Chapter 52: Cards of Blasphemy

Chapter Fifty-Two
Cards of Blasphemy

“Florent said the Sauron family has more than two thousand years of history, far longer than the Church of the God of Craftsmanship. They witnessed all the cooperation and disputes, light and darkness of the Fourth Epoch, and have persisted until today. Apart from Loen’s Augustus family, Feysac’s Einhorn family, and Feynapotter’s Castiya family, the other powerful families once ranked alongside them—such as the Antigonus family and the Zaratul family—have either become dust in history or rats in the sewers, hiding and scurrying, unable to see the light.

“He said that letting me become his subordinate, become a subordinate of the ancient and glorious Sauron family, was grace bestowed upon me.

“At the time, I wanted to f— his ancestors eight generations back.

“Still, it is very surprising that the Sauron family has more than two thousand years of history. The Fourth Epoch is also known as the Epoch of the Gods. Whether the current orthodox seven deities, or Death, the Primordial Demoness, the Dark Side of the Universe, and the True Creator, all of them were still active in the real world. It is said that They often displayed miracles. For the Sauron family to survive to the present and occupy a high position is absolutely not an easy thing.

“Their long history has surely given them more than arrogance. They must be hiding many secrets, and perhaps extremely terrifying Sealed Artifacts as well.

“They truly are a colossal thing standing upon the earth, something one dares not look at directly.”

Reading this, Klein instantly had many thoughts.

For Roselle to overthrow the Sauron family’s rule in the end and appoint himself Consul and Protector, he must have gone through a bitter, terrifying, and earth-shaking struggle. Even if the Sauron family possessed no Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, they definitely would not lack Grade 1 ones. Add to that the possible existence of high-Sequence powerhouses, and even if the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery had fully supported Roselle, the result might not have been good.

Could it be that before then, the Sauron family had already declined and weakened, and Intis’s turmoil was the outward manifestation of that state?

What happened during that period?

Did they lose Sealed Artifacts? Did high-Sequence powerhouses die, thereby attracting the attention of ambitious figures one after another?

Mm… From this diary entry, Loen’s Augustus family should not be unfamiliar with Antigonus and Zaratul. They ought to have corresponding records internally.

The Sun once mentioned that the City of Silver has persisted in the Deep Dark Age for over two thousand five hundred years. According to my preliminary judgment, that is precisely the number of years between the Cataclysm and the present. Nearly two hundred years ago, the Sauron family already claimed to have more than two thousand years of history. I wonder whether they can trace back to before the Cataclysm… I will find a chance later to deliberately mention the Sauron family and watch The Sun’s reaction. If The Sun still looks completely confused, that indirectly shows that the Sauron family rose after the Cataclysm. Perhaps they seized enormous benefits from the Cataclysm, allowing them to become Fourth Epoch nobles and Fifth Epoch royalty…

Uh, even if The Sun does not know, that cannot prove everything. Perhaps he simply did not study history well.

Klein turned to the third page and discovered that its contents should have been written during the early period when Roselle served as Consul of the Intis Republic.

From several diary entries on this page, it could be seen that Roselle’s formulation and promulgation of the new Civil Code, his encouragement of invention, protection of trade, and incubation of the Industrial Revolution had not merely been to satisfy his own wicked pleasure in role-playing Napoleon or his ambition to change the world. Through these methods, he had been reconciling with the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.

The Eternal Blazing Sun was also the God of Contracts and the guardian of commerce. A more complete Civil Code better suited to the times, and more flourishing trade, aligned precisely with the needs of His Church.

“From this portion of the diary, Roselle’s relationship with the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun was gradually thawing and beginning to improve. Over ten years later, when he brazenly proclaimed himself Emperor and styled himself Caesar, he should have received the endorsement of two great Churches at the same time. Otherwise, it would have been far too risky. Then what, exactly, caused him to be assassinated?”

Slightly puzzled, Klein shifted his gaze toward the fourth page.

“August 11th. That idiot Florent is showing off again.

“He said he is the one in this generation of the Sauron family with the greatest hope of reaching the high Sequences, because he resembles his great-great-grandfather.

“Is there some inevitable connection there? I looked up, down, left, and right, and still could not see where this fellow has talent.

“Besides, in the Beyonder field, is talent really important? Uh, being good at grasping the essence of acting does count as a very core talent, but that is not necessary. As long as one understands the acting method, is not so stupid as to misunderstand its meaning, and does not do things that easily lead to loss of control, there is hope of thoroughly digesting the potion. It is simply a matter of spending more time. Becoming a high-Sequence powerhouse within one’s lifetime is not impossible.

“The obstacles to the high Sequences mainly lie in the difficulty of obtaining Beyonder materials and the trouble of the corresponding rituals. Of course, one must admit that those natural-born Beyonders have more time to prepare.

“Was Florent’s great-great-grandfather a high-Sequence powerhouse? Does resembling him mean having talent?”

It is clear that when Roselle wrote this diary entry, he was still rather green and did not understand the two great laws of Beyonder Characteristics Indestructibility and Conservation…

Klein gave a faint, almost imperceptible nod.

With his current experience, he could roughly understand the meaning hidden in Florent Sauron’s words:

The Beyonder characteristics left behind by a high-Sequence powerhouse contain the original owner’s spiritual imprint. This is one of the reasons potions concocted using them as materials easily cause loss of control.

A person who closely resembles the original owner can avoid that negative influence to the greatest degree. Their probability of successful advancement is much higher than ordinary people’s, and thus they are called talented. A holy relic recognizing its master should belong to a similar situation.

This is similar in nature to the acting method, but it cannot be popularized… Once advancement succeeds, one still has to act according to the potion’s name and thoroughly digest the characteristics…

Thoughtful, Klein glanced over the two diary entries that followed on the same page and discovered that Emperor Roselle deeply enjoyed Intis’s open customs, while also being very worried that his future wife would be equally open.

Amid the faint sound of rustling, Klein moved the fifth page to the top.

“April 20th. I once again attended that ancient organization’s secret gathering. Those members still shock me. It is difficult to believe that they all belong to this organization.

“This time, I learned part of this ancient organization’s philosophy. They believe that humans are always losing themselves bit by bit until they fall ‘asleep.’ Therefore, one must work hard to observe oneself, remember oneself, and rely on this and on all kinds of knowledge to obtain purification, thereby facing the final apocalypse.

“They preserve and pass down secrets spanning thousands and tens of thousands of years. They believe that twilight will inevitably descend, and the apocalypse cannot be avoided.

“They believe in the first Creator. They believe He has not truly died. When twilight comes, when the end of everything appears, He will awaken from slumber, draw all things back into Himself, and create a new world, a new history.

“All actions of this organization are based on the above philosophy. It can be seen that they are very hostile toward the True Creator and do not stint on using all kinds of words expressing depravity and evil to describe Him.

“They hold the second Blasphemy Slate. They hold the twenty-two paths of the divine, yet they stipulate that members can only choose from several of those paths, with the exception of those who were already Beyonders before joining.

“Do these several pathways hide some secret?

“I will first record them, then analyze them later. These pathways are Bard, Sailor, Reader, and Spectator.

“Haha. In the future, I will have to change my habitual names for the Sequence pathways. Calling them this way sounds extremely low inside that ancient organization.”

This is very close to what I analyzed from hostile relationships and Mr. A’s request: that Bard, Sailor, Reader, and Secrets Suppliant pathways can interchange at Sequence 4… Is Manipulator the high Sequence of the Spectator pathway?

Why do many secret organizations proclaim that the apocalypse will certainly arrive, such as the Demoness Sect and this ancient organization? And they do not even use this for preaching. Is it required for brainwashing, or will there truly be some so-called twilight?

Klein made many associations, but because he lacked sufficient information, he could not reach a definite answer.

At the same time, he still could not help lampooning:

Roselle, could you not have written down that organization’s name?

Controlling changes in his expression and bodily movement, Klein turned past this page of relatively little content and looked at the final page.

“January 1st. This is the start of a new year, and I have just completed making my first Card of Blasphemy.

“I will hide the ultimate secrets contained in the twenty-two paths of the divine inside these different Cards of Blasphemy and scatter them across various places. If things fail, this will be the greatest support for my children.

“Haha. I will destroy all the order you want, and spread the mysteries of the gods!

“These Cards of Blasphemy will possess anti-divination and anti-prophecy traits. Apart from those left for my children, the rest shall belong to those fated to find them!

“I have always been one to repay grievance with grievance and revenge with revenge. After I die, who cares if the flood rises to the heavens! Mm, this sentence was not created by me.

“In short, the more chaotic the structure of the mysticism world becomes, the better!

“I need to consider how to name the coming full set of Cards of Blasphemy. There are twenty-two paths of the divine, and the major arcana of the tarot deck has twenty-two cards. They correspond perfectly. However, some names do not meet the requirements. I must make certain changes to match the original potion names.

“That ancient organization is my final and greatest reliance. I wonder whether they will support me, and in what manner.

“I still remember the shock I felt the first time I saw the Blasphemy Slate.

“So Beyonder pathways really are ‘paths of the divine.’ So the Blasphemy Slate truly blasphemes the gods.

“Above Sequence 1 of every pathway, there is also a Sequence 0! There are corresponding potion formulas and rituals as well!

“Each pathway can have only one Sequence 0!

“And Sequence 0 is the Sequence occupied by true gods!

“For example: Sequence 0, Sun!”