Mystery: The Ultimate Tarot

Chapter 414 The Devil's Deception

The "Master of the Dark Lodge" noticed that this fellow in the "Dark Lodge" seemed to have already made some progress in "harmonizing with the Dao".

This means that in the near future, "Dark Lodge" will indeed change hands.

Raphael got straight to the point: "I have a batch of extraordinary properties here—what you call inner cores. Distribute them to the Blood Sect disciples of Dark Lodge to enhance their strength."

As he spoke, Raphael raised his hand, and a small cluster of traits appeared in front of the "Master of the Dark Lodge".

The "Master of the Dark Lodge" stood up and said, "Thank you."

Raphael was taken aback. The other person had always been meditating while talking to me, so why was he suddenly standing up now?

The owner of the secluded cottage asked, "What payment do you wish to receive?"

"No reward is needed," Raphael said. "As I said before, I will be the master of Dark Lodge sooner or later. Why would I need a reward to make my organization stronger?"

"Hmm—by the way, you should organize a group of elite troops as reserves. Perhaps in a while we will indeed need to use the disciples of the Dark Pavilion to fight an extraordinary war."

"Master of the Dark Lodge": "Alright."

Then he asked, "How do you plan to reorganize Dark Lodge?"

Raphael said, "It's fine as it is now. I've looked into your organizational structure, and it's not bad."

As he spoke, Raphael prepared to return to the "Dark Hut".

At this moment, the "Master of the Dark Lodge" suddenly said, "My Daoist name is Qinglan."

Raphael was taken aback, not understanding why the other party suddenly mentioned a Taoist name. He said "Oh" and returned to the "Dark Abode".

Back in the high-backed crystal chair, Raphael suddenly realized: this guy meant that he would no longer be the "Master of Dark Abode," but Qinglan.

As for why the other party suddenly made such a statement, Raphael glanced at his hands and immediately understood: it must be because the other party noticed my breakthrough in "Dao Integration" and knew that I was indeed qualified to master "Dark Abode", which is why they suddenly showed me such respect.

It's not surprising that the other party has changed like this. No matter how much Qinglan, the "Master of the Dark Abode," cultivates or "merges with the Dao," he is still outside the "Dark Abode."

However, Raphael, having mastered the method of "harmonizing with the Dao" within the "Dark Abode," naturally found it easier to control the "Dark Abode" than Qinglan.

Qinglan — Not only Qinglan, but all the disciples of Anlu, their power comes from "Anlu".

Therefore, the person who can be inside the "Dark Lodge" and control the "Dark Lodge" must be the future "Master of the Dark Lodge".

Raphael's lips curled up, and he couldn't help but smile slightly. The other party was so sensible that it saved him the trouble of seizing power later.

Raphael was in high spirits and returned to the real world, where he began to plan his next scam.

Southern continent, Verdtek.

This is a large city in central East Bairan, with a large population, and serves as a land transportation hub connecting the south and north of East Bairan.

At the same time, because the city was far from the port, Rune's rule was not very secure.

The previous world war made this place a primary target of the "Rose School" and the "Spiritual Order," and it was captured in the early stages of the war.

After the war ended, although the "Rose School" and the "Spirit Order" withdrew from the area and Rune regained control, the two organizations left behind numerous secret outposts and developed a large number of followers.

The current Governor's Office of Rune no longer has much power. The key issue is that Rune suffered too much damage to its extraordinary strength in the previous war, and there will be no reinforcements in the short term.

Therefore, as long as Rune's economic interests here are preserved, the Governor's Office will be grateful. As for how rampant those secret organizations are in their activities here, they simply don't have the energy to care.

The previous world war completely changed the world situation. Although Rune was victorious, the century-old Luo—

With the independence of the Seade Islands, the colonies on the southern continent regained their legal jurisdiction, but local armed forces and secret organizations were already everywhere, so the war in the colonies would not end anytime soon.

If Rune is unable to reclaim the entire East Bairan for an extended period, local armed groups will soon declare independence or autonomy and then side with other major powers.

It's really hard to say who won and who lost.

At this moment, in a manor outside Vertecker, several mid- to high-ranking members of the "Rose School" are holding a meeting. They plan to attack a church of the Church of the Night in retaliation for the Night Watch squad destroying one of their strongholds last month.

The meeting was convened by a "puppet" named Leleja, and the other six attendees were also "vengeful spirits" and "living corpses".

The "Indulgence Faction" held a unique meeting, which included not only seven attendees but also 14 beautiful local girls.

While discussing matters, the attendees also embraced women on both sides, and when the mood struck, they would even spread the legs of beautiful young girls to vent their desires.

Other attendees wouldn't see this as disrespectful to the meeting; they might even offer their comments or seek out other girls to release their desires.

Strangely, this did not affect the progress of their meetings; in fact, they often showed a more rational side than usual at this time.

As for those beautiful young girls, because they overheard the contents of their meeting, they could only live until the meeting ended.

Soon, in what could be described as a meeting or a feast of desire, the group had already decided on their next move.

Attacks on churches of the Orthodox Church always require the presence of a saint, because the saints of the Orthodox Church will arrive to provide support in a very short time. Of course, they must be on high alert, otherwise it would be tantamount to "sending themselves to their deaths".

Having settled their business, just as everyone was about to begin their carnal revelry, Leleja casually asked one of the "vengeful spirits," "How are the preparations for the sacrifice going?"

The vengeful spirit, kneading a young girl's soft breasts, paused, then asked, "What kind of ritual?"

Leleja pushed the girl aside and said sternly, "How dare you be so disrespectful to the worship of the gods?"

"Griffith the vengeful spirit" was startled and quickly said, "Didn't you say you weren't going to perform the sacrifices anymore?"

"When did I say that?"

The other extraordinary beings stopped what they were doing and looked at their leader in surprise.

This surprised Leleja: Did I really say that?

wrong!

Leleja immediately activated his "spiritual vision" to examine his subordinates, but strangely, he found nothing wrong with them.

At this moment, Griffith cautiously asked, "Did you pray to the 'Mother Tree of Desire' again?"

For a moment, Leleja didn't realize something was amiss, so he followed up on the other person's topic, saying, "Of course we should pray to the 'Mother Tree of Desire'! That's—"

Griffith exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no!"

The other five extraordinary individuals were also surprised and quickly pushed the girl next to them away, taking a few steps back.

Leleja was still confused: "What's wrong?"

Griffith said solemnly, "The Bound God has returned! Haven't you already led us back to the embrace of the Bound God!"

"What?" Leleja couldn't believe his ears. "When did this happen? I've never heard of it before!"

Griffith quickly took a few steps back: "The Lord of Evil Desires is the Bound God!"

Leleja was completely stunned. If it weren't for the fact that Griffith had been with him for over a decade, he would have immediately killed the guy.

The "Lord of Evil Desires" is clearly the enemy, so how did he become a "bound god"?

How long has it been since the "Bound God" responded to the prayers of his followers? Although there is no public information about this deity, everyone believes that he has already fallen.

In addition, as a "puppet", Leleja also heard another piece of news: the "bound god" had become a devout follower of the "Mother Tree of Desire", willingly giving up his own self to serve the "Mother Tree of Desire".

He did not disappear; he went to the divine kingdom of the "Mother Tree of Desire."

In any case, it seems unlikely that this deity will return.

Thinking this, Leleja's eyes gradually turned cold. He looked at his subordinates before him. Although he didn't know what methods the enemy had used, he had already sentenced them to death in his mind: "Since you have been affected by the enemy, then you will go to the underworld—"

"Wait a minute!" Griffith exclaimed in alarm. "Mr. Leleja, look what this is!"

Griffiths took out a gold bracelet with some sinister patterns engraved on it.

Leleja's eyes narrowed: "How did this end up in your hands?"

That was a magical item given to him by Leleja's mentor. Although its power was not very strong, it was of great significance, so he always kept it with him.

Seeing that it was in Griffith's hands, Leleja immediately looked at his clothes and, sure enough, there was no bracelet there.

"When did you steal it?" Leleja shouted angrily.

"I didn't steal it!" Griffith quickly offered it up with both hands. "You gave it to me, saying that if I were influenced by the 'Mother Tree of Desire' and forgot some important things, you would be shown this so that I wouldn't attack us and would listen to us carefully."

Leleja snorted coldly, snatched the bracelet and put it on his wrist, then said, "I'll give you three more minutes to live. Tell me properly, what exactly is going on with the 'Lord of Evil Desire'?"

Although he still appeared quite fierce, he had some doubts in his heart. Why did he have no recollection of this matter? But he remembered his mentor mentioning that the "Mother Tree of Desire" and the "Bound God" had indeed had some conflicts in the past.

What exactly was the conflict? Why did it happen? He didn't know; he only knew that such a thing had happened.

This is clearly a struggle between gods, and anything can happen in such a struggle.

Or rather, at this point, the more you know, the more concerns you'll have. You fear that you might unknowingly be influenced and make the wrong judgment.

If Leleja knew nothing, he wouldn't be so confused now.

"Yes, yes, yes," Griffiths replied immediately. "About a week ago, you suddenly summoned us and introduced us to a divine messenger."

The messenger told us about the struggle between the Mother Tree of Desire and the Bound God, which began in the Second Age. At the beginning of the Fifth Age, shortly after the Bound God established the Rose School, he was ambushed by the Mother Tree of Desire in this struggle and was thus at a disadvantage.

"Afterwards, the Mother Tree of Desire gradually gained control of the entire Rose School, and the higher-ups were forced to believe in the Mother Tree of Desire. We, the "Middle Sequence" Extraordinary Ones, were also forced to believe in the current leader."

"But the current leader is just a puppet, actually—"

Leleja interrupted, somewhat surprised: "You dare to say such things?"

Let alone gossiping about the leader of the "Rose School" behind his back, even speaking ill of an angel can easily lead to being cursed without one's knowledge and dying a horrific death.

The sudden questioning made Griffith stammer, "—God, the messenger of God said that the divine curse, Sear, is in very poor condition and can only hide in the spirit world most of the time. With a little effort, he can prevent us from being found by Sear, and he even cursed Him in front of us. He was indeed not cursed at all."

Leleja said with a serious expression, "Continue."

Griffiths added, "The messenger also told us that just two years ago, the struggle between the Mother Tree of Desire and the Bound God took a turn for the better."

The "Bound God" has finally broken free from the "Mother Tree of Desire's" blockade and pursuit, and has transformed into the "Lord of Evil Desire" to begin reclaiming everything he has lost.

"In the past year or two, the Rose School demigods who have been killed in the Northern Continent have all been murdered by the followers of the Lord of Evil Desire."

"The Lord of Evil Desires has now regained much power and is plotting to completely reclaim the Rose School."

Leleja took a deep breath. As a prospective high-ranking member of the "Rose School," he had naturally heard that two saints sent to the Northern Continent had died in the past two years, and many ordinary members had also died. Now, the "Rose School" had virtually no strongholds or informants in the Northern Continent.

However, he heard that this was the work of the "Temperance Faction" and the "Aurora Society," so how did it become the achievement of the "Lord of Lust"?

Leleja asked, "Did the divine messenger say whether the 'Temperance Faction' had already joined them?"

"No, not at all," Griffiths said. "The messenger said that the 'Temperance Faction' has also been unknowingly influenced by the 'Mother Tree of Desire.' Their leader, Erin, was killed by a follower of the 'Lord of Lust.'"

This answer surprised Leleja again. If the Temperance Faction had joined the camp of the Lord of Lust, he would have doubts, because according to the information obtained by the Rose School, the members of the Temperance Faction still believed in the Bound God, not the Lord of Lust.

If we accept the messenger's explanation that it's the same deity, it seems plausible. However, according to information obtained by Leleja, the "Bound God" still hasn't responded to the members of the "Temperance Faction." Therefore, the claim that the "Temperance Faction" has begun to believe in the "Lord of Evil Desires" is unbelievable.

The messenger's words, however, plunged Leleja into new doubts.

Just then, the space in the center of the room suddenly rippled open, and a man in his twenties, wearing a long robe with strange embroidery, came out. He was handsome and had a slightly wicked smile on his face.

Griffiths and the others breathed a sigh of relief; the divine messenger had finally arrived.

Leleja's eyes narrowed, ready to act at any moment, and he called out the divine messenger's name: "Raphael Collins!"