Lord of Mysteries: Yao Guang

Leaving aside the dark continent without light, the sun in the outside world rises and sets, and time does not stop because of anyone's predicament.

It is a new week again. The clock hand is turning day after day, gradually approaching the scale of three o'clock in the afternoon, at least according to the standard time of Loen Backlund.

In the Queens District of this city, in a luxurious villa belonging to Earl Hall, a blonde girl leaned on an armchair, gently rubbing the head of the golden retriever beside her. Her eyes passed through the glass window and looked at the sky with shallow clouds outside the window.

Because of various disputes, this winter seems particularly cold.

Susie put her head on Audrey's legs, and her watery eyes showed her concern for her master. Although it was only two days, the atmosphere of the entire upper class of Backlund was in chaos. Even if the Hall family did not face the disaster under the drastic changes, all this still made Audrey very confused.

The purge within the royal family has begun to spread to the aristocratic class.

When Audrey sighed, glanced at the time on the grandfather clock, and wanted to get up, Susie had already stood up, walked to the side very considerately, and gently shook her tail.

Audrey patted Susie's head again, and Susie understood what Audrey meant with just a glance. It walked to the door, even hooked the door with its hind legs, and squatted outside Audrey's bedroom.

Audrey was curious about the king's assassination - after all, the intelligence exchange of the Tarot Club seemed to be secretly related to this for a long time, and this was the possibility she roughly explored when reviewing everyone's psychological changes.

At the last Tarot Club, Mr. "Fool" seemed to hint that today's meeting might be cancelled. Audrey was confused and naturally thought of another member. Perhaps she could learn more about the inside story from Mr. "World".

It was precisely because of this decision that Audrey wanted to communicate with the "world" in advance before three o'clock. In case there was really no rally today, she could also make some preparations for the upcoming regime change in Backlund and give her parents a special reminder.

Audrey took a prayer posture and chanted in a low voice in ancient Hermes:

"The Fool who does not belong to this era, the mysterious master above the gray fog, the yellow and black king who controls good luck..."

However, the moment Audrey finished chanting this name, the hazy gray fog appeared in front of her, and the blurred figure in the fog made a familiar voice, majestic and peaceful:

"The party will be held as usual."

It was the response of Mr. "Fool"!

Audrey was surprised and subconsciously whispered "Praise the Fool". After not receiving any other instructions, she ended her prayer and leaned back in the armchair with peace of mind, waiting for the arrival of three o'clock, thinking about the news she would share with others at the party later.

I don't know if Mr. World will say anything. Since the assassination, there has been no news about him. I don't even have time to meet with Xio and the others...

——

A few seconds before three o'clock, the palace hanging high in the spirit world had an inexplicable vibration from the deepest part.

However, such turbulence was limited to the palace, and it seemed to be intentionally restrained and did not spread to the outside. Klein had seen that the door with many light cocoons hanging above it slowly tilted inward during the vibration and opened a gap.

This gap was so narrow that it couldn't even allow a person to pass sideways, but it was enough for the unmaterialized shadow to tear out from the deep chaos.

Then the gap was covered by the surging gray fog, as if an invisible hand gently closed it.

As for the shadow covered with strange patterns, it was like a ball of black magma that kept melting and bubbling, but what broke out from it was gray maggots one after another, and before falling to the ground, they had already turned into gray fog and drifted away.

When it just squeezed out from the crack of the door, it didn't even have a specific shape. It was just made up of countless worms, with layers of sticky tentacles hugging each other.

It didn't become more solid and concrete until it almost rolled down the first step.

From the gray mist around it, another layer of light emerged. Half of the light ball imprisoned in the crystal shell was hidden in the mist, and the other half spread out thin light threads, hanging outside the twisted object.

Even if the light ball tried to weave a shell to bind the mass of matter as a whole, such "help" had a significant effect, further stimulating the surrounding gray fog, causing them to rush and condense towards the place where the light threads trembled, and quickly submerged the shadow of the black worms.

So, the fog crawled over the two steps again, rolling down continuously, and finally gathered into a human figure whose head and body could be vaguely distinguished, and then the arms that swung like vines and quickly became normal, and the outlines of the legs gradually became clear, and walked firmly down the steps in front.

The whole process of change seemed complicated, but in fact it only took a few seconds.

When the man leisurely stepped out of the gray fog that almost wrapped him into a cocoon, his body was still entangled with many threads that were torn apart due to his struggle. He shook off these glimmering threads expressionlessly, raised his gloved right hand, and smoothed out the twisted spiritual worms on the collar of his long windbreaker.

He had a face that Klein and Esther would be very, very familiar with, but he should not be here at this moment - he definitely should not have walked out from behind that door.

"World", Gehrman Sparrow straightened the half-high silk hat on his head, and a faint smile appeared on his cold and sharp face, like a tiny stone thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples, so that people can see the foreign objects lurking deep under the water.

He is not only similar to "World", but also completely fits the impression left by the pirate hunter on everyone - he is Gehrman Sparrow, and everyone will subconsciously understand that this is the correct result.

The only thing that is most unlike "World" is that his eyes are as black as ravines, which cannot reflect any light. They are not empty, but have extremely deep darkness.

But as a faint gray mist crawled, rising from his feet, spreading out, covering the man's face, the last feature full of disobedience disappeared completely.

"World" raised his hand, and the crystal ball flew into his palm without resistance.

"You woke me up a little too early."

The light ball showed a different kind of obedience than when it faced Klein. A buzzing sound sounded, and it responded in the same Hermetic language: "Destiny has other plans."

German frowned, looking even more ferocious: "An accident occurred?"

"A thief."

"If it was Him, it doesn't seem to be very surprising."

"The World" slowly walked through the hall surrounded by gray fog, walked to the bronze long table, sat on the high-backed chair at the end of the seat, and then let go of his hand, letting the light ball fly up again, hanging above the long table as usual.

German looked at the empty seat opposite the table, as if smiling at another absent self.

"Then, let's start today's Tarot Club."

The moment "The World" finished speaking, several red stars swayed, extending the figures of the Tarot Club members, allowing several people to float in their respective seats.

I can't...postpone...anymore...