Chapter 63: The Eternal, Unchanging Fog

Chapter 63: The Eternal, Unchanging Fog

Three thousand seven hundred and twenty-two years… As expected, they were sent here while the ancient Sun God was still alive… With the City of Silver’s more than two thousand years of perseverance in the darkness as reference, Klein could easily confirm the words of Moon City’s High Priest Nim.

He nodded gently and asked, “You have guarded this stretch of fog to prevent it from undergoing some mutation?”

Wrapped in deep-brown beast hide, Moon City’s High Priest Nim shook his head.

“The oracle the Lord gave us was to keep watch every day and pay attention to whether anyone walks out from within the fog.”

Walks out from within the fog… Did the ancient Sun God foresee that someone would walk out from this fog? If inside the fog, or on the other side of the fog, truly is the Western Continent, does that mean there might still be life there? Civilization? As Klein listened, an indescribable throb surged inside him, but at the same time, he recognized one fact deeply:

Amon’s father, the second Creator, had actually been unable to open this grayish-white fog. He had needed to send people here to guard it!

Does one need a specific method to pass through this invisible barrier? Hmm, Mr. Hanged Man mentioned that the Queen of Calamity, Cohinem, said an incantation or password might be needed. Also, there’s a prerequisite: the Western Continent must have reappeared… Looking at the Moon City High Priest, whose face was marked by deep grooves, Klein said calmly, “I believe they have already introduced me to you. I am a missionary. I have come to this land to spread my Lord’s radiance.”

Moon City’s High Priest Nim remained calm. With gray-white eyes the same color as his long hair, he looked at Klein and asked, “Honored one, which existence is the Lord you believe in?”

Klein instinctively wanted to answer directly, but after considering the missionary identity he had set for himself earlier, he suppressed his shame. Using the Clown’s ability to control his facial muscles, he revealed an expression tinged with fanaticism.

“Please allow me to introduce my Lord: the savior of this land, the great Mr. Fool…”

The Fool… Moon City’s High Priest Nim, Adal, and the others had not expected to hear such a word. For a moment, they found it strange, yet inexplicably felt that it seemed to hide boundless philosophy.

In the end, their attention still focused on that description:

“The savior of this land.”

Nim could not help turning his head to look at Adal and the others, examining their newly radiant faces.

As a Sequence 4 demigod, he understood very clearly that this was the sign of toxins and pollution accumulated inside their bodies being purified. Furthermore, the members of the hunting team had also received excellent treatment. If he had not watched these young people grow up and remembered what they looked like before their mutations, he might not have dared to confirm that these were truly Moon City residents.

Seeing the High Priest look over, Adal immediately said with slight agitation, “Mr. Sparrow prayed for the deity’s bestowment and saved us.”

“Yes. We saw light! We felt warmth!” Xin, who had no nose, hurriedly added.

After that baptism, she had unconsciously developed a certain degree of faith in the Lord spoken of by Gehrman Sparrow.

Compared to the Creator, who never answered prayers and ignored Moon City’s suffering, this existence was more like a god!

Rus and the other hunting team member who had returned to Moon City to notify the High Priest gazed greedily at their former companions, both envious and longing for the new life they had received.

High Priest Nim withdrew his gaze and once again looked at Gehrman Sparrow, who wore strange clothes and a strange hat.

“The great Mr. Fool is a deity of this world—no, of the world beyond this cursed land?”

Klein gave a solemn, slow nod.

“Yes.”

“Then… what of the great Sun God, the Lord who created everything?” Nim hesitated briefly, but in the end, he asked the question he most longed to know.

Klein shifted into the tone of a charlatan-preacher.

“The Kings betrayed that existence. Blood, anger, filth, and shadow began to flow across this land, and a tremendous catastrophe began because of it.”

Nim’s pupils dilated slightly, as though trying to absorb more light and see the world before him clearly.

With great difficulty, as though suppressing something with all his strength, he asked, “Do you mean the Lord therefore… therefore fell?”

“Not only fell. His flesh and blood were divided and eaten by the betrayers. This land was cursed because of that.” Relying on the fact that he was in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Klein boldly spoke those words.

He did not deliberately distinguish between Amon’s brothers and the other six Kings of Angels. He planned to let Moon City’s residents believe that all the Kings of Angels were betrayers. That way, in the future, they would not be deceived by Amon.

Over the past half-year of travel and experimentation, Klein had confirmed that the Forsaken Land of the Gods was indeed sealed—or rather, isolated from the outside world in every respect. The only connection points were either the exit at the Giant King’s Court, or things at the level of Sefirah Castle. Therefore, when Klein used the Staff of the Stars here, he could only transfer within the interior and could not go to an outside scene sketched in his mind.

In addition, even the historical projection of the Box of the Great Old Ones was suppressed and isolated. No sooner had Klein successfully summoned the projection than the environment devoured it, making it impossible to use.

This made him suspect that the third layer of the Box of the Great Old Ones might be somewhat dangerous even to true gods—even to the True Creator.

Hearing Gehrman Sparrow’s words, Moon City’s High Priest Nim swayed faintly. His deeply grooved face instantly turned ashen.

The expressions of the Beyonders behind him changed as well, as though they had suffered an extraordinarily heavy blow. Some even directly showed signs of losing control.

Seeing this, Klein again reached forward and dragged the Staff of Life out of the void, letting it fly under the push of air and accurately touch the target.

The signs of losing control immediately vanished from that Beyonder. Sweat poured from his forehead, as though he had just recovered from a serious illness.

As Klein stopped maintaining the historical projection, the Staff of Life rapidly faded. Only then did Moon City’s Beyonders finally break free from the “ill news” just now. Some were full of doubt and unwilling to believe it. Some began quietly sobbing. Some cast confused gazes toward Gehrman Sparrow, as though he were their final hope.

At some point, High Priest Nim had closed his eyes. Two or three seconds later, he opened them again, looked at Gehrman Sparrow, and asked, “What else do you wish to ask?”

In less than a minute, his entire person seemed to have aged ten or twenty years. His body gave off a sense of decay and desolation, but it was not complete despair. It was like a tree beginning to nurture new hope and new life even as it rotted away.

Klein half-turned and pointed with the lantern in his hand toward the solidified gray fog.

“When did you begin trying to open this barrier? Did you gain anything?”

High Priest Nim answered frankly, “It first came from the Lord’s oracle. He asked us, while guarding this place, to try finding a way through the fog.

“After the land was cursed, we took this as our main direction in order to search for hope. But we never gained anything substantial. No matter what method we used, this solidified fog never reacted…”

At this point, Nim hesitated and said, “It is not that there was no reaction at all. But it was not the reaction we wanted.”

Klein immediately saw hope. Maintaining his normal pace of speech, he asked, “What reaction?”

Seeing the High Priest hesitate without answering immediately, Xin took the initiative to say, “High Priest, Mr. Sparrow already parted a portion of the fog just now. He went deeper than we have in these two or three thousand years!”

Nim could not help taking another deep look at Gehrman Sparrow. Then he said, “More than one thousand seven hundred and thirty years ago, in the face of the cruel fact that Moon City had gained nothing despite nearly two thousand years of attempts, the High Priest at the time had an inspiration.

“He felt that we should not simply treat this fog as a barrier to be opened, or a seal to be broken, but should regard it as a great existence.

“He designed an honorific name, a prayer, and corresponding symbols for the fog, then held ritual after ritual here, attempting to communicate and pray.”

…This really is a line of thinking that ordinary people would never imagine… I didn’t think of it just now either… As expected, after so many years, Moon City must have produced no small number of people with unusual minds… More than three thousand years were not given in vain… Klein sighed inwardly and nodded slightly.

“Was there feedback afterward?”

Nim gave an affirmative nasal sound and continued, “One time, that High Priest changed the first line of the honorific name to ‘The eternal, unchanging fog…’ Then, in the ritual that followed, during the final segment, he vaguely heard voices coming from deep within the fog. Unfortunately, no matter what he did, he could not hear them clearly, nor attempt to interpret their exact meaning.

“From that time until now, we have held countless rituals. We discovered that not every ritual receives a response, and even if there is a response, it may not arrive promptly. We must wait patiently.”

Thoughts spun rapidly through Klein’s mind as he pondered and asked, “Roughly how often does it succeed?”

“There is no pattern. Sometimes it succeeds once immediately. Sometimes there is no feedback even after a month.” High Priest Nim sighed. “We have made many improvements, but none have helped.”

“Did you later hear clearly what those voices were saying?” Klein asked instead.

“No. Perhaps our Sequences are not high enough, and our strength is insufficient.” Nim shook his head.

If that is the reason, then I can give it a try… Klein deliberated for a few seconds, then politely requested, “Can you conduct the correct ritual once more? I would like to listen to those voices.”

That courtesy left Nim unable to refuse, nor did he dare refuse.

After hesitating, he said, “Yes, but many materials are in Moon City. You will need to wait for a while.”

Klein thought for a moment and asked, “Have you used those materials before?”

“I have,” Nim said, slightly puzzled.

Klein nodded indifferently.

“Then hold it directly. Tell me when those materials were last used, and where nearby.”