Fire Mage

Chapter 486: Book of the Past

Before Mystique could open his mouth, Charles suddenly sensed something appeared in his mind and soon widened his eyes.

At that moment, a new type of information appeared in his Inner World.

'Oh? My incarnation managed to cast the [Burning Consciousness] spell on Luis?' He couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

At the same time, he raised his hand to stop Mystique from responding, leaned on the golden throne, and spoke with a smile.

"Please wait for a while, Jace. I need some time to think."

This time, it was Mystique's turn to be shocked!

'H-How did he know about my real name? Mind reading? Impossible!' While Jace was muttering in confusion, Charles shifted his attention towards his Inner World and started reading the new memories.

'Memories about the Deceivers Organization... Book of the Past... True History of the Faith Realm... Goddess Zaqiel... Bryson's new goal...'

As he started reading, the first thing that caught his attention was the information about Bryson's appearance.

'He is a man with no face... Bryson also has some deep knowledge about ancient languages and history...' Charles also found more information about the mysterious angel statue in Nash's secret chamber and soon furrowed his brows.

'Amay... The Deceivers Organization worships this being as the Goddess of Nightmare and Illusions... Bryson and the Deceivers' organization members weren't tricked by this being but chose to worship this Goddess willingly to get strength in return. It was more like a mutual relationship. The Amay Goddess wanted to establish a Church in this plane, while Bryson needed a powerful backer to achieve his own goal. As long as one sacrifices enough materials or treasures to the Goddess, they will get a bloodline vial in return from the Goddess herself... The more you sacrifice your wealth and treasures, the more you will benefit from the Goddess... Wait... Is Bryson already under the control of this Goddess?' Charles furrowed his brows and continued to read about the Book of the Past artifact.

The more he read about the Book's other abilities and Bryson's recent actions, the more he understood the current situation of the Deceivers' organization.

'The Book of the Past seemed to have sealed Bryson's memories about the 'Nightmare Box' deep in his Inner World and stopped the 'Eternal Nightmare Curse' from affecting him... From all the conversations Luis had with Bryson, I can vaguely tell that he doesn't have much memory about what happened 210 years ago. He probably erased all the memories about the Nightmare box and evaded the curse. Still, the curse seems to be still there in his body. Because of that, he seems to be avoiding any information related to Druid's Guild or the Light Church...'

'He also used the Book of the Past frequently and learned more about the history of this Faith Plane... In truth, he became a new person with a different goal.'

'But the main thing is: Why did he become a servant to a foreign Goddess? If this guy is smart enough to evade this curse, he should've prepared for other obstacles, right? Moreover, what is his strange habit of painting strange creatures' images on walls and floors? He does that whenever he uses the Book of the Past?'

Although Luis believed that this might be a side effect of overusing the Book of the Past, Charles felt it had other meanings.

'Are there any clues in those images? Or maybe I'm overthinking? Also, how does he know that I needed the silver crowns?' Questions whirled inside his head.

At that moment, a clear image of the painting of the strange creatures appeared in Charles's mind.

'Abyssal Rose? Three-headed humanoid creature? Wait! Why do I feel like I had seen these creatures before?'

A similar image flashed before his eyes as he looked at that particular memory.

The next instant, Charles got stunned for a moment and soon muttered out loud.

"I remember now!"

When Charles and the Aces Team members searched for clues about Red Prince in Riverdale City, he saw similar paintings in Jimmy's house.

'Same creatures... Hmm, something is wrong with the painting. Hints to something?' He thought for a moment and then decided to erase it from his memories.

He knew that many strange beings out there could transverse through realms and possess anyone who came in contact with these mysterious symbols or paintings.

For example, even muttering a particular name, drawing a symbol, or even doing some unique hand signs were more than enough to attract some Divine Being's attention!

He didn't want to make the same mistake as before when he muttered a particular Time God's name and almost got himself killed.

'If Luis encountered such a problem when he looked into the true history or his Past, I would've thought of it as a normal thing. But it seems Bryson is the only one who seems to be seeing these creatures in the Book.'

'Maybe his mind got corrupted by the chaos power?' Charles massaged his temple and also noticed another anomaly.

'Bryson hasn't left the organization's headquarters for more than five decades. Moreover, he seemed to be gathering these crowns based on intuition only.' Not only that, but he was trying his best to lessen the number of the organization members in recent years.

Even when Nash died earlier, Bryson told the other members not to look for another candidate to replace his position. Instead, he told others to lay low for a while.

'Is he afraid of something? Or, is he in a weakened state and is in dire need of an outsider's help? Is that why he always stays in the headquarters? He forgot about what happened 210 years ago but acted like he already knew what would happen next-'

'Wait! There is a high possibility that the one acting outside is not his original consciousness but a clone one. Yes, Bryson's original consciousness might be hiding deep inside his Inner World and scheming something big. By doing this, he could've avoided being influenced by any external force.' Indeed, after Charles came to this realm, he hadn't met anyone who entered their Inner World. Even the Rank-5 Demon Sorcerers and Awaken Knights hadn't entered their Inner World and were using spells with the help of Divine or a Demon during battle.

That's why the Elemental Sorcerers were pretty weak in this plane.

'They also hadn't undergone any elemental heart ceremony. But unlike others, Bryson is different. He must have already created the elemental imprint.'

'If I'm not wrong, his goal must be similar to mine. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent these silver crowns to me as a gift. He wants me to free the 'Nightmare' from the sealed box? What a tricky guy.' Although Charles couldn't understand why he did that, he was more or less happy with how things were going now.

But what startled him more was another piece of information about Goddess Zaqiel from the Book of the Past!

There was no Light Church thousands of years ago, nor was Goddess Zaqiel a Light Magic-user!

Luis learned this information from the 'Book of the Past.'

If it were before, Charles wouldn't have put too much thought into it.

But after he read about the Book of the Past's abilities and Bryson, he was more or less convinced that it was a powerful intellectual artifact to see the history itself.

'It has the power to show the true history and one's Past in a matter of seconds... Not an ordinary intellectual artifact but most probably a Series-S artifact.'

Unlike the coin necklace, this one was a real deal and seemed to have many mysterious powers.

'Moreover, it isn't a controllable one; because it could read one's Past like a mind reader and is even capable of manipulating others' will to some extent!'

Other than Bryson and three other people like Luis, no one in the Deceivers' Organization would dare to even get near it.