Chapter 304 Analysis
How come these "witches of joy" always manage to be so naturally charming in their every move... Should I learn from them?
A strange thought flashed through Angel's mind, and then he shook his head quickly and continued:
"First, let's consider the whereabouts of the 'demigod' you mentioned, the 'Lady of Despair' of the Witch Cult. According to Sylvia, she should be returning to Backlund in early December to participate in some 'grand plan.'"
Hearing this, the smile on Laura's face disappeared instantly.
"Early next month... it's about the same as what I heard. After verifying both, I should be able to confirm the accuracy of the information," she murmured, folding her arms across her chest, not caring at all that the front of her robe was pushed open, revealing a sliver of white on her chest. "Then the Witch Cult's secret plot should reach a critical stage by the end of the year."
Her lake blue eyes looked at Angel through the mirror and the spirit world.
"Last night, Vincent attended Prince Edsac's ball, and he said he saw you there."
"This is all Sylvia's mission," Angel said without hiding what happened last night. "She asked me to get close to a 'witch'. I might even be responsible for monitoring her in the future. This witch is the prince's mistress."
Angel selectively told Laura about Triss, which may very well involve the subsequent arrangements of the Witch Cult. Laura might be able to analyze something.
"They've even planted people around the prince. They're really bold. Don't they know that the royal family has more than one demigod?"
Laura sneered at first, then suddenly frowned, thought for a moment and asked hesitantly:
"Is it possible that the royal family also knows about this and is actually cooperating with the Witch Cult?"
"Cooperation? The royal family, the witch cult, and the Aurora Society are collaborating to traffic in their own country's people?"
Angel subconsciously wanted to refute, but suddenly remembered the several Beyonders of the "Arbitrator" Path who had appeared in the mansion of the human trafficker Kapin. One of them was even a Sequence 6, who also possessed a powerful magical item. And according to the internal records of the Church of Evernight, this Path was controlled by the Loen royal family, the Augustus family.
Since the murder of Capin was a secret between her and Sherlock, Angel could only tell Laura this fact vaguely, and then the two fell into a brief silence.
"It seems our previous suspicions about the Witch Cult collaborating with the Backlund nobles are quite plausible. Perhaps even more so, they're colluding directly with the royal family... But what role did the royal family play in this? Was it simply to violate their own ban and continue using cheap slaves?"
"It's up to you to find the truth. Didn't you say you had a lot of information channels?"
"Of course, I will ask those close 'friends' about this. You should also continue to pay attention to this news within the sect."
There was a hint of ambiguity in Laura's tone, which made Angel wonder what kind of relationship she had with the "friend" she mentioned.
"One last thing," Angel said, noticing that the other party seemed to be about to end the conversation, and quickly stopped the Pleasure Witch, who was well-versed in mysticism. "Do you know of any methods that can suddenly change a person's temperament, so that they completely forget what they were saying just a moment ago?"
She told Laura about the strange phenomenon that occurred when Triss was alone with her at the ball. Laura frowned and thought for a moment, then replied:
"This first made me think of the extraordinary ability of the 'audience' pathway. They can use psychological suggestion, even psychological manipulation, to modify the target's subconscious mind and set a certain 'boundary'. Once the other party's behavior crosses this boundary, the subconscious mind will immediately terminate the behavior. If no one reminds you, it is difficult for you to realize the existence of this 'boundary'.
"But to manipulate a Sequence 7 witch without her even realizing it..."
"Sequence 6, Triss is likely already the Witch of Pleasure." Angel interjected.
"That would be even more difficult. Perhaps a high-sequence Beyonder would be needed to accomplish this. I only know that the Psychological Alchemist Society possesses such Beyonders."
Laura immediately changed her words.
"Another method is powerful magical items. Just like Beyonders, to silently influence a Sequence 6 Beyonder, leaving her completely powerless to resist, a powerful item with at least demigod-level Beyonder characteristics is needed to accomplish this." Laura looked at Angel's empty fingers. "For example, your ring is clearly just a mid-Sequence magical item. It can deceive Beyonders of the same sequence, but it can be easily seen through by higher-sequence Beyonders. Some resentful spirits with closer communication with the spirit world, and even some lower-sequence Beyonders that are not within its deception range, can detect the flaw."
Angel subconsciously touched his fingers and then remembered that he was not wearing the "Frenzy Ring" today.
But Laura's words immediately reminded her of how she had revealed her true identity in front of "Justice" Audrey.
The other party lavishly raises a supernatural creature, a dog that has taken the "audience" potion!
If what Laura said was true, then this "audience dog" who was not within the scope of the "Ring of Madness" would easily see through her disguise and have enough intelligence to tell its master about these discoveries.
As for the "demigod-level magical item" mentioned by Laura, Angel immediately thought of the sealed item "0-08" that had played a group of night watchmen in Tingen City at his fingertips.
Although the church's internal documents did not clearly describe the origin of the "0" level seals, Angel believed that they were at least on the same level as the high-sequence Beyonder characteristics.
If Ince Zangwill had deep cooperation with the Witch Cult, then it would make sense for him to help them use "0-08" to control Triss. This "arrangement" would only make the other party feel that it was a coincidence, and it would be difficult for them to realize that there was an external force interfering with her.
Of course, it wasn't entirely certain that Zangwill and "0-08" were behind the action. Angel thought again of the strange sapphire ring on Triss's left pinky finger. The light that had terrified her still lingered in her mind. If there was anything besides "0-08" that could control Triss, it would have to be this...
While Angel was thinking, the communication potion on the ice mirror had almost completely evaporated. The same should be true for Laura. The latter reached out and gently stroked the mirror surface, saying:
"Contact is about to be cut off. The next communication is scheduled for a week from now. Of course, if there is an emergency, you can always contact me." After a pause, she added, "You must be careful not to let Severia find out. And don't try to get close to that 'demigod'. Your poor acting skills wouldn't last even a minute in front of her."
"It's rare that you're worried about me."
Angel replied with a smile.
"Heh, I don't just treat you as a pawn."
Before the image on the ice mirror disappeared, Laura's words, tinged with loneliness, were heard.
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On Saturday morning, after receiving a notice from Mr. Fool, Angel quickly set up a simple altar in the basement, drew the "Eye without Pupil" and the "Twisted Line", chanted the Fool's honorable name, and made the illusory door representing Him appear above the altar.
Behind the open door was endless darkness, thick gray fog floating in it, and a magnificent ancient palace.
Angel lowered his head, raised his hands reluctantly, and handed the neatly stacked 500 pounds in bills to the door, handing it to Mr. Fool through a "sacrifice ceremony".
With a "clang", the illusory door closed and disappeared, and the huge sum of 500 pounds in Angel's hand also disappeared.
On the simple altar in front of her, a silver necklace appeared. Below the thin chain hung a bright red gem that looked as if it had been soaked in blood.
That was a magical item made by the craftsman contacted by the Hanged Man, using the extraordinary characteristic of "Shepherd".
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