Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

Finishing the last stroke, Anthony sighed in relief, confirming he still lived.

Though unsure if Amon's incarnation--Monette's drawn form--could help turn the tables and find a way out of the mirror world, he had obeyed his partner's orders and done his part.

Almost at once, Anthony saw the corners of Monette's sketched mouth turn up, eyes appearing to come to life.

But the curling paper and translucent flames stirred once more.

In an instant, the drawing of Monette condensed into a ball, devoured by clear flames and absorbed into the dim Bottle of Fiction.

Wh-- Had it failed? Anthony's heart squeezed tight again.

Even a disciplined Hypnotist found it hard to stay calm in the face of this.

Right then, Overseer Perle, still next to the jutting rock, pulled her right hand from the Under the Table bag of coins.

The transaction was made; Lumian's group would teeter on the edge of sleep!

Perle looked back at her target. Lumian stood firm, wearing a gold mask painted black and white. His aura was gone, body radiating an icy breath of death.

But Lumian's now blue eyes stayed open.

As an Overseer, Perle knew something was wrong.

About to act, a thick darkness swallowed her, snuffing out the carbide lamp.

Perle's eyes shut as she swayed unsteadily.

She fell asleep.

Somehow, the sleep effect meant for Lumian's team had hit her instead, leaving them untouched.

Seeing this, Lumian felt shock, then immense joy.

He sensed a strange power pulsing from the Bottle of Fiction he had made with his body.

Did it work?

Had Anthony done it?

As expected, the entity's prior actions sought to help His father.

And His father is on our side against heretics!

Lumian quickly deactivated the Bottle of Fiction, ready to teleport to the sleeping Perle. He would get Moran Avigny's mirror and try to escape through the mirror world's set entrance.

If he could just get out, he could find help to make Perle leave.

Just then, Perle's coin bag and Moran Avigny's mirror fell to the ground.

Smack!

Moran Avigny's mirror broke, cracking the entire mirror world barrier. Perle, driven by flaming ambition, woke up with a start.

As Lumian's hopes sank, a shadow raced out of the shattered mirror.

It combined with strewn bits of flesh and blood, instantly reforming into Mr. K in his black robe.

When the mirror world took damage, the Aurora Order Oracle felt his finger and teleported on instinct, turning to shadow to slip through the cracks.

...

In the dark cathedral in an unknown location, Magician Blinked over and over, unable to shake off the flood of random information.

As she Blinked, starlight filled her eyes, solidifying into a weird, ancient stone wall clock.

Clang!

Grand, majestic chimes echoed in every nook of the cathedral.

An old, mottled phantom appeared in the air--a stone wall clock split into twelve sections, each crossing grayish-white or bluish-black symbols.

Clang!

The chimes carried an unspeakable, invisible torrent through long ages past, freezing all present.

The horrifying torrent of information froze. Hermit, changed into an incomplete Mythical Creature, stopped cold. Judgment, floating over the cathedral, turned to a statue.

Loki's hand, reaching into the void, also paused, failing to pull out a silhouette.

In this frozen state, the starlight in Magician's eyes changed again.

Countless complex mercury symbols appeared, quickly joining into a huge, unreal, scaleless serpent.

The silver-white giant snake, layered with dense patterns and symbols, made connected cylinders with different markings.

The next second, the mercury serpent bent to bite its tail before it began slowly turning.

The massive torrent of information started to reverse, going back the way it came until it turned back into the woman in the black dress with the gold crown.

The black-dressed woman faded, becoming a ghost and a floating, oddly captivating tarot card. In the end, both went back to the void and disappeared.

Fallen rocks flew back to Hermit's body, turning back to eyes or pure white. Hermit quickly lost her terrifying look that would make anyone go mad.

Judgment returned to the surface, going back past the "door" as the mystery-weakening limit faded.

Loki drew back his hand, settling into the pitch-black wooden chair.

…

In the fractured special mirror world, Overseer Perle saw the hooded, black-robed Mr. K and his many sins upon waking up.

Oddly, the criminal who had done worse things than Lumian only had a small gray spot.

This suggested that finishing an Under the Table transaction with Mr. K would be hard, as if it needed certain conditions.

It seems to come from extreme devotion. All Under the Table transactions can only keep going with the permission of the one he has faith in… As Perle's mind raced, she glared at Mr. K and said with the Words of Order, "You stand guilty! You murdered someone!"

The space over Mr. K went dark at once as something awful took shape.

Having heard Lumian talk about Jebus's powers, he knew a deadly punishment was coming. He quickly changed his Grazing target, using Devil Transformation and Rose Bishop's flesh and blood magic to endure the unknown attack.

But in a flash, the growing penalties vanished, as if going to an unknown place.

The scary pressure, like thick smoke, blew away in fierce winds.

Mr. K was stunned for a moment before exploding in crazed laughter.

"Haha! Hahaha!

"I'm guilty, but the Lord carries my sins!"

"I'm innocent. I'm innocent to this world!"

Amid the laughter, Mr. K changed Grazing targets. Layers of unreal doors showed up in his eyes.

Many doors to different places came together, turning into ghostly books.

The book materialized in front of Mr. K, pages flipping fast.

"I came, I saw, I recorded."

As the ethereal voice rang out, the illusory book stopped on a page.

In an instant, Mr. K turned into a two- to three-meter-tall half-giant in cold black armor, holding a pitch-black sword.

He sprinted towards the Overseer.

"Praise you!" Mr. K roared, slicing down with the Sword of Darkness.

Perle's face went grim, seeing the prosecution had no effect on Mr. K.

Of course, as a demigod, though caught off guard, she knew what to do.

Amid Mr. K's wild laughter, she stressed with the Words of Order, "An Overseer is protected!"

The black-armored half-giant used all his might, slashing at Perle's head with the dark broadsword, but an unseen barrier blocked it.

The barrier cracked. Mr. K's body quietly fell apart. A clean cut took off his right arm and shoulder, dropping them to the ground.

Though Mr. K used recorded demigod powers and had a bit of godhood, he still faced punishment for attacking a "clearly" protected Overseer.

This was a freshly done crime, not yet borne!

The flesh on Mr. K's shoulder writhed, as if a new arm would grow. But he ignored it. His left hand grabbed the falling dark sword, yelling again, "Praise you for creating everything!"

As the rough voice echoed, the dark broadsword slashed at Overseer Perle.

With Perle's former protection, the dropped coin bag floated back to her hand.

She quickly made an Under the Table deal aimed at everyone there.

Crack!

As the dark broadsword swung, the unseen barrier guarding the Overseer fully shattered.

Mr. K's left arm came off his body, showing a huge cut.

In the cut, blood-colored flesh tendrils grew fast, as if alive, as if a new Mr. K would emerge.

Overseer Perle wasn't happy. Based on the Under the Table deal, Mr. K, Lumian, and the rest should have gotten much weaker.

But in truth, nothing changed!

Could it be that I'm unlucky? The person who made the deal was a fraud who never meant to keep their end? Perle's heart sank as she couldn't move for some reason.

Then she saw the armless Mr. K bow in an exaggerated way.

The Aurora Order Oracle's mouth opened as wide as it could, corners going to his ears. Blood churned where it tore, flesh tendrils thickly covering the spot.

Using his stretched mouth, the black-armored Mr. K bit the dark sword's handle.

He jumped high, voice ringing from his chest.

"Praise you for bearing the world's sins!"

Amid hoarse yells, Mr. K fell, a straight dark sword using himself as the grip, slashing at Overseer Perle.