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

Misty Sea, on an island of considerable size.

One after another, towering, dark green, almost black trees stood tall, covering the ground and obscuring the mountain peaks.

Bernadette stood at the edge of the forest, pursed her lips, lowered her head, and uttered a revered name:

"A fool who doesn't belong to this era, a mysterious ruler above the gray fog, the king of yellow and black who wields good fortune..."

Before this, she had prayed to the Fool through Cattleya and received a promise that he would help her. But a god cannot always keep his eyes on her, which is why she chanted the name of the Fool when she arrived at the island.

After waiting for two seconds, Bernadette turned her gaze to the 'Black Forest'.

In the lush forest, there is a path that looks as if it were carved out by humans, seemingly leading all the way into the depths of the forest.

But just as she was about to step onto that road, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure appearing abruptly in her field of vision!

Bernadette's eyes narrowed slightly until she saw the man's face clearly—Bernadette recognized him, Ash Black.

Recognizing the other person's identity did not ease the atmosphere at all; on the contrary, it made Bernadette even more wary.

Because the person before her was a favorite of the Goddess of Night, and also the 'King' she spoke of. She didn't understand why he was here.

Is it because of the goddess of night? Or was she sent by her to hunt her down?

If He did it, then why isn't it Himself appearing here?

Moreover, she clearly already...

Yu Jin looked at the woman who was retreating warily and couldn't help but feel puzzled. He asked, "..."

"What are you thinking about?"

Bernadette remained silent for a long time before tentatively asking:

Why are you here?

Ember asked in surprise:

"Didn't you pray to the 'Fool' yourself?"

"A fool?"

Bernadette paused for a moment, then quickly recovered, her usually expressionless face revealing undisguised astonishment:

"Did Mr. 'The Fool' send you?"

Isn't he the chosen one of the goddess of night? Isn't he the king mentioned? Why is he connected to the 'Fool'? What's going on here? Why does it feel like he's connected to every god?

No, it's not just related, it's that they have a very good relationship!

The goddess of night regards him as her favorite, she calls him king, and the fact that the Fool sent him means that the Fool also trusts him.

So, who exactly is he?

"You can think of it that way."

Ember did not refute, but turned his gaze to the dark forest ahead and suddenly asked:

"Are you sure Roselle's tomb is on this island?"

Bernadette paused for a moment, then said softly:

"I can't be sure, but I'm quite confident."

"Let's go then."

Yu Jin nodded slightly, then turned and stepped into the path that led deep into the forest.

Bernadette silently watched Ember's retreating figure, and finally chose to follow him into the dark forest composed of enormous trees.

There were no birdsong, no roars of wild beasts, and no crawling of insects. It was so peaceful that time seemed to have frozen, and so deathly silent that it was as if no living beings existed.

However, according to Bernadette's prior knowledge, there should be many extraordinary creatures that have become extinct in the outside world here, and it would normally be quite lively. But now, she felt like she was walking through an empty graveyard, with each giant tree being a tombstone.

If it were one of the more mentally weaker extraordinary individuals, they would surely be on edge by now, bearing immense pressure and slowly teetering on the brink of losing control. But Bernadette's expression remained unchanged; she was already accustomed to navigating danger and the bizarre.

Moreover, she is now an angel, a sage.

Even if there were some terrifying and eerie thing on the island, she was confident that she could escape unscathed.

After walking for nearly half an hour, she still hadn't seen any living creatures, or even felt the wind.

Ember didn't say anything, but silently walked ahead of her, continuing to venture deeper into the forest.

Suddenly, the view opened up before them, as the massive trees began to thin out in front of them.

Bernadette felt no joy whatsoever; instead, she slowed her pace, her eyes filled with extreme vigilance.

Beyond the sparse woods lay a vast clearing, where countless creatures roamed.

Among them were red dragons with flames flowing from their skin, tree-men with wood burls serving as eyes and fissures as mouths, eight-legged demon wolves, giants with deformed limbs, feathered serpents with dark green scales and oily feathers that resembled small hills just by coiling up, and all sorts of creatures that were a mixture of humans and wild beasts.

When her gaze fell upon a few of the humans, Bernadette's azure pupils suddenly dilated slightly.

Ember noticed the change in Bernadette's gaze and asked:

"Do you know them?"

"Um."

Bernadette's gaze remained fixed on the few humans, her tone somewhat complicated:

"Green, William, Polly, Edwards, and Benjamin, they were all... they were all my father's former men."

Yu Jin seemed to be deep in thought as he said:

"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?"

The first four were the most trusted subordinates of Emperor Roselle in the early days, and were known as the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse".

Benjamin Abraham joined Russell's ranks later, and there's no doubt that all five of them had intricate connections with Russell. Their presence here is clearly no coincidence.

Ember smiled and said:

"It seems you haven't come to the wrong place."

That's great, it saves a lot of trouble.

Bernadette's gaze remained complex as she whispered:

"You must have read my father's diary, right?"

Yu Jin glanced at her and nodded noncommittally.

According to the diary of Emperor Roselle, he explored the island twice.

When Green first explored this pristine island, he was somehow corrupted and remained there forever.

After that, Emperor Roselle would occasionally dream of this subordinate.

Therefore, he gathered the other three members of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and with the help of Benjamin Abraham, they rediscovered the island and embarked on a second exploration, during which they also discovered the island's eeriness—

Those extraordinary creatures coexisted harmoniously, gathered together, and performed rituals, among them the dead Green.

On that occasion, Emperor Roselle experienced a long-lost fear, and everything seemed extremely bizarre.

The details of the exploration remain unknown.

All that is known is that William and Percy died during the expedition, and only Edwards and Benjamin survived.

But because of this, Emperor Roselle discovered the island's secret—the power influencing those extraordinary creatures came from the stars, and those who died from that pollution would return to the source after death.

However, this power originating from the stars could only be projected into the real world in a very small part, so Emperor Roselle eventually solved the problem and made this nameless island his secret base.

It was based on the contents of her diary that Bernadette became convinced that the island was the tomb of Emperor Roselle.

Judging from the current facts, it is certain that this island is the nameless island that Emperor Roselle once explored, and the appearance of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse here is the best proof of that.

But the appearance of these people also proves one thing—Russell's diary is problematic.

Ember suddenly asked:

"Could Edwards have died here too?"

"No."

Bernadette took a deep breath and said quickly:

"Uncle Edwards lived until my father's death, and afterwards the family moved to Remburg, where he lived to be nearly a hundred years old. He eventually passed away peacefully surrounded by his family and was buried in a cemetery on the outskirts of Remburg. You should have met 'Lieutenant General Iceberg,' she is a descendant of Uncle Edwards..."

Bernadette paused for a moment and looked at Edwards. The "gentleman" looked old and his hair was completely white, which matched the portrait of his ancestor in his later years that Edwina Edwards had shown. From his facial features and outline, Bernadette could also tell what he looked like in his prime.

Her Uncle Edwards was her riding instructor, and she was absolutely certain that it was Edwards!

Edwards didn't die here, but he eventually returned to the island.

This proves two things—

First, even if people who are contaminated do not die on this island, they will return here after death.

Secondly, although her father said in his diary that he had solved the pollution problem on the island, it turned out that he had not.

Ember's voice rang in her ear:

"What came to mind?"

Bernadette did not hide anything and revealed all her guesses.

Upon hearing this, Yu Jin shook his head:

That makes some sense, but it's not the main point.

Bernadette pressed on, asking:

"So what's the key point?"

She wasn't annoyed by Ember's attitude; she was simply eager to know the answer.

Ember spoke calmly:

"Just as the seven righteous gods are hostile to each other, the outer gods also have irreconcilable contradictions among themselves, so the powers of different outer gods are destined to be unable to coexist peacefully. In other words..."

Bernadette immediately realized something, and her expression changed slightly:

"So, the 'pollution' on this island is the same kind of 'pollution' on my father?"

"right."

Yu Jin nodded slightly and continued:

"I even suspect that Rosell was actually contaminated when he was exploring the island. It's just that the contamination was very subtle and had little effect on him, so he didn't notice it. Perhaps the only purpose of this contamination was to guide him to the 'starry sky'."

"Of course, it's also possible that Roselle did successfully resolve the pollution on the island back then. But as he himself was corrupted by the Outer God, the power of the stars was projected back onto the island..."

Bernadette felt very uncomfortable after hearing this.

Because regardless of the interpretation, it shows that her father was still suffering from the devastation caused by the corruption of the Outer God.

By this time, the pilgrimage had ended.

Edwards and the others, along with the surrounding creatures, headed to different parts of the primeval forest. In the clearing that remained, no other life existed. The newly opened view allowed Bernadette to clearly see the object of the creatures' worship—

There was a huge rock with a simple shrine made of dark red wood on it.

The shrine was empty, with no statues of gods or badges or other items made up of symbolic symbols.

The creatures on this island seem to be worshipping something that doesn't exist.

"Let's go."

Yu Jin withdrew his gaze, gave a shout, and continued deeper into the forest.

Bernadette silently followed him, then suddenly whispered:

"Cattleya should have mentioned to you and Mr. 'The Fool' that a powerful being has been watching over me. He has provided me with a lot of help, and I have done a lot for Him, even if it wasn't my intention..."

"He even helped me a lot in the search for my father."

Ember remained silent, and Bernadette held no expectation of reply, simply muttering to herself:

"But I can't trust Him."

"Because His symbol is the 'moon,' and it is also the 'moon' that corrupted my father!"

She possessed the largest and most important portion of Russell's diary.

For over a hundred years, the truth has actually been in her hands, but she just couldn't understand it.

She didn't know what had happened to her father, only that his personality changed drastically in his later years and he eventually died in Baifeng Palace.

But she knew her father was on the Black Emperor's path, and she also knew that 'Sequence 0' on this path wouldn't die easily. So for all these years, she had been gathering intelligence everywhere, searching for any trace that her father might still be alive.

As time went on, she gradually learned the truth about her father's death, and that his dramatic change in temperament in his later years was caused by pollution, which came from the "moon"!

A large part of this information came from "The Fool," because "The Fool" was the only person she knew who could decipher Roselle's diary.

It was precisely because she learned the truth that Bernadette, who had been feigning friendship with the "Moon," did not hesitate to betray that being and instead sought the help of the "Fool."

The reason is simple: since He already knew all this, yet never told her the truth, how could He expect her to believe Him?

Ember glanced at Bernadette, but still made no comment.

Bernadette seemed to have run out of topics and subsequently fell silent.

She was actually trying to get closer to them, but it didn't seem to work.

"arrive."

Yu Jin suddenly stopped, almost causing Bernadette, who had been silently following beside her, to bump into him.

Upon hearing the sound of embers, Bernadette couldn't help but raise her head and look ahead.

It was a mountain peak several hundred meters high, covered with giant trees that were so dark green that from a distance it almost blended into the forest and was indistinguishable from the forest.

On the side facing them, most of the area was treeless because a large portion of the mountain had been hollowed out.

Inside the mountain, a black mausoleum stands there, exuding an extremely magnificent aura.

Bernadette's expression shifted slightly, for that was her father's mausoleum!