Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

In the depths of the shadowy cathedral, Loki conjured a figure out of thin air. The scene unfolding beside him was vividly reflected in the eyes of the Major Arcana card holders: Magician, Judgment, and Hermit.

On the wall of aqueous-black stone bricks, a painting depicted a woman in a bright red dress adorned with intricate embroidery and lace. Her black hair was styled in an elegant high bun, and her face bore a mysterious, frozen smile. Her brown eyes seemed transfixed on the vivid, illusory ball of yarn before the Hermit and the peculiar golden lamp connected to its other end.

The woman remained within the mural, silently observing the scene.

At the same time, the mature lady with a golden crown, exuding the allure of a Demoness, was pulled from the air by Loki. She turned her piercing blue eyes towards the Hermit, who had just entered the cathedral's depths through the starlight door.

As her long, chestnut hair billowed, each strand thickening, she too seemed fixated on the Hermit.

Prophesying a grim future, the Hermit quickly shielded herself with the Magic Wishing Lamp.

Then, arching her back slightly, she sprouted pure white, illusory feathers reminiscent of a swan's.

Fairytale magic, Ugly Duckling!

Even an ugly duckling could transform into a swan!

This power allowed Saints who had not yet reached the Angel level to reveal their incomplete Mythical Creature forms.

The pristine swan feathers abruptly turned a grayish-white and hardened into falling rocks. The Hermit's exposed skin split open, revealing grotesque, sinister crevices.

Within the crevices, flesh and blood writhed, giving rise to black and white eyeballs.

The eyeballs petrified and fell away, only to be replaced by new ones. Yet, the Magic Wishing Lamp before the Hermit remained untouched.

The black-clad empress's body suddenly became ethereal, her form dissipating into a torrent of knowledge that surged towards Magician, dressed in white with golden embroidery.

Magician appeared beside Loki in an instant, but a deluge of information immediately emerged from the void behind her.

Vanishing, the Magician reappeared "simultaneously" in nine different locations throughout the cathedral, her form flickering incessantly.

Upon realizing that their target was the woman in the wall painting, she attempted to escape the shadowy cathedral by force, but each effort led her back to where she began.

The black-clad empress's incarnation continued to pour forth information from behind the Magician's nine figures, seeking to infiltrate the target's mind and denying her the time to tear through the void.

Smiling, Loki rose from the black wooden armchair and reached into the void with his right hand, as if grasping someone's arm once more.

Seizing the moment, Judgment reached the cathedral's dome and pressed down with her right palm, like chaos descending from the heavens to the earth.

In ancient Hermes, she solemnly declared, "Mystery weakens here, while reality grows stronger!"

…

As the silver Pride Armor raced towards Overseer Perle, Franca activated the Seven-Stone Bracelet on her left wrist.

The crimson, blood-like gem on the bracelet, adorned with three diamonds and four uniquely colored gems, burned with a fierce light.

In a flash, Franca appeared behind the Demoness of Black.

She refrained from joining the Pride Armor in confronting Overseer Perle, having learned from Lumian's encounter that their attacks would have no effect on the Overseer and only invite proportional punishment.

Instead, she resolved to eliminate the Demoness of Black, a Punisher lacking godhood and exhibiting rigidity. The Demoness was merely equivalent to a stronger Sequence 5 Beyonder, making it possible for Franca to deal with her.

As for Overseer Perle, the outcome depended on the changes and effects brought about by the Pride Armor, a Sealed Artifact devoid of "sin" and pragmatic intelligence.

Materializing, Franca raised her left hand, already adorned with the Ring of Punishment.

In her lake-blue eyes, two bolts of lightning suddenly ignited and shot forth.

Crack!

The Demoness of Black's figure shattered into countless fragments.

Dammit! Mirror Substitution is such a nuisance! Franca couldn't help but curse inwardly.

At that instant, Lumian had just endured the punishment for attempting to escape, the flesh cloak transformed from Mr. K's finger shattering and splattering on the ground.

He watched as the silver-white Pride Armor rushed to Overseer Perle's side, raising a broadsword forged from pure light.

Perle maintained her friendly smile, undaunted by the imposing presence of the massive, heavy armor.

An Overseer was impervious to attacks from those lacking godhood!

This was the sacred significance of overseeing.

As for daring to strike an Overseer lifeform, the consequences would be dire!

Perle could already envision the armor-like Sealed Artifact turning on the Demoness who had summoned it in the next moment.

As the Overseer contemplated this, the silver-white Pride Armor swung the Sword of Dawn in its grasp.

It remained unaffected!

Perle's pupils dilated as her figure in the bright red dress transformed into a pitch-black shadow.

The broadsword of light descended, cleaving the shadow in two.

The divided shadows took form, replicating multiple similar shadows that scattered in all directions.

The Pride Armor genuflected and drove the Sword of Dawn into the ground.

The broadsword shattered, unleashing countless sharp fragments of light that swept across the area.

The entire quarry cave was bathed in illumination. To Franca's surprise, the Demoness of Black, whose outline had been visible nearby, rapidly faded and vanished.

Likewise, Jenna and Anthony, who had been cornered by the clergyman of the Eternal Blazing Sun Church and the Trier police incarnations, found themselves no longer under attack or pursuit.

Bewildered, they observed as the Punishers, who had exerted immense pressure upon them, melted away like frost under the sun's rays.

Lumian was astonished by the Pride Armor's performance.

He had harbored little faith in the Sealed Artifact's ability to challenge Overseer Perle. Yet, to his pleasant surprise, it had exceeded his expectations!

Furthermore, he had noticed several peculiar details since Perle's arrival.

The Overseer's feet had not shifted an inch!

She stood beside a protruding rock with a fixed entrance to the mirror world, never pursuing or approaching. Instead, she exerted her influence upon them from a distance.

Could this be an inherent trait of an Overseer? Might the Pride Armor's capacity to strike her stem from the abhorrence and hatred imbued within it by a deity before His demise? Were only attacks infused with godhood or a corresponding level of corruption capable of harming an Overseer? Lumian frowned, pondering these possibilities.

Snapping out of her daze, Franca shouted to him, "Moran Avigny's makeup mirror!"

She knew that the Pride Armor could not so easily vanquish Overseer Perle. They had to seize this fleeting, uninterrupted window to escape the extraordinary mirror world.

Before Overseer Perle's appearance, the dark light emanating from Moran Avigny's makeup mirror had led Franca to suspect it might be the exit!

Franca trusted that Lumian grasped the full import of her concise words and refrained from elaborating further. The blue gem on her Seven-Stone Bracelet emitted a sea-like glow.

In an instant, she materialized beside Jenna, grasping her arm.

A diamond on the Seven-Stone Bracelet illuminated.

Teleport!

Franca and Jenna teleported to Moran Avigny's corpse and the nearby makeup mirror.

Meanwhile, Lumian readily understood Franca's message.

He activated the black mark on his right shoulder and teleported to Anthony's side. Without hesitation, he grabbed his teammate's arm and teleported once more.

Their destination: Moran Avigny's already open makeup mirror!

However, upon appearing near Moran Avigny's corpse, Franca and Lumian were stunned to discover that the makeup mirror had become illusory and unreal, as if it were a mere projection of the original item.

At that moment, they heard Overseer Perle's voice once again.

"You stand guilty! You have harmed an Overseer!"

As her voice echoed, the silver-white full-body armor ascended, and the void behind it ruptured into darkness.

Propelled by an unseen force, the Pride Armor plummeted into a centipede-like crack resembling a void scar, falling into a pitch-black abyss that extended as far as the eye could see. It vanished entirely from Lumian and his companions' sight.

Judgment: Exile!

Fragmented shadows swiftly converged beside the protruding rock with the fixed entrance to the mirror world. Overseer Perle, garbed in her red dress, reappeared.

Holding a makeup mirror in her hand, she smiled and said, "Did you believe I would leave the exit intact? I replaced it with a counterfeit long ago!"

Lumian, Franca, Jenna, and Anthony's expressions shifted slightly.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Lumian, already grasping Anthony's arm, swiftly activated the black mark on his right shoulder.

He and Anthony vanished in an instant beside Moran Avigny's corpse.

Franca made a similar effort, causing the emerald in her Seven-Stone Bracelet to emit a transparent green light.

However, just as she Blinked with Jenna to a corner of the quarry cave, Perle's Words of Order resounded in her ears.

"You stand guilty! You attacked an Overseer!"

Franca was the one who had unleashed the Pride Armor!

As Franca prepared to use the Seven-Stone Bracelet to depart her current location, she suddenly witnessed the surrounding void freeze and transform into layers of amber, encasing her and Jenna within.

This was a "cage" from which even teleportation could not provide escape.

It encompassed the entire area, and even if Franca and Jenna attempted to employ Mirror Substitution, they would remain confined within its boundaries.

Judgment: Confinement!

Overseer Perle averted her gaze, searching for Lumian and Anthony.

She surveyed the surroundings but found no trace of the two.