Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 1395 A New Journey

In a room of an abandoned castle, sunlight streamed through the gaps in the heavy curtains, illuminating a pitch-black coffin.

Suddenly, the lid of the coffin made a rattling sound and slowly began to move to the side.

With a thud, it fell to the ground.

A few seconds later, Azik Eggers sat up, looking rather bewildered.

At this moment, he was wearing a loose-fitting nightgown that was popular in Ruen a few years ago, just like a nobleman waking up in his own manor.

After a while, Azik narrowed his eyes slightly, looking around with a confused expression, as if he didn't know who he was.

He then saw the brilliant sunlight shining through the cracks, the dust motes dancing and floating in the sunlight, and the letters scattered on the table, the ground, and beside the coffin lid.

They resembled giant snowflakes, covering half of the area.

Azik stepped out of the coffin, bent down with a puzzled look, picked up a letter, and began to read it.

As he read, the blankness on his face lessened somewhat, as if he were remembering many things from the past.

Azik immediately found a chair and sat down, letting all the letters fly to him, overlapping like peaks.

He opened and read the letters one by one, pausing occasionally to ponder for a long time, as if he were seriously recalling something.

The sunlight filtering through the curtains gradually dimmed, but after a long while, it shone in again.

At this point, Azik finally finished reading all the letters and completed one long period of "meditation"-like contemplation after another.

He glanced at the letters piled up on the table and sighed slowly and deeply.

Then, he found some letter paper, a fountain pen, and some usable ink, and wrote gently:

"...I have woken up and received all your letters. They reminded me of who I am, who you are, and many things from the past."

"Your experience, in terms of both complexity and excitement, has exceeded my expectations and has made me understand some of my previous questions."

"From these letters, I can feel your joy, your exhaustion, your hope for life, and the heavy responsibility you have placed on your shoulders."

"I can probably guess why you ultimately made that choice. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have been able to make that decision."

"From the very beginning, you have been a guardian, from imitating others to being imitated."

"Next, I will embark on a journey to explore more of the past and witness the changes in this world."

"You seem to still be asleep, but that's okay. I'll write to tell you about the interesting things I've encountered, the interesting customs, and the interesting people."

"I think we can send these letters to you through a sacrifice..."

The golden pen tip reflected the sunlight, gliding across the white paper with a soft swishing sound, continuously writing more and more content.

…………

Inside the sunroom of a row house in Backlund.

Melissa led a little girl, who was clearly under ten years old, into the room.

"Auntie, Auntie, why here?" the little girl asked疑惑地. "The stories I've heard all involve mysterious rituals performed in the basement."

Melissa, with her hair pulled back and wearing glasses, smiled and said:

"That was an irregular occult ritual."

She then pointed to the altar that had already been set up and the unlit candles in front of her, and said:

"You can begin."

"Really?" The little girl glanced at the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. "Should we... should we close the curtains?"

"No need, this is fine." Melissa replied, smiling as she watched the little girl awkwardly and clumsily imitate her usual rituals.

During this process, she would occasionally offer guidance or even do it herself, finally helping the little girl complete the preliminary steps of the ceremony.

"Alright, repeat after me." Melissa took a breath, her expression gradually becoming serious.

"Mmm." The little girl also tried to appear serious.

Melissa gazed at the candlelight on the altar for a few seconds, then slowly began to speak, reciting in ancient Hermes:

"A fool who doesn't belong to this era..."

"The water catcher is a single drop of joy..." The little girl had never learned the ancient Hermes language. Although she tried her best to imitate her aunt, she still didn't know what she was saying.

"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog..." Melissa continued reading.

"The ghost bone fractures and wounds drip with holy honey to cook debts..." the little girl repeated earnestly.

"The King of Yellow and Black who holds good fortune..." After Melissa finished reciting the words, the candle at the top swelled to the size of a human head before the little girl could even imitate it.

Within this enormous ball of fire, a slippery tentacle, with faintly visible, eerie patterns, yet impossible to discern clearly, hesitantly extended out, its movements extremely slow.

The little girl froze instantly, then quickly retreated and hid behind her aunt.

Melissa pursed her lips, her expression gentle with a hint of a smile, and said:

"Don't be afraid, go and say hello to him."

The little girl timidly peeked out from behind her aunt and saw the terrifying, slippery tentacle gently swaying in the bright sunlight streaming in from the window, as if wiping away dust, or as if waving to her.

"Go, don't be afraid," Melissa repeated.

The little girl finally mustered up her courage and stood in front of the altar.

She rattled off some spells she had invented, then smiled sincerely and raised her hand.

The smooth, patterned tentacles paused for several seconds, seemingly hesitant and somewhat unfamiliar.

Then, it gently rose, curled up slightly, and descended inch by inch.

In the sunlight, it clapped its hands together with that tiny palm.

(End of the book)

P.S.: I feel completely drained. I'll post the author's closing remarks tomorrow at noon.

(End of this chapter)