Chapter 2: Miracle Invoker

Chapter 2: Miracle Invoker

The instant the bottle of Miracle Invoker potion entered Klein’s stomach, it divided into countless cold “little worms” that swam toward every part of his body.

With a boom, Klein’s mind was torn apart, splitting into countless pieces that fused with different Spirit Worms. No longer was there any distinction between main body and subordinate, between subject and follower.

At some unknown moment, he entered that grayish-white fog. Beneath the half silk top hat and long black trench coat, his body rapidly disintegrated. One transparent, twisted worm after another crawled out.

These worms flew swiftly into the depths of the fog of history, each occupying a different “fragment of light” and overlapping with his own image in the historical void.

In only two or three seconds, the place where Klein had been contained only his trench coat, shirt, top hat, socks, leather shoes, and underclothes, all half-floating without any support.

“I…”

“Who am I…”

“Who is me…”

“I am the main body…”

One Spirit Worm after another flashed with different yet similar thoughts. Not a single one of them was willing to voluntarily return to the “body.” Instead, they developed intense hostility toward their own kind. It was only because Klein’s residual mental influence remained that they did not, for now, do anything extreme.

Just then, one invisible ripple after another appeared within the grayish-white fog.

These ripples had not just emerged by chance. They had existed in the fog all along. It was merely that, relative to Klein as a whole, they had seemed nearly invisible. But to a single Spirit Worm, they were obvious enough.

They came from a piece of history that had reappeared in the current era. They symbolized fragments of light from the end of the Second Epoch and portions of the Third Epoch. They symbolized the more than two thousand years that the City of Silver had held fast in the darkness.

That forgotten history had collided to a certain extent with the present era. When it formed the corresponding historical void, it stirred up ripples that were difficult to describe in concrete terms.

Those ripples seemed to possess an intense attraction for the Spirit Worms. One after another, the worms poked their heads out from the historical fragments.

After a brief stillness, one of the Spirit Worms, half unable to restrain itself and half influenced by Klein’s remaining consciousness, crawled out of the light spot it had occupied and “flew” toward the core of the ripple.

Immediately afterward, Spirit Worms returned from different places in the fog of history, arriving within the fragment of light formed by the City of Silver’s history in the present era.

When they drew close to one another by a certain distance, the intense force of convergence finally revealed itself, dragging countless Spirit Worms together and blending them into one.

This was not an effect that could be produced by two or three Spirit Worms drawing near one another. Only a sufficient number would trigger it.

And once that portion of Spirit Worms reformed as a whole and Klein’s incomplete consciousness completed the reconstruction of the self, the matter finally began moving in a simpler direction.

Those Spirit Worms formed a transparent, enormous vortex. It gave off a powerful force of convergence, drawing in, one after another, the remaining, hesitant, unwilling-to-return Spirit Worms whose “distance” was not considered far.

When more than two-thirds of the Spirit Worms had returned, slick, transparent tentacles grew out of the vortex.

They extended toward the Second Epoch, the First Epoch, and even the prehistorical cities of the age before history, pulling out the last portion of Spirit Worms one by one and stuffing them back into the vortex.

In a little more than ten seconds, the vortex began to stretch, transforming into a terrifying humanoid figure formed by transparent, twisted worms embracing one another. From the figure’s body, invisible tentacles naturally extended outward.

The tentacles drew over the trench coat, top hat, socks, leather shoes, and other objects floating within the fog of history, placing them on different parts of the horrific figure.

The humanoid figure composed of countless Spirit Worms then pressed down on the top hat atop its head. The transparency around its body rapidly faded, condensing into flesh-colored skin. Black hair and brown eyes emerged.

It now had the appearance of Klein Moretti, but with a height of 1.8 meters.

Having finally recovered his self-awareness and pieced together his spirit, Klein had no time to examine his present state before he simultaneously sensed two abnormalities.

One came from the Beyonder characteristic fused into his body. A certain intense, terrifying, lofty, irresistible will seemed to awaken slightly, transmitting image after image. Some of those images were mysticism knowledge regarding Miracle Invokers. Others were majestic scenes of dust igniting into suns and all kinds of celestial bodies being born. Every one of them carried a mental imprint that was barren, indifferent, cruel, mad, lofty, and utterly devoid of feeling. It rapidly assimilated Klein’s spirit, causing his state to change beyond his control.

The other abnormality came from the crimson stars and numerous resplendent points of light that appeared before Klein’s eyes. From those stars came the prayers of Justice, The Hanged Man, The Moon, and the other members of the Tarot Club. The echoes within the points of light were mainly the prayers of the residents of Moon City. Together, they created an image: a supreme and great hidden existence shrouded in grayish-white fog, gazing mercifully down upon the world.

The two abnormalities manifested separately upon Klein’s body. His left side became covered in grayish-white fog, revealing only one eye that held a faint smile, deep and distant. His right side split apart once again, becoming transparent, twisted worms embracing one another and one bloodshot eye filled with madness.

At that moment, the right side constantly corroded the left, compressing the grayish-white fog to its utmost limit.

Klein did not hesitate. With some difficulty, he lifted his left hand and summoned from the fog of history a white bone scepter topped with a blue-green gemstone.

Around the Sea God Scepter, one prayer point after another orbited. Through that medium, they were transmitted onto Klein’s body.

Immediately, one bolt of lightning after another leapt from the right side of Klein’s body. Invisible wind and illusory waves surrounded him, helping the grayish-white fog withstand the corrosion from the other side and allowing the whole to achieve a delicate balance.

Only then did Klein gradually recover his humanity and memories, preliminarily regaining the state he had possessed before consuming the potion.

He had finally advanced to Sequence 2, obtained an angelic status, and become a true Miracle Invoker.

Sefirah Castle was originally about to be stirred by the changes in him, but with a turn of Klein’s thoughts, all abnormalities returned to calm.

This proved that he had truly taken control of Sefirah Castle and become the master of this sefirah. As for how much might this could display in the real world, he currently had no way to evaluate it.

Phew… Good thing I made the history represented by the City of Silver return to reality. Its impact was powerful enough. If the ritual’s effect had been even slightly worse, I would have lost control and collapsed right here today… Klein raised a hand, rubbed his forehead, and slowly exhaled. His understanding of anchors deepened further.

Anchors were not tools that helped him preserve his humanity. Their main function was to form corresponding cognition, positioning, and image, opposing the mental imprint within the Beyonder characteristic and maintaining a delicate balance.

Under that balance, the humanity that belonged to Klein himself could barely be maintained, preventing it from being seriously influenced by either side.

In other words, the deity as perceived by believers and the deity as they truly were were different. Without the mental imprint within Beyonder characteristics to oppose that influence, the image of the deity in believers’ minds would gradually overwrite the deity’s true appearance.

This, too, was a form of corruption.

Only now did Klein understand why the orthodox gods had once possessed human statues, only for those statues to later become sacred emblems. This could prevent believers from forming a unified cognitive image, allowing anchors to better function as a counterforce against the Primordial’s remnant spirit instead of subtly altering the gods themselves.

As for why the orthodox gods had taken one or two epochs to figure this out while Klein had thought of it quickly, there were two reasons.

First, he had the gods’ former images and their present state to compare, Roselle’s diary to use as reference, and corresponding mysticism knowledge to provide inspiration. Second, the mythical creature form of the Seer pathway tended toward fragmentation and was highly sensitive to such influences.

“This balance isn’t very stable. It often leans to a certain degree, which will make my state somewhat unstable. From time to time, I might frighten the people around me. Fortunately, that can be foreseen in advance and effectively avoided… Also, while in this delicately balanced state, I should display more of my humanity whenever possible, strengthening my self-recognition in that regard… This seems to be a common choice among many angels. The Rose School of Thought’s indulgence of desire counts as one version…

“But Amon’s believers are all Himself. How does He maintain balance?

“Could it be that a mythological creature born with a Uniqueness naturally has the Primordial’s will fused in, so Amon long ago became used to a half-mad state? No, that’s His normal state… the image every Amon has voted to approve…

“That is one idea. I could form a marionette troupe and make every marionette a believer of The Fool, using my truest appearance as the deity’s image. That would effectively provide the best anchors… No wonder Zaratul and the Dark Demonic Wolf don’t have many believers… Uh, once all the residents of the City of Silver convert to The Fool, I can consider separating out the Sea God identity and stop using it as an anchor for myself. It conflicts too much with the cognition of my other believers and can’t truly be unified…” Klein thought of many things in an instant. Then, with a shift of thought, he returned directly above the gray fog.

After becoming a Miracle Invoker, becoming “Him,” and becoming the master of Sefirah Castle, he no longer needed to reverse four steps, recite the incantation, or wait for all the Tarot Club members to pray. He could easily return here.

However, perhaps because the portion of Sefirah Castle’s power he could use was still insufficient, he could still only enter with his spirit body. He could not yet bring his physical body along.

After taking the seat belonging to The Fool, Klein did not rush to examine the changes in Sefirah Castle. He first confirmed the improvements to himself and digested the mysticism knowledge he had just obtained.

“Mm… the Miracle Invoker’s Beyonder powers come from two sources. One is the further use of the fog of history. The other is the newly added core ability: ‘wishes.’

“The further use of the fog of history includes several powers:

“First, resurrecting through past Spirit Worms, but after four times it becomes ineffective. I’ve already used it three times. In the Miracle Invoker stage, I can only resurrect one more time. Once I advance to Attendant of Mysteries, there should be a corresponding increase. Second, exerting a certain influence over the future, making the probability of certain events happening increase or decrease to a certain extent. This is equivalent to interfering with a target’s fate. Heh, I’ve finally gained authority over good luck, but in this aspect, I’m still nowhere near the Die of Probability or Will. Third, what can be summoned from the historical void is no longer limited to objects. It can also include certain scenes I’m familiar with.

“Mm. The total number of objects and scenes I can summon now is nine, but angel-level things are still limited to three…

“Wishes are already a standard power of a deity, but they’re somewhat strange. Only after fulfilling the wishes of others can I fulfill my own wishes. Only after realizing small wishes first can I gradually realize larger wishes…”