Towards the return of Botis's Grade 0 Sealed Artifact or the restoration of its normal condition, The Hermit Cattleya and Justice Audrey had made a preliminary plan. After all, they weren't confident at killing a demigod in such a short period of time.
If not for the fact that Botis had fallen into a trap having suffered the lethal blows of "Mental Plague,""Sleeping Beauty," and "Frenzy" and putting him into a crazy and incoherent state, he actually had many opportunities to "Teleport" away without being stopped.
In that case, Cattleya and Audrey could only wait for Botis to return to a "safe house" and release Fors. Once the Eye of Mystery Prying provided them feedback, they could remotely create an opportunity for Miss Magician to summon the Historical Void projection.
At this moment, facing Botis, who was on the path towards losing control with no way to reverse it and his crazy attempt to fully activate Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, Cattleya and Audrey—one right in the middle of the scene and the other hiding outside the forest—simultaneously took the same action. They took out a translucent dark charm and recited a word in Jotun:
"Star!"
This was a "Teleportation" charm. Following the patterns, labels, and symbols of the "Record" on the Leymano's Travels, Klein had made a charm himself.
Since Sefirah Castle could mobilize the powers of the Marauder pathway, there was no reason not to respond to the pleas of the Apprentice domain!
As for the materials needed for the charms, be it Mysticologist Cattleya or Traveler Fors, the both of them had a certain level of understanding towards it. There was no need for Mr. Fool to teach them.
When the two of them "Teleported" away with the triggering of the charm—having plans to come back after a minute or two to confirm the situation—there was a cruel smile on Botis's face. His eyes were filled with madness as his actions suddenly stiffened.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open the third level of the Box of the Great Old Ones!
It was extremely heavy, as though it was enveloped and suppressed by layers of forces. There was no way to activate it.
This made Botis feel like he was attempting to open a new world, not a box.
In an instant, he sensed something, and the madness in his eyes disappeared. Extreme astonishment and fear arose in him.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Wisps of light slid down from Botis's body. When they touched the ground, they transformed into insects formed from resplendent starlight.
The insects' bodies were bent into a semi-circle, forming a magical glow that resembled illusory doors.
At this moment, his incomplete Mythical Creature form suddenly collapsed and disintegrated in an irresistible manner.
The two eyeballs of his eyes landed on the ground and were stained with dust.
These two eyeballs were frozen with an indescribable look of horror. They were maintained perfectly, completely different from the other parts of his body.
A Sequence 4 Secrets Sorcerer died just like that.
Pa!
The Box of the Great Old Ones, which had a silver-black surface with many gems embedded in it, dropped beside Botis's eyes, just like a jewelry box commonly seen in aristocratic families.
Above the gray fog, in the ancient palace, Klein heaved a sigh of relief as he lowered the Sea God Scepter in his hand in puzzlement.
He was just moments from activating the power of Sefirah Castle and using the level of an angel to conjure "Lightning Storm." He wanted to prevent Botis from opening the third level of the Box of the Great Old Ones, but the Saint of Secrets's mutually destructive counterattack had failed to succeed. He encountered an unexpected failure from the very beginning.
After Xio left the first battlefield, she immediately followed the plan and prayed to Mr. Fool. With this, Klein found an opportunity to enter the world above the gray fog. Through the crimson star corresponding to The Hermit and Justice, he monitored the battle.
As she moved to the second battlefield, Audrey found an opportunity to pray, so that Klein could use her crimson star to directly interfere with the real world.
This was also the reason why Audrey had arrived at her destination later than The Hermit Cattleya.
According to what Arrodes said, the third level of the Box of the Great Old Ones contains something very terrifying. I thought that the True Creator had given it to him in order to create a terrifying disaster at the critical moment, so as to showcase the true colors of an evil god. Who knew that it couldn't be opened... Klein glanced at the crimson star representing The Magician and discovered that it was covered in a layer of black ash. It seemed to have coagulated, making it impossible for him to see the scene inside to confirm Miss Magician's condition.
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation—evidence of how high a level and odd the Box of the Great Old Ones was.
As for "Sleeping Beauty" magic and the Spear of Longinus that he saw, he came up with some ideas.
After learning of the powers of Mystical Re-enactment at the private gathering, Klein overturned his speculations about the fairy tale magic that Bernadette had.
He had originally believed that the Emperor had specially created the stories for his daughter based on the fairy tales on Earth, or that after Bernadette's father passed away, she had deliberately reenacted the fairy tales he had told her about as a way to express her grief. From the looks of it, the answer likely wasn't this. Some of the fairy tales before the First Epoch might have been "mysterious."
This meant that those fairy tales originated from mysterious incidents that had happened in real life. They were spread among the people and gradually became stories. They were recorded down by writers and further embellished.
This corresponds to the prophecy regarding the time when the stars are right. Mystery and has never left and has always been around. It was just that in the "Earth Era" before the First Epoch, they were suppressed by some kind of power or sealed...
If that's really the case, some of the legends and stories on Earth can be explained from another angle... It's no wonder there's a Spear of Longinus... I wonder if the Chinese fable of the ethereal utopia, Peach Blossom Spring, is involved in mystery. I'll tell Ma'am Hermit later and see if she can create new magic according to this...
I wonder if Bernadette became a Mysticologist before the Emperor perished. If she did, it's hard to say if these fairy tale magics were created by the Emperor, a Sequence 1 Beyonder of the Mystery Pryer pathway, or by Queen Mystic Bernadette... But no matter what, the Emperor should have discovered that these fairy tales are also mysterious in his later years, and also that he could draw power from them. Well, there's no corresponding diary entry from Bernadette. I can't see the Emperor's reaction and his guesses...
One of the reasons he insisted on going to the moon is to verify certain things.
It's a pity that most of the myths are fake. There's no way to draw on their power. The novels of the Internet era are the same... Klein sighed slightly as he leaned back into his chair and continued paying attention to the battlefield.
In the collapsed forest, The Hermit Cattleya and Justice Audrey faced the abnormal changes suffered by Botis and tacitly gave up injecting their spirituality to use the charms.
Despite maintaining her "Dragon Transformation" state, Audrey was still hiding in the darkness outside the forest, wary of any accidents or official demigods who might have sensed the commotion and come to investigate.
As for The Hermit Cattleya, she was pushed to the spot where Botis had died by the wind. She carefully avoided the Box of the Great Old Ones.
Due to the fact that a Scribe could use many powers, a demigod-level Sealed Artifact would often have extremely negative effects. Apart from the Box of the Great Old Ones, Botis only left behind a black pocket which seemed to be part of his robe.
Also, there was also the gathered Beyonder characteristic, two eyeballs, and about ten Worms of Star. Most of the Worms of Star had been destroyed.
Considering the horror displayed by the Box of the Great Old Ones, as well as the fact that Botis was a high-ranking member of the Aurora Order and could be blessed by a god, Cattleya didn't rashly pick up the items. She was afraid that an accident would happen, causing the situation to develop negatively.
Previously, during the private gatherings, they had communicated with each other on how to handle such situations. That was, if they had the time and opportunity, they would first sacrifice the item to Mr. Fool and then distribute it above the gray fog. After all, many items might bring about unknown dangers if they were to come into contact with items with unknown negative effects. And there was a high probability that Botis had a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
Sometimes, merely knowing the existence of a Sealed Artifact of this level was enough to cause a sudden death.
According to what The Star Leonard had said, it was best not to come into contact with such Sealed Artifacts. It was best not to ask, describe, or pry into it. Only a true high-level existence could suppress them.
Without any hesitation, Cattleya took out silver candles and other ritual items from the various hidden pockets of her purple-patterned black robe. She then set up a simple sacrificial ritual.
During this process, she pinched her lips, whistled, and created an invisible servant helper. It took about ten seconds to set up the altar.
After quickly reciting Mr. Fool's honorific name and using spiritual materials to open the Door of Sacrifice and Bestowment, Cattleya heaved a sigh of relief. She got the invisible servant to move the Box of the Great Old Ones, the black pocket, two eyeballs, the gathered Beyonder characteristic, and the nine Worms of Star over to the altar.
With a whoosh, the items flew up and passed through the illusory door.
When Cattleya saw this, she immediately pinched her lower lip with her thumb and index finger, preparing to whistle once again to dispel the invisible servant.
But amidst the whistling, the "servant" remained motionless, as though it had nothing to do with Cattleya.
The Hermit Cattleya's eyelids twitched as she clenched her right hand into a fist and pushed it to her mouth, preparing to use the Horn of Magic.
At that moment, a blazing silvery-white appeared out of nowhere at the altar. Layers of bolts of lightning formed a destructive storm that enveloped the invisible servant in the middle.
All of this quickly calmed down as the mutated servant was completely destroyed.
Cattleya exhaled and lowered her head, sincerely thanking Mr. Fool.
Then, she followed the ritual's ending procedure and packed her belongings. She used the "Snow White" magic, which was closer to a prophecy technique, to clear the scene of its traces.
And at this moment, Audrey had already used the Teleportation charm from before and left the scene.
Cattleya looked around, and considering that Mr. Fool might need something more ritualistic, she took out a card from her pocket and threw it in the middle of the collapsing forest.
The card was half inserted into the soil, revealing the image of an old man holding a glass lamp and staff as he explored alone: The Hermit of the tarot cards.
