Chapter 94: The Hidden Sage

Chapter Ninety-Four
The Hidden Sage

“The Fallen Creator… Fallen…”

The Hanged Man, Alger, tasted the Fool’s words as if falling into thought.

Yet what echoed in his heart was the other party’s relaxed, natural, wholly unconcerned attitude.

It was an attitude of looking levelly, of standing as an equal!

If not for his previous experience with the ritual, Alger might have believed the Fool was merely bluffing—raising Himself up in order to intimidate him and Justice. But now, he was more willing to believe that even if the Fool was not on the same level as the True Creator, He was close to that realm.

Danger… and opportunity as well…

Alger murmured silently. Then, with a faint smile in his voice, he said, “Mr. Fool, your description is indeed more fitting. According to our observations, among Beyonders who believe in the True Creator—no, the Fallen Creator—the rate of losing control is far higher than normal. And of the remainder, most are madmen as well.”

The Nighthawks’ internal materials mentioned that too… And the so-called “madmen” are not necessarily people who have lost reason, but people whose values have become abnormally twisted…

Klein kept his sitting posture unchanged and did not take up the Hanged Man’s remark.

He was still thinking about how he could appropriately ask about the Secret Order and the Clown potion, yet he still could not find a method that fit his identity.

What a pity. This place is fundamentally different from online social platforms. Otherwise, I could make a secondary account and bring it in to ask the questions inconvenient for my main account… Perhaps one day, if I learn magic resembling a mirror image, I can try it. For example, half the members could be my alternate accounts…

There are twenty-two chairs here. Tarot has twenty-two cards. The correspondence is perfect. But when I “wanted” a temple, I had not yet called myself the Fool and had never thought of establishing a Tarot Club. Mm. Does this symbolize the twenty-two Sequence pathways?

I wanted a temple, and a temple appeared. If I want an “alternate account,” will an alternate account appear?

Seeing that the Fool, shrouded in dense gray fog, spoke no further, Justice Audrey opened her mouth half in emotion, half in curiosity.

“That sounds terrifying. Mm, Mr. Hanged Man, could you speak in more detail about the various mysterious organizations and secret cults? In everyday life, it is very difficult for me to come into contact with such matters. I can only learn through you. I will pay compensation. What would you like?”

Wonderful question! Miss Justice, in a sense, you are practically taking on the duties of my secondary account… This way, the Hanged Man will definitely mention the Secret Order… You are the best straight man in the world!

Klein’s spirits lifted, but he allowed none of the emotion to leak through his expression or movements.

Alger thought for a moment before saying, “I need a sum of money. One thousand pounds. Preferably non-consecutive notes, or freshly mined gemstones calculated according to the monthly average price at Backlund’s jewelry exchange.”

One thousand pounds? That is a tremendous amount of cash. It is enough to buy a house on one of Tingen’s better streets! It is not something just anyone can take out at once… The Captain’s yearly salary should be about that, right? Helene’s “death compensation” was only three hundred pounds… Although Miss Justice is a noble, she clearly has not inherited property and can only receive the income from a corresponding annuity. Mm, no wonder the Hanged Man said gemstones could be used to offset it…

Klein was extremely sensitive to numbers involving money. Fortunately, thick gray fog surrounded him.

For an unmarried young lady or woman, two thousand pounds would be enough to live respectably for an entire lifetime!

After all, the stable annuity return from two thousand pounds would be around one hundred pounds a year.

“One thousand pounds?” Audrey blurted in astonishment. Then her tone turned light and cheerful. “No problem. Should it be sent to the same address as before?”

From Miss Justice’s tone, she thinks it is cheap?

Klein did not let his gaze shift toward her.

Alger remained silent for more than twenty seconds before saying, “Yes. Pelican Street, White Rose District, Pritz Harbor. The Warriors and the Sea Bar. Give it to the owner, Williams, and say that it is what the Captain wants.”

“All right.”

Audrey leaned back slightly, assuming the posture of a Spectator.

“Mr. Hanged Man, you may begin.”

Alger glanced at the Fool, considered his words for a moment, and slowly said, “Let us begin with the Moses Ascetic Order. It is the earliest secret organization. Of course, many people believe the earliest secret organizations should be the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the Church of the Earth Mother, and the Church of the God of Combat.”

“Those people must be members of the Church of the Lord of Storms, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, or the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom,” Audrey muttered in protest.

The Goddess’s Church was once the earliest secret organization?

This was the first time Klein had heard a similar claim.

What exactly happened in the Fourth Epoch, or even the Third?

Alger smiled.

“Such truths have long been buried in ancient history. The only thing we can confirm is that no one has ever said the Church of the Lord of Storms, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, or the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom were once secret organizations.

“All right. Let us save time and return to the main topic. The Moses Ascetic Order was first founded by several humans who had seen the Blasphemy Slate. They believed in an impersonal deity known as the Hidden Sage.

“Although called a deity, the Hidden Sage was closer to a concept, a law of nature. For example, if all things are numbers, then the Hidden Sage is the embodiment of spiritual numbers. If knowledge is supreme, then the Hidden Sage is knowledge itself. Therefore, the early Moses Ascetic Order was a highly respected organization and maintained good relations with the major Churches.

“The members of this organization used asceticism to resist losing control and dissolve the influence of potion remnants. They strictly kept secrets, upheld morality and precepts, and believed that after death, a person would reincarnate again and again…

“The Sequence 9 they control is called Mystery Pryer… The word Wizard also spread outward from this organization.”

Audrey digested the Hanged Man’s description and keenly asked back, “You said the early Moses Ascetic Order was highly respected. Does that mean they no longer are?”

Alger nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Yes. They have already fallen and become an evil organization.”

“Why? I think their ideas are quite good, quite normal,” Audrey said, expressing her confusion.

This was also Klein’s question. The materials available at his confidentiality level did not record the reason for the Moses Ascetic Order’s fall.

Alger glanced again at the profound, silent Fool and gave a soft “mm.”

“The real reason is unknown to me. Perhaps it has already been completely covered by the dust of history. But I know of one appalling explanation.

“In that explanation, the main reason for the Moses Ascetic Order’s fall is that the deity they worshipped—the Hidden Sage—came alive.

“He became a personalized evil god.”

“Came alive? That… how could He come alive?” Audrey asked back in a tone filled with disbelief and incomprehension.

It sounds like a ghost story… And that “ghost” is a deity…

Klein’s heart too was swept by a violent storm.

“My apologies. No one knows the answer.”

Alger had originally meant to casually say, Perhaps Mr. Fool knows, but he forcibly restrained the impulse.

He had already tried dancing along the edge of danger once today.

He remembered clearly a sentence from Chapter Five, Verse Seven of The Book of Storms:

“Do not test God.”

Audrey restrained her emotions and did not continue asking, signaling for him to go on.

Klein kept his sitting posture and kept his silence, comparing the Hanged Man’s narration with what he himself knew.

By the end, he discovered four points he had to pay attention to.

First, during the Fourth Epoch, the Demoness Sect had also been known as the Demoness Family. At that time, they had been few in number and relied on bloodline reproduction to continue. They would kill the fathers of their children and abandon male infants, so all members were women. Of course, this was merely Alger’s claim. Whether it was true or false could not yet be verified.

Second, the Spiritual Religion Order, which worshipped Death, and the Rose School of Thought, which loved bloody sacrifices, both originated from the Southern Continent. After the colonial era arrived, the Churches of the seven gods struck them nearly to extinction. Yet that was precisely why they spread to the Northern Continent.

Third, the Psychology Alchemists were currently similar to the early Moses Ascetic Order. They worshipped an impersonal existence and believed the human mind could evolve everything.

Fourth, among all secret organizations, the Secret Order was the least active. Thus, others understood them the least. Every time they appeared, they seemed only to be pursuing something, searching for something.

Pursuing something? Searching for something?

Klein immediately thought of the diary he had just read: Zaratul, the leader of the Secret Order, had cooperated with Roselle in order to obtain a relic of the Antigonus family.

And this time, their goal in appearing was to recover the lost notebook—the Antigonus family notebook…

Klein’s eyes narrowed slightly. He felt he had grasped the core element behind the Secret Order’s actions.

They were pursuing items left behind by the Antigonus family!

Klein restrained the impulse to tap the edge of the table, thoughts blooming wildly in his mind.

Mm. Are they searching for the remaining traces of the Antigonus family?

If I want to obtain the Clown potion formula from the Secret Order, perhaps I need to begin from this angle?

After the three of them exchanged information for a while longer, Klein announced the end of this gathering.

“I shall follow your will,” Audrey and Alger said at the same time, rising.

After severing the connection and watching their figures shatter and vanish, Klein rubbed the space between his brows and tried to imagine a secondary account into being.

The thought had only just appeared when he saw a figure materialize at the far end of the bronze long table. That figure wore a black tailcoat and a half-top silk hat. Its expression was dull, its movements wooden. Even with illusory gray fog shrouding it, its abnormality was still obvious.

No good…

Klein tried several more times. In the end, he sighed and abandoned the idea of creating an alternate account.

After experimenting with a few other things, he continued sitting above the gray fog, seated at the head of the bronze long table. Thinking of Audrey’s earlier words, he curiously turned his gaze toward the illusory crimson stars.

After a moment of silence, Klein began touching those stars not through the method of establishing a connection, but through the method of responding to prayers.

In that stretch of peace and deathly stillness, he received no information from the dozen nearby crimson stars.

Only after establishing a connection and pulling someone above the gray fog can I “respond”?

Klein nodded thoughtfully, feeling faint disappointment.

He did not wish to go against another person’s will and forcibly drag them into this mysterious space.

Mm…

Klein prepared to leave. But out of habit, he touched one nearby illusory star.

At that moment, he suddenly sensed a faint, almost imperceptible “prayer” hidden within that crimson light!