My esoteric uncle Jules

Chapter 139 The Truth from Hundreds of Years Ago

Stepping into the chapel again, a peculiar feeling lingered in Lele's heart.

He had a feeling that the final piece of the puzzle was indeed here.

The statue still stands silently, as if the changes to the monastery have had no effect on it.

Jules gazed at the statue.

After the ritual of breaking the mirror had reached its final stage, he finally began to understand something about the idol.

"Does it harbor the laws of the crescent moon...?"

He closed his eyes and quietly felt it.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, it should represent the authority to "transform the virtual into the real."

So, what will happen if we break it too?
The fact that he had previously broken the statue into pieces and then restored it himself must have been related to this ritual.

"It seems that the key to the ceremony lies here."

Jules raised his hand and, without the slightest hesitation, chopped the statue in front of him into pieces.

This time, he chopped it up even more thoroughly—and paid even more attention to destroying the texture of the "mirror" on the idol.

The marble slabs scattered all over the floor, and then nothing else happened.

The statue, which had stood for hundreds of years, has officially disappeared.

But as it disappeared, something intangible was established in its place.

"Truth is beauty, and beauty is truth..."

A faint chanting sound rose from all around.

And amidst this chanting, Jules saw that the surrounding environment was undergoing a dramatic change.

The once dilapidated chapel seemed to have turned back time; the stained glass windows were no longer broken, the doors were no longer rotten, and even the statues on the ground began to be reassembled.

Even his face was being restored to the mirror image in Jules' memory.

Ram stared blankly at everything before him, stammering:

"Is this... is this a reversal of time?"

Although he had already accepted the existence of the legendary "mysticism" and "magic" in this short period of time, this was the first time he had witnessed such great power up close.

Therefore, it is inevitable that one will be shocked.

Jules shook his head and said:
"This is not a reversal of time, but its power is still awe-inspiring."

If he's not mistaken, this must be the arrival of an "illusion" from the mirror world.

Truth is beauty, and beauty is truth. The followers of the Crescent Moon believe that beauty is truth itself.

This symbolism, in the context of mystical rituals, is most directly manifested in the transformation between the real and the illusory!
He had some doubts in his mind—could it be that doing this would actually resurrect those people from back then and free them from their wandering spirit state?

Although he was unfamiliar with this field, he intuitively felt that resurrection could not possibly be so easy.

Just kidding, if this authority could save dozens or hundreds of people from death over hundreds of years, then it could only be described as a miracle.

At least, the most effective means of resurrection that he has seen so far is to turn people into zombies.

The changes in the surrounding environment were awe-inspiring, yet they occurred without making a sound, remaining completely silent.

A moment later, Jules felt as if he were in a medieval monastery hundreds of years ago, before the war for road rights had even begun.

Everything here is filled with the beauty left behind by that romanticized era.

An ancient and tranquil atmosphere permeated the air, as if time had truly stood still here.

His gaze fell on the walls, which had been restored to their pristine condition.

There are exquisite religious murals hanging there, depicting the deeds of saints, with bright colors and lifelike details.

These murals focus on depicting two themes:

Beauty, and sacrifice.

Suddenly, a familiar, gentle voice sounded behind him:

"The Mirror Queen's monastery was established relatively late, but when the first human exclamation of admiration for beauty was uttered, all people became her believers."

Jules turned his head and chuckled:

"Father Arcmoon, how have you been?"

At this moment, the marble statue that originally had a mirror-like sculpted texture has disappeared without anyone noticing, and in its place is the Crescent Moon Priest whose body still retains the color of marble.

Father Arcmoon seemed to want to laugh, but he forced a smile and finally sighed, his expression returning to calm.

"Thank you, otherwise, I would never have had the chance to make up for the mistakes I made."

Jules leaned against the wall and casually said:
"Tell me, Father, what exactly happened back then?"

Father Arc Moon paused for a moment, then said:
"My guess was correct. During the ritual, due to the lack of mithril, the mirror eventually shattered completely, which also marked the failure of the ritual."

"With the failure of the ritual, the backlash followed. In order to prevent the curse suppressed within me from erupting again and bringing great disaster to the residents of nearby Blancoug, we have all made the choice we are making now."

His tone was almost monotone, as if he were recounting something unrelated to himself.

Jules nodded, then asked:

"Why did we have to rush to eliminate the curse on that one night? After all, the curse had been going on for over a thousand years on Blanco, so there was no rush to wait."

Father Arc lowered his head and murmured:
"If I'm not mistaken, the reason you came here is because the ghoul graveyard can't hold on any longer, right?"

"Oh? You can tell?" Jules asked, somewhat surprised.

"Heh... I'm just making inferences based on the information I have."

Father Arc Moon shook his head and smiled bitterly, his eyes filled with helplessness.

"I suppose it was the current priest who told you that there are ritual materials here that can repair the seal on the ghoul graveyard?"

Seeing Jules nod, he sighed and said:
"That was just a lie we told so that future generations could have hope."

"...What do you mean?" Jules's brows furrowed.

So it turns out the restoration material I was looking for never existed in the first place?
The priest coughed and began to recount the secrets from hundreds of years ago:

"In the distant past, astrologers observed the fall of the sun and thus foresaw the future, the realm of ghouls that Blancco transformed into."

"The specific details of how our ancestors struggled to survive have long been lost in the darkness of the past, but one thing is certain—the astrologers left a prophecy that when the gravedigger arrives, Blankogg's curse will be completely eradicated."

He paused here, looked at Jules, and smiled gently:
"I seem to see a trace of the gravedigger in you; I hope it's not just my imagination."

Upon hearing this, Jules thought of the "gravekeeper's fragment" he had obtained, and the standard set by the priests when searching for people: "those who should have died but did not."

Could it be that I am actually the tomb keeper in this prophecy?

He fell into deep thought, and Father Arcmoon continued:
"In order to await the verification of the prophecy and to protect the people of Blancco, the Earl at that time paid a great price to set up this tomb that seals the ghouls."

Although we are responsible for maintaining the ceremony, in reality, the ceremony does not need maintenance; it will only slowly decay irreversibly over time.

Just as the law of winter manifests itself when it reaches its extreme, it will inevitably come to an end, and nothing external can delay this process.

Although suppressing the activity of ghouls in the graveyard can at least prevent the ritual from being disrupted by ghouls, the ritual will eventually break down one day.

Therefore, to avoid that day from coming, we decided to try to eliminate the curse at its source on the night when the Mirror Queen's power was at its peak.

After saying that, he said self-deprecatingly:
“Of course, it was a failure, a complete defeat.” Jules shook his head, patted Father Crescent on the shoulder, and said earnestly:
"No, although you failed, you were never completely defeated."

Before this, he had imagined some details, but he never expected it to be like this.

This Sanctuary of Divine Blessing truly lives up to its name of "Divine Blessing".

Father Arc Moon sighed again and said:

"I'm sorry, but if you wish to seek the restoration of the ghoul graveyard, I'm afraid I cannot do so."

Just as Jules was beginning to feel a little disappointed, he suddenly changed the subject:
"However, although it cannot be repaired, our ritual to remove the curse has still yielded some results."

"Please speak." Hearing this, Jules's tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little.

If we can obtain some of the methods used to remove the curse back then, at least it won't be a complete waste of time.

Father Arc Moon raised his head, his gaze fixed on the mirror hanging in mid-air, and said:
"Back then, after the ceremony failed, the core mirror split into two: one was a bronze mirror, and the other was a silver mirror."

"As long as we get that silver mirror and find my corpse, we can temporarily absorb some of the curses attached to those ghouls, making the ritual to seal the ghoul graveyard much more stable."

"Ha, since you've come this far, just tell me where I can get it."

Jules' lips curled slightly as he sized up Father Crescent Moon and said:

"Speaking of which, what is your current situation?"

Father Arc Moon smiled faintly:
"Just a memory—once the mission is complete, I will disappear into the space between reality and illusion."

He turned around, and his tall and upright figure now appeared somewhat hunched and forlorn.

"Come with me."

……

Along the way, Jules discovered that the entire monastery was showing signs of transformation toward its past, to varying degrees.

The only thing that hasn't changed is the courtyard in the center of the monastery, which is still filled with a sense of decay and desolation.

On the way, Jules and Lamb also educated Father Crescent about what era the world is in now and what it looks like, to which he was naturally full of amazement.

Upon hearing about Blancco's current development, the other party was deeply gratified, but also expressed profound concern.

After a long while, standing in the center of the monastery, in that familiar courtyard, Father Arc Moon frowned for the first time in a long time.

"It seems that the ritual has developed some problems over the centuries."

Jules' heart sank, and he said:
"How significant is the impact?"

"It's big in some ways, but not so big in others."

Father Arc, gazing at the midday sky, leisurely said:

"There seems to be a problem with the transition between reality and illusion here, which means that the two mirrors are still hidden in the gap between reality and illusion."

To get it, we'll probably have to wait until the next full moon.

The corners of Yule's mouth twitched:
"But I don't have that much time to waste."

He's in a hurry to get back to London, or at the very least, he needs to visit a quiet house within the next month.

How could we possibly wait here for a whole month, until the full moon?
On the way, he confirmed that he had not yet fully returned to reality, but his influence on reality was growing.

But if he doesn't get those two mirrors and completely end the ritual, he will never be able to return.

Just as Father Crescent was about to comfort Jules, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and said with some surprise:

"It seems that something capable of interfering with the mirror has entered the monastery."

What can interfere with a mirror?
Jules hesitated for a moment, and the image of Uriel appeared in his mind.

Could it be him?

Seeing Jules' seemingly thoughtful expression, Father Crescent Moon smiled and said:

"Do you know the person who came?"

“Not only do we know each other, but we might even have a grudge.” Jules chuckled, leaving Father Crescent somewhat puzzled.

Why are you so happy even though you have a grudge?

"Then I'll go and have a chat with him. You wait here for a while."

……

As soon as Uriel entered the monastery, he keenly noticed a fact—

Here, "the world has changed".

It was a change that was hard to explain, but he knew that it was most likely related to Jules.

"Hey there! I'm back with some stuff to help you!" He looked around for a while, then simply yelled at the top of his lungs.

It was only then that he realized he hadn't asked for Yu Le's name at all.

He shouted three times, his deep voice echoing above the monastery, startling the birds lurking in the nearby dense forest.

Just when Uriel thought there would be no response, a cheerful voice rang out from afar:

“Mr. Uriel, you truly keep your promise.”

"Enough with the nonsense," Uriel snorted, pulling a scroll from his robes and unfolding it. "How about this? Will it help you? If this doesn't work, then there's nothing I can do."

Jules' gaze fell on the scroll, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Although the scroll was made of parchment, it reflected a metallic sheen, as if it were plated with silver.

Its contents, on the other hand, reflect light like a mirror.

【Mirror Scroll】

[Quality: Second-level rare item]

[Effect: Creates a "mirror-like" opening.]

[Introduction: Aside from the craftsman, the mirror itself is the one who understands mirrors best.]

Seeing this effect, Jules was still somewhat confused, but he understood that this might be exactly what he needed!

But he didn't show it, his tone calm and relaxed as he said:

"Maybe, we can give it a try."

Upon hearing that it was useful, Uriel was overjoyed:

"Shall I use it now?"

“No, don’t use it here,” Jules quickly stopped Uriel. “Listen to my instructions, go to the appropriate location, that’s where it will really work.”

Although Uriel might try to take the mirrors from him later, that's a matter for later—let's get those two mirrors out first!
Following Jules' instructions, Uriel quickly arrived at the courtyard.

Along the way, he also noticed the unusual things happening in the monastery.

"That's interesting. Could it be that the boundary between illusion and reality has been partially broken?"

After he came to a stop in the courtyard, Jules' leisurely voice rang out:
"Now, please use this scroll on the central altar."

(End of this chapter)