Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 873 The Dragon and the Witch

How did he get in...directly? Was it a quick-movement method of the "audience" pathway?

Angel's eyes lingered on Hvin Rambis, and he cleared his mind under his calm gaze, so as to avoid the "manipulator" noticing any abnormality with his subtle expression and movement changes.

It’s not that she didn’t have a plan in place. When she encountered the audience demigod without the protection of Mr. Fool, she still maintained basic composure and made initial responses, but she still lacked further thought about what to do next.

At this moment, she caught a glimpse of Audrey next to Herwin from the corner of her eye. The latter was stunned at first when she found the old man in the carriage, and then seemed to wake up from a long dream, regaining her lost memories, and showing a kind smile after seeing an acquaintance.

"Mr. Rambis, why are you here?"

Because they were in a narrow carriage, Audrey did not stand up to salute, but her tone and expression still fully expressed her respect for a respected elder.

By the way, Audrey was hypnotized under the protection of the angel's blessing, but she retained her deeper self, so she is now in a state of complete control, and I should be the same... Angel immediately imitated the other's movements and tone and made the same greeting to Herwin.

The elderly gentleman, who looked like he had just left a dance, nodded slightly and responded to the two beautiful women with a smile:
"Audrey, Christine, we left the party together. Maybe you were too engrossed in your conversation and forgot about me."

Is that so... It seems to be true. Mr. Rambis got on the carriage with us and said he wanted to hitchhike... Angel's mind involuntarily emerged the scene of the three people getting on the carriage one after another. It was as vague and distant as browsing the memories of last year, but he had a certain impression.

Of course, this was the result of her deliberate indulgence. Otherwise, it would be difficult for a Sequence 4 to hint at this "ageless" witch and deceive her memory with just words.

Audrey, who was sitting opposite, obviously did not have such awareness. She nodded heavily and said to Herwin apologetically:
"I really ignored your presence, I am really sorry..."

"It's okay," Herwin said with a half-smile, his mouth twitching. "You were away for a while during the ball. What happened then?"

"After separating from Christine, I took a short break in an empty lounge, but..."

As Audrey described what happened tonight in a calm tone, Angel also figured out why Hvin Rambis asked this question:

The "Dream Walker" Raven Dion does have some connection with the "Psychological Alchemy Society" and is even one of their members!

Unexpectedly, he was a triple agent. On the surface, he worked for the MI9 and was responsible for the protection of important nobles in the kingdom. On the contrary, he collected intelligence for the military and the royal family. At the same time, he was also a member of the "Psychological Alchemy Society" buried in the army...

Like Audrey, he might have been hypnotized and suggested by Hwin Rambis himself, causing him to forget everything and only think of himself as an extraordinary person from MI9. Only when Hwin came to him would his sealed memories awaken and he would become a spy of the "Psychological Alchemist Society" again.

Perhaps after Audrey and I left, Duke Negan and Duchess Georgina interrogated Raven Dion to some extent, triggering some kind of restriction deep in his mind, so that Hvin Rambis learned that his men were captured, and then he rushed here and found us... He seemed to have some understanding of the situation at the ball, and maybe he had stopped a few guests who left before and did some investigation...

Fortunately, just like when they faced the "Lawmage" Georgina, the two did not use any extraordinary abilities beyond normal in the battle, nor did they talk about any information about the Tarot Club and the Fool. The straightforward battle process also lacked passion. Herwin just listened and nodded, occasionally asking about some key details.

Angel guessed that the sinister Hwin had already sneaked into Audrey's sea of ​​consciousness, verifying whether the other party was hiding something or lying, but she did not feel that her consciousness was being spied on or modified. However, she also cooperated with the inquiry and supplemented the details about the magic mirror's psychic communication and Georgina's opinions on how to deal with Raven Dion.

"Demotion or transfer to another place... I understand." After listening to everything, Herwin nodded and said in a gentle tone, "Don't pay attention to this matter anymore. Let MI9 solve it themselves. If they ask whether they need compensation or heavier punishment, just say that everything will take its course... These are all reflections of your subconscious mind and are natural reactions."

"Ok."

Audrey responded with emotionless words, like a maid following her master's orders.

"Then it's you..." Herwin turned to Angel with a smile on his face. "I heard that you and Georgina Augustus attended the ball together tonight. You did a good job. Keep up the good work. But remember, don't keep in touch with multiple nobles at the same time. This will easily anger the possessive Duchess."

"I know. I had a similar experience in Trier."

Angel also replied in Audrey's tone, acting like an experienced "pleasure" witch.

Herwin nodded, glanced out the window, and added:

"After I leave your sight, you will forget that I have ever been here and have given you 'instructions'. You will treat all of this as your own thoughts and ignore the anomalies. You will not remember everything until you see me again."

At the same time, Angel felt a spiritual throbbing, and a conflict arose between "this is all my thought" and "someone is guiding my thoughts."

In the depths of her invisible consciousness, beside her own island of consciousness, Hvin Rambis, also wearing a black coat and trousers, and a red bow tie, appeared. He stepped onto the island casually as if he had returned to his home, with a calm expression and brisk steps.

The "manipulator" waved his arms and modified the boulders and trees on the island to represent various subconscious thoughts.

Under his command, the corresponding rocks sank into the ground, the branches and leaves of the trees stretched out and became more lush, and the subconscious they represented also changed accordingly.

Seeing that everything was completed, Herwin nodded with satisfaction. He was about to leave the Sea of ​​Consciousness and say goodbye to the two obedient and beautiful ladies in a gentlemanly manner, when he suddenly turned back in surprise.

The rocks and trees that he had just changed quietly returned to their original appearance and positions, just like...

Just like his own changes, they only acted on some kind of phantom, without affecting the entity at all. Personality mask? Secret puppet? Stand?

It should be a mirror stand-in!
Combining Christine Theresa's potion method, Herwin quickly determined that what he encountered was a "mirror double" that only witches possess after entering the demigod realm. It can completely replace their own bodies, and even their consciousness can be disguised to a certain extent.

No matter whether she concealed her strength and was the Witch of Despair, or a certain witch demigod created a corresponding substitute for her and provided her with protection, it meant that she had inadvertently stepped into a trap.

As soon as he thought about it, Hwin Rambis in his subconscious mind disappeared into the sea of ​​consciousness. In the carriage, Hwin, who had a smile on his face, froze. He looked up in astonishment and quickly glanced at Audrey, who was still a little confused, and Christine, who looked at him and seemed to have understood something.

Without the slightest hesitation, he bent his back slightly on the seat, his body visibly swelled, his eyes changed from wise blue to cold golden yellow, his pupils erected, and his face, palms, and the skin covered by his clothes grew gray-white dragon scales, which stretched out his clothes and pants, making sharp crackling sounds.

He would transform right on the spot into the symbol of the "audience" path, also known as the "dragon" path, his own incomplete mythical creature form, a dragon with wings and thick limbs!

Of course, Audrey and Christine in the carriage would undoubtedly suffer heavy damage, and the former might even lose control and die, but Hvin Rambis no longer cared about that. From the second he knew he had fallen into the trap, his only goal was to escape from here and save his life. Everything else could be put off until later.

What's more, these two women who deceived him and made him fall into the trap because of his arrogance should just die!

A hint of madness flashed across Hewin's golden eyes, but he quickly calmed it down by himself. His body gradually swelled and was about to fill the narrow carriage.

At this moment, Angel, who was sitting opposite him, rushed forward without hesitation and held down Hwin, who was transforming into a dragon, with a strength far beyond his frail body.

Then, the figures of the man and the dragon disappeared without a trace in front of Audrey, as if the scene just now was just some kind of illusion, some kind of "reflection".

Audrey also woke up at this moment. Hvin Rambis disappeared from her sight, triggering the previous "instructions", which made her forget everything Hvin said, and all the scenes from his appearance beside her to his disappearance after being held down by his companions.

"Strange... Where's Christine? I remember she left the dance with me and said she would take me home. How come she disappeared without a trace?"

She looked around and found that she was the only one in the carriage, and the familiar and reassuring figure was gone.

"Maybe she left in a hurry..."

Audrey found a reasonable reason for the other party's disappearance, and then collapsed on the sofa, as if she had just exhausted all her strength because of something.

Wait, where are my maids… They were driven by Christine to her own carriage in the back… But if that’s the case, why didn’t the maids come back when she left?
A sense of disharmony made her hesitate. It was possible that the "Queen" had forgotten about it, or that she wanted to be alone for a while and did not let the maid get in the car, but this kind of self-examination made Audrey's expression even more solemn.

This is very much like the resistance in one's heart to discovering the truth after being hypnotized or suggested!
This was a situation she had been wary of since she learned of the existence of the "manipulator" Hvin Rambis.

Could it be that Hwin had been here, made some hints, and then eliminated all traces... or maybe Miss "Queen" had already discovered something was wrong, and entered into a battle with him, and left here to prevent me from being affected?
Thoughts kept running through her mind, but they eventually came down to one idea.

"A fool who does not belong to this era..." Without any hesitation, she immediately lowered her head and closed her eyes, clasped her hands together and placed them beside her mouth, chanting the name of the god in ancient Hermetic language, "Hvin Rambis may have had contact with Miss 'Queen', but I don't remember what happened..."

She described her guess succinctly, and before she finished her words, she felt a deep red light appear before her eyes.

----

"Bam—"

The carriage was torn into pieces, and a slender figure jumped out of it. She was pulled by invisible spider silk and drew an arc in the air.

Behind her, another figure that was completely inhuman slowly grew larger, covering all the fragments of the carriage. The two gray wings on its back flapped, creating a strong wind. Its thick limbs supported its body, and its back and belly were covered with gray-white scales. Countless mysterious symbols surged above it, exuding a crazy aura.

This is the incomplete mythical creature form of Hvin Rambis, a form that only the "audience" can maintain for a long time by soothing their own emotions without losing control or mutating!
"Roar--"

Herwin, whose neck still retained his human form with gray hair but the rest of his body had become a monster, roared, and the mysterious symbols around his body rolled and danced as if boiling, pushing countless negative thoughts such as violence, depression, obsession, inferiority, etc. out of his body, letting them sweep across the earth like a storm.

This is the "mind deprivation" of the "manipulator", a large-scale attack that can easily cause mental confusion in all surrounding creatures!
As the storm that could severely damage the soul erupted in all directions, Hvin Rambis also waved his sturdy front claws, and with the propulsion of the wings behind him, he quickly approached Angel who had just fallen back to the ground from the air like a steam train, and slapped him with one claw with the dragon's strength that far exceeded that of humans.

Regardless of whether the other party was injured by "mind deprivation" or not, he was ready to beat the witch into a pulp first, or at least consume the other party's "mirror substitute"...

With a loud bang, Herwin felt a sharp pain in his palm... no, his front paw. The claw covered with gray-white scales and containing endless power seemed to be blocked by something.

His vertical pupils shrank slightly and his gaze was fixed on the front.

His front paws were slowly pushed away and lifted by the hard object below, revealing the cracked ground below. There stood a figure with a slender waist and raised arms forward. She easily withstood the falling dragon claw and even had enough strength to push it away, revealing a face shining with a steel-like metallic luster.

That's "steeled" Angel.

(End of this chapter)