Chapter 50: Randomness

Chapter 50: Randomness

After a while, the air above the collapsed forest suddenly tore open, forming an illusory, mysterious Door.

The Door opened silently, and from within walked a handsome gentleman with black hair and golden eyes, his formalwear neat, his bearing mature and refined.

Before he could examine the scene, he heard a sonic boom, sensed a violent hurricane blowing toward him, and saw a middle-aged man with an astonishing aura appear diagonally ahead.

The middle-aged man had rather obvious earlobes, deep-blue hair as thick and rounded as tentacles, and eyes that seemed to contain countless bolts of lightning.

He was the cardinal of the Church of Storms, Archbishop of the Backlund diocese, the Deep Blue Officiant, Radar Valentine.

This clergyman, dressed in a black robe embroidered with storm symbols, glanced left and right, fixed his gaze on the golden-eyed man, and asked in a thunderous voice, “Sert, what happened here?”

The golden-eyed man named Sert shook his head.

“I only just arrived.”

No sooner had he spoken than, on the other side of the void, a nearly transparent spirit body like a mountain surfaced and placed a figure in midair.

That figure wore an archbishop’s robe, black with red patterns. His gaze was deep, and he had no beard. It was none other than the person in charge of the Church of Evernight’s Backlund diocese, Anthony Stevenson.

After the enormous spirit body completed its task, it immediately shrank and flew into Saint Anthony’s mouth. At the same time, a spirit with black hair covering its face and a transparent, drifting lower body appeared behind Anthony, supporting his shoulders so he would not fall.

The next second, surging air currents came from Backlund’s urban district, pushing a figure toward this region at high speed.

Soon, that figure stopped. He was an elderly man dressed in a white priest’s robe and clerical soft hat, his face benevolent and gentle.

The air currents that had sprayed from his back vanished, while heavy black metallic pipe mouths retracted into his body.

This was the archbishop of the Backlund diocese of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, a member of the divine council, Horamick Haydn.

Suspended strangely in midair, he looked around and said, “The battle here was not too intense, but it is certainly saint-level.

“And the lingering aura of pollution is simply, simply…”

As he spoke, the four demigods simultaneously lowered their heads and looked toward the center of the collapsed forest.

There, a tarot card was half-buried in the soil. The card depicted an old man leaning on a cane and carrying a glass lantern.

The Hermit card!

Radar Valentine, Sert, Anthony, and Horamick instantly fell silent. For a brief span, none of them spoke.

…

Above the gray fog, inside the ancient palace, Klein was staring at the Box of the Great Old Ones before him with furrowed brows.

The moment this Grade 0 sealed artifact had been sacrificed here, all of Sefirah Castle had reacted. It was like water heated to the boiling point.

Vast power activated on its own like steam, converging into a torrent that completely drowned the Box of the Great Old Ones, wrapping it layer by layer and binding it tightly.

At this very moment, the three-layered silver-black jewelry box inlaid with gemstones seemed to have become an insect trapped in amber, without the slightest room to move.

“Before, whenever Sefirah Castle reacted under stress, it was because I had peered at a true god or a King of Angels and suffered harm… This is the first time it has reacted like this because of an external object…” Klein could not help raising his right hand and wiping away sweat that did not exist.

To be honest, he felt lingering fear. He realized he had become somewhat overconfident after preliminarily controlling Sefirah Castle.

In the past, he would never have dared to let a Grade 0 sealed artifact enter this place. This time, because the matter did not involve a Uniqueness, and because his own essence had undergone a qualitative elevation compared to before, he had entertained the idea of trying it.

“Good thing it was suppressed… In the future, I need to tell Madam Hermit and the others not to sacrifice every random thing they pick up to me. I’m not running a junkyard…” Klein muttered a few words and began examining the Box of the Great Old Ones.

He remembered that Miss Magician was still inside this sealed artifact, so he intended to figure out its circumstances as quickly as possible, lest his delay kill the bait.

“This sealed artifact’s level is very high. The magic mirror Arrodes’s understanding of it is rather limited. I still have to rely on myself… From the looks of it, as long as I do not try to divine what is inside the third layer, and do not attempt to seek the source of its power, the danger is bearable. It may even be nonexistent…” Following his spiritual intuition, Klein made a preliminary judgment.

Immediately afterward, he conjured paper and pen and began divination.

After an unknown length of time, he finally opened his eyes and silently spoke to himself:

“The first layer can swap its internal space with a target region and toyify and shrink the corresponding scene… This is one ability that can barely be used…

“Toyified living beings must be released within twenty-four hours. Otherwise, they will be permanently transformed, and even their spirit bodies will not gain rest…

“Releasing them is simple. As long as one designates a region that is nearly devoid of life and swaps it with the internal space, it is enough…

“This ability has a limit to the area it can cover. At most, it can cover a city the size of Backlund… Why am I using that as the example…

“The second layer records different scenes: the Abyss, the starry sky, and all kinds of places. It can directly transport the holder and living beings within a certain range to the target region…

“The problem is randomness. A small portion of the time, the location can be specified and released accordingly. But the vast majority of the time, the selected location will change, and the final destination becomes difficult to predict… As for when specification works and when mutation occurs, there is no way to know…

“Furthermore, this does not seem to be something luck can influence. Or rather, luck below Sequence 0 cannot influence it…

“That means there is no way to use this Beyonder ability of the Box of the Great Old Ones to directly transfer the City of Silver out of the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Sigh, if it could, my Miracle Invoker ritual would become very simple… Uh, I’ll test later whether toyification can work…

“The third layer is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. Important things must be repeated three times. I will not risk prying into it. No, that should be called death-seeking prying…

“The Box of the Great Old Ones’ negative effect is simple: the holder will randomly vanish, die suddenly, or mutate. If there is no holder, living beings in the surrounding region will suffer these terrifying outcomes one after another, according to distance and individual size. The maximum range is similar to the first layer… These Grade 0 sealed artifacts really are terrifying things that can destroy cities and kill hundreds of thousands, millions, or even more people at the slightest disagreement. No wonder they require the highest sealing standards: do not pry, do not inquire, do not describe…

“Where the disappeared go seems to be related to the second layer’s scenes…

“The reason the Saint of Secrets dared carry this sealed artifact was because he had the blessing of the Angel of Fate, Ouroboros, which could reduce the randomness of the negative effect to the lowest level. But even then, he did not dare hold it for too long, because the blessing would be worn away… It looks like the reason he failed to regain clarity early and find a chance to Teleport away was also related to his luck worsening… Saints valued by large organizations are truly hard to kill…

“Madam Hermit was also experienced and clear-headed. She did not touch it blindly, but created an invisible servant to take it, then sacrificed this Grade 0 sealed artifact to me in the shortest time…

“In theory, I can summon a projection from the gaps of history to hold this item. Whether it dies, vanishes, or mutates, it does not matter. But that cannot guarantee its usage time, unless I receive Will Auceptin’s blessing in advance…

“The sealing method is to place it inside the spirit world. That alone is not enough; it must be within a twisted, hidden space inside the spirit world. Then ordinary water should regularly be poured in, allowing the Box of the Great Old Ones to amuse itself with microorganisms when idle every day… So many ‘living beings’ should sustain it for quite some time… Once this line of thought is grasped, quite a few sealing methods become possible…”

After roughly figuring out the concrete situation of the Box of the Great Old Ones, Klein looked at the Grade 0 sealed artifact and felt that its third layer no longer seemed to carry that heavy, impossible-to-open sensation.

Vaguely, he believed that, as long as he reached out, released Sefirah Castle’s restraints, he could easily open the third layer of the Box of the Great Old Ones.

…What a powerful temptation… Klein pulled back his gaze and waved his hand, making the Box of the Great Old Ones fly toward the pile of miscellaneous items in the corner.

Grade 0 sealed artifact or not, go over there and clear your head first!

“As a terrifying Grade 0 sealed artifact, it needs a serial number to have proper status. Unfortunately, I don’t know how far the seven Churches’ Grade 0 sealed artifacts are numbered now. It probably doesn’t exceed fifty, right? Mm, for now, the Box of the Great Old Ones will be called 0-61. I’ll adjust it later based on the actual situation…

“If Madam Hermit cannot create a good sealing environment, she can leave 0-61 above the gray fog and apply for it when needed. Of course, she must pray to Will for a blessing in advance… I wonder at what stage my title, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck, will truly live up to its name? Miracle Invoker should have part of it. Attendant of Mysteries should have another part…” After entertaining himself with those thoughts for a while, Klein picked up the Beyonder characteristic left behind by the Saint of Secrets Botis.

It looked like a crystal, inside which countless rays of light refracted and evolved into one illusory, brilliant Door after another.

Klein stared at it for several seconds, then suddenly threw the Beyonder characteristic into the air.

Sefirah Castle’s power boiled once more. Under Klein’s control, it formed tangible, translucent waves and slammed hard against the crystal.

The crystal instantly shattered, splitting into countless tiny motes of light. Streams of pitch-black gas seeped out from within, twisting inside Sefirah Castle and quickly dissolving, fading until they vanished.

Under the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence, the tiny points of light gradually drew close. After nearly a minute, they recombined into that gorgeous, dreamlike crystal and fell back into Klein’s palm.

The corruption inside it had been cleansed.

Within Sefirah Castle, Klein was equivalent to a Sequence 2 angel. It was just that, much of the time, he had power but could not use Beyonder abilities of the corresponding level without the correct auxiliary object to assist him.

After putting away the Secrets Sorcerer Beyonder characteristic, Klein turned his gaze toward the two eyeballs left behind by Botis.