Lord of the Mysteries

The Rorsted Archipelago was the Loen Kingdom’s governing branch in the central areas of the Sonia Sea. Similarly, it was a key diocese of the Church of Storms. It had a high-ranking deacon, who was part of the Council of Cardinals, permanently stationed here.

Of course, even a pirate at the level of admiral might not be able to stir such a powerful figure into action, much less when it dealt with a second mate and boatswain. As a result, it was left to Deacon Cordoba Roye who happily accepted the order and led two Mandated Punisher teams to activate Sealed Artifacts 2-37 and 2-166. They lay in ambush at a distance from 15 Amyris Avenue in order to be absolutely safe.

From Cordoba Roye’s perspective, a team of Mandated Punishers with two Sealed Artifacts was enough to deal with the group of pirates consisting of Steel and Blazing Danitz, but the latter’s intention of keeping an eye of his pursuers’ whereabouts caused him to worry. Instinctively, he felt that there was a problem, so he called for an additional team of Mandated Punishers.

Actually, just having 2-37 is sufficient… While they waited, Cordoba Roye suddenly sighed.

In his opinion, this Sealed Artifact would be the nightmare of Steel, Blazing, and company.

He closed his eyes and the corresponding information appeared in his mind.

“Number: 37.

“Name: Dream of Eternity.

“Danger Grade: 2. Dangerous. It has to be used with care and moderation. It can only be applied for operations that require three or more people, a deacon, or diocese bishop.

“Security classification: Bishop, Team Captain, and above.

“Sealing Method: Place in boiling water.

“Description: It has the appearance of a heart. It’s black in color, feels ice-cold to the touch, and is filled with holes, often making a sound like a flute.

“This item originates from a primitive tribe in West Balam of the Southern Continent. They have spirit warlocks as their leaders and are nocturnal.

“A Loen army company conquered the tribe, received the object they revered on the altar, and in the week that followed, there were cases of soldiers acting abnormally, going mad, committing suicide, and so on.

“Research shows that as long as one comes into contact with this item, they will enter a long dream. If not woken up by someone else, one will forever remain in that illusory world. On the surface, they would appear frustrated, fearful, and confused. One’s mental and biological states will gradually change.

“The researchers who were awakened were still unable to tell the difference between reality and dreams for a long time, which led to a series of tragic events, including, but not limited to, expressing love to their superiors, kissing the mouth of a venomous snake, suffering from depression, undressing and running naked, and attempting to bathe in boiling water… If they weren’t transferred to another city, the only possible outcomes would be madness and suicide.

“This item can be used, causing all creatures within the target’s surroundings to fall into the same dream… The user can choose the target to a certain extent and excluded companions… The effective radius is a maximum of fifty meters. Beyond that would burden the user tremendously, dealing severe mental damage… The user will enter a state of being unable to distinguish reality from dreams after the matter, and will have to leave the city where 2-37 is located for any chance of recovery.

“Many examples (see Appendix) show that even without contact, this item can affect the surrounding population greatly unless it’s placed in boiling water…

“Appendix: 1. It is similar to the effects of a Nightmare from the Evernight pathway, but it’s more prominent and uncontrollable.

“2. Example 1: A Keeper once forgot to add charcoal, causing the fire to go out and the temperature of the boiling water to drop. He soon had an abnormal reaction, and he was suspected to be dreaming of a beloved girl of his. He began to make a passionate confession to his glove, and tried to engage in relation beyond that of friendship with it;

“Example 2…”

As his thoughts churned, Cordoba Roye suddenly saw Blazing Danitz, the Golden Dream’s fourth boatswain, come to this point of contact to collect information.

He gestured with his hand, signaling the Mandated Punishers to open the golden box engraved with numerous symbols and magic labels before taking out Sealed Artifact 2-37 which was soaked in boiling water.

The golden box contained another Sealed Artifact, 2-166.

It could maintain the original temperatures of the objects inside, and to a certain extent, it could change the weather, producing Sun Holy Water rain.

Of course, it also had very negative effects; otherwise, the Mandated Punishers would’ve long used it to seal 2-37 instead of using it as a temporary trick. The most unacceptable negative effect was that no matter what object remained in prolonged contact with it, it would become infected with the characteristics of life, and it would also piously believe in the Eternal Blazing Sun. Within the Mandated Punishers, a table had already appeared that sang praises of the Eternal Blazing Sun every day, and there was a candle that wished to light itself every second to purify everything.

In response, the irascible Mandated Punishers had turned the table into a pile of firewood, and they had lit it using the aforementioned candle.

Seeing figures appear one by one and dashing towards 15 Amyris Avenue, Cordoba Roye didn’t hesitate to press his right hand down, ordering the team member beside him to activate Sealed Artifact 2-37.

An illusory fish scale immediately appeared on the surface of that member’s palm, and he directly grabbed the Sealed Artifact that resembled a pitch-black heart, out of the boiling water.

The melodious sound of a flute rang out, and dense darkness enveloped the house at 15 Amyris Avenue.

The scene before Adventurer John Smith remained the same. It was still the bare, unfurnished living room and the black-cloaked Blazing Danitz. He didn’t appear like he was in a dream.

They ran over with all their might, fired, and used their own abilities to successfully injure Blazing and capture the famous pirate who had a bounty of 3,000 pounds and was involved with the Key to Death.

However, in the real world, they were sitting with their legs up, or swimming with their arms outstretched, or using their fingers as guns, with their mouths making shooting sounds.

“Move out!” Cordoba Roye left his hiding place and rushed to the house at 15 Amyris Avenue. The other Mandated Punisher team members were divided into two groups and began encircling the house from different positions.

Before Cordoba arrived, the living room was already brightly lit, as if the sun was rising. Holy pure water dripped down like rain. It none other than Sealed Artifact 2-166 being put to use.

At a distance away, the Flying Carpet floated silently in the darkness. As soon as Steel Maveti and the others saw the Mandated Punishers appear, they immediately understood that this was indeed a trap set by Blazing Danitz.

“This son of a b*tch, he actually defected to the Church of Storms!” Maveti growled as mania flashed in his eyes.

Blood Brambles Hendry looked at Calm Squall and sincerely praised him, “Fortunately, we weren’t careless.”

“In fact, I didn’t expect a foolish donkey like Blazing Danitz to cooperate with the Church of Storms,” Squall said calmly. “Perhaps, the injured him was already captured by the Mandated Punishers, and he had no choice but to cooperate with them.”

Just as they were about to leave, they saw something protruding from the shadows outside the house at 15 Amyris Avenue. Something was sticking to the ground and quickly moving away.

“Blazing!” Steel Maveti recalled the scenes of his failed ambush.

“Danitz!” Hendry also recognized the man who had tried to escape with his magical powers.

Squall was taken aback for a moment before coming to a realization.

“Either Blazing Danitz wishes to use this opportunity to escape the Mandated Punisher’s control, or he has other traps to use against us; however, for some reason, the Mandated Punishers were attracted, so he had no choice but to give up and flee.”

“Regardless, this is an opportunity!” Blood Brambles Hendry glanced at the Mandated Punishers who had stormed the house. “As long as we seize this minute, we’ll be able to kill and take away Blazing under the noses of the Mandated Punishers!”

Steel Maveti’s hopes were momentarily raised as his eyes revealed an abnormal look of mania.

After Squall nodded, he said to the other two Beyonders, “Take my zombies and puppets and guard this position. Once the Mandated Punishers are here, use them to create chaos and take the opportunity to escape!”

“Yes, Boss.” The two Beyonder pirates jumped off the Flying Carpet at the same time with the zombies and puppets.

The peacock-blue carpet made a turn and shot ahead of Blazing.

“Provide us support. Mainly be on guard against the surroundings. I’m worried that Danitz has other helpers,” Squall seized the moment and said to the Blood Brambles Hendry.

A smile appeared on Hendry’s pale face.

“Alright!”

Without saying anything else, Squall nodded at Steel Maveti.

Relying on his advantage from being high in the sky, Maveti was able to distinguish the mostly normal shadows, determining the direction of the target.

He suddenly jumped off the Flying Carpet and landed heavily on the ground like a giant boulder. White frost condensed under his feet as a layer of cold and transparent ice quickly spread to the side.

The black shadow was immediately frozen in the corner!

With a crack, Blazing Danitz struggled to break free, “growing” out of the shadows.

On the Flying Carpet, Hendry showed their good teamwork by dropping what he had long held in his hand. They were green leaves, flowers, and brambles.

The leaves, petals, and brambles wildly grew in size or joined together, ensnaring Blazing Danitz, making him immobile.

Squall took the opportunity to jump off the Flying Carpet and thrust a sharp scalpel in his right palm towards Danitz’s neck.

Splat!

He held onto the handle of the scalpel with his right hand and circled around to the back of the target.

Danitz’s head fell off and his body quickly shrank, turning into a thin, tattered paper figurine.

At the same time, Steel Maveti felt an indescribable sense of hunger bearing down on him. It was like a terrifying monster hidden in the darkness, quietly watching him.

No, it’s not Blazing! Just as this thought flashed through his mind, an extremely compressed, incandescent fireball flew over from one of the rooftops, smashing towards his body.

Steel Maveti only made one movement, and that was to raise his arm in front of his body.

Boom!

The flames exploded and a shockwave radiated in all directions, blocking Squall’s and Hendry’s line of sight. However, they weren’t flustered at all, as they had the utmost confidence in Steel.

Sure enough, Maveti only suffered from having his clothes torn and his skin covered in white marks. Apart from that, he hadn’t suffered any injuries at all.

But at that moment, he suddenly saw a figure walking out of the roiling flames in the sky. It was clearly a black cloak belonging to Blazing Danitz, but it had neatly combed black hair, dark, emotionless eyes, and a thin, cold face.

The Danitz from before had always been Faceless Klein, Gehrman Sparrow, who had always been prepared for the hunt!