Chapter 8: Realization

Chapter 8: Realization

After silently staring at the goats and white rabbits for more than ten seconds, Klein closed his eyes and let the index and middle fingers of his right hand flick separately, as though pressing invisible piano keys.

Almost one-third of the marionettes abruptly collapsed, losing their sense of life.

Klein’s expression instantly twisted, as though someone had struck him thirty-three times with a giant sword.

That familiar and extreme pain wreaked havoc inside his spirit body, causing faint, pale granules of flesh to protrude from his skin. Each granule seemed to be nurturing a transparent worm.

This was the backlash brought by killing thirty-three Worms of Spirit at once.

Only after nearly fifteen minutes of recovery did Klein begin his second attempt, causing another third of the marionettes to die.

The same pain, the same rest, and the same operation repeated once more. Klein finally resolved this batch of cursed marionettes completely.

He could not finish it in one go, because the damage caused by the simultaneous death of one hundred Worms of Spirit would be enough to bring him close to losing control, and being cursed meant he could not directly solve the problem by recalling the characteristics.

Of course, this was the level a Scholar of Yore who had only recently advanced should possess, not the performance of a Scholar of Yore whose potion was almost fully digested.

In reality, losing one hundred Worms of Spirit at once would merely intensify Klein’s pain; it would not cause him to show signs of losing control or affect his ability to fight. What he had done just now was merely acting, making his performance match the corresponding position.

At his current level, only losing more than half his Worms of Spirit at the same time could possibly make him lose control.

Once he completely digested the Scholar of Yore potion, even if nearly five hundred Worms of Spirit died at once, he would be able to recover. Even if the corresponding Beyonder characteristics were all lost and did not return, he would not fall in status or level; he could slowly restore his strength by absorbing Beyonder characteristics of the Seer pathway.

After finishing this, Klein, having recovered, walked out of the half-collapsed tower-top building and brought back several white rabbits and a goat from the darkness outside.

Only now did he discover that the darkness of the Forsaken Land of the Gods was not as dangerous as Little Sun had described. Most monsters were so weak.

No, more accurately, aside from making people vanish into thin air, the dangers hidden in the darkness are completely inferior to this fellow called Amon beside me… Klein glanced at the thin-faced man sitting near the leather lantern and watching him work with a smile. Then he summoned boiling water and other things from the gaps of history, crouched down, and began earnestly handling the white rabbits’ and goat’s fur, skin, blood, and flesh.

After a bout of work, Klein started a bonfire, set up a grill from history, placed one white rabbit on it, brushed it with basil, fennel, refined salt, and other items from a seasoning set, and kept turning it over.

At this moment, the historical delicacies he had eaten earlier had long since vanished because he had not maintained them. Both his body and soul were crying out for replenishment.

Gradually, an enticing aroma spread. Amon’s nose twitched slightly.

“Are you truly going to eat them?”

Without waiting for Klein’s answer, this God of Mischief continued on His own:

“Their essence is monster flesh and blood and your Worms of Spirit. Are you certain you wish to eat them?”

“An angel-level Transformation Curse cannot be undone without resistance from the same level or the correct method. Since something looks like a rabbit, smells like a rabbit, and tastes like a rabbit, then it is a rabbit.” As Klein seriously prepared the roast rabbit, he smiled self-mockingly. “Furthermore, if I want to escape from your hands, how can I not maintain my best possible state? For that faint hope, I can only challenge the limits of my psychological endurance.”

This is enduring humiliation for the greater good! Klein silently added in his heart.

At the same time, he sighed over the Ancient Evil’s Transformation Curse.

It was far more powerful than the similar curse of a Sequence 3 Silent Disciple!

Its maintenance time is almost without limit… Ordinary animals, after becoming my marionettes, can use all of my Beyonder powers through Worms of Spirit, yet marionettes afflicted by the Transformation Curse cannot… This is a curse at the angel level… Aside from resistance of the same rank, one can also use the correct method to attempt undoing it. No curse is absolutely unsolvable. All have loopholes… Heh, kiss this rabbit and it will turn back into Gehrman Sparrow? Klein half mocked himself, half analyzed the situation, adjusting his mental state.

After hearing his answer, Amon, wearing the monocle, nodded with a smile.

“Very good.

“This is indeed the realization you should possess.”

Klein gave no response and continued his barbecue work.

Before long, with the help of his Fire Control ability, he finished roasting a rabbit and a leg of lamb. Taking advantage of the seasonings before they vanished, and with sweet iced tea summoned from the gaps of history, he ate until fragrance filled his mouth and his body and mind felt comfortable. This effectively eased the oppression, despair, and hesitation brought by being “kidnapped” by Amon.

During this process, Klein occasionally thought of the monsters’ disgusting appearances and the fact that the Worms of Spirit were equivalent to himself, but he controlled his feelings very well.

After filling his stomach and restoring his energy, Klein turned the remaining ingredients beside the fire into dry rations one by one, putting on an appearance of accumulating food for the journey ahead.

Watching him make preparations slowly but methodically, Amon suddenly pushed His monocle and asked with the corner of His mouth slightly raised, “In truth, are you delaying, trying to lengthen the journey before we reach the true destination?”

Klein’s hands paused briefly, then returned to normal. He smiled.

“Yes. I’m waiting for help.

“Guess who it will be?”

Amon did not answer directly. He smiled and said, “I look forward to it.”

…Klein continued his work until he had prepared enough dry rations for three or four meals.

After thinking, he once again reached into the void in front of Amon. He failed again and again, then tried again and again, no one knew what object he wished to summon. The movement seemed to be asking: do you dare steal it?

Amon watched for a few seconds, then smiled and shook His head. He slowly stood and walked outside the half-collapsed tower-top building.

Klein’s right hand froze in midair, then drew back. He pinched his forehead.

Full of doubt, he muttered quietly to himself, “What was I trying to do just now…”

While attempting to recall, Klein followed Amon to his feet. Carrying the wrapped dry rations and the leather lantern, he walked to Amon’s rear side.

One human and one angel circled around the hill and entered a river valley.

Water rushed and splashed here, but when the lantern’s dim yellow light shone over and when lightning high above illuminated the area, Klein discovered that the riverbed contained no water at all. The sound he had just heard had also vanished.

“A river that has been transferred into a Concealed state?” After considering his words, Klein asked Amon without reservation.

“Correct. It only appears within lightless darkness.” Amon nodded gently, answering without much concern.

“Can it be drunk?” Klein pressed further.

Amon smiled.

“It can. This was once one of the water sources of a city-state that persisted in the darkness for sixteen hundred years. As long as you can take the water away from the riverbed, it can appear in places with light.

“Is your next step to suggest that I take the lantern and wait at the side while you replenish water in the lightless darkness?

“Then, you would seize the chance to transform into a Concealed state?”

Klein gave a somewhat awkward smile.

“How could I possibly use a method so simple and easy to think of?”

Hearing this, Amon laughed and stroked His monocle.

“Sometimes, the simplest plan is instead the most effective. You may try it.”

Klein neither dared believe nor dared disbelieve the words of a top-tier swindler, afraid that Amon was saying the opposite of what He meant.

He could only set the matter of water aside and change the question.

“In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, aside from the City of Silver, how many human settlements have not yet been destroyed?”

Amon looked forward, His expression unchanged.

“No more than ten that I know of.

“In this regard, the City of Silver is fortunate. At least it can see and has the ability to touch the dawn.”

This means the City of Silver is close enough to the Giant King’s Court, the door of the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and does not need to survive nine deaths and one life to reach it. As for the other city-states, no matter how they persist in the darkness, no matter how many exploration teams they send, they are only struggling in vain, with no possibility of finding the exit? Indeed, from this perspective, Silver is unfortunate, yet also fortunate… It depends entirely on who it is compared with… Carrying the leather lantern, Klein walked along the riverbank while beginning to conceive his second escape attempt.

Amon walked beside him, occasionally offering methods that sounded reliable but whose actual effects were unknown, behaving like He had already suffered a split personality and was doing His utmost to sabotage His main body’s hope of obtaining Sefirah Castle.

…

In the City of Silver, in another direction from the Giant King’s Court.

Derrick Berg accepted the Chief’s summons and, carrying the Unshadowed Crucifix, came to the top of the round tower and entered a spacious room.

A mysterious, complicated altar had already been set up here. Different items had been placed in different positions. There were six items in total, all emitting a dangerous aura.

With a single glance, Derrick saw an ordinary silver flute, a mask made from a skull, and the remains of a shapeshifter.

“You have the Unshadowed Crucifix, so you can remain here for fifteen minutes, but not longer. Otherwise, you will suddenly die.” Colin Iliad wore a linen shirt and a brown coat, reminding Derrick.

Derrick’s spirituality stirred, and he asked, “Your Excellency Chief, is this because of that Twilight Mask?”

His right hand pointed at the mask made from a skull.

“Correct.” Colin nodded gently. “I have already prepared the remains of six powerful creatures. All of them were slain by me, either alone or with me as the main combatant.”

Derrick immediately understood.

“You are still missing a deity’s blessing?”

Colin fell silent. After more than ten seconds, he finally opened his mouth and slowly said, “Yes.”

After a period of hesitation and struggle, he had ultimately chosen The Fool.

At the very least, those mushrooms had truly brought hope to the City of Silver.

Derrick restrained his joy. Recalling the exchanges at the Tarot Club, he asked in some confusion, “Why not let those two god-level sealed artifacts give the blessing?”

He remembered that subsidiary gods—angels—could satisfy the ritual requirements. It did not have to be a true god at Sequence 0 who provided the blessing. After all, Silver Knight was only Sequence 3.

Colin fell silent again. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, “They will not give blessings.”