Lord of the Mysteries: I Married the Queen Mystic

Fortunately, the power of this formidable enemy quickly dissipated...

The carpet settled back onto the floor, the tables and chairs stopped moving, and their clothes no longer tightened. The members of the 'Machinery Hivemind' who had felt as if their throats were being strangled just moments ago could finally breathe freely again. They all gasped heavily.

By this time, the severely wounded 'Zombie' had already escaped.

Max and the others pushed aside the surrounding tables and chairs and immediately rushed into the backyard, only to find that the flanking team had been obstructed by the plants and trees in the courtyard. Although they had managed to eliminate two enemies, a portion of them had still fled.

At this moment, Ikanser caught up. Seeing that there were no casualties, he let out a sigh of relief, "The enemy is stronger than we anticipated!"

He knew full well that a demigod from the 'Rose School of Thought' had intervened earlier, "Fortunately, we arrived suddenly, which caused them to flee in panic."

Otherwise, a single demigod would have been enough to wipe them out. Fortunately, that demigod had reservations and did not engage in prolonged combat, merely covering the escape of their subordinates.

Nearly every member of the 'Machinery Hivemind' was injured. They were either bruised by the tables and chairs or pierced by the plants, though none of the wounds were severe.

The uninjured members began searching the entire villa. Most of the people inside were dead, especially the women, many of whom had been tortured to death in brutal ways.

After conducting a preliminary search, Ikanser and Max stood by, watching the busy doctors and subordinates while smoking.

Ikanser smoothed his messy brown hair, "We should give Odis a bigger bonus this time. Otherwise, even if everyone here had died, we might not have noticed anything unusual."

Max sighed first, "The 'Indulgence Faction' of the 'Rose School of Thought' is as cruel and bloodthirsty as ever." Then he added, "Odis previously expressed a desire to obtain the potion formula for a 'Warlock'..." {T/N: 'Warlock' is Sequence 7 of the 'Mystery Pryer' Pathway...}

Ikanser was taken aback, "Try to persuade him to choose another reward. The voice of the evil god becomes increasingly pronounced at the 'Warlock' Sequence. He would become a major destabilizing factor."

Max crushed the cigarette butt under his foot, "I'll do my best to convince him."

....

~South of the Bridge, in a rundown apartment~

The escaped members of the 'Indulgence Faction' of the 'Rose School of Thought' treated their wounds while cursing the official Beyonders...

In another room, a pale and lifeless-looking 'Wraith' stood obediently in the center.

Suddenly, as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart, he fell to his knees in agony.

A phantom-like figure appeared on the window glass, accompanied by a cold voice, "Fool! It's only been a few days, and you've already been exposed!"

The 'Wraith' hurriedly explained, "We... we were very careful."

"Then how did the official Beyonders get the information?"

The 'Wraith' was equally baffled. He had no idea...

....

~Sunday morning~

The parts for the Flamebolts previously ordered from the foundry arrived...

These parts had already been polished and smoothed, requiring only a thorough cleaning before use.

After washing and drying them, Odis taught Kain how to engrave the parts using the leg bone of a mutated flamingo. The engraving process required skill... mixing the juice of an agave plant with the blood of a mutated flamingo would temporarily soften the metal.

Although the softening effect lasted only three seconds, it was enough to carve the metal using the much more fragile flamingo bone.

Odis first drew the patterns to be engraved on each part with a white pencil, demonstrated the technique, and then left the repetitive work to Kain.

The engraving would take at least three or four days to complete.

As noon approached, Simon arrived again, "Sir, I bring good news. You can compete at King's Avenue tonight. As a first-time participant, you'll earn 260 pounds if you win and 150 pounds if you lose."

Odis nodded slowly, "And the rules?"

Simon immediately replied, "The match must take place within the designated area. You may use one melee weapon. The match ends when one fighter is knocked unconscious or sustains an injury that significantly impairs combat ability. If you withdraw without reason, you won't get a single penny."

Odis chuckled, "So, at the very least, blood must be shed before the match ends..."

Simon stood there reverently. Had Odis not shown his true nature, Simon might have retorted mockingly, "Did you think the nobles' money would be so easy to earn?"

But now, he didn't dare say such a thing and was momentarily at a loss for words...

Odis asked again, "What time do we leave?"

"Six in the evening. I'll come to pick you up."

Odis nodded. "Good."

....

The entire afternoon passed uneventfully...

Odis had initially planned to visit the boxing club again, but considering the Extraordinary fight scheduled for that night, he decided to conserve his energy.

Instead, he spent the afternoon contemplating how to write his book on combat.

First, he intended to include Bajiquan (Eight Extremes Fist) in the book, presenting it as the martial art of his own school. Of course, he couldn't outright call it Bajiquan. He had already decided to claim that it was a lost combat style he had discovered in an ancient artifact.

He had considered attributing it to Emperor Roselle again, but then thought better of it, fearing potential inquiries from Bernadette. In the end, he decided it was safer to obscure the origins of Bajiquan.

If the book accidentally fell into Klein's hands and he came asking, Odis would decide then whether to reveal their shared heritage or continue pretending ignorance, claiming it came from an Elven relic...

As he brainstormed, he jotted down notes. By the end of the afternoon, he had a general outline for the book.

He planned to title it 'Outline of Combat'. It would begin with an overview of combat philosophy and principles, then introduce Bajiquan and several other common schools, followed by extensive case studies demonstrating practical combat techniques.

Around 100 000 words would suffice, after which he would contact a publisher...

...

At a little past five in the evening, Odis had an early dinner and left Kain in charge of the shop.

As six o'clock approached, Simon arrived in a rented carriage to pick him up.

After boarding, Odis said, "First, make a stop at Unit 75 Hailin Avenue."

"Understood." Simon knocked on the carriage wall and loudly relayed the address to the coachman.

Upon arriving home, Odis changed into a neat and practical knight's outfit before heading to the basement.

The basement was filled with an array of mystical weapons... some experimental, others fully crafted. There were crossbows, large and small axes, shields, rifles, and most abundantly, swords and hatchets with various enchantments.

In the end, Odis selected a sword and a cane. He wrapped the sword in cloth and carried the cane as he left the basement. From his study, he also retrieved a half-face mask.

Normally, he didn't care much for carrying a cane, but today, he found the accessory oddly awkward.

Once back in the carriage, they traveled for over half an hour before arriving at Unit 155 King's Avenue...

...

{T/N: As of this moment, this Translation is still rated 0 stars due to the lack of Reviews, just like the Traveler lotm fic that I stopped Translating... Here goes my motivation...}