Chapter 18: The Cause of Medici’s Death

Chapter 18: The Cause of Medici’s Death

As expected… Having verified his own thoughts, Leonard no longer dwelled on that matter and returned to the main topic.

“Old Man, didn’t you just ask whose dream I visited?

“Mm. During the revenge against Ince Zangwill that day, Amon’s brother, a certain King of Angels, appeared.”

Inside his mind, the slightly aged voice did not immediately respond. Only after several seconds did it sigh.

“As I expected, matters involving 0-08 will always attract Adam at some point.

“Fortunately, I chose to sleep in advance.”

Leonard had no time to ponder the meaning of Pallez Zoroast’s words. Instinctively, he cried out in astonishment,

“Old Man, you—you said His name!”

Adam’s gaze was about to fall over, or perhaps had already fallen!

The slightly aged voice gave a “heh.”

“So you actually learned of Adam’s special nature… However, it doesn’t matter if I mention Him. He’ll only think someone else is talking about Him. Of course, you don’t need to understand too much. Otherwise, you will certainly think about Him from time to time. Once that happens often enough, or if the distance is close enough, Adam will know, just like 0-08. Besides, 0-08’s range of influence is only a major city, while Adam’s is the whole world.”

As terrifying as Amon… Another kind of terror… Leonard steadied himself, forced himself not to think about Adam, and mulled over what Pallez Zoroast had just said.

Suddenly, he nearly failed to suppress his voice and blurted out,

“Old Man, you slept not because you were weak, but because you were worried about running into Amon’s brother?”

“Cough.” Pallez cleared His throat. “Both reasons existed, and they do not contradict one another. After giving you two Worms of Time, my condition worsened again. In that state, what would I use to face a King of Angels and conceal my own existence? I’m already this old, with old arms and legs. If there is no need, of course I should hide a little.”

For a moment, Leonard could not find words to refute Him. Only after several seconds did he say,

“Amon and His brother should both be older than you. The ancient sun god was an ancient god from before the Cataclysm…”

Before Pallez Zoroast could respond, Leonard relaxed slightly and said,

“In other words, because you sealed yourself off and fell asleep, that King of Angels didn’t discover anything wrong with me?”

Pallez chuckled.

“No. He discovered it.”

“…” Leonard’s expression froze, and he nearly looked around in every direction.

He suspected Adam was sitting in some corner of the room, quietly listening to his conversation with the Old Man!

At this point, Pallez Zoroast added,

“At the time, you must have been very close to Him. Do you think the thoughts in your heart could be hidden from a King of Angels who has accommodated the Uniqueness of the Spectator pathway?

“And more than likely, at a critical moment, you impolitely muttered ‘Old Man’ again and again.”

Leonard froze, then reflexively responded,

“…You heard that?”

He suspected that the Old Man had clearly heard him, but had deliberately refused to answer out of fear of being discovered by Adam.

“No,” Pallez said in a slightly aged voice filled with teasing. “I don’t need to hear it to know what you would do. Do I not know what sort of person you are?”

As Leonard felt a little embarrassed, Pallez Zoroast continued,

“Adam definitely already knows you are being parasitized. But because I was asleep and sealed off, He could not discover who exactly is parasitizing you. There are not very many demigods who possess this ability, but there are not very few either.”

So that’s how it is… Hearing this, Leonard breathed out in relief at once. What worried him most was that Adam had “seen” the Old Man and would go back to inform the Blasphemer, Amon.

Thinking of this, Leonard raised a question that had accumulated in his mind:

“Old Man, what is a King of Angels?”

Pallez Zoroast did not ask where Leonard had learned the concept and simply explained:

“Those who have surpassed Sequence 1 but have not yet become gods.

“If speaking specifically of the eight Kings of Angels, it refers to those who fit that definition and served the ancient sun god before the Cataclysm.”

What does it mean to surpass Sequence 1 but not yet become a god? How is that done? By accommodating the so-called Uniqueness? Leonard wanted to ask again, but suspected the Old Man would not explain in such detail. He therefore decided to speak of other matters first and find an opportunity to circle back.

After choosing his words, he lowered his voice and said,

“During the battle to take revenge on Ince Zangwill, I encountered a great deal of difficulty. I could not even look directly at the enemy, let alone use the Luck Stealer charm… When I sought your help without result, I chose to recite Mr. Fool’s honorific name and received a response.

“After the matter ended, I went as if dreaming to an ancient palace located above endless gray fog…”

Before Leonard could finish, Pallez, who had been listening in silence, interrupted him.

“You met The Fool?”

“Yes. His aura was deeper than the sea and more towering than a mountain. His figure was shrouded in gray fog and could not be seen clearly.” Recalling that moment, Leonard described it with language carrying a touch of poetry. “He established an organization that holds a divine gathering every Monday afternoon. A true gathering before a god. I am now one of its members.”

Pallez fell silent once more. For a long time, He did not speak. Only after quite a while did He say,

“Was it that Fool who told you to tell me?”

“Yes.” Sitting there, Leonard nodded to himself and lowered his voice toward the empty air. “Old Man, do you know Him?”

Pallez Zoroast sighed.

“I do not. But I can roughly guess a little of His origins. Don’t ask what it is. I will not tell you.

“Heh. This may be your opportunity. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for you to become a demigod.”

Leonard opened his mouth, then closed it again. He did not mention the Tarot Gathering any further, because Mr. Fool had not said that other details could be spread.

After thinking for a moment, he asked,

“Old Man, was there once another King of Angels called Medici, titled the War Angel?”

Pallez gave a soft “mm.”

“He can also be called the Red Angel. However, He fell long ago. You once approached the place of His death.”

“Where?” Leonard was astonished and had no impression of this at all.

Pallez sneered.

“Is the memory of all you Evernight pathway Beyonders this bad? I remember your Goddess wasn’t like this.

“Do you still remember the underground ruin discovered in Backlund?”

“The Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire? The place where Alista Tudor became the Blood Emperor?” Leonard asked back in dawning realization.

Pallez Zoroast’s slightly aged voice echoed again:

“Yes.”

While trying to sort out the hidden logic within this, Leonard told the Old Man about the evil spirit.

“Medici’s remnant spirit fused with the residual souls of the two angels from the Sauron and Einhorn families, forming a brand-new evil spirit?” Pallez repeated Leonard’s words in disbelief. Immediately after, He spoke with laughter that He could not conceal. “The three of Them were absolute mortal enemies—the sort where if one existed, the others could not. Yet after death, They became inseparable and fused into one. That is truly… haha, it must be very lively.”

Leonard did not really understand what the Old Man was laughing about and instinctively asked,

“They were mortal enemies?”

Pallez restrained His laughter.

“Yes. The reason Medici miscalculated and was captured was that, at the time, He was dealing with the ancestor of the Sauron family, who had stepped into His trap.

“It wasn’t that He had no defenses, but His main attention was focused on the Primordial Demoness. Who could have known that Alista Tudor would suddenly go mad? Heh. In that matter, Amon and Adam played a rather important role.”

That evil spirit is also Adam’s enemy… Why did the Blood Emperor capture Medici and the two angels from the Sauron and Einhorn families? The place where They fell was the palace where Alista Tudor became the Blood Emperor… Were They materials for achieving true godhood? Mm, according to Mr. Fool, after Adam obtained 0-08, He moved closer to godhood… Does that also count as gathering materials? Amon dealing with the Old Man—could it be based on the same reason? Leonard formed some guesses and wanted to ask, but in the end he did not open his mouth.

He was afraid of touching upon matters too secretive and causing the Old Man to react badly.

He planned to find an opportunity to ask about this at a future Tarot Gathering.

After a brief silence, Leonard glanced at the closed door and lowered his voice.

“Has Mr. Fool and the Church, to a certain extent, reached some tacit understanding?”

“The fact that no one has come to investigate you by now already proves it,” Pallez Zoroast answered quite directly.

Leonard nodded almost imperceptibly.

“How will they arrange things for me next?”

“How arrange you? They’ll record your contributions, and once you digest your potion, they’ll let you advance to Sequence 5. Then they’ll assign you a Red Gloves team and send you off to carry out missions. Or they’ll transfer you to a major diocese like Backlund and make you a deacon in charge of some aspect of the work,” Pallez said, not especially concerned.

Return to Backlund… Klein seems to be planning something in Backlund… Leonard’s thoughts suddenly began to wander.

He no longer conversed with the Old Man. Leaning sideways against the wall, he placed both hands behind his head and sat in an extremely casual posture.

…

Late at night, outside a row of warehouses in a border city where East Balam and West Balam met.

Dwayne Dantès, dressed in formalwear with graying temples, held a gold-inlaid cane. After exchanging code phrases with the duty officer and providing the password, he saw the other party open the door to one warehouse and heard him say in a relaxed tone,

“It’s all inside. Inspect the goods and move them yourselves.

“Also, give me the balance before you leave.”

Dwayne Dantès nodded lightly and weighed the leather suitcase in his hand. Inside were a full five thousand gold pounds in banknotes, all from Mesanyes’s advance payment.

At that moment, inside a three-story building two warehouses away, two figures were quietly watching everything.