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

Emlyn was still pondering the meaning of last night's dream when Ernest and the other vampires suddenly bowed respectfully and said in unison:

Good morning, Your Excellency the Bishop.

Emlin turned around and saw Father Utravsky walking from the back of the church.

He glanced at Ernest and the others; their attitude towards Father Utravsky was one of genuine respect, not the perfunctory one they displayed when facing him.

Father Utravsky looked around and gave the instructions:

"Get ready, there should be many believers coming to church to pray today."

Emlyn's expression shifted slightly as he inquired:

"Because of last night's dream?"

"Yes," Father Utravsky nodded gently.

Emlyn's expression immediately turned serious. He had initially thought that only those who had entered the dream world would have similar dreams, whether it was him or the other vampires. But judging from Father Utravsky's attitude, it was clear that they weren't the only vampires who had dreams last night.

Even Father Utravsky and ordinary believers of Mother Earth had the same dream. Mother Earth even sent a divine message to Father Utravsky, instructing him to prepare in advance and reassure the believers who came to the church to pray.

"The establishment of the dream world is inseparable from Mr. Fool and Mr. Lover. I wouldn't be surprised if either of them sent down a divine oracle, but now even the progenitor has personally sent down a divine oracle..."

Emlyn took a deep breath, feeling inexplicably excited:

"I should have known. Didn't the progenitor also issue a divine decree, assigning me the task of compiling the history of the vampires? This means the progenitor knew about Mr. 'Fool' and Mr. 'Lover's' plan all along, and everything that's happening now is within their expectations!"

"And I, perhaps, am the most crucial link in this plan!"

Emlyn White was overwhelmed with emotion, because everything that was happening now made him feel the call of the times!

-

Inside the Earl Hall's luxurious villa in Queens.

Good morning, Hippel.

Audrey came downstairs and greeted her brother with a sweet smile.

"Audrey".

Hilbert, sitting at the table, looked at his sister across from him and hesitated before asking:

Did you have a dream last night?

"Dream?"

Audrey looked somewhat surprised and asked, "What kind of dream?"

Hilbert recalled and described it as follows:

"It's the dream of the First Flame creating the world, of Gwyn, the Sun King, leading his knights to defeat the ancient dragons. Although I've heard the creation myth many times, this is the first time I've witnessed it firsthand. If it were before, I might have thought it was just an ordinary dream."

"But you know, I'm an extraordinary being now, so I'm a little worried that this dream might be a premonition."

Hilbert seemed somewhat worried. He often had dreams, but last night's dream was noticeably different from his usual one.

In particular, he is now the "Faceless Man" of the Diviner's Path Sequence 6, which makes him value his dreams highly, believing them to be some kind of revelation or prophecy, foreshadowing what he may encounter today.

Audrey sat down at the table, letting the maid lay out her napkin, and softly comforted her:

"Hibbert, I think you don't need to worry too much. You're not the only one who had this dream; I had the same one. In fact... I think even Dad and Mom, and everyone else in this city, had the same dream."

She knew where the dream came from and that it wasn't dangerous, but she couldn't explain much.

Audrey thought for a moment and suggested:

"Well, perhaps you could go to the Church of St. Samuel. I think Archbishop St. Anthony would be happy to help you."

"All right."

Hilbert sighed, but his expression was noticeably more relaxed; Audrey's words of comfort had indeed had an effect.

Audrey, waiting for the maid to cut the food, asked with some confusion:

"Didn't Dad come home last night?"

"no."

Hippel shook his head and said:

"He slept in the palace last night. You know His Majesty the King trusts Father very much, which is a good thing."

Audrey said softly:

"But he's just too busy."

"You can't think like that, Audrey."

Hilbert, holding the knife, said with a serious expression:

As Emperor Roselle once said, to gain something, you must lose something else.

"If you want to achieve your goal, you always have to leave something behind."

"Now that Father has gained His Majesty the King's trust, he should naturally demonstrate his loyalty."

"and."

Hilbert paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and said:

"This is actually also related to Russell."

"Rumors circulate in Intis that Emperor Roselle has been resurrected and will lead the Intis Empire to once again become the ruler of the Northern Continent."

"Intelligence from Intis has also reported that the Intis Parliament has been dissolved, and even Consul Alexander has been forced to step down. This means that the rumors of Roselle's resurrection are very likely true!"

"His Majesty the King has always been worried that Emperor Roselle will start another war, and that's why my father went to the palace."

Audrey looked surprised, as if she were hearing about it for the first time.

It's not surprising that Hibbert, now Cabinet Secretary, would have this information.

But in reality, Audrey learned of this information before Hilbert, from her friend Miss Hugh Deer. The latter is now the General Director of MI9, and obtains intelligence even faster than the King.

However, Hilbert did not know the full picture, so he was still worried that war would break out between the two countries again.

Audrey, however, was more concerned with the dream—she couldn't wait to go above the gray fog and ask Mr. "The Lover" and Mr. "The Fool" about the specific symbolism and meaning of the dream, even though she had a feeling it might be more complicated than she imagined!

-

East Bayon, inside a church belonging to the goddess of night.

As one of the first demigods to participate in the campaign to eradicate the Rose School, Leonard Mitchell has already reached the Southern Continent using a sealed artifact.

However, he hadn't yet gained anything, because the demigods of the Rose School seemed to have sensed the danger in the air and had all concealed themselves. This forced Leonard to wait patiently, ready to be deployed at any time.

At that moment, he was wearing red gloves and entering the church's main prayer hall, where he began his daily prayers with considerable devotion.

Leonard asked himself in a low voice:

"Old man, what exactly was that dream you had last night?"

In his mind, the slightly aged voice of Palez Zoroaster echoed:

"How would I know?"

Leonard immediately countered:

"You still say you don't know? You didn't even ask me what kind of dream it was!"

His tone was incredibly certain, as if he was already convinced that all of this was Palez Zoroaster's doing.

Palez Zoroaster said irritably:

"I know it's because I had the same dream!"

Leonard sensed something unusual and was somewhat surprised:

"Hmm? Angels dream too?"

"That wasn't an ordinary dream."

Palez Zoroaster said in a deep voice, "Do you remember when I told you about Amon's ascension to godhood?"

Leonard's expression shifted slightly, and he asked in a low voice:

"To take someone else's place in their deification ceremony?"

"Yes, that dream was something like that."

Palez Zoroaster gave an affirmative reply, remarking:

"However, Amun only replaced a certain true god, while they intend to replace the primordial, the creator, and the entire world!"

Leonard paused for a moment, then asked hesitantly:

"Is this the reason why the major churches have been rewriting their holy scriptures?"

"That's right."

"But why?"

Leonard, filled with questions, couldn't help but ask, "The Church of the Night and the Church of the Earth Mother are allies. We rewrote the holy scriptures to cooperate with Mr. 'The Fool's' plan. There must be some kind of deal between them to pay for the two major churches' rewriting of the holy scriptures. But why is the Steam Church also rewriting its holy scriptures? Don't you find that strange?"

The Steam Church is clearly their enemy, yet they insist on rewriting the Holy Scriptures like the Night Church. What are they after?

"Why is it strange?"

Pales chuckled:

"You still don't understand. The Steam Church and the Night Church are enemies, but who told you that the Steam Church is necessarily a friend of the 'Primordial'? To the gods and angels, the 'Primordial' is our common enemy."

"No matter how serious the internal struggles among the true gods are, they share a common interest in destroying the primordial. Compiling the holy scriptures is just the most insignificant part of it. Rather than saying that the Steam Church is cooperating with the Night Church's actions, it would be more accurate to say that they are simply going with the flow."

"The overall trend?" Leonard murmured.

"That's right, the replacement of the 'Primordial Flame' by the 'First Flame' is an inevitable trend that no one can stop, and no one will stop it."

"Without the constraints of the 'original', a true god can fully unleash his true power and no longer need to worry about the 'contamination' of his divinity. This is an irresistible temptation for any god."

Leonard hesitated, then Parles scoffed:

"I know what you're going to ask."

"You're asking if, once the 'First Flame' replaces the Primordial One, the Lords of Steam will still be bound by the 'First Flame,' wouldn't that mean nothing has changed?"

"Ha, it's not that simple. Whether 'First Flame' can successfully replace 'Primordial' is still unknown. Although 'Primordial' has fallen, no one knows if He still has any tricks up his sleeve. 'First Flame' is just a pawn."

"If He succeeds in replacing the original, He will naturally reap the greatest benefits."

"But if the 'Primordial' has other backup plans, the 'First Flame' will inevitably be among them. This is the risk that it must take to replace the Primordial."

"Even if the 'First Flame' can completely replace the 'Primordial,' it will be a very long process, not something that can be accomplished overnight. Last night's dream was just the beginning, just a signal to start a war; the end is still a long way off."

"Until everything is completely settled, everything remains uncertain."

"The Goddess of Night and the Earth Mother have clearly sided with the 'First Flame,' and it would be best if the 'First Flame' achieved final victory. However, the Lord of Steam and Amun are not entirely without a chance; they might just be able to seize the opportunity to launch an offensive!"

"It's no exaggeration to say that, in this whole process, the true gods are the biggest beneficiaries!"

Leonard fell silent. He had been incredibly arrogant, believing himself to be a major figure in the extraordinary world as a demigod. But Pales's words made him realize how naive he had been. There was so much he didn't know; he wasn't even qualified to hear about it, let alone participate!

Leonard remained silent for a long time, then hesitantly asked:

"When did you realize all this? You shouldn't even be qualified to participate in this plan, right?"

Pales was used to his disrespect and simply scoffed:

"I may not be qualified, but I have a brain, and you don't."

"This isn't the first time someone has tried to replace the Creator. Didn't the ancient sun god, who called himself 'the all-knowing and all-powerful creator,' also try to replace the 'Primordial One'?"

"Unfortunately, the corruption of the primordial forces on Him was more severe than He had imagined, so His fall was almost inevitable."

"So when I saw the theory of 'the First Flame' creating the world, I already knew what the Church of Fools' purpose was. And when the Church of the Night and other orthodox churches successively compiled holy scriptures, their position was already revealed to the world."

"They made no attempt to hide anything; everything was laid bare. Any normal person with a brain could figure it out!"

Leonard's eye twitched slightly as he was mocked for being brainless once again, but he was used to it; after all, this wasn't the first time.

Moreover, although it was somewhat embarrassing, the old man was right.

Leonard sometimes complains about his own brain. He used to think he just lacked the talent for poetry, but now he realizes it's actually because he's not smart enough. But there's nothing wrong with admitting that; isn't it enough that the old man is smart enough?

Pales continued:

"This is not something you should be thinking about, nor is it something I should be thinking about."

Instead of worrying about these things, think about how to accumulate enough merits to get promoted.

Leonard's expression froze. He was already a demigod of Sequence 4, but advancing to Sequence 3 was still a long way off.

Because he did not have enough merit, he could not be promoted through the channels of the Church of the Night.

He could certainly exchange potion recipes from the Tarot Society, but he had no way to obtain the extraordinary properties of Sequence 3 'Dread Bishop' because the Church of the Night had already monopolized the high-sequence extraordinary materials for this route.

Accumulating merits was his only way out.

The problem is, these demigods of the Rose School are hiding themselves far too well!

Intis, Trier.

Bernadette recounted her dream in detail and asked softly:

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

At the top of the bookshelf, a petite blue doll looked down at her, its four hands clasped together, and calmly said:

"You don't need to do anything, at least not for now."

Bernadette lowered her head silently. Everyone thought she had severed ties with the Outer Gods, including the Fool and her father. But in reality, He had always been by her side, always had.

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