Chapter 828: The Battle between the Magician and the Witch
"So, you've already dealt the Minor Arcana cards to two of your subordinates? No wonder you were so enthusiastic about this proposal at the Tarot reading four days ago..."
Picking up the black tea brewed by "Winner" Enuni, Klein took a sip elegantly and said with a chuckle.
Sitting opposite him was Angel, who was wearing a light-colored long dress. Her black hair was fixed behind her back with multiple hairpins, revealing the delicate skin of her neck and chest. This time, she did not come directly to Klein's bedroom through the mirror world, but was visiting formally as "Christine Theresa". The personal maid she brought with her was waiting outside the door. There were only two secret dolls pretending to be servants in the reception room, so the conversation between the two even touched on the secret topics of the Tarot Club.
Hearing Klein's teasing, Angel also laughed. She lowered her right leg from her left leg, and the whiteness beneath her skirt instantly attracted the attention of Klein and the two marionettes. She took out two playing cards from her handbag and placed them on the table. They were the "Queen of Pentacles" sitting on the throne, holding a star coin, and the "Queen of Scepters" holding a scepter and a sunflower.
Of course, this "Queen" has a different meaning from Angel's code name in the Tarot Club, and is more feminine in meaning, but both refer to women with positive meanings.
"One is for Sherman. She represents my forces in the East District of Backlund. Next, I will have her extricate herself from Viscount Stratford's mission as quickly as possible, develop her own Beyonder forces, and gain control of the East District, and even the situation in the neighboring Dock District, South Bridge District, and St. George District. The other is for Elaine. She currently owns the 'Redhead' and has completely digested the 'Conspirator' potion. I will find an opportunity to have her promoted to 'Reaper' so that she can create her own fleet and compete with other pirate generals."
Angel's fingers tapped on two cards in turn, drawing Klein's attention away from himself and back to the topic, introducing his own small cards.
Once this vision is achieved, "Queen" Angel will continue to maintain her transcendent status in the Tarot Club. Both her personal strength and the power of her subordinates will far exceed that of other members. Even though "Hermit" Cattleya, as the "Admiral of the Stars", also has an entire pirate fleet, her personal strength cannot match that of Angel, who is about to become the "Immortal" Witch, let alone the other members who are alone.
In fact, even The Fool has to avoid its edge... Klein muttered to himself and revealed his plan:
"I'm planning to apply for a public small card for my marionettes to use as their identities within the Tarot Club. That way, in certain collaborations where I'm not comfortable showing up myself, I can use this identity to get the marionettes involved. I can even pretend to be a marionette and blend in. Well, this is also one of the rules I've come up with for playing the role of 'The Trickster' recently. It makes it hard to tell if I'm a real person or a marionette."
As he spoke, the face of "Dwayne Dantès" sitting in front of Angel blurred for a moment, his body shape slightly changed, and his skin color darkened considerably, transforming into the personal guard "Admiral of Hell" Raphael who should have been standing beside him. Even his clothing, aided by the illusion, changed from a dark brown formal suit to a loose-fitting jacket and sturdy canvas pants worn by a servant.
At the same time, Raphael, who had been standing beside the two men as their personal bodyguard, turned into the tall and straight Dwayne Dantès. He took off his hat, which had appeared on his head at some point, and pressed it against his chest. He bowed to Angel and said in his own voice:
"Now, can you tell which one is the real me?"
Okay, okay, let’s play it this way, ok?
Angel's face darkened, his eyes moving between Raphael in front of him and Dantes standing beside him, but he couldn't tell the difference between them.
Of course, if it is in battle, Angel can immediately spread disease and cast curses, killing both the "Wizard" himself and his marionettes, and can also make them reveal flaws in pain, but in life, it is extremely difficult to distinguish the difference between the marionette and the real body without getting hurt.
After all, at the "Faceless Man" stage, the extraordinary people of this path have already become proficient in playing different identities.
And I have a feeling that no matter which answer is true, he will laugh at me. After all, the "secret doll" and the real body can be switched instantly... Angel muttered, his eyes flickering constantly, observing the expressions, demeanor and subtle movements of the master and servant, the man and the doll from various angles in the room through the various mirrors.
Suddenly, she laughed.
"I think this is your true self."
She stretched out her slender arm and pointed behind the seated "Admiral of Hell" Raphael... where stood the "Winner" Enuni, who was holding a tray, ready to refill tea for the two of them at any time.
This is not a mystical or logical inference, but an analysis of Klein's character by Angel.
Klein, who was holding his tea and trying not to laugh, uttered an inward "Huh" and silently switched places with "Raphael" on the sofa. He adjusted his body shape and appearance to avoid any flaws before speaking.
"You guessed wrong. I actually haven't moved at all."
At this time, even if your true identity is guessed, you cannot admit it!
In this kind of puzzle, the "trickster" who can exchange positions and appearances with the secret doll at any time is invincible from the beginning.
But at this moment, his spirit suddenly formed a picture behind him in his mind. Beside Enuni, a figure was outlined. It was Angel who was wearing a long skirt with a "rose necklace" swaying on her chest, highlighting the beautiful lines of her collarbone and neck.
Was she invisible next to me the whole time? And who was that person sitting on the sofa... Hmm, her spiritual connection suddenly disappeared. Was it a mirror double?
Countless thoughts flashed through Klein's mind, but when he saw Angel about to hug Enuni with his hands and his head close to the chest of the expressionless "winner", he still sighed helplessly and exchanged places with his secret doll.
Immediately, he was hugged tightly by soft hands, and Angel's moist, warm breath and triumphant laughter came to his ears:
"Am I wrong?"
"...You guessed right, I just remembered it wrong."
Klein admitted honestly, putting down the tray and carrying it back.
But the soft touch in his arms, the body temperature and fragrance that made Angel's heart beat faster, suddenly turned cold, and then turned into pieces of transparent fragments in his sight, passing through his arms, through the floor, and disappeared into the void.
Klein looked at the "mirror double" on the sofa in surprise. The spiritual lines that had just disappeared returned to this body. Amidst the chaotic lines, the corners of the "double"'s mouth curled up, revealing a bright smile.
"How do you feel, the 'Trickster' who was fooled by the same trick?"
The allure of a "witch" emanating from her smiling face made Klein immediately abandon his complaints.
This time, in the battle between the "Strange Wizard" and the "Witch of Despair", he lost convincingly.
"But, when you replaced yourself with your Stand just now, the invisible Angel next to me didn't emit any spiritual lines. How did you do that?"
Sitting back on the sofa, Klein, dressed as Dwayne Dantes again, frowned and quickly found the key to his "failure."
"Of course, it's because they're both mirror doubles. This isn't your puppet, it's just a fragment of a mirror. How could there be a 'spiritual thread'?" Angel summoned Enuni and asked him to refill his hot tea. He casually explained, "The real me is hiding in the mirror world. Your special vision can't penetrate the lens and enter the other world, so of course you can't find me."
This... When the mirror double hugged me just now, I didn't realize it was fake at all... The body temperature, body odor, and touch were all the same as a real person. In order to observe her expression, I stopped sensing the spiritual thread... Her use of the mirror double is almost at the level of a "secret doll", and it is definitely not the knowledge and ability that comes with the potion. It is completely "invented" by her in the process of digesting the potion... Klein's thoughts were a little dazed, and he once again understood Angel's terrifying fighting talent.
"Unfortunately, these Stands may look and act realistic, but they're useless in combat... I suspect that only after advancing to Sequence 3 can one grant their Stands true combat power, perhaps even making them 'real people' who are no less capable than their original selves."
Angel muttered, taking the black tea that he had cooled down to lukewarm state into his mouth and sighed with satisfaction.
"Speaking of advancing to 'Immortality'... Did your sea voyage in search of the 'Fountain of Youth' go smoothly?"
Klein picked up a crispy muffin to prevent Angel from finishing the afternoon tea snacks alone, and then asked.
"The 'Redhead' stopped at the mid-range island to replenish water and food, and set sail again this morning. For the next week, we will sail along the west side of the Raging Sea, where there is no official route, and then enter the Misty Sea, searching for the island hidden by storms and thick fog."
Angel also grabbed a piece of cat tongue biscuit and answered vaguely while chewing it.
She had spent most of her time these past few days aboard the Redhead, to prevent this sailing ship, whose highest combat power was only a Sequence 6, from encountering any danger it couldn't handle. She occasionally returned to Backlund only to appear before her butler and servants, lest the rumor of "Miss Theresa's disappearance" spread throughout the social circle.
At the same time, Klein was also playing his role as the "trickster." Apart from this failed confrontation, he would also "teleport" to various parts of the country in the dead of night to create some strange phenomena, such as three people with exactly the same appearance and clothing entering a bar together, appearing in front of drunks, or landing on a pirate ship to create a real "ghost story."
Of course, these performances either had few audiences or were not weird enough, and were not even as good as the failed "deception" in front of a demigod just now in digesting the potion in his body. They were also far inferior to the time when he turned into a paper German and scared the crew on the "Black Emperor" and talked freely in front of Nast.
I'm afraid that by the time Angel is promoted to "Immortal", I won't have much clue about my role as "Trickster", let alone the potion formula for Sequence 3 "Ancient Scholar"... Klein thought a little frustratedly, and the pancake in his hand didn't feel sweet anymore.
After comforting Klein, Angel used the magic mirror on Elaine's body in the evening to find the "Redhead Girl" which was still sailing westward, and his figure appeared in the captain's room.
Well, where are the people?
Angel looked around and found that Elaine was not beside him. He immediately made a quick "scan" of the entire ship through the mirror. Only then did he realize that Elaine, William, and even Tia, who was restricted in her movements, were not in the cabin. Instead, they were gathered at the front of the deck with all the other sailors, arguing about something around a rolled-up fishing net.
She quickly came to the deck covered by the setting sun, and as the sailors naturally parted to make way for the passage, she came to Elaine's side and asked casually:
"What's going on?"
The captain didn't need to answer. Angel's eyes were already on the fishing net and he knew the focus of the crew's discussion.
That was the extraordinary creature she had seen near the "Ruins of the God War" and the one that helped Klein become a "Master of Secret Puppets".
It was a mermaid whose body was covered with scales that sparkled in bright colors in the sun. Its lower body was shaped like a fish tail, but it gradually forked from the tail end, as if it was about to become two independent legs!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com