Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 224 The Hidden Truth

"medium……"

Klein's expression shifted slightly, as if he had remembered something.

Divination always requires a medium, especially when the 'protagonist' is not present.

The closer the connection between the medium and the object of divination, the more detailed and accurate the divination will be. The sacrifice ring that Ember gave to Miss Justice is undoubtedly one of the mediums closely connected to him. Klein was able to use this medium to locate Ember through divination, thus confirming that he had returned to the past.

Therefore, this was the first medium that Klein thought of this time as well.

But he quickly realized that the sacrificial ring wasn't the only medium—

Before he set sail, Ember had given him other mediums.

A sacrificed twig, and a lingering ember.

Sacrificing a sapling may not be as suitable as sacrificing a ring as a medium, but embers are certainly more suitable than either of them!

Klein's expression was somewhat surprised and uncertain as he muttered to himself:

"Sacrificing the sapling was the reward for asking me to deliver a message to Lieutenant General Iceberg, but the embers were given to me voluntarily, with instructions to pass them on to 'The Fool.' This was also a request, but it offered neither reward nor specific requirements."

"Or rather, that ember was both a reward and a mandate. It was handed over to the 'Fool' in the hope that the 'Fool' would do something with this ember, and the reward was the ember itself."

"In essence, the value of the ember surpasses that of sacrificing the twig and the ring, and there's no doubt that it serves as payment. But what exactly does the Ember hope the 'Fool' will achieve through this ember?"

"He only told me to pass it on to 'The Fool,' without explaining why. Could it be that he thought 'The Fool' could guess it?"

Klein's eye twitched. "Then you've probably trusted the wrong person... After all, he really doesn't understand!"

"How am I supposed to understand if you don't tell me?" Klein was suddenly in a terrible predicament; he had absolutely no clue about what was happening.

Aside from using the embers for divination, he didn't know what else he could do with them, and before that...

Klein glanced at the little 'sun' on his right, who was casting eager glances at him. He was now in a difficult position and had to give the 'sun' a definite answer.

"The Fool" Klein thought for a moment, then chuckled and said:

"First, let's establish a fact."

"I am neither omniscient nor omnipotent."

He said it in a self-deprecating, relaxed tone, but the members of the Tarot Club didn't react at all; in fact, they became even more respectful.

To them, it was obvious that Mr. Fool was neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Even setting aside their individual speculations about Mr. Fool's state, the mere fact that this mysterious being's name did not contain any similar description was enough to illustrate this point.

Moreover, none of the current true gods or evil gods have titles that describe them as omniscient and omnipotent...

Having subtly set the tone, Klein slowly began to speak:

"I have some guesses about where the 'lover' is now, but it will take time to verify."

He knew that Ember was definitely not in the present timeline; it had most likely traveled back in time. But he had no clue exactly how many years ago. Divination would most likely give him a fairly accurate answer, but he couldn't do it in front of others; he would have to wait until the Tarot session ended.

The Sun was clearly disappointed with Mr. Fool's answer and lowered its head in disappointment.

As for his thoughts, the Tarot Club members, apart from the newly joined "Hermit," could more or less guess them:

The Silver City, where the "Sun" resides, is located in the Forsaken Land, isolated from the world. For thousands of years, no way to leave this land has been found. But if he can successfully find his "lover," perhaps there will be a chance for the residents of the Silver City to leave with him!

Unfortunately, the Fool's words undoubtedly shattered the Sun's hopes once again.

The Hermit, Cattleya, lowered her eyes slightly to conceal the shock within.

Judging from the Sun's question and the attitudes of the others, it's not hard to tell that this Mr. Sun comes from the Forsaken Land that Emperor Roselle searched for in vain! Can Mr. Fool connect to that place? No, perhaps, He awakened from there! The Hermit, Cattleya, thought with shock and solemnity.

The Tarot Society was clearly more complex than she had imagined; its members involved not only the Church of Storms and the Church of the Earth Mother, but also the Loen noble class, and even connections to the legendary Forsaken Land.

Besides, there's also Mr. "The Lover." Although they've never met, it's easy to tell from the attitudes of the other members of the Tarot Club that his status and level are perhaps the highest in this Tarot Club besides Mr. "The Fool"!

As for the other individuals' positions, information is insufficient to determine their exact ranking, but it should be quite high...

Just as he made a guess, the Hermit saw Miss Justice nod thoughtfully, then turn back to the head of the bronze table:

"Mr. Fool, I was out of town and only managed to collect one page of Russell's diary."

"Mr. Fool, I have obtained three pages," Fors the Magician said with a smile.

The Hanged Man remained silent, and the diary segment of the Tarot Club had almost become a one-woman show for these two ladies.

Russell's Diary... a diary?

Cattleya almost lost control of her expression, because she clearly remembered that person once said:

"That's not a notebook, it's his diary, but no one else can understand it except him."

Cattleya took a deep breath, maintaining her composure, and simply tilted her head to observe the first 'transaction'. She understood perfectly well that as a newcomer to the Tarot Club, she only needed to do one thing—listen more and talk less!

"The Sun" Derrick followed up with:

"Mr. Fool, I have copied down new legends of the ancient gods."

"Tsk, always using ancient god legends to brush it off..." Emlyn, the "Moon," glanced disdainfully at the "Sun," then stood up and respectfully said:

"Mr. Fool, I have also copied down a piece of vampire history."

Justice glanced at Emlyn in surprise, while The Hanged Man's expression was also somewhat subtle.

What are you looking at? You're probably just jealous of me! After all, human history isn't as detailed as the vampire records. You know, there are still many powerful vampires from before the Great Cataclysm who have survived to this day; they are all witnesses to the past...

Emlyn instinctively shrank back, but quickly sat up straight again, looking self-righteous, and said arrogantly:

"If you want to see it, I can give you a copy."

"Thank you." The Hanged Man nodded slightly and casually expressed his gratitude.

He wouldn't let go of such a freebie opportunity.

Emlyn White didn't see anything wrong with it, after all, he had always wanted to show off the glorious history of the vampires to outsiders, but he had never had the chance.

Klein, the Fool, chuckled and casually copied the vampire history provided by Emlyn and circulated it among the other members... This was fine; at least while he was reading the diary, the others wouldn't just sit there watching him read it.

Klein quickly flipped through the diary in his hand, skipping over the eloquent but ultimately uninformative descriptions, even ignoring the section about Emperor Roselle stealing the Antigonus family notes from the Steam Church on behalf of Zarathustra. His gaze finally settled on another page:

"On July 7th, after my earnest and persistent advice, the Steel Sun Church finally agreed to transfer the Painting World to the Steam Church. As expected of me!"

Indeed, as expected of you. The Church of the Eternal Sun probably only agreed because you bothered them so much.

Klein silently skipped over this sentence and continued reading:

"I spent some time exploring the entire painted world, covering almost the entire map. And as I expected, just like in the game, each painted world has a core. But I never imagined that the core of this world would be exactly the same as the Ariandel Cathedral in the game!"

"This is definitely not the one from the game, but the similar architecture can't be a coincidence. Could it be that this painted world was also painted by 'Young Lady'?"

"If that's the case, then where is the young lady? And where did she get the paint?"

"..."

There was a large blank space in the middle, with signs of scribbling, which made Klein frown as he continued reading:

"In any case, I have finally decided to cover up this church."

"I need to build a city on it. This is something that every saint and angel in the Steam Church must do. Everyone must contribute to the construction of this world. This will not arouse anyone's suspicion..."

"I should name my city... Hmm, let me think... I've got it! Terra Palace!"

"From now on, let's call this painted world Sacred Terra!"

"Terra alone isn't enough; I also need to equip the palace with a sufficient number of royal guards!"

"...A force of ten thousand men is a bit difficult, and a force of a thousand men is probably impossible too, so let's just get a few Titans, it's all the same anyway..."

"..."

After reading the diary, Klein frowned deeply.

The scribbled-out sections of the diary were clearly intentional, but only someone capable of deciphering a diary would scribble out crucial information. And the only person capable of deciphering a diary should be Emperor Roselle himself. Does this mean Roselle himself scribbled these out sections?

But if he was going to write it down, why did he erase and scribble on the diary?

Or is it that those contents, like the "Twilight Hermits' Society," could not be recorded?

What secrets are hidden inside that church?

and……

Miss Justice also seems to have mentioned that Ember entered the painting world of the Steam Church, which clearly happened after he went to sea—

Moreover, it will most likely happen this week, otherwise it should have been mentioned during the last tarot session.

In other words, is the disappearance of the embers also related to the world of painting?

Perhaps he touched upon the heart of the church, which is why he mysteriously disappeared...

Tsk, could it be that Ember was teleported to the settlement by the campfire?

Klein suddenly frowned, because he discovered that this page of the diary was provided by Miss "Justice".

Ember disappeared because of the world of painting, and she just happened to submit a page of her diary related to "Holy Terra". Is this really a coincidence?

Having been tricked by "coincidence" twice in a row, Klein could no longer take the word "coincidence" seriously.

He didn't think Miss Justice did it on purpose, since she couldn't understand the diary at all. So, it must have been the person who provided this page of the diary to Justice…

The demigod who accompanied Miss Justice through the audience?

Klein's eyes flickered slightly, and he vaguely guessed the truth, but his doubts only increased:

Who exactly is that demigod?

Klein didn't hesitate for long; he quickly picked up the vampire history provided by Emlyn and began to read it.

This history is just a summary, like a table of contents.

This is not surprising, after all, if the true history of vampires were recorded in detail, it would definitely fill a library!

This history primarily focuses on the period after the Great Cataclysm and before the war of the Four Emperors.

That period was the last glorious moment for the vampires.

"After the Great Cataclysm, the vampires left the center of the historical stage of the North and South continents, becoming nobles of different empires and dynasties as individuals rather than as a race, either governing a territory or guarding castles in key areas."

"When the vampire queen, the Blood Moon Queen Olnia who led us out of the Dark Ages, established a strategic partnership with the Night Emperor of the Ternsost Empire, the entire vampire clan united and became an important supporter of this dynasty, even holding a position equivalent to the Night Emperor himself! At that time, Augustus of Rune and Einhorn of Fursac had to respectfully address her as Her Majesty the Queen."

"In that era, Queen Olya was the symbol of beauty. If a magic mirror existed that could answer questions, the only answer to who the most beautiful woman in the world was would be her..."

"All of this was shattered in the War of the Four Emperors. The Night Emperor fell, the Queen was also severely injured, and the vampires suffered a heavy blow. After seizing the final fruits of victory, the Seven Gods supported the four noble families of Augustus, Einhorn, Sauron, and Castia to divide the empire and destroy the royal family, which lacked a high-ranking member. The vampires could only retreat into the deserted mountains and hide in the shadows to maintain the continuation of their race."

Klein's expression was strange. He was certain that this history was handwritten by Emlyn White, because the 'history' was interspersed with Emlyn's personal writings, full of his self-praise and highly personal style...

Klein leaned back, making the documents in his hand disappear as he smiled and said:

"You may begin."

The hermit pondered for two seconds before speaking:

"Mr. Moon, your history differs somewhat from what I know. According to what I know, your Blood Moon Queen attained her high status by marrying the Night Emperor, and she ultimately perished in the war between the Four Emperors."

The Moon looked disdainful, clearly having heard of this claim before, and scoffed:

"Then you must have read a fake history. The Blood Moon Queen's strength at the time was comparable to the Night Emperor's, so why would she marry him to gain status? You should know that the Night Emperor was able to successfully ascend to the throne only with the support of the Blood Moon Queen and our vampire clan!"

"The Blood Moon Queen and the Night Emperor have always been equals. The so-called 'marriage down' is merely a whitewashing of history by you humans. You use it to prove the superiority of the human race, to prove that humans are above us vampires!"

"As for their fall..."

Emlyn White, the "Moon," paused for a second before speaking:

"That's true. There are records of this in the history of the vampires. The Blood Moon Queen once fell in the war of the Four Emperors. Human history records on this matter are not wrong. It's just that due to the limited information they have, their conclusions are somewhat one-sided."

"One-sided?" Justice was somewhat curious, as the four existing kingdoms of the Northern Continent did not have many records on this matter.

The moon said with considerable pride:

"The Blood Moon Queen did indeed perish in the war between the Four Emperors, but she was also reborn as a result. Although she still inevitably suffered severe injuries, over the course of thousands of years, the Queen's strength has gradually recovered!"

The Hermit, Cattleya, glanced at him slightly. Although she had raised objections, she didn't actually have much doubt about the history provided by the Moon. She also felt that the "marriage down" explanation didn't hold water, because in all the publicly available information about the Tronsost Empire she had collected, the Blood Moon Queen was referred to as "Her Majesty the Queen," not "Her Majesty the Empress."

Even in the treaty signed between the vampires and the Terensost Empire, there was only a clear record of an "alliance," not a marriage contract. Furthermore, the entire record of the Terensost Empire makes no mention of a wedding between the two parties.

Even if the wedding of the Night Emperor and the Blood Moon Queen was merely symbolic, it must have been a grand ceremony that shocked the continent. It's impossible that there were no records of it, unless the wedding never existed at all.

In comparison, the claim in vampire history that the Blood Moon Queen and the Night Emperor were of equal status is more plausible!

The reason why Gadriya believed this non-mainstream claim was mainly because the lady she once followed was also very interested in this history and thus came to the same conclusion as 'The Moon': that the Blood Moon Queen and 'Night Emperor' should have been of equal status, and that the marriage was just a fabricated rumor.

The reason why Cattleya still raised objections despite knowing all this was mainly to obtain the answer to the later question—

The Blood Moon Queen perished in the war between the Four Emperors, but was reborn for some unknown reason!

The moon seemed to be deliberately giving them time to think; after a long pause, it solemnly stated:

"The vampires' records are all true history, spanning thousands of years without any gaps in time. They are definitely more authentic than the obscure legends of Silver City!"

The innocent "Sun" opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but chose to remain silent. After all, he knew nothing about this part of history and had no right to criticize it.

Klein's eyes flickered slightly, and he spoke in a hoarse voice, controlling the 'world':

"Miss Justice, I'd like to know if you know the name of that fellow demigod?"

"Justice," Audrey thought for a moment, then said seriously:

"Her name is Karula."

Klein's eyelids twitched. This name... well, that's the truth!

No wonder she traveled with Ember, no wonder she went to the world of painting with him, and no wonder Miss Justice provided that page of the diary by such a coincidence. Now everything makes sense!

(End of this chapter)