Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

Mr. Fool directed his gaze toward Madam Magician Fors.

She habitually cleared her throat and said to The Chariot Lumian, 'You must have already guessed that there's another level above Sequence 0, right?'

'Those great existences?' Lumian asked without any surprise.

'Yes, the great existences above the Sequences.' Madam Magician nodded. 'They have accommodated a sefirah and all corresponding Uniquenesses, plus one Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic from each corresponding pathway. They are also known as Great Old Dominators and Outer Deities, with indestructible psyches.'

Great Old Dominators… Outer Deities… Lumian mulled over these terms.

Madam Magician said with a smile, 'This is how I understand it: all current great existences above the Sequences are true deities as defined by Mr. Fool. They are either personas split from the original Creator, His direct offspring, or the first beings born from the Great Mother. They had essentially appeared in this universe before the original Creator awakened and completely self-destructed, Their status originating from the old era.

'These are conditions that subsequent advancers can never achieve. Even if they truly become great existences, they would only be newly born Above the Sequences…'

As she spoke, Madam Magician felt like she was discussing Mr. Fool right in front of him, and her voice gradually became quieter.

She paused before continuing, 'Therefore, those great existences like to call themselves Great Old Dominators, and some true gods refer to Them as the Great Old Ones.

'And the currently living Great Old Dominators are all outside the barrier. Some want to invade our world, thus they are also called Outer Deities.'

'I see… Uniquenesses correspond to Sequence 0 true gods, sefirot correspond to those above the Sequences…' Lumian summarized in his own way.

Madam Magician quickly glanced at Mr. Fool, and seeing no particular reaction from this great existence, she continued, 'Sefirot are collections of symbols, sources of authority, and origins of power.

'Back then, when the original Creator awakened, causing the destruction of the old era, He split into six sefirot, sixteen Uniquenesses, and all the Beyonder characteristics of sixteen paths of the divine.'

The destruction of the old era? Did Mr. Fool, Aurore, Franca, and other transmigrators come from the old era that was destroyed when the original Creator awakened? Lumian nodded imperceptibly.

Madam Magician Fors carefully said, 'But currently, there are not just six sefirot in our world, but nine.'

Nine? Lumian asked in surprise, 'Did they originally exist?'

Besides Sefirah Castle, Chaos Sea, City of Calamity, River of Eternal Darkness, Knowledge Moor, and Key of Light, there were three more sefirot?

Madam Magician shook her head. 'No, they are extraterrestrial in nature.

'The awakening and self-destruction of the original Creator was a catastrophe for the entire universe. During this process, His three direct offspring—the Mother Goddess of Depravity, um, that is, the Great Mother, along with the Mother Tree of Desire and Child of Chaos—were most affected. Their sefirot were each torn in half, with one half being drawn to the site of the original Creator's self-destruction along with Their corresponding Uniquenesses and Beyonder characteristics—that is, to our world, or rather, our planet.

'Since then, there have been nine sefirot, twenty-two Uniquenesses, and twenty-two divine pathways within the barrier.

'Why specifically nine and twenty-two? Perhaps it can be explained by the Moses Ascetic Order's theory that all things are numbers and numbers have spirituality—nine and twenty-two have special mystical significance.'

When Madam Magician mentioned terms like Mother Goddess of Depravity, Lumian suddenly felt as if numerous gazes were directed at him, though they couldn't penetrate the grayish-white fog.

At this point, Mr. Fool lightly tapped the edge of the bronze long table and added, 'Normally, like Uniquenesses, sefirot cannot be divided, copied, or destroyed. Only one situation can cause them to be torn apart—encountering the original Creator.

'He is the 'Exception', the 'Inconceivable', the 'Incomprehensible', the 'Indescribable'. All things that shouldn't happen might happen when encountering Him—unknowable, undiscussable, unnameable.

'And it was this single instance of sefirot being torn apart that led the Great Old Dominators to discover that torn sefirot could self-complete.

'The sefirot of the Mother Goddess of Depravity that was torn into our planet self-completed into the Brood Hive. The Mother Tree of Desire lost titles such as 'Father of Devils' and 'Source of Curses', and they perfected themselves into the Tenebrous World.

'Among them, the Child of Chaos had a somewhat different experience. Whether His main consciousness was on the torn sefirot and followed it inside the barrier, or He later used His special symbolism to project His main consciousness inside to try to reclaim the torn sefirot, ultimately, His main consciousness was either defeated or deceived by the Celestial Worthy and sealed within a magic lamp formed from a Miracle Invoker Beyonder characteristic—this is the origin of the Grade 0 sealed artifact 0-05.

'The main consciousness of the Child of Chaos became Genie, the sefirot torn inside the barrier self-completed into the Nation of Disorder, while what remained outside the barrier was called the Uncertain Mist—that is, the one worshiped by the Brokers, and the Uncertain Mist has some consciousness.'

After hearing Mr. Fool's account of the Child of Chaos's experience, Lumian suddenly found the School of Truth's Brokers' search for Sealed Artifact 0-05 somewhat amusing.

It was like saying 'our god's brain is lost, please help us find it.'

Beyond the humor, Lumian was more concerned about another matter.

'The Brood Hive… it's in the Western Continent?

'What you didn't explicitly say before, Mr. Fool, is that it was possibly the Brood Hive that brought the Hidden Sage to life?'

'Yes, these matters are dangerous and corruptive for those without an Angel's status—difficult to bear.' Mr. Fool nodded slightly and said, 'In the middle to late period of the First Epoch, before the Celestial Worthy's fall, He sealed seven sefirot—the Brood Hive, Nation of Disorder, Tenebrous World, City of Calamity, River of Eternal Darkness, Knowledge Moor, and Key of Light—in the Western Continent, to be guarded by Penglai.

'As a result, faced with the approaching apocalypse, all true gods who wanted to exceed the Sequence limitations to deal with the Outer Deities' invasion had only one choice—to support the emergence of a Lord of Mysteries to lift the seal, and the Celestial Worthy could then be revived within the body of the new Lord of Mysteries.'

So Mr. Fool and I had similar experiences… he was nurtured by the gods who were 'forced' by the Celestial Worthy to ensure His revival, while I was forcibly created by the Blood Emperor' revival efforts and to achieve some goal for the Aurora Order's deity… Lumian felt somewhat emotional and reflective.

Mr. Fool continued, 'The Celestial Worthy's fall came from that primordial God Almighty who had also accommodated multiple sefirot. They nearly perished together.

'Some of the Celestial Worthy's arrangements were for His own revival, while others were meant to interfere with the primordial God Almighty's revival, and vice versa.

'In short, there are many reasons why I was able to suppress the Celestial Worthy this time: first, the help of the primordial God Almighty; second, the Mother Goddess of Depravity had other plans and didn't exert Her power; and third, the Celestial Worthy's arrangement of sealing most sefirot in the Western Continent developed in ways He hadn't prophesied.

'The Beyonders of the Western Continent, through generations of sacrifice, managed to carve out a new path and grow stronger without a potion system and with few Beyonder characteristics. For example, the Celestial Master and the Underworld Daoist—They all have status and power approaching that of deities, and could be even stronger if they fought without regard for themselves. Penglai thus remained hidden.

'How could such high-level beings stand by and watch the Celestial Worthy's revival and allow Penglai to play its role?'

I see, the Celestial Worthy's backup plan was held back by the Celestial Master and others? His arrangement to force everyone to cultivate a Lord of Mysteries actually hindered His revival? Fate is truly wonderful… Indeed, everyone only wants a Lord of Mysteries, whether the Lord of Mysteries is The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings doesn't matter… Lumian looked at the bronze long table in front of Mr. Fool, knowing this great existence hadn't finished speaking.

Mr. Fool looked at him and Madam Magician and said, 'After my initial awakening, although I still can't lift the Western Continent's seal, I can communicate somewhat with the Celestial Master through it.

'The Celestial Master told me that their sect's ancestral court had once been breached and occupied by the Luo Sect, and many historical Celestial Masters had romantic entanglements with Luo Sect holy maidens and had children with them.'

'Luo Sect…' Both The Chariot Lumian and Madam Magician Fors were somewhat confused.

Mr. Fool smiled. 'The Luo Sect has a saying: 'Unborn Ancient Mother, True Void Homeland'.'

'Unborn Ancient Mother, True Void Homeland'… True Void Homeland… Paramita? Lumian suddenly understood. 'This is a sect that worships the Brood Hive? 'Unborn Ancient Mother' is a title for the Brood Hive?'

Mr. Fool nodded. 'Combined with the events described by the Celestial Master, there's reason to believe the Knowledge Moor was once corrupted and influenced by the Brood Hive at some point in the past.

'This might be why the Hidden Sage came to life.'

I see… The Chariot Lumian finally connected all the pieces.

He raised another question. 'Do the Mother Goddess of Depravity, Mother Tree of Desire, and Uncertain Mist want to invade our world to reclaim their torn sefirot?

'What other Great Old Dominators are outside the barrier? What are Their goals?'

Madam Magician said with a slight headache, 'Besides those three, others wanting to invade our world include the Monarch of Decay—originally worshiped by the Sick Church—the Primordial Hunger that Ludwig once served, the Inextinguishable Ravings worshipped by the First Philosophy, Supernova Dominator who was the original owner of that space ship from the sea prayer ritual, the Circle of Inevitability that you're most familiar with, the High-Dimensional Overseer of the Painter pathway, and the Goddess of Fate worshiped by General Philip.'

Wh— Isn't that a little too many? They even outnumber the true gods within the barrier, and They're a level higher, having transcended the Sequences Themselves… Lumian was somewhat shocked, fear briefly surfacing before being suppressed by courage.