a living legend."
"Some of the middle and high-ranking members of the Steam Church are willing to follow Bornova to the south, some are unwilling to change, and some have already begun to believe in the God of Craftsmen. Steam was prepared for this long ago. Even if they lost the war and the Church split, there weren't too many extremists willing to die for their beliefs. To maintain stability on the surface, I tacitly allowed this situation."
Evernights handling is similar to mine, but because the God of Combat died more thoroughly and didn't leave enough contingencies, the Church of the God of Combat has been completely taken over. The extremely devout middle and high-ranking members have been purged, but the news that the God of Combat has been replaced by Evernight has not been proclaimed to the people of Feysac."
Klein nodded, sighing deeply, "This is the best choice. Everyone, every faction, needs stability now, and a certain amount of time to recover."
Leyton gently nodded, "Do you have any other questions?"
Klein paused slightly, then opened his mouth to ask, "Who exactly is the Earth Mother?"
"This isn't hard to guess. She always explicitly or implicitly cares for the Sanguine, although in the eyes of most people and Gods, She only wants to annex and control this ancient race."
"Also, the Evernight Goddess's honorific title no longer includes 'Lady of Crimson'."
As soon as Leyton finished speaking, Klein suddenly blurted out in realization, "Lilith?"
Silently, the surroundings suddenly became quiet for an instant. On the ground, in the corners of walls, tiny green sprouts emerged, and the insects hidden underground also crawled out.
A hidden gaze from the Astral World swept over, then withdrew.
Gulp—
Klein's throat pulsed as he swallowed the saliva that unconsciously secreted in his mouth. Although it was only for an instant, he clearly felt the terrifying gaze cast from an infinitely high place, and his entire body's blood seemed to congeal.
"Next time before you say those names, remember to cast a layer of Concealment on yourself."
After a warning, Leyton's figure faded, disintegrating into streams of information that flowed into the distance, disappearing from Klein's sight.
"Poor Arrodes, I hope this mirror, which tries so hard to please me, won't be eaten before I find that Archbishop of the Steam Church."
Looking at Leyton's disappearing figure, Klein sighed softly, then turned and vanished into the shadows of the street corner.
The rumbling sound of wheels rubbing against the tracks continuously echoed. Dim, dappled light and shadow streamed through the glass window into the carriage, faintly illuminating the simply furnished interior.
On the wooden tabletop fixed to the bottom of the carriage, an ancient silver mirror with strange patterns rested quietly. On both sides of the mirror, black gems were decorated like "eyes," appearing vibrant and subtly revealing an anxious and uneasy emotion, as if nervously surveying its surroundings.