Mystery: The Witch of Desire

"Alright, then let's wait for the next tarot session..."

Liviel had intended to have Klein relay the message immediately after she asked Arrodes, but considering the need to maintain Klein's image as a deity, she abandoned that plan.

After a brief exchange, Livre left the gray fog.

Upon returning to his room, Arodes jumped out eagerly, and words of excitement appeared on the mirror:

"Beautiful lady, I can sense that the aura of the ruler of the spirit world emanating from you is becoming increasingly strong!"

Now, having just attended the Tarot meeting, Livre is basically certain that Arodes' so-called ruler of the spirit world is closely related to Klein or his gray mist.

Could Klein be the great ruler above the spirit world?

Or perhaps he's just still in his infancy, not yet awakened, and his past life was that of an exceptionally powerful deity—something like that melodramatic plot twist…

Lost in thought, Livre revealed a mysterious smile:

"I think I have some clues, but I can't give you a definite answer right now."

Upon hearing this, Arodes's reflection displayed a human-like expression of disappointment, which even looked somewhat comical.

However, thinking of how Arodes tormented her with tentacles and lightning, Livre quickly shook her head, banishing those naive thoughts from her mind. Seizing the opportunity to gain knowledge from it was the right way.

She seized the opportunity to ask:

"According to our previous agreement, you should answer one question for me. My question is, among the 22 pathways, which pathways are adjacent sequences?"

She had already decided that she would ask broad questions to extract as much knowledge as possible. If Arodes was unwilling to answer, she would then narrow down the scope, asking questions such as, "What are the adjacent paths of an audience member?" or "What are the adjacent paths of an assassin?"

As expected, Arodes hesitated upon hearing Livre's almost cheating question. At that moment, Livre smiled mysteriously at just the right moment and added:

"I have a feeling that next week I will be able to figure out the source of the aura of the Spirit Realm Ruler..."

Arodes finally gave in, making a gesture of spreading his hands:

"Fine, you'll get off easy."

Immediately, a large amount of information quickly appeared on its mirror surface:

“The paths of the diviner, the apprentice, and the thief are adjacent to each other.”

“The five pathways of the pilgrim, the audience, the sailors, the readers, and the singers are adjacent to each other.”

"Pharmacists and farmers are adjacent pathways."

"The three paths—the Warrior, the Sleepless, and the Corpse Collector—are adjacent to each other."

"Hunters and assassins are adjacent to each other."

"Lawyers and arbitrators are adjacent to each other."

"Prisoners and criminals are adjacent pathways."

"The knowledgeable and the voyeur are adjacent paths."

"The monsters are of their own kind, with no adjacent paths."

Livre greedily imprinted this knowledge into her mind and quickly summarized some characteristics:

The 22 paths are not arranged in a large circle, but are divided into nine groups, with each group having adjacent paths to the others.

Furthermore, the number of paths varies from group to group. For example, the group of Mystics and Spectators has as many as five paths, while the group of Monsters only has one path.

What is the basis for dividing these nine pathways? Is it due to some inherent uniqueness of each pathway...?

Liviel couldn't help but be curious, but if she were to ask Arodes, that would be another matter entirely. She'd better wait for a more suitable opportunity to ask him.

For now, Livre can only try to figure things out through her own guesses:

Prisoners and criminals are adjacent pathways, and both pathways are related to the Mother Tree of Desire. Is there any connection between them?

The fact that the corpse collectors and sleepless people under the Church of the Goddess of Night are on adjacent paths is probably not a simple coincidence.

The assassin's adjacent path is the hunter's, which means my path and Emily's path can switch... Emily the witch? Emily is already beautiful enough; if she becomes a witch, tsk...

After some contemplation, Livre composed herself, lay quietly on the bed, and waited for the passenger ship to depart for Bayam.

……

……

On a small island in the Rosede Sea, near the raging sea.

The Black Death was anchored on the steep shore, and a gloomy atmosphere hung over the entire ship.

Ever since the last hostage exchange with Vice Admiral Iceberg, Tracy's mood had been far from pleasant. Her crew members were all trembling with fear, lest they anger the pirate general.

At this moment, Tracy was reclining in the captain's cabin chair, looking gloomy.

She kept her bloodshot blue eyes open, unwilling to close them even though she was exhausted.

Whenever I close my eyes, images of my mother being humiliated flood my mind and I can't shake them off.

Finally, groans, cries, satisfied breaths... a jumble of chaotic images shattered Tracy's already taut nerves once again.

boom!

She clenched her fair hand into a fist and slammed it hard on the table.

"It hurts, it hurts so much..."

She let out a reluctant sob, her chest heaving violently, her whole body trembling slightly, and cloudy tears slid down her bloodshot eyes.

In this atmosphere of extreme pain, she discovered that her pain potion had been digested by another layer, and was only one step away from being completely digested.

Tracy let out a long breath, and as she had done after countless breakdowns, she lay her body flat and cleared her mind.

Only in this way could she temporarily forget those humiliating scenes and find a moment of peace.

Just then, the mirror next to Tracy rippled, and a beautiful figure in a white dress walked out.

"Mother……"

Tracy looked up in surprise and gasped softly, a complex expression appearing in her eyes.

She lowered her head, unwilling to look directly at Katarina, unwilling to look directly at her mother.

Katarina smiled gently and slowly walked towards Tracy, saying softly:

"Are you ashamed to have a mother like me?"

Tracy pursed her lips and remained silent, clearly indicating that her answer was tacit agreement.

Katarina wasn't angry; she just smiled faintly and looked out the window at the bright, round moon, just like herself that night.

She then looked at Tracy and smiled:

"I have brought you the recipe and materials for a Sequence 4 potion. Once you have fully digested the Pain Potion, I can begin to arrange your ascension to the Witch of Despair. At that time, you will become a demigod."

Tracy remained unmoved by his words, seemingly uninterested in becoming a demigod.

She said in a sorrowful tone:

"What use is it for someone who can't even protect their own mother, even if they become a demigod..."

Katarina sat down beside her, coaxing her gently:

"Your mother is a witch, so it's just normal pleasure. You don't need to keep it to yourself."

Tracy glanced at Katarina with a hint of disdain:

"I am also a witch, and I can still distinguish between pleasure and humiliation."

Katarina smiled slightly, said nothing more, and then changed the subject:

"I know her location."

“Her?” Tracy looked up abruptly, her expression turning urgent. “The woman who violated you?”

"Yes."

Katerina nodded, picked up a mirror, and gently stroked its surface:

“My divination indicates that she will appear in this location…”

The mirror surface was initially misty, but gradually a clear image appeared.

……

……

A few days later, Bayam.

Liviel once again set foot in this 'City of Generosity'. The streets were still familiar, and the atmosphere of the sea was still familiar. The only change was that the city's security seemed to be worse. Even in the central urban area, several guys who looked like pirates could be seen.

However, the Church of Storms and the Kingdom's navy still maintained control over Bayam, forcing the pirates to operate clandestinely or disguise themselves to evade the notice of ordinary soldiers and low-level Extraordinary Beings. Mid- to high-level Extraordinary Beings like Liviel, lacking the energy to deal with such lowly individuals, could only turn a blind eye.

Upon entering the Swordfish Bar, Livre noticed a portrait on the wall. It wasn't a wanted poster, but rather a report about a young soldier who, not long ago, was a low-ranking naval officer but is now a naval hero.

Lieutenant Commander Daniel Jefferson of the Royal Navy!

He single-handedly defeated the third and second mates of Blood Admiral Señor, and defended Damir Port as a hero.

Daniel is already a naval lieutenant commander... In the navy, which places great importance on lineage and background, this position is quite generous.

Livre sighed silently, hoping that this hot-blooded fool wouldn't be targeted by Señor and could live a few more days.

In Bayam, Liviel's primary concern was finding a ship to the Southern Continent. Ideally, this ship wouldn't be a passenger liner, but rather an armed merchant vessel or a pirate ship; she planned to make a stop at Shorttail Island, located on the edge of the Raging Sea, on her way to the Southern Continent.

The island contains altars for praying to the Mother Tree of Desire, which, according to Arodes, could serve as a medium for obtaining the power of that evil god.

For a regular passenger ship, going to such a place would be too dangerous, and Livre didn't want to involve the lives of innocent civilians.

If it were a pirate ship, there wouldn't be this concern. After all, pirates, except for treasure hunters like Edwina, would likely be wrongly executed if all the others were shot, but if every other one was executed, there would definitely be some who escaped.

Liviel found a lone pirate at the Swordfish Bar whose face was covered and used her ability to persuade him to find out about the movements of nearby pirate ships.

After confirming that this was a wicked man with blood on his hands, Livre gratefully fed him to her writhing hunger, and then began to analyze the intelligence she had just obtained:

Recently, there have been sightings of the crew of Hell Admiral Ludwell and Star Admiral Cattleya in the Rosedard Sea. Of course, this does not necessarily mean that the two pirate generals are nearby; it is also possible that they sent their subordinates to carry out other missions.

Besides the notorious pirates, there are more than a dozen small and medium-sized pirate groups operating near Bayam, and the actual number is likely much higher.

After a moment's thought, Liviel decided to find a pirate crew she was destined to be with, eliminate their captain, and then impersonate him so she could roam freely on the seas.

However, the strength of this pirate crew must be moderate. If a pirate crew under the command of a pirate general is chosen, the plan will be difficult to succeed. If the pirate crew is too weak, it may not be able to cross the complex and turbulent sea.

After some searching, Livre discovered a group of lucky pirates in a casino in the southwestern region of Bayam.

Captain 'The Collector' Pratt, an appraiser of Sequence 7 of the Generalist Path, enjoys collecting all sorts of items.

The captain had just cheated at the casino using his appraisal skills, winning a large sum of chips and some strange collectibles, such as stockings and body hair worn by Bayam's top prostitute.

As he made his way to the private single box with the stockings, Pratt suddenly realized that he seemed to be sick. His usually invincible body became weak, his throat was sore, his hands and feet were cold, and he had difficulty breathing.

"That donkey's ass... Could it be that he's been wasting too much energy on those women in the Red House lately..."

Just as Pratt was wondering what was going on, suddenly, a cold light flashed in the air!

Pratt saw an invisible spider silk fly towards him from below his head, gliding across his neck at an extremely fast speed.

He was about to draw the pistol from his waist when he was shocked to find that he seemed to have lost control of his body.

The next second, he felt his head spin around and fall downwards, seeing his neck spurting blood, his waist with his pants down, and his toes.

Then, he completely lost consciousness.

Liviel put away the spider silk, stepped out of the shadows, and took out a magic mirror to communicate with spirits.

After confirming Pratt's basic information and some habits, she hesitated slightly before taking out her writhing hunger.

Pratt is a Sequence 7 appraiser with the ability to assess the value of items. In addition, he has a certain learning ability, which can play a good auxiliary role. However, the Faceless Man's soul has a highly overlapping function for Livre, who is already an actress, and is not of much use.

Livre wore the writhing hunger on her left hand, communicating with the soul of the faceless man inside.

May your soul find peace.

She sprinkled some Amanda hydrosol, which had a calming effect, and the man's contorted face gradually calmed down, his voice trembling and hoarse:

"Thank you……"

Then, his soul dissipated into the air like fragments.

Where it remained, a pale blue object was left behind.

Extraordinary characteristics?!

Liviel picked up the pale blue object with a mixture of surprise and delight. Could it be that the writhing, hungry souls, after being released, still retain the extraordinary characteristics of their former lives?