The Grotesque Miss’s End Story v3c56

Chapter 56: The Four Harbingers

Within a tranquil territory, after a long silence, a faint rustling sound echoed as countless vines spread and grew, bearing a large, beautiful flower.

This flower was several meters tall, a veritable behemoth, even a person standing before it seemed minuscule.

As the flower bloomed, a faint, refreshing fragrance filled the air.

“Has it succeeded?”

A languid, charming voice, seemingly filled with anticipation, came from the distance.

Draped in red gauze, a veiled face, mysterious yet alluring.

“Not yet.”

As this cold voice echoed, countless eyes opened among the sprawling vines, all staring at the source of the charming voice.

“Yikes!” Another lively and mischievous-looking girl jumped and said, “Boss Auspicious Timing, stop scaring people like that.”

“Apologies, you humans never seem to get used to me.”

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing said as several vines intertwined and, as if weaving, gradually formed a tall woman.

Wearing a white lab coat and intellectual-looking glasses, the green color gradually faded, making her look like a researcher from a laboratory.

However, the tall woman created by the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing was still essentially a plant.

-Almost no one knew that the renowned leader of the Speakers, the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing, wasn’t human, but a plant.

The “favors” she granted were almost always in the form of plants, but everyone subconsciously assumed it was her ability.

Actually…

These were all part of the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing.

And this rather small territory where the Harbingers were currently located was obtained from the Doomsday Messengers at great cost, serving as the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing’s habitat.

The entire territory had been transformed into an environment suitable for her. She had taken root here for countless years, her main body never stepping out of this territory, but her avatars were spread across the four origin points.

Indeed, even before Columbia’s demise, there were traces of the Speakers—more accurately, the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing’s activities.

“Tsk tsk, I didn’t expect it to work out in the end… Boss Auspicious Timing is truly amazing, even predicting this.”

The Gypsy Girl stared at the giant flower bud with her chin in her hand, clicking her tongue in wonder.

“…I didn’t predict it, I just knew she was cornered.”

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing shook her head, sat down beside the Gypsy Girl and Lu Manqing, and continued, “For beings like me, using our abilities involves terrifying cause and effect, even I don’t dare use them lightly—otherwise, why would I give the ‘Hour of Birth’ to you?”

The “Hour of Birth” obtained from Philosopher, although initially meant as an exchange between the Gypsy Girl and Philosopher, the four Harbingers of the Speakers were a single entity. It didn’t matter who used it, as long as it achieved the best results.

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing wasn’t a Sequence Grotesquery. She was the world’s first Speaker, the first being outside the Sequence to master the “This Life” path of “Other Shore.”

Her power was naturally undeniable. However… this power wasn’t reflected in combat.

It could be said that the Speakers’ continued existence and growth, holding a place in the complex political landscape of the four origin points, was largely due to the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing.

Currently, among the four Harbingers of the Speakers, only the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing had remained unchanged, always held by her.

As for the other Harbingers… leaving aside the Harbinger of Auspicious Location, the Gypsy Girl wasn’t even among the first ten Harbingers of Disaster. She had a dozen deceased predecessors.

Lu Manqing’s situation was similar. Her method of reincarnation was unique, achieved by borrowing Zi Ke’s ability, but she still inevitably lost most of her memories in the process.

The current Lu Manqing only vaguely remembered her identity. Her abilities and memories from her previous life were largely lost.

And now, the crux of the matter was that the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing… was simply too powerful.

Due to the nature of the This Life path of Other Shore, every time she used her abilities, it would involve too much, leading to unpredictable consequences.

It might even… affect the birth of Doomsday.

And the current world was in a precarious state. Although the various factions in the origin points seemed to be constantly fighting, many seemingly to the death, they were actually reserving a portion of their strength to deal with potential calamities, even the Kingdom of Qing Qiu was no exception.

However, except for the Doomsday Messengers and the Speakers, not even the Xuanyuan clan fully grasped the terror of the approaching Doomsday.

Fortunately, the situation in Victoria had stabilized recently, and the Doomsday Messengers’ plot was foiled.

Otherwise, the various factions would now be worried about the shadow of Doomsday. The Doomsday Messengers, empowered by Victoria’s collapse, wouldn’t be so leisurely in advancing their plans.

Hearing the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing’s slightly helpless words, the Gypsy Girl couldn’t help but laugh.

She knew that if the “Hour of Birth” was in the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing’s hands, its power, once used, would be comparable to a Taboo’s. But for now, she enjoyed using it.

But soon, the Gypsy Girl’s expression turned serious. Looking at the giant flower bud, she asked in a deep voice, “So, what’s the situation with her…?”

“Unclear.”

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing shook her head again. She couldn’t determine the situation.

Inside the giant flower bud, a naked woman curled up, hugging her knees, her eyes closed, her expression peaceful, as if asleep or in eternal slumber.

If Luo Ling were here, she would recognize this woman as almost identical to the Fairy.

But… it wasn’t the Fairy.

Because the difference in their temperament was too great.

Calm, gentle, even in slumber, she exuded a sacred aura, untouchable yet captivating.

In other words, she had the aura of a “white moonlight.”

The long-missing Harbinger of Auspicious Location, born almost at the same time as the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing.

She and the Fairy were connected for some unknown reason, and the Speakers had always known about this.

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing had always tried to make a deal with the Fairy, to bring her over, but the Fairy never accepted, nor did she refuse.

Until Luo Ling appeared, cornering the Fairy, forcing her to use this last resort.

But… even if Luo Ling hadn’t appeared, this transaction would have eventually occurred, just at an unknown time.

After being successfully separated, the Harbinger of Auspicious Location entered a nurturing phase, but it was uncertain when she would awaken.

“This is truly troublesome…”

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing rubbed her temples. This human-like action amused Lu Manqing, who said, “Boss Auspicious Timing, you’re not human, you don’t get headaches. What’s the point of rubbing your temples?”

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing glared at Lu Manqing, but still lowered her hand.

“What about you? How are your preparations going?” The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing looked at the Gypsy Girl and asked.

“Almost done.” The Gypsy Girl practically slumped on the table, looking listless. “Oh my, I’m so tired…”

“Hehe, it’s just us here. Stop pretending. Do you think I don’t know how many benefits you’ve reaped in this process?” The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing said coldly. “Remember, spare their lives. I know you don’t care, but I do.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll listen to Boss Auspicious Timing… I knew it, how troublesome.”

The Gypsy Girl twitched the corner of her mouth and waved her hand. A large group of people with vacant expressions appeared out of thin air, standing there blankly.

There were no common characteristics among these people. There were men and women, old and young, seemingly chosen at random.

Of course, it wasn’t random.

Among these people was Wang Lili, her expression no different from the others.

Wang Lili was the “Seer” who appeared during the Baiyan Village incident in Jiangcheng County. After being influenced by the Grotesquery, she gained the ability to glimpse the truth of fate under certain circumstances, but hadn’t truly stepped onto a path, becoming an Awakened One.

This ability was extremely rare, even rarer than Awakened Ones, because it involved the power of Transcendence and Doomsday.

The twelve opposing paths in this world all originated from Transcendence and Doomsday. The rarity of this origin-related ability was imaginable.

Under the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing’s command, the Gypsy Girl searched the three origin points for who knows how long before finally gathering these people.

Including Wang Lili, they were all currently in this “Seer” state. Since ordinary people could hardly bear the truth of fate, they would appear insane, requiring some methods to calm them down.

As a qualified Harbinger of Disaster, the Gypsy Girl was indifferent to life, having witnessed far too many disasters, becoming numb to them.

Therefore, without the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing’s restrictions, she would find it too troublesome to deal with these people after using them, not bothering with any follow-up work.

“…Very good.”

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing nodded slightly.

In the coming upheaval, the Speakers also had their role and mission.

After arranging these matters, the Harbinger of Auspicious Timing looked up, her eyes flickering slightly.

“There’s… one last thing.”

A petite, silver-white figure appeared in her mind.

Along with her appeared the teal-haired girl, the purple-haired woman, and other figures.

And a familiar, gloomy girl, whose memory she couldn’t quite grasp.

The Harbinger of Auspicious Timing hesitated.

“Should I… make a move on her?”

……

In Twilight Victoria…

Luo Ling slowly opened her eyes, her expression filled with unconcealed exhaustion. She had been fully focused for several days, finally understanding Jingwei’s situation completely.

Her condition was truly unimaginably dire. Luo Ling only had one chance to treat Her. If she made a mistake or failed, She would be beyond saving.

Whether it was for Iris or to gain more leverage for herself, Luo Ling couldn’t afford to be careless. She carefully used her Omniscience Authority, avoiding any irreversible negative effects.

It had to be said that as she used Omniscience more frequently, Luo Ling became more proficient, finally able to minimize the negative effects through gradual exploration.

The same Authority could produce vastly different results in different hands. The “Hour of Birth” and “Hour of Death” used by Moonflower and the Gypsy Girl were similar in level, but the Gypsy Girl could utilize them more effectively.

The Puppet Ballad used by Luo Ling and her sister also had completely different development directions.

“Even with the same Authority, there’s still a difference compared to the true Naraku,”

Luo Ling took a deep breath. This wasn’t some readily available power. An Authority involving a Taboo required extreme caution.

While analyzing Jingwei, Luo Ling’s understanding of Omniscience deepened.

The results were quite promising. She could now start treating Jingwei.

Just then, Iris, who had been waiting anxiously beside her, saw Luo Ling wake up and quickly brought over a lunchbox.

“Miss Luo Ling, Sister Su Wan asked me to bring this to you.”

Iris said cautiously, still afraid to disturb Luo Ling.

“Yes, thank you.”

Luo Ling looked up at Iris, whose face was as pale as hers, and smiled faintly.

During this treatment period, Iris hadn’t been idle either.

Not only was she watching over Luo Ling and Jingwei, but she also occasionally went to Starry Victoria to help Su Wan, making some minor modifications.

Seeing Luo Ling working tirelessly to treat Jingwei, how could Iris rest peacefully? Even if there was nothing to do, she had to find something.

It was just… a strange new older sister had arrived next door. She looked familiar, as if Iris had seen her somewhere before, but she couldn’t remember.

However, this strange older sister always stayed by Sister Su Wan’s side, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

“By the way, Sister Su Wan also asked me to tell you something.” Thinking of this, Iris slapped her forehead. She almost forgot.

“Hmm? What is it?”

Luo Ling looked up from her meal, listening attentively.

“She said you don’t need to worry about the Doomsday Messengers, just do what you want. She can handle any consequences.” Iris said.

Luo Ling was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. “Yes, I understand.”

As expected of my sister…

After obtaining the detailed intelligence from Xuanyuan Linglong, the shocking battle reports almost made her tremble. The level of horror instantly reminded Luo Ling of the scene when she faced the Heavenly Woman Ba in Zhuolu’s Battlefield at the Final Hour.

It was even more terrifying.

Because the Heavenly Woman Ba hadn’t even actively attacked back then. Just the unintentional residual power of Her presence had already pushed everyone to their limits.

Therefore, the attack on the Doomsday Messengers’ headquarters could only be the work of a being above Taboo level.

The Xuanyuan clan attached great importance to this, and their entire intelligence network was focused on this matter.

A being capable of attacking the Doomsday Messengers’ headquarters could naturally also attack Kunlun’s Ruins. The Xuanyuan clan didn’t dare to be careless and had already begun dispersing their higher-ups and top fighters as a precaution.

After learning this information, Luo Ling’s first thought was that it was the First Seat’s doing.

But she quickly dismissed this idea. The First Seat had almost never acted personally, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be so silent.

Besides the First Seat and the banished Heavenly Woman Ba, Luo Ling quickly thought of her sister, Su Wan, but she wasn’t sure.

“My sister still has many hidden methods…”

The image of her sister cheering her on with a clenched fist appeared in her mind, and a smile involuntarily appeared on Luo Ling’s lips.

Although her sister was always gentle and seemed like an ordinary woman you could find anywhere, she shouldn’t forget her sister’s heavy past and her power, which even the current Luo Ling couldn’t match.

All of Columbia’s accumulated power was in her sister’s hands.

With her sister’s words, Luo Ling, initially uneasy after realizing Zi Ke’s power, instantly felt much more at ease.

Iris stared at Luo Ling, who was in her Amethyst form, and seeing the smile on her lips, felt a strange sensation in her heart.

Was it envy?

Or something else…

Their sisterly bond was truly wonderful.

Unknowingly, Iris no longer felt much aversion towards Amethyst.

Just then, Iris suddenly recalled that Miss Luo Ling would call her “older sister” when she transformed into Black Kite…

“So, am I also an older sister?” Iris thought randomly.

“Alright, now… I should start the treatment.”

After finishing the meal her sister made, Luo Ling exhaled, her expression turning serious again.

She dispelled her Amethyst form, returning to her original appearance as a gloomy, black-haired girl.

Currently, at the Luo Ling puppet’s location, Linna was with her unconscious self and Mao Ke, familiarizing themselves with the Doomsday Messengers.

The Black Kite puppet was with Xuanyuan Linglong, learning about the massive war machine that was the Xuanyuan clan, preparing for future actions.

Elsa and the White Witch avatar, after completing their mission and resting, were preparing to return to Starry Victoria, while also gathering information at the edge of the world.

Everything was progressing smoothly. Next… was the most crucial matter at hand.

“…Reviving Jingwei.”

Luo Ling looked up, a holy golden light flickering in her pupils.