"It's done." Rising from his seat, Thaddeus placed his hands behind his back.
As a demigod of the Path of the Reader who had studied and analyzed the Path of the Spectator in depth, the hypnosis took only a few seconds to complete.
During that time, the redhead took advantage of the situation and reverted to the appearance he had used to enter the temple, so he just watched the process with curiosity.
"How do you feel, Miss Worm?" Adryan asked.
Flora looked at him blankly. "It's the hypnosis of a demigod, Princess. I'm just like before."
Even if there were a problem, it would be impossible for her to notice in her current state.
Adryan raised his hands, "My bad."
"..." With his eyes back to normal, Thaddeus turned and began walking toward the exit of the room.
Stopping in front of the old black wooden door, he looked over his shoulder, giving a slight nod.
"Again, Mr Kenway, thank you for your visit." With that, he raised his hand and crossed his fingers.
Snap!
A sudden, blinding white light covered his vision. And Adryan unconsciously raised his hand to cover his face.
Blinking a few times, he looked around, somewhat lost.
They were no longer in the basement of the temple. Now, they were on the outskirts of the clearing that surrounded it, under the shade of one of the hundreds of trees in the place far from people.
In the distance, families played with their children or rested on blankets. Even on a holiday, some lonely people sat apart from the rest, peacefully reading a book or sleeping under the shade of a tree.
Faced with the change of scenery, all Adryan could do was cover his mouth with a gloved hand, a playful smile on his face, and his eyes shining.
"He didn't show it much. But Mr. Thaddeus was really furious~"
Lifting her hood to hide her cloudy white hair, the Jacob let her own smile show, strangely bright.
"It must have been that nickname you gave him. Sweet nightmare of lice. Pff- Hahaha!" With her shoulders shaking, Flora burst out laughing.
No matter how many centuries she had lived, there was always something that surprised her.
Not only had she laughed in an Archbishop's face, but she had reprimanded and even provoked him!
This tasted even better on her palate, knowing that the one she had mocked was the Reader Pathway. The demigods of these paths always have a special attitude, further accentuated by their contempt for those they consider inferior in intelligence to themselves.
That one of them had not only been made to look like an idiot, but had failed to hide his frustration... It was magnificent!
To see another expression on those faces that only showed supposed wisdom when they were nothing more than lizards staring at the wall for endless hours.
This new experience was, by far, one of the best!
Covering her mouth with her palm, Flora laughed a little more, "Ah~ Only Fiorela's face surpasses this."
Her cousin's bitter face was burned into her mind. Without a doubt, one of her most precious memories.
Shaking her head slightly, Flora calmed down and returned to her usual self. However, the corners of her lips were slightly curved.
"I understand why teasing others is so much fun for you, Princess. Those faces they make are totally worth it."
"I'm glad you finally saw the light." Smiling sideways, Adryan laughed a little.
Raising his thumb toward the path leading out of the clearing, he asked, "Shall we enjoy the day?"
They still had time. So the Reaper wasn't in much of a hurry to get to the next stop of the day.
Yawn...
Instead of answering, the hooded woman raised her hand and covered her mouth, yawning a little.
"I'm fine.
"I want to take a nap now." Licking her lips, Flora walked boredly to a free bench. "Come before someone takes it."
Seeing this, the redhead chuckled to himself. Following his companion with a small smile. Understanding the message.
'She's really curious.'
He expected questions to come later, just not right after the short chat with the bald guy.
'Well, it doesn't matter. We may not have time later.'
With that last thought, Adryan took a seat on the bench to the right of his dear worm.
Quietly, he placed his left arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer to his body. And remembering his companion's opinion about his changes in appearance, he just rested her head against his shoulder.
Flora glanced at him for a moment and then closed her eyes. From her calmer breathing, it seemed she had already fallen asleep.
Not wanting to be left behind, the Reaper rested his cheek against her head. And with the help of cogitation, he too soon fell asleep.
The feeling of being pulled accompanied him along with his sense of self. Opening his eyes in his sleep, Adryan found himself back in the park; the people had disappeared, and everything seemed to be under a myopia filter.
"Miss Worm—"
Turning his head, what he was about to say stuck in his throat at what he saw.
Sitting in the same place as before, Flora looked at him deeply. The smile was gone, and her brow was deeply furrowed.
"Adryan"
'Oh no,' Suddenly, the reaper felt reprimanded.
Without blinking, Jacob spoke slowly. Each word laden with annoyance.
"Princess… That rotten knight from the tower was the ancestor of the Medici Family?"
The memory of what happened before they entered the First Floor of the Tower was still fresh in her mind. How the man in front of her had suddenly abandoned his cover and insulted someone in the distance. Someone who, like the princess, had long red hair and wore bloody, rusty black armor and carried a blond man by the neck with one hand.
Turns out that guy was Medici? A He? An Angel!?
Adryan smiled somewhat sheepishly, "hehe~"
"Urgh..." Pressing her lips together, Flora exhaled for 4 seconds straight.
After that, she added flatly, "So the guy He was carrying is the traitor archbishop..."
The hypnosis Thaddeus had given her had only blocked all the information they had reported, along with one of the discussed grade 0 artifacts. So she clearly remembered the rest.
Again, the redhead nodded. "Yep."
"Of course." The woman's expression became flat. Rubbing her forehead with two fingers, she sighed wearily.
As soon as the ancestor of a family of angels appeared, the first thing that occurred to the princess was not to keep a low profile and avoid being seen, but to stand up in the stadium and, in front of hundreds of people, shout and insult this ancestor...
With all this in mind, it was natural what would come out of her mouth.
"Weirdo."
Unable to help himself, Adryan laughed amusedly, "Believe me, Flora, if I want to advance on the path of the Hunter, I have to be a few screws loose."
Flora raised an eyebrow.
"I saw how you insulted an Angel to her face, Princess. I know you're crazy. I mean, from the nickname you gave him, you always name people after their qualities. But three-flavor soup?
"What kind of context could there be for Medici to have that nickname? What did He do?"
"Well... Technically, it's them." Adryan scratched his cheek boredly, "To ascend to Red Priest, Alista Tudor, with the help of certain entities, captured and killed the ancestors of the family Medici, Sauron, and Eirnhorn, for their Sequence 1 characteristics.
"I'm not entirely sure how it happened. But the spirits of these ancestors merged into one, with Medici as the main appearance. Most likely because he was a King of Angels. The other two, who were only archangels, are just rotten holes in his cheek.
"They are three in one, hence, three-flavored soup."
"Urgh..." Even for someone like her, this was too much information to process at once.
Flora knew that all the ancestors of the angel families of the Fourth Epoch were at least Sequence 2 angels, but that the fallen royal family of Intis and the current royal family of Feysac were Sequence 1 was a surprise—now she understood why it was always said that they were not even a shadow of what they once were.
Furthermore, Medici was a King of Angels? What was that? The step before a True God?
Also, to ascend to Sequence 0, were Sequence 1 characteristics necessary?
According to the notes of the ascent. There could be no more than three Sequence 1 angels.
If these characteristics are necessary to ascend to Sequence 0, then any path that already has that throne occupied can no longer give birth to another archangel. Conversely, if there are Sequence 1 angels, then the divine throne was empty...
A sudden chill ran down her back, horror rising at the realization.
Since that monster had already killed her family's ancestor, He only lacked the characteristics of Pallez Zoroast to have almost everything He needed to become a God.
Only the ritual would be missing!
Following her instinct, she quickly asked a question: "Was it one of those beings that helped Alista Tudor, the man with the monocle?"
Adryan nodded, not too surprised that she had noticed, "Yes, along with his brother. They helped Alista complete his apotheosis ritual—" A gloved hand cut off his words, a piercing gray gaze greeting his soul.
"If you keep saying that kind of thing, forget about being able to talk for the next three weeks," Flora growled, deadly.
"Mmm mmm"
"I thought so," muttering a little, Flora lowered her hand and sank into her side of the bench.
After a few seconds of staring at the dream sky, a murmur escaped her.
"Amon has a brother?"
"If it helps you. That paranoid guy prefers to keep to himself when it comes to what that raven does."
"...I'm not even going to question that name," the Jacob sighed wearily.
Not wanting to talk or delve further into the nightmare that had tormented her family for millennia and was now one step away from becoming a God, Flora changed the subject to another curiosity that had not been mentioned.
"I'm surprised you didn't ask Mr Thaddeus about Cordis and the Armonos."
The man shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
"If it had mattered, he would have already told me. I doubt that any of those who work at the firm have not been thoroughly investigated by the Church as soon as they joined—I would do that.
"It would be a waste to ask him... Besides..."
With his mischievous smile back, he continued with a wink: "As for races that interact with fate, I know someone with more experience in that.
"Although I'll need to buy some ice cream first."
She already knew how bitter it would be, but Flora asked the question anyway.
"Don't tell me it's that supposed snake you want to introduce me to."
Adryan lit up visibly at her words. "Oh, I'm glad you remember! He's a good snake, a little mischievous but quite pleasant to chat with... Although He has an obsession with ice cream, I don't understand why."
The white-haired woman stared unblinkingly at her companion. After seven seconds, she repeated slowly, making sure she had heard correctly what had been said.
"... He?"
"Ehe~"
Flora took a shaky breath, covering her face with both hands, "But how many angels do you know— No, forget I said that. I don't want to know."
Without waiting for a response and copying the movement of this morning's victim, she snapped her fingers. Breaking the dream with a white flash.
Opening his eyes, now in the real world, Adryan opened his mouth, but no words came out. Holding his throat, his lips made the motion of saying 'Oh'.
No matter how hard he tried, no sound came out of his mouth.
'So this is what it feels like to have no voice. It's curious.'
Lowering her hand and getting up from the bench, the hooded woman began her way to the park exit.
"When you learn how to behave, I'll give it back to you. Now let's go. All this talking made me hungry. I want Milanese with mashed potatoes."
Due to Hazel's problem, all team meetings had been put on hold for now, so they had the rest of Sunday off. And Flora planned to spend the whole day on the couch.
Stopping a few steps ahead, remembering something, an almost inaudible murmur was heard: "Forget about sleeping today. You're grounded."
With that, the Jacob continued on her way.
'Oh...' Somewhat embarrassed, Adryan scratched his neck as he caught up with the woman.
He was really grateful that the Hunter had such a resilient body. Although it often seemed that his girlfriend took it more as a challenge to see how much he could take without breaking...
Well, not that he was complaining. He loved how aggressive she was with him.
Genuinely curious about this side of himself, Adryan paused to think.
'Would that count as masochism?
'Actually, that would explain a lot...' Putting this out of his mind, the man sighed as he stood to the right of the white-haired woman.
With the corners of his lips curving upward, he took the woman's hand in his.
It would be a long night, so the Milanese had better be thick and crispy!
'Thanks for the recipe, Mom.' Praising the person who made the best Milanese he had ever eaten, and who shared the recipe with him, the park was soon left behind.
In the southeast of the Artelia district.
A woman wearing rather curious clothing walked through the streets of Azshara's artistic heart. She had no apparent destination, glancing at the various stalls and events she passed. Her gaze showed no interest in them; it was just a movement she made so as not to look at the same place all the time.
After an unknown amount of time, she stopped in front of a building—an elegant sign with the name Vico Theater written in Lenburg.
Since yesterday, she hasn't been able to take more than 10 steps without hearing about this theater. Not because it was the most beautiful in the district or the most popular, but because of the exclusivity of one of its performances.
Her blue eyes moved slightly above the sign, to the first play on the billboard.
The Adventures of Mickey Mouse and Goofy - Sold out, wait for announcements.
With a hint of interest in her eyes, the strangely dressed woman turned around. Disappearing into the crowd and the festivities.