Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 592

In truth, Dolores knew little about her great-grandfather; even her own family seldom spoke of the man. He was remembered as a good king, but perhaps not a very good father.

Court gossip was always a favorite pastime, and the rumors surrounding Endesdor Stuart were particularly plentiful. The most famous of these tales dated back nearly a century, to the time before he ascended the throne.

Chaotic court intrigues, fire raining from the heavens, agonizing screams echoing from the depths of the dungeons...

"Of course, it's no trouble at all."

Dolores accepted the piece of paper and handed it to Julia, who carefully folded it and tucked it into the waistband of her petticoat.

Alexia had never met Papa Oliver—at least, Jenkins didn't think she had. But she pointed out that longevity wasn't particularly rare among Enchanters. Even if Papa Oliver wasn't a high-level Benefactor, he could easily possess some life-extending elixir or ability.

What was truly noteworthy, however, was Papa Oliver's connection to the Stuart family.

"Perhaps Jenkins's mentor is even a relative of Dolores."

She glanced at Miss Stuart as she spoke, and the princess blushed, lowering her gaze.

Considering that such grim matters were unsuitable for Miss Stuart, Jenkins and Alexia decided to conduct the vampire's interrogation at Alexia's residence.

Although the absence of an arcane lock made the task more complex, Alexia was a completely different person from the one who had left Nolan City.

It wasn't until two in the morning, with Chocolate sleeping peacefully before the hearth, that Jenkins finally managed to piece together some of what he wanted to know.

"So that mirror really is the All-knowing Treasure Mirror," Jenkins murmured. "I just never expected the vampires to have actually collaborated with the followers of the Evil God's Scion, however briefly."

He proactively shared the details of the "Undying Man" incident with Alexia, making sure to emphasize the attack beneath the tree. She listened to his entire account with a faint smile, showing no surprise.

The captured vampire revealed that during their brief partnership with the other faction, the mirror had been lent out and asked a single question:

"What course of action will now maximize the chances of our plan's success?"

The answer was to find a way, on some inexplicable date, to travel to some inexplicable location, and assassinate some inexplicable person.

But this time, at least, the mirror's answer had been correct. If they had succeeded in killing that intensely curious writer beneath the ancient tree in the Evergreen Forest, the subsequent seance at the wrong location would never have occurred.

Although they hadn't yet managed to question the captured vampire about the "Real Illusion," he had already explained a key aspect of the "Savior Game" that unfolds at the end of each epoch. The most crucial piece of information concerned how these special abilities are acquired. At the end of every epoch, abilities with unique properties emerge, and those who obtain them automatically become Savior candidates.

Most were innate gifts, while a small fraction could be acquired through study. By the Eighteenth Epoch, however, most of them had become learnable.

The Savior abilities corresponding to the [Red Martial] arts—such as Twin Demons—were the only type whose qualification could be transferred. This emblem passed to a new host through slaughter, which was how Jenkins had acquired the ability after killing the twin demons. At the time, however, they hadn't completed the final step of the process. Consequently, the 'Twin Demons' ability initially showed no special properties until Jenkins defeated another competitor, allowing it to fully materialize.

As for Savior abilities classified as [White Basic]—like Undying Man—if they were obtained through a ritual rather than as a World's Gift, that ritual was merely one of acknowledgment. In other words, one received the emblem because they already possessed a world-acknowledged ability, not the other way around. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ noⅴelfire.net

It was a subtle but crucial difference in causality, one that Jenkins had already vaguely grasped.

For divine abilities like 'Real Illusion,' the acquisition ritual was undoubtedly tied to a god. The mirror had been infuriatingly vague on this point, and even the vampires weren't sure if it knew the full story.

That was all the information they could get for the time being. The moment Jenkins tried to press for more details about the other world, the "Bloody Fortress," or its corresponding great sovereign, the captured vampire let out a sudden, guttural roar. Then, its entire projected body rapidly vaporized.

Alexia had no time to stop Jenkins's question and could only yank him aside.

"Don't ask questions like that so recklessly."

she cautioned in a low voice.

A sudden gale sent the curtains whipping wildly into the room. A strange beam of crimson light shot down from the void, pierced through the window, and enveloped the exposed soul. Then, bit by bit, it ground the spirit into dust.

Chocolate cracked open one eye, yawned, and shifted into a more comfortable position. Jenkins and Alexia remained frozen in place, not daring to move for a long time.

"My apologies. That was reckless of me," Jenkins finally said. "I think I finally understand why anyone who knows the secrets of the 'sovereigns' always has that look on their face—the one that says, 'I know, but I can't speak of it.'"

Thoroughly rattled, Jenkins had no choice but to return to Nolan City. That night, he had another deeply unpleasant dream. In it, he watched in silence as the figure of a Mr. Baines receded into the distance, led into the darkness by a familiar face—Mr. Augustus.

He was draped in a tattered, black-hooded robe, his form shrouded in a grayish-white mist. In the dream, the two receding figures seemed completely unaware of the observer, vanishing bit by bit into the deepest shadows of the dreamscape.

He woke, rubbing his throbbing temples, and suspected he was simply under too much stress. After rousing the cat beside him, he prepared to face what was sure to be a dreadful Wednesday.

Even for Jenkins, a mere two hours of sleep was enough to guarantee a headache and a bout of listlessness the next day. Fortunately, Papa Oliver simply assumed he was still shaken by the previous night's events and didn't find his state unusual.

Ever since advancing to the second level a long time ago, Jenkins had stopped feeling any discomfort while transcribing the tadpole-like script from the stone tablet. Today, however, perhaps due to his exhausted mental state, he felt a wave of dizziness the moment he picked up his pen. The vertigo only grew more pronounced as he continued.

He managed to finish the transcription and put away his pen and paper before resting his arms on the counter. A moment later, he was fast asleep.

Papa Oliver, who was reading the newspaper by the fireplace, glanced up at him before turning the page. Chocolate, curled into a black-and-white furball on her cushion, also looked over at Jenkins. The cat stood up, padded over, and settled down again right beside his head.