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

In the past, almost all of the seven major orthodox churches focused on cultivating extraordinary individuals who followed the same path as God.

For example, most of the extraordinary individuals in the Church of the Night follow the "Sleepless" path, most of the extraordinary individuals in the Church of the Storm follow the "Sailor" path, and most of the extraordinary individuals in the Church of the Steam follow the "Generalist" path, and so on.

This phenomenon occurs for two reasons. First, the church has a complete grasp of the relevant methods, possessing not only a full range of potion recipes but also a monopoly on the corresponding extraordinary materials and ritual conditions.

For example, when a Sailor-type Beyonder advances to Sequence 5, the ritual requires them to consume a potion inside the belly of an Orbness. This is because after consuming the potion, the Beyonder will hear the voices of all living beings in the entire sea, enough to burst the brain of a Sequence 5 Beyonder!

Obnis's stomach can block these sounds, allowing only relatively muffled sounds to reach his ears, thus minimizing the risk of extraordinary individuals losing control due to promotion.

Furthermore, during the advancement process, the extraordinary individual's body is modified by a magical potion, generating invisible sonic waves powerful enough to burst them apart. This involuntarily causes the extraordinary individual to want to release these excess sonic waves, preventing their body from actually being burst.

However, uttering sound also tears apart the spirit, which then spreads outward with the sound waves. These torn spirits leave the extraordinary individual extremely weak, and may even leave irreversible aftereffects.

The mucus inside Obnis's stomach would bounce the spirit fragments back into the Beyonder's body, preserving the spirit while releasing the sound waves. In this process, the Beyonder's body was like material in a furnace, gradually being shaped and refined.

Therefore, for the "Sailor" route, to advance to Sequence 5, one must find an Orbness and take a potion with the help of a ritual; otherwise, the probability of losing control is as high as 99%!

However, almost all Aubinis are kept by the Church of Storms, and the few wild Aubinis are all located outside safe routes in remote areas. This situation is enough to ensure that the Church of Storms has a monopoly on the "sailor" route.

Alger was able to advance smoothly without the Church of Storms because he had the help of the Fool. But most extraordinary individuals obviously don't have such an opportunity.

Other churches are the same; they monopolize the extraordinary materials and ritual conditions of their respective paths, and even extend their reach to other paths.

For example, the Church of the Night not only monopolized the "Sleepless" pathway, but also interfered with the "Diviner" pathway, keeping the mermaids needed to advance to Sequence 5 "Master of the Puppet" in the Church of Tranquility and the Church of Sleep.

Even within the knowledge of the magic mirror of Arodes, wild mermaids only exist in the area east of the Gargas Islands. Therefore, Klein had to venture deep into the ruins of the divine war, enduring countless hardships before finally finding the mermaids.

The internal system of the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess is somewhat "different".

On the one hand, like other churches, the Church of the Earth Mother monopolizes the Earth Path, that is, the 'Cultivator' Path, and cultivates a large number of extraordinary beings based on this. For example, Apostolic Roland of the Earth Mother is an angel of the 'Cultivator' Path, and most of the dozen or so archbishops of the Church of the Earth Mother are also of the Cultivator Path. In the Church of the Earth Mother, they all belong to the 'Graceful Ones'.

It can be said that these people are the highest-ranking members of the Church of the Earth Mother. However, in addition to these, the Church of the Earth Mother also has a special system called "Chosen Ones"—the "Chosen Ones" are generally not very powerful, but each clergy member is basically accompanied by one of them.

For example, Apostle Roland had a demigod-level chosen one by his side. Every command Roland issued required the personal confirmation of this chosen one. Only with the consent of the chosen one could Roland's command be effectively transmitted.

The same applies to archbishops; they are usually accompanied by a chosen one of Sequence 5 or Sequence 6. And like Apostolic Roland, every command they issue must be confirmed by these chosen ones to be successfully transmitted.

If not, the archbishop can refuse to carry out the papacy's orders, and the bishops and deacons below him can also refuse to carry out the archbishop's orders.

Those unfamiliar with the situation might assume that the Earth Mother is using those favored by God to counterbalance those blessed by God, thus achieving a certain balance so that the Earth Mother can better control the church.

However, anyone of a slightly higher level who is an extraordinary individual knows that the so-called "checks and balances" are nothing but nonsense.

Because the Earth Mother is a deity, the purpose of the church is to serve her. Even if the Earth Mother suddenly ordered the dissolution of the Earth Mother Church, believers might be confused, bewildered, or feel abandoned by the deity and despair, but they would never disobey her.

Excluding this possibility, the only thing that might be related to the answer for them is the composition of the gracious and the favored—the gracious are extraordinary beings of the 'Earth' and 'Moon' pathways, while the favored can be any pathway other than these two.

Once you understand this point, you'll know why the Church of Mother Earth is divided into those favored by God and those with divine grace.

"I might know the answer to that."

While others were still speculating, "Justice" Audrey subtly raised her hand.

This immediately attracted the attention of others, and Audrey asked:

"Where do you think the twenty-two extraordinary paths originated?"

This is one of the three core questions in mysticism, and there has never been a universally accepted answer.

Each school of thought has its own theory, and no one can convince anyone else.

Before anyone else could answer, Audrey continued her explanation:

"The most widely accepted explanation is that extraordinary qualities originate from the first fire of creation. The first fire created the world, and it manifested in all things, including gods, humans, the sea, the land, and extraordinary qualities. This is documented in the scriptures of major churches."

As Audrey spoke, she winked discreetly.

And everyone else understood, because it was indeed the case—even a few months ago, the scriptures recorded "the Creator," but now, all the major churches had indeed changed "the Creator" to "the First Fire."

Emlyn, the 'Moon' commentator, neither confirmed nor denied, adding:

"As one of the rulers of the Second Era, we vampires believe that extraordinary traits do indeed originate from the 'First Flame,' and then the accumulation of different traits gave birth to the Ancient Gods, who in turn created different races."

Audrey nodded slightly, confirming his statement, and then said:

"But Karula once told me that not all pathways originate from the First Flame."

"Kalura?"

Upon hearing this name, the Hanged Man and the others immediately became solemn.

Although they had never met Karula, they knew that she was an angel of the "Dreamer" pathway and had intricate connections with the "First Flame"—for example, the Dream World was Karula's creation, and Mr. "Fool" also had considerable knowledge of the Dream World and had never shown hostility towards Karula. Furthermore, Karula was not an angel under Mr. "Fool's" command... All of this indicated that a deity of the same level as Mr. "Fool" stood behind Karula.

And this god... the Hanged Man and the Hermit both looked at the embers.

In their minds, they had already decided that the "lover" was the god behind Karula, and only in this way could there be a reasonable explanation.

Without thinking too much, 'The Moon' asked impatiently:

"So the paths of 'Earth' and 'Moon' didn't originate from the Primordial Flame? Then where did they come from?"

Audrey said quite seriously:

"Starry Sky".

Emlyn was startled by the words "Starry Sky" and "Moon," realizing that things might be more serious than he had imagined. The Tarot Club had already shared information about the underground pollution and the dangers of the starry sky; all members knew that even understanding these concepts could lead to corruption.

So they were only warned not to touch the underground and the stars, but they didn't know what the specific dangers were, what they were, or how they manifested. Only by being sufficiently ignorant could they avoid being contaminated.

"Therefore, the problem lies in these two approaches themselves."

Emlyn, after a moment of silence, gathered his thoughts and said:

"Other pathways are more or less affected by the spiritual imprints of their past owners remaining within the extraordinary characteristics, while the 'Earth' and 'Moon' pathways originate from the stars, making them more susceptible to 'contamination' from the cosmos?"

"Yes." Audrey, the "Justice," nodded slightly.

This is a test for me… Emlyn sighed inwardly, then said:

"I have mastered the names of the high-sequence potions from the 'Cultivator' and 'Moon' pathways, but I have some questions about two of them."

After becoming a vampire count and a senior deacon of the Earth Church, he gained the corresponding privileges to access a lot of information that he couldn't access before.

Seeing that the other members of the Tarot Club were looking over, Emlyn pondered and said:

"The Sequence 3 of the 'Moon' pathway is called 'Summoning Master,' the Sequence 2 is called 'Creator,' and the Sequence 1 is called 'Goddess of Beauty'; the Sequence 3 of the 'Cultivator' pathway is called 'Coffin Bearer,' the Sequence 2 is called 'Wilderness Mistress,' and the Sequence 1 is called 'Nature Walker.'"

What I find puzzling is that both the potion names "Goddess of Beauty" and "Desolate Matriarch" have a certain gender connotation. What are your thoughts on this?

"..." For a moment, none of the other members of the Tarot Club spoke. They looked at each other, speechless.

After a few seconds, "Justice" Audrey controlled her gaze and carefully chose her tone, saying:

"I remember that the Sequence 7 of the 'Assassin' pathway is called 'Witch,' and the assassins who took this potion eventually became witches."

...This is a test for me... Emlyn's lips moved slightly, but he couldn't utter a word.

When he saw the name of the potion, he actually had a premonition, but he was reluctant to accept it and hoped to get another explanation at the Tarot meeting.

The Hanged Man said carefully:

"Actually, you don't need to worry too much, because you probably won't become an angel."

Emlyn's breath hitched. "Are you trying to comfort me? But it sounds more like you're being sarcastic to me."

"Justice," Audrey explained in support:

"Mr. 'The Hanged Man' probably refers to a Sequence 1 angel."

「任何一条途径序列1的天使最多只能有三位，并且序列0和序列1无法共存。所以无论是大地母神希望将『月亮』途径的序列1非凡特性赐给大地母神教会的天使，还是『美神』希望藉此晋升序列0，都不会有多余的序列1流出。」

"Therefore, for ordinary extraordinary beings, the limit of the 'Moon' pathway is the 'Angel' of Sequence 2."

Emlyn's expression improved considerably; a Sequence 2 angel wasn't bad after all.

Unlike the Earth pathway's Sequence 2 'Wasteland Matriarch', the Moon pathway's Sequence 2 'Creator' does not have a clear gender orientation, and isn't Duke Olmer at this level as well?

As for the "Goddess of Beauty," Emlyn neither hoped for nor desired it—although he liked dolls, he'd rather not have anything like gender reassignment.

As the discussion drew to a close, 'The World' Gehrman Sparrow looked around and whispered:

"Everyone, I need to remind you of something."

When all the Tarot Club members looked over, Klein manipulated the dummy 'World' and spoke in a low voice:

"The end times are just a few years away, and everyone could be destroyed, including the gods."

"several years?"

The members of the Tarot Club felt a sudden chill. At their current level, they had all come across rumors of the apocalypse to varying degrees. However, they mostly dismissed them as mere hearsay and never took them seriously.

But now that 'The World' has said it himself, that's a completely different matter—you have to understand that this is at a Tarot gathering, in front of the two gods, Mr. Fool and Mr. Lovers, 'The World' actually said bluntly that 'even gods will be destroyed,' what does that mean?

Leonard, the "star," was the first to come to his senses and asked:

"Why would the end of the world suddenly come? There haven't been any signs at all..."

The World chuckled softly:

"You just haven't noticed the signs yet. Did you really think a war of gods would break out without any reason?"

They shouldn't have known these things in the first place, after all, what could they do even if they did? As demigods, they couldn't change anything.

Moreover, with embers remaining, the apocalypse may not necessarily occur.

But one can never be too careful – there are more than a dozen ancient beings eyeing us from beyond the stars. Even if the embers can protect this world, they are destined not to protect everyone, just like Lordran before. As for the lucky few who can enter the 'Painting World' sanctuary.

In the impending apocalypse, someone will inevitably die in this disaster.

Therefore, Klein decided to tell them part of the truth in the voice of "the world," which would at least allow them to prepare in advance. Although they were destined to be powerless to control the final outcome, they could at least avoid some of the disasters that would have otherwise occurred.

This isn't a bad thing. (End of Chapter)