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

Chapter 373 You are confused

As Justice and the others departed, silence returned above the gray fog, as if the previous gathering had been nothing but an illusion. Klein flicked his finger and tapped the edge of the weathered long table, revealing the partially completed "The Fool's Sacred Words," sacrificed by Miss Magician.

In an indescribable stillness, Klein stared solemnly at the cover of the Book of Holy Words.

The five large characters "The Fool's Sayings" caused Klein some inner turmoil.

To be fair, he absolutely did not want his church's holy book to have such a name. He could accept it whether it was called "The Book of Fools" or "The Holy Scripture of Fools," but the name "The Book of the Holy Word" really made Klein feel somewhat resistant.

However, if he were to make Miss Magician and others change their names for just three words, it would be a serious blow to Mr. Fool's dignity.

But as soon as Klein saw the words "The Book of the Holy Word," his thoughts started to wander again:

"The emperor had twenty sons, half of whom betrayed him."

"There are twenty-two slots in the Tarot deck. Subtracting me and my alternate accounts, that makes exactly twenty..."

"No, no, it's just a coincidence, um, just a coincidence."

Klein's lips twitched slightly as he comforted himself, then forcibly suppressed his wandering thoughts.

-

8 month 14 day.

The Republic of Intis, which had been fighting independently, and the Empire of Fusak secretly reached an agreement: Intis's inter-sea fleet and the remaining conquest fleet of Fusak would join forces to form a joint fleet to fight against the inter-sea fleet of the Kingdom of Rune.

This completely negated the original advantage of the Rune Kingdom's inter-sea fleet, forcing it back into a passive defensive posture.

8 month 15 day.

Organized by the "Hermit," the Tarot Club members embarked on another group tour. This time, the destination was the Hornachis Mountains, and as the ticket to the tour, a "War Bishop" belonging to the Republic of Intis paid the ultimate price.

8 month 25 day.

The Kingdom of Fenneport and the Republic of Intis formed a joint fleet to cross the Raging Sea, attempting to bombard the port of Dixi Bay. However, en route, they encountered an armored fleet patrolling nearby from the Kingdom of Rune, resulting in a fierce naval battle with losses on both sides.

8 month 28 day.

The combined forces of Intis and Fussack launched a large-scale landing on Constance, and the two fleets engaged in a fierce naval battle around Constance.

9 month 3 day.

Under the cover of the combined fleet, the Fussac and Intis forces successfully captured a port in West Velas County. The Inter-Naval Fleet and the Loon Army engaged in fierce fighting around the port for a week, but failed to recapture it. The Fussac and Intis forces successfully established a foothold.

9 month 7 day.

A key node in the Hornach Mountains defense line was breached by Intis, and the battle intensified.

9 month 12 day.

During the two-week amphibious assault, Intis and Fusak successfully captured the Conston Beach and established a 17-kilometer-deep counter-offensive base. The Kingdom of Rune was forced to go on the defensive, and Fusak and Intis quickly expanded their gains, with the allied landing force reaching 50 men.

9 month 15 day.

The allied forces of Intis and Fusak launched an attack on Constance, and the Kingdom of Rune urgently sent reinforcements to support them.

-

Backlund, Queens, inside the Hall family's luxurious villa.

Audrey sat down at the dressing table, her lips pursed as she thought about recent events, her mind a jumble of emotions.

Over the past month, the war situation has become increasingly unfavorable for the Kingdom of Rune.

The heavy losses suffered by the conquering fleet forced Fussack to make concessions in negotiations with Intis, but this did not deter the Fussacks from their invasion; instead, it fostered cooperation between the two nations. It is conceivable that Intis gained significant advantages from the negotiations with Fussack, which is why they so readily dispatched their entire inter-naval fleet to cooperate with Fussack.

The situation in the Sunia Sea is relatively good. The fleets of Fusak, Intis, and Feneport at sea are being suppressed by several armored fleets of Rune and can only barely maneuver to protect the maritime supply lines.

Meanwhile, with the support of the Church of the Night, Fussac's legion of two-headed giants was unable to breach any fortress along the Amanda Mountains defense line, which remained steadfast.

The only remaining defensive line is the coastal defenses, which are gradually losing ground under the fierce attacks of Intis and Fussac. Perhaps in less than a month, Constance will fall, as will the Hornach Mountains.

By then, Fursac and Intis could easily advance unimpeded, occupying West Vellas and Intersea counties while continuing southeast to meet up in the Backlund region.

If Backlund were to fall to the combined forces of the two countries, the consequences would be unimaginable!

In an effort to stop this, they have organized several assassination attempts against Intis and Fussack's top brass over the past month, but most of these operations have failed, with only two of the more than ten attempts succeeding.

Because the leaders of both countries were already on guard, each was accompanied by multiple demigods from different sources.

This means that unless the Tarot Society can kill all of these demigods at the same time, the assassination attempt by the Tarot Society will inevitably fail if any one of them has the opportunity to ask the angels for help.

In truth, Audrey knew that they had already reached the limit of what they could do.

No matter how hard they try, all they can do is hunt down a few more demigods, but that will have a negligible impact on the war. The war won't end until both countries have exhausted their national strength.

Only a divine war can change all of this.

Whether a war of the gods will break out will not change according to their will...

Audrey was inevitably a little frustrated, but that didn't mean she gave up.

Audrey's emerald eyes flickered, and she thought to herself, unable to contain herself:

"The grain that the 'Hermit' lady helped smuggle is almost used up. If I want to obtain more grain, I will have to go to the Kingdom of Feneport myself and talk to the grain merchants..."

Although it was said to be a discussion, it wasn't a discussion in the literal sense.

In pursuit of higher profits, these merchants wouldn't hesitate to risk treason by selling grain to the Kingdom of Rune. However, the selling price would certainly not be the lowest possible; it would be double, or even several times, the original price.

This is not surprising, after all, these merchants are driven by profit. If the profit wasn't high enough, why would they take the risk to do such a thing? If those merchants went a little too far, the price she smuggled grain from the Kingdom of Feneport might be even higher than the price she paid for it domestically.

In this situation, Audrey knew very well that the effect of negotiations would be very limited.

Therefore, she knew that the "Hermit" lady meant "to talk" by using her extraordinary ability through the "audience" pathway. With the strength of a demigod, she could easily hypnotize those grain merchants and buy their grain at a lower price.

However, this also carries risks, as the Kingdom of Feneport will certainly send people to monitor these grain merchants. Small-scale grain smuggling is manageable, but if too many grain merchants are being "controlled" on a large scale, it will inevitably arouse the suspicion of the church and the authorities, who might even dispatch demigods to investigate…

However, she can rent "Lemanor's Travel Notes" from Miss "The Magician". With the extraordinary ability of "travel" at her fingertips, she doesn't have to worry about being caught even if she is discovered.

The witch's voice rang in her ear:

"You seem a little troubled?"

Audrey snapped out of her daze, turned her head to look at the woman who had suddenly appeared in the room, dressed in a long black dress, and called herself the "Witch of Envy," and said in a complicated tone:

"Kalulla, in your world, in Lordland, has there ever been a war like this?"

Karula looked at the girl with some surprise, her voice softening as she said softly:

"Shouldn't you have known this in your dreams?"

"The wars that will break out in Lordran will be more numerous and larger in scale than those in this world."

"The Sun King led His knights in a war against dragons, ending the reign of the immortal ancient dragons. The ancient dragon race was wiped out, leaving only a few creatures with ancient dragon blood remaining..."

"King Wolnir conquered many nations, leaving behind mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Believe me, the carnage he caused far exceeds your imagination."

"The dream world is ultimately just a small fragment, insufficient to depict that vast world."

"Lordran is the land of the gods, but it's not the whole world. Beyond Lordran lies Baldur, and Dolangreg..."

"And no matter which world it is, humans are all the same kind of creatures."

"Regardless of their nature, and regardless of the threats they face, conflict is inevitable, and war is unavoidable."

"So, you don't need to feel confused about this..."

"No, I am not confused."

Audrey blinked and whispered.

She wasn't confused; she just needed to talk. But clearly, Carula wasn't a good person to confide in.

Carla's expression stiffened slightly, then she immediately straightened her face and said, word by word:

"No, you're confused right now!"

"I am the 'Dream Weaver'."

Audrey said earnestly, "I know I'm not confused."

A demigod through the "spectator" pathway can completely peer into a person's heart through changes on the island of the mind. Similarly, they can also peer into their own hearts, confront their every thought, and correct any possible mistakes or weaknesses.

Therefore, even if things get out of control and polluted, from the perspective of the "audience" approach, it is just a kind of mental illness that can be completely cured.

Under such circumstances, how could Audrey not know what she was thinking?

She was not confused, nor did she regret her choice; it was just that she sometimes found it difficult to control her emotions and became sentimental.

Audrey felt somewhat helpless; she was simply expressing her feelings and hoped to confide in Carula.

But now that she has become the "Dream Weaver," even Karula seems unable to easily see through her heart. Of course, this is also because Karula has not used her extraordinary abilities. Karula seems to dislike the feeling of using extraordinary abilities to freely spy on others, so she has been avoiding using her abilities as much as possible.

Well, Audrey didn't like it either.

After experiencing so much, she increasingly understands one thing:

Demigods in the spiritual realm must learn to restrain themselves and respect others.

If you can usually read other people's true thoughts from their body language, facial expressions, and emotional fluctuations, and then you are still not satisfied and greedily explore other people's inner world, digging up their privacy and secrets, then you may eventually suffer the consequences.

This is a very simple principle:

Everyone has some dark and bad thoughts to some extent, but most people control them well and don't let them affect their behavior. In this case, if a demigod in the realm of the mind insists on digging into these thoughts and the ugly parts under the mask, he will be very likely to be disappointed in humanity, be infected by all kinds of negative consciousness, and gradually go crazy without realizing it.

This is one of the reasons why, even though "audience members" can "soothe" themselves and treat their corresponding psychological problems, they are still prone to becoming abnormal or crazy.

They are both safe and dangerous.

Therefore, Audrey set a behavioral standard for herself: only observe and "read minds" of acquaintances, and try not to enter their dreams; there is no restriction on entering the dreams of strangers; and unless necessary, she does not enter the mental world of each person.

Karula is even stricter; she has even skipped the mind-reading process and mostly just makes the most superficial observations.

This is something Audrey cannot do, not because she so desperately desires to "read minds," but simply because it has become her instinct. Just as humans cannot stop breathing, she cannot stop "reading minds" now.

Karula can do it because she is an angel, while Audrey is just a Sequence 3 'Dreamweaver'.

However, even after Audrey reiterated that she was not confused, Carula still said seriously:

That's because you're so lost that you don't even realize you're lost.

"Huh?"

Audrey tilted her head. So, is Carula angry?

Did you get angry because you wanted to comfort her, but found that she didn't seem to need comforting?

Audrey found it strange, because based on her experience with Carula...

Karula isn't the type to comfort others; on the contrary, she enjoys teasing them.

So why did she suddenly want to comfort herself? Was it because her apparent "confusion" stirred a soft spot in her heart, reminding her of warm memories from the past? Perhaps when Carla was confused, others had comforted her gently, guiding her out of her predicament. Is that why Carla was reminded of this and tried to imitate her own immediate alertness to comfort her?

Because of his own experience, he felt sympathy and tried to comfort her.

This attempt at comfort was met with a cold rejection, and the other party even perceived it as a form of mockery...

Well, putting myself in her shoes, even Audrey would probably be somewhat dissatisfied.

Even so, is it really necessary to get angry?

Karula is a Sequence 2 angel, is she really that easily angered?

No way! No way?!

Audrey's instincts as a "Dream Weaver" allowed her to subconsciously analyze the truth of the matter, and she couldn't help but mutter a complaint to herself.

PS: I was looking at the descriptions of Dark Souls items recently and suddenly discovered some new things.

For example, Chai Xin, the King of Soldiers:

[Prince Lothric's remaining Cinder King's Cinder]

If King Cinder refuses to return to the throne, then simply bring back the firewood.

Lothric's excessive pursuit of heirs with continuous bloodlines

Finally, it deviated from common sense and its actions degenerated to a point where it was difficult to reach its destination.

This is sufficient proof that linking the fire is a cursed path.

Princess of Lothric is the Sun Princess, that is beyond question.

Her first husband was "Vulcan" Fran, and according to some unofficial sources, Fran died in the war to seal away the overlord Wonir.

The one who succeeded to the throne of Lothric was the "Demon King" Ocelotus.

Judging from the text's "excessive pursuit of successors with continuous bloodlines," the "Demon King" Ocelotus is likely the son of the "God of Fire" Fran and the Sun Princess. After the death of the "God of Fire," the Demon King inherited his father's throne and, in order to ensure the continuation of the "continuous bloodline," married his mother.

The kings of Lothric have changed, but the queens of Lothric have remained the same.

Besides that, I don't remember where I saw it, but there's a theory that the second prince, Lothric, is actually the son of the eldest prince, Lorian, and the Sun Princess. Hmm, it sounds a bit far-fetched, but it's actually quite plausible.

(End of this chapter)