The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection replied with a smile, “If it’s just to nurture a Lord of the Mysteries, I should be betting on Amon. At the very least, the chances of ‘Him’ succeeding is much higher than yours.”
Without waiting for Klein to ask any further, “She” continued with a voice as ethereal as a dream:
“The era that was buried in the past is a memory shared between us, and also the critical period in which our humanity was born, sprouted, and nourished. Even if I’ve had a long life, it still remains my fondest of memories.
“You have its imprint in you, so I’m more willing to help you.”
The love for the house extends even to the crows perching on its roof… Klein made a conclusion in the form of an idiom.
At that moment, he recalled the words Emperor Roselle had written in his diary:
Home.
In his wistful silence, the dream projection of the Evernight Goddess switched to saying,
“When you’re ready, you can go to the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range anytime.
“Of course, it’s your freedom to choose. No one will force you, and no one can force you either. You can choose to stop at a certain stage and not become a Great Old One, nor allow the Lord of the Mysteries to awaken in your body. Then, at the last moment of the apocalypse, you can bring the people and objects you want to protect and ‘Wander’ to other planets in other solar systems to avoid the attention of the Outer Deities, and create another civilization.”
Klein had long thought of this problem. After a moment of silence, he said, “I’m not sure if Roselle had said one thing: You can hide for a moment, but you can’t hide forever.”
He was speaking in Jotun with the Evernight Goddess, so it was a little odd when translating the proverb.
Escaping was just a temporary strategy. It couldn’t be used as a long term plan.
After a pause, Klein continued, “Although the Universe is vast and without an end, the Outer Deities are clearly more familiar with it than we are. They’re also stronger, directly representing a certain aspect of the universe. It’s very difficult to avoid ‘Their’ pursuit. Besides, even if we succeed, peace will only last for some time. The recreated civilization will be destroyed in less than a thousand years. When that happens, we won’t even have the chance to become Great Old Ones, never capable of any form of self-redemption.”
This was because if one wanted to successfully escape during the invasion of the Outer Deities, they had to give up all the sefirot. Otherwise, they would definitely become the focus of “Their” attention. Let alone wandering the cosmos, even withstanding the first wave of attacks was an unknown.
The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection spoke slowly,
“Apart from the items ripped from the Outer Deities, only taking away the Uniquenesses and High-Sequence Beyonder characteristics of the other pathways might not necessarily garner the attention of the Outer Deities. ‘They’ wouldn’t spend too much time searching.”
“You also said that it’s not necessarily the case. The Outer Deities should still have a certain desire for the Uniqueness and High-Sequence Beyonder characteristics of similar pathways. This can help ‘Them’ approach the level of a pillar,” Klein replied calmly. “We can’t place our hopes on ‘Their’ feelings. ‘They’ aren’t benevolent.”
The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection nodded and said, “In this aspect, you’re more aware than Roselle. Of course, it’s because he had learned of the Great Old Ones and the Outer Deities a little too late.”
“She” continued, “You have another choice: use Pallez’s method to personally lower your level and let Amon steal Sefirah Castle. This way, you can live well as a Sequence 1 angel. You don’t have to constantly worry that the Lord of the Mysteries will awaken in you. It won’t be that exhausting.”
In the Church of Evernight’s bible, there was the division of angels and archangels. Klein had always guessed that the latter referred to Sequence 1, and today, he had finally obtained confirmation.
Of course, this was only the standard of one Church, not necessarily the rest.
After hearing the Evernight Goddess’s words, Klein fell silent for a long time before asking, “Can Amon be trusted?”
The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection said frankly, “I can’t give you a definite answer.”
Klein asked again, “If the Lord of the Mysteries awakens in Amon’s body, will ‘He’ take back all the High-Sequence Beyonder characteristics of the Seer, Marauder, and Apprentice pathways?”
“I don’t know,” the Evernight Goddess’s dream projection replied in the same tone.
Klein fell silent again. After a while, he said, “Personally, I don’t wish to become a Great Old One, but I can’t let down and betray those existences who have placed their bets on me. ‘They’ have more or less helped me.
“Once Amon becomes the Lord of the Mysteries, ‘He’ will definitely help the ancient sun god retrieve the Uniqueness and Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic from the Lord of Storms and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, causing ‘Their’ deaths.
“Besides, Amon is a reckless god.”
The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection nodded slightly and said, “Your humanity has been maintained well.”
After making up his mind, Klein freed himself from his low spirit state. He smiled and said,
“If I hadn’t maintained my humanity, and allowed the godhood to gain an advantage, I would’ve also made a similar choice. That’s because a godhood’s instinct is convergence upon oneself.”
The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection gently chuckled.
“Make your preparations. Meet Antigonus as soon as possible.”
Klein nodded and suddenly recalled something. He hurriedly asked, “Has Amon already used Mr. Door’s ritual to accommodate the Uniqueness of the Apprentice pathway?”
The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection slowly replied, “If it were another existence, then definitely not.
“But if it’s Amon, there’s a 50% chance.
“‘He’ likes to take risks and seek thrills.”
Klein didn’t say another word as he watched the Evernight Goddess’s projection vanish before him as the dream gently collapsed.
The altar that he had yet to clear occupied his vision again.
To him, heading to the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range to face the Antigonus family’s ancestor didn’t require much preparation from him. He would mainly rely on Sefirah Castle to produce an avatar to steal the Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder characteristic—the one from Zaratul—that he hadn’t digested yet, allowing his main body to be in a unique state that could accommodate the Uniqueness.
As his mental state stabilized, even without Zaratul’s remnant mental imprint, Klein could still rely on his humanity, consciousness, and anchors to barely suppress the partial consciousness of the Celestial Worthy.
However, before that, Klein’s spiritual intuition told him that he needed to do something.
After looking around, he tidied up the altar and dragged Dwayne Dantès out of the fog of history.
Sitting at the table, Klein spread out a piece of paper and wrote a letter to Mr. Azik.
As it hadn’t been a while since he wrote the previous letter, there wasn’t much content. He only mentioned the River of Eternal Darkness that was situated underground in Calderón City, as well as the death imprints on both banks of the distributary. He emphasized the numerous Azik Eggers he had seen, and his guesses.
After folding the letter, Klein took out Azik’s copper whistle and blew at it.
The skeleton messenger appeared at the size of a normal human. It knelt down on one knee and opened its palm.
After Klein handed the letter to it, he took out a gold coin from Sefirah Castle.
“This is to thank you for all the work you’ve done.
“If you can’t accept it, hand it to your master and let ‘Him’ decide.”
This gold coin was one of the transformed gold coins that had been tainted by the aura of Sefirah Castle.
He had already used one of them to pay Miss Messenger’s fee, and he had lost one to Maric when they played cards.
The skeleton messenger was stunned for nearly five seconds, but he didn’t dare disobey Klein’s words. He clasped the letter and the gold coin with his bony fingers.
It disintegrated and fell to the ground like a waterfall before drilling into the ground.
Following that, Klein took out another gold coin and placed it in his pocket.
At the same time, he made the Worms of Spirit on duty in Sefirah Castle to take a look at a certain crimson star.
…
East Balam, in a cathedral belonging to the Evernight Goddess.
As the first batch of demigods participating in the besieging of the Rose School of Thought, Leonard Mitchell had already used a Sealed Artifact to reach the Southern Continent.
However, he had no progress for the time being. This was because the Rose School of Thought demigods seemed to sense the danger in the air as they simultaneously hid themselves.
This made Leonard have no choice but to wait patiently, ready to answer the call of any dispatches.
While he had nothing to do, he wore his red glove and entered the cathedral’s prayer hall. He did his daily prayer in a rather devout manner.
In the dark and serene environment, he seemed to fall asleep.
After an unknown period of time, Leonard opened his eyes and stood up. He walked down the aisle towards the door.
At that moment, he saw a familiar figure. It was Klein Moretti, wearing a top hat and formal suit with black hair and brown eyes.
Leonard’s pupils dilated as his brows pricked up. Klein, who was also praying, lowered his hands and stood up. He walked past him and slowly approached the altar.
During this process, neither of them spoke, as if the other party was just a stranger.
After reaching the donation box near the altar, Klein took out a gold coin from his pocket and threw it in with a serious expression.
Then, he changed direction and left the cathedral from another door.
Leonard stood in the middle of the aisle and watched this scene with a puzzled look. He frowned slightly.
At this moment, in his mind, Pallez Zoroast’s slightly-aged voice echoed:
“Find a chance to get that gold coin.”
…
Backlund, in a particular house.
Will Auceptin held a silver spoon and focused on digging at the pale green ice-cream in front of “Him.”
Suddenly, “He” extended “His” left hand to block the side of the food.
On the chair beside “Him,” Dwayne Dantès’s figure instantly appeared.
“I seem to have missed your birthday twice,” Klein said with a smile. “This is a belated present.”
As he spoke, he took out a gold coin and pushed it to Will Auceptin.
“This is a lucky gold coin for you.”
Will was stunned for two seconds before muttering, “The gift celebrating my birth was a lucky amulet. For a birthday gift, it’s a lucky gold coin. You really don’t have any creativity.”
As “He” spoke, “He” reached out “His” chubby hand and quickly took the gold coin.
Klein smiled, stood up, and vanished.
