By the time Leonard reacted, towering stone pillars had appeared before his eyes. They stood above the endless gray-white mist, supporting a magnificent palace that looked like a giant's residence.
His green eyes were blank. After a second of silence, Leonard realized that he had sat down beside an ancient, mottled bronze table. Beside and opposite him were high-backed chairs that gave off a sense of majesty and solemnity.
At the top of the mottled long table, a figure was shrouded in thick gray fog, leaning back in a chair leisurely, as if looking down at everything in the world.
As soon as this figure came into Leonard's sight, he felt as if he had boarded a passenger ship, facing the abyss of the sea with no visible edge or bottom, or as if he had walked out of the city, came to the suburbs, and looked up at the towering mountains that reached the clouds.
In an instant, thoughts flashed through Leonard's mind, and he had a rough guess about his own situation. As an extraordinary person in the church and a believer who firmly believed in the real existence of gods, he could not resist the feelings in his heart, and subconsciously left his seat to worship the existence in front of him.
The power of gods is like mountains and seas!
Leonard just stood up, but was pushed back by an invisible force. Then a low and calm voice replied to his ears:
“Don’t bother.
"You can call me Mr. Fool."
Fool... As expected... Leonard's heart, which had been afraid of the unknown, suddenly calmed down. Although he was still worried about what would happen next, he was no longer so nervous, restless, and his mouth was no longer dry.
He half stood up, put his hand on his chest, bowed and said:
"Dear Mr. Fool, why did you summon me?"
As a "Night Watcher" with many years of experience and a "Red Glove" who has participated in many major cases, Leonard knows how dangerous it is to establish a connection with a secret entity. He understands that he has begun to slide down from the edge of the abyss and there is no chance of being saved.
The moment he decided to recite the name of The Fool, he could foresee the tragic ending, but for the sake of revenge, he made the choice regardless.
However, everyone has the instinct to survive. Thinking that Klein Moretti, who believed in The Fool, was not only still alive but had even become a demigod, Leonard couldn't help but have a little expectation and hope.
At this time, he heard the Fool shrouded in gray fog chuckle:
"Since you asked me for help, then according to the principle of equal exchange, you must give something in return."
Leonard trembled and lowered his head:
"What do you want?"
After a short interval, the voice of The Fool sounded again:
“Don’t worry, maybe I’ll let you do something in the future to help some people.
"Sit down."
Leonard slowly breathed a sigh of relief, sat down, looked around and said:
"Has he, Klein Moretti, also been here like me?"
The Fool in the gray fog said without much ups and downs:
“A different approach.”
A different way... As expected, Klein did not enter here by reciting the Honorable Name. He became a follower of Mr. Fool by accepting the guidance of Azik Eggers, the Archon of Death... Leonard couldn't help but look around again and found that there were a total of twenty-two high-backed chairs around the mottled long table.
Corresponding to the twenty-two extraordinary paths, or twenty-two tarot cards... "The Fool"... Leonard had just guessed when he heard Mr. Fool chuckle and say:
“Besides you, there are other creatures who were pulled in here for various reasons.
"They begged me to convene regular gatherings to exchange information, buy and sell materials, trade formulas, and help each other. This will help them quickly improve and become high-sequencers."
This is a little different from the secret organization codenamed after Tarot cards that I imagined. It is relatively loose... What is Mr. Fool's purpose in agreeing to such a request? After arriving at this ancient palace above the gray fog, Leonard's spirit has been highly tense, making his mind more agile than normal, and he thought of many problems.
After his successful revenge, he was actually depressed and empty for a while, as if he had lost his life goal, but he soon cheered up because Daly's death told him that he was not strong enough. If he wanted to reduce the number of casualties among his companions in future missions and no longer be without the ability to save them, he had to at least improve himself to Sequence 4 and become a demigod.
Therefore, the words of The Fool just now made him feel moved, and he felt that this was an opportunity. At the same time, he also believed that joining the party and gaining a deeper understanding of the internal situation of this secret organization would help him avoid the danger of establishing contact with The Fool in the future to the greatest extent.
After considering it for a while, Leonard asked:
"Is Klein Moretti also a member of that regular gathering?
"He owns a chair here?"
The Fool answered nonchalantly:
"Yes."
Leonard was silent for a second and said:
"Dear Mr. Fool, can I join that regular gathering?"
The Fool, who was shrouded in gray fog, smiled and said:
"Can.
"But when you return, remember to mention this matter to Pales Zoroaster. Do not try to hide it from Him."
He... the old man is really an angel! No wonder the "Luck Stealer" spell is so magical... Although Leonard already had a certain understanding, he was still shocked after getting confirmation from Mr. Fool.
He hesitated for a moment and said:
"Why do you have to tell Pales Zoroast?"
Although he and Pales Zoroast got along well and had established a certain level of trust with each other, he was still wary in his heart. The reason he took the initiative to request just now was that he hoped to balance the potential danger brought by the ancient parasite by joining Mr. Fool's secret gathering.
He immediately heard Mr. Fool laugh:
"Many times, deterrence is more effective than fighting."
Deterrence is more useful than fighting... Yes, forcing a balance is likely to irritate the old man. No matter what, the final battlefield will definitely be in my body, which is very disadvantageous to me. Deterrence can make "Him" realize the situation. Even if he has malicious intentions, he will think of finding another way out... Leonard lowered his head and said, "Him, I'm fine."
"Dear Mr. Fool, I have no more questions."
The Fool at the top of the bronze table manifested a deck of tarot cards, raised his hand and pointed, saying:
“They each picked a tarot card as their code name, and you can also draw one.
"The cards with owners have been removed."
As expected, the tarot cards were used as code names... Leonard exhaled and couldn't help but ask another question:
"Which card did Klein Moretti draw?"
“The world.” The Fool said lightly, “That is him, and that is not him.”
What does that mean... Leonard didn't dare to ask more. He stretched out his right hand and drew a card from the tarot deck.
After opening it, he saw a sky full of stars and a goddess pouring holy water.
"Star" brand!
This was not quite to Leonard's taste, but since the ceremony had been completed under the witness of Mr. Fool, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Go back. We will gather every Monday at 3pm Backlund time." The Fool, who was shrouded in "gray fog", raised his hand and made Leonard, who was hastily saluting, disappear into the ancient palace.
Klein the Fool then chuckled and turned all the tarot cards over.
They have the same image, the same sky full of stars.
Every one of them is a “Star” card!
After laughing for a while, Klein turned his gaze back to the crimson star representing Leonard.
When trying to pull the poet into the gray fog, he made a careful observation in advance and found that there was a ball of light hidden in Leonard Mitchell's body. The ball of light seemed to be composed of countless segmented worms, hidden deep in the spiritual body.
This confirmed that Pales Zoroast was only a preliminary parasite and did not control Leonard's mind, astral body, etheric body, and flesh and blood. After being promoted to a demigod, he had a deeper understanding of the mysterious space above the gray fog. When pulling people in, he no longer only targeted the soul as a whole, but could make effective divisions and selections.
Therefore, Klein decided not to move Leonard's spiritual body, but only to pull his astral body above the gray fog. This would avoid irritating Pallez Zoroast or bringing Him to this mysterious space. Of course, this Sequence 1 angel of the "Thief" pathway would definitely be able to sense what was happening.
The ability of the extraordinary people of the "Night" path to enter other people's dreams comes from the astral body, and does not affect Leonard's ability to exert his expertise in this mysterious space.
“I hope he can gradually get rid of the parasitism of Pallez Zoroast…” Klein suddenly sighed.
The reason why he allowed Leonard to join the Tarot Club was to help this teammate gradually become stronger and escape the shadow brought by Pales Zoroast.
If the angel on the "thief" path has no ill intentions, let Leonard help him hide it from Amon and help him recover. Otherwise, force him to find another target to parasitize.
Klein retracted his gaze, thought for a moment, and threw the potion formula of the "Hunter" pathway sequence 6 "Conspirator" into the light spot representing Danitz. He then instructed him to leave the southern continent and return to the "Golden Dream" in the tone of Gehrman Sparrow.
…………
"The compound eyes of a hunting black spider, the brain of a lion with a human body..." Danitz recalled what he had just "seen" in a daze, and stood up happily.
He decided to say goodbye to Anderson Hood immediately and escape from the dangerous southern continent.
Arriving at the door of the strongest hunter in the Misty Sea, he knocked gently and saw the wooden door open backwards.
Anderson didn't even close the door!
Danitz was surprised for a moment, and quickly turned his gaze to see Anderson holding a short blade and gesturing at his stomach.
PS: I celebrated Chinese Valentine's Day yesterday, so I'll update first and then make changes~
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