Chapter 149: Secret Pact Ritual

Chapter One Hundred Forty-Nine
Secret Pact Ritual

A male voice? Mr. Hanged Man—or Little Sun?

Klein glanced out at the gloomy sky beyond the window, rose, entered the washroom next door, locked the door, then walked four steps counterclockwise and arrived above the gray fog.

Within that mysterious space, the towering, ancient palace stood in solemn silence. An illusory male voice echoed in overlapping layers, continuously reverberating.

Klein glanced once and confirmed that the prayer came from Little Sun.

As he sat down in the seat belonging to The Fool, he extended his right hand, spread his spirituality outward, and touched the corresponding crimson star.

All at once, the prayer became clear enough, every layer distinct. Klein swiftly understood what The Sun was describing:

The former exploration team captain next door—the one who had once seen Amon—had suddenly lost control and eerily passed through the seal, arriving in The Sun’s room. Fortunately, the City of Silver had taken the matter seriously enough and had remained prepared the entire time. Otherwise, it would inevitably have turned into a tragedy.

The Sun believed the other party’s loss of control could not have occurred without reason. He guessed at two possibilities: first, that his own Beyonder pathway just happened to meet the needs of a descendant of the ancient Sun God; second, that the other party might have detected the Tarot Gathering, or detected the hidden method Mr. Fool used to draw people in.

If it were the former, there would have been no need to wait until today—no need to wait until after the Tarot Gathering ended before losing control… It is very likely the latter… Hiss. This is the first time I have encountered someone capable of detecting matters involving the gray fog… That Amon is terrifying! No wonder his family was called “Blasphemers” in the Fourth Epoch, and even the surname itself was considered taboo…

Almost unconsciously, Klein looked toward the prayer image manifested from the crimson star and carefully examined the blurred figure of Little Sun, checking whether any abnormality existed.

Klein believed that Amon would never be eliminated so simply. Even if, as the Chief of the City of Silver had said, it was not his main body, it still should not be that easy!

Unless he had completely failed to anticipate that a powerful figure from the City of Silver would use a mystical item to monitor him the entire time. But was that possible?

When he decided to make the former exploration team captain lose control and quietly pass through the seal, he must have already had some contingency prepared…

Amid the surge of thoughts, Klein’s gaze toward the prayer image suddenly froze.

Around the blurred, hard-to-see figure of The Sun coiled a transparent, illusory figure!

It had hands and feet, yet it twisted around The Sun like a python, while its head rested behind The Sun’s own!

In that hazy image, the figure seemed to wear a black classical robe and a pointed soft hat of the same color. On its face hung a monocle that looked carved from crystal.

Of all this, The Sun was utterly unaware!

…Klein nearly drew in a breath of cold air, frightened by the other party’s eerie method.

He vaguely understood the other party’s purpose:

To “lodge” inside The Sun’s Spirit Body, wait for the next Tarot Gathering, and then, without anyone knowing, sneak above the gray fog—like a virus, or a Trojan horse!

At that point, my control over this mysterious space might even be stripped away from me… A true “Blasphemer” indeed! Thank goodness, thank goodness Little Sun is simple and direct enough to report this matter to me immediately. And through the corresponding crimson star, with the power above the gray fog, I can discover his unusual state…

Klein inhaled, working hard to calm himself.

At that moment, he had to respond. Either he had to quickly think of a way to remove Amon from The Sun’s body, or he had to temporarily exclude The Sun from the Tarot Gathering.

He examined himself: from the Beyonder abilities of Magician, Clown, and Diviner, to Azik’s copper whistle, the Black Emperor card, the All-Black Eye, the Sun Brooch, the Biological Toxin Bottle, and other items. Yet Klein could not find anything that could deal with that Amon.

The other party’s Sequence was certainly above 4, and his methods were bizarre enough to fool the powerful mystical item that sustained the City of Silver’s existence and the formidable Demon Hunter who guarded it. He was absolutely not something ordinary objects or ordinary abilities could remove.

After thinking for a while and looking around, Klein found that only the gray fog, only this mysterious space itself, carried the possibility of resolving Amon.

I must find a way to leverage its power… The previous sacrificial and bestowment rituals are examples… With that line of thought, Klein’s gaze turned toward the Book of Secrets.

This mysticism book, originating from the ancient Witch King Karman, recorded quite a few mysterious rituals praying for help from the Primordial Moon.

And from his earlier browsing, Klein vaguely remembered that a few were suited to this sort of situation.

Of course, after changing the target to The Fool, what corresponding changes should be made, and whether it would prove effective, were all unknowns. He could only try with the mentality of treating a dead horse as though it were still alive…

Klein flipped through the book, and his gaze stopped on one ritual:

“Blood Moon Sacrament.”

This ritual magic was clearly different from the simpler types Klein had learned before. It employed elements of a secret pact.

Its procedure was this: first, using spiritually rich materials—Beyonder blood was best—one wrote the honorific name of the secret pact’s target upon a sheet of animal hide, and drew the corresponding symbol and magical signs. If necessary, a specific time, a specific place, and a specific environment also had to be considered.

After completing that step, the ritual host would arrange an altar, take up the hide, continuously recite the honorific name, and allow their own spirituality to spread into the hide, gradually diffusing outward and little by little harmonizing in secret with the corresponding great or hidden existence, obtaining the corresponding mental experience or a measure of help.

The ritual’s ultimate result was unknown. Everything depended on what that great or hidden existence bestowed. Or rather, depending on the nature of the existence, the knowledge and power one could obtain through such a secret harmonization would also differ.

This rather vague, rather subjective ritual was exactly what gave Klein room to manipulate. If he revealed from the beginning that he planned to forcefully remove Amon, the other party would inevitably resist and create dangerous accidents.

If the secret pact target were the True Creator or the Hidden Sage, going mad after the ritual would be completely normal…

Klein muttered this once, manifested paper and pen, and began modifying the Blood Moon Sacrament, transforming it into a secret pact ritual belonging to The Fool.

First, he would replace the honorific name with the three-line title of the King of Yellow and Black. Second, he would change the symbolic sign to the one on the back of The Fool’s chair: the unique symbol formed from part of the Pupil-less Eye that symbolized concealment and the Twisting Lines that symbolized change.

Third, based on that symbol and his mysticism knowledge, he needed to design the corresponding magical marks. This was the most difficult step. If he made a mistake, the entire ritual might undergo unpredictable changes.

Lastly, he had to alter the altar arrangement so that it more closely matched The Fool and the King of Yellow and Black.

After working for a while, Klein had a new secret pact ritual—a secret pact ritual whose effects he could not know in advance.

He checked it over carefully several times. After confirming that nothing was wrong, he spread out his spirituality and answered Little Sun in a low voice:

“I know.

“There is something I need you to do.

“Test whether this ritual is effective.”

…

The Sun, Derrick, suddenly woke from dreamless sleep. Before his eyes was boundless gray fog and The Fool seated high above. By his ears echoed one lofty, illusory sentence after another.

He knew Mr. Fool would occasionally have members of the Tarot Gathering perform small experiments, seemingly to verify certain matters. He did not find it strange. With great efficiency, he rolled out of bed and found monster hide, strange herbs, and other items.

As for the spiritually rich material described in the ritual, Derrick did not waste time going to the spire or underground marketplace to buy anything. He directly picked up the Hurricane Axe and cut a long wound into his own arm.

Silently, he used his own blood as ink and wrote The Fool’s honorific name, corresponding symbol, and magical marks onto the pitted monster hide.

After a while, he set down the blood-stained feather pen and saw that the many symbols upon the hide were mysterious, their color a vivid red that seemed about to drip. They carried an indescribably eerie charm.

After treating the wound on his arm, Derrick, whose face had already turned somewhat pale, quickly finished arranging the simple altar. He picked up the hide covered in shocking blood-red words and symbols and gripped it tightly in his palm.

Looking at the candlelight wavering before him, he closed his eyes, lowered his head, and continuously recited the ritual target’s honorific name:

“The Fool that does not belong to this era; the mysterious ruler above the gray fog; the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.”

…

Derrick’s spirituality slowly flowed out and entered the hide. The Giant words and magical marks upon it quickly brightened, becoming a frighteningly intense crimson.

At that moment, having entered a meditative state, he felt his spirit scatter bit by bit, drifting toward an infinitely high place, touching the gray-white fog and the hidden, great existence beyond it.

…

Above the gray fog, within the towering palace like a giant’s residence.

Having discovered that The Sun had not delayed and had directly begun preparing the ritual, Klein was waiting there.

Suddenly, he sensed the entire mysterious space tremble lightly. The gray-white fog that had seemed still began to flow in an obvious manner!

The crimson star corresponding to The Sun, meanwhile, burst with radiance, spreading tide-like illusory light outward.

Those countless rays gathered, turning into The Sun’s blurred figure. He had assumed the posture of prayer, eyes closed and head lowered, waiting to harmonize little by little with a great existence and obtain a wondrous mental experience.

Around him, that transparent figure still coiled tightly like a python. But its head had lifted backward, gazing upward, and the crystal monocle flashed with faint light.

He is searching for the subtle, hidden connection… He should recognize that this is a secret pact ritual, yet he did not obstruct it at all. Is his goal precisely to find the connection?

A realization abruptly flashed through Klein, and he felt waves of power ripple through the gray-white fog and the mysterious space above it.

However, for the moment, Klein had no way to combine those powers with his own spirituality into a Beyonder effect that could drive out evil spirits—unless he performed another corresponding ritual.

Obviously, that was impossible. He could not split his attention between two rituals—two rituals being held simultaneously!

His gaze swept quickly across the area, and Klein’s eyes stopped on the Sun Brooch.