Chapter 29: Home-Field “Advantage”

Chapter 29: Home-Field “Advantage”

While Amon was speaking, Klein seemed to be listening, but in truth, he had already begun attempting to leave Sefirah Castle.

This was absolutely not because he intended to give up or surrender. Nor was it because he was too timid and instinctively chose avoidance first. Rather, he believed this to be the optimal solution under the present circumstances.

If he remained within Sefirah Castle, Klein would face three major problems.

First, he had just advanced to The Fool, and his own condition was extremely unstable. He had to devote most of his spirit to suppressing the revived will of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings. Second, he could not obtain help from his allies and would be forced to fight alone. Third, in a situation where both sides could influence Sefirah Castle, even if Klein’s control over this sefirah surpassed Amon’s by one level, it could not manifest as an overwhelming advantage. He might even be interfered with by Amon, who specialized in exploiting loopholes and creating “bugs,” making it difficult for him to use Sefirah Castle properly and dragging him down to the same level as his opponent.

In that case, even if it was not a hundred percent certain that the Sequence 0 Fool would lose against the half-mad, dual-pathway true god of Error and Door, his chances of victory would still be extremely slim.

But if he seized the opportunity and broke away from Sefirah Castle, Klein would immediately obtain help from his allies and reverse both sides’ positions.

If Amon chased after him, Klein would interfere with His attempt to return to Sefirah Castle, forcing Him to face Klein’s allies directly. At that time, the Primordial Demoness would definitely no longer act. The ancient Sun God might not be able to once again display, in such a short span, the might of half a Great Old One. And the six orthodox gods led by the Evernight Goddess would be more than enough to deal with Amon.

Even if Amon, who controlled all authority in the domains of Error and Door, was not so easy to kill, the orthodox gods could certainly weaken Him and seal Him. Once Klein stabilized his mental state and deepened his control over Sefirah Castle, he could then target Amon specifically and kill Him.

Such a process would be almost irreversible. Even if the ancient Sun God could still erupt with the same status, level, and strength as before, He would be unable to change it—His limit seemed to be suppressing three orthodox gods at the same time, and that could not include the Evernight Goddess.

Of course, the Outer Deities unquestionably did not wish to see a new Lord of the Mysteries born. Once a situation like that appeared, They would certainly do Their utmost to interfere and prevent Amon from perishing. However, before the world barrier collapsed, the influence They could exert was quite limited and might not produce much effect. Just as before, Klein believed that the combined strength the Dark Side of the Universe and the Chained God could display was still weaker than the Hidden Sage.

And even if the situation was truly influenced by the Outer Deities, Klein would not suffer much loss. In any case, those existences would not allow Amon to turn around and kill him. He could calmly find a place to hide, stabilize his mental state, and wait until he was fully prepared before planning again. The Evernight Goddess’s concealed town was an excellent choice.

If Amon did not chase him and remained inside Sefirah Castle, Klein could rely on his identity as the owner of Sefirah Castle and his control, which allowed him to influence various matters within at any time, to ensure that Amon could accomplish nothing there. Even if He wished to deal with the Tarot Club members through the crimson stars, He would not be able to.

In short, for either of them, better use of Sefirah Castle would be extremely difficult. But ruining the other’s attempts would be absolutely simple.

In such a stalemate, Klein would have all the time he needed to stabilize his mental state, deepen his control over Sefirah Castle, and gradually reverse the situation.

In the end, Amon would either flee and hide, or allow the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings to completely revive, dragging Klein down with Him.

Therefore, although he had no time to analyze too many pros and cons, Klein still swiftly reached a judgment:

Leaving Sefirah Castle now was the best choice.

However, the moment his consciousness sank to the edge of Sefirah Castle, he saw a monocle ground from crystal.

This item had appeared in time, ruining Klein’s departure.

“Do you think I would leave such an obvious loophole? Of course, you can also stop me from leaving Sefirah Castle at any time,” Amon said with a smile, His right index finger bent and pressed beneath His monocle.

Behind the chair where He sat, symbols sketched from brilliant radiance changed rapidly. At times, they were an amalgamation of symbols corresponding to parasitism, time, and fate. At times, they became layer upon layer of “doors.”

The two different symbols appeared in alternation, unable to truly stabilize.

Klein did not listen to what Amon was saying. The instant his attempt to leave failed, he created a true Realm of Mysteries—a complete divine kingdom of The Fool.

Before Amon’s eyes, light and shadow instantly changed. The magnificent palace, the mottled long table, and the ornate high-backed chairs all vanished, replaced by the emergence of an ancient castle.

Amon did not know exactly what this ancient castle looked like, because He was standing inside a corridor within it. He could only sense the various changes in Sefirah Castle and see the limited view within His field of vision.

The corridor was exceptionally gloomy and dim. Both ends seemed endless. Only at very long intervals stood elegant silver candlesticks, upon which the light was dusky and faint.

On both sides of the corridor were tightly shut dark-red wooden doors, seemingly leading to different rooms.

And from every room came not the slightest sound. No one knew what was hidden within each one.

Amon swept His gaze around casually and smiled with interest.

“A little interesting.”

As the strongest Cryptologist, He of course understood that this was a divine kingdom, and not the kind that could be broken by brute force.

This was because every door had been “reorganized” with different things. Forcibly breaking them open would trigger unknown effects. Amon would not underestimate a Sequence 0 Fool’s abilities and intelligence, nor did He intend to personally experience multiple surprises and accidents.

However, once the rules of a divine kingdom were fixed, the master of that divine kingdom would also be restricted to a certain extent.

To put it simply, Klein had to be inside one of these rooms at the moment. He would not be anywhere else.

If one gained the benefits, one had to bear the corresponding responsibilities.

“Trying to use this method to delay time and stabilize your mental state?” Amon murmured, as though speaking to no one in particular.

Then He, wearing a pointed soft hat and classical black robe, walked to the nearest dark-red wooden door.

There were no peepholes in the wooden door, making it impossible to see the specific situation inside.

In other words, unless Amon opened the door, it would be very difficult for Him to know whether Klein was here.

The corners of His mouth curved faintly. Amon extended His right hand and drew a vertical rectangle on the dark-red wooden door.

Within the rectangle, specks of starlight emerged and quickly turned transparent, revealing the scene inside the room.

Amon had relied on the authority of Door and the power of “bugs” to forcibly open a window on the door without triggering any effects.

Then He turned His gaze into the room.

There were no tables, chairs, carpets, or other furnishings inside—only a vast azure sea.

“As expected, this door was combined with the outside ocean,” Amon said with a smile, not at all surprised.

Once He turned this door handle, He would directly leave Sefirah Castle and appear above that sea.

And at that time, with Klein on guard, it would be nearly impossible for Him to enter Sefirah Castle again—just as Klein could not leave Sefirah Castle now.

This was why Amon did not forcibly destroy The Fool’s divine kingdom and instead opened one door after another.

—Destruction would cause similar, repeated effects to impact Amon again and again. Even if He had numerous loopholes to exploit, He could not completely exempt Himself.

Retracting His gaze, Amon walked to the room opposite and opened a window in the door using the same method as before.

This time, however, the interior was pitch-black. Nothing could be seen.

Amon raised His hand and pinched the upper and lower edges of His monocle, then lightly cleared His throat.

His figure immediately split into two.

The number of Amons increased.

The separated Amon glanced at the Amon standing in place and clicked His tongue.

“Why don’t you seek stimulation yourself?”

As He spoke, this Amon stretched out His right palm and gripped the handle of the dark-red wooden door.

The instant He began to turn it, His expression suddenly went dull. He sat straight down, as if He had lost the ability to think.

“A Fooling effect.” The Amon standing in place nodded slightly.

The now-foolish Amon immediately collapsed, transforming into a transparent worm with twelve segments.

Bit by bit, Beyonder characteristics separated from it and returned to Amon’s body.

By exploiting a loophole, He avoided the negative effect suffered by the avatar from influencing His true body.

Once all the Beyonder characteristics returned, Amon released a mass of stolen flame and burned the corpse of that Worm of Time.

After leisurely finishing this matter, He lifted His head and adjusted the monocle over His right eye.

On the monocle ground from crystal, countless symbols, patterns, and marks emerged. They moved swiftly, sometimes weaving together, sometimes reorganizing, sometimes changing, as though performing calculations.

This was a combination of the Cryptologist’s deciphering ability and the positioning authority of Key of Stars.

Amon’s two earlier attempts had mainly been to collect intelligence and grasp the rules, preparing to crack the secrets of The Fool’s divine kingdom.

Very soon, those symbols, patterns, and marks formed a scene upon the monocle.

Behind a dark-red wooden door, Klein sat in a high-backed chair, several slippery tentacles extending from around him, calmly watching the entrance.

Amon’s mouth split into a smile. With a flash, His figure appeared directly inside that room.

But everything before Him suddenly collapsed.

The Klein who carried The Fool’s aura rapidly flattened and transformed into a card.

On the card, Roselle Gustav wore a magnificent headpiece and colorful clothing. A staff and luggage rested over his shoulder, and his eyes were filled with longing.

The Fool card.

The Fool card of the Cards of Blasphemy.

Klein knew that relying on a Paper Figurine Substitute alone, even if it carried a Fooling effect and had been “grafted” with a real aura, would not be enough to deceive a top-tier “swindler” like Amon. Therefore, he had used the Fool card, which possessed the corresponding convergence ability, as his paper figurine.

Although Sefirah Castle could no longer be truly used as before, this was still Klein’s home ground. It contained his pile of miscellaneous objects, all the items he had collected, the newly acquired Trunsoest Brass Book, and the borrowed Wishing Lamp.