Chapter 21: Induction

Chapter 21: Induction

Seeing Klein unable to speak for a moment, Larrion, Patriarch of the Church of the God of Combat, grew increasingly solemn.

“Furthermore, a god’s fall is only temporary. He will eventually return, awakening from within me.”

…Klein listened with a slight frown. He could not tell whether the angel before him had suffered instability in too many anchors, causing His mental state to turn abnormal and making it likely He would soon lose control, or whether He had been influenced too deeply by the God of Combat and had, in a certain sense, become the other party’s “backup plan.”

Never mind Sequence 0 true gods—even Kings of Angels and some ordinary angels were often not so easily dead after they died!

“You should be well aware that the apocalypse will arrive in a little more than ten years. I imagine the God of Combat’s revival definitely won’t be that fast.” Klein tried to use cruel reality to awaken the other party.

Larrion gave a snort.

“You will never be able to imagine a god’s might.”

He did not give Klein any further chance to persuade Him. With the faintest trace of a smile, He said,

“In any case, I will not trade with you. Pray. Pray to Evernight. Pray to the god you believe in to come and seal 0-02, to save you!

“As for me, in at most another thirty or forty seconds, I will be able to leave this place.”

Klein raised his head and glanced at the “curtain” hanging from the infinite height above. He said nothing more, letting his spirit body return to the library where the Trunsoest Brass Book was located.

“Have you thought of any method?” he asked without wasting the slightest moment.

Arianna shook Her head slightly and asked in return,

“What did Larrion say?”

“He told us to pray to a god, to have a god come and seal 0-02…” As Klein spoke, he suddenly froze slightly.

On the surface, Larrion’s words had seemed perfectly normal. Yet he had inadvertently revealed a very important piece of information:

He believed that a god could seal 0-02—any god!

Then what would a god rely on to seal it? Forcefully suppressing it with a Sequence 0 status, or using might capable of destroying the world? One question after another arose in Klein’s mind.

At that moment, the Trunsoest Brass Book flipped to a blank page. One mercury-colored word after another surfaced upon it. The language it used was the same as that on the first Blasphemy Slate. It seemed to be the source of all languages still in use.

In the blink of an eye, those mercury-colored words formed a new clause:

“Belltaine Municipal Library is the place where the Trunsoest Brass Book is stored and must be strictly protected. Any living being who enters without the permission of the Trunsoest Brass Book shall suffer severe punishment.”

It has raised the severity of the punishment. Next, I might be sentenced directly to death… Klein’s pupils dilated slightly as he swiftly inferred the most likely development to follow.

However, he did not panic in the slightest. Instead, he smiled and murmured piously,

“My wish is for Belltaine Municipal Library to shrink in size, making my current location and Madam Arianna’s current location the boundary line.”

The moment his words fell, he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, fulfilling his own wish.

As the snap echoed, the lawn corresponding to Belltaine Municipal Library vanished, the building shrank, and the walls retreated. Before long, only one-tenth of its original size remained.

Without realizing it, Klein and Arianna had “arrived” outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Through the opened window, they watched the Trunsoest Brass Book lying on the rectangular table.

The distance between them and the target had not changed in the slightest. They were still extremely close. But they were no longer within the area that required them to suffer severe punishment. They had merely violated the curfew decree for the first time and were once again whipped by the invisible law enforcer.

After accumulating wish after wish related to repairing buildings, Klein could already create no small miracle in this aspect!

He did not make another wish. Instead, he continued turning his thoughts, analyzing the hidden meaning within the Patriarch of the Church of the God of Combat’s earlier words.

“No. It shouldn’t be direct suppression through status. Otherwise, my spiritual intuition would already have told me the answer and urged me to draw upon the aura of Sefirah Castle to complete the seal…

“From the perspective of mysticism, that is also understandable, because 0-02 is clearly connected to a certain sefirah. It would be very difficult to forcefully suppress it with Sequence 0 status…

“Relying on a god’s own might? That might be possible, but there’s a high chance it isn’t the true method, because Larrion Himself possesses a way to complete the seal without relying on a god…

“What is special about Sequence 0 gods? And what methods can angels use to indirectly achieve that special quality?

“The most special trait of Sequence 0 gods that I can currently think of is that They have accommodated a Uniqueness. That is something I cannot summon from the historical void, something that truly possesses the characteristic of being ‘unique.’

“But how could an angel indirectly simulate ‘uniqueness’?”

Countless thoughts collided in Klein’s mind, creating a profusion of sparks, yet he still could not grasp the key to the problem.

At that moment, mercury-colored words continued seeping out on the Trunsoest Brass Book, about to form a new clause that would classify Klein and Arianna as targets who must be punished.

After silently observing for a while, Arianna suddenly said,

“I will try to ‘conceal’ the soil beneath that table and make 0-02 fall toward the earth’s core. Stay vigilant and prevent accidents.”

Conceal the soil… fall toward the earth’s core… Hearing this, Klein’s heart stirred. He felt it was an excellent method.

At present, the Trunsoest Brass Book had only forbidden “touching” it and “changing its own state.” Its surrounding environment was not equivalent to its own state. In addition, Belltaine Municipal Library merely could not be entered without permission. That did not mean Klein and Arianna could not exert a certain influence on it.

And once 0-02, an item not forbidden from leaving, passed through the “concealed” soil and fell toward the earth’s core, it would exceed its effective distance and lose its influence over Belltaine City, causing the rules it had previously formulated to become invalid—unless it further awakened or activated and expanded its jurisdiction to a larger region.

In that way, Klein and Arianna would no longer be bound by the rules and could ask the Evernight Goddess for help!

But just as Arianna finally thought of a method and prepared to implement the plan, the new clause finished forming:

“Belltaine Municipal Library is the place where the Trunsoest Brass Book is stored and must be strictly protected. No living being or object may cause it any form of damage in any sense.”

As expected, 0-02 noticed this loophole too… This loophole… As Klein’s brows furrowed, inspiration suddenly struck him regarding the problem he had been considering.

The special quality of a Sequence 0 god was indeed the Uniqueness, but Their method of sealing 0-02 was likely not the direct application of authority and power originating from it.

They very likely relied on the characteristic of being “unique” to induce 0-02 into formulating a series of mutually contradictory rules, causing the Sealed Artifact to fall into a paradox or infinite loop!

This was something an angel, a Saint, and even an ordinary person might be able to accomplish by relying on themselves. The key lay in thinking of the paradox and inducing it into existence.

As for how to seal 0-02 after it entered an infinite loop and began repairing the loophole, Klein currently had no clue. He could only observe when the time came.

How do I create a paradox… In Klein’s mind, all the rules 0-02 had previously formulated and the purposes behind those corresponding rules flashed rapidly past.

In just a few seconds, he keenly grasped a point that could possibly create an infinite loop. Hurriedly, he turned his head toward Arianna and said,

“Madam, we will not damage the municipal library. Instead, directly ‘conceal’ the rest of Belltaine, indirectly causing this place to lose sufficient support, collapse on its own, and fall toward the earth’s core.”

Arianna did not immediately act. Instead, She turned Her head slightly and looked deeply at Klein.

“That would bring about the deaths of many civilians.”

“When we must choose between two harms, we can only choose the lesser one.” Klein’s expression was solemn.

Arianna did not respond. She fell silent, as though undergoing an intense internal struggle or making corresponding preparations.

At that moment, on the brass page that had only written two clauses, a new rule was born even faster than before:

“Belltaine is the city where the Trunsoest Brass Book is located and is a holy land in the truest sense. No living being or object may cause it any form of damage in any sense.”

Upon seeing this clause, Klein not only did not feel disappointed, the corners of his mouth even lifted.

With a snap, he snapped his fingers. Crimson flames surged from his clothing pockets and swiftly swallowed him.

Two or three seconds later, a stream of fire descended from the sky. Klein leapt out from within it, bringing someone with him.

It was one of the four Beyonders he had previously helped: Byers, a local resident of Belltaine!

“Go in and quickly flip through that brass book.” Klein pointed at 0-02 on the rectangular table and calmly said to Byers.

Byers did not know exactly what was happening, but he trusted this miraculous “magician,” who had fulfilled two of his wishes. He believed the man had found a way to free all of Belltaine from its predicament. Therefore, after drawing a breath, he passed through the open floor-to-ceiling window and entered the shrunken municipal library.

During this process, he did not suffer severe punishment. He was not even whipped!

Seeing this, the smile on Klein’s face grew increasingly obvious.

0-02 had fallen into a paradox!

Because of Arrodes’ existence, the Trunsoest Brass Book could only issue the most comprehensive prohibition: no living being or object could cause Belltaine any form of damage in any sense.

And as a city, Belltaine’s definition absolutely did not include only terrain and buildings. It surely included the people here, the citizens here.

Thus, if 0-02 punished Byers, a citizen of Belltaine, and caused him any form of damage in any sense, it would violate the rule it had just proclaimed. But if it did not punish him, it would violate the series of decrees forbidding unauthorized entry into the municipal library. As a result, the Trunsoest Brass Book entered a state akin to an infinite loop!

Of course, Klein believed that a paradox of this degree would soon be repaired through supplementary clauses. He only hoped that, before that happened, Byers could flip through the brass book and find clues about how to seal it!

“Keep an eye on the page currently open at all times. Once you see a clause about to form on it, come out immediately.” Klein stared at Byers and 0-02 as he gave the instruction.