Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 740 Choice
In one minute, no, at most 30 seconds, I won’t be able to return to my normal form... Angel understood this in her heart, but the situation was urgent at the moment, and she couldn’t care less. At most, at most, she would die again like she did during the Backlund smog...

Having made up her mind, she took out another "betrayal" spell. With her current spiritual power, she could only use the advanced spell that had been strengthened by hundreds of milliliters of blood once more. After that, she might lose control due to the exhaustion of spiritual power and the exposure of the incomplete form of the mythical creature.

This is the last chance. Hit it on the head. It would be great if she could recreate the scene of the "King of the North" killing her... She pondered, staring at the magic mirror with her purple eyes, with no visible whites. She calmed her mind amid the mutterings and howls that once again filled her brain, and prepared to activate the talisman in her hand.

"Wait a moment."

Klein's words came to Angel's ear. He groped for Angel's wrist and stopped her movement. Then he turned his body sideways, closed his eyes, and "looked" over here through his eyelids.

Even so, Angel's "snake-hair" form made his body stiff, his expression tense, and a streak of dark blood seeped from the corner of his eye.

The poisonous snakes on Angel's head, some spitting out red tongues and some with their eyes wide open, looked at Klein in self-defense, aggravating the feeling of his whole body stiffening and almost turning into stone. Fortunately, Angel managed to control his own form and let the poisonous snakes hang down like ordinary hair.

Klein repeatedly entered and exited the gray fog. His spirit and mentality, which had been tested by the "Eternal Blazing Sun" and the "True Creator", finally took effect. He quickly recovered from Angel's dangerous and deadly charm, which made people want to rush forward and be surrounded by poisonous snakes. He resisted the invisible power of death of the feathered serpent across a sarcophagus and quickly took out a black crystal-like talisman from his pocket.

"The Luck Thief"!
Angel had heard from the other party that this high-level spell, made by Klein himself with some help from Mr. Fool, could swap the fates of two targets for a short period of time, but it could change almost any fate.

She instantly understood Klein's thoughts.

Quetzalcoatl seems indestructible, and it wants to merge with Mr. Azik. This is most likely the purpose of the "artificial god of death". He needs certain qualities in Azik to restore himself to his strongest state.

What if Klein and Azik's fates were reversed, and Quetzalcoatl's target became Klein, who had nothing to do with him, and he mistakenly absorbed certain traits?
This is like a Beyonder taking the wrong potion. At best, they will lose control, and at worst, they will die directly.

At that time, Angel's "betrayal" spell might be able to play a real role...

"Azik?"

She asked as if to confirm.

Klein nodded without any hesitation.

He is the same as me... Angel's lips curled up slightly, and he held Klein's hand holding the "Luck Stealer" amulet, and pressed it towards the figure belonging to Azik in the magic mirror.

She was also unsure whether this "Luck Stealer" spell, which at most possessed the power of a demigod, could work on Azik, who was at Sequence 2, or whether it could interfere with the "Artificial Death God" who might be at a higher Sequence. She was even more unsure whether Klein could survive after bearing Azik's fate, or whether he could be resurrected like before.

But she respected the other party's choice, just like the decision she made before opening her eyes.

Maintaining the passage between the magic mirror and the ice mirror above, Angel said:

"Now!"

At the same time, the huge feathered serpent body as big as a mountain in the depths of the mausoleum almost covered Azik. The latter quickened his pace and walked towards the illusory feathered serpent body, his face getting closer and closer to the huge bronze face above.

The mausoleum began to shake, loud noises echoed in the spacious tomb chamber. The surrounding stone walls seemed to become transparent, revealing a world where countless skeletons were wandering and countless shadows were moving around.

Black tentacles and blood-stained arms penetrated the boundary between the underworld and reality and came to the mausoleum. They swayed and cheered, welcoming the return of the master of the underworld.

"No!"

Azik let out one last roar, and the half of his spirit that longed for completeness pulled him toward the feathered serpent. His body became lighter and lighter, almost flying into the air. The golden bird decoration on his forehead burst into pale flames, enveloping his entire body, almost turning him into a feathered serpent with wings on its back and feathers covering its body.

"destiny!"

Klein took a deep breath, not relying on his own sight, and chose the location completely according to Angel's instructions. He then recited the opening spell of the "Luck Stealer" spell in ancient Hermetic.

Angel also clenched the "betrayal" spell in his hand, ready to give it the strongest blow the moment the Quetzalcoatl showed a flaw.

Neither of them thought about what to do if they failed, or how to be resurrected if they died.

"..."

In an instant, the shaking of the mausoleum stopped, the loud noises around it stopped, and the underworld that was about to merge with reality also disappeared.

In the silence, Klein instinctively stopped charging spirituality into the spell in his hand and looked up with some confusion.

He found that the mumbling that kept filling his mind even without opening his eyes and driving him crazy had stopped. Angel beside him also recovered from the strange but extremely seductive snake-haired form and looked at the magic mirror in his hand with the same confusion.

A deep black covered the mirror, enveloping Quetzalcoatl and Mr. Azik. This pitch black that seemed to absorb all light and made people feel peaceful from the bottom of their hearts made Angel and Klein look at each other in bewilderment.

From the sudden cessation of the strange phenomenon, the no longer shaking mausoleum and the quiet environment, the two could feel that the force that threatened Mr. Azik just now no longer existed, or at least it had stopped eroding the poor man who resisted the end. But would there be new threats next? What was that black that could not be seen?
The two had absolutely no idea.

After a moment of hesitation, Angel was ready to stand up and observe the situation deep in the mausoleum with her naked eyes, but Klein stopped her and directed one of the secret puppets squeezed behind the sarcophagus with him, "Winner" Enzo, to make an attempt.

Just as Enzo was about to stand up, a female voice came to their ears. It was soft and pleasant but lacked rhythm:

"You have three choices..."

The moment he heard the voice, Angel found its owner in his memory.

The woman who helped Backlund deal with "Lady Despair" during the Great Smog, and gave her the sapphire ring and the "Pain" extraordinary characteristic. In the end, she killed herself decently after she calmed down the threat of the Great Smog.

The angel of the Goddess Church, the "Mother of Heaven" with a statue in the misty town!
How did he get here? He seemed to have helped Mr. Azik... Angel's eyes widened, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but he didn't dare to move at all.

The same was true for Klein beside her. The secret doll Enzo hid behind the sarcophagus in a strange half-squatting posture. The two secret dolls just listened quietly to the conversation between Azik and "Him".

“…One is to make the soul complete, and let Salinger be reborn in you;

"Second, I will help you extract the other half of your soul, and you will find a way to sew it together, and eventually return to the state of the Fourth Epoch. You won't have to be reborn and recover your memories again and again, but your experiences over the years will become a dream deep in your memory.
"The third option is to leave right now, no longer looking for the 'end' or 'answer', and unable to continue to advance. You will remain in your current state, with this half of your soul constantly losing memories and being reborn, and gradually regaining your memories. Ultimately, your experiences in the Fourth Epoch will become a small part of your life."

Three choices... Just now it has come to the last step, Mr. Azik was almost swallowed by the feathered serpent, and now he can actually make a choice?
It sounds like all three options are not good, but letting "Salinger" be reborn from within the body must be the worst option... Could this Salinger be the artificial death god, no, the real death god of the Fourth Epoch? He has set up a plan, so that as long as Azik regains his complete memory and power, he can be resurrected in his body through some means?

Excluding this most dangerous option, the other two also have their own problems. The second one may turn Mr. Azik into the kind of person he least wants to be. Well, this is actually the real him, but after more than a thousand years of reincarnation, his "half soul" seems to have become a different person. He will definitely resist the interference of the "other half", which may cause some kind of mental and personality split...

The last option sounds like maintaining the status quo, and it is also the most acceptable one for Angel among the three options. However, repeated gains and losses may make Mr. Azik tired of this kind of death and resurrection every 60 years. What will he choose...

Angel was thinking about it, and couldn't help but want to stand up to see Azik's current condition and the true appearance of the "Mother of Heaven" who could "give him three choices".

But the power of the magic mirror that blocked her from prying eyes made her realize that the other party did not want her to witness the current scene.

This choice belongs to Azik Eggers alone.

After a long silence, Azik's slow but firm words came:
"I don't want to forget them, and I don't want to forget these heartwarming experiences. I choose three."

As soon as he finished speaking, he groaned, obviously suffering from some uncontrollable pain.

This made Angel nervous again. She looked at the magic mirror in her hand. In the darkness that concealed everything, a golden light seemed to appear, but it was fleeting. Azik's humming was replaced by panting. The continuous sound gradually subsided and finally disappeared.

"Thank you for your help, can I leave now?"

His respectful voice came again from the depths of the mausoleum.

No other voices were heard. It seemed that the "Mother of Heaven" nodded instead of answering. The sound of Azik's leather shoes could be heard, followed by his tired tone:
"It's all right. It's all over."

The voice came from behind the two of them. Angel and Klein quickly stood up and turned to look.

Azik, whose temples were still twitching and who seemed to be in some mental pain, was looking at them. The top hat on his head was gone, as was the deep scar on his forehead and the golden bird decoration on it. Of course, the scales on his face and the back of his hands had returned to bronze skin, and there was a familiar smile in his eyes, not coldness or madness.

Over his shoulder, Angel looked into the depths of the mausoleum, which was covered by the black shadow he had seen in the magic mirror before. The black fog around it gradually spread and enveloped everything.

The feathered serpent, the "Mother of Heaven", was nowhere to be seen.

Looking at the exhausted Azik, Angel didn't plan to ask questions now. Instead, he approached him and waited obediently for the "Archon of Death" who chose to "maintain the status quo" and retain their memories to put his hand on his shoulder. Klein did the same on the other side.

After a moment, as blocks of black, grey and white overlapped, they left the mausoleum and entered the spirit world.

At the moment when his vision was blocked by the bright colors, Angel saw the black fog being dispersed by an invisible force, and a female figure wearing a classical robe and a hood covering the upper half of her face appeared in the depths of the mausoleum.

The corners of His mouth, hidden in the shadows, curled up slightly, as if He was looking at Angel.

(End of this chapter)