Chapter 687: "Petrification" Spell
"Tsk, it's a little too sweet. You can ask them to add some chocolate to balance it out."
Behind the mirror, a clear but slightly childish voice came from the stroller, commenting bluntly on the ice cream that Angel had bought at a high price and sent across half the city to his, or rather his mother's, mouth.
"Okay, I'll pay attention next time," Angel replied, suppressing his laughter, and then got to the point. "I'm back from Trier. The whole process was tortuous, but I was lucky."
"It can be seen that you have gained a lot, but because of this, your destiny has been somewhat deviated."
The "Snake of Fate" spoke slowly, and the stroller turned slightly so that the child inside was facing Angel. The latter could feel a line of sight looking at her through the mirror, seeing her clearly from the inside out.
A shift in fate... I remember, "He" once commented on Klein in this way. That time, it was because of our trip to the island where we met "Adam," the Angel King... Angel pondered and asked nervously, "What are you talking about?"
"Can you figure out what exactly caused this?"
While asking the question, her mind flashed through the captured "people in the mirror", the "Black Witch" Clarisse whom she met in the Red House Cafe, the "Iron Knight" Syrio Soren who died at her hands, Benoit Gustav who escaped the disaster by chance because she stepped into the trap in advance, and the new rune she found in Trier in the Fourth Epoch.
After much thought, the only things that could possibly affect her fate were the angel Bonova and the runes related to the pollution of Trier in the Fourth Epoch. However, she was more inclined to...
"Could it be that..."
She subconsciously opened her mouth to ask, but before she could finish, Will Auceptin in the stroller cried out "Wow", blocking all her subsequent questions.
Based on their previous conversation, Angel concluded that this angel, extremely sensitive to fate, was probably reluctant to discuss the topic, or perhaps wary of the intertwining of "fate" that would arise from this incident. This also indirectly suggested that her suspicions were likely correct. The shift in her fate was due to the acquisition of a new rune, and perhaps even a closer connection to that power...
When the baby's crying, which filled the entire bathroom but strangely didn't leave the room, stopped, Angel wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead and changed the subject:
"I want to know how to more efficiently utilize the power contained in my blood. Directly using it to draw spells seems to be a superficial and inefficient method."
"The blood of any living being is a material rich in spirituality, and this is especially true of Beyonders. Some of their Beyonder characteristics will dissolve into their blood, giving it certain special properties. This allows it to track and curse the original body, or be used as material for various rituals."
Will Auceptin's voice was still clear, as if the crying just now was just Angel's hallucination.
"After ascending to demigod status, Beyonders gain their own divinity, which imbues their blood with the same power. Of course, depending on the path taken, the way this incomplete divinity gathers varies. Some are insects, some are scales, but most are blood. This is also true for witches and hunters...
"You can draw spells directly with blood to utilize its power, but most of it will dissipate and fail to have the desired effect. You can try to collect the blood first, pray to yourself, concentrate the power within, and create a truly extraordinary material. However, the prerequisite is that you can tolerate the temporary loss of this power, otherwise it is likely to cause loss of control."
Pray to yourself... Angel's eyes lit up, and she thought of when she was in Trier in the Fourth Epoch. In order to communicate with Syrio, she changed the object of prayer from the goddess to herself, so that she could borrow power from the place where the connection with the spirit world was weak and successfully communicate with the spirit.
This is like a circulation of my own power. In this case, blood is merely a medium, not a carrier of power. It can accommodate more power, but because of this, excessive use is equivalent to directly reducing my own power. For me, a demigod who needs to constantly suppress incomplete mythical creature forms, this increases the risk of losing control... She understood something and bowed slightly to the mirror.
"Thank you for your help."
As for how to pray and how to concentrate the blood, as a witch, she could think of many methods and there was no need to trouble this "Snake of Fate" anymore.
"This is a thank you gift for your ice cream," the voice in the stroller replied, intermittent sucking sounds mingling with it. It was unclear whether it was enjoying this "gift" in its mother's womb. "But unlike me, you'd better not treat this power as a burden-free 'gift'. All gifts from fate are secretly marked with a price. Only when you pay for it will you know how expensive it is."
So I have always been very careful and tried not to use this power, but I always feel that it is not me who is chasing this power, but this power, this "gift" that is chasing me...
Angel sighed, nodded, and changed the subject:
"Do you know anything about the 'ageless' witch?"
"Do you mean the potion's recipe, ingredients, or something else?"
Will Auceptin asked back, as if he meant something.
"The secret of their 'resurrection'."
Angel confessed.
Although she acted indifferent in front of Klein, she actually cared deeply about Leonard's words, especially the mirror fragments she found in her coffin, which gave her some very bad thoughts.
"In the world of mysticism, resurrection from the dead is rare, but not impossible. My reappearance in the world as a newborn is a kind of 'restart,' a kind of 'resurrection.' Other paths also have similar methods at different stages. Some use their past selves to be resurrected, some use their spirit bodies to be reborn, and some... use their own substitutes to be resurrected in the mirror world."
"Using a substitute to resurrect, rather than the real body hiding in the mirror world, the outside world is just a substitute?"
Angel demanded.
"It depends on how you look at it. The resurrection of the 'Immortal' witches is very special. They seem to hide their true selves in the mirror world. As long as their true selves remain undiscovered and alive, their substitutes in the outside world will be endless... But I think this is just a disguise. The real witch should still be the one in the real world. Every time they die, although they can be resurrected in the mirror world, they face the risk of their spirits and Beyonder characteristics being torn apart, and even the risk of losing control.
"Perhaps this is why high-ranking witches go crazy."
At this point, Will Auceptin in the stroller chuckled, not knowing who he was laughing at.
This is exactly what I am worried about. If I am just an unknowing "mirror double", and the real body is secretly watching my every move in the mirror world, treating me as a double that can be abandoned at any time, that would be too scary... Angel pursed his lips and felt a little relieved.
But just as Leonard didn't completely believe Klein's words, she also didn't fully trust the explanation of this "Snake of Fate". This was not because she was worried that Will Auceptin would deceive her, but because this angel might not know the secrets of all the paths and could only rely on her own experience and knowledge to make inferences.
But anyway, this also suggests a possible direction...
"Thanks again for your help."
She expressed her gratitude sincerely.
"If you really want to thank me, please don't bother me so often. Well, it's mainly because of my mother. She has become addicted to sweets and has become fat because of me."
The answer coming from the stroller behind the mirror made Angel laugh, and he turned his head to avoid being noticed by the other party.
"I'll prepare some less sweet ice cream, but in Loen, where people have a sweet tooth, this might be difficult."
"Then please don't bother me during this period. After I'm born, you can bear the 'fate' of Sweetie alone."
I understand, you want to have it all to yourself... Angel pursed his lips and nodded, then he found that the wash mirror in front of him had returned to normal, the baby carriage inside had disappeared without a trace, and only his own figure was left in the middle, looking over here expressionlessly, as if observing the outside world from inside the mirror.
Her heart trembled, and she looked at the mirror again, only to find that it was just her face that was forcing a smile.
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"Dear Anne Gustave, I am writing to you instead of communicating with you through the contract because I exhausted the power of the mark in a battle last week.
"You should have sensed something at the time, otherwise you wouldn't have transferred your power through the contract. This helped me defeat an 'Iron Knight' and 'Man in the Mirror,' and indirectly helped an old friend you may know, Bonois Gustave...
"...This is the general course of the battle. If the 'Queen of Mystery' Bernadette is still by your side, please convey my regards to her and my question: Does she know anything about the power Syrio Soren wields? Is there any way to break the 'Secret Keeping' power that the leader of the 'Man in the Mirror' has restricted all his subordinates?
"In Trier in the Fourth Epoch, I obtained a new method for crafting spells. After consulting another angel, I concentrated my power and crafted a more powerful 'Disaster' spell. I want to say that you can always ask me to fulfill the terms of the contract. Of course, it depends on your own wishes.
"Finally, Nast, the 'King of the Five Seas,' will soon be hosting his annual pirate convention. My guess is that I, the current owner of the 'Queen Anne's Revenge,' will likely be invited. The same applies to the 'Mysterious Queen.' Regardless of whether you're interested in attending, please include your answer in your reply."
After folding the letter and putting it into the envelope, Angel took a look at the new talisman on the desk.
It is purple-red in appearance. Although it is made of iron, it has a translucent, gem-like color, somewhat similar to Angel's eyes.
This was a spell she had drawn after collecting hundreds of milliliters of blood, concentrating it through a complex ritual, and concentrating her own power. It was not the previous "disaster" or "betrayal", but was made with the new runes she discovered in Trier in the Fourth Epoch.
Although the power had not been tested, Angel could roughly determine its effect based on divination and spiritual intuition.
This is a "petrification" spell.
There's no doubt that everything from "Resurrection" to "Disaster" to "Petrification" stems from the High-Sequence Power of the Witch's Path. On the island we explored with Klein and Alger, we encountered the power that could transform people into stone statues, and it was likely derived from the power of "Immortality"...
Carefully stroking the talisman, feeling the warm touch of the crystal purple-red talisman, Angel sighed softly, simply arranged the altar, and summoned the headless messenger Renette Tinicole.
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