Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 883 Promotion Ceremony
The "Black Emperor" is the pinnacle of the "Lawyer" path, Sequence 0, and the only true God.

To become a true "Black Emperor", a "Prince of Order-killing" needs to collect the extraordinary characteristics of two other Sequence 1s, obtain the "uniqueness" of this path, and then own a country of his own, become a true "Emperor", establish a unique order and rules, and on this basis, build nine mausoleums and take the potion at a national sacrificial ceremony.

This is the knowledge that Mr. Fool once revealed. Angel also got the same information from Bernadette, the eldest daughter of Roselle Gustav who once tried to be promoted to the "Black Emperor". It can be basically determined to be true.

Among them, the "nine mausoleums" is undoubtedly the most eye-catching point compared to the other somewhat vague conditions.

Therefore, the nine "ruins" in Angel's mind that were scattered throughout the northern continent and the surrounding seas quickly reminded her of the "Black Emperor's" apotheosis ceremony. Once her mind turned to this, various pieces of evidence emerged from the depths of her memory:

In recent years, King George III has been issuing various reform laws, such as repealing the Corn Laws, weakening the power of the traditional landed aristocracy, and allowing the emerging aristocracy, factory owners, and bankers to gradually control the House of Commons. After the "Great Smog", the nobles who donated were allowed to enter the House of Lords, which further achieved this goal...

Through the unified government employee examination, the intellectuals among the people are tied to the government and the country...

Let the three major churches intervene in the military and weaken the military power indirectly controlled by the nobles...

With Backlund as the source, the Kingdom of Loen has learned from Intis to build a modern sewer system in the past decade or so, and took the opportunity to demolish quite a number of ancient buildings and build new buildings in a completely different style from the past...

As the king of Loen, he automatically had an entire kingdom of his own, and at the same time, he became the emperor of the Balam Empire through colonization, which perfectly matched the ceremony...

The most important thing is that Angel had just learned from Bernadette not long ago that the "Arbitrator" owned by the Loen royal family can be exchanged with the channel where the "Black Emperor" is!

By the way, Bernadette also frequently came to Backlund. She must have guessed something. If George III tried to become the "Black Emperor", she would be the most anxious. That would mean the complete fall of Russell Gustav...

Angel's mind was filled with thoughts, and she quickly came up with an answer that she could hardly believe:
George III, who is not even a demigod on the surface and is controlled by the three major churches, is likely preparing for the ceremony to become the "Black Emperor"!

This means that he has already become a Sequence 1, or he is confident of being promoted to Sequence 1 in the near future, which is why he excavated the ruins with great fanfare and used it as his own mausoleum, not caring even about being suspected by the three major churches...

"Who can enter those ruins?"

While thinking, Angel continued to ask Catalina.

She thought she would be affected by the "secret", but she didn't expect the other party to answer very straightforwardly:
"I've only been to the ruins near Backlund. There are many workers responsible for excavation in the shallow area, as well as the army monitoring them. But the deep layer can only be entered by King George III, several demigods and angels of the royal family."

Several angels... As expected, a family that has been able to rule Loen for thousands of years under the control of the three major churches cannot have no angels at all. The three major contracts only restrict the king himself from becoming a demigod. Other family members can use the huge national power to improve their own sequence... Angel frowned and asked:

"Who specifically?"

She had noticed that except for the core secrets about the "Black Emperor", other information was not within the scope of "secret keeping", so she began to knock on the key issues.

"William Augustus, the 'Protector' William I who has survived to the present day in the Fourth Epoch, is the Sequence 1 'Hand of Order' of the Arbitrator; Drinker Augustus, the Sequence 2 'Balancer', and the other saints include Grove and Georgina..."

Catalina told Angel calmly about all the royal family members she had met. Her cooperative attitude made Angel suspect that she had been possessed by some extraordinary ability such as "charm".

Seeing this, she simply tried to ask some more important questions again:

"To what extent has the most important relic been built? Can it be put into use immediately?"

"I don't know. There are still workers coming in and out of the deepest part. Maybe some work is not yet completed...Qonas Kilger, the deputy director of MI9, is responsible for sending the collected workers and materials to the deepest part. He also led me in and out. Perhaps, apart from the royal family members, he is the only one who knows the progress of the project."

Katerina answered cooperatively.

Qiunas... It seems that we can't avoid this military demigod...

Angel nodded and asked:
"In addition to anti-divination and anti-prophecy, what other defense measures does the ruins have? Is it possible to enter through other methods? For example, 'mirror passage', 'teleportation'?"

Catalina chuckled and answered with some girlish innocence:
"If it were that simple, the three major churches would have discovered the problem long ago. The royal family has mastered the power of 'Order' and 'Distortion', and the original arrangement of 'Blood Emperor' Tudor made it impossible to enter these ruins through conventional means. Moreover, as the renovation was completed, the ruins have been closed one by one. Even if you know the location, you can't find them."

No wonder the "Sword of the Goddess" led people to search the outskirts of Backlund for two months but found nothing... Angel sighed and suddenly thought of a question:
“Even if the church can’t find out, what about their true God?”

Especially the Steam Church. After the death of Emperor Roselle, they demolished his eight tombs. How could they not know about the deification ceremony of the "Black Emperor"?

"Oh, gods and the church are not necessarily the same at times. What they know may not be told to their believers through oracles, and those believers may not serve their gods wholeheartedly..."

Katerina replied with a smile on her face.

And this sentence also made Angel frown tightly.

If what she said was correct, it meant that the gods, especially the three righteous gods of the Kingdom of Loen, were probably expecting George III to become the new "Black Emperor"? Was their goal to completely bury Roselle, whose mausoleum still existed, or was it to try to win over a new god out of the idea of ​​"investment"?
The three major churches below can only find clues on their own. Even if they know George III's plan, they may not be able to stop it with all their strength...

In addition, Catalina seemed to have something else in her words. When she talked about the inequality between "gods and believers", did it also include herself and the "original witch"?
Angel's frown slowly relaxed and he suddenly laughed.

"It seems that you are cooperating with my inquiries today." She said in a teasing tone.

"I can't help it. Tracy is in your hands. Among my few descendants who are still alive, she is the only one who has the best hope of becoming a demigod."

This is at least a plausible reason... Angel nodded and continued to ask:
"So, when will Quinas and Viscount Stratford be out of your protection during the next week?"

If Katarina is really like what she said, she should...

"Any time."

As Angel expected, the "ageless" witch answered in a brisk tone.

As expected... She was selling out George III... Not only did she provide all the information that was not "secret", she also gave up the protection of key figures. In the eyes of the royal family, the "Witch Cult" turned its back on them after getting the Beyonder Characteristics... Angel thought with some amusement, pointed to the south, and said:

"Tracy will live, but you can only approach the South Continent after daybreak, otherwise I cannot guarantee her safety."

Catalina suppressed the smile on her face and nodded.

Then, without waiting for the other party to say more, Angel let go of his control over the "mirror world" and entered the winding passage extending into the distance on his own, leaving the uninhabited deserted island.

Catalina, wearing a white robe with the hem fluttering in the wind, stood there with flickering eyes, wondering what she was thinking.

But the next moment, a mirror made of ice appeared under her feet. The "immortal" witch who had lived for thousands of years lowered her head and bent over like a child, secretly entered the ice mirror, and looked into the deep world in the mirror.

Below her, deep in the hazy fog, something seemed to be attracting her, making her want to completely drill into the mirror, travel downward, and reach the place where no witch dared to go deep.

After a while, Katarina got up again, stood up straight, and looked at the ground with her blue eyes, looking at the slowly melting ice mirror.

"Sure enough, she has mastered that power and the 'mirror world'..."

----

"Now, if your mother tried to come here, she would be intercepted by Miss Angelica, the 'Golden Queen' on the way. You wouldn't have been secretly looking at the sea, waiting for her, right?"

As Elaine spoke, Tracy's face grew paler. She subconsciously looked toward the north, but apart from the crimson moon and the calm sea, there was no movement as she expected.

"You even took two demigods into account, just to capture me alive?"

She finally closed her eyes, trying her best to keep a calm expression.

But Elaine could truly feel the anger and regret hidden beneath the calmness of this bound "pain" witch, as well as a hint of... pain and despair.

Is it because of me?

Elaine's heart tightened a little. She didn't want to look at Tracy anymore. Instead, she told Sherman to keep an eye on her. She took out the potion materials she had prepared long ago, put the "Reaper" that looked like a sharp piece of obsidian, and the auxiliary materials into a small metal cup, and summoned flames in her hands to heat these materials. She watched them boil quickly, tumbling and emitting bubbles, and soon became a cup of blood-like liquid with black spots floating on it, like sharp iron fragments.

Finally, Elaine took a last look at Tracy, who was restrained by Sherman with a dagger and had opened her eyes at some point and looked at her in surprise. She took a deep breath, raised the cup, and drank the hot liquid in one gulp.

The smell of rust and blood immediately filled Elaine's nostrils. The hot liquid medicine like magma rolled into her abdomen, causing her to feel severe pain all over her body and her brain to become confused. It was as if she was on a battlefield. The sounds of painful roars, the collision of swords, and the roar of guns were endless in her ears. It seemed like an illusion, but it was also very real.

The imaginary battlefield soon became real. She found herself in it, surrounded by a small number of friendly forces whose figures she could not see clearly, and fought with endless enemies.

Fire crows, flaming spears, and fireballs condensed into incandescent state exploded one after another. As the enemies continued to fall, Elaine felt her spiritual power gradually drying up. Sweat covered her entire body, and it seemed as if there was a flame in her chest that was about to burst out of her body.

At this moment, a tall figure stood in front of Elaine, as strong as a fire giant and terrifying.

Is this the end? Was it because I wasn't well prepared and couldn't make it through the ceremony and successfully advance...

Elaine looked around and found that the "enemies" and "comrades" had disappeared without a trace. Just as she was feeling a little depressed, she heard a familiar voice:

"Elaine, you were just completing the Ascension Ceremony? You fucking used me to digest the potion and complete the ritual? Let me go, I'm going to kill her!"

That was Tracy's cry, which clearly came from the giant in front of her, but it was distant and empty, and contained faint resentment, regret and despair.

It turns out it's Tracy's incarnation... I beat her in real life, and here too!
Elaine suddenly realized something, and gathered the last of her spiritual energy, allowing white flames to surge up from her body again. It transformed into a flaming spear, rising from the ground and directly piercing through the "Tracy" in front of her.

(End of this chapter)