'What is this?' Professor could sense the terrifying aura emanating from the vague, gem-like orb, drawing her towards it.
Franca smiled and said, 'This is your reward.
'I didn't mention it beforehand, but once the operation is successful, we would help you each advance one Sequence.'
Professor was stunned for a moment, instinctively looking towards Periodic Table and Prototype, and finding them equally surprised.
After a few seconds of contemplation, Professor said sincerely, 'We don't need a reward. Being free from the forced indoctrination of the Hidden Sage is the best reward for us.'
'Yes.' Periodic Table and Prototype both expressed agreement.
After hearing Professor's words, Lumian suddenly recalled his own thoughts, as well as the sentence Mr. Fool had said at the temporary gathering.
Uniqueness, Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, or Beyonder characteristics—none of that mattered. The important thing was that the Hidden Sage was dead.
Thinking about it this way, the Hidden Sage's death is not in vain. From a god to a common warlock, there were so many 'volunteers' who had the urge to destroy Him. The masked Lumian couldn't help but smile.
Franca could understand the perspective of Professor and the others, after all, they had a role model right beside them.
She smiled and said, 'You may not want it, but we must give it to you anyway. Otherwise, others will say we are stingy, miserly, and ungenerous. Don't worry, all participants will receive a generous share of the spoils. As a secret organization with over two thousand years of history, the Moses Ascetic Order have accumulated abundant resources.'
Professor was perplexed for two seconds. 'You have destroyed the Moses Ascetic Order?'
We warlocks are also members of the Moses Ascetic Order...
This operation was not only targeting the Hidden Sage, but also wiping out the Moses Ascetic Order?
Franca nodded. 'We have destroyed Avalon, as you all know, that was the headquarters of the Moses Ascetic Order.
'The Moses Ascetic Order's Chairman Torriope perished on the spot. Two of the Ten Pillars, Seids and Ohayes, have died.
Retia fled in defeat, and the remaining Ten Pillars, either betrayed or in hiding. In essence, the Moses Ascetic Order have effectively been annihilated.
'You are no longer members of the Moses Ascetic Order, because the Moses Ascetic Order no longer exists. From now on, you don't need to complete the corresponding tasks, nor report to anyone. The only one who can protect you is yourselves.
'And as I mentioned at the gathering, the apocalypse is likely to come within one or two years.
'So, won't you take this opportunity to advance your Sequences?'
Professor, Periodic Table, and Prototype fell silent—they had all been convinced.
Franca smiled and said, 'The reward of helping the participants advance one Sequence is actually not very fair.
Why should Professor become a demigod, while we are only at Sequence 5, right?
'This is where you, Professor, must take on greater responsibility. If you truly become a Mysticologist and a demigod, you'll need to help Periodic Table and Prototype afterward, providing them with the necessary protection.
'Also, before leaving Trier, if you encounter trouble that you can't resolve on your own, you can recite my honorific name.
As long as I'm not caught up in other accidents, I'll definitely come to your aid.
'My honorific name is:
'The One Who Never Ages, Keeper of Diseases and Plagues, the Demoness Accompanied by Strife and Catastrophe, the Cup Bearing Joy and Pain, the Great Franca Roland.'
Lumian realized that Franca wanted to develop Professor and the others, who had lost the protection of the Moses Ascetic Order, into her own anchors.
Anchors didn't necessarily come only from faith, but also from solid, stable interpersonal relationships, though they couldn't be passed down from generation to generation like faith.
Now, Professor and the others were at a stage where their future was uncertain, no longer having an organization to rely on and provide resources. The Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society's gathering, which was more like a trading platform, was very suitable for Franca to extend an olive branch to them.
Even if Professor and the others later left Trier, Franca could give them self-locating mirrors to communicate remotely, and use them to spread the faith of Saint Franca Roland, the patron saint of the Church of The Fool.
However, Franca was still too self-conscious, considering Professor and the others as friends and fellow transmigrators, without thinking of developing them into believers, let alone recruiting them as archbishops or bishops in the Sick Church...
Lumian did not take the opportunity to introduce his own honorific name.
'Honorific name... Are you already a Sequence 3 patron saint?' Professor and the others had quite extensive knowledge of mysticism.
Isn't this advancement too fast?
Two gatherings ago, Hidden Blade was still a Sequence 5 Demoness!
Previously, when Franca said she had already become a demigod, Professor and the others were more envious and slightly surprised, feeling that it was still somewhat normal.
But now, they had a sense of their understanding being overturned.
Franca concurred succinctly, 'Coincidence combined with the uniqueness of being a transmigrator In fact, Muggle is also Sequence 3 now.'
As she spoke, she glanced at Lumian.
She could probably understand why Lumian didn't take this opportunity to reveal his own honorific name and develop anchors based on interpersonal relationships.
He hoped Muggle would still be Aurore.
Wh— Professor, Periodic Table, and Prototype looked at the silent Muggle standing beside them in amazement.
She is also a Sequence 3 patron saint?
What is wrong with this world?
The hooded, half-masked Lumian chuckled. 'Yes, I'll forgo telling you my honorific name. Anyway, Hidden Blade and I have been staying together recently, so asking her for help is the same as asking me.
'The reason we were able to advance so quickly while remaining normal is because transmigrators have special qualities. Professor, if you can become a Mysticologist, you can try drawing power from the fairy tales, myths, and urban legends you heard before you transmigrated. Some of them should be real.'
Lumian's suggestion would lead to a certain degree of exposure of the secret to transmigration, but as long as Professor became a Mysticologist with the core ability of Mystical Re-enactment, she would eventually discover the issue.
Professor and the others looked at each other with puzzlement, able to sense the discomfort of Hidden Blade and Muggle in not wanting to elaborate.
They then asked Franca, 'Where is the cathedral that you are the patron saint of?'
'It's in the Lavigny Docks area of the square district, the Saint Franca Cathedral of the Church of The Fool,' Franca provided a simple introduction.
Professor had a realization. 'So you are from the Church of The Fool?
'This operation targeting the Hidden Sage was led by the Church of The Fool?'
Franca suddenly looked a bit proud. 'Yes, Mr. Fool himself lent a hand, and the God of Steam and Machinery provided necessary assistance...'
At this point, she smiled and looked at Lumian. 'Muggle assisted from the sidelines.'
Huh? Professor and the others were stunned once again.
A Sequence 3 Saint can participate in divine wars?
Franca quickly added, 'Her task was to serve as bait.'
'...' Professor and the others were speechless for a moment.
'Okay, okay, keep these Beyonder characteristics and corresponding ingredients, potion formulas safe—they've all been sealed. You don't need to rush, adjust your condition first before holding the ritual.' Franca distributed the spoils. 'This is a drop of Mythical Creature blood, to be used in the ritual.'
Finally, she took out a drop of blood, shimmering with brilliant starlight, locked within a dim, spherical orb from her Traveler's Bag.
After celebrating the death of the Hidden Sage with Professor and the others with champagne, Franca and Lumian returned to the luxurious villa, with the former volunteering to pray to Mr. Fool.
He was a fellow countryman!
Franca set up the altar and performed the ritual, fluently reciting the corresponding honorific name. A faint gray fog vaguely emerged before her.
'Esteemed Mr. Fool, I would like to exchange the Mid- and Low-Sequence Beyonder characteristics and mystical items placed before me for a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact. As a Beyonder on the Demoness pathway and a close friend of The Chariot, do you think I am suitable to choose the one corresponding to the Pallbearer?' Franca expressed her intent in one go.
Soon, she heard Mr. Fool's gentle voice. 'There is some risk, but it can be borne.'
In that case, it's better to let it go, it's not an urgent need...
Franca immediately said, 'Esteemed Mr. Fool, I'll exchange for the one corresponding to Arcane Scholar.'
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw all the items she had placed on the altar disappear completely, vanishing into thin air.
Immediately, an object flew out from the enlarged candle flame, landing on the altar.
It was half a mask, the left side.
It was composed of numerous gears, rivets, bearings, springs, and small steel tubes—mechanical parts. The eye position was left empty, covered by a lens that looked like glass or crystal, the overall complexity giving it a strange beauty.
At the same time, Franca received a rush of information:
'Name: Face of the Arcane '0: Originated from the death of an Arcane Scholar in the Fourth Epoch. '1: The exterior is a left-faced mask made of machinery, possessing a living characteristic. '2: After donning this mask, it can emit a beam of light from the eye guard, capable of destroying the structures of most objects, thoroughly disintegrating the target.
'The wearer of this mask will possess extraordinary manufacturing abilities, able to create mystical items, or complex mechanical devices, or combine the two. Remember, the mask is the master when doing these things, not the wearer. It always leaves one or two hilariously terrible negative effects on its own products.
'Wearing this mask can allow one to truly extract environmental information and work backwards to deduce what has happened.
'The mask's wearer can quickly grasp the relevant information when using other mystical items, effectively avoiding negative effects, except for those brought by the mask itself.
'The wearer of the mask can imbue the items they create with souls, giving them a certain degree of vitality. But remember, these are not created out of thin air—they come from fragments of spirits from the spirit world, extracted from the lives around them.
