Above the gray fog.
The weekly Tarot Gathering convened once again.
Klein sat at the head of the table, flipping through the three pages of Roselle's diary submitted by Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man.
Miss Justice's two diary pages mostly recorded Roselle's romantic escapades. Fortunately, they always contained a few lines of Beyonder knowledge that sounded quite advanced.
After finishing the diary entries, Klein signaled that they could begin their exchange.
The first to speak was Alger, the Hanged Man.
"The war in the Southern Continent has already broken out. At present, the ports of the Southern Continent have been sealed, and all ships are forbidden from sailing."
A war has broken out? Audrey and Fors were completely unprepared for this news. Hadn't the New Year just passed not long ago?
How did a war suddenly start?
Klein nodded.
"This was bound to happen sooner or later."
Within the Church, rumors had long circulated that the war would begin after the New Year.
"Will the war spread to the Kingdom of Loen?" Fors asked the question she cared about the most.
She didn't have much concept of war, especially one happening in the Southern Continent.
"I'm not sure. It's also difficult for me to obtain firsthand information from the Southern Continent," Alger replied with a shake of his head.
Audrey, who had gradually recovered, lightly pursed her lips and calmly asked, "Mr. Hanged Man, do you know the reason for the outbreak of this war?"
"Two suns appeared in the Southern Continent, causing nearly devastating damage to the coastal fishing villages, small towns, and plantations. This has provoked the anger of the residents there."
Alger still had lingering fear in his eyes as he spoke.
This was the latest intelligence sent back by surviving clergy of the Church of Storms in the Southern Continent, and it had passed through his hands before being delivered to the Church.
Two suns.
The implications behind that were enormous. Combined with the recent frenzied actions of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, it had sparked many speculations.
Although both were Churches of the Seven Gods, the Church of Storms and the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun had never had a good relationship. There was even a faint sense of hatred and hostility between them.
Because of that, some members of the Church of Storms had made a rather disrespectful speculation, that perhaps something had gone wrong with the sun in the sky.
That was an extremely blasphemous guess. Yet the higher authorities of the Church had not corrected this trend of thought.
From Alger's long-term observation of the Church's higher-ups, if they didn't directly step forward to correct something, it meant the speculation was very close to reality, and that the Church of Storms was preparing to openly fall out with the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.
At that moment, Alger inevitably recalled the meaningful words Mr. Fool had once said: "The radiance of the sun has begun to dim."
Could it be that Mr. Fool had already known that something had gone wrong with the sun back then?
Alger lowered his head even further. His expression became more respectful, and his entire body trembled with tension.
He was afraid, yet he also felt a strange thrill from touching upon a taboo.
That was a supreme deity.
"How could two suns appear?" Derrick, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
"The sun is a symbol of authority. There can only be one controller. It's impossible for two suns to appear in rivalry."
"Unless another god is trying to seize the authority of the sun."
Derrick's lips trembled as he voiced his speculation.
In the mythological legends of the City of Silver, the Creator had once reclaimed the authorities held by elves, giants, and dragons. He had even bestowed some authorities upon the angels beneath Him.
Within those mythological wars, there were rough records about battles over authority.
This was knowledge Derrick had only glimpsed recently after cramming the mythological history of the City of Silver.
Seizing the authority of the sun?
Boom!
These words swept through Audrey and Fors' minds like a hurricane.
They had never imagined that a war in the Southern Continent could actually involve the lofty gods!
Didn't that mean a divine war might begin? Or perhaps… it had already begun?
Audrey, who was relatively good at history, clenched her right hand into a fist, her entire body tensing.
Throughout history, near the end of every epoch, massive wars seemed to occur. Sometimes, the shadows of gods could even be found behind the changes of eras.
For example, the previous epoch, the Fourth Epoch.
Church records mentioned a catastrophe called the Pale Disaster. It was said that the gods themselves had stepped forward to quell the chaos, ushering in the stable development of the Fifth Epoch.
And now, there were already signs of something similar.
Sitting at the head of the table, Mr. Fool, who maintained the image of a mysterious omniscient being, was also thinking about the matter of seizing the authority of the sun.
He had already obtained a great deal of mystical knowledge from Roselle's diary. For instance, neighboring Beyonder pathways could replace each other and were mortal enemies.
For example, the Ince Zangwill incident had confirmed that the Death pathway and the Darkness pathway were two neighboring pathways.
Therefore, the Sun pathway should also have its neighboring pathways.
The Sun pathway definitely couldn't produce two true gods, nor could Beyonders of the same pathway have the ability to seize the authority of the sun.
Only the true gods of neighboring pathways would attempt such a thing.
So-called two suns might actually be two gods each descending an incarnation.
One wanted to seize the authority of the sun, while the Eternal Blazing Sun fought to defend His authority. The two sides had begun a fierce struggle over it.
Klein's thoughts gradually became clearer as he began to speculate which pathway could neighbor the Sun pathway.
In the end, his gaze landed on Mr. Hanged Man.
The Church of Storms had always been hostile toward the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun. Could it be because their pathways were adjacent?
If that were the case, then the true god who attacked the Eternal Blazing Sun might be the Lord of Storms?
After carefully choosing his words, he looked at Alger and spoke in as calm a tone as possible: "Beyonders of neighboring pathways can replace each other at high sequences. Therefore, they are mortal enemies."
Alger noticed Mr. Fool's gaze.
His heart trembled. Was Mr. Fool reminding him that the Storm pathway and the Sun pathway were neighboring pathways?
If so, did that mean the Lord of Storms might be involved in the struggle for the authority of the sun?
The moment this thought appeared, Alger hurriedly suppressed it.
Such a disrespectful speculation!
In his heart, he repeatedly recited the Church of Storms' creed, Storm be with you.
Seeing Alger's reaction, Audrey and Fors seemed to realize something as well, and a storm of thoughts erupted in their minds.
Derrick's expression remained calm. In the Beyonder courses of the City of Silver, neighboring pathways had already been mentioned.
After a brief silence, Alger changed the topic and brought up the latest news from the seas.
For example, what astonishing feats that uncrowned king had recently accomplished.
The young uncrowned king of the seas? Klein recalled Leonard mentioning his dream encounter, as well as the time Leonard sensed the aura of the sea while peering into Captain Reed's mind world.
Could that suddenly appearing uncrowned king be the mysterious existence hidden behind Captain Reed and his wife?
Judging by the timeline, it seemed to match.
Next came the trading session, but there were mostly no gains. This made Klein realize that it was time to bring in new members.
Only then could the enthusiasm and trading value of the Tarot Gathering be maintained.
"May the sun rise as usual tomorrow." Mr. Fool left behind one final meaningful sentence before ending this week's Tarot Gathering.
….
Backlund, Earl Hall's residence.
After leaving the Tarot Gathering, Audrey sat quietly in her room.
It wasn't until Susie reminded her that she recovered from the shocking information.
She crouched down, stroking Susie's head, and murmured,
"I really wish Mr. Hastur were still in Backlund. That way, I could still go to him to discuss some things."
"Woof?"
"It's nothing. I just suddenly feel a little lonely."
"Woof."
"Thank you, Susie. I know you'll always stay with me."
"Woof!" Susie wagged her tail happily.
….
Inside the Tudor underground ruins.
In a dark and dilapidated room, three figures were entangled together on three chairs of different styles.
"I smell the scent of war. I think it's time we leave this place filled with foul memories. Of course, if you've developed some rare attachment to this place, I can allow you to stay a few more days."
"Heh, the prey has already arrived."
"A war without the Red Priest can only be considered children playing house."
"Tsk. Speaking of playing house, the two of you would make quite a pair. I just wonder which of you would be the man and which the woman?"
"Shut up!"
"Medici, you bastard who didn't even have a gender when you were born, what right do you have to talk about men and women with us?"
"Hahaha, that saves you the trouble of changing from woman to man." The unrestrained and arrogant laughter echoed throughout the room.
Yet the person outside who was desperately digging through dirt and rubble heard none of it.
Raft Pound was currently dreaming of restoring his family's glory.
Crash!
Suddenly the soil and rocks before him collapsed.
He hurriedly stepped back. When the dust settled, the underground passage he had struggled to excavate finally appeared before him.
"It's the great ancestors blessing me!"
Suppressing his excitement, he wiped the dirt from his hands onto his thighs and carefully picked the mud from his fingernails.
Then he straightened his clothes, smoothed out the wrinkles, and his emotions, before walking through the underground passage into a massive subterranean palace.
Soon, he opened the door that held the hope of the treasure that would revive his family.