Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 297 Fate may be unpredictable, but luck is always conserved.
This is yet another experiment Roger conducted.

Although "Silver Knight" Saint Austin possesses a "Monster" pathway Sequence 2 sealed artifact powerful enough to harm Roger, his own strength is only Sequence 3.

In Roger's view, the mechanism of the sealed artifact that corresponds to the extraordinary characteristics of the "prophet" should be twofold. The first is that it reduces Roger's fortune while increasing St. Austin's fortune, that is to say, it gives both of them a change in fortune at the same time.

The second type is that although the "Prophet" seal can bring misfortune to Roger, the fortune shown by Saint Austin is not his own fortune, but the fortune of the "Prophet" seal itself.

In other words, the sealed artifact possesses certain characteristics of being alive, and Saint Austin can only temporarily borrow its fortune!

However, regardless of the type, as long as Roger's "Fate Swap" target is not the "Prophet" seal at the angel level, but only Saint Austin at the Sequence 3 level, then under the dual amplification of "Amplification" and Gherros Source Essence, Roger, who also possesses the status of a demigod, should also be able to influence part of Saint Austin's fortune with the Sequence 5 "Fate Swap".

Even if it can't completely affect them, affecting just a part of them is enough!
The instant the "fate swap" was activated, something happened that surprised Roger.

He didn't feel that his luck had changed much; it was just a little better than before, equivalent to a shift from bad luck to average luck, nothing more.

However, the power of "fate swapping" in St. Austin far exceeded Roger's imagination.

Suddenly, black flames and writhing shadows burst forth from the "Silver Knight's" body. Not only that, but a large muscle on his arm and half of his arm also disappeared!

This caused Saint Austin to groan in pain. The resilient "Silver Knight" showed an extremely painful expression on his face. If he hadn't been a monk, the pain from this injury would probably have been enough to make him faint!

He struggled to pull the "Blade of Spirit and Flesh" embedded in his muscles. As the greatsword clattered to the ground and vanished into thin air, a bright ray of dawn flashed by. The fallen shadow that had been hidden in Roger's shadow and had injured Saint Austin while "stealing" distance teleportation from him was also annihilated.

"Is it possible?"

Roger was slightly taken aback. He quickly checked the inside of the "Old Box" and was pleasantly surprised to find half a male arm and a clump of human tissue stored in one of the corners.

"Interesting, interesting."

Roger seemed to have grasped something crucial, and he looked at St. Austin, who was sitting opposite him, looking shocked and clueless about what Roger had done.

The latter was panting heavily, and it took him more than ten seconds to seem to concentrate and calm himself down through some special breathing technique.

However, the expression on his face when he looked at Roger was no longer the calm and composed one he had been before; instead, it was serious and cautious.

Roger was much more relaxed because he had figured out some of the characteristics of that "prophet" seal artifact!
In fact, considering that Roger has multiple sealed artifacts and his own strength is at the Sequence 4 level, even if the "Black Knight" is at a certain disadvantage against the "Silver Knight", he would not be instantly killed twice and trigger the resurrection mechanism repeatedly.

Moreover, if this fight continues, it may very well replicate Roger's previous unfavorable situation against Katrina Pelle. Although he had the option of resurrection, the resurrection did not substantially improve the unfavorable situation in the battle; it only created more opportunities.

St. Austin must have known about Roger killing the "ageless witch" Katarina, and it's possible that he had some kind of plan for Roger's resurrection.

In any case, if the opponent can keep killing Roger, then it's only a matter of time before the latter reveals a weakness!

The key to all of this lies in the Sequence 2 sealed artifact held by St. Austin.

It is the biggest bargaining chip to disrupt the balance of power, because no matter how rich one's combat experience is, in a battle of near equal strength, one cannot defeat "misfortune bestowed" and "future come true"!

Therefore, Roger had been testing the taboos and side effects of that sealed artifact, and through the "Fate Swap" technique that amplified its effects just now, he also gained some key information.

That is, the sealed artifact held by Saint Austin does not absolutely improve the holder's luck or bring misfortune to the opponent. Instead, while bringing misfortune to the opponent, it raises the holder's luck for a period of time and creates various unfavorable situations for the opponent.

However, the cost is that the misfortune that the holder should have originally possessed will be "settled" later over a period of time, and "interest" must be paid during the settlement, costing several times more than the original amount!

Saint Austin originally had a way to avoid the fatal damage from the "settlement" at a relatively low cost when returning to the headquarters of the "God of War" Church, but this was not possible on the "Star Lord"!
Roger's previous act of using "Fate Swap" to transfer a portion of his bad luck to Saint Austin seems to have triggered the settlement mechanism of that sealed artifact.

It determined that Saint Austin's potential for good fortune within a certain cycle of fate had been exhausted, so it dealt double the "misfortune" to the "Silver Knight" a period of time in advance, thus giving the latter the potential to be exploited once again.

The outward result was that the "exile" and "harm" that St. Austin had originally "avoided" finally came upon him in many times greater ways!

The only drawback was that, because Roger's own fortune was not good, and there was indeed a difference in their social standing, the misfortune and harm he actually "exchanged" for St. Austin were not ideal.

Otherwise, the exponential settlement of the "exile" from the "Old Box" that Roger used before would have been enough to nearly kill St. Austin, not just sever one of his arms!

On the other hand, this doesn't matter, because the cost of Roger activating "Fate Swap" is far less than the cost of Saint Austin using the "Prophet" seal!
Normally, at this moment, Saint Austin only needed to take advantage of the "settlement" moment to stop using the "Prophet" seal at a relatively small cost. However, with the threat of the "Old Box" looming, if he gave up using an angel-level seal to counter it, he would almost certainly be "exiled".

At this point, the pressure had shifted to St. Austin!

The saint's face was pale. He turned to look at Andrea Einhorn, who was locked in combat with Valentine, took a deep breath, and looked to his right at the "Eternal Night Plain" of the Fusak Empire.

"If you want to run, you should know that my fleet can enter a special area..."

"Do not."

St. Austin shook his head and interrupted Roger.

This was the first time he had spoken to Roger since boarding the "Star Lord".

"The path of the 'Silver Knight' has no turning back; we can only keep fighting, otherwise we will never have the chance to advance to the 'Glory' rank, no matter how hard we try."

"Even if... the chances of the Fussac Empire winning are not great, it is still the same."

Roger was somewhat surprised by St. Austin's words:
"You know Fussac can't win?"

"Nothing is absolute, but in general, that is certainly true."

St. Austin sighed.

"If that's the case, you should understand that preserving your life is more important than becoming an angel on earth."

Roger paused, then, while trying to suppress his discomfort, quoted, "Emperor Roselle once said, 'As long as the forest remains, there will always be firewood.' As long as you survive, you will eventually have the opportunity to become an angel."

"Moreover, at your level, you should be clear about the switching between adjacent paths."

His implication was that if Saint Austin had already recognized that defeat was imminent, he shouldn't have been so fixated on becoming a "Glory One." The "Secret Servant" of the "Dark" path and the "Death Archon" of the "Death" path would have been better choices.

"You have very little contact with extraordinary individuals who follow the 'Warrior' pathway, haven't you?"

St. Austin looked at Roger: "It is not those who receive glory who can become 'glorifiers,' but those who have glory in their hearts who can become earthly angels through this path."

"Moreover... my sword was blessed by my lord himself. This is not a privilege that everyone can enjoy, because it is not the process that determines the result, but the result that determines the process."

Does the outcome determine the process?

Upon hearing this, Roger immediately understood what St. Austin meant.

What the other party said should be related to the promotion ceremony of the "Honored One".

Judging from St. Austin's words, only the truly fearless "Silver Knights" who would not run away or back down would have the opportunity to be promoted, but he did not explain the specific conditions for promotion very clearly.

Moreover, because the Silver Knight can receive blessings from mythical creatures, the Silver Knight's abilities can have different effects depending on the source of the blessing.

Among them, the Sequence 0 of "Twilight Giant" and the blessing of "God of War" Badheel will comprehensively enhance the abilities that "Silver Knight" already possesses in this pathway sequence. This also explains why Saint Austin can exert such strong combat power. However, as a price, this may also limit his ability to jump to other adjacent pathways.

Therefore, for St. Austin, the only options were to defeat Roger or die in battle!
The saint of the Church of the God of War looked at Roger, and with lightning speed took out two glass bottles from a hidden compartment inside his sword case and crushed them together.

A large amount of mercury-silver and yellow liquid immediately flowed from the two glass bottles, intertwining and pouring onto Saint Austin's body. In an instant, it greatly healed the injuries he had suffered from the black flames and shadows, and even his remaining hand became much thicker.

The next second, the saint kicked a sword stuck in the ground toward Roger.

The sound of something cutting through the air exploded instantly, and the "Fallen Shadow" formed layers upon layers of shadow curtains in front of Roger, blocking the short sword that was thrusting towards him.

However, the next second, the short sword suddenly disappeared, instead passing through the barrier and striking Roger's heart!
The shadowy curtain vanished instantly, and Saint Austin, clad in weightless silver armor and with his other short sword transformed into the "Sword of Dawn," lunged at Roger.

This attack was extremely swift. Guided by the "Prophet" seal, Saint Austin dodged the spatial distortion created by "Chaos" like a dragon and instantly approached Roger!
Roger reacted swiftly and used self-destruction to relocate himself. St. Austin's "Sword of Dawn" missed its target, and the aftershocks flew over the upper deck of the "Star Lord" and towards the nearby Minlminsk Mountains.

A hill was instantly leveled, and countless rocks, along with soil and vegetation, began to collapse downwards. If it weren't for Radar Valentin's quick thinking and the storm that scattered many of them, the outflow of seawater from the Minsk Strait would likely have been largely blocked.

Roger's eyes twitched violently as he reappeared. He never expected that Saint Austin's previous attack was still not the strongest attack of this Sequence 3 Saint who had a chance to advance to "Glory". The "Sword of Dawn" slash that just now was far more destructive and oppressive than before!

Roger knew that the potion that Saint Austin had just crushed was probably some kind of essential oil or holy ointment that he had concocted using herbs. The mercury-silver essential oil seemed to have a purifying effect and could greatly reduce the effects of black flames and shadow attacks, while the yellow ointment seemed to be able to enhance Saint Austin's attack power, further increase his combat power, and could even imbue his regular weapons with the effects of "Silver Rapier" and "Dawn Sword".

Saint Austin's strategic intention was quite clear: to minimize the damage he took while relentlessly attacking Roger, preventing him from having time to use "Fate Swap" to trigger the effect of the "Prophet" seal.

Roger naturally grasped the opponent's tactical intentions. At this moment, he had no intention of fighting Saint Austin directly. Instead, he used "Fallen Shadow" and "The Ageless Witch" Katarina Pelle to fight Saint Austin, while he waited for an opportunity to deal damage to Saint Austin from the side.

After St. Austin dodged a "petrifying gaze," he suddenly saw Roger's figure appear behind him in his blind spot, thanks to the reflection of his sword.

He had just tried to dodge when Katarina Pelle blocked his path with two ice javelins burning with black flames.

After interrupting him with this combo, Roger successfully used the "Parasitic Gloves" to launch "Steal"!
Saint Austin suddenly felt that something was missing from him.

He can no longer activate "Borrowing Light to Hide"!

"fine……"

The saint landed on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief.

Roger originally intended to steal his "Silver Rapier" and block his attack methods that could ignore defenses, but fortunately, Saint Austin used the "Prophet's" seal's "Misfortune Come True" to deflect Roger's theft and steal the least important "Borrowing Light to Hide".

However, what he didn't notice was that Roger's eyes didn't show any frustration. Instead, there was a glimmer of light in them, as if he had come up with some new way of fighting.

A white light flashed, and St. Austin once again unleashed his "Silver Rapier" at Roger!
Roger's figure exploded once more, and St. Austin's dark green eyes darted around, quickly catching up with Roger's figure again.

"All three mirrors... have been found."

Previously, St. Austin had been using his rune-engraved eyes to search for the mirrors Roger used to set up the "Man in the Mirror," and each time Roger resurrected, he could pinpoint the location of a mirror from where Roger appeared.

That was Roger's third resurrection, and St. Austin used it to pinpoint the location of Roger's third mirror.

Because of the existence of the "Demon Hunter's Eye," St. Austin doesn't have to worry about Roger using the "Mirror Maze" to confuse his sense of direction and judgment, so he can ensure that the mirrors he locks onto are real!

However, he was in no hurry to destroy Roger's mirror because he knew the method Roger had used to get rid of Katharina Pelle. If he were to use the same method again, he would be easily detected.

More importantly, Roger had already gathered a lot of information related to the "Prophet" seal artifact during the previous battles, while Saint Austin had not yet fully grasped all of Roger's trump cards.

Putting everything else aside, just consider Roger's previous trick of transferring misfortune to himself—St. Austin still doesn't understand how that happened.

Undoubtedly, it was an extraordinary ability, but it was not one of the paths known to the well-informed St. Austin.

It's possible Roger possesses even more similar abilities, so if his resurrection plans are completely disrupted now, he'll undoubtedly unleash more trump cards, causing substantial damage. If Roger then uses "Fate Swap" again, St. Austin might truly be unable to withstand it.

However, what he didn't know was that Roger had another powerful ability in the "Fate" domain, in addition to "Fate Swap".

Just as St. Austin was about to give chase to Roger, he suddenly smelled a faint sulfurous odor in the air.

"They're using 'devilish' methods against me? Or do they have some other tricks up their sleeve?"

St. Austin found it somewhat amusing, and he turned around and nonchalantly blocked the three sulfur fireballs that Roger had unleashed.

However, just as he was about to give chase, he suddenly felt himself enveloped in darkness.

"When did the Shadow of Corruption arrive?"

St. Austin was slightly taken aback; he had no idea when the "Shadow of Corruption" had approached him.

In fact, the reason he didn't discover the "Shadow of the Fallen" immediately was because after Roger obtained the "Hidden by Light" ability, he attributed it to the "Shadow of the Fallen" through his own occult consistency with it, allowing it to temporarily hide by taking advantage of the flash of the exploding sulfur fireball.

At the time, St. Austin's attention was completely focused on Roger, and he had no idea that Roger had such a trick up his sleeve.

Especially when Roger used the "Demon's" "Sulfur Fireball" to bombard a high-ranking "Demon Hunter," the latter focused all his attention on Roger, wary of the latter's strangeness.

However, he did not expect that what would truly strike him was the "Shadow of Corruption" that he had previously looked down upon and slain many times!
However, even if he reacted at this moment, it was too late, because the "shadow of corruption" had completely enveloped St. Austin.

At the same time, Roger connected with "Amplification" and launched "Fate Twist" on St. Austin!
In an instant, St. Austin's previously rising fortunes fluctuated slightly, though the fluctuation was not strong because Roger didn't know much about him.

In addition, since the previous "settlement" attack had already caused some damage to Saint Austin, he was not currently injured.

But that's still enough for what Roger wants to try right now.

Because St. Austin witnessed a scene that even he, with his years of asceticism and a mind as tough as steel, found somewhat terrifying.

The "shadow of depravity" grew a mouth.

The mouth had lips, gums, and teeth, and even a tongue. It was grinning at St. Austin, its white teeth gleaming with mockery in the smile.

The next moment, "The Fallen Shadow" uttered two words in ancient Hermes:
"Celestial bodies".

As five terrifying explosions resounded within the "Fallen Shadow," the figure of "White Saintess" Katarina Pelle appeared beside it.

Katarina Pelle's golden-green vertical pupils flashed as she used "Petrifying Gaze" on "Fallen Shadow"!
Because the "Shadow of Corruption" was composed of flesh and blood, it instantly transformed into a stone cocoon.

This created a solid cavity, allowing the explosions of the five enhanced "celestial" talismans to strike St. Austin with terrifying power!

With a "bang," the stone cocoon could not withstand the terrifying pressure of the sonic boom and exploded from the inside, along with a liquid silver humanoid object.

The surface of the humanoid mercury trembled violently, like the rim of a water-filled iron bowl being struck violently, creating countless ripples and waves.

This scene inexplicably reminded Roger of the alien creature "Venom" from some movies in his past life. That magical symbiote was extremely afraid of intense sound waves, and when such sound waves appeared, it would behave in a manner exactly like St. Austin before him.

This made Roger realize that sonic attacks seemed to be relatively more effective against the Silver Knight!

This attempt was very effective!
This discovery came as a great surprise to Roger.

But then he thought about it again and realized it made perfect sense.

Because "mental pressure" is not a physical attack in the ordinary sense, but an attack directly targeting the mental body, even if the eardrum is damaged, as long as the propagation of sound waves in solid and liquid media cannot be completely blocked, its effect cannot be completely offset.

Furthermore, although the "Silver Knight" has outstanding mental and physical defense capabilities, and its mental defense is not bad either, it is reasonable that "Mental Pressure" can cause damage to it, considering the position of the enhanced "Celestial" talisman and the factor of the damage stacking of multiple talismans!

Although St. Austin may possess some kind of holy balm or essential oil that can reduce damage to the spiritual body, that would require him to break free from his current state of being under control!
Roger quickly realized this and immediately released a large number of flesh-and-blood bombs in front of St. Austin. These bombs rapidly expanded and grew larger, quickly surrounding St. Austin again and creating an echo-producing encirclement.

At the same time, the flesh grew a gaping maw even larger than the one that had triggered the five enhanced "celestial" talismans, and once again unleashed a sonic boom at Saint Austin, who was under control in the center!

Roger, meanwhile, was rapidly approaching St. Austin, his eyes slightly closed as he muttered incantations to himself:
"The embodiment of the celestial voice"

"The master of the trajectory of fate"

"The forerunner of the universe's destruction"

"The Great Star of Judgment!"

"I implore you to reveal the secrets of the astral music, to resonate in this moment, to stir this moment, as above and below, as below and above!"

After saying this, Roger was shocked to see a rust-colored sphere that was divided into four indescribable "domains" in front of him.

In the center of the sphere was an eye with patterns that radiated outwards like spokes, but it was tightly closed.

"Gheros!"

As the sphere suddenly shone with a rusty light before his eyes, Roger felt a profound and indescribable resonance and revelation.

He once again affixed his last three enhanced "Celestial Talismans" to the mercury-transformed "Silver Knight" Saint Austin, who was once again temporarily controlled by "Mental Pressure".

"Philip, activate 'Isolation'!"

Roger shouted these words and then used all his strength to kick the almost solidified Saint Austin off the "Star Lord".

In an instant, only the "Star Lord" ship entered the black space behind the "isolation" gate!
Layer upon layer of shadowy curtains and the "Demon Slayer" defense mechanism unfolded relentlessly on the surface of the "Star Lord," while a rust-colored light, like a gamma-ray burst, illuminated the entire dark sea.

That was the guidance of fate. At this moment, the stars in the sky had already begun to change silently, and Geheros's source essence finally had a chance to project his power into reality.

Although faint, its status is extraordinary.

"!!!!!!!!!"

The endless, overwhelming sound waves nearly engulfed the entire "Star Lord," but Roger managed to protect the people on board by doing his best to defend.

Even so, most of those who stayed in the cabins experienced symptoms of vomiting, nausea, and dizziness, and some even suffered ruptured eardrums and varying degrees of mental damage.

Two unfortunate individuals, whose physical condition was not good, lost control and died in the sonic boom.

Fortunately overall, the crew of the "Star Lord" were less affected than those of the "Silver Knight" St. Austin, and they only need to take medication and rest for a period of time to recover.

This is especially true for those who had previously received the "Celestial Body" talisman from Roger and recited the "Celestial Body" name.

After a dozen seconds, the rusty light and terrifying sound waves finally dissipated. Roger flashed to the surface of the black sea and looked at the humanoid creature floating in the water, its body radiating the light of dawn.

The creature was over 5 meters long, with a dark, tangled body and one eye slightly open between its brows, staring at Roger with resentful eyes.

Although he is still not as tall as a real giant, every inch of his skin, every pore, and every piece of flesh seems to defy normal human senses, combined in a special way, containing an unimaginable sense of impact.

"At the critical moment, thanks to Badhall's blessing and his own good luck, he still survived... even though he was reduced to an incomplete mythical creature form?"

Roger understood, and with a slight sigh, he said to the one-eyed half-giant before him:

“My family has an astrologer’s motto: ‘Destiny may be unpredictable, but luck is always conserved.’ Considering the effect of the sealed artifact you have, this saying is very fitting.”

"Your Excellency St. Austin, do you have any last words?"

The reason for asking this question is that after fighting the opponent, Roger truly began to admire this "Silver Knight" who kept his glory hidden in his heart.

However, since the two sides had different positions, if Roger did not take this opportunity to kill him, he would definitely cause Roger endless trouble in the future.

St. Austin gave a wry smile, closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then opened them again.

He asked in a tone as if seeking advice:

Why can't destiny be equated with luck?

"Because luck is dynamic, just like the stars in the sky. It may seem unchanging, but it always has its own inherent laws."

Faced with St. Austin's question, Roger had a flash of inspiration and spoke his own answer.

St. Austin paused, seemingly pondering Roger's words, and after a moment, he finally felt somewhat relieved:

"As the victor of the battle, the 'Silver Mirror' rightfully belongs to you."

"But if possible, please return my sword to the church."

"Hey……"

Roger sighed inwardly. He wondered if St. Austin would lose control if he knew that even the "God of War" Badhall could not escape death.

"Okay, I promise you."

However, he still agreed, only that he would hand over the "Level 1" sealed artifact to the Church of the God of War after the war.

At that time, the Church of the God of War will belong to the Goddess. At that time, Roger will neither have betrayed the covenant nor have he failed to fulfill his promise to Saint Austin.

Upon hearing Roger's promise, St. Austin nodded, then suddenly sighed:
"It's a pity you didn't get to witness my 'Storm of Light'."

"No, I've already seen it."

Roger answered sincerely.

St. Austin paused for a moment upon hearing this, then finally smiled with relief and closed his eyes.

The figure of "Fallen Earl" Chunus Colger quickly appeared beside Roger, whose eyes were flashing with black light, and the two of them reached out their hands towards St. Austin on the sea.

"Fate is twisted."

As Roger spoke softly, a burst of silvery-white light suddenly erupted.

(End of this chapter)