Mysteries: Arcana Wars

The staggering Geraldine's face suddenly changed, she screamed, pulled Leonard out of the office and started running.

A thick black iron pillar rushed out from the ground, followed by pieces of black iron plates that broke through the thick concrete floor and flew up from the bottom, fixing themselves around the black pillar to form a continuously growing, spiraling staircase.

Geraldine pulled Leonard up the stairs impatiently and ran up at full speed without stopping.

"They're coming after me! They're coming after me!"

Amid the reporters' screams of fear, a rich red glow broke through the floor of the distant police station and quickly engulfed the entire floor.

Leonard's heart was filled with alarm, so he simply held the panicked reporter under his armpit and rushed up the stairs.

They ran past the police station, the streets of Backlund, and the newspaper office. The surging red light followed closely behind them, swallowing up the maze-like dream layer by layer amid the screams of the characters in the dream.

Up! Up! Towards the starry sky...

With two dull thuds, Leonard fell heavily into a field of white moon flowers, and Geraldine, who was caught in the trap, rolled on the ground several times and was thrown far away.

Above the endless flower fields is the starry night sky.

"Leonard Mitchell."

Before Leonard could stand up, the muzzle of a black gun was silently pressed against the back of his head.

"A senior detective of the Backlund Police Department in the Loen capital, Geraldine Lightning's direct superior, and the grandson of Pales Zoroast..."

"Adopted." The other party did not forget to add.

The voice sounded old but powerful, with a cold and calm tone, sounding like that of a capable old woman.

Then this layered dream was not actually constructed by Geraldine herself, but someone deliberately constructed such a complicated dream maze for her in order to help this reporter suppress those nightmares that were difficult to get rid of.

It seems that the person who is holding a gun to his head is most likely a member of the Church of Night, and he can accurately pronounce the old man's full name, which means that the person is of high status and may even be the builder of this dream maze.

...The muzzle of this caliber... Is this gentleman holding an anti-material rifle...

It's this voice, inexplicably familiar.

"The fact that you can come to this dreamland means that you have at least reached the nightmare level. However, His Highness Zoroaster has never reported to the church that your adopted grandson has become a Beyonder."

The old woman cocked the gun.

"This is a warning. I hope you can cooperate with us and use this opportunity to help your Highness Zoroaster complete your own registration."

Leonard finally remembered why the voice sounded so familiar.

Every winter day, an old lady would bring some people to visit Pales on behalf of the Church of Night. The old lady was not tall, had a serious expression, and a cold look. She always wore a simple and solemn black retro dress, brought gifts, and greeted Pales very solemnly, and talked about things that the old man didn't want her to hear.

Now it seems that this is not a holiday greeting, this is obviously surveillance...

If the old man was quietly recuperating in Backlund and living out his days in peace, then she would bring sincere holiday greetings to His Majesty Zoroast; if the old man was found to have done anything out of line, then this old woman would have a way to notify Ms. Arianna immediately and fire the first shot in the fight...

Past images broke through the garbage memory of nightmare and rushed to Leonard. He tried to recall the thin face of the old woman, and he felt that it was very familiar, as if it was similar to a young and cold face in his memory more than three hundred years ago.

...Wait, this old lady, could it be that she was my subordinate from over 300 years ago...

Leonard clearly remembered that she was a blonde butler who liked to tie her hair into two ponytails. Now she has become an old woman, but her cold expression has remained the same for more than three hundred years.

This time, I really understood once again why Emperor Roselle said that time is a butcher's knife...

"Name."

The old woman began to ask questions.

"Leonard Mitchell."

"way?"

"The Path of the Sleepless Man."

"sequence?"

“…Sequence Seven, Nightmare.”

"How did you get the Beyonder characteristics?"

"…The old man gave it to me. I don't know exactly where he got it."

"When did you advance to Sequence 7?"

"A week ago."

"..."

The old woman was silent for a moment, then continued speaking without any sadness or joy.

“Our church will not investigate where His Highness Zoroaster found the Beyonder Attributes for you, nor will we assume that He hunted down members of the Church of Evernight specifically for you. However, we hope that your Beyonder Attributes in the future will be provided by our Church of Evernight.”

"As for the relevant mystical knowledge, please go and ask His Highness Zoroaster. We can only give you feedback on your memories under limited conditions. We do not provide teaching."

"You mean... your church wants to monitor me all the time?" Leonard felt something was wrong.

"Rather, we hope you can be of use to us. As the youngest detective in Backlund, we believe in your abilities."

I see. So you want me to be your tool...

"You don't have to give me an answer now. You can go back and ask His Majesty Zoroaster and then give us an answer. As for how to contact us..."

"turn around."

After turning around obediently, Leonard discovered that the old woman behind him was really holding an anti-material rifle. She was even holding it calmly in one hand, while with the other hand she took out a file bag from somewhere and handed it to Leonard.

"During a routine ceremony today, a large number of ritual objects and ornaments used to please the goddess were lost. These ritual objects and ornaments were originally scheduled to be distributed to some surrounding rural churches that were unable to construct a complete ceremony after being baptized and blessed the day before."

"These ritual objects and ornaments are only used as props for ceremonies. They only have the most basic tranquilizing effect, and the spirituality of the ritual objects will fade over time. However, this case is of a bad social nature."

"If you are willing to join us as a special staff member of our Church of Darkness stationed at the police station, go find these lost ritual objects and jewelry and bring them to St. Julie's Church. We will regard it as your first action and give you a substantial reward."

"This is a simple task for both of us. Just treat it as a test for you. Of course, I believe that in the hands of the famous cold-faced detective, these cases will soon have results."

After going through so many twists and turns and reading eleven or twelve pages, Leonard suddenly discovered:

So the offerings that our Church of Night presented to the goddess were stolen!

Putting aside the pain and speechlessness for the moment, Leonard nodded and took over the offering case.

Seeing that her mission was completed, the old woman put away her anti-material rifle, turned around and walked away. The figure in the black dress became fainter and fainter.

"Please give a message to Mr. Zoroaster:"

"Mrs. Gloria Mitchell sends regards to Mr. Zoroaster."