Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 315 You are my beautiful baby
After Roger banished Leomaster's negative personality, who was the incarnation of the "Black Knight," the good personality of Leomaster twitched slightly, rolled his eyes upward, and seemed about to faint.

This commotion caught Roger's attention, and he realized that it was a dragging effect caused by a part of his personality being forcibly broken down and sinking.

Because the "Abyss" has a downward characteristic, if Leomaster is not intervened at this time, his positive and negative personalities will be simultaneously banished to the abyss of unconsciousness, causing Leomaster to fall into a complete coma.

Thinking of this, Roger immediately used "Identity Conferment" on Leomaster, "conferring" him a fate that was half true and half false!

The content of this destiny is about a leader of a religious group who abandons evil and embraces good, believing in the original Creator. Through years of asceticism, he discards the dark side of his personality, thus achieving a purification of his mind.

This fate was not bestowed out of thin air; in fact, it was quite reasonable and well-founded.

To outsiders, Leomaster is the embodiment of corrupting forces and one of the leaders of the cult "Aurora Society".

However, from Leomaster's perspective, he was simply a pure believer and pilgrim who did indeed undergo asceticism, using the scriptures of the "true creator" to cleanse his inner impurities and accumulate "divinity."

There was nothing wrong with that; ascetics in all the major orthodox churches did the same. The problem was that the God Leomaster worshipped was somewhat problematic, nothing more.

Because the "True Creator" controls the "Hanged Man" pathway, and Leomaster is a demigod-level extraordinary being in this pathway, he is easily influenced by the powers of "fall" and "shadow," which distorts his values ​​and moral compass.

Over time, he came to believe he was doing the best of things, but to outsiders, Leomaster appeared to be one of the most mentally ill among a group of people, not only devoid of morality but also frequently engaging in inhumane acts.

Therefore, given that the "True Creator" is currently being suppressed by the power of the "Key to the Gate" in the "Chaotic Sea," His tendency toward madness has indeed improved considerably. In this way, Leomaster's "ascetic" persona can exist in isolation and can also be adapted to the "identity alteration" given by Roger.

As expected, Leomaster, who had been convulsing, returned to normal. He sat up again, looked at Roger, and his eyes were filled with clarity.

"Let's go."

Roger nodded, walked over, and helped Leomaster up.

"Thank you... I really don't know what I would do without you."

Leomaster's eyes were slightly red; at this moment, he was completely unrelated to Roger's association with the "Black Saint" of the Aurora Society.

"It's only right for colleagues to help each other."

Roger, while making polite remarks, walked to the side of the mirror-like seal:

"This mirror is too dangerous; I must seal it away."

"Don't worry, I won't destroy it... I can't destroy this thing either, you know that."

Although Leomaster was somewhat conflicted, he ultimately chose to believe Roger and nodded.

After all, the person in front of him was also a devout believer of the Lord, and had just saved him from suffering.

In a sense, the other party was the messenger of God. In Leomaster's view, Roger was the savior who had won his devout prayers.

Roger, having gained Leomaster's approval, took a deep breath and placed the mirror into the "Old Days Box".

Previously, due to his emotions and the environment, Leomaster had not been able to clearly see what the "Old Box" looked like. Now, he finally confirmed that this was the "0" level sealed artifact that Butis had previously possessed.

"This belongs to Boutis..."

"Leomaster murmured."

"Yes, he passed this to me before he died... He didn't trust anyone else."

Roger's eyes were sincere as he casually made up a story.

In fact, Boutis wasn't even concerned about whether he was at ease or not; his head was practically pounded, and he was completely at ease no matter what.

At that moment, Roger suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation in the surrounding space, as if the entire Black Monastery was becoming unstable.

"last question."

Roger looked at Leomaster:

"Where was your last memory before you came to this black monastery?"

The reason for asking this question is that Roger needs to find Leomaster's physical body; the one he is currently seeing is only a dreamlike image.

If Roger's true form is not found, everything he did before will be meaningless.

"It was a small island with a huge square stone pillar... The pillar was broken diagonally in the middle. There was no vegetation on the island, but there were some black square stone carvings in clusters, like cubes."

“It should be very close to the sanctuary of my Lord.”

Roger nodded upon hearing Leomaster's words:

"You will soon be back on that island. Please wait for me there, and I will come to pick you up."

"Afterwards, let's go to the Lord's sanctuary together to pay homage to the Lord, and then we'll return to the Northern Continent to reorganize the 'Aurora Society,' okay?"

"it is good."

Leomaster's eyes were filled with excitement, and he immediately nodded in agreement.

As soon as he finished speaking, Roger saw the image of the Black Monastery begin to crumble and disappear.

The next second, Roger woke up in his dark captain's cabin, along with Bendit.

In the darkness, the cat's eyes were wide open, its expression quite complex.

"what happened?"

Roger patted its head, which brought Bandit back to its senses.

"It's nothing. You just didn't see what I saw."

Bandit shook his head, his expression a mixture of fear and amusement.

"what happened?"

Roger was somewhat puzzled.

"Lady Bernadette made a last-minute appearance and, together with Ophina, gave Zeus and his companions a piece of advice."

Bandit meowed:
"Ophina chased those people so hard they cried for their parents, Linseria's squad fled for their lives, Zeus cried and kept calling Ophina 'mother,' and Dionysius found an iron shovel and dug a grave for himself, trying to bury himself to escape Ophina's pursuit."

"Lupin initially dared to throw a few punches at Ophina, but later he and Davis hugged each other and prepared to jump off the cliff... preferring to die rather than be caught by Ophina."

"Hahaha, and then what did Ms. Bernadette do?"

Roger laughed and asked with great interest.

"Lady Bernadette drew a sword and pretended to fight Ophina, and Lupin and the others prayed for Lady Bernadette as if they had seen a savior."

"Lady Bernadette's 'combat power' is clearly stronger than Ophina's, and Ophina is at a disadvantage. At this time, the dream is about to end, and Ophina seizes the opportunity to consume the magic potion and completes the advancement."

"oh, I understand now."

Roger nodded:

"Ms. Bernadette must know the key point of the 'Dream Thief' promotion ceremony, which is that the promoted person can show 'necessary evil', but cannot truly become the protagonist of the dream."

"The so-called 'dream thief' must find a suitable place for himself in the dream, that is, he cannot become the focus, otherwise the theft becomes indoctrination."

"However, he cannot be completely without influence; it is still necessary for the participants in the dream to feel insecure or have a sense of 'blind spot'."

"The 'thief' can only walk between black and white, but cannot become completely white or black... This is also the mystical symbol of this ritual, or rather, the mystical symbol of the entire 'wrong' path."

It must be said that Bernadette seems to have a deeper understanding of the essence of this ritual than Roger because she once helped someone else advance to the rank of "Dream Thief". On the other hand, Roger's act of activating the "Silver Mirror" good luck buff before entering the dream also made Bernadette's help an inevitable result.

Roger took a deep breath and deactivated the effects of the "Silver Mirror" and the "Invisible Bracelet".

He glanced at his watch. Although the dream he had just experienced was quite long, it had lasted for less than half an hour in reality, so the side effects of the "invisible bracelet" had not yet manifested.

On the other hand, Roger himself was not injured in the dream, so the doubled settlement effect of "Silver Mirror" was almost negligible.

The "Silver Mirror's" good fortune allowed Roger to not only achieve all his goals but also wake up within half an hour, while the "Invisible Bracelet" ensured Roger's dominant position in the dream, minimizing his losses and sparing him from "double settlement."

This confirms Roger's pre-existing assumption that the two sealed artifacts could be combined to cancel each other out in the dream world.

He stood up, put on his hat, and went back onto the deck.

The moon and stars in the sky have returned to normal, and Ophina is already waiting there.

As for Zeus and Lupin, they stayed far away from Ophina.

Although they didn't know what Ophina had done, they all harbored a deep-seated, inexplicable fear of this "sirens."

"Have you been promoted?"

Roger saw Ophina and asked with a smile.

"Well, it worked."

Ophina nodded and told Roger about her newly acquired abilities.

"First, my ability to 'steal' has improved. I can now steal other people's dreams, ideals, memories, and ideas that are about to be put into practice... The last kind of 'stealing' can cause others to be momentarily stunned... But I cannot retain this idea and must take corresponding actions on behalf of the object of the theft."

"In terms of range, my 'stealing' ability has now been increased to 80 meters, and if I steal someone else's extraordinary ability, I can use it for half an hour—once used, it will enter a countdown, but if I don't use this ability at all, I can keep it for a week."

“As long as I don’t lose the stolen ability, the target will not be able to use it again unless he drinks another dose of the corresponding potion.”

Roger nodded:

"continue."

Ofina continued:
"The last ability is called 'disguise'. I can disguise myself as a believer of other gods, bypass their defenses, steal their responses, and use it to create various types of talismans."

"In battle, I can steal responses through longer spells or pre-arranged plans, gaining some kind of enhancement or using some kind of ability... The higher the intelligence of the corresponding deity, the greater the probability of failure."

"Very strong ability."

Roger nodded:

"I'll arrange a deity to respond to you later, which will greatly improve your combat effectiveness."

Frankly, if it weren't for the restriction that "the higher the intelligence of the corresponding deity, the greater the probability of failure," Roger would have considered having Ophina steal Leodero's response.

If someone were to actually do that, they would most likely be struck by lightning and killed.

"Okay, Captain."

Ophina felt a chill run down her spine once more.

Can gods be appointed so casually? This is simply unheard of.

She dared not speak, she dared not ask, she only dared to watch Roger float up with his hands behind his back and fly towards the direction of Bernadette's "Dawn".

Bernadette was not in the cabin or the captain's quarters at this time, but was sitting under the mast, drinking a cup of black tea by herself.

"This Marquis Black Tea smells delicious; Her Majesty the 'Mysterious Queen' certainly knows how to drink."

Roger landed, met Bernadette's gaze, and praised her.

"Would you like some? If so, the teapot is over here."

Bernadette pointed to a beautiful yellow teapot with a floral glaze on the wooden table in front of her.

"Drink, Quaternary style, this is good stuff too."

Having spent a lot of time with Amon and Klein, Roger now had some knowledge of many artifacts from the Fourth Epoch and spoke up instinctively.

He took a teacup from the teacup stand next to him and carefully poured himself a cup of tea.

"Thank you for helping my subordinate get promoted."

Roger took a sip and expressed his gratitude.

"You're welcome, it's easy."

Bernadette shook her head:

"Have you found the person you're looking for? Who is he?"

"found it."

Roger nodded: "He is the 'Black Saint' of the 'Aurora Society'."

"'The Black Saint'? Leomaster?"

Bernadette seemed taken aback by this answer, and she blurted it out.

"Yes, you know him?"

Roger was also somewhat surprised by Bernadette's reaction, and he pressed her for an answer.

“Yes, back when Leomaster was still the ‘Shepherd,’ he took on the assassination missions I issued. Later, he was promoted to ‘Black Knight,’ and we haven’t seen each other since.”

Bernadette, the "mysterious queen," nodded and replied.

"I see."

Roger took a sip of tea and felt relieved.

He was initially worried that Bernadette might have some special relationship with Leomaster. If it was just a collaboration, then there would be no problem. Otherwise, Roger would have to think about how to explain to Bernadette why the "Black Saint" had become like that.

Did you kill him?

Bernadette, somewhat curious, pressed Roger for details about what he had done.

"No, that's not true. As you may know, I've been at odds with the other two saints of the Aurora Society since Leomaster disappeared."

“Leomaster developed a split personality in the ‘Gods’ War Relics’. His evil personality was hunting down his good personality. I helped him seal away his evil personality so that he could awaken.”

After hearing Roger's words, Bernadette understood:
"You wish to use the power of the 'Black Saint' to fight against the 'Shadow Saint' Arexos and the 'Evil Saint' Vinera?" Bernadette immediately understood Roger's motive.

"Correct."

Roger nodded. Seeing that Bernadette also knew about the two saints, he pressed for details:

Do you know the pathway sequence that those two saints belong to?

"know."

Bernadette nodded:

"I can tell you, but you have to do me a favor."

"What's the deal?"

Roger bit his lip and asked in return.

“You should know that there was once a member of the Abraham family who served as a knight under my father… Russell and fought alongside him in various campaigns.”

“I have many manuscripts left by my father, written in special symbols. I have been trying to decipher them for years, but with little success.”

"You took that bookmark from the Roselle exhibition held by the Steam Church. I guess you didn't just make that assumption out of thin air... There's a high probability that you can decipher part of his manuscripts, or that it's some kind of material passed down from Uncle Benjamin?"

Bernadette looked intently at Roger.

Bernadette's last statement was not actually a question of choosing between two options, but rather a question of presupposing a stance, because the question of the "Blasphemy Card" was too profound for even Benjamin Abraham, one of Emperor Roselle's closest knights, to know.

"Ugh……"

Roger sighed inwardly. He knew Bernadette would ask about this, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon.

In terms of asking tricky questions, Bernadette even surpasses Alger.

She seemed to be asking about the manuscript, but she was actually confirming Roger's connection to "The Fool".

According to the feedback from "The Hermit" Cattleya, Mr. Fool was able to read Emperor Roselle's diary, and Roger then went to obtain the "Black Emperor's" blasphemous card.

If Roger obtained the information from Mr. Fool, then it proves that he is indeed Mr. Fool's follower, a fact that can be confirmed in the future.

If Roger himself possessed the method to decipher the manuscripts of Emperor Roselle, it would lead to three possibilities.

One possibility is that Roger also learned how to interpret the Roselle manuscript from Mr. Fool, and may have been working to help Mr. Fool find the manuscript. This would also explain why Roger almost never provided Mr. Fool with the Roselle manuscript at the Tarot Club.

The second possibility is that Roger originally possessed the means to interpret the Roselle manuscript, and this event exists in isolation from the teachings of Mr. Fool.

If the second possibility is true, then Roger, Mr. Fool, and Emperor Roselle share a certain commonality, which is exactly what Bernadette wants to explore!
Roger clicked his tongue inwardly while maintaining a calm expression on the surface.

He thought for a moment, then answered:
"To be honest, I do recognize some of the symbols used by Emperor Roselle."

"But I'm not sure if there's any overlap between what I know and what you know. We can exchange knowledge on this... if you don't mind."

Roger's implication was that the knowledge I had acquired was incomplete, but he didn't explain the origin of that knowledge.

Bernadette was able to decipher some of the "symbols" used by Emperor Roselle, and so was Roger. Even though the "secret seekers" had a special talent in this area, Roger, as a saint, also had his own methods.

Although Bernadette asked the question on the spur of the moment, Roger neither dodged nor backed down, nor did he seek Mr. Fool's consent; he readily agreed to share his knowledge.

This could mean that Roger deciphered the knowledge on his own, or that he deliberately only revealed a portion of it after fully mastering it.

Of course, a third possibility is that this might indicate that Mr. Fool had already implicitly agreed to share some of his knowledge with Bernadette.

Ultimately, while Roger was willing to exchange knowledge with Bernadette for information about the "Saint of Shadows" and the "Saint of Calamity," he also pushed back the questions she really wanted to ask.

Every possibility exists, which means no valuable information has been provided.

Bernadette felt like she'd punched thin air. It would be impolite for her to press for more information, but refusing Roger's offer would mean turning away readily available knowledge.

She sighed inwardly, but still managed a genuine smile.

"can."

Then, as if she had been prepared, Bernadette took out two pieces of paper and a notebook with a pen clipped to it and placed them in front of Roger.

The two sheets of paper were the original manuscripts of Emperor Roselle, not copies. The notebook contained Bernadette's summary and translation of the meanings of some characters.

Roger quickly glanced through the manuscript and discovered that it was not the same document related to Mr. "The Door" that "The Hermit" Cattleya had brought out last time. Instead, it was just Emperor Roselle recounting his experiences of deep relationships with certain noble ladies, as well as some of his insights on teaching Bernadette to read.

"You really are something, Huang Tao, to be able to put your chaotic private life and childcare together in your diary."

Roger couldn't help but sigh to himself.

"This is the right place."

Roger looked at Bernadette's analysis of the relationship between the four characters "Bernadette" and his own name.

"Yes, that's my name."

Bernadette took a deep breath:

“I noticed a long time ago that he often wrote these four symbols. Later, I referred to the approximate time points and found that he was probably talking about me, so I made a guess.”

“I’m so happy to hear your confirmation today… It confirms that he still keeps me in mind.”

Roger sighed softly:

"In my opinion, your father may love you more than you think."

"How to say?"

Bernadette was slightly taken aback; she hadn't expected Roger to say that at all.

Did you know that each of the four symbols in 'Bernarde' has its own independent meaning?

Roger smiled slightly and looked at Bernadette.

"Bei...I know, it seems to mean something like 'treasure'?"

Bernadette realized something; Emperor Roselle had once written in his diary, "Bernadette, my darling," and those two words matched up.

"Yes."

Roger nodded:

The remaining three words mean "you," "possess," and "beautiful," respectively.

Roger simplified the multiple meanings of Chinese characters according to the grammar of the Rune language.

In particular, the word "Dai" originally meant a woman's eyebrows and was also used to refer to a woman's beauty. Here, Roger completely simplified it to mean "beautiful" to make it easier for Bernadette to understand and to avoid him from making too many explanations.

"Therefore, the name 'Bernarde' also carries a similar meaning to 'You are my beautiful baby'."

Roger smiled and analyzed, word by word.

"You are my beautiful baby..."

Bernadette murmured to herself, her breathing becoming heavy without her noticing, and her eyes slightly reddening.

Roger politely avoided looking at Bernadette, instead continuing to scan the diary she had provided.

"There's a mistake here."

Roger shook his head and pointed to the word "great" in "Miss Beatrice is great," saying:

"These two words don't represent kindness, but rather, uh, a kind of praise."

"For example, I can use this word to praise a food as very delicious or a place as very interesting."

Roger smiled and squinted as he spoke.

"Praise...delicious?"

Bernadette suddenly realized something, and her face immediately darkened.

She recalled the past interactions between Emperor Roselle and many noblewomen, and the slight warmth she felt for him was quickly suppressed by her urge to criticize him.

Can you tell who it is from the name preceding the word "Miss"?

Bernadette's lips twitched, and she asked.

"Beatrice."

Roger said somewhat uncertainly:
"should be."

“Beatles…”

A figure involuntarily flashed into Bernadette's mind, and she immediately gritted her teeth.

"...Calm down."

Roger chuckled. At this moment, Bernadette in front of him didn't seem like the "mysterious queen," but rather like an ordinary young girl, feeling distressed about her family matters.

He then helped Bernadette identify some symbols, and throughout the process, Bernadette was in a cycle of being moved, angry, and moved again, accompanied by smiles and gritted teeth.

Finally, the "mysterious queen" came to her senses, took a deep breath, and sincerely said to Roger:
"Thank you, Your Excellency, King of the Galaxy."

Just call me Roger.

Roger smiled.

"Then you can just call me Bernadette."

Bernadette nodded, and she continued:

"Arexus, the 'Shadow Saint,' is the 'Black Knight' of Sequence 4... You should be very familiar with the abilities of this pathway sequence, so I won't go into details."

“‘Saint of Calamity’ Vinera is a ‘Mage of Doom’ at Sequence 4 of the ‘Monster’ pathway, but she has been seeking to advance to Sequence 3 ‘Chaos Walker’ for a long time. I wonder if she has succeeded in advancing now.”

Roger wasn't too surprised to hear that Arexos was the "Black Knight," but he had some thoughts about Vinera being a saint of the "Monster" path.

What is her relationship with the "Life School"?

Roger pressed for details, wanting to confirm whether the saint's background stemmed from the "School of Life" or was related to the "Angel of Fate," Ulrich.

“Venera was once a member of the ‘Council of Fate’, but she was influenced by the ‘True Creator’ in an accident and attempted to steal a ‘0’ level sealed artifact from the ‘School of Life’. She was eventually discovered and forced to betray the ‘School of Life’.”

Bernadette replied.

"I see."

Roger realized that the seductive tactics of the "True Creator" were very similar to those used to tempt Boutis and Louis Wayne. The biggest difference was that the "School of Life" had the archangel Will Onsett and many saints loyal to Him, which was why the "True Creator" did not succeed.

As for the "0" level sealed artifact that Vinera attempted to steal, there is a high probability that it is the "Dice of Fate".

"Urelius, the 'Angel of Fate,' was indeed behind this..."

Roger couldn't help but wonder to himself.

As the two were chatting, the moon and stars in the sky were once again obscured.

"Darkness is coming again, go inside and go to sleep."

Bernadette sighed, finished the last sip of her tea, and said to Roger.

"it is good."

Roger nodded, finished his cup of black tea, and then floated back up to the Star Lord to tell everyone to return to their cabins to sleep.

After this cycle repeated three times, the sun finally rose in the east, which finally relieved Roger and the others.

However, he was well aware that even during the day, night could suddenly fall on the "Ruins of the Gods War".

In other words, they are not safe now. Both the dreams brought by the darkness and the sudden hallucinations related to the "sun" and "battle" are repeatedly tormenting their nerves.

Fortunately, it seems that because Roger prayed to Amanisis, the "Goddess of Night," from time to time, nothing went wrong when night fell. Two sailors tried to enter the depths of the Black Monastery, but Bernadette and Roger discovered and stopped them in time, so nothing bad happened.

In comparison, the illusions that suddenly appear during the day seem to be more lethal.

Soon after, in addition to losing one man on Bernadette's Dawn in the first incident, another man went missing on both the Fear and the supply ship that Bernadette was on board.

These were lessons learned in blood. Many of the previously carefree crew members finally felt a deep-seated fear and began to strictly abide by the various taboos in the "Gods' War Relics" sea area.

From noon until dusk, no one else disappeared, which made Roger and Bernadette feel much more relaxed.

Just as Roger and Bernadette were standing together discussing their battle plan after entering the "Forsaken Land," a whistle suddenly came from the Dawn's lookout tower.

"what happened?"

Bernadette turned her head and soon saw one of her men coming to report:
"Captain, there's a small island ahead with a dilapidated sailboat moored there."

"There seems to be someone on the island!"

"Is there someone? Male or female?"

Before Bernadette could even ask, Roger immediately spoke up.

"Yes, Your Excellency, 'King of the Galaxy,' it was a man."

Bernadette's sailors replied.

"Take me to see it."

Roger spoke quickly, his tone revealing anticipation.

(End of this chapter)