Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 898 The Third Traveler

After a long while, Klein sighed first.

"We should have listened to Angel just now. Everyone should have left first and then come in one by one to check out the murals. As long as one person enters, this 'Hall of Honesty' won't have any impact on them at all. But once more people come in, it will be as chaotic as the vegetable market on Iron Cross Street..."

He thought somewhat self-deprecatingly as the hall faithfully repeated his mumblings in full stereo.

"But now we don't have to worry about anything. Our secrets are no longer secrets, and it doesn't matter what we think... Except, we should quickly explore the rest. The only thing left is behind the throne of the 'Dragon of Imagination'..."

Angel almost thought of the deepest secret in his heart. Even if he thought in English this time, it would be automatically translated to others by the solidified "rules" here. Therefore, he could only quickly cover his own thoughts with another one, pointing to the huge stone pillar with a break in the middle and "thinking".

"No, there is also the top of the head. It is also flat, but there is no corresponding mural depicted there... If we consider the three powers of the 'Dragon of Imagination', the mural on the left represents 'the prophecy made will become reality', and the one on the right represents 'the kingdom of fantasy will appear in the world'. Then the remaining third one, 'the imagined objects will appear', does it correspond to the position of the palace dome?"

Klein also quickly recovered from the embarrassment of being "opened" and realized that besides Audrey knowing more about him, the other two had already known "Klein". So he turned his attention back to exploration, looking up at the two-hundred-meter-high dome and making some guesses.

"So, as long as we draw what we want on it, it will appear in front of us and become a real object? Can I draw magical objects, potions, or even the 'Imaginary Dragon' itself?"

Leonard immediately joined the discussion, with an unprecedented enthusiasm, as if he had escaped from the crisis of "becoming a secret doll" and "being put on the shelves of the Tarot Club".

"First of all, you have to be able to draw, and it can't be as bad as your own poetry, otherwise I don't know what will come out..."

Angel glanced at this "midnight poet" who once aspired to be a poet but could only buy poetry books and recite them in the end, and complained in his heart.

"The sea is all water, and the horse has four legs."

Klein's aria of suppressed laughter followed.

“This is not my poem!”

Leonard, whose expression kept changing, angrily "scolded" and looked at Klein, only to find that he was secretly glancing at Angel and not looking at him at all.

"Well, it seems that the three of them have known each other for a long time and have a good relationship, but they have not seen each other much recently, so their previous communication has gradually become natural... Are they all Tingen's 'Nighthawks'? Stop, Audrey, they will be angry, or at least embarrassed."

Audrey's words surrounded the four people in a somewhat eccentric manner.

"...I'll try painting overhead when I get a chance. Let's explore the last place first."

Feeling that if this dragged on, he would be caught in an endless inner drama, Angel took a deep breath and thought.

This suggestion was unanimously agreed by the other three. They fled from the words that kept repeating their inner thoughts behind them, and came to the broken stone pillar located in the deepest part of the temple, where the altar or statue should have been placed, and stood beside the shadow cast by the stone pillar.

A dark passage was dug downwards here. Unlike the brilliant and majestic temple, the depths of the passage were deep and quiet, and even Angel's dark vision could not penetrate it.

"Try using the 'Darkless Cross'... The light in this temple does not come from the outside world, but appears spontaneously. It should be the same here..."

Klein muttered as he took out the cross. Just as he was about to drip the blood he had prepared on it to remove the mottled rust on the surface, he discovered that a soft, pure light was emerging from the interior of the passage, dispelling the last trace of haze in the temple, as if an existing lamp had been lit.

The imagined objects will materialize...

As soon as the four of them made some guesses, their eyes were focused on the bottom of the passage, which was blocked by a pair of bronze doors. The surface of the door was covered with all kinds of complex symbols, forming chain-like patterns, "wrapped" around the door in circles, as if sealing the things inside.

Compared with the magnificent and bright temple and the majestic murals behind Angel, this strange scene is like a trace of filth on the scroll depicting miracles, which makes people feel surprised and uneasy.

The next second, the sound of banging that echoed throughout the palace came from behind the door.

Ping, ping, ping.

The four of them took a step back together, but their eyes could not move away from the bronze door. They even saw the endless darkness behind it, as if through the door covered with runes.

Bang, bang, bang.

More rapid knocking sounds were heard, and behind the door, the deep darkness began to surge, with cracks appearing in it.

Plop, plop, plop.

The noise became more frequent, and Angel suddenly realized that it was not the knocking on the door, but his own heartbeat.

But he entered Groselle's Journey in spirit form, so where did the heartbeat come from?

She woke up suddenly, and the bronze door covered with runes seemed to grow larger and filled her field of vision. No, it was not that the door grew larger, but she had arrived inside the passage and stood in front of the door without knowing when!
Her body was immediately corroded by the invisible coldness, and the pure light in the passage could not bring her a trace of warmth. A strong desire surged in her heart: push open the door and embrace the darkness inside!

At the end of her sight, cracks gradually appeared on the dark object behind the door, revealing an object covered with dark blue cracks inside.

Those are densely packed eyes!
Angel woke up with a start and activated the mirror double without hesitation. The figure that was about to reach out to touch the door was shattered into countless black fragments under the gaze of the eyes behind the door. The real Angel appeared at the back, facing the other three people, and left the passage that seemed warm but was actually cold.

Coming back to her senses, she noticed that the other three companions were also staring at the bronze door deep in the passage, their expressions dull but with a hint of longing, and their feet had already taken steps without them noticing.

Among them, Klein, who was holding the "Darkless Cross", walked the furthest ahead. The rust on the cross in his hand had peeled off at some point, and a light suddenly shone, but it was unable to purify the power that attracted everyone. The other two followed closely behind him, their movements stiff but extremely determined as they walked downwards.

The higher the sequence, the easier it is to be attracted by the power behind the door? This guess popped up in Angel's mind, but he didn't have time to think about it. He stretched out his arms and hugged Klein directly, and fell towards the other two. With the sound of the mirror shattering, he directly pressed the three people into the "mirror world".

Pressed into the world created by "Groselle's Travels", deep in the collective subconscious of all imaginary characters, the mirror world of the dragon's "City of Miracles".

……

Klein's eyes went dark, and the invisible attraction was instantly cut off. The "Spirit Bug" in his body that had its own thoughts and tried to break free from its restraints also calmed down a little, allowing him to come back to his senses.

The "No Dark Cross" in his hand was instantly covered with mottled rust, and the light disappeared. The surroundings fell into deep darkness, and he was held in front of Angel and fell backwards.

It's the "world in the mirror"... I'm afraid this can't stop that power...

He had an inner realization, and the moment he got rid of the fatal attraction and gained freedom, his spirit suddenly expanded, and like a giant translucent hand, it tightly grasped Angel in front of him and Audrey and Leonard behind him, and then directly ended his "summoning" of himself.

This was the "contingency plan" he had made before exploring "Groselle's Travels". He used the power of the gray fog to summon himself, allowing his spirit to come to the Gray Fog Palace, and then enter the world in the book through the blood of the four people, maintaining his spirit state.

In this way, if a problem that cannot be solved arises, he can use his spirit to wrap and carry the other three people, then end the summons to himself and return to the gray fog in an instant.

Of course, although Klein was extremely confident about this, he didn't breathe a sigh of relief until his spirit body passed through the gray fog and came to the bronze table. The coldness on his body slowly faded away, and the "spiritual worm" in his body completely calmed down.

I didn't expect that the bronze door was so strange. I was attracted by it at a glance and couldn't even think of escaping... If Angel hadn't reacted in time, we might have stepped into that door and been trapped inside...

He thought with some fear as he swept his eyes around the long bronze table and counted three figures that were shrouded in gray fog as if being "anti-virus" and gradually became clearer.

Fortunately, the "grey fog" power I control can fight this kind of "pollution". Otherwise, even if we escape from the world in the book, I'm afraid there will be more abnormalities...hiss, gather your thoughts, gather your thoughts...

He looked around nervously, then realized that he was no longer in the "Hall of Honesty".

Fortunately, no one thought of the Fool just now. Even when I used my own honorific name to distract attention, I acted naturally enough. Otherwise, if someone's "thoughts" involved the Fool, I would definitely think of related things involuntarily, and directly expose my identity...

Klein recalled his experience of social death in the Hall of Honesty with fear. He glanced at the Queen Angel and found that she had recovered from the brief delay from passing through the gray fog, and so had the other two.

But the three of them looked at each other with lingering fear, their expressions tense and their lips tight, they had not yet relaxed from the "open heart" state just now, and strange thoughts were probably popping up in their minds.

"Are you guys okay?"

Klein "thought" naturally, and then realized that he had to speak here to let others know what he was thinking.

Fortunately, other people also had similar "symptoms", and it took a lot of effort to refocus on the last bronze door they saw.

The four of them first confirmed with each other that they had all felt the "attraction" of the power behind the door, as well as the feeling of spiritual loss of control and physical collapse in their bodies, and then began to discuss the intention of "Dragon of Imagination" Angerweed to seal this power into "Groselle's Travels".

"Perhaps He did not intentionally leave this power in the book. After all, judging from the murals, the Dragon of Imagination hopes that the book will meet the feather pen according to His plan, and this requires eliminating any unexpected factors... Sealing this power will bring too many unexpected things."

Angel analyzed, frowning.

"Unless this power, or an item containing this power, is extremely important to Him, once the book and the quill meet, the seal will be lifted, and this power will return to reality, producing changes that are beneficial to Him."

As an official Beyonder, Leonard instinctively thought in the direction of some powerful item that should be sealed.

"But He has fallen... Well, what I mean is that the Fantasy Dragon may not have left this thing in the book world out of his own will, but this world was created by Him, and the collective subconscious will also be affected by His spirit and emotions. Deep in the heart of the Fantasy Dragon, he has a shadow or fear of some extremely terrible things, which is also reflected in the "City of Miracles" in the book... He can't overcome his inner shadow, so he can only seal it to prevent it from polluting the consciousness of other creatures and causing the collapse of the entire world in the book."

Audrey analyzed the audience's approach to the gods from a psychological perspective.

"Angelwede hid it behind the throne, buried it deep in the bottom of the temple, and sealed it with a bronze door. This may mean that the power that "He" fears comes from underground?" Klein agreed with the analysis of "fearful things" and took over the conversation, "This 'Imagination Dragon' built a floating city as a kingdom of God. Could it be that he was subconsciously afraid of things underground and tried to stay away from the ground?"

Hearing the words "underground" and "pollution", Angel thought of what Arrodes had said when he introduced the "source essence". The ancient gods believed that the pollution in the ground came from a certain source essence, and the man in his mirror also mentioned that these source essences were sealed inside the western continent. Once the power was released, it would be more powerful than the real gods.

Being feared by the ancient gods and coming from underground, it can’t really be the “source”…

Everyone discussed for a while, and considering that staying in the gray fog for too long could easily lead to accidents in reality, they all expressed their gratitude to Mr. Fool, who was not present at the moment, and then left this space.

The figure of "World" Klein was also simultaneously enveloped by the crimson light along with the other three people, but he did not return to reality. Instead, he reappeared on the high-back chair belonging to "The Fool".

He first placed the "Darkless Cross" in the "junk pile" behind the chair, separating it from other items so that he wouldn't have to look at the ownerless items all over the floor the next day. Then he took a deep breath, relaxed his whole body, slumped down in the high-back chair, emptied his mind, and discarded information such as "Dragon of Imagination", "King of Angels", Adam and Amon. With the help of spirituality, he recalled the few short words he had just heard in the "Hall of Honesty".

To confirm, he also did a dream divination and went back to the "City of Miracles" Levished in the book world ten minutes ago and listened to Angel's inner monologue again beside her.

Although the accent was somewhat different from the "standard English" he had learned in his memory, and the speaking speed was so fast that it was almost inaudible because it was in his mind and not restricted by pronunciation, Klein was very sure that it was English.

He left the dream, his eyes passing through the long bronze table in front of him, looking outside the majestic palace, and landing on the glorious staircase deep in the gray fog and the light gate in the air.

Three of the cocoons hanging there had broken, and the "travelers" inside had been released into the real world. One of them was definitely Roselle, the other was naturally himself, and the third one...

Could it be Angel Granger?
(End of this chapter)