Chapter 1 The Beginning

The snow fell in a flurry, not too heavy, but it seemed like it would last a long time. The sun's light was obscured by dark clouds, and the light that filtered through was not too bright, but it was definitely there.

Looking out through the street-facing window, one could see people already on the road – survivors of the disaster, with fear still lingering in their eyes.

These shaken citizens emerged from their hiding places, confirming the presence of familiar faces on the streets, inquiring about the missing, asking if there was any news from the upper city, or still immersed in the terror of the mirror invasion, cowering in fear at every figure that passed before them, rushing out of their homes only to quickly lock themselves back inside.

Battle-scarred steam walkers and equally battered city-state guards, constabulary forces, and guardian squads passed by the intersection. Their appearance reassured many people. The loudspeakers on the steam walkers broadcast announcements that the anomaly had ended – the mirror invasion had subsided, and the entire city would enter a forty-eight-hour period of martial law. The city-state authorities would use this time to regain control of the situation and clear out any hidden dangers in the city. Supplies, electricity, steam power, and fresh water would be restored as soon as possible, and all districts were notified to report casualties as soon as possible…

The crackling loudspeaker broadcast faded into the distance, its rough sound quality further emphasizing the desolate atmosphere on the streets in this snowy city, but after the steam walkers passed through the streets, many people's nerves did indeed relax a little.

Shirley leaned against the living room window, watching the scene on the street while muttering, "I wonder how long this chaos will last… Bread will definitely go up in price."

Nina sat on the sofa next to her, her mouth open, blowing out enough hot air to distort the air. Hearing Shirley's murmur, she turned her head, "It's definitely going to be chaotic for a while. It took Prand three days to restore order back then – but it definitely won't be too chaotic, after all, the constabulary forces are still around…"

Nina quickly covered her mouth with her hand, apologizing vaguely while hot air escaped from the corner of her mouth, "Sorry, sorry… I was in that state for too long…"

As soon as Shirley heard the voice, she quickly turned around and stood at attention. Nina also jumped off the sofa and ran towards Duncan with a smile, "Uncle Duncan!"

Duncan also smiled, gently hugging Nina, who was exuding heat from her whole body. He turned his head again and nodded slightly in response to Maurice and Vanna, who were standing up from the chairs beside them and bowing in salute, "Looks like you're all in good shape."

"In good shape," Maurice adjusted his monocle, "and deeply shocked."

As he spoke, his gaze noticed something placed on the dining table not far away.

It was a large book with a black cover, without any text or symbols on the cover. The whole book exuded an eerie and dangerous atmosphere.

"Is this the 'Book of Blasphemy' that you seized from that annihilation cult ringleader?" Duncan's gaze fell on the book. "It doesn't look like proper reading material…"

"Yes," Maurice nodded, carefully picking up the book. "Afterwards, I made some simple identifications of this book while ensuring safety, and speculated that this should not be an 'original', but a copy held by a special member of the annihilation cult – because if it were the original, it should have more powerful power, and it would be more valuable, it's impossible for a ringleader to bring it into the city-state casually."

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, with a hint of uncertainty in his tone, "As for the function of this book… it may be used to spread doctrine, or it may serve as a medium for casting spells or rituals. It contains some content related to the Abyss Saint Lord. This part of the content should be the source of power for those cultists, but the specific situation can only be guessed."

As he spoke, he handed the book over, "Do you want to take a look now?"

"Guest?" Vanna asked curiously from the side, "What kind of guest would be here at this time?"

Duncan glanced at Vanna, his tone with a smile, "Your colleague, she's coming this way."

After speaking, he didn't pay attention to Vanna's suddenly strange expression, but went to the window facing the street on his own, sat down on the sofa, in a posture of waiting patiently.

Footsteps sounded from beside him, Alice walked up to Duncan, the doll lady's face with the same optimistic expression as always, "Captain! When are we going home? Are we going back after receiving the guest?"

Duncan raised his eyelids and looked at the solid-headed doll, "Do you think… things here are over?"

Duncan: "…?"

He choked for a long while before finally uttering, "Usually speaking, shouldn't there be a princess or something in this kind of picture book…" "The princess ran away with the housekeeper…"

Duncan was silent for a few seconds, and took a light breath.

"Where did this kind of picture book come from?"

Alice thought for a while, and raised her hand to point at Shirley, "There are a lot in her room…"

In the next second, before Duncan could speak, Shirley jumped up and rushed towards the door, "I saw a used bookstore that couldn't stay open anymore and was clearing out books cheaply, so I bought a bunch. Didn't you ask me to read more books usually, preferably starting with picture books? I didn't expect they would all be such strange things. No wonder they couldn't stay open. It's really not my fault…"

The girl ran across half the living room howling like a ghost. Duncan hadn't even planned to teach her a lesson, and she had already ran to the door, slammed it open, and ran outside.

In the next second, there was a bang outside the door, followed by Shirley's exclamation, "Holy crap, what the hell did I bump into…"

Almost everyone in the room was dumbfounded – Alice didn't even realize what had happened, Nina was startled by Shirley's close-range ghost howling, Vanna didn't expect Shirley to be so bold, Maurice… this highly respected old gentleman was still immersed in the story of "the princess ran away with the housekeeper" and was deeply shocked.

Only Duncan remained sitting comfortably on the sofa, neither chasing after Shirley nor curious about what was happening at the door.

He just turned his head and looked at the door.

Footsteps sounded, and a young lady walked in hesitantly.

She was wearing a black priest's robe with church insignia, her eyes were covered with a thick layer of black cloth, her long hair was scattered behind her, and scar-like marks could still be seen on the exposed skin of her arms and neck. Those terrifying wounds were like stigmata, with a sacred aura.

More importantly, she was carrying Shirley, who was flailing her arms and legs, in her hand.

"Sorry," Agatha raised her head, "looking" at the figures in the room with a little nervousness, "I wanted to knock on the door, but… she suddenly ran out."

As she spoke, her gaze swept across the room.

In the room, which had faded in color and presented a black, white, and gray texture, figures with a strong sense of presence entered her "vision"—

She saw a dim silhouette of an old man, surrounded by colored light streams, and matrix-like light spots flashing in the old man's body, as if Lahm was casting his gaze on the mortal world;

There was also a tall figure standing next to the old man. The inside of the figure's outline was dark and chaotic, filled with ominous light and shadow reminiscent of the subspace, but there was also a touch of ghostly green flame jumping between the light and shadow, maintaining the stability of the figure;

A bright arc of flame stood near the window. The flame did not seem to have the power of mysterious attributes, but it released pure light and heat. Just looking at it made one feel as if their soul was being scorched;

There was also an empty shell standing in the room, with countless faint threads spreading out from around the shell. She seemed to be casting a curious gaze this way. Under that gaze, Agatha even felt a fear that her own soul would be captured and turned into one of the "threads."

And among these figures, there was the most powerful one.

A brilliant starlight walked towards her.

"Welcome, I've been waiting for you for a long time."