Mysteries: Arcana Wars

Black, white, gray-green, golden...

Everything was like a half-melted ice cube in the bartender's hand, flying up and down in the turbid wine in David Axus's head.

He felt like he was about to be blown away by the wind, but the cursed thing called "Extraordinary Characteristics" was still pulling him carelessly, like a kite that longed to be torn apart by a fierce storm, but there was always a thin rope that stubbornly imprisoned him in this damned world.

All of David's senses were in chaos, and he couldn't even feel the pain. He didn't know how much of his body was left, and could only feel the crazy and frantic muttering in his spiritual world.

……no no……

"You still don't want to stop?"

A touch of pure red, so bright that it blinded the eyes, pierced into David's turbid world, dyeing all that was filthy, ugly, and chaotic into a monotonous blood.

The gentle voice was like his wife whispering in his ear. David tried hard to concentrate and burn the remaining spirituality to sense the pure blood-red, but he could only see the woman's burnt red skirt and could not "see" the pair of ankles covered with red scars.

"As expected, you just don't want to stop... Then, as you wish!"

Something dazzling and sticky like mud flowed out from the blood-colored seed and condensed into a bead that was as attractive as a ruby ​​but tainted with foul breath.

...Is this... an extraordinary characteristic...?

Before David could react, the bead attacked him without any explanation, turning into blood with irresistible force, completely coating David's entire spiritual world and dragging David into the abyss of madness.

"So, you will keep going, and there will be no turning back..."

Beneath the gentle voice, filthy malice is surging wildly.

"You will sacrifice your conscience, you will go along with evil desires, you will spread your bloody wings and become a 'broken-winged angel'..."

Sweet vows in the diary, delicious bread in the morning, tightly clasped hands outside the police station...

Olga was still standing in the mad torrent, her red-stained face still smiling warmly in the increasingly clear memory, but her fluttering red skirt faded quickly like the tide, and finally turned completely into a series of high-definition but fragile black-and-white photos.

After an unknown amount of time, David finally came back from the brink of collapse, opened his eyes in reality, and gently moved his mechanical limbs.

The woman in the red dress stood against the light in the sunset, just like every evening when she took him home. David couldn't see her face, but he couldn't feel any excitement or expectation. It seemed that anyone could stand in the sunset in a red dress like this. She was as dull and distant as the ordinary people who hurried by.

Obsession and love dissipated like ashes, leaving only desire and madness flowing endlessly.

******

Gloria returns home on a rare visit.

There were no complaints from Scott, nor was there the figure of his eldest grandson playing video games endlessly in the room. In the quiet and simple home, there were only the red roses on the dining table shining brightly under the bright moonlight.

By this calculation, she hadn't been home for more than two months - one month and 13 days according to Scott's memory - and she even felt that the gloomy house seemed a little strange.

But this time Gloria chose to come back when no one was at home, and of course it was not for a holiday.

She walked straight into her eldest grandson's room. It was not uncommon for a young man in his thirties to still live with his grandparents in Backlund, where every inch of land was worth a lot of money.

Osborne Cartwright's bedroom was covered with cute comic girl posters, covering the original wallpaper completely, and the cabinets in the corner were filled tightly with stacked small statues.

There is a huge and powerful computer on the desk. Once the fan is turned on, it will spin rapidly. Lights of various colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet, are all displayed, as if a helicopter is about to take off from the dance hall.

Behind the comfortable gaming chair is Osborne's bed, which has a small table. Occasionally, Scott and Gloria would drink tea and chat here, with Osborne facing away from them, wearing noise-cancelling headphones, yelling at his demented teammates in the game, completely ignoring what the grandparents were talking about, and not being able to hear what they were talking about.

Osborne tacitly turned up the volume of his headphones, just like an old couple tacitly not trying to find out what the other has hidden at home.

Gloria tapped her teeth, and a translucent spirit appeared out of thin air, dived into Osborne's bed, and crawled out of the bed board holding a black fire stick. It crawled back and forth several times and took a few more things from under the bed for Gloria.

In fact, for most of the past three hundred years, she had no habit of hiding anything, and she openly reported and registered extraordinary materials. Until Osborne's parents died in the line of duty, Gloria also learned from Scott to hide things at home.

Even if they used their spirits to travel back and forth and retrieve things, the grandfather and grandson, who were generalists, would most likely find traces, but they would not investigate further or ask questions. As long as no one spoke, the three of them would pretend to be insignificant.

It is hard to say that Gloria's personal will was not involved in this action. She has never been obsessed with revenge or pursuing her beliefs. Even though Osborn's parents died in the Red Gloves mission, she did not blame or resent them too much. In short, life needs to go on. Anyway, they are on this path, and the goddess of disaster will eventually let them run into the gun at the right time.

But the matter of the Leeds Street Underground City made Gloria particularly concerned. Putting aside her special feelings towards the Skyrim Cult, she always felt that this suddenly appeared Leeds Street was very strange. Maybe the entire Leeds Street was the underground hideout of the Skyrim Cult.

This was the nth time that Gloria had taken over the affairs of the Ferris Church. This remote sect rarely appeared in the daily affairs of the church. Occasionally, it would show up but would be immediately eliminated. However, every time it gave Gloria a headache.

So this time Gloria was ready to strike first and catch the other party off guard. When people get old, they will be afraid of long nights and many dreams. If a couple quarrels at the head of the bed, they should make peace at the foot of the bed. If they make any promises, they should fulfill them immediately. If they get any tasks, they should start working immediately. If there are any grievances, they should settle them on the same day, so as not to let worries disturb the peace of the next day.

Not having any overnight grudges is Gloria's secret to maintaining inner peace.

You blew up the Harvest Church before. That is the jurisdiction of the Steam Church. It has nothing to do with me and I have no responsibility here.

Now I'm the top person in charge. You blew up a bank in the jurisdiction of the Church of Night this morning, and I dug out your address. Wouldn't it be a bit unreasonable if I didn't deal with you?

Since we are going to do it, it would be better to do it today than to choose a day. You see the moon tonight is pretty good, and there are many stars, too. It's beautiful and suitable.

Neatly dressed, Gloria in the mirror was no longer an old woman of 1.6 meters, but had been elongated into a shadowy figure of 1.8 meters, wrapped in a coat and with her face covered, making it impossible to tell whether she was a man or a woman.

The big gun [Withering] that can be transformed into an axe gun was left in St. Julie's Church. This time Gloria didn't want to be recognized as the "Goddess's Spear". She wanted a complete surprise, so she chose this fire stick.

The moon was bright, and Gloria jumped out of the window in the dark night.