"The Hanged Man upright."
Orion read the result of the card in his hand. Even someone who didn't know much about cards would understand what it meant.
"To face trials and pain, then find rebirth..."
This card, representing the "past," reminded Orion of his experiences on Jarilo-VI.
After many battles and three deaths, he discovered his emanator identity and escaped from the so-called mastermind for the first time.
The second card was turned over. It showed a tall tower being struck by lightning. Flames and disasters came down, and two figures symbolizing the emperor and the priesthood fell from the sky.
"The 'Tower' upright."
Orion frowned. Among the 22 Tarot cards, the Tower is known as the worst one. Whether it's upright or reversed, the Tower, which stands for material things, always gets hit by "lightning."
"Sudden disasters, crowns and scepters falling from the sky, God's wrath punishing man's arrogance..."
Orion thought of "The Herrschers" and the Honkai Will. Could the lightning be the gods punishing the tower on Earth?
Even though this card showed bad luck for Orion, his situation was actually going well. He gathered reliable allies and dealt with threats. It didn't seem like bad luck.
Aponia looked at Orion with pity, whether it was for him or for herself.
The third card was turned over. Unlike the previous ones, this card showed a spinning roulette wheel, like a giant sun in the sky.
The four magical letters symbolized the oldest symbols of God: lion, eagle, sacred cow, and angel. They represented creation's four attributes: water, fire, earth, and sky. The empty center of the wheel represented "emptiness."
"Wheel of Fortune, reversed."
"An unavoidable destiny, a constantly changing future..."
Aponia's voice was filled with compassion, and her empty eyes seemed to hold all the world's emotions.
"Orion, in the future..."
"You will 'die' surrounded by people."
"..."
Silence filled the room. Orion seemed to be bathed in light from the church window.
Aponia, the nun he had just met, spoke with certainty and seriousness about his death, as if she were stating a fact.
"It hasn't happened yet, has it?"
Orion smiled, even as he spoke of his own death.
Aponia saw the man in front of her with a deathly smile. Most people would react with disbelief.
Aponia sensed that Orion was different from others she had observed before.
"He knows his destiny but isn't controlled by it."
Aponia admired him, thinking he might have the power to change his future.
But this idea was fleeting. As someone deeply connected to spirit and destiny, Aponia's thoughts were not easily changed.
"To fight this future, I need more people to join us."
Orion extended his hand to Aponia, knowing that even if the past had been altered, the good in people's hearts would remain unchanged.
"Not yet..."
Aponia hesitated. She knew Orion's purpose but had her reasons for holding back.
Orion turned his gaze toward the nursing home and asked softly, "Are they those children?"
Aponia nodded. Although Orion touched on the topic, there was a deeper reason behind her hesitation.
"Honkai sickness, right?"
Orion quickly grasped Aponia's hand.
"!"
Aponia's reaction was slow, and she was forced to meet Orion's gaze.
Aponia's silence confirmed his suspicion.
Honkai sickness turns the human body into a zombie when infected by Honkai energy.
Once infected, it's more deadly than any virus, and there is no current cure.
Even worse, Honkai energy spreads easily. Once it reaches a certain level, it's unstoppable.
"I sensed it when I first came to your sanatorium..."
Orion's silver eyes gleamed. He had noticed something unusual when he first planned to enter Aponia's sanatorium.
"Most of the Honkai patients on this street have probably been taken in by you."
Orion guessed the truth that Aponia was hiding. The nun turned her head slightly, not answering.
"Have you considered that you might get infected from being so close to them?"
Orion's expression was troubled. Even the best doctors would be reluctant to be around patients with a fatal, highly infectious disease.
"People might even think you're the source of the disaster."
Orion's words were reasonable. The reason the boss was afraid of a defenseless nun like Aponia wasn't because of her strength, but...
"Being near someone carrying a major infection source is something anyone with sense would avoid..."
The boss wasn't afraid of Aponia herself but feared the disease that she might have.
"I should not escape from the sins everyone carries; I should endure the suffering everyone deserves."
Aponia pulled away from Orion, clasping her hands over her chest, with a divine light rising from her back.
"You save yourself and others, Aponia. You're more amazing than I thought."
"But no one is born guilty or deserves punishment."
"If there's a God in heaven, then it's Him who is wrong!"
Orion spoke with determination. Aponia could sense his sincerity.
"I know a place, and I'll send more top people here to care for the children..."
"I promise, after a while..."
Before Orion could finish, they felt a rumbling from the ground, and a card from the top of the tarot deck fell.
"Let's go check it out."
Orion noticed the shock seemed to come from Aponia's sanatorium.
Aponia also sensed something wrong and followed Orion out of the church.
As they left, the tarot card that had fallen showed its face on the ground.
A skeleton knight on a horse faced the church statue, and a king sat where Orion had been before.
"Death, reversed."