Chapter 534: Three Crises

Again with Sense.

This was not the first time Ashe had heard the term, and he doubted it would be the last. Ever since his transmigration to this world, the gaze of the Four Pillar Deities had followed him everywhere. No matter the kingdom, they clung to him like a stalker magically appearing at every new address, or like automated welcome messages greeting a traveler at every destination.

Unable to hold it back any longer, Ashe voiced the question every terminally ill patient eventually asked from the bottom of their heart. "Why me?"

"Because you carry Sense's scent," Mercury Trojan Horse replied.

"That is from Everlasting Doom, the regional distributor of the Four Pillar Deities in the Gospel Kingdom. It was a little gift she left me," the mere mention filled Ashe with resentment. "That little gift deserves most of the credit for the miserable state I'm in right now..."

As time passed, the Everlasting Wanderer profession hadn't weakened in the slightest. If anything, it had grown stronger with each new version update. Back when Ashe was only a Two-Winged sorcerer, its effect was plus five to Luck checks under normal circumstances and minus fifty at critical moments. After he advanced and reached the Distant Sky Domain, it evolved into plus ten Luck in ordinary situations and minus one hundred whenever it truly mattered.

There was no doubt Ashe's current predicament resulted from triggering that minus one hundred modifier. As for where the plus ten went, it probably all vanished into gacha pulls. His luck had been exhausted drawing Moon Star Swimsuit: Swordswoman and Empress in the Rain: Witch.

"It's not her," Mercury Trojan Horse said. She crouched down, attempting to touch Ashe. Before she could, Tahmas intercepted her wrist.

She remained unbothered. "The difference between her scent and your own resembles the difference between this campfire and the night itself. The flames shine brightly, but the night is far deeper."

Her words made Ashe suspicious enough to sniff the back of his own hand. With some effort, he thrust it toward Iger. “I don’t smell anything. Do I stink to you?”

Iger ignored the ridiculous question, keeping his eyes on Mercury Trojan Horse. "You looked at me earlier. Does that mean I also carry Sense's scent?"

"You do not," she answered, "but you possess the potential to become one. Each Sense is capable of perceiving different aspects of the world. The Everlasting Doom you mentioned likely perceives the threads of fate. That enabled her to leave behind a curse like yours.

"As for me, what I perceive is truth. Nothing in this world can hide from my sight. I discover every person's talent, awaken every person's potential, and guide each one down the path best suited for them. That is how the Four Pillars Cult managed to either crush or absorb countless sects in just a few short years, becoming the greatest power in Myriad Continent."

Hearing those words, Harvey and Iger glanced at Ashe.

What Mercury Trojan Horse said sounded convincing enough. Taking Everlasting Doom as an example, founding a cult in the Gospel Kingdom, where the Divine Spirit Gospel practically pre-arranged everyone's lives, was no different from playing a game on the absolute hardest difficulty. Though her career as a cult leader ultimately met its end at the hands of the Red Hats in the Gospel Kingdom, she still managed to escape unscathed while also finding time to saddle Ashe with one last curse.

Meanwhile, Mercury Trojan Horse built the Four Pillars Cult into the most dominant force across the Myriad Continent, making her the undisputed ace distributor for the Four Pillar Deities.

It was difficult to say which of the two, Everlasting Doom or Mercury Trojan Horse, was more capable, as the circumstances played a major role. One thing that remained beyond dispute, however, was that of the three cult leaders encountered, Ashe stood out as by far the most pathetic one. In fact, they suspected he ranked dead last among every cult leader serving the Four Pillar Deities across all kingdoms.

Feeling deeply offended by the pity in their eyes, the Disgrace of the Cult Leaders snapped. "What are you staring at? Keep it up... and I will punch you..."

Iger withdrew his gaze, turning back to Mercury Trojan Horse with a faint smile. "So besides awakening other people's talents, you can parasitize them, can you not?"

She stroked the mercury coating around her neck. "That serves merely as an insurance policy. Whenever I discover someone I truly value possessing exceptional talent, I leave a trace of mercury inside their body.

"If they suffer injuries they cannot survive, the mercury repairs their body. Then I take control, using it to lead them safely out of danger."

Bang!

The instant Tahmas threw a punch at Mercury Trojan Horse, Alice grabbed his wrist from the side. His gauntleted fist stopped mere inches from her face, yet the force of the blow exploded into a thunderous shockwave cracking through the air.

Mercury Trojan Horse let out a muffled groan, staggering back a step. Blood seeped from her nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. She paid it no mind. Wiping away the blood, she smiled. "You see? Unless someone reaches the Sacred Realm, even the most gifted genius can lose their life with shocking ease. Death remains the harshest of merchants. The mercury I leave within them grants them the bargaining power to negotiate with Death."

Tahmas's distorted voice rose into a nearly hysterical scream. "You are lying! You are nothing but a traitor! An Evil Crow! You greedy, power-hungry monster! You never wanted to save anyone. You only wanted to control everyone and manipulate everything! You despicable beast! How dare you pretend to be innocent? If not for you, if not for you..."

Mercury Trojan Horse said nothing. She merely looked at Ashe.

Beside him, Iger let out a soft sigh.

The campfire's light shrank. Night was closing in.

Tahmas wasn't one to lose sight of the bigger picture. He took a deep breath, turned his back on everyone, and sat cross-legged facing the campfire. His posture resembled that of someone meditating, but his slightly trembling shoulders showed that he had yet to calm down.

Ashe asked the question everyone wanted answered. "What exactly is Sense?"

"Sense is simply Sense. It doesn't have any deeper meaning beyond that," Mercury Trojan Horse looked at Ashe with some puzzlement. "Aren't you a Sense yourself? How do you not know what it is?"

Ashe knew she was referring to Heath's situation, but now clearly wasn't the time to explain. He said bluntly, "I forgot. Could you explain it in more detail?"

Mercury Trojan Horse raised an eyebrow. "I can't explain it in any more detail, because it's really not that complicated. Sense is simply the Four Pillar Deities' sense of touch."

Harvey interrupted, "You mean...the Four Pillar Deities need to rely on people like you to perceive the world?"

Mercury Trojan Horse nodded. "Exactly. Everyone's aptitude is different, so the world the Four Pillar Deities perceive through each of us is different as well. Take me, for example. Through me, the Four Pillar Deities can perceive only reality. That's why, in my eyes, everything in the world is orderly and clearly defined, with every piece of information laid out in plain sight.

"I didn't ask for your names because I already knew. You are Ashe Heath, Iger Perskin, and Archibald Harvey. I know how old you are, your personalities, hobbies, sorcery classes, and spirit systems as clearly as if I'd read them from a file. When I look at you, what I see is a résumé."

So Sense is the sense the Four Pillar Deities use to perceive the world?

Ashe still found the concept difficult to comprehend. "Why do the Four Pillar Deities have to go through all this trouble? Aren't they Divine Lords?"

"They are far from the Divine Lords," Mercury Trojan Horse answered calmly. "The Divine Lords are merely a group of thieves who stole the Virtual World. The Four Pillar Deities are the true masters of the Virtual World. Long before sorcerers ever climbed to the sixth level of the Virtual World, the Four Pillar Deities already existed."

Ashe and the others said nothing. Their expressions seemed to say that this fanatic was already too far gone, and they might as well humor her.

"Is now really the time to investigate what kind of foul garbage is festering inside the brain of a cultist crow?" Tahmas asked coldly.

Ashe remained focused on the topic. "Why does becoming Sense allow someone to save themselves?"

"You have three crises to deal with right now," Mercury Trojan Horse said. "The first is that your bodies have been parasitized by the Blood Seed Miracle. The Blood Seed corresponds to the Blood Core. It continuously drains your life force and sends it into the Blood River. The Blood Core is currently far away from you, but it's only a matter of time before you're completely drained.

"Removing the Blood Seed will also be extremely difficult. It's a Miracle sealed away by a Legendary sorcerer. Unless you know the correct method of dispelling it, only a Legendary sorcerer can forcibly break it."

Ashe and the others had never heard the term Blood Seed before, but the ritual gave them an intense sense of déjà vu.

"The second crisis is the Twisting Green that appears at night. However, that's not an immediate concern, because all three of you are Candle Lords capable of enduring Twisting Green."

Before Ashe and the others could breathe a sigh of relief, Mercury Trojan Horse continued. "That being said, you're not perfect Candle Lords, so you'll inevitably suffer some contamination when you pass through the night. If you spend a full night outside tonight, you will each acquire a negative trait: Lust, Corpse Phobia, and Cruelty, with maximum survival limits of fifteen, thirty, and eight nights, respectively. Any more than that, and you'll burn away completely and become Twisting Green creatures."

Ashe looked puzzled. "How is cruelty a negative trait?"

Iger pointed at Harvey. "Corpse Phobia definitely is."

Ashe froze for a moment before realizing what Iger meant.

It was like how, for someone who loved playing games, gaming impotence could be considered a negative trait, while someone who didn't play games wouldn't care about it at all. Traits weren't inherently good or bad. Their effects depended on the person who possessed them.

"Aside from those two, what's our third crisis?" Iger asked.

Mercury Trojan Horse nodded. "The third crisis has to do with the woman who is about to become Sense. The Blood Core that's draining your life force is currently searching for the divine treasure of the Fire Cat Age."