Back to Reality

"From the moment Archbishop Anthony gave it to me until a few minutes ago, this rune wasn't on the mirror... Did it appear only after I'd spent some time inside the seal, outside Fourth Epoch Trier?"

Angel lightly stroked the smooth mirror, her brows drawn together in thought.

She wasn't so vain as to believe that a silver mirror Archbishop Anthony had found nothing wrong with would suddenly open up to her.

But the sight of it reminded Angel of the Living Sacrifices she had seen in a cave near Bansy Harbor and in a village basement on Sona Island. It reminded her of the two runes that could take her to different places and even throw time into disarray.

Then this rune might have a similar effect. It might let me make a new Charm that draws on the powers of the Demoness Pathway's upper ranks, or take me somewhere strange. And these runes can only be activated by my blood...

Angel's eyes lit up.

"No, 'somewhere strange' isn't quite right. Thinking back, they're all connected... The Strange Phenomenon at Bansy Harbor was tied to worship of the Weather God, probably stemming from legends of a Hunter Pathway Angel—a Sequence 2 Weather Warlock—from the early Fifth Epoch or even the Fourth Epoch. That sacrificial rune transported me to the Underground Catacombs beneath Trier. On my way back, I discovered the Night Pillars nearby, formed from the remains of Krismona, the Demoness of Catastrophe—a High Sequence Witch who was probably an Angel herself.

"The Demoness and Hunter Pathways can switch between each other during advancement. Could there be a deeper connection between them, with the sacrificial runes and Calamity Charms merely outward signs of it?

"And when the Betrayal Charm I found on Sona Island killed the King of the