The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 198: The Eye of the Storm

Lumière was waiting for the abandoned members of the "April Fool's" group to recall useful details. He nodded and said, "Alright."

The "Magician" lady looked at him for a few seconds, as if in thought, then said, "In the future, if I give you a task that is clearly wrong, you can refuse to accept it, or agree to it in person but privately contact other major Arcana cards."

"Why?" Lumière was confused.

The "Magician" lady seemed to be implying that she herself might become a problem at some point.

She chuckled self-mockingly and said, "Because I am a high-risk individual, someone who is easily influenced by the Heavenly Venerable."

"The Heavenly Venerable stands at the pinnacle of the 'Diviner', 'Thief', and 'Apprentice' paths. The higher the sequence of the extraordinary beings in these paths, the easier it is for him to influence them. After all, everyone has an 'origin' within themselves. And, well, you need to understand that I, as a high-ranking 'Apprentice' and a believer in the Fool, can occasionally be misled, tricked, or deceived by the Heavenly Venerable. It's not unusual.

"Of course, the Fool also stands at the pinnacle of these three paths, which is why he can oppose the Heavenly Venerable. So, you don't need to worry too much about me. Most of the time, I'm under the Fool's influence, and I'm in a good state. It's only occasionally that something goes wrong."

This was like how, if Lumière prayed or used names outside of the three recognized descriptions without performing the appropriate rituals, he might catch the attention of the Heavenly Venerable and incur hidden dangers. The higher-ranking extraordinary beings of the "Diviner", "Thief", and "Apprentice" paths were closer to both the Heavenly Venerable and the Fool. Even if they followed all the correct procedures, there was still a chance something could go wrong.

Lumière first understood the Magician's warning, then realized that her words contained information that contradicted common mystical knowledge.

"Mr. Fool and the Heavenly Venerable both stand at the top of three paths?"

Normally, reaching sequence 0 on any path signified true godhood. So, what would you call someone who stands at the pinnacle of three paths? A Great Being?

For the first time, Lumière realized that Mr. Fool and the Heavenly Venerable might be of a higher order than the "Eternal Blazing Sun" and other deities.

Similarly, Amon's father, the "Ancient Sun God", was likely on this level too, since just half of his legacy had created the current faith of the Aurora Order.

Soon, Lumière remembered the Magician's different descriptions of gods:

Some gods, even knowing of their existence or learning their names, could bring corruption, mutations, or danger;

Other gods could be spoken of openly, and as long as one didn't recite three or more full titles in extraordinary languages, there was no risk of drawing their attention.

This was likely a distinction in the hierarchy of gods... Mr. Fool and the Heavenly Venerable occupy the top of three closely linked, interchangeable paths. Is this the hidden condition for mastering composite paths? Lumière dared not think further, fearing that knowing too much would bring trouble.

As for the Magician being on the "Apprentice" path, Lumière had already suspected it. Aurora's witchcraft notes mentioned that the sequence 9 "Apprentice" on this path was skilled at opening doors, and sequence 7 was called "Astrologer", matching the Magician's usual behavior and her frequent use of terms like "astrology", "divination", and "fate".

"I understand," Lumière said, shifting the conversation to what he should do if he couldn't fully kill "Loki" within two months. He also asked about how to cover the sealing marks on his body and the procedures to transfer out of the market district through the Iron-Blooded Cross.