Chapter 8: The Stabilization of the Situation

Chapter 8: The Stabilization of the Situation

On the mirror surface, pale silver words rose one after another amid rippling light.

“…Accept Beyonders from the Church of the God of Combat and the Feysac military who are willing to surrender. Only purge the small number of middle and upper-level personnel who are extremely devout in their faith and willing to die for it. This is both the Goddess’s tolerance and mercy, and a necessary measure in response to the situation that follows… As the apocalypse approaches step by step, supernatural incidents everywhere will inevitably increase. To maintain the stability of the entire world, we can only strengthen our own power as quickly and as much as possible.

“If we harvest the Beyonders of the Church of the God of Combat and the Feysac military, even if we obtain the corresponding characteristics, we will have no way to cultivate Beyonders of equal level and experience within a few years. Whether digesting potions or accumulating experience, sufficient time is required…”

Upon seeing this, Klein inwardly went “uh.” He felt this was not Arrodes the Magic Mirror’s usual tone. It sounded more like an official document.

It’s displaying, in full, some document it secretly saw somewhere… It uses “digestion,” which means both the writer and readers of the document know the acting method. Judging from the tone, it belongs to the Church of Evernight… Combining these two points, it isn’t difficult to conclude that this is a document circulated among archbishops and senior deacons. The author should be that pontiff at the Cathedral of Serenity… Arrodes’ peeping ability is quite strong… Klein nodded imperceptibly, waiting for the contents in the mirror to “turn the page.”

Pale silver words disappeared and reappeared, quickly forming new sentences and paragraphs.

“For the ordinary nobles and citizens of Feysac, there is no need to proclaim that the Goddess has replaced the God of Combat. Let them continue preserving their faith in the God of Combat. On one hand, this will help us and the surrendered priests and bishops take over the major cathedrals and stabilize Feysac as quickly as possible. On the other hand, before the Goddess fully grasps the authority of the God of Combat, it will prevent faith that cannot be handled from interfering with Her.

“When a new oracle descends, we will carry out the replacement. For now, only prepare the corresponding plans.

“…Do our best not to provoke intense resistance from Feysac and other countries. We have lost far too many Beyonders and soldiers and consumed a large amount of resources and items. The churches, the nations, and the people of every class are all extremely weak and need a period of peace and stability to recover… It is best that we unite with the Church of Storms, the Church of Knowledge, the Church of Earth Mother, and nations such as Feynapotter and Lenburg to force Intis and Feysac to surrender unconditionally, gaining what we hope to obtain at the negotiating table. During this process, we can use the purging of diehards to apply pressure.

“When handling the domestic situation and taking over the empty areas left by the Church of Steam, give the Church of Storms sufficient respect. We may even make concessions in certain matters. This is the Goddess’s will.

“Finally, from now on, reduce the number of appearances of the crimson moon in missionary work, rituals, mass, and similar procedures. In formal texts, no longer mention the Goddess’s title as ‘Lady of Crimson’…”

No longer mention the title “Lady of Crimson”… Klein’s brows shifted slightly. He felt intense confusion toward that final sentence.

Soon, he thought of the Sanguine progenitor, the ancient god of the Second Epoch, and the current Earth Mother, Lilith. She had once been the Sequence 0 of the Moon pathway and had been the true Lady of Crimson. Klein immediately gained a certain understanding. He vaguely understood that this might be the exchange beneath the table, the necessary price.

“Mm… The Goddess’s attitude is very clear. She wants to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible… Before She truly controls the authorities of Death and Combat and becomes a Great Old One, She undoubtedly does not wish for another orthodox god to fall. If that happened, the cracks in the invisible barrier left behind by the Original One would have no one to fill them, and the Outer Deities would find an opportunity, causing the apocalypse to arrive early… Also, given Loen’s current state, if the war continues, the anchors will shake even more severely. It might even cause the Primordial inside the Goddess to awaken…

“When She previously allowed the battlefront to retreat all the way to Backlund, the Goddess also took a great risk. She must have had to divide out even more power to suppress the Primordial. If the Earth Mother had betrayed Her, She might have fallen even faster than the God of Combat. Uh, does She have other trump cards?

“The losses of the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms seem quite heavy. No wonder, after the resistance army announced that they would preserve the corresponding churches and respect the faith of the Storm, those irritable fellows didn’t attempt to counterattack and tacitly allowed the new government to be established…” Klein muttered inwardly, roughly grasping the current situation.

He then asked a third question.

“If the Evernight Goddess wants to advance further, does She need to find the River of Eternal Darkness?”

This was one of the nine sefirot. Klein remembered that Arrodes had once said this “river” was related to the ancient Death, the Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace, and that clues seemed to be hidden in the depths of the spirit world city, Calderón.

“Yes, great Master.” The pale silver words twisted and writhed, forming new text. “The Death at the end of the Fourth Epoch should also have been able to use the River of Eternal Darkness. He attempted to rely on this sefirah to forcibly accommodate the Uniqueness of a non-adjacent pathway. Then He went mad.”

So that was how Death went mad back then. I knew a Sequence 0 true god who had experienced three epochs and seen the Blasphemy Slate wouldn’t lack common sense and randomly drink a potion. He wasn’t Alista Tudor, who had reached the point where he would die if he didn’t go mad… No wonder Death dared challenge the divided seven deities with only the Primordial Demoness accompanying Him. At the time, He was the equivalent of half a Great Old One, wasn’t He… Mm, Mr. Azik once had a golden phoenix accessory that came from Death… Klein linked several matters together.

Suddenly, he inwardly hissed and began to suspect that the price the Goddess had marked for so many blessings was the River of Eternal Darkness.

Just as the True Creator had repeatedly tolerated him in order to drive him into the Giant King’s residence and obtain the first Blasphemy Slate!

As the master of Sefirah Castle, he was likely the only person of a relatively high Sequence who could resist the corruption of other sefirot.

Of course, the Evernight Goddess could also wait a few or a dozen years until the Original One’s will further faded and then personally retrieve it. But whether there would still be enough time to complete the ritual before the apocalypse was not something Klein could know.

He immediately gathered his thoughts and asked a fourth question.

“Where can I obtain the potion formula for Attendant of Mysteries?”

The Magic Mirror Arrodes made the pale silver words reassemble into completely new content.

“Zaratul; the first Blasphemy Slate; the second Blasphemy Slate; the Fool card among the Cards of Blasphemy; the mythical creature evolved from the Uniqueness of The Fool.”

The first and second options are both probably plotting how to deal with me… Zaratul is more terrifying and more cunning than the Dark Demonic Wolf. If I plot against Him, there’s a high chance I’ll fall into His trap. The risk is extremely high… The third option is Amon’s brother, who should have become a Visionary through this war. If I provoke Him, even Sefirah Castle might not be able to save me… The fourth and fifth options both have to do with the half-Fool of the Antigonus family and with the Goddess’s foggy town. Uh, the Goddess should have a way to bypass that half-Fool and take out that Card of Blasphemy, but perhaps I’ll need to exchange the River of Eternal Darkness for it… Klein discovered that he seemed to have entered a dead end.

At the front of this path was the River of Eternal Darkness. Behind him was the leader of the Secret Order, Zaratul.

What a pity. If I could find the Dark Demonic Wolf, I might try negotiating with Him. He should have seen the first Blasphemy Slate and know the potion formula for Attendant of Mysteries… Sigh, right now, as soon as He smells my aura, He’ll flee far away… After thinking, Klein said to Arrodes the Magic Mirror,

“Fifth question. Earlier, you said you saw a pillar and domination on me. What did that mean?”

The waterlight inside the mirror shook faintly. The profound feeling became even clearer, and the corresponding pale silver text seemed to turn a bit whiter.

“Great Master, it is a feeling. I cannot describe it with words.

“However, I once saw a similar feeling on another existence. Aside from Him, only you possess it. That existence was the Ancient Sun God.”

The Ancient Sun God… Klein nodded thoughtfully.

“All right. It is your turn to ask.”

The pale silver words on the mirror surface instantly turned golden.

“Supreme, great, exalted Master, may you take away your loyal, humble servant Arrodes this time?”

“Supreme, great, exalted Master, may you take away your loyal, humble servant Arrodes this time?”

The same question appeared five times in succession, completely filling the mirror’s surface.

Having become an angel, Klein was no longer so afraid of Arrodes. After considering for a few seconds, he smiled.

“I’ll go speak with that angel. That is basic courtesy.”

With a boom, illusory lights of many colors erupted from the mirror, exploding into one firework after another inside the carriage.

Almost at the same time, two somewhat dim rays of light extended from the edges, as if the mirror had grown two not-quite-real arms.

Those two “arms” originally tried to reach for Klein’s lower legs, but silently drew back. They gently swayed where they were.

“Praise the supreme, exalted, great Master!” After the fireworks fell one after another, a golden message burst out from within the mirror.

…

In the middle section of the racing steam train, inside a simply furnished room.

A tall, handsome young man with chestnut hair sat on a hardwood chair. Facing a triangular sacred emblem, he clasped his hands together, closed his eyes tightly, and prayed piously.

On the narrow table beside him stood a puppet pieced together from metal components. Behind the puppet, faint light interwove.

Suddenly, the young man opened his eyes and looked to the other side.

At some unknown point, a figure had appeared there.

In the young man’s blue eyes, that figure merely looked human. Its essence was an invisible vortex wearing a silk top hat and black trench coat. Inside the vortex, transparent, twisted worms embraced one another, moving in and out.

“Gehrman Sparrow.” The young man calmly spoke a name.

At that moment, every object around him floated into the air, yet there was not the slightest wind inside the room.

Klein pressed down on the top hat on his head, revealed a human face, and said,

“I don’t know how I should address you.”

The young man nodded slightly.

“Bonova Gustav.”