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After listening to the narration of Moon Emlyn, the members at the Tarot Club looked at each other and then shook their heads one after another, expressing that they did not understand this either.
Hermit Cattleya furrowed her brow slightly. Because Frank was the only Beyonder of the Planter pathway upon the Future, and they had not docked at shore, she previously thought this was merely an accidental matter, not expecting it to be targeted at all Beyonders on these two pathways.
...Someone is competing for authority with Earth Mother... The thought flashed across her mind, and Hermit Cattleya raised her hand, saying:
"Regarding this matter, I should know a bit. One of my crew members is a Sequence 5 Druid. During the period of time you mentioned, he also displayed an abnormality, and finally it was Mr. Fool who dispatched The World to come over and solve it."
"According to the words of The World, this is related to Brood Hive."
....Brood Hive... Emlyn carefully recalled the memories in his mind, discovering that he had never seen this designation in the data of the Sanguine or the internal archives of the Church of the Earth. Amidst his contemplation, he cast his gaze toward Mr. Fool at the absolute head seat.
Klein shook his head slightly and said: "This is not something you should know at present."
Pausing a moment, he added another phrase:
"If any among you can become an Angel during this period of time, I will let the Seven Lights of the Spirit World teach you the corresponding knowledge."
Amidst the soundless silence, such a thought floated simultaneously across the minds of all Tarot Club members: The Angels beneath the seat of Mr. Fool unexpectedly even included the Seven Lights of the Spirit World!
After a brief silence, Death Azik, who had consistently acted as an observer and barely spoken, suddenly spoke out saying:
"The Corpse Collector pathway will also display some problems, but mainly concentrated at the high sequences. This includes the leaders of the Royal Faction and the Artificial Death Faction of the Numinous Episcopate."
"I suspect they have all been relatively covertly corrupted. As adjacent pathways, Warrior and Sleepless perhaps likewise displayed some problems."
Sun Derrick froze for a moment, saying somewhat hesitantly: "The Beyonders of these pathways in the New City of Silver and New Moon City have not felt any abnormality."
Klein leaned against the back of the chair, laughing softly and leisurely as he said:
"Heh... I have a blessed one who has consistently remained there."
...As for this blessed one, of course it is myself active in the identity of a marionette.
Without giving Sun Derrick a chance to express gratitude and the crowd to raise more doubts, Klein raised his hand and said:
"Alright, let's end it here for today. Your communication can be placed at the next Tarot Club."
"The subsequent gathering time remains unchanged. If you have temporary modifications, or require a separate gathering to be convened, you can pray to me in advance."
"Yes, Mr. Fool."
The crowd rose in tacit agreement, performing a bow toward that figure at the absolute head seat of the mottled long table.
Deep red glows rose up in an instant, melting the figures of the crowd to disappear inside the palace, leaving only Azik still sitting at his original seat.
Klein wiped away the gray fog enveloping his body, tilting his head to look at Azik as he spoke with a somewhat heavy tone:
"I foresaw some future events. The apocalypse will move forward because the City of Calamity becomes the Calamity of Destruction. This is an inevitable future, and the deities do not have extra energy to block it."
"Perhaps three years, two years, or perhaps even shorter, the apocalypse will inevitably descend. For this, I must master Sefirah Castle as quickly as possible, and then accommodate the authorities of Error and Door to promote to a Great Old One."
Azik furrowed his brow, speaking with a tone that was somewhat worried:
"Promoting at too rapid a speed is not a good thing. Along with the convergence of characteristics, even with the support of anchors, your self will gradually be diluted, becoming unfamiliar, becoming unlike your original self at the very beginning."
"But this world requires a Great Old One, a pillar-level Great Old One capable of overriding all outer deities of the cosmos."
Klein explained with a phrase, paused slightly, and then suddenly smiled: "There are always some matters higher than others."
Azik was silent for a moment, shaking his head and sighing:
"You carry too many things on your back, but actually these are not necessities. No one must make sacrifices for this world. You could completely remain at the Angel stage, which is already sufficient to let you cross over, or escape from, the apocalypse."
Pausing a moment, he subsequently added a supplement: "However, I respect your decision. During the period of time you master Sefirah Castle, I will remain at the Rorsted Archipelago to help you guard those believers and stabilize your anchors."
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Azik."
Klein rose from his seat, nodding gently to Azik in greeting. Suddenly thinking of something, he stopped his turning motion, opening his mouth to speak once again:
"Mr. Azik, I will subsequently release all the backup measures left behind by that Celestial Worthy into this world. I will leave some marks upon their bodies; at that time, I will have to trouble you to pay attention to them, do not let them cause too much trouble for this world."
"No problem." Azik nodded gently, agreeing to Klein's request.
"Hopefully at our next meeting, I will still remain that same old me from before."
After lamenting once, a deep red glow rose up from amidst the gray fog, dissolving Azik's figure and taking him away from above the gray fog.
Klein, on the other hand, held the silver magic mirror Arrodes placed on the tabletop and walked toward the depths of the gray fog behind the hall, walking toward the true Sefirah Castle.
Klein stepped up the transparent stairs step by step, walking to the front of that door of illusory light.
He looked at those individual translucent light cocoons suspended inside the door of light, shaking his head as he lamented a phrase:
"Hopefully you can cherish this final period of time before the descent of the apocalypse."
As the sound of his voice fell, he raised his hand to make a dragging motion in midair. The human figures inside the transparent light cocoons disappeared one after another, being grafted onto people who died for various reasons across all places of the world at this very moment.
Those people who died suddenly came alive, recovering their heartbeats, just like Klein back then—their already dead bodies obtained new souls.
Finishing all this, Klein looked down a glance at the magic mirror Arrodes in his hand, letting out a low sigh:
"Although Key of Light helped me adjust the characteristics inside my body to the moment when the Celestial Worthy's consciousness is at its lowest ebb, the Celestial Worthy's consciousness inside that Attendant of Mysteries characteristic coming from Sefirah Castle is inherently very active. Furthermore, I have converged too many characteristics, so my current state cannot be counted as too good. I can already hear those ravings by my ear that do not belong to me."
"By the time I thoroughly master Sefirah Castle and begin to accommodate the authorities of Error and Door, this kind of situation will bound to be even more severe."
"At that time, the voices by my ear will no longer be just illusory echoes; it will even influence my personality, my judgment, and some of my actions."
"Hopefully the me at that time will still remain that same old me from before."
Upon the surface of the magic mirror, individual silver-white words emerged:
"You will, Master. Everything will be smooth; destiny stands on your side."
"On the matter of becoming a Great Old One, the help of any existence cannot avoid the awakening of the original will. It is merely a question of how much of my self I can maintain."
Klein shook his head and let out a sigh, his gaze gradually sharpening into determination. No longer hesitating, he directly stepped forward to cross that door of light.
.....
In the Land of Perfection of the Astral World, Leyton turned his head with some perception. His gaze pierced through the illusory Astral World to see those Seven Lights flowing slowly above the Spirit World, and see the silent, soundless gray fog above the Spirit World.
"Has he already started? The subsequent destiny is something even I cannot pry into. Perhaps that fellow Key of Light can see a bit."
"Hopefully he can succeed. Without the support of a pillar-level Great Old One, this world—no, the entire universe—is not suitable for the climbing of civilization."
While speaking, he simultaneously glanced his gaze toward the crow Anu off to one side. Its current image had completely extricated itself from the scope of a crow; pale flames and mysterious patterns were interwoven upon the feathers of its body surface, and its eyes were deep black and pure, as if dim light was flowing within them, looking like a certain combination of the Eyes of Mystery Prying and the Eye of Death.
This was the occult knowledge Leyton obtained from the River of Eternal Darkness and Brood Hive. Utilizing his own ability to turn abstract knowledge into substance, he conducted modifications on the genetic level of the crow Anu, changing its race into a phoenix.
Noticing Leyton's gaze, the crow Anu shook its body with some unadaptability, saying:
"Boss, I seem to be able to hear some voices, some callings. It seems to want me to go to a certain place in the Underworld."
Leyton nodded slightly, saying casually:
"No need to care about it. You adapt to the new body first. Afterward I will find someone to help you receive Gregrace's legacy. Although basically nothing is left of that, with my favor, some things will have unexpected effects for you."