1064 Headquarters
After Professor communicated with their eyes with her husband, Periodic Table and others for a while, she finally nodded and said, "Hidden Blade, we're willing to join."
Making this decision and speaking these words made her suddenly relax, no longer so tense.
At this current crossroads, whether for good or ill, whichever path they chose, they had to move forward. They couldn't stop or retreat anymore.
If they didn't seize this opportunity to completely eliminate the Hidden Sage, they would either be forced to stay in Trier to face the possible coming apocalypse, or lose control and go mad in another big city, becoming monsters and even endangering their families.
Franca breathed a sigh of relief, stating, "Would you like to sign a notarized document to ensure I fulfill all my promises?
"Don't worry, this notarized document was created by another Saint and is watched over by a true god—it has strong binding power over me as well."
Professor shook her head and said with a smile, "No need. We trust you and Madame Hela."
She paused, then hesitantly asked, "How long will this operation last? We have children at home who need care. Though we have servants, we're not entirely at ease."
Franca had already prepared for this.
"For those of you who are married couples with children, only one person needs to go. Those who are single parents or have other relatives needing special care can opt out of this operation. However, those who stay behind need to bring their children or other dependents to live together in one place, under Madame Hela's watch and protection."
This was to prevent secrets from leaking—the relevant personnel had to be placed under secrecy or sworn to secrecy.
Phew… Professor noticeably relaxed and turned to Associate Professor, saying, "I'll go."
"I'll go!" Associate Professor rejected her proposal without hesitation.
The two argued until Professor made the final decision.
"My Sequence is higher than yours and my condition is better. It'll be safer if I go!"
"Fine…" Associate Professor regretted for the first time spending too much time on unrelated research.
After some discussion, those participating in this operation would be Professor, Periodic Table, and another male Warlock called "Prototype."
"Let's go." Franca tossed out a mirror.
Under the influence of phantasms, the mirror grew larger and larger, fixing itself as a crystalline entrance.
Franca led the three Warlocks of different sequences across the solid mirror surface into the dark void of the mirror realm.
They plummeted through an illusory dark tunnel, with light and shadows rapidly shifting around them, as if other mirrors were projecting their reflected images into it.
Thus, after an unknown period—perhaps very short, perhaps very long—Professor and the others finally saw the exit.
Led by Hidden Blade Franca, they whooshed out of the mirror, stepping onto a wooden floor that creaked under their feet.
Periodic Table instinctively looked around and found they were aboard an ancient three-masted sailing ship. The gray-white mainsails billowed in the fierce wind, and only one or two sailors were on deck, making it feel quite eerie and quiet.
Outside the ship, dark blue waves rose and fell, with thin fog permeating the entire sea area.
When Professor, Periodic Table, and Prototype all looked at her, Franca raised her right hand, pointing in one direction, and said with a smile, "Our destination—west!"
Splash! A low wave crashed over.
…
An ice-blue wave crashed against Future's bow, producing numerous white sprays.
The Hermit, wearing a purple-patterned robe and thick glasses, stood at the bow, glanced at the changing weather above and the brewing snowstorm, then raised her right hand, signaling the ship to slow down and circle this small area of sea.
The sailors performed their duties, some adjusting the sail direction, others lowering one of the sails, until Future's condition finally satisfied the captain, Queen of Stars Cattleya's requirements.
Cattleya removed the thick glasses from her nose bridge, revealing a pair of deep purple, almost black eyes.
She immediately began speaking numbers with a mysterious aura, "1, 5, 4, 3, 7, 8…"
These numbers materialized one after another, becoming entangled in mid-air, numbering several hundred.
They were the entry password to the Moses Ascetic Order headquarters!
The Moses Ascetic Order headquarters was created by one of the Ten Pillars, the respected Chairman Torriope, using Mystical Re-enactment, and named "Avalon."
Avalon existed neither in reality nor in the spirit realm, but was completely hidden somewhere in the North Sea. Only those invited or qualified could enter, and they must also grasp a corresponding string of numbers numbering 365 digits.
For the Moses Ascetic Order, everything was numbers. Each number had spirituality, symbolism, and special meaning. When combined, these numbers naturally possessed mystical power.
As The Hermit Cattleya spoke the correct spiritual numbers, which materialized and became entangled in mid-air, the numbers suddenly vanished, as if sinking into somewhere.
Within seconds, it was as if an invisible curtain was drawn aside in front of Future, and a small boat sailed out unhurriedly, unmanned.
Starlight quickly lit up, extending from Future's bow to fall upon that small boat. The Hermit Cattleya stepped across the brilliant bridge formed by starlight and boarded the small boat in just a few steps.
As one of the Ten Pillars of the Moses Ascetic Order, she naturally had the qualifications to enter Avalon, and currently barely qualified as part of the core team.
The small boat carrying Cattleya turned around and headed back in the direction it came from.
The Queen of Stars's silhouette gradually faded until it disappeared from the view of Future's crew.
After passing through layers of transparent curtains, The Hermit Cattleya saw an island.
The island was shrouded in mist, lined with trees bearing golden apples, with music faintly drifting from the distance—peaceful, tranquil, and abundant.
The small boat stopped at the dock, and the Hermit walked toward the depths of the apple grove, where there stood a warlock's spire as if stepped out of a story.
Along the way, she encountered over a dozen humans dressed as warlocks.
These people stopped in succession, greeting the Ten Pillars with nods.
They were all members of the Moses Ascetic Order, raised in Avalon since childhood, receiving corresponding teachings, most trusted. Currently, they were all in their period of silence to increase focus, enhance spirituality, and deeply master various morals and precepts.
Only Warlocks who grew up this way could eventually compete for the positions of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Moses Ascetic Order. "Outsiders" like the Queen of Stars, who joined later, could at most become one of the "Pillars," and would need to undergo years of testing and observation before having any hope of entering the core team.
The Hermit likewise responded to these silent Warlocks with nods, and soon passed through the trees laden with golden apples to reach the tall black spire.
Inside the spire, the wall protrusions, floor tiles, statues on both sides, and the elevator pulled by invisible servants were all composed of numbers. They looked normal at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one would find that even a small bump was formed by multiple intertwined numbers.
Hundreds of millions, billions of numbers were densely distributed throughout the spire, settling into different objects. Walking among them, The Hermit felt surrounded by countless numbers.
In her eyes, there were no walls, no bricks, no statues, no elevators—only numbers!
At this time, some Warlocks who had finished their period of silence were moving about in the spire. They either conversed quietly, went about their business, or huddled in corners, letting the strange eyes within the cracks on their faces observe their surroundings.
These latter ones were members approaching loss of control. After the Hidden Sage's knowledge infusions became increasingly crazy and frequent, even the Moses Ascetic Order, which had mastered safe "listening" methods, inevitably had Warlocks moving toward loss of control, far more than in previous years. novelbuddy.cσ๓
What was once safe was no longer safe.
If not for this problem, with the Moses Ascetic Order's accumulation plus the initial spiritual decline as the apocalypse approached, they certainly had more than ten demigods. But unfortunately, they still only had ten Pillars.
The Hermit's gaze withdrew from these Warlocks' faces as she entered the elevator. Pulled by invisible servants, she went all the way up to the spire's top floor.
Here, the Chairman and one of the two Vice Chairmen were always on duty. Among them, Chairman Torriope and Vice Chairman Retia Austin were Pillars that the Hermit couldn't quite get a read on.
Before arriving today, The Hermit Cattleya had already confirmed that Chairman Torriope—an Angel on the Mystery Pryer pathway—was on duty in Avalon.
As soon as the elevator steadied, Cattleya walked forward.
This was a hall larger than the spire's top floor itself. On the black walls, floor, and ceiling were eyes, each different, strangely shaped, and all cold eyes.
They all seemed to be watching the Queen of Stars.
At the end of the room, against the windowless wall, stood three dark gold statues—one wearing a mask, one resembling a lion, and one like an eagle.
Chairman Torriope seemed not to be present.
Just then, the masked dark gold statue's mouth moved, issuing a grand but hollow voice, "I have foreseen your betrayal!"
Hearing these words, Queen of Stars Cattleya wasn't surprised, only somewhat sighing.
Indeed, it was impossible to truly hide from a high-sequence Clairvoyant.
Once there was action, They would prophesy certain scenes or fragments. One could only try to delay when such perceptions appeared, or make the corresponding prophecies difficult to interpret!
A card suddenly appeared in Cattleya's hand. On its face was depicted a lonely old man with a cane, carrying a glass lamp.
The Hermit card!
