| “ | Welcome back to the Hostel, Room 1. |
„ |
| — A Pixie to Lumian Lee on Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 466 | ||
The Hostel, a World Within a Painting, was a ritual conducted using powers of the Sublunary Eye Pathway. Performed in an act of co-operation between the bestowed of various Outer Deities, it's purpose was to open the door to Fourth Epoch Trier in order for them to enter it.
Background[]
Following the Tree of Shadow incident, Lumian Lee noticed an unusual calmness in the market district over the past month. It seemed as if heretics from various organizations had suddenly reduced their activities, going into hiding and maintaining a low profile. To validate his observation, Lumian, accompanied by Franca Roland, sought out Madam Pualis in Quartier de Noël, only to discover that she had abandoned her residence for unknown reasons.[1]
After dealing with Beatrice Incourt, they found a note on her body saying: "Go to the hostel and retrieve the painting within three days".[2]
Later, Lumian used the Prophecy Spell on Bouvard Pont-Péro's corpse to inquire about the whereabouts of Voisin Sanson and Pualis de Roquefort. The response was "Room 7" and "Room 12."[3] He speculated that this might be related to the "Hostel" mentioned on Beatrice's note.[4]
Sometime after, Jenna, who was returning home after completing Will Auceptin's mission, got caught in an earthquake and found herself trapped in an alternate world. She soon recited The Fool's Honorific Name and sought protection, which resulted in Lumian being transported to that world. Lumian shortly found Jenna and surmised that the world they found themselves in might be a World Within a Painting, The Hostel.
The Ritual[]
Structure[]
Created using powers of the Sublunary Eye Pathway, The Hostel is a World Within a Painting. It works based on the "Law of Similarity".
The Hostel ritual's primary goal is to create a 'replica' which eventually replaces the 'original'. Through a mystical connection formed between them, acts on the 'replica' will reflect on the 'original'.
In the outside world, a group of Beyonders belonging to the Sublunary Eye Pathway would create a painting which resembles the target area, including the people living there, as accurately as possible. This would create an alternate world within this painting. Utilizing the "Law of Similarity", once the resemblance reaches a certain level, acts on the counterfeits can be reflected in reality.[5]
Another aspect of The Hostel is the "Rooms". They refer to humans which house the bestowed of evil deities inside them, essentially functioning as "Rooms". These Rooms would be able to draw out and display the level and status of their residents. This design, where an evil deity's Blessed was sealed within a human, was inspired by the situation of Lumian Lee, who had the angel, Termiboros, sealed inside him.
The Hostel had thirteen Rooms, with Room 1 being Lumian Lee himself. By imitating Lumian's situation, they established a mystical connection among them based on this systematic similarity. When Lumian entered the painted world, actions taken on the other "Rooms" of The Hostel were equivalent to acts on Lumian.[6]
Purpose[]
Salle de Bal Brise was built on top of the old cemetery of Église Saint-Robert Cathedral. Beneath this was a node for the sealing of Fourth Epoch Trier.
When The Hostel ritual commenced, the real market district and the painted market district would undergo a switch. Reality would become a fabrication, and fabrication would become reality, revealing or outlining the seal below Salle de Bal Brise, weakening it to the extreme.
The various Rooms of The Hostel would attempt to break the seal, and Lumian, being Room 1, would be forced to mirror their actions due to the mystical connection between them. Since the Rooms are able to draw out and display the level and status of their residents, they could effectively utilize the strength of the angel within him to open the door.[6]
The Painting[]
Deep underground, in a hidden cave undetectable to the outside world, the rock walls here had been meticulously modified, featuring two vertical beams and multiple horizontal beams, each marked with longitudinal gaps. These formations corresponded strictly to a section of Avenue du Marché. Each rock wall was the equivalent of a side street, and each vertical gap represented an alley.
Adorning each rock wall were lifelike oil paintings, portraying buildings of various architectural styles, dark iron street lamps, pedestrians dressed as clerks, vendors selling an array of goods, and scenes from windows, all depicted with vivid and natural colors. These scenes were almost identical to those on the corresponding streets.
On the eastern rock wall of Avenue du Marché, three men in white shirts with unbuttoned vests were using mural tools to craft a complex, bright red door at the spot corresponding to Salle de Bal Brise. Their bodies were coated in paint, and their eyes displayed a peculiar detachment, as though they were gazing at a distant realm rather than a rock wall. Each time the painters completed the bright red door on the rock wall, it mysteriously vanished after a fifth was completed. The three painters had no choice but to repeat their efforts in vain.[7]
The Painted World[]
At first glance, the counterfeit world looked exactly similar, and no differences could be spotted. However, upon careful observation, many details stood out.
The pedestrians sported vacant expressions and had infrequent changes, which gave them an eerie, mechanical quality. Many familiar faces seemed to vanish at the end of the street, only to reappear, circling around from somewhere and returning to the entrance of the street in a repetitive cycle.
It looked like a massive stage production with most people, including the surrounding buildings, serving as a backdrop.
Several indistinct figures hovered in the air, emitting a faint, eerie glow as they meticulously scrutinized every shadow and conceivable hiding spot for humans. They clutched a stack of papers, which they compared to the pedestrians on the road. These figures had different faces, but they all shared an unsettling stiffness, emptiness, coldness, and detachment. It was as if they could disappear into the crevices of space at any moment, gazing coldly and dispassionately at reality.
In the painted world, there was no sign of Salle de Bal Brise on Avenue du Marché. Where the khaki-colored building and the skull statue should have been, there was only impenetrable darkness. Even the sunlight from the sky couldn't pierce it. In the dark black hole-like scene, bright red lines alternated between slowly materializing and being consumed by the surroundings. Their ultimate destination remained a mystery.[8]
History[]
Inside The Hostel, Lumian met Gabriel and his partner Séraphine, who was actually Room 12. They informed him about the concept of Rooms. Soon after, he found Jenna and began making plans to escape.
However, they suddenly faced Room 7 which housed the Sanson family and Voisin Sanson of the Sinners inside. They fought briefly till Lumian used the aura of the Blood Emperor on him to escape with Jenna. Suspecting that the exit to this world lay at the black hole where Salle de Bal Brise was, they headed there, only to be faced by two of the three Pixies which were the creators of the painted world. Various Rooms of The Hostel also emerged, surrounding them.[7][9]
At this moment, numerous skeletons from ancient times emerged from the black hole. They also surfaced in the underground cave where the real painting was. They were dark-red and rust-stained yellow in color. They exuded a palpable aura of death, and the strong scent of rust and blood hung heavy in the air. When gathered together, they created and intensified a frenzied and violent atmosphere.
Witnessing this, Lumian immersed his consciousness into his right palm, where the Blood Emperor's mark resided. Bright red scars reappeared, and an exceptionally violent, maddening, and domineering aura surged from his body, causing the blue sky, white clouds, and the setting sun to visibly quiver. Following his orders, they began attacking the shocked Pixies and Rooms present.[10]
Lumian and Jenna immediately entered the black hole, and found themselves facing the door to Fourth Epoch Trier. The various Rooms of The Hostel soon followed and surrounded him, invisible and hidden connections intertwining. Lumian then realized that due to him entering the painted world ahead of schedule, the door to Fourth Epoch Trier had not weakened enough to be opened; two conditions had yet to be fulfilled. First, chaos had to be brought to surface Trier, and second, it was afternoon in the painting world, and the sun was still in the sky, but in reality, it was the middle of the night.
At that moment, a riot began in aboveground Trier due to the instigation of the Iron and Blood Cross Order, plunging the market district into anarchy. Simultaneously, Lady Moon, who had been fighting Magician and Justice in Quartier Éraste, called forth the power of the Eternal Blazing Sun into Trier, causing a dazzling sun to appear in the sky.[6]
With all the conditions fulfilled, the door to Fourth Epoch Trier opened, plunging Lumian, Jenna and the different Rooms of The Hostel inside it.[11]
Regardless of the circumstances, Tarot Club actions accelerated The Hostel ritual, mitigating the damage this plan inflicted on Trier. In the entire market district, only a handful of night duty personnel from places like Le Marché du Quartier du Gentleman and Rist Docks bore the brunt of the disaster. Some soldiers lost their lives in other areas. Overall, the impact was mainly financial. Their efforts were not in vain.[12]
The Truth Behind the Hostel[]
The Hostel, a ritual seemingly devised by the bestowed of evil deities, had another perpetrator behind them: the Iron and Blood Cross Order. The Order had worked from the shadows to ensure the ritual succeeded, and it was all according to their plan to enter Fourth Epoch Trier. However, unknown to the Iron and Blood Cross Order, they were also being manipulated by another entity behind the scenes.
The true culprit behind The Hostel ritual was actually the Red Angel Medici.
Over the past few years, the Red Angel Medici had lurked in the shadows, orchestrating a scheme to obtain the Sauron Family's lost Sequence 1 Conqueror Beyonder characteristic which was in Fourth Epoch Trier. Using His uniqueness, Medici disguised "Himself" as a great will from the depths of Fourth Epoch Trier, and manipulated the Iron and Blood Cross Order members into doing his will.
After learning of Lumians existence, Medici refined the plan, bestowing Gardner Martin with a divine vision. This allowed Gardner to acquire significant mysticism knowledge and "conceive" The Hostel ritual.
The ritual, designed to create minimal disturbance and increase the chances of success, aimed to "fool" Trier's most formidable evil god bestowed into Fourth Epoch Trier. The ultimate goal: capture them all and purify them in one fell swoop!
| “ | Now, we can proceed to the final part of the plan and eliminate the bestowed of the Outer Deities. |
„ |
| — Red Angel Medici to Saint Viève on Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 492 | ||
A trap as grand as The Hostel required the cooperation of a faction and the assistance of a true deity. And that was the Eternal Blazing Sun, who had decided to ally "Himself" with the Red Angel Medici and support "His" bid to become a Great Old One.[13]
References
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 421
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 419
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 446
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 447
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 464
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 470
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 465
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 461
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 466
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 469
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 471
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 494
- ↑ Circle of Inevitability, Chapter 492
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