Chapter 263: Lovely Ghostwriter x Roy's Alternative Prophecy Poem
Light, the man saw light, the light he liked... He slightly opened his mouth. The moment Roy "Photified" and passed through his body, his life unfolded like a picture scroll, paving across his restless, and even quite dark, heart...
His name was Ribéry Garcia, the second son of the Garcia family of the Principality of Samir.
According to the [God]-given monarchical power, the nobles are divided into [Duke], [Marquis], [Count], [Viscount], and [Baron].
The Garcia family, possessing the noble title of Viscount, enjoys the [Fourth-Tier Blessing]. Aside from the Nen ability they can awaken independently by opening their aura nodes, they can also inherit a portion of [Aura Volume] and a new [Awakening] opportunity through the blessing, becoming a powerful "Lord Viscount" possessing dual Nen abilities. Of course, as the child of Viscount Garcia, Ribéry was demoted one rank to be designated a [Baron]. He could not enjoy the [Fourth-Tier Blessing] like his father, but as a born [Baron], he could, like other [Barons], pray to [God], undergo the [Baptism] by the Lord Archbishop, and be granted the [Fifth-Tier Blessing], which is—
One portion of [Aura Volume].
"Thank [Thunder] for bestowing rain and dew."
Ribéry swore that no one could refuse a [Blessing], and no one could refuse to be powerful!
After he opened his aura nodes and awakened his Nen ability at a young age, and underwent the baptism by the Archbishop, Lord Benjamin Frederick, he indeed found that his "Aura Volume" had doubled out of thin air. He once naively asked his "tutor" the reason for this... The other party pointed a finger at the sky and told him:
"Everything is God's arrangement."
God... For the first time, Ribéry felt a tangible sense of this name he had heard since childhood. He remembered very clearly... the pious, worshipping look of his "tutor."
The other party placed his right hand over his chest and shouted, "Thunder is above,"
He solemnly warned him: "You must not offend God. Just remember... He is the Lord who created everything, the true monarch who personally forged the Principality of Samir, a great existence capable of turning all illusions into reality..."
Just like the countless fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, servants, and maids surrounding him, he revered God, loved God, feared God, and swore to convert to [Thunder], never betraying it, until...
He discovered his father cheating with a maid, and upon hearing she was pregnant, ordered his captain of the guard to secretly dispose of her.
He discovered his mother committing adultery with the captain of the guard, only to be caught by his father, and the three of them tangled together on the large bed.
He discovered that his usually gentle and kind sister, behind closed doors, always loved torturing her maids, frequently torturing a batch to death and replacing them. He discovered that his eldest brother Ulysses had two faces, secretly loving to mess around with some guards in the shadows. Ribéry was confused.
He didn't understand.
He couldn't figure it out.
He instinctively resisted, yet a voice appeared in his heart, tempting him like a devil... Join in!!
When did it start... "Who are you, and why are you in my heart?" That rainy night, Ribéry gradually went mad... He remembered now, it was the [Baptism], the [Blessing] within his body acting up. He couldn't believe it, locking himself in his room in a daze, refusing to eat or drink, until his father came to the door, ordered the captain of the guard to pry open the door, dragged him out of the room, threw him onto a woman's bed, and ordered him: "F*ck her!"
Ribéry's eyes were bloodshot, panting heavily. He looked up abruptly... Entering his view was his own biological mother, the mother who was entangled with his father's captain of the guard. Completely naked, she gave him a sultry look, opened her arms, and called out: "Ribéry, come here, come to Mommy's arms."
Boom! Ribéry Garcia instantly felt like something exploded in his brain!
Chaos, disorder, madness, and lunacy wrapped around his neck like large hands, choking him until he couldn't breathe, forcing him to flash and smash through the glass window, plunging into the heavy rain!
"Crazy... hahaha... all crazy..." The torrential rain poured down, soaking Ribéry like a drowned rat. The man stumbled, ignoring the surprise of passersby, sometimes laughing loudly and sometimes crying, staggering all the way to a magnificent and towering church. Looking up, he could see the church's dome reaching deep into the sky, as well as the giant [Lightning] mark... Bearing his status as a Baron, Ribéry bypassed the guards' checks, found Lord Benjamin who was praying to Thunder in the prayer hall, felt his knees go soft, and crawled at his feet.
"God... please give me guidance, what should I do... what should I do?"
Rumble~ Thunder roared outside the window. Ribéry looked up to see Lord Benjamin turn around. The other party warmly stroked his head and smiled, "Poor child, you must be lost. God has listened to your prayer and sent down a revelation."
"Victor, take him down, you know what to do."
"Yes!" The armor clattered. In a trance, Ribéry felt himself being picked up by one hand. He groggily came to his senses and was thrown into a dim room, hearing the knight behind him smirk and say, "Lucky boy, choose for yourself."
Flicker~ A light lit up in the dim room. The dripping wet Ribéry raised his head. Entering his view were rows of completely naked young girls, their hands and feet tied, hanging from the roof beams by ropes. Like ragged dolls, they swayed silently when the wind blew... Ribéry lowered his eyes, completely broken...
He propped himself up, not looking at those girls, just keeping his head down and saying to the Lord Knight: "I'm done."
The knight named Victor was visibly stunned. When he reacted, he excitedly shouted at him: "You said it yourself. The Lord Archbishop granted you an hour, if you don't use it, it's my gain."
Victor bumped Ribéry aside and eagerly began to strip off his armor, then took off his undergarments, revealing a body of flabby fat, until... he felt a chill in his crotch. Screaming in disbelief, he turned his head back, only to feel another chill in his throat. A turquoise-inlaid dagger, coated with [Ten], was ruthlessly thrust in, twisted, and scrambled!
He wordlessly pointed at Ribéry, his head tilting as he fell to the ground, right next to the feet of those young girls, losing all signs of life...
"Ah—finally comfortable!" Ribéry let go of the dagger, the dagger his mother had personally given him on his sixteenth birthday for his coming-of-age ceremony. He let it drop with Victor into the filthy room. Casually, on the opponent's ugly, fat-pig-like body, he dropped a playing card, face up, clearly printed with a red-nosed Joker!
"Murder!"
"The murderer is—Ribéry Garcia!"
The next day, Ribéry became a wanted fugitive nationwide across the Principality of Samir. At the same time, from that night on, he began his journey of wandering and fleeing...
Pop~ A sound like a dream shattering suddenly rang out...
On the outskirts of Bandle City, next to the two corpses that had already turned into white bones, the man stepping out of the playing card jolted awake!
He immediately clutched his chest, unleashed [En], and expelled the transparent bug that was secretly eating the darkest, dirtiest "negative emotions" at the bottom of his heart...
"Squeak squeak~" The [Heart Worm] whimpered complainingly. Squirming, it followed the karmic thread, turned, and merged back into Roy's body. Accompanying it, Roy uncovered the uneven lawn... revealing a burly and a slightly frail skeleton beneath it, confirming it was indeed... Andrew Cooper and Longergon, whom he had killed earlier.
Roy glanced at the man from the corner of his eye, his tone carrying a hint of sighing: "You spoke wrongly. We... are not in the same group, nor are we the same."
A dark light flowed from the boy's fingertips. Without seeing him make any movement, with a wave of his sleeve, the skeletons belonging to Andrew Cooper and Longergon at his feet disappeared in an instant.
As Ribéry Garcia looked solemn, he heard the boy say again: "I have a strict but fairly normal family, and you... don't..."
He shrugged, openly and generously admitting it...
"You're right." Ribéry Garcia looked at Roy with burning eyes. "Friend, can you trust me now?"
The man pinched a playing card and pressed it against his lips. "I am very curious. Possessing sharp 'Nen bullets', an escape technique suspected to be 'Photification', and a [Bug] that eavesdrops on people's inner thoughts... which [Count]'s child are you, or..."
Ribéry Garcia's eyes narrowed: "Perhaps I've simply run into a... [Marquis]!"
[Duke] [Marquis] [Count] [Viscount] [Baron]... Sharing [First-Tier] [Second-Tier] [Third-Tier] [Fourth-Tier] [Fifth-Tier] [Blessings]... According to the Principality of Samir's "God-given monarchical power", possessing three different Nen abilities implies at least a [Third-Tier] blessing or higher, meaning a [Marquis] or above.
Through the [Heart Worm], Roy saw Ribéry Garcia's dark past and keenly captured this piece of intelligence. He calmly glanced at the numerous "skills" lying in his panel: [Yin], [Yang], [Water], [Fire], [Earth], [Wood], [Wind], [Lightning] and various Ninjutsu and Breathing Styles. He gave Ribéry Garcia a weird look and fell silent...
"I wouldn't dare claim a noble title. I am merely a small 'Outcast'..."
An outcast confined to the island in the center of Lake Mobius, Roy silently added in his heart, telling the truth.
Ribéry Garcia's gorgeous and exaggerated trench coat flapped in the wind. He was stunned, then smiled in relief: "I believe it."
He said: "Just the fact that the [Sin] on you is deeper than mine proves that I've found the right person!"
With a Whoosh~, the man magically produced a deck of playing cards from nowhere. As he spread his hands, they were instantly pulled out like an accordion... It almost made Roy mistakenly think he had run into a certain fruit farmer here, and he almost threw a flying slash to cut him down... Roy stopped the urge in time, watched the man perform, and quietly waited for his next words...
Ribéry Garcia felt a sudden chill in his heart for a moment, faintly sensing a trace of fatal crisis. He looked left and right suspiciously, finally turning his gaze to Roy. Steading his mind, he said: "Your Excellency, may I do a small fortune reading for your luck?"
Shuffle flutter~ The playing cards from 2 to Ace, plus the two large and small Jokers printed with "Red" and "Grey" clowns, flashed before Roy's eyes...
The boy's heart moved, faintly guessing something. The former noble Baron in front of him, named Ribéry Garcia, having killed the church guards and been wanted nationwide by the Principality of Samir for all these years, yet still living freely... clearly couldn't do without that deck of playing cards entwined with [Nen aura] in his hands.
Fortune telling, is it a 'Prophecy-type' Nen ability similar to Neon's?
As Roy pondered, his first thought was of Neon Nostrade and her Nen ability—
[Specialist]: [Lovely Ghostwriter].
[Lovely Ghostwriter]: When activated, it automatically manifests a quill pen and writes down the events that will happen within the next month. The written prophecy usually varies from person to person but generally consists of four to five stanzas of four-line prophecy poems (Note: One stanza represents one week).
Method of Prophecy: Requires the fortune-telling target to write down their name (pen name or stage name is fine), date of birth, and blood type on paper. Finally, Neon writes the prophecy text on the same piece of paper. (Note: If the target is not present, a photograph is required to provide the relevant information).
Prophecy Result: When an ominous prophecy appears, there will be warning prompts. As long as the warnings are followed, it can be avoided.
Flaw: The fortune-teller cannot read their own fortune, meaning Neon cannot predict her own good or bad luck through the "Lovely Ghostwriter".
This could also be considered a certain manifestation of the "Law of Equivalent Exchange"...
Roy pulled back his thoughts and met Ribéry Garcia's hopeful eyes. He remained silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Before this, I want to know what price you have to pay."
All [Gains] coexist with [Risks]... Just as [Faith] corresponds to [Nature's Backlash]... Roy, as the beneficiary of the [Fortune Telling Result], had to clarify this matter first, so as not to be entangled by subsequent impacts...
"As you can see, my fortune-telling and the playing cards have..." Ribéry Garcia, having reached middle age, was no longer the reckless youth who cared for nothing. After Roy didn't refuse immediately, he felt reassured and hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, the risk lies with me."
"The result of my prophecy will manifest at the cost of injury to me; it will not harm you..."
Ribéry Garcia coughed lightly, his lungs burning with pain as if on fire, and forced a smile: "To tell you the truth, before finding this place, I did a reading for myself in advance, which is why I waited here... and met you."
Roy: "And then?"
"I coughed up a mouthful of blood and felt like I took a punch to the chest."
"I see..."
Roy pondered for a moment, and finally nodded affirmatively.
Seeing this, Ribéry Garcia struck while the iron was hot. He pulled the playing cards again and said to Roy: "Your Excellency, please pick three cards."
"Mm." Roy glanced casually, "[Jack] [8] [Ace]..."
"Suits."
"Spades, Clubs, Diamonds."
"Alright." With surging "Nen Power", Ribéry Garcia flicked his hand, picking out the [Jack of Spades], [8 of Clubs], and [Ace of Diamonds], holding them between his fingers. He closed his eyes... His consciousness rippled with the Nen aura, slowly seeing an image...
In the image.
Amidst the vast rivers and mountains, above the sky.
A Sun Chariot, pulled by a three-legged, gilded giant bird with wings that touch the clouds, slowly drove out...
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