An illusory sigh

The Hanged Man granted Lumian's request and told him to contact him through the Magician.

After expressing their gratitude, Lumian and Franca left the Captain's Cabin and, along the narrow passageway that could only accommodate three people side by side, stepped on the creaking Wooden Planks, returning to the deck in the dim light of the torches.

They noticed that the Ghost Ship, named "Blue Avenger," wasn't just Alger the Storm Messenger. At the stern, on the outer side of the Cabin, and inside the mast lookout tower, there were a dozen or so Sailor hiding in the shadows, not trying to get any closer.

The next second, Lumian and Franca simultaneously saw a dazzling Stars hanging in front of them, tinged with an eerie blue, as if it had just emerged from the Spirit World.

The Stars grew larger and larger, as if it had descended to Earth in an instant, its light spreading out and engulfing everything around it.

Lumian and Franca were enveloped in starlight in the blink of an eye, and when their vision returned, they were back in Room 207, Golden Rooster Inn.

"It's so, so gorgeous!" Franca exclaimed sincerely, her face full of longing.

She hated that her only option for changing her Pathway was to become a "Hunter," unable to experience the carefree life of the "Apprentice," and could only consider getting a Sealed Artifact with similar abilities in the future.

Lumian did not agree with Franca; he stood there, lost in thought.

Franca glanced at him, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't you think this is a little strange?"

"Raising 100,000 Felkine should be a very simple matter for a treasure Hunter with the strength of Pirate King, and those three questions shouldn't take too long to think about. But Mr. ' The Hanged Man ' took so many days to ask you to summon ' Armored Wraith,' and that was after he had already arrived in Trier."

"Furthermore, given the abilities Lady. ' The Magician ' has demonstrated, she could easily have sent us out to sea, inside the ' Blue Avenger,' and then brought us back. Why wait until Mr. ' The Hanged Man ' arrived in Trier to do so?"

Lumian laughed and praised Franca:

"You were very perceptive this time. It seems I need to use my brain more; always leaving it idle makes me seem less intelligent."

"Damn, are you praising me or insulting me?" Franca spat, frowning slightly. "Either Mr. ' The Hanged Man ' was in a special environment recently and couldn't be accurately located, or he has other purposes for coming to Trier..."

At this point, Lumian and Franca simultaneously recalled the impending Calamity, sensing the oppressive and terrifying atmosphere of a storm looming over the city.

"Is the ' Tarot Club ' sending more Major Arcana to Trier? In order to protect as many citizens as possible if the Calamity cannot be prevented?" Franca guessed.

Lumian nodded slightly, offering no rebuttal.

After a moment of silence, Franca changed the subject, shouting energetically, "I want to become Half-God! I want to amass gold!"

Seeing Lumian raise an eyebrow, indicating a question with her eyes, Franca said with longing and desire, "That way I can have the book directly let you summon ' Armored Wraith ' and ask me the questions I want to ask, without needing the Major Arcana for protection!"

"Keep it up, Miss Pleasure," Lumian joked.

The next day, around noon.

Lumian, returning from Springwater Street, led Jenna into the Underground, arriving at the Third Layer of the Catacombs, where they reached a Small Square with two Sacrificial Pillar standing tall.

"Why did you bring me here?" Jenna asked, looking puzzled.

If she hadn't known Lumian so well and what kind of person he was, she would have suspected that her friend had suddenly harbored malicious intentions.

Lumian, with a black shoulder bag slung across his shoulder and hands in his pockets, stood ramrod straight and said with a smile, "I'm giving you the safest environment for your promotion."

Combining Franca's account with the fragmented words of the "Magician" Lady, Lumian knew that the "Assassin" Pathway's Sequence 0, That One True God worshipped by the Witch Sect, was originally a man transformed into Women, with a very Distortion mind.

It is said that this "Primordial Witch" is trapped in her own Pain and wants to replicate her fate generation after generation. Therefore, she deeply hates normal Women becoming "Witch," and her Witch Sect hunts down Women "Assassin," Women "Instigator," and true "Witch."

In this situation, Jenna might be affected by taking the "Witch" Potion. After all, even the "Hidden Sage," who occupies the Sequence 0 position, can indiscriminately affect every Beyonder on the "Mystery Pryer" Pathway, whispering to them from time to time and imparting knowledge when they take Potion to advance. So there's no reason why the real Evil God, the "Primordial Witch," wouldn't be able to affect the "Witch" at all.

While the effect shouldn't be too strong at lower Sequence — Aurora was able to advance to Sequence 7 and become a "Warlock" under the constant whispers and indoctrination of the "Hidden Sage"—it's always better to be cautious than careless. Since there are ways to reduce or weaken similar effects, why not do it?

It's important to understand that "Witch" is the first qualitative turning point in the "Assassin" Pathway, and even the starting point of the core "Witch". The "Primordial Witch" who only wants to see men change gender is likely to pay more attention to those who advance in this Sequence. Neither Franca nor Lumian wants Jenna to take any risks.

Of course, the "Magician" Lady occasionally mentioned that this Evil God wasn't in very good shape.

"The safest?" Jenna looked around, not entirely convinced.

How can it be considered safe when surrounded by darkness and corpses?

Only the area around those two weathered Stone Pillars felt warm and calming.

Lumian briefly explained the special nature of this Sacrificial Plaza, and concluded by saying, "The pinnacle of the ' Assassin ' Pathway is an Evil God. No one knows if He might suddenly go mad. And Deity of the same Pathway have the ability to exert a certain influence when Beyonder take Potion to advance. It's a matter of human intervention, no, a divine intervention to increase the difficulty."

"This can significantly weaken that connection."

Jenna listened attentively, then walked to the weathered Stone Pillars engraved with the "Sun Sacred Emblem," spread her arms slightly, and began to pray.

Seeing that she didn't ask why Franca wasn't affected back then, and that this matter hadn't been mentioned when they discussed precautions earlier, Lumian raised her right hand, touched her chin, and clicked her tongue inwardly.

"Praise the Sun!" At the end of her prayer, Jenna sang the "Eternal Blazing Sun" with great Devout.

Lumian remained silent, handing over the materials, including the "Witch's " Beyonder Characteristic and the Shadow Lizard's scales, from the black satchel to Jenna.

He traded these items for the 10,000 Felkine given to him by the other party from Gardner Martin.

Jenna glanced at the deep blue, vertical-eyed "gem" and the silky patterns on its surface, then knelt down on one knee and began mixing Potion on the exceptionally clean Square floor.

Before long, a cup of dark red potion, its color shrouded in mystery, appeared in Jenna's hands.

Jenna calmed herself down, feeling as if she had been pushed forward by various events over the past few months, and now she couldn't stop.

Perhaps this is my Destiny... Praise the Sun! Jenna closed her eyes, then secretly added in her heart:

Praise the Fool!

At this critical moment, in order to advance her career and to ensure her survival, the scales of her inner faith involuntarily tipped slightly.

This is because Franca and Lumian both seemed to be taking the Potion and High-Sequence with relative ease, and they both believed in Mr. The Fool.

Without hesitation, Jenna, with the mindset that she had already died when she assassinated Hugh Artois, gulped down the Potion.

The Potion was cold and ethereal, like melting frost, Jenna soon felt a sensation of itching and pain all over her body.

Her thoughts gradually blurred, like slowly sinking in water.

Suddenly, excruciating pain erupted from her body, Jenna regained some consciousness, finding herself surrounded by black, silent Flames, slowly being devoured.

Above her was a transparent layer of frost, which acted like a Mirror, blocking Jenna's efforts to climb out of the Black Flame.

The next second, Jenna saw a face and Daoist appear on the ice.

That face looked exactly like hers!

The figure was another Jenna, but her dominant hand had become her left!

On the ice, "Jenna" stared maliciously at the figure in the Black Flame, her face filled with anticipation and longing.

Jenna, who had some combat experience, was surprised and horrified, but immediately concentrated all her strength and threw a punch upwards.

The ice shattered silently, and the "vicious" Jenna fell into the Black Flame.

At that moment, a black, Python -like creature could be vaguely seen swaying gently in the distance, with a single, dark blue vertical eye at its tip.

The strange "Python" vanished in a flash, not entering the area, but merely disappearing as a dark shadow.

Almost simultaneously, Jenna heard a long, Pain sigh.

The illusory sigh was very close to her, as if it came from the surrounding Sacrificial Plaza, from the corpses beside her.

The strange "Python" shadow projected into the room grew wildly, becoming larger and larger, but also fading away.

It instantly enveloped Jenna and the malevolent figure, continuously seeping into their bodies.

Jenna did not give up. Enduring the pain and disorientation, she struggled to climb out of the Black Flame Hell and onto the nearby ice. The shadowy figure, exhausted, could not give chase and could only drag the vicious "Jenna" into the bottomless abyss.

The scene shattered instantly, Jenna's vision returned to normal, revealing the weathered Stone Pillars inscribed with the "Sun Sacred Emblem".

Her expression was Distortion, but the pain in her body was gradually subsiding.

Seeing the Black Flame on Jenna's body rapidly shrinking and dissipating, while the surrounding Frost melted quickly, Lumian realized that his companion had successfully advanced to Sequence 7 and was now a "Witch".

Only then did he turn his gaze to the edge of the Sacrificial Plaza, to the tombs and corpses shrouded in darkness.

Not long after Jenna took the Potion, he sensed something amiss, but ultimately nothing entered the clean Square where the two Sacrificial Pillar stood.

Finally, Jenna stopped behaving strangely. She got up and saw Lumian gazing into the distance. She said with a puzzled look, "After I drank the Potion, I thought I heard a sighing sound over there."

Lumian nodded slowly and said, "On this level of the Catacombs, there is a ' Chrismona Night Pillar,' which represents a ' Calamity Witch ' who once perished here."