Mysteries: Arcana Wars

Chapter 478: The Prelude

"Detective, now is the time for us to fight back!"

The god who governs wishes actually made a wish to a different god.

"What... Hey, Klein, don't pull my clothes! I'll catch up myself, hey!"

He obtained the predetermined result, but did not know what price he would have to pay.

"The night is still long, but it is also very short, sir!"

"Wh...what knight...wait...wait, what are you doing!"

For the best outcome, for the least cost, don the twisted blessing of the other gods, until that wish is fulfilled.

"I am the actor, writer, and director of this story."

Klein then pointed to the doll next to him.

"And tonight's stagehands."

Then there's Leonard.

"This is the second male lead in the story."

"???"

The blood-stained crowbar was used as a cane, spinning once in the magician's hand before landing steadily on the ground.

Tonight, He is the protagonist of this story!

Tonight, I am the protagonist of this story—

"Miracle Magician - Merlin Hermes!"

Good evening, everyone!

It takes [desire] as its shell, [connection] as its core, and [nothingness] as its essence.

The real and the unreal are transformed, and cause and effect are reversed.

Domain Rhapsody!

Before tonight's wish comes true, any narrative that aligns with the character settings and story development will become reality!

Come on, let's make up a story!

Before the predetermined ending of the story, fabricate causes and logic!

Tonight, what crazy plot twists will you use to construct the narrow bridge to your dreams?

With a wave of his hand, Klein brought the shattered carousel to life. The fragments pieced together in mid-air to form what appeared to be a white horse, which galloped toward Leonard.

As a result, all sorts of mechanical fragments leaped out of the ruins one after another, following the white horse and flying towards Leonard.

The swing seat folds into a helmet, the burning embers become armor, and the spinning carousel becomes his mount.

The giant cartoon character sculptures shattered during the destruction, then took flight at the magician's summons, intertwining and combining in Leonard's hands to form a giant scythe.

The once adorable characters now resemble weapons made from grotesquely stacked corpse parts. Large black iron plates are wedged into scythes composed of cartoon fragments, forming sharp blades.

"Now, welcome our 'Knight'—to the stage!"

In the obsidian-enclosed amusement park, a surge of spirituality emerges from nothingness and lands on Leonard's candy sickle.

When Leonard acts as the [Scythe Knight] in the Realm of Rhapsody, as long as his actions conform to Klein's storyline and character settings, his success rate increases, propelling the [Cause] to reach the [Result] more quickly and safely.

This immediately solved Leonard's biggest problem.

During the pursuit, Leonard had no reason to use excessive power due to the surveillance of the citizen identification system and the Church of the Night.

Now, in Klein's story, a new role has been tailor-made for him, solving this problem so he can shed all burdens and go all out in battle.

What? The power I used surpasses Sequence Seven?

Oh, Your Excellency, that power was granted to me by the legendary wish-granting machine!

My loyalty to the Church of the Night and to the Siviras Field is as clear as day!

They're not some malicious angel lurking in Backlund!

It's all the fault of the fully automatic wish-granting machine!

The great power of the alien gods, responding to the call of the Lord of Mysteries, and guided by their desires, has created an incredible story.

That is the source of power.

This is the second domain that Klein has acquired from the Mad Goddess Alice. Although this domain is ostensibly driven by the power of wishes, Klein understands that what truly works beneath the surface is the Mad Goddess's authority of [Causality].

In madman stories, as long as the plot meets the requirements, the actor is fully immersed in the character and believes that he is the character in the story, the fabricated plot can come true and the predetermined ending can be achieved.

The [Domain of Silence] that Klein used before was also a domain derived from the power of the Mad God. Its usage is relatively simple: by creating a sufficient amount of ethereal dust, a domain can be established, silencing all extraordinary abilities within it except for the power of Alice's Authority.

The downside is that Klein also has a certain chance of being affected. If he's unlucky, his power as the Lord of Mysteries will be silenced, but that's a low-probability event.

Compared to the Realm of Silence, the Rhapsody is much more demanding to construct, but the power it unleashes is completely incomparable to that of the Realm of Silence.

Gold star coins for making wishes, unwavering desires, obsidian to build the stage, stories that match the keywords, and a performance with wholehearted dedication.

Indispensable.

Klein only has two Star Coins, meaning he only has two chances to use his cheat code.

Now, cherish the coins you've tossed.

Turn it over!

"I am Merlin Hermes, the Magician of Miracles. Tonight, I will join forces with the knight wielding a scythe to vanquish this ferocious monster!"

Klein wore a bright smile, showing no sign of being anxious at all.

He no longer had any doubts and completely immersed himself in the role.

"My dear knight, can you tell me where that terrifying monster is hiding?"

"...How the hell am I supposed to know you're a magician? Shouldn't you be the one looking for him?"

The knight scratched his head.

Hey, I'm going to look for clues, really?

Even though he was already in character, Leonard looked completely bewildered, having no idea what the Cavaliers were supposed to do.

...Or perhaps the knight in this story is now just an unlucky fellow, a passive straight man.

The knight only needs to fight in front, while the magician behind him has many more things to consider.

"What a heartbreaking answer! I'm so sad I could cry."

The magician pouted, glanced at his eyes, and wiped away non-existent tears with his sleeve. In no time, he transformed into a Sichuan opera performer, his face still beaming with a bright smile, showing no sign of sadness whatsoever.

"But luckily, I actually found traces of that monster!"

"Shh! Sir Knight, come here quickly!"

The knight led his horse slowly closer, coming to the magician's side and looking around.

"Look, what have I found?"

"These are... the monster's footprints!"

The magician pointed the bloodstained crowbar at the ground, and the knight looked in the direction of the crowbar.

A group of little mice carrying small bags emerged from all directions, gathered in a line where the crowbar pointed, and marched forward together, leaving a long trail that led to the unknown distance.

The knight felt these little mice looked familiar, so he picked one up and couldn't resist opening its little backpack to take a look.

Inside the backpack were beautiful obsidian lenses.