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

Chapter 397 The Dark Moon Is Watching You

In response to Klein's question, Roselle chuckled, his words brimming with confidence:

"You don't need to worry about that. Although I have been dead for over a hundred years, it doesn't mean I haven't left any backup plans."

"Um?"

Klein frowned. The Intis Empire had been reorganized into the Intis Republic more than a hundred years ago. The order left by Rosell no longer existed, and the faith in the "Black Emperor" had also been destroyed by the siege of the "Steam Church" and the Eternal Sun Cult. There was simply no fertile ground for the "Black Emperor" believers to survive in Intis now!

Ember asked thoughtfully:

"The world of painting?"

Rosell nodded calmly:

"right."

Klein's expression shifted slightly, a hint of understanding appearing in his eyes.

Rosell's lips curled slightly, and he said in a slightly melancholy voice:

"During the Intis Empire, at my urging, the Church of the Eternal Sun also made a deal with the Steam Church, handing over their painted world to the Steam Church. I also secretly spread the faith within it, but I don't know how much is still left after more than a hundred years."

After a pause, Rosell continued:

"But it doesn't matter, because before I became the 'Black Emperor,' I stole a painting of the world from the Church of Storms. That painting of the world should be in Bernadette's hands now."

The Steam Church might betray him, extinguishing the faith he secretly spread back then. But surely Bernadette, as her father's devoted daughter, wouldn't do the same?

Klein reminded him:

"It's best to confirm this with the person in question."

Russell nodded, then shook his head:

"Wait a bit."

Klein's expression shifted slightly, knowing that Rosell had something else to say to them, but it was inconvenient for Bernadette to know.

Rosell looked at Klein below the platform and asked:

Which route did you take?

"Diviner".

Klein told him the truth, smiled, and then said:

"Speaking of which, I have to thank you for this. It was your diary that made me decide to become a fortune teller."

Rosell sighed, his tone tinged with emotion:

"A fortune teller."

"As expected, only by choosing the paths of 'Diviner,' 'Apprentice,' or 'Thief' can a 'Transmigrator' enter the 'Source Castle.' By the time I guessed this factor, it was far too late."

"By the way, are you currently in sequence 0?"

Klein shook his head:

"Not yet, we still need to accumulate experience in fooling people."

Rosell raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a hint of mockery:

"In that case, it seems I might be able to get ahead of you."

Klein looked at him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation:

"Is that all you're saying?"

Your daughter is still waiting outside, and you're saying all that just to compete with others?

"Of course not."

Rosell vehemently denied it, turning his attention to the embers and seamlessly changing the subject:

"My biggest problem in the first half of my life was that I was too confident. I always felt like I could start over at any time, and I didn't examine many details enough."

"Back then, Green was corrupted by the strange power on this island. After he died, he returned here and was reborn. Wasn't that the influence of the 'Primordial Moon'? After I had various tests and underwent corresponding purification, I felt that I was fine. But in reality, I had already been corrupted by the 'Primordial Moon' back then, but the corruption was too hidden for me to discover."

"This led to my later 'chance encounter' with Mr. 'Door,' who guided me step by step to the moon!"

"This can't be blamed on Mr. 'Door'; his condition was probably even worse than mine is now."

Ember kindly reminded him:

"Mr. Door is back."

"Hmm?" Rosell's expression turned somewhat surprised.

Klein interjected:

"The embers helped Him resolve the corruption of the 'Fallen Mother Goddess.' By the way, the 'Primordial Moon' you just mentioned is the incarnation of the 'Fallen Mother Goddess.'"

"Um?!!"

Rosell pointed at the two men with a trembling finger, and said with grief and indignation:

"So, knowing that both Mr. 'Door' and I were contaminated, you chose to save him first instead of me?"

Klein was somewhat speechless:

"Is it possible that we don't know where your grave is, but Mr. 'Door' can be summoned at any time? And the diary recording your grave is in Bernadette's possession. If she hadn't given it to us for translation, we probably would never have found this island in our lifetime."

Russell's expression faltered slightly, as if that made sense.

But the problem is, you can't really blame him, can you?

What if someone digs up his grave if he doesn't build it in a more secluded place?

Knowing he was in the wrong, Roselle quickly stopped worrying about who to save first and instead corrected him with a serious expression:

"This is called a mausoleum!"

Klein found it somewhat amusing, while Rosell once again changed the subject:

"Continuing with the moon, at that time I couldn't help but feel a longing for it. This was partly due to Mr. 'Door's' guidance, and also related to the hidden pollution of the primordial... 'Fallen Mother Goddess'."

At this point, Rosell sighed and said:

"The moon was so eerie. I clearly felt the terror, but I didn't think at all about whether I would be contaminated. Then, I became more and more extreme."

After a pause, Rosell continued:

"I've gone off-topic. That's not what I wanted to talk about. The main point is the moon itself!"

Rosell glanced at Klein and asked:

"You should know that this is Earth, right?"

"Yes," Klein replied frankly.

Upon hearing this, Rosell said in a deep voice:

"The Earth is still the same Earth, only its topography has changed. And the moon is still the same moon, only it appears as the 'Crimson Moon' because it has been corrupted by the 'Fallen Mother Goddess'."

"The problem is, I saw a second moon!"

Klein's eyes flickered, but he wasn't surprised, because he had also seen two moons before.

Rosell, unaware of Klein's thoughts, said with a grave expression:

"It was a dark blue moon, somewhat similar to the original moon, but darker, or rather, bluer. The 'dark moon' was always hidden in the shadow of the 'crimson moon,' so we on Earth could never see it."

"But without a doubt, that moon is also an embodiment of an Old One, and one on the same level as the Fallen Mother Goddess!"

"There is no doubt about that. The closer to Earth, the greater the advantage in future invasions. The fact that the Fallen Mother was able to overpower many of the Old Ones and occupy the Moon already proves her power. And that Dark Moon not only stands alongside her, but it was also able to corrupt me when the Fallen Mother corrupted me."

"Ever since I was corrupted by the fallen Mother Goddess on the moon, I've rarely been lucid. Have you seen Get Out? Back then, it was like I'd fallen into a 'dark pit,' only able to watch through a small window as another 'self' controlled my body."

"That kind of despair is still a nightmare I can't escape even now."

Russell chuckled to himself, admitting that he had even contemplated suicide at the time.

Klein frowned and asked:

"So how did you get out of that state? I've read your diary; you should have gained some clarity."

Rosell took a deep breath and said in a low voice:

"This is what I'm trying to say: angels and true gods need to rely on the corruption of faith to fight against the corruption of divinity, in order to maintain their humanity. At that time, the only thing that could help me fight against the corruption of the fallen Mother Goddess was another ancient corruption, namely that 'Dark Moon'."

"Only in the midst of confrontation can I occasionally gain a brief moment of clarity!"

"The 'Fallen Mother Goddess' hopes to manipulate me through corruption in order to gain an advantage in the upcoming 'Apocalypse.' As for the 'Dark Moon,' to be honest, even now I don't know what it wants to do."

"During that time, the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' manipulated me into doing many things, the most important of which was the arrangement of the Blasphemy Cards. You should have collected some of them, right?"

Klein nodded slightly:

"I've collected a few of them."

Rosell's expression shifted slightly, and he pressed on:

"Are there 'mothers,' 'witches,' and 'the moon'?"

"No." Klein shook his head.

"That's good."

Rosell breathed a sigh of relief, met Klein's questioning gaze, and said in a deep voice:

"These twenty-two blasphemous cards are themselves a conspiracy of the 'Fallen Mother Goddess'!"

"When I created these blasphemous cards, I was only Sequence 1, not yet the 'Black Emperor.' Have you ever considered why blasphemous cards created by someone as low as Sequence 1 could be so difficult for even the gods to find?"

Klein felt a chill run down his spine, but Rosell suddenly changed the subject:

"Of course, the Fallen Mother Goddess had me set up many things, and the blasphemous token was just one of them. As long as no one falls for it, these arrangements are actually harmless. Now that I've returned to normal, I can resolve these issues gradually."

"At the time, I saw the Dark Moon simply as someone who was hindering the Fallen Mother Goddess's plans, and my own clarity of mind was also a kind of obstacle. The reason I chose to switch to the Black Emperor's path was because of the Dark Moon's reminder."

"He told me that of all twenty-two paths, only the 'Black Emperor' path had the potential to help me get rid of the contamination."

"As long as I can be truly killed after becoming a Sequence 0 'Black Emperor' and going half-mad, I will have the opportunity to be resurrected in the mausoleum or the astral plane. At that time, what will return to me is the pure 'uniqueness' and three Sequence 1 extraordinary characteristics, without any pollution or uncontrollable madness."

Rosell gave a wry smile and said:

"Of course, it turns out that the horrors of the past were beyond my imagination, and along with my resurrection came a renewed contamination."

Klein frowned and said in a deep voice:

"Only the Old Ones can fight against the Old Ones. The Dark Moon knew this all along. Was it intentional?"

"right."

Rosell nodded and continued:

"When I was resurrected, I realized that the pollution would still follow me like a shadow. So I had no choice but to stop the resurrection process and live in this state in this last tomb, so that the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' could not be born into the real world through my body, which would bring a devastating disaster."

"Clearly, the Dark Moon's plan is not feasible; I have not been able to rid myself of the Fallen Mother's corruption. But the problem is, while I have not been able to rid myself of the Fallen Mother's corruption, the Dark Moon's corruption has completely disappeared."

"Later I realized that this was the Dark Moon's plan! The resurrection of the Black Emperor could not resolve the corruption of the Fallen Mother Goddess, and of course it could not resolve the corruption of the Dark Moon either, since it was another being from the past."

"There is only one explanation: the 'Dark Moon's' corruption has voluntarily detached from my body."

"He deliberately led me down the path of the Black Emperor, making me believe that I could escape the corruption through the Black Emperor's death and resurrection. But in reality, this was merely an opportunity for the Dark Moon's corruption to escape from me!"

"I, who was resurrected, wanted to get rid of the corruption, but the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' still wanted to control me, which is why we have been entangled in this mausoleum for hundreds of years. The 'Dark Moon' did not intend to compete with the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' for my body, so during my 'resurrection,' it also took the opportunity to break away."

Rosell's expression was extremely serious as he solemnly stated:

"In other words, there is an Outer God who can move freely in this world without restriction, and this can last for over a hundred years!"

Klein felt a chill run down his spine. If what Emperor Roselle said was true, who knew how many schemes this Old One had devised over the past hundred years? Moreover, these schemes would not only give Him a significant advantage over other Old Ones at the end of the world, but might even bring the end of the world forward!

The problem is, didn't this Dark Moon also have Mr. 'Door' pass on a message to Ember?

Klein asked carefully:

"Could that 'Dark Moon' be someone from Dark Souls?"

"Um?"

Rosell was puzzled. "Why are you asking me this? Isn't Ember standing right in front of you? Ask him!"

Yu Jin noticed the questioning look in their eyes and slowly said:

"no."

Upon receiving Ember's affirmative answer, Klein couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He had asked Ember this question before, but Ember hadn't given an answer that time, only saying that he had a guess, but not much.

And now is undoubtedly the worst situation, because since 'Darkmoon' is not a character in Dark Souls, his relationship with Ember is not that close, and he is most likely their enemy!

But thinking about it carefully, it's really not a big deal. Anyway, there are more than one or two ancient beings coveting this world. Now there's just one more, so it doesn't make much difference. We can't beat them anyway, so is there a big difference between one ancient being and two ancient beings?

Klein looked at Rosell and instructed him:

"Then you should probably be careful."

Rosell was somewhat surprised:

Why?

Klein's expression was somewhat subtle, and he whispered a reminder:

"Because for the past hundred years or so, this 'Dark Moon' has most likely been by your daughter's side."

"Bernarde?!"

Russell flew into a rage and nearly exploded on the spot.

He should have thought of that sooner!

Having fought against the Fallen Mother for so long, Darkmoon was already intimately familiar with his interpersonal relationships. The Fallen Mother was unwilling to abandon him as her "host," which is why she continued to haunt him even after his resurrection.

Since the Dark Moon chose to give up, it must be because it found a better host!

And who else could this "host" be but his daughter Bernadette?

The anxious old father shouted:

"Quickly, bring Bernadette back!"

(End of this chapter)