Chapter 26: Joining Forces

Chapter 26: Joining Forces

The “curtain” shrouding Antigonus’s palace instantly vanished. An indescribable aura returned to reality, causing the entire astral world to seem to tremble.

Outside the cracked world barrier, those terrifying faces impossible to describe in ordinary words all stirred at the same time.

The invisible barrier began trembling violently, as though it might collapse inch by inch at any moment.

Every continent on the planet inside experienced earthquakes—earthquakes that were not especially severe, but were nevertheless quite obvious.

Across the Five Seas, waves surged high, as though they had encountered a sudden tidal force.

In the “noon” sky, the crimson moon abruptly appeared, its color becoming extremely dense. It expanded in an exaggerated manner, as though hanging above the roof of every building. Apart from it, the brown star, orange star, red star, golden star, blue star, and others all brightened at the same time, emitting lights of different textures.

If one looked down from the starry sky, the entire Earth seemed to be drawn into an invisible storm, swaying in place.

These were the slight changes caused by the Outer Deities attempting to break through the barrier.

The aura emanating from the ancient palace floating in the astral world simultaneously reminded Them of that terrifying existence. Under this stress response, whether in rage or madness, They all tried to prevent the other party’s resurrection.

Compared to Them, blocked outside the real world, the first to react was the Wishing Lamp in the pocket of Klein’s “main body.”

The viscous pale-gold light abruptly pierced through the seal Amon had strengthened and transformed into a blurry, twisted figure.

It reached out an arm and pulled the Trunsoest Brass Book into its hand.

All previously written rules vanished, and a new clause instantly took shape:

“Resurrection of the dead is forbidden here!”

Thin grayish-white fog flashed. Before this rule appeared that familiar clause once more:

“The following rules are invalid!”

Even though the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings within Klein’s “main body” had not truly revived and had not yet absorbed The Fool Uniqueness or the two sets of Sequence 9 to Sequence 1 Seer pathway Beyonder characteristics, He could already control Sefirah Castle, borrowing status and calling upon power.

At that moment, His existence interacted with the fog of history. One fragment of light after another twisted, sometimes connecting into a single whole, sometimes breaking apart again, unable to fully form a segment of history.

That segment of history contained an irreconcilable contradiction!

The true history was clearly this: Klein Moretti, fused with the soul of a prehistoric human, impersonated The Fool, founded the Tarot Club, grew stronger Sequence by Sequence, and ultimately approached the level of the true Fool. The current history, however, was this: Mr. Fool was a reviving great existence. He was the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings from ancient times. He had finally awakened!

At this moment, although the rule restriction completed by the Lamp Genie using the Trunsoest Brass Book only took effect for less than a second, it still weakened the Lord of the Mysteries’ will inside Klein’s “main body” considerably, as though it had suffered a fatal blow.

Meanwhile, the Earth Mother and the God of Steam and Machinery both gave up interfering with Amon’s avatars, seemingly intending to allow Mr. Error to free His hands and deal with the reviving Lord of the Mysteries.

However, although They clearly still had some strength to spare, They did not attempt to influence Klein’s “main body.” They merely continued suppressing the Primordial Demoness and the Hidden Sage.

The latter two also ceased attacking and interfering as fiercely, as though waiting for a result to emerge.

To Them, the Lord of the Mysteries’ resurrection could likewise achieve Their objectives:

The birth of a Pillar in the shortest time possible; and preventing the one who hated Them from becoming the Lord of the Mysteries.

In addition, the pathways They belonged to were not among the three controlled by the Lord of the Mysteries. They had no grudges or conflicts of interest with Him.

No longer affected, the Amons immediately changed targets, placing the vast majority of Their attention on Klein’s “main body.”

No one needed to explain. They already clearly understood that this was Their greatest threat!

Without hesitation, the Amons simultaneously raised Their right hands, gently clenched them, and solemnly began stealing the “Eternal Day” effect from Their target.

However, the Amons did not give up exerting influence on Klein either. Relying on Their sufficient numbers, They split off a small portion to look at the present Klein, who was a Sequence 1 Attendant of Mysteries and bore Antigonus’s identity.

The monocles of these Amons abruptly lit up. Using the authority related to Door, They moved Klein out of the real world and into the starry sky.

In the deep, vast universe, Klein’s figure appeared, then instantly flattened and turned into a paper figurine.

The paper figurine first swelled at the belly and gave birth to a paper infant. Immediately afterward, it rapidly decayed and rotted into dust.

Klein used Grafting and Paper Figurine Substitute to block the Amons’ attack.

At the same time, the other Amons succeeded and stole away the “Eternal Day” effect from Klein’s “main body.”

But in the very next second, this “Eternal Day” effect was stolen back by the other party.

This was the Lord of the Mysteries’ control over the abilities of His own pathway. Even though He had not truly revived and had only begun the process, it was already so.

The Amons’ gazes flickered slightly. They immediately abandoned Klein’s side and shifted Their focus onto three matters:

The majority of Them continued stealing the “Eternal Day” effect They had bestowed in order to resist the Lord of the Mysteries. A small portion locked onto Antigonus on the giant stone chair and, one after another, stole His state of “eternal slumber.”

In addition, all the Amons stopped strengthening the seals and even weakened them to a certain degree.

Klein, no longer under Amon’s attack, likewise did not counterattack. His attention was also focused on his own “main body.”

The reviving Lord of the Mysteries there was the greatest problem!

In an instant, an illusory brand appeared between Klein’s brows. It was a strange door of light faintly stained blue-black, continuously diffusing thin grayish-white fog outward.

Klein began contending with the Lord of the Mysteries for control over Sefirah Castle, making it less easy for the other party to borrow status and call upon power.

While the Lord of the Mysteries had not yet truly revived, and had not yet accommodated The Fool Uniqueness and the corresponding Beyonder characteristics, this could effectively reduce His strength, increasing the failure rate of many of His operations and causing their effects to become significantly worse.

With Klein’s involvement and his control over Sefirah Castle, the “fooling” affecting the Trunsoest Brass Book immediately weakened, and the success rate of the Amons’ Theft also rose.

Almost simultaneously, in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, beneath the giant figure of light transformed from the ancient Sun God, upon the surface of the sea that contained all colors, a line of text written in the most ancient language swiftly appeared:

“The Lord of the Mysteries’ resurrection this time ultimately failed due to interference from many parties.”

As this sentence took shape, and as Klein fought for control over Sefirah Castle, the Amons once again stole away the “Eternal Day” effect attached to the Lord of the Mysteries.

On the other side, They also “stole” Antigonus’s state of eternal slumber.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Amons bestowed the state of eternal slumber upon Klein’s “main body,” upon the Lord of the Mysteries.

The aura of that ancient existence’s revival instantly fell silent, but very soon, it rebounded again.

At that moment, on the weakened Trunsoest Brass Book, the corresponding clause took shape once more:

“Resurrection of the dead is forbidden here!”

All at once, the terrifying will inside Klein’s “main body” weakened rapidly, showing a strong tendency to fall back into slumber.

Yet this will was so powerful that even the long passage of time could not completely wear it away. Under the double restrictions, it still tenaciously, bit by bit, grew and revived, attempting to use Tampering and Fooling to undo its current predicament.

Klein sensed the other party calling upon Sefirah Castle’s power. He immediately concentrated and interfered.

At the same time, the Evernight Goddess floating above the ancient palace slightly relaxed Her control over Amon’s true body. She withdrew the golden bird-shaped ornament and aimed its head downward.

From within the ornament’s bronze eyes, illusory, layered doors surged out, allowing a colorless droplet of liquid with an intense aura of eternal stillness to fall toward Klein’s “main body” inside the ancient palace.

This was a drop of water from the River of Eternal Darkness!

As the Evernight Goddess performed this action, Amon’s true body’s attempt to open “doors” and escape slowed in tacit understanding.

The droplet fell extremely quickly. The natural barrier constructed by the Earth Mother and the civilizational scrolls displayed by the God of Steam and Machinery both contracted slightly at the same time, opening a path for it.

With a soft plop, the water from the River of Eternal Darkness landed accurately on the top of Klein’s “main body’s” head and silently seeped inside.

The Lord of the Mysteries’ aura, which had been growing bit by bit, immediately receded, losing its fluctuations and falling once again into eternal slumber.

But this state was very unstable, as though it might be broken at any moment.

At that moment, from the void, the Evernight Goddess’s final empty hand drew out a gigantic longsword.

The surface of the sword was covered in orange-red light, emanating the aura of twilight’s arrival and the decay of all things.

This was the symbol of the Twilight Giant.

The Evernight Goddess extended the arm covered in short black fur and swung the exaggerated greatsword downward.

She had always still had strength to spare, as though She had been preparing for this very moment!

Amid the strange sound of the void cracking and decaying, the greatsword covered in twilight light split open the dome of Antigonus’s palace, causing the corpses hanging there to fall to the ground.

Immediately afterward, it struck Klein’s “main body,” which had yet to break free from the state of eternal slumber.

The portion of the Lord of the Mysteries’ will that had revived rapidly perished. That body also decayed and collapsed with unstoppable momentum. Along with The Fool Uniqueness on its face and the two sets of Sequence 9 to Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics inside it, everything caved inward and gathered into one.

Seeing this, Klein did not think at all. Following the plan, he mobilized Sefirah Castle and drew down a quarter of the fog of history, wrapping it around that mass of things.

Amid the spreading grayish-white fog, The Fool Uniqueness and those Beyonder characteristics fully converged.

They frantically absorbed the fog of history around them, transforming into a dark, profound liquid without a fixed shape.

This liquid stretched and changed, as though it wished to form a strange, translucent, hooded cloak—or a person whose internal organs, flesh, and blood had all been hollowed out.

The Fool potion!

The Amons simultaneously extended Their right hands and began stealing this potion.