Chapter 16: Its Name

Chapter 16: Its Name

Lightning once again illuminated the barren plain filled with grayish-yellow fog. It illuminated the place where an angel-level battle had just occurred, and illuminated Klein’s calm smile.

Amon watched him for several seconds, pushed His monocle, and said with a smile, “Can you not use another sentence?

“It seems you have found new hope again?”

Klein’s smile did not change. He raised his fist to press the side of his nose, placed one hand in his pocket, and said, “I merely suddenly understood one thing. The fact that your main body is the one playing this game does not make me despair. Quite the opposite: it proves that you have no way to directly steal my fate.”

“Oh?” Amon uttered a questioning syllable with a smile, seeming quite expectant of what Klein would say next.

Klein laughed once. Without the slightest wavering, he said, “Otherwise, the moment we entered the Forsaken Land of the Gods, you would have directly stolen my fate and become the new owner of Sefirah Castle. Even if you wanted to play a game of escape and interception, you could have waited until your main objective was achieved before doing so. That way, you would not need to bear any risk, while I, having lost the chance to revive and my original fate, would try even harder to escape under the drive of my survival instincts.

“Indeed, the God of Mischief may do things that ignore risk in pursuit of excitement, but you are also the God of Deceit.”

At this point, Klein glanced at Amon’s unchanged expression, paused, and said, “I know you truly possess a Beyonder power capable of stealing someone else’s fate. But being able to do something does not mean one will do it. Risk must be measured, pros and cons weighed, gains and losses analyzed.

“I think you do not want to directly steal my fate. That would make you carry everything brought by Sefirah Castle. You would have to resist the shadow of its original owner’s resurrection. Even for a King of Angels like you, that is extremely dangerous. One careless mistake, and you could fall. Therefore, you want to find a loophole—one that lets you obtain Sefirah Castle without bearing the negative effects. And for that, you must obtain my ‘permission.’”

As Klein said those words, what came to mind was the experience from his previous life of having his computer infected by viruses several times. Those viruses always disguised themselves as various normal things, deceiving one into clicking and giving “permission.”

This was, inexplicably, somewhat similar to the current situation.

After listening to Klein’s words, Amon looked at him without speaking. He merely calmly adjusted the monocle carved from crystal.

A smile rose on Klein’s face as he continued, “From the moment you parasitized me, you have been conducting a large-scale deception. On one side, you offered the option of becoming your blessed. On the other, you told me that your main body could withstand my fate, making me bear a heavy psychological burden.

“During the journey that followed, you constantly let me see hope and constantly destroyed it. From time to time, you gave a time limit, making me unconsciously grasp opportunities to breathe, then abruptly shortened the journey and disrupted my arrangements. Finally, you revealed the card that you were the main body, throwing me into an abyss of despair. All of this was to destroy my will, break down my psychological defenses, make me completely collapse, and choose to become your blessed—to ‘agree’ to that hidden transaction.”

Amon quietly listened to the end. Suddenly, He laughed and lifted both hands, clapping lightly.

“Perfect reasoning.

“However, you seem to have overlooked one issue.

“What I said was: after you met my main body, and after we went to a sufficiently safe place, only then would I take your fate. Right now, we still have not reached the final destination, so naturally, I will not risk attempting it.”

Klein’s expression darkened slightly, then relaxed again.

“I look forward to seeing what difference that place will make.”

He replied to Amon’s words in Amon’s own manner.

That genuine King of Angels adjusted His monocle and smiled, pointing toward the side.

“Soon. We can reach it in less than half a day.”

“How long exactly?” Klein instinctively lacked trust in Amon’s rather vague descriptions.

Amon scratched His chin and chuckled.

“Half an hour.”

Klein turned his head toward the direction Amon had pointed. It was deep with darkness, and nothing could be seen.

A bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating this barren plain, but in the distance, the grayish-yellow fog was even thicker.

…

Backlund, Queens Borough, inside Earl Hall’s luxurious villa.

After two days of chaos, Audrey’s life had finally regained some peace. This made her even more curious about the hidden truth behind the king’s assassination.

Considering that Mr. Fool seemed to have hinted that today’s Tarot Gathering might be canceled, Audrey decided to pray to this existence in advance and contact The World Gehrman Sparrow, trying to clarify the corresponding situation.

She merely glanced at Susie, and the golden retriever immediately walked out of the room, closing the door along the way with her leg, then crouched outside.

Audrey skillfully sat down, assumed a posture of prayer, and softly recited in ancient Hermes:

“The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era…”

…

Backlund, East Borough, inside a two-bedroom rented apartment.

“Do you think there will be a gathering today? There hasn’t even been a formal notice…” Forsi took out her lady’s pocket watch, pressed it open, and glanced at it.

Xio shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

Forsi was somewhat unable to remain seated. She left her chair and paced back and forth rather anxiously, muttering to herself, “Mr. World gave no feedback, and Mr. Fool has not responded either…”

As she spoke, Forsi suddenly looked toward her friend, who was eating ham. She said urgently, “Xio, why don’t you try praying to Mr. Fool? Just ask whether today’s gathering will proceed as scheduled.”

Xio frowned slightly, put down her fork, and nodded.

“All right.”

She also felt that the current situation was somewhat strange.

After clasping her hands and pressing them against her chin, Xio inhaled and spoke in a low voice:

“The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era…”

…

Backlund, North Borough, beneath Saint Samuel Cathedral, inside a certain room beyond Chanis Gate.

Emlyn White woke and felt rather puzzled about the dream he had just had.

He seemed to have dreamed of the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith!

In the dream, he was trapped inside an ancient castle overgrown with red grapevines, unable to escape no matter what he tried.

Later, through a narrow window high above, he saw the crimson moon outside and a pair of enormous bat wings that covered half the red moon.

In Sanguine legends, this was one of the symbols of the ancient god Lilith.

Immediately afterward, Emlyn, excited enough to fly upward and attempt to open the narrow window, discovered a tarot card at the bottom of the glass.

On the surface of that tarot card was a young person wearing magnificent clothing. He wore a brilliant headdress, carried a staff over his shoulder, and at the end of the staff hung luggage. Behind him, a small dog tugged at him.

The Fool card.

At this point in the dream, Emlyn naturally woke up. As a Sanguine Viscount, he possessed basic dream interpretation abilities.

“This dream must have appeared because of my current situation. That Star has still not sent me any human blood…

“As expected, I am one watched over by the Ancestor… She is hinting that, if I wish to escape this predicament, I must obtain help from Mr. Fool?

“What day is it today? Forget it. I’ll pray directly. That way, I can get out as soon as possible.” Filled with hope, Emlyn sat up and rather devoutly recited:

“The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era…”

…

Above the gray fog, the three crimson stars corresponding to Justice, Judgment, and The Moon began to swell and contract, emitting light and creating ripples.

They merged into the already-existing crimson tide, instantly intensifying the tremors throughout the mysterious space.

Amid the trembling, that tide drowned the ancient, majestic palace. On the two sides of the long bronze table, one mysterious symbol after another lit up behind the backs of the eight chairs.

This brought new halos and new tremors, accompanied by a humming sound.

At the very top of the mottled long table, the chair belonging to The Fool also lit up from behind. The complex symbol formed from half of a Twisted Line and half of an Eyeless Eye continuously stretched outward, becoming layer upon layer, extremely three-dimensional.

The crimson tide was thus attracted over, condensing into a “human figure” on The Fool’s high-backed chair.

This “figure” was not stable enough. It twisted from time to time, scattered from time to time, and could not truly take form.

On the barren plain filled with grayish-yellow fog, Klein’s footsteps paused slightly. He raised his head and glanced at the lightning streaking across the sky.

He immediately withdrew his gaze and, carrying the leather lantern, followed behind and to the side of Amon, advancing deeper into the boundless wilderness.

The further the human and King of Angels walked, the more ravines appeared in the ground, and their depth grew increasingly exaggerated.

After roughly ten minutes, as another bolt of lightning split the sky, Klein saw a bluish-black one-eyed giant wandering not far away, dozens of meters tall.

His body was covered everywhere in rotting, pus-filled traces. His eye sockets were sunken, and his gaze was utterly lifeless. One could tell at a glance that he had long since lost his life.

Yet he still wandered. Grayish-yellow gas seeped out from his body, interweaving into clouds in midair and producing fog across the plain.

The grayish-yellow fog that enveloped this endless wilderness actually came from this bluish-black giant!

“The youngest son of Giant King Aumir, Bradell, God of Honor. He publicly cursed my father and suffered punishment, forever wandering here. Of course, He died long ago in the Cataclysm, yet He still has not obtained release.” Amon pointed at the bluish-black one-eyed giant and said with a smile, “If not for me stealing the corresponding harm, the moment you entered this plain, you would have been corrupted by the fog produced after Bradell’s death and become a cursed wanderer unable to leave.”

Am I supposed to thank you? Klein suddenly once again felt as though he had directly walked into mythology.

Amon brought him forward, and they soon approached the bluish-black one-eyed giant.

Where this giant wandered, there was an extremely deep ravine. When lightning flashed past, a thick, broad, grayish-white building could be vaguely seen at its bottom.

Klein merely glanced at it, and his eyelids twitched slightly. He recalled the scene he had seen when divining the Unshadowed Crucifix.

If he remembered correctly, this should be the place from which the ancient Sun God, the Creator of the City of Silver, Amon and Adam’s father, had walked out!

Is this the sufficiently safe place Amon spoke of? Klein’s heart immediately sank.

At that moment, Amon, wearing a pointed soft hat and monocle, walked to the edge of the ravine. With His back toward the continuous gray-white buildings, He opened His arms slightly and smiled.

“This is the sacred place where my father awakened, and it buries the history I wish to explore.

“My father told me that this place has a very ancient name. It is called…”

Illuminated by silver-white lightning that cut through the sky, Amon, dressed in a classical black robe, paused. His arms spread a little wider, and with a hint of solemnity, He said:

“Chernobyl!”