What was supposed to be a near month-long journey for Mercurion had been shortened to less than a week. Traveling with the caravan had another advantage: the angel could learn more about this reality without needing to rely on divination or the River of Fate, something that behaved rather bizarrely in this world.
The River of Fate looked more or less the same visually, but that was where the similarity ended. Its functioning was slightly different. It was… easier to control?
In his reality, Fate was something not even True Gods could truly manipulate. Here, however, it was a concept that even that masked demon could twist to their advantage.
'Fate is Fate… It's just that here its more… open?' he thought, rubbing his chin as he sat around a bonfire with the other knights and slaves. Their voices drifted around him, but none distracted him in the slightest. 'It's structured differently from my world.' He concluded his thoughts, 'Back at home Fate is more or less like a river, one with different streams, but a river nonetheless. Here though, it's a weave. A tapestry of different Fates knotted together. Look deeper, and you can pick out a single person's thread…'
And to look into this tapestry, he could still use the River of Fate, since as he had already said, Fate is Fate.
That was exactly what he was trying to do now. The River of Fate flowed before his eyes. There was a way to influence Fate and completely change it, just like that masked demon did..
'If I remove even a single thread of Fate, the whole tangle will be damaged…' Mercurion's eyes shifted slightly, and the river changed, focusing on a golden thread connected to many others. 'The first one represents the knight next to me, and the lines that connect to him probably represent the people he knows or anyone who has interacted with him. So if I destroy his Fate, the Fates tied to him will also be damaged and left incomplete…'
After a deeper investigation, the angel discovered threads that were tangled into practically every Fate in this world in one way or another.
The first seven were most likely the Gods of this reality, with their unshakable threads that started everything. The next seven threads branched from one of those 'Gods.' Their Fates were also deeply woven into countless others. The third group — Mercurion could only assume without the help of divination — were champions and other key figures of this world.
Currently, the angel's own Fate was moving toward one of these characters: a red-haired young king who ruled over this empire.
'In conclusion, I'm slightly restricted since the River of Fate doesn't work properly here, but at the same time, I have more direct access to Fate itself. I just need to find a way to tap into the Weave without relying on the river…'
A wicked smile spread across his face. "Maybe I can have some fun here before leaving," he whispered to himself, too softly for anyone to hear.
Speaking of them.
The knights were gathered around, chatting, eating dried rations, or drinking whatever foul liquid filled their glass bottles. Whatever it was, it smalled nasty.
One of the knights suddenly turned to Mercurion. "Hey, Mercury — or whatever your name was — how did you know our commander's name? Are you an Oracle or something?" he hiccupped; there was a slight flush to his cheeks, pointing out his obvious intoxication.
Mercurion smiled, his voice soft but echoing gently across the little camp. "I simply see and know things others cannot." He paused, eyes brightening slightly. "For example, I know your wife is expecting a child."
The knight's eyes went wide. He stumbled back, mumbling, "N-No way!" His stunned expression quickly shifted to shock, then joy. Laughter erupted around the camp, and the knights started shouting in amazement, some cheering, some clapping him on the back. Questions came flooding in, everyone wanted to see what the stranger could do. "Will I find true love?" "Will we win the war?!" and so on.
Raising his hands, the angel laughed sweetly alongside them.
As the Founder of his own School of Thought, Mercurion knew exactly how to sway those around him. He charmed them so thoroughly they abandoned all reason and let their tongues run wild.
With a subtle use of Psyche Storm at a minor level, he pushed them further, clouding their awareness and turning the entire camp into a group of drunken fools for the night. And by morning, they were all lost, groaning from hangovers and clutching their aching heads. Meanwhile, Mercurion sat collected and serene, almost saintly.
The knights now looked up to him with even greater awe.
'They told me even more than needed,' he scoffed inwardly, both amused and disgusted by their behavior.
From what he gathered, the capital — and the entire empire composed of a dozen kingdoms — was ruled by a king named Azarax, a so-called "Supreme demi-god." And that was the same king his Fate was leading him toward.
'My only question is why he looks so damn similar to that cunt Medici!' he growled, his entire body twitching with pure rage, almost making him shift into his true form.
***
The rest of the journey was uneventful, just as Mercurion had prophesied. His words, as a Sequence 1 Angel of the Wheel of Fortune Pathway, carried immense weight after all. Anything he spoke became a prophecy.
Descending the hollow mountains — as the locals called this area — was still a dangerous endeavor. If not for Mercurion's immense luck, the caravan would have long since been crushed by boulders and rockslides raining down from above.
"Even these goddamn slaves survived, and no one died of starvation after we picked you up, Mercurion!" the commander laughed, riding beside the angel. "You're like a lucky charm, man."
'Who is this worm talking to…' Mercurion's brow twitched as he gave his best impression of finding the man's jokes amusing.
His eyes was focused on something entirely else though.
Further ahead stood an ivory bridge spanning across a deep drop, and beyond that, titanic gates. The gates were so massive that Mercurion had to crane his head up to see their full height, even from a considerable distance away. Stretching out in both directions from the gates were walls half their height, extending so far that it was impossible to see where they ended.
He had already seen them when they first began descending the last mountain, but now that he was closer, their sheer scale felt even more overwhelming.
"Welcome to the City of Plague!" the commander announced proudly, his voice booming as though he were the king himself. "This city is home to nearly twenty million people—" He launched into a rambling monologue about the city's beauty and how their king was a "King amongst Kings."
But none of that mattered to the angel. His spirituality was drawing him beyond the walls…
It took the caravan nearly an hour to cross the bridge and pass through the gates.
Mercurion was surprised to see only two men guarding the entrance. The commander addressed them as "Saints." The title piqued the angel's curiosity, momentarily pulling him out of his constant attempts to probe the Weave of Fate. 'I don't sense any danger from them… they can't be compared to the Saints of my world,' he thought, rolling his eyes in disappointment and dismissing them.
Not for long, though.
The two Saints approached his horse, ignoring the commander completely. "Identify yourself, stranger," ordered the dark-haired Saint.
"Mercurion," the angel replied, the friendly smile returning to his face as he unleashed the good luck he had been accumulating over the past few days. "I am just a wanderer who got lost on his journey," he continued calmly. "My dear friend here agreed to accompany me to the City of Plague."
The bulky knight beside him nodded enthusiastically. "He's as trustworthy as a stranger gets, honorable Saints!"
The two Saints exchanged glances, looked back at Mercurion, then at each other again. "Pass through. If there's something wrong with your man, the sorcery will incinerate him anyway," the other Saint said dismissively. The two of them were clearly exhausted out of their minds and couldn't care less about some pretty man.
Obviously, nothing happened, and the caravan passed without any issue.
Once behind the gates, Mercurion could truly take in what the walls had concealed. It was a city that could rival any place he had seen back home. The looming white and red castle in the distance was so beautiful and colossal that even the Giant King's Court looked average in comparison.
Another hour and two smaller gates later, they finally stood before the entrance to the capital. The white and red castle was now closer than ever, and Mercurion's spirituality buzzed like crazy inside him.
"That's our king's castle. The mighty Plague of Steel resides there and plans his next conquest!" the commander began ranting into his ear once more.
Before it could get out of hand, Mercurion cut him off.
"I think this is where we part, my dear friend," he said, his hand slipping into his white robe to retrieve something.
The commander, still riding beside him, raised an eyebrow in confusion. His eyes widened slightly when Mercurion pulled out a silver coin and tossed it toward him.
Catching it awkwardly, the commander examined it with a sheepish smile.
"This is a real lucky charm," Mercurion said, pointing at the coin. "Make sure not to lose it," he added, then immediately ordered his horse to move forward, entering the capital without waiting for the caravan.
'With that unlucky coin in his pocket, he will never survive this day,' the angel scoffed inwardly. 'How dare someone like him reduce me to a mere lucky charm.'