The world above the gray fog had been restored to its state of silence, as though the gathering that had just ended was an illusion.
Klein bent his finger and lightly knocked on the edge of the long, mottled table. He made the pages of the Roselle diary which Cattleya had just given appear once again.
Amidst an indescribable stillness, Klein cast his gaze towards the first paragraph of the first page with a solemn expression.
ā27th September, I saw Miss Ithaca once again. I had a nerve-wracking and thrilling but sufficiently wonderful experience with her. As expected, I prefer women of this age. Iām not just reminiscing about my youth, but rather that I havenāt changed after so many years. Heh heh, Iām really dedicated.ā
ā¦I read your diary with such seriousness, and youāre giving me this? The corners of Kleinās mouth twitched as he lampooned at the emperor who he had only seen a portrait of.
He immediately gathered his thoughts and shifted his gaze.
In a lounge at the basement of Saint Samuel Cathedral.
After Leonard Mitchell opened his eyes, he deliberated for a moment and said in a low voice, āOld man, the Secret Orderās Zaratul seems to be in Backlund.ā
In his mind, the slightly-aged voice quickly sounded:
āIndeedā¦ā
Upon hearing this, Leonard immediately asked, āOld Man, are you familiar with that Zaratul? Didnāt you say that the Zoroast family and the Zaratul family are both important nobles of the Solomon Empire?ā
From his point of view, as ex-colleagues and former comrades in arms, how could Old Man not be familiar with Zaratul?
Pallez Zoroast scoffed.
āIām familiar with the Zaratul who died in the War of the Four Emperors. The one alive whoās now should be āHisā descendant. I might or might not have seen him before.
āSigh, the Zaratul back then had already obtained clues regarding the second Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic from the True Creator. āHeā was waiting for the War of the Four Emperors to end before searching for it. If he succeeded, āHeā would be considered a King of Angels. Unfortunately, in the War of the Four Emperors, āHeā directly encountered the existence from the Antigonus family who could be known as āThe Half-Fool,ā and Bethel Abraham was also involved. āHeā could appear anywhere, anytime. If āHeā hadnāt been quickly banished and sealed by Evernight and Storm, I might not have survived to the end of the War of the Four Emperors either.ā
The Half-Fool⦠Leonardās eyelids twitched when he heard this title as he thought of the entity above the gray fog for some baffling reason.
He then forced himself to control himself and directed his thoughts to something else:
Even from the description of a bystander, Mr. Door was clearly one of the top existences among the Kings of Angels. It required two true deities to join forces to banish and seal āHim.ā Uh, thereās a high chance that āHeā was especially good at escaping, making it very difficult to kill. And back then, the battle situation was tense, so it was imperative to eliminate an enemy that posed a threat as soon as possibleā¦
Heh heh, Old Man is reminiscing about the past, so heās feeling a little uneasy. He actually said so much in one breathā¦
Amidst his thoughts, Leonard suddenly said, āI was left in Backlund because they wish to use you to attract Amon here?ā
The wistful feelings in Pallez Zoroastās tone vanished as he clicked āHisā tongue.
āWho made this guess? I donāt think itās you.
āHowever, itās not bad that you know how to use your own resources to probe for the truth.ā
This is something Iāve been very familiar with ever since I joined the Nighthawks! Leonard replied inwardly but didnāt say a word.
Pallez Zoroast continued, āI guessed that too.
āTo be honest, your ex-colleagueās relationship with Evernight really confuses me. If it wasnāt for how familiar the concealment forces that appeared that day was, I wouldnāt have dared to make such a guess.
āHeh heh, with Zaratul and I in Backlund, Amon will arrive soon too. It truly is a perfect triangle of balance.ā
What do you mean⦠The concealment forces used to deal with Amon came from the Evernight domain, not Mr. Fool? Does this point that there is a certain level of cooperation between Mr. Fool and the Goddess, or is it that the faith of those higher-up in the Church actually to Mr. Fool? Leonard suddenly felt a strong sense of confusion and puzzlement regarding his position in the grand scheme of things.
Seeing that Pallez was also quite confused, he converged his thoughts and didnāt ask any questions regarding this. He frowned and said, āTwo Sequence 1 angels and a King of Angels. Will this bring about a devastating disaster to Backlund?ā
He remembered that Amon was a terrifying existence that could kill countless people silently, and could even live happily as āHisā victim.
Using this as a reference, Zaratul, who was of a neighboring pathway, definitely possessed similarly terrifying powers.
If āHeā and Amon were to clash, half of Backlund or the entirety of Backlund could become the Capital of Death or the Capital of Bizarreness!
Pallez Zoroast laughed and said, āBalance also means that everyone will be very restrained. Besides, itās very likely that Amon wonāt let āHisā true body enter Backlund. At most, āHeā will send a large number of avatars over. After all, the impossibility of a divine descent by Evemight doesnāt mean that Storm or Steam canāt.ā
āWhat do you mean?ā Leonard acutely grasped the key point in Old Manās words.
Pallez Zoroastās tone suddenly became more relaxed.
āRegardless of whether itās because of the war or for other reasons, Evemight is likely unable to interfere with the matters on the ground at the moment. Otherwise, why would āSheā need to lure Amon over to form a balance? āSheā directly set up a trap, and who knows, āSheā might be able to capture Zaratul or scare the cowardly Seer away.ā
āā¦Did something happen to the Goddess?ā Leonard suddenly turned nervous.
The slightly-aged voice replied, āIt might not be a bad thing, and it might be a good thing.ā
Without waiting for Leonard to ask further, Pallez Zoroast sighed again.
āAmon was attracted to Backlund by me. What about Zaratul? What about me?ā
āI think Zaratul is also here because of you, and youāre in Backlund because of meā¦ā Leonard pondered as he replied. āHeh, why do you think youāre in Backlund?ā Pallez immediately scoffed.
Leonard immediately replied, āThis is the arrangement of the Church. It canāt be the effect of the law of convergence of Beyonder characteristics, right?ā
āThatās not necessarily true.ā Pallezās tone turned a little stem. āMost of the time, the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence will not directly show in places where you can sense it. Most of the time, it will influence fate. Just like when you board a train, youāll suddenly feel that the scenery along the way is beautiful and will get off the train in advance, resulting in you entering the small city. This might be because there are Beyonders or mystical items of neighboring pathways around you.ā
āIn other words, there are other things in Backlund that attracts you and Zaratul here, and through you, my fate is affected, causing me to be arranged by the Church to stay in Backlund most of the time?ā Leonard asked in enlightenment, hoping to gain confirmation.
Pallez Zoroast slowly sighed and said, āThat possibility canāt be ruled out.ā
Above the gray fog, Klein soon flipped to a diary page of value.
ā21st November. As I had made too many preparations in the early stages, I obtained that chaotic and terrifying Grade
0 Sealed Artifact even faster than I imagined.
āAnd then, after a difficult battle, and with some help, I finally restored it to a pure Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic.
āIn a few more days, the ritual will be completed. I should be able to advance to Sequence 1 Knowledge Emperor of the Mystery Pryer pathway.ā
ā26th November. Sunny and breezy.
āThe ritual was very successful. I digested it thoroughly, and my anchors were even more stable. There werenāt many difficulties during the entire process.
āIām already a Sequence 1 angel, a Knowledge Emperor. Bernadette no longer has to worry about the influence of the Hidden Sage. She can abide by the words ādo as you wish, but do no harm,ā and continue on this path!
āAt the same time, the level of an angel at Sequence 1 means that I can greatly resist the notice and corruption from the cosmos. I can head to the crimson moon and see whatās happening there.
āRegardless of whether Mr. Door is lying or not, everything points to the fact that the crimson moon is the key to the problem. If I wish to become a true deity, I have to figure out the reason.
āIāll make preparations for another three more days before attempting to land on the moon!
āThatās one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind! Haha, donāt quote me on that.ā
Upon seeing this, Klein recalled the hysterical diary page of Roselle. He began to suspect that it was written after the emperorās ālanding on the moon.ā
Putting down the remaining, unread diary pages, Klein began to use dream divination to recall the content he had read over the past year. He wanted to use the comparison to find clues to Roselleās abnormal mental state.
Not long after, he saw a few lines of text in his dream. It was the last diary entry that was theoretically written by Roselle:
āIām unable to give any actual suggestions because I myself canāt see the true faces of the seven deities or those evil gods. This might be partially related to the second Blasphemy Slate that the ancient organization hides. Unfortunately,
1 only have a rough idea of the hidden parts, and Iām unable to verify them.ā
In this diary, the Emperor had even solemnly warned his āfriendsā to be careful of the moon.
The dream suddenly shattered, and Klein snapped awake. There was an obvious look of fear in his eyes.
He clearly remembered that, a long time ago, Roselle had confirmed that there was a hidden portion in the second Blasphemy slate.
ā19th July. The night of the Blood Moon.
āMr. Doorās answer allowed me to confirm one thing: In that ancient secret organization, the second Blasphemy Slate I saw wasnāt complete!ā
This⦠The emperor forgot? No, how could he have forgotten such an important matter? He only appeared a little extreme, and he didnāt have much of a problem. Why did this happen⦠Klein couldnāt help but mutter to himself silently, having an inexplicable and terrifying feeling.
The last diary entry, or rather, the Emperor Roselle who wrote that sentence seemed to be another person.