Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 142 The End of the Sequence

The luxurious Hall family mansion in Queens.

Following the Hall family's maid, Claire walked into Audrey's room and saw the girl sitting by the window with a worried look on her face.

The maid left, and Claire naturally sat down in the high-backed chair next to Audrey. She dozed off and complained, "Miss Audrey, it's very rude to disturb someone's nap."

Audrey, whose knowledge of the mysticism is becoming more and more abundant, now knows that for the "sleepless ones" of the Goddess Church, a short nap is their only rest time in the whole day.

Audrey's eyes flashed and fell on Claire, and she sighed:
"Ms. Galadilla, I'm sorry to disturb your nap, but I have no choice but to discuss this matter with you."

"At a banquet, I 'observed' that the Intis Republic's ambassador, Beckeron Jean Martin, was a powerful Beyonder with ulterior motives."

"During subsequent investigations, I confirmed that this ambassador was the head of the Intis Republic's intelligence operations in the Kingdom. The recent conflict between the wealthy and the nobles was secretly instigated by him. Even my family was affected by this instigation, causing those conservative nobles, who were already jealous of the Hall family's wealth, to act even more foolishly, causing my family unbearable distress."

After hearing Audrey's description, Claire said playfully, "You shouldn't ask a clergyman like me to deal with matters between nobles. Unlike the priests of the Church of the Storm, the Goddess Church doesn't advocate getting involved in disputes between nobles. And even if you want to seek help from the church, you should go to the bishops or archbishops."

Audrey said, "No, what I mean is that I hope you or the Goddess Church will take some measures against this intelligence chief. For the sake of the stability of the kingdom, at least expel him from the country."

Claire shrugged and smiled. "Although we're all working to maintain social stability in the kingdom, we, the Nighthawks and the Red Gloves, deal with cultists, dangerous wild Beyonders, and unholy incidents."

"Operations like these involving the Kingdom's specific affairs are generally handled by the Kingdom's intelligence agencies. If we were to rashly handle them, the results might be contrary to the Kingdom's strategy and could even affect the Kingdom's stability."

Audrey frowned. Claire's reasoning couldn't convince her simple patriotic feelings.

"How could an intelligence chief who orchestrates all sorts of bloodshed be so brazen as to attend banquets throughout the kingdom, changing his female companions daily and toying with the hearts of the kingdom's girls? If this absurdity were to spread to the public, it would destabilize the kingdom!"

Claire could understand Audrey's feelings. If the country where she grew up was treated like this on Earth, she would want to kill that scumbag if she had the ability.

But now she finds it difficult to empathize with Audrey.

Jiang Wei's thoughts and the realization that Tai Perslan's memories were false made Claire unable to consider herself a citizen of the Kingdom of Loen.

Dealing with evil events and protecting others from various dangers is due to her humanity and her compassion for her fellow human beings.

However, this conflict involving Loen and Intis could not arouse her interest or enthusiasm.

Audrey, the "mind reader", could grasp the unconcealed indifference of the woman in front of her from her subtle expressions, which made Audrey feel a little annoyed. Doesn't this woman have any patriotic feelings?
Is this the indifference that adults often refer to as “facing reality”?

Isn't it sad to live like this?

Audrey took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice calm. "I'd like to commission you... a reward of ten thousand pounds for the life of Bakeron Jean Martin. Alternatively, if you can get him out of Loen, I'll pay you five thousand pounds."

The generous reward made Claire's heart flutter for a moment, but only for a moment. If this ambassador was an intelligence chief as Audrey described, and had planned many incidents that disrupted the order of the upper class in the Kingdom of Loen, then he would definitely have many extraordinary people around him.

Claire wasn't sure she could assassinate such a person.

More importantly, supporting Xio in organizing the Beyonder gathering gave Claire the confidence to earn more money from relatively safe channels, so she naturally didn't want to do something so risky again.

But Claire didn't say anything final. "As for driving them away, I can try to think of a way, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to come up with one."

Audrey nodded helplessly. If she hadn't been unwilling to reveal her Beyonder identity in front of her family, she would have wanted to confront her father, Earl Hall, and let him handle the matter.

It's not that urgent yet. I'll try it first. If it's really impossible, I'll alert my father to Bakerlang's abnormality even if it means exposing my identity.

When Audrey invited Claire, she believed that the Red Glove Captain was willing and able to deal with this dangerous element that could endanger the kingdom, but the outcome was far from what she had expected.

This made Audrey somewhat discouraged. She only managed to maintain a final smile out of courtesy. "Then I hope Ms. Galadilla can come up with a better solution soon."

Estimating that it was less than ten minutes until 3 p.m., Claire covered her mouth and yawned. Facing Audrey's obvious attitude of sending her away, she pretended not to understand and said,
"Miss Audrey, I'm too sleepy to walk. I'd like to borrow your place to catch up on a short nap. Don't bother. I can just lie down here and take a nap for a while."

Audrey glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that Mr. Fool's party was only fourteen minutes away. She said to Claire, "There's a vacant guest room next door, and it's cleaned every day. If Ms. Galadilla wants to rest, she can use it."

Before Audrey could finish her words, she saw Claire lying on the small round table in front of her, snoring evenly.

This woman...

This made Audrey very upset, but as the party was approaching, she didn't want to argue with this woman and waste time.

Sighing softly, Audrey glanced at the beautiful profile of the woman, who seemed to be truly asleep, and muttered softly, "She's got a beautiful appearance, but such an infuriating personality. This is what Emperor Roselle called 'pink on black'... I don't think it's right. 'Golden exterior, rotten inside' seems more appropriate."

Mumbling, as the time gradually approached three o'clock, Audrey tiptoed onto her bed, used the quilt to cover the faint marks, and pretended to rest, waiting for the party to arrive.

Claire, who was lying on the small round table, had already cast her gaze towards the gray fog world, because she "saw" the figure of the Fool appearing in the gray fog world.

The time was 2:50. Claire saw the Fool sitting at the long bronze table and divined, "Last night's intruder."

Last night? Intruder?
Someone sneaked into the Fool's residence in reality?

Where did Leonard stay last night?

Thoughts kept popping up in her mind. Claire saw the result of the Fool's divination through the gray fog. It was an ordinary bedroom with obvious Backlund decoration style!
There was a figure resting in the bedroom, but unfortunately the person's appearance and figure could not be seen from the perspective.

From this divination perspective, all that was seen was a thin, iron-black nematode crawling into the house from the gap at the bottom.

Wriggling stiffly like it was covered in rust, the strange nematode slowly climbed all the way to the desk.

On the desk, the nematode suddenly raised its head, and seemed to be standing, examining a piece of paper spread out on the desk like a human.

Claire now clearly saw the words written in Loenese on the paper:

"I don't know Ian Wright's whereabouts. I haven't seen him since Zarrel's body was found. However, I learned through my own channels that Ian Wright was once seen at the telegraph office on Whiterum Street."

Ian, the big boy that the Fool divined last time...

Zreal, who is this?

White Rum Street... Claire, who had completely memorized the map of Backlund, could confirm that this street was in the East District of Backlund.

"The Fool is indeed in Backlund... Is it Leonard?" The only way to confirm whether it was Leonard was to check Leonard's itinerary over the past two days.

The divination scene gradually dissipated. Claire saw that the Fool sitting at the head of the table gradually became dignified and majestic. She also saw that as the Fool waved his hand, the gray mist obscured some debris in the corner.

"Among them is... the extraordinary characteristics that Audrey has stored here." Claire looked at it enviously. The storage function of the Gray Mist World was so tempting. It was simply a portable space with no side effects.

Unlike the two new extraordinary characteristics she had acquired, the current storage method was both complicated and unsafe.

Claire saw the Fool take out the silver pocket watch again, snapping it open to check the time.

When the pocket watch hands hit three, the members of the Tarot Club appeared at their seats.

Claire withdrew her gaze for a moment and looked at Audrey lying on the bed. Audrey had her eyes closed, and there was nothing unusual to see.

"Even if someone is dragged into the gray fog world by a fool in front of others, it's difficult for those around you to notice..." Claire confirmed the gathering's secrecy from the perspective of an observer. She sighed inwardly, "Even from this tiny perspective, the magic of the gray fog world is nothing short of miraculous..."

In the gray foggy world, Audrey spoke first as always: "Good afternoon, Mr. Fool. Good afternoon, everyone."

Next, the "Hanged Man" materialized the previously promised Russell diary.

In just the first diary entry, Claire saw the names of two sequences of the "Comprehensive" pathway:
"Alchemist!"

"Mystic Scholar!"

Alchemy, Mystery... These are the names of the sequences after a generalist becomes a demigod!
Claire pondered the meaning of the name and continued to read. She saw the sequence description of the "Monster" pathway.

Sequence 9 "Monster", Sequence 7 "Lucky One", Sequence 5 "Winner", Sequence 2 "Prophet", and...

Sequence 1 "Mercury Snake"!
This is the second Sequence 1 name Claire knows so far!

In his diary, Russell described this path as representing "destiny"!

This path is mastered by the secret organization School of Life, which worships not any god, but the moon!

"The moon, the moon in this world is usually referred to as the 'Scarlet Moon'."

"The one who rules the Scarlet Moon is the Night Goddess. Her title includes the description 'Lord of Crimson.' Since this description accurately points to the Night Goddess, there's no possibility of it being false."

"So, does that mean the School of Life is also a follower of the Goddess? But if they are also followers of the Goddess, why haven't they joined the Church of Evernight?"

Claire vaguely sensed the complexity of the divine level.

"I learned all this from Russell's conversation with the Miracle Master Zaratul. The Miracle Master is Sequence 2 of the Diviner path... That's a Sequence level only the Pope can reach."

Claire still remembered that Sequence 2 and Sequence 1 were called earthly angels!
Claire continued to look at the fourth diary page and saw a sentence that surprised her:
"The Soran family has a history of over two thousand years, even longer than the Church of the God of Craftsmen. They have witnessed all the cooperation and disputes in the Fourth Epoch."

The Soran family was once the royal family of Intis. After being overthrown by Roselle, they fell from the throne. Even though the family later participated in the assassination of Roselle and succeeded, the Soran family did not regain their rule over Intis. Now they are just an ordinary noble family in Intis.

Claire was not surprised by the long history of the Soran family, but she was surprised by the short history of the Church of the God of Craftsmen!

The Church of the God of Craftsmen is the predecessor of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. It was founded during the reign of Emperor Roselle, and it was only established less than two thousand years ago?!
"According to the speculation that gods need believers, does this mean that the God of Craftsmen has not been in this world for long?"

Claire continued to look at the fifth diary, which recorded that Russell had joined an ancient secret gathering, but Russell still did not mention the name of this organization.

But Russell clearly pointed out in his diary that this organization holds the "second blasphemous slate"!
This organization believes in the original creator and is hostile to the "true creator".

This organization has been guarding and passing down secrets for thousands and tens of thousands of years, believing that dusk is bound to come and doomsday is inevitable.

“When dusk comes, when the end of everything comes, He will wake up from His slumber, let everything return to Himself, and create a new world and a new history.”

"This concept, why does it give me the feeling of a world-destroying boss..." Claire silently recited the contents of the diary in her mind, and couldn't help but use complaints to ease her mental shock.

Claire continued reading the last page of the diary. The contents of the last page made Claire unable to hide her astonishment. She stared blankly with her eyes wide open.

"It turns out that the Extraordinary Path is truly the 'Path of God,' and it turns out that the 'Blasphemy Slate' is truly blasphemous to the gods!"

"On top of the Sequence 1 of each path, there is also a Sequence 0! There are also corresponding potion recipes and rituals!"

"Each path can only have one Sequence 0! Sequence 0 is the sequence where the true God resides!"

"For example, Sequence 0 'Sun'!"

The gods are truly included in the potion system!

At this moment, all the memories and knowledge that Claire had stored in the memory library in the form of books began to stir!
Countless books are flying and circling, being rearranged and put back in place!

The end of the extraordinary path is the gods!

Only one god can be born on each path!
The god that is born will in turn take charge of the entire path!

Therefore, the "Original Witch" can influence all extraordinary people of the "Assassin" path!
Therefore, the "Hidden Sage" can instill knowledge that can drive people crazy into all "secret peepers"!
Therefore, the "True Creator" is the only Lord for all "secret praying people"!

Then by the same token... the seven righteous gods are more widespread than the evil gods!
Claire's expression turned extremely grim. Doesn't this mean that the path she's on has been controlled by the God of Steam and Machinery?!
And she has not been discovered by the Steam Church so far, only relying on the secret protection of the Goddess of Night!
Claire recalled that in a previous diary entry, Emperor Roselle had regretted not choosing one of the three paths: "Apprentice," "Fortune Teller," or "Thief."

Could it be that Russell wasn't comparing the pros and cons of the three paths, but rather that those three paths had yet to produce a god? Did they hold the hope of becoming a god?
"This is truly a... despairing world." Claire sighed deeply. She longed for the divine power that controlled an entire path, but she despaired of her current understanding.

Although her sequence level was still low, this clear feeling of having no way forward was extremely unpleasant.

In her depressed mood, Claire suddenly grasped a question:
"But...why would the Goddess of Night, a true deity, show such special care for me? What is so special about me?"

"After all, the knowledge recorded in the diary is only Russell's cognition. And judging by the tone of the diary so far, Russell clearly hasn't become a god..."

"Perhaps... the gods possess other unknown knowledge. Otherwise, this wouldn't explain the goddess's interest in me. The reason the goddess cultivated me, a 'universal knower', must be related to some secret known only to the gods."

Although this speculation may seem to indicate that the Goddess of Night has some covetous thoughts about the divine power of the "Educator" path, at least this speculation is not as despairing as before.

What makes people despair is not the distance, but the unreachability.

And where there are variables, there is hope.

"In any case, I still have to become stronger as quickly as possible..."

"On the premise of completely digesting the potion, increase the sequence level as quickly as possible..."

Claire's mood gradually calmed down, and she was able to face her new understanding. "At the very least, the stronger you are, the more freedom you can have. It's a rare opportunity to travel through time, so I can't grow old with regrets..."

"Let's strive to reach Senior Russell's level first..."

It's not about becoming the emperor of an empire like Roselle.

Instead, he hopes to have the same level of freedom as Russell.

"I just wonder if Senior Roselle, who eventually became the Great Emperor, actually became a true god... He probably didn't, because otherwise, how could a god die in an assassination? It seems too humorous."

"In short, I still have a long way to go."

“I still have a long way to go.”

(End of this chapter)