During the Tarot reading session, a discussion was held.
The discussion is about how to create "pure darkness" during the Derrick ascension ceremony of the "Sun".
The Hermit Odis came up with a plan: "Creating 'pure darkness' is not difficult, but the darkness in the 'Forsaken Land' is extremely dangerous."
"The main dangers come from two aspects: first, there is a certain probability that it will disappear into thin air; second, some strange monsters may appear."
The other members nodded in agreement; such a danger was indeed difficult to resolve.
Leonard, nicknamed "Star," then realized just how dangerous the "Forsaken Land" truly was!
Odis explained in detail: "Disappearing into thin air should be the authority of the 'Sleepless' pathway, while the emergence of monsters is the authority of the 'Mystic' pathway."
"The basic underlying theory is that the disappearance is because the target suddenly enters a 'hidden space' and becomes 'hidden'."
"At this time, if the person or someone nearby has the corresponding scroll or talisman, they can still be saved, but it's hard to say what will happen after a few minutes."
He paused slightly and then said, "And those strange monsters actually come from the shadows, not from the darkness."
"I have done some research. It is a kind of strange spirit creature that, under certain conditions, can enter the real world through the shadows of the real world."
The darkness of the "forsaken land" fulfills their conditions for entering the real world, so they only appear when darkness descends.
"Extraordinary beings at the 'Hermit' level can command these spiritual creatures to attack their targets. However, these monsters generally do not attack others on their own initiative. But the 'Mystic' path, in addition to the authority of the shadows, also has the authority of 'corruption'."
"Those strange spiritual beings will quickly be affected by the power of 'corruption' and turn into monsters that attack others."
"Furthermore, at this time, not only can normal people enter the 'hidden space,' but the people in that space can also return to the real world, except that they have already mutated."
"Those influenced by the 'corruption' authority will also become monsters that attack others."
Everyone was stunned when they heard this. The priestess, Cattleya, thought to herself: He actually did this kind of research?
This was the first time she had ever heard of this idea!
Klein the Fool and others all knew that the Hermit was an academic extraordinary person, and they did not show any surprise at his strange research.
Odis continued, "Once we understand where the danger originates, we can take appropriate measures."
"First, I can make a scroll for you to make the 'Hidden Space' repel you, so that you won't disappear into thin air in the dark."
"However, to prevent any accidents, you will need to carry a talisman that allows you to enter and exit the 'hidden space' during the experiment. I will also take care of that for you."
"If the scroll I created has no effect, and you are still inside the 'Hidden Space,' you can use the talisman to enter and exit the 'Hidden Space' to save yourself."
Odis could make the scrolls himself, and they weren't difficult to make.
It's like this: gaining the favor of the "Goddess of the Night" might require a lot of effort, and even then, the "goddess" might not approve. But if you say a few words to the "goddess," it's easy for her to hear, thus incurring the goddess's wrath.
Similarly, the same applies to spaces with mystical significance, such as "hidden spaces." It's difficult to increase one's affinity with them, but it's relatively easy to make them repel a particular target.
However, the talisman that allows entry into the "hidden space" requires the power of the "Goddess of Night," since that space belongs to the authority of the "Goddess of Night."
When Odis said this, even Leonard from the Church of the Goddess of Night couldn't help but exclaim: "You can do it like that?"
The Fool, however, felt that this solution was in line with the Hermit's consistent approach to problem-solving: understand the root cause of the problem, and then solve the problem from its source.
"As for the problem with those monsters, it's quite simple," Odis said. "I happen to have some high-grade spiritual materials from the 'Mystic' pathway, which can help you design a scroll that can temporarily blend into the shadows."
"It's like, in the eyes of those monsters, you are the same kind of person as them."
"This is easy to test. Just put yourself in the dark and see if the monsters attack you."
Those high-grade materials were from the "Black Spider" they hunted together when they first met "General Iceberg".
Odis made the most of everything and did not waste a single thing.
Finally, Odis said, "Now that the dangers within 'pure darkness' have been resolved, creating pure darkness itself is simple. I can make the corresponding scroll using spiritual materials at the level of 'Deep Sleep Flower'."
This made Klein marvel: Are demigods really this adept at using scrolls?
In his mind, scrolls should be like talismans, with fixed abilities and methods of creation.
Judging from Odis's words, he seems to be able to flexibly design scrolls with various abilities.
Then, as if realizing something, he quietly activated his spiritual vision and glanced at Odis.
Sure enough, they saw that the other party's spirit body had undergone some changes, as if a mysterious, slowly rotating nebula had appeared inside the spirit body.
This guy got promoted again!
At the beginning of the Tarot session, he noticed something unusual, but he didn't take it too seriously. After all, this ascension wasn't to an angel, so it wouldn't cause any qualitative change. It would only be noticed if one observed carefully.
Of course, the most crucial point is that Odis had only been promoted to Sequence 4 for a short time, and Klein never expected that he would be promoted again!
Klein is now certain that Odis's scrolls are absolutely effective.
Although promotion sequence 3 is not a major qualitative change like promotion sequence 2, the improvement in ability at this level should still be quite significant.
The very fact that they can respond to prayers makes those at this level seem more like gods.
Upon hearing the Hermit's solution, "Sun" Derrick first sincerely thanked him before asking, "What kind of reward do I need to pay for these scrolls?"
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "Extraordinary materials worth 3,000 pounds."
Derrick immediately replied, "No problem."
He had already planned to prepare more materials for Mr. "The Hermit" to express his gratitude.
With the "sun" problem solved, "Moon" Emlyn looked at "Magician" Fors: "Madam, I may need to rent that notebook once in the next two weeks."
"The Magician" Fors immediately replied, "No problem."
However, she couldn't help but add, "Try not to record the 'full moon'."
The "Moon" ability had been rented out a few times before, and then three "Full Moon" abilities appeared in the diary. No one used it in the subsequent rentals, which gave Fors a big headache.
If she were to use this ability herself, it would be tantamount to courting death.
"Moon" paused for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"The Hanged Man," Alger interjected, "Has the operation of a key member of the 'Rose School' of vampire hunting begun?"
"Yes." Emlyn didn't hide anything: "The specific plans are still under discussion."
Odis suddenly remembered: There was one, or even several, demigods of the "Rose School" in Backlund!
This is actually a potential prey, but sufficient intelligence is needed to hunt it.
This made him sigh silently: Demigods are really hard to kill!
If Odis remembers correctly, this joint operation between the vampires and Miss Sharon did not achieve much.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of something else and said to "the world," "If you ever explore that travelogue, remember to call me."
He paused for a moment and then said, "I have received new information. Deep within the subconscious ocean of 'Travelogue' lies a huge secret, and I want to go there and take a look."
Odis felt that there was no great danger in going deep into the "Travelogue" anyway, and if the Celestial Master really had important information there, then it was worth exploring.
The other members didn't quite understand what "Hermit" meant, but Klein did. He manipulated "The World" and said, "Okay."
Then, manipulating "the world," he continued: "The Church of the Night received intelligence from Major General Chunus Colger, Deputy Director of MI9, confirming that King George III of Rune has a startling secret."
"He secretly sent people to excavate the ruins of the 'Blood Emperor' and colluded with the 'Witch Cult' and the 'Psychological Alchemy Society'."
They fabricated numerous missing persons cases and covered up many truths.
"The three major churches do not seem to have found enough evidence, but there is some reason to suspect that there may be traitors among the high-ranking members of the three major churches."
Leonard, the "star," was momentarily dazed before thinking: I'm the "red glove" member of the church—? Right?
How come I didn't know anything about this?
However, he immediately recalled that he was also unaware of the previous cooperation between the "Hermit" and the Church, and realized that it was probably because the cooperation between the demigod and the Church was at a very high level that he had not received the news.
Alger recalled that at a tarot meeting a few months ago, "The World" asked "Justice" to keep an eye on the movements of this deputy director, Chunas, and sure enough, they found out that there were quite a few problems with him.
A few seconds later, "Justice" Audrey broke the brief silence and spoke up, "I will keep an eye on Herwin Lambis's movements."
This was used to monitor the movements of the "Psychological Alchemy Society".
Klein, however, manipulated the "world" and said, "There's no need to pay too much attention, because the Church of the Night already knows he's a member of the 'Psychological Alchemy Society's' council."
The other members realized that the Church of the Goddess of Night had not immediately taken action against this council member, likely because they were preparing to use him as a breakthrough point to obtain more evidence.
"The Trial" Hugh said to "The World" at this moment: "I am investigating some matters concerning Viscount Stratford of the Court, which seem to involve the King's secrets. If you need my cooperation, please do not hesitate to ask."
Klein made "The World" nod: "Okay."
"I've suddenly thought of an important question," Odis said abruptly. "Perhaps I should tell you all some of my speculations about George III, which should be helpful for your investigation."
He had just realized that he had not revealed any information about George III's preparations for godhood. Now that the time for King Rune's attempt at ascension was approaching, he should disclose some relevant information to everyone so that they could prepare.
"World" and "Judgment" immediately looked at "Hermit," especially the latter, who had previously felt that investigating her father's death was a private matter and there was no need to trouble "Leader" for help.
At that moment, Hugh suddenly realized that perhaps a huge secret was hidden here.
However, she then secretly breathed a sigh of relief, because it felt much more reassuring if only the "leader" was involved.
Odis did not immediately voice his guess, but instead said to Cattleya, "I just thought of that."
I haven't had a chance to tell the Queen yet.
"This period is crucial for her. Don't tell her yet. Wait until I think the time is right before you tell her."
Cattleya hesitated for a moment before replying, "Okay."
"Star" Leonard glanced at "Priestess": Did she also know "Mysterious Queen"?
Leonard had read about Odis Gar and knew that he seemed to have known the "Mysterious Queen" a long time ago, but he didn't expect that the "Priestess" would also know this important figure from the Extraordinary Realm.
Then Odis said, "When I was still in Backlund last year, I sensed that the Royal Family of Loen seemed to be doing something in secret, and I also gathered some intelligence."
"Based on that intelligence, I suspect that George III may be preparing for a godhood ceremony, or more precisely, a ceremony to become the 'Black Emperor'."
Klein, behind the gray fog, thought to himself: Sure enough, after learning enough information, the "Hermit" made the same guess.
He had the same guess, but wasn't sure.
Even the "Hermit," an absolute authority in intelligence analysis, made this conjecture, leading Klein to believe that the direction of this conjecture was correct.
The other members were stunned by the surprise.
Becoming a god?
Is King Rune going to become a god?
They weren't so surprised that Adam was going to become a god, after all, he was the "King of Angels" in the Third Age.
Alright.
However, the fact that George III, who frequently appeared in newspapers, was to be deified was somewhat hard to accept at first.
Audrey, in particular, could occasionally see the King and Queen, but she felt no connection whatsoever between the King and the "gods".
First, Cattleya understood why the "Hermit" had given her such instructions before revealing his conjecture.
Because Emperor Roselle was suspected of having once been the "Black Emperor," but it seems that for some reason, the process of resurrecting using the characteristics of the "Black Emperor" was terminated.
If a new "Black Emperor" emerges, the Great Emperor will have no chance of being resurrected.
Therefore, this matter cannot be told to the "Queen" for the time being.
As for when it would be appropriate to tell the Queen, Cattleya was not quite sure.
Finally, she took a deep breath and decided to leave the problem to the "hermit".
After their initial surprise, Fors the Magician and Hugh the Judge were somewhat moved. They had both suspected that the royal family might be plotting something big, but they never expected it to be related to becoming a god!
Leonard, nicknamed "Star," opened his mouth, but still didn't ask the question, "Really?"
He had heard of the "leader's" reputation in the intelligence community and knew that the other party would not joke about such a thing.
After a brief moment of surprise, Alger, the "Hanged Man," thought to himself: This is the second being I've encountered recently who is about to become a god.
He seemed to sense the tide of the times, as if he had realized the beginning of a new era.
Odis gave everyone a few seconds, and only after seeing that everyone's shock had gradually subsided did he say, "Let me first tell you what I know about the ceremony for ascending to the 'Black Emperor'."
"Once everyone knows about the ritual, this speculation is actually not that difficult to complete."
At this point, everyone realized that what the "hermit" said next was very valuable information.
After all, this is a ritual to elevate the gods. Even if the members of the Tarot Society are not extraordinary individuals through the "lawyer" pathway, this is still the most advanced information in the extraordinary world.
The "Hermit" did not choose to trade with everyone, but instead communicated with them in this way.
This made everyone feel once again the significant change in the "hermit's" attitude towards Tarot Club.
Odis said, "The ceremony for elevating the Black Emperor is as follows: First, one must possess one's own kingdom, and then associate one's name with the title of Emperor, making it common knowledge among the people."
"A set of strict and complex rules, which is contrary to normal circumstances, needs to be established, including architectural styles."
"Then, he instigated the people to secretly build nine pyramid-like mausoleums. Then, he entered one of them and, in a series of sacrificial rites scattered throughout different cities, with the participation of the vast majority of the people, consumed the next level of magical potions."
Everyone memorized it diligently, even though they knew they wouldn't need it.
After all, such high-level intelligence isn't something you hear about every day.
Klein thought to himself, "The Hermit knows a lot of details."
Then he thought that the "peeping to the secrets" path was a symbol of "knowledge," so it was not surprising that Odis learned such information from the "Lord of Mysteries."
Odis continued, "The three key points of the ceremony are: having one's own country; violating normal rules; and driving the people to build a mausoleum."
"George III was the King of Loen and the Emperor of the Rothschild Islands and East Bayron, which in itself met the requirements for a promotion."
"In recent years, some of the policies promulgated by Ruen have been clearly contrary to common sense."
"For example, the Grain Act, which appears to protect the country's food prices, actually bankrupted a large number of people in Ruen."
"Later, the selection of civil servants through examinations also violated the previous 'political inertia' rules."
"The subsequent introduction of the Kingdom Atmosphere Act was not due to the royal family and parliament being generous; it was a struggle for interests within the control of the royal family and the House of Lords."
"This series of policies has brought about tremendous changes in Ruen without anyone noticing."
Hearing this, everyone gradually became stunned. They never expected that all of Rune's policies in recent years were actually arrangements made by the king to promote the gods!
Klein thought to himself: I have the most say in the matter of the Kingdom Atmosphere Act, but their power struggle has cost me more than 10,000 pounds!
Audrey was particularly surprised and asked, "Mr. 'The Hermit,' the civil service exam—"
She was about to say that she was the one who initiated the civil service exam, but then she remembered that it was actually Mr. Fool's idea that prompted her to continue.
But then Audrey felt that Mr. "Patient" probably didn't support the king's ascension to godhood.
Because Mr. "World," who is his benefactor, seems to be investigating the conspiracies of the royal family and the king.
Klein realized this as well, and was wondering whether he should ask "The World" to explain, but Odis spoke first: "You don't think that the civil service examination system could be implemented so quickly without the king's and parliament's consent, do you?"
Audrey paused for a moment, then realized the crux of the matter. She smiled and said, "I've always felt that this was accomplished through my efforts, but actually, I didn't play a very significant role."
Klein breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "The Hermit is still as good at conversation as ever."
Odis continued to "Justice": "You introduced this system to the nobles, and after George III learned about it through the nobles, he thought it met his own needs, so under his promotion, this assessment system began to be implemented."
"You did play an important role; otherwise, given the ingrained mindset of these nobles, they wouldn't have thought of such a method."
"Don't feel guilty, because your original intention was good, but you were taken advantage of by the king."
Audrey breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Mr. 'Hermit'."
Odis smiled slightly, accepting the thanks without hesitation, and then said, "As for the third point,"
They instigated the people to build mausoleums.
"I remember that starting last year, the Hanged Man said that there were disappearances of indigenous tribes at sea and abnormal slave trade."
"In the case of Kapin, this human trafficker actually had the protection of an extraordinary person through the 'arbitrator' route."
The other members, except for Klein, were stunned. These were indeed cases from last year. No one had expected that these seemingly ordinary missing persons cases would be related to the King.
"Later I guessed that it must have been the royal family driving away the people who were building the mausoleum," Odis said. "As for why no one noticed this, the answer is in the news just released by 'The World'."
The other members thought for a moment and immediately understood that the "Hermit" was referring to what the "World" had said about "secretly sending people to excavate the ruins of the 'Blood Emperor'".
Then everyone had many more questions, especially Leonard, who didn't know anything about the "Blood Emperor" ruins. So he seemed to understand something, but also seemed to understand nothing at all.
Before anyone could ask any questions, Odis continued, "When we were trading information about the 'Blood Emperor' before, we talked about the ruins he built."
"During the era of the 'United Empire,' the 'Blood Emperor'—of course, he wasn't called the 'Blood Emperor' back then—with the help of Mr. 'Men,' Tudor secretly built nine mausoleums in preparation for becoming the 'Black Emperor.'"
Leonard opened his mouth. He had heard the "old man" mention it during the "United Empire" era, but he didn't expect the "Blood Emperor" to have such an experience.
To accommodate the newcomer, Odis briefly recounted some known information: "—Later, due to Solomon's resurrection, Thoth had to jump to a non-adjacent path."
"Because at that time, the capital of the 'United Empire' was in Backlund, and the secretly built mausoleum was also nearby, at least within the territory of Rune."
"Moreover, thanks to the help of 'Mr. Gate's' 'space magic' at the level of the Angel King, no one has been able to find those tombs after the fall of the Tudor Empire."
"It was not until modern times that the royal family found it and drove the people to modify it on the original basis."
Upon hearing Odis's words, Klein suddenly remembered: I seem to have been near one of the mausoleums before, the ancient building that Mr. Azik took me into at the end of last year when I was attacked by the meteorite summoned by "0-08".
Leonard had tried to interrupt the "Hermit" several times, but now he was speechless with astonishment: What? Solomon resurrected? With the help of "Mr. Gate"?
One question after another popped into his mind, leaving him unsure where to begin.
Odis continued, "The fact that no one noticed the royal family's alterations to those tombs shows that Mr. 'Door's' arrangements are still effective."
"Then a new question is, how did the Ruen royal family find those tombs? You know, Mr. 'Door's' arrangements even fooled the Seven Gods."
"Even if the royal family of Ruen has angels, and this method has a mystical connection to everything in their territory, it is virtually impossible to encounter all the tombs by chance."
Klein was taken aback. That was indeed the case. He suddenly realized that there must be a secret hidden behind this problem that he had overlooked.
The other members followed Odis's train of thought and realized that the whole situation could not be closed at this point.
Odis smiled and said, "Just recently, I suddenly thought of another key figure: Adam!"
R
Everyone was taken aback: How did this involve Adam?
Only Klein felt a sudden sense of enlightenment: That's right!
Odis continued to explain: "Adam also supported Tudor back then. Although he was not one of the five noble families of the Tudor Empire, he could be seen in many places."
"For example, he helped Tudor deal with the 'Red Angel' Medici, gaining the uniqueness of the 'Red Priest' pathway and all the Sequence 1 properties."
"For example, he helped Antigonus embrace uniqueness, causing this 'King of Angels' to also side with the Thudor Empire."
"Since Adam was so involved in the construction of the Tudor Empire, it is possible that he also participated in the secret construction of those nine mausoleums. Therefore, he knows the location of those mausoleums and how to enter them."
"So he told the Ruen royal family about this secret, and the Ruen royal family put those nine tombs to use again."
That makes sense, but a new problem has arisen.
"Justice" Audrey asked everyone's question: "Why did Adam do that?"
This plan could make George III a god, and allow the Loen royal family to produce a god-like king, thus becoming the strongest kingdom. But what would Adam gain?
Odis smiled and said, "This is a question I've only recently come to understand. Could this be a ritual for becoming a god?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized!
Klein thought to himself: How come I didn't think of that? The "audience" path to the true god's ascension ritual, under the influence of the true god, allows someone who would otherwise never have become a god to become a god, which sounds very reasonable.
Of course, he knew that the ritual of becoming a god was not that simple, but he felt that Odis's conjecture was just too reasonable.
Although everyone roughly understood the meaning of "hermit," Odis continued to explain: "In fact, this isn't the first time Adam has done this."
"According to some intelligence I have obtained, more than a hundred years ago, they supported Roselle the Great to become the 'Black Emperor'."
As for where the 'Black Emperor's' advanced characteristics come from, I've had some guesses.
"As we mentioned before, during the Fourth Epoch, it was the Night Emperor and the Blood Emperor who joined forces to destroy the Solomon Empire."
"Then the characteristics of the 'Black Emperor' Solomon could very well have become spoils of war for these two emperors."
"According to accurate intelligence I recently obtained, the 'Night Emperor' once possessed the uniqueness of the 'Black Emperor' pathway, as well as a Sequence 1 characteristic."
"So the 'Blood Emperor' most likely received two Sequence 1 traits. Later, when the Tudor Empire was destroyed, Adam probably took the opportunity to take these two traits."
"As for the uniqueness of the 'Black Emperor' pathway and the other Sequence 1 property, I'm not entirely sure how Adam obtained them."
Odis had already guessed that during the Fourth Age, the "Sage" had helped the "Night King" become one of the Old Ones.
Later, they failed, but the gods only divided up the unique and distinctive characteristics of the "Judge" path.
Could the uniqueness of the "Black Emperor" path and the Sequence 1 property be taken away by the "Sage"?
Since there seems to be some secret plan between the "Sage" and Adam, could it be that the uniqueness of the "Black Emperor" path and a Sequence 1 property were given to Adam?
This thought was fleeting, and Odis continued, "We all know that later, Emperor Roselle fell in the White Maple Palace, and the uniqueness of the 'Black Emperor' pathway and the Sequence 1 characteristic were obtained by someone, I don't know."
"But I have never heard of the Eternal Sun Church or the Steam Church, or any of the old nobles of Intis, having produced any Level 0 sealed artifacts through the 'Black Emperor' pathway."
"Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that the secrecy work was done well, but given the current situation, it is more likely that Adam somehow managed to recover the uniqueness of the 'Black Emperor' pathway and the Sequence 1 characteristic."
"Now those characteristics are being used on the Royal Family of Rune."
"I don't know the specific rituals of Adam's ascension to God, but it should have required a huge change in secular power."
Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that everything made sense now.
Klein lamented: "I should have discussed this with Odis earlier. No, if we discuss this with outsiders, we might attract Adam's attention."
The magnificent hall was silent for more than ten seconds before "Justice" Audrey said, "'The Hermit', I feel we should give you some compensation for the information."
Odis smiled and said, "No need for the intelligence fee. If I need your help in the future, you can repay these rewards by accepting missions."
Klein seemed to realize that Odis didn't seem to care much about the intelligence fee anymore, which made him sigh again: How can there be such a big difference between demigods?