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n728 Tracking

nLumian, Franca, and Jenna’s eyes widened as they caught sight of the strange golden lamp, making a bold conjecture.

nCould it be 0-05, the Magic Wishing Lamp?

nYes, the pumpkin carriage is one of Major Arcana Ma’am Hermit’s trademark symbols. She has close ties to Element Dawn’s leader—Emperor Roselle’s eldest daughter—and the current owner of 0-05, Bernadette. It isn’t outside the realm of possibility that she might have borrowed the Magic Wishing Lamp…

nAs these thoughts raced through their minds, they heard Anthony’s respectful greeting, “Good evening, Madam Magician, Madam Judgment.”

nSnapping out of their momentary trance, Lumian and the others quickly followed suit with their own greetings.

n“And this is Ma’am Hermit,” Magician added briefly.

nOnce the introductions were complete, the woman in the beige dress with a gold-embroidered high collar retrieved a bottle of dark-red wine from the void and said to Franca, “Hand over that cufflink. Once you do, you can all head home and get some rest.”

nConfronting the School of Truth’s Overseer was clearly a battle at the demigod level. It wasn’t something Lumian and company could get involved in.

nFranca had no intention of forcing the issue. She handed the glass-like cufflink to Madam Magician.

nIn exchange, Madam Magician gave her the wine bottle containing a faint dark-red liquid.

n“This is a mystical item that restores stamina and spirituality after drinking it. But remember, you can only have it once a day. Don’t go turning into a drunkard.”

nJust one more sip and you’ll become a drunkard? Franca and the others instantly understood the deeper meaning behind Madam Magician’s final warning.

nSeeing only a single sip of dark-red wine in the bottle, Franca turned to pass the old glass bottle to Lumian.

nHe had expended the most spirituality, after all.

nMadam Magician rubbed the Mirror Cufflink between her fingers, a smile playing on her lips.

n“Don’t worry. You won’t be able to finish it. It’s called Bottomless Wine.”

nI see… Franca still wanted to give it a shot. She unscrewed the thin metal cap and downed the light dark-red wine.

nAs the slightly astringent and sweet alcohol slid down her throat, she felt refreshed, as if she’d just had a good night’s sleep and hadn’t been in a fierce battle with Moran Avigny.

nAt the same time, she noticed dark-red liquid seeping from the bottom of the old glass bottle, forming a thin layer of wine.

nIt really is bottomless… Franca sighed, handing the old glass bottle to Lumian.

nBut just as she reached out, a sudden sense of unease struck her.

nActing on instinct, she changed course, intending to let Jenna drink first.

nYet upon further reflection, she realized something was even more off!

nBecause she still had to pass it to Lumian afterward!

nNever mind, never mind. No point getting caught up in trivial matters… Franca muttered in her native tongue.

nInstead, she circled her finger around the bottle and managed to form a thin layer of frost.

nAs the frost naturally fell away, Franca passed the Bottomless Wine to Jenna.

nJenna drank the dark-red wine, mimicked Franca’s actions, and then handed it to Lumian.

nFranca breathed a sigh of relief.

nLumian paid no mind to the Demonesses’ odd behavior. He was more concerned about the strange actions of Ma’am Hermit and Madam Magician.

nMa’am Hermit’s eyes, obscured by lenses, grew dark but remained unfocused, as if staring into a vast expanse. Countless brilliant specks of light appeared around her, as if she had shrunk the universe and brought it down to the ground.

nPerforming divination or prophecy before tackling important matters? Lumian took the old glass bottle and drank the dark-red wine.

nHis spirituality rapidly recovered, as if he’d experienced six in the morning.

nOf course, the portion of accumulated spirituality he had used didn’t “return.”

nPhew, Lumian’s anxiety over his spirituality deficiency had been alleviated.

nAfter Anthony drank the Bottomless Wine and returned the mystical item to Madam Magician, the Mirror Cufflink’s dark glow, mixed with starlight, flew out and landed on the Major Arcana card holder’s eye.

nMadam Magician sent Mirror Cufflink flying toward Franca while extending her hands, grasping the void, and pulling it apart on either side.

nWithout a sound, the void ripped open like a transparent membrane, revealing passageways formed by spiderwebs of emptiness and darkness.

nThis was a standard mirror world.

nMagician had opened an illusory door to the mirror world without using a mirror!

nIs this the advanced power of the Apprentice pathway? Lumian and company inwardly marveled. Madam Magician glanced at Ma’am Hermit beside her.

nThe Hermit, wearing a purple robe, held a vibrant, unreal ball of yarn in her right hand. She wound its thread around the peculiar golden lamp.

nThen, the Major Arcana card holder tossed the vivid and illusory ball of yarn through the illusory door Magician had opened, into the mirror world’s dark and ethereal tunnels.

nThe ball of yarn rolled into one of the passageways and quickly vanished into the depths, leaving only the thread connected to the golden lamp to mark its path.

nMagician immediately led The Hermit and Judgment into the mirror world, chasing the ball of yarn.

nAfter their figures disappeared from the mirror world, the forcibly torn void rapidly closed.

nFranca muttered again, “I think I’ve heard the story about a yarn ball before, but I can’t recall its name…”

nLumian turned his attention back to Moran Avigny’s corpse.

n“You want to bring him back for your godson to eat?” Franca said with contempt. “Let’s not even discuss whether Ludwig should be eating humans in the first place. A Mirror Person’s flesh will gradually turn back into mirror fragments. Do you really want Ludwig to be eating glass shards?”

nLumian shook his head.

n“I’m considering whether I should take Moran Avigny’s makeup mirror.”

n…

nAfter tracking the vibrant yarn for a while, the three Major Arcana card holders reached a country villa matching the mirror’s coordinates and spotted the target mirror on a desk.

nIt was also a makeup mirror.

nThey didn’t pause. They followed the ball of yarn and walked through the spirit world.

nIn a mere two to three seconds, they returned to reality and saw the vivid and illusory ball of yarn come to a halt in a dark cathedral lacking a deity’s statue.

nBeneath the cathedral’s dome, humans hung in the air, gently swaying in the wind.

nSome were old, some were young, and some were gentlemen wearing half top hats. Some were beautiful ladies in vintage dresses, some were tall and muscular like giants, and some were covered in wet, sticky scales resembling fish…

nWhat they all had in common was their firmly closed eyes, suspended by invisible ropes, looking like hanged corpses.

nIn the cathedral’s depths, a man in his thirties with average facial features and dark hair sat in a wooden black armchair. His aura and soul felt both familiar and unfamiliar to Magician.

nIt was familiar because she recognized Loki, the head of April Fool’s, who had been compelled to exhaust his resurrection times. It was unfamiliar because the other party had been stained with an odd sensation.

nAt that instant, a blurry female figure stood next to Loki, resembling a sketch. Her eyes were pitch-black, like a lake in the dim night.

nHe looked at Magician, The Hermit, and Judgment, a smile playing on his lips.

n“It’s all thanks to you that I found some hope of returning.”

nBefore Loki could finish his sentence, the suspended corpses’ eyes snapped open simultaneously.

nThose eyes were pitch-black.

n…

nIn the quarry cave with a fixed entrance to the mirror world.

n“Taking away Moran Avigny’s makeup mirror?” Jenna echoed Lumian’s words before a realization struck her. “Do you want to see if any other Mirror People will try to contact Moran Avigny before news of his mysterious disappearance spreads?”

n“Patience is a virtue,” Lumian replied with a smile.

nFor a Hunter, this was an essential quality.

nHe stooped down and retrieved the makeup mirror from Moran Avigny’s corpse’s pocket.

nAt that moment, the makeup mirror snapped open.

nIt opened on its own!

nDark light surged from the palm-sized glass mirror, instantly filling the dimly lit quarry cave.

nIn the next instant, Lumian, Franca, and the others saw a figure quickly take shape beside the fixed entrance to the mirror world on the protruding rock.

nIt was a stunning woman with black hair and brown eyes. She wore a bright red dress with layers of embroidery and lace, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin on her chest despite the cold winter. A friendly smile graced her face.

nPerle?

nThe renowned courtesan in Trier, Perle, the theater actress from the Loen Kingdom?

nLumian was shocked and at a loss. He hadn’t expected to encounter this flamboyant courtesan in such a setting.

nFranca, Jenna, and Anthony also found the situation surreal and hard to believe.

nAlmost simultaneously, Lumian recalled two key facts related to Perle.

nThe first time he had observed Moran Avigny, Perle had been on a date with her new lover in the hotel’s annex restaurant.

nAll courtesans were standard, textbook brokers—political brokers!

nCombining these two points, a guess formed in Lumian’s mind.

nCould Perle also be a member of the School of Truth?

nCould she be the Overseer that Jebus directly reported to, the bestowed of an evil god at the demigod level?

nIf that’s the case, where did Madam Magician and the others end up? Who were they tracking?

nFlee! We must flee immediately!

nAt that moment, Perle looked at Lumian and the others, a smile forming on her lips as she uttered the Words of Order.

n“Your crimes remain unpunished!”

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