Chapter 35: A Temporary Gathering

Chapter 35: A Temporary Gathering

The Evernight Goddess nodded and said nothing more. She reached forward, as though pinching a corner of the void, and gently tugged.

A thin layer of “night curtain” softly drifted down, covering Klein’s body and silently seeping into him.

Klein quietly sensed the blessing originating from dreams for two seconds. Then he pressed a hand to his chest and bowed.

Immediately afterward, he took two steps back and left the astral world.

The Evernight Goddess stood at the edge of Her divine kingdom, watching him depart.

The next second, Klein landed inside the projection of the Giant King’s Court within the ruins of the divine battle.

Then, just like Amon had once done, he walked to the edge of the grayish-blue doors and raised his hand, creating an illusory door of deep blue.

Through that door, Klein entered the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Following fate’s guidance, he Roamed directly to the summit of a mountain range.

There stood an enormous cross, shrouded in a nearly imperceptible layer of shadow.

Klein gazed at that shadow for several seconds. Then, with a faint sigh, he bent down and picked up an ancient silver mirror that had been placed near the giant cross.

After that, he turned and vanished from the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

At the same time, the Worms of Spirit no longer required to stand watch over Sefirah Castle informed him of the Queen Mystic’s current location. Klein raised his hand and retrieved the Wishing Lamp from the pile of miscellaneous objects. Relying on the ownership relationship between it and Bernadette, he Roamed again and appeared on a rather hidden island, inside the City of Emerald.

Bernadette was flipping through a newly published Intis art album there. Just as she sensed something, she saw Gehrman Sparrow hand the Wishing Lamp back to her.

“Thank you.” Klein’s voice was neither high nor low, and very normal.

Bernadette parted her lips slightly, as if she wanted to say something. But in that instant, her eyes flashed, and she seemed to see something—perhaps prophesy something. Thus, she silently reached out and accepted the Wishing Lamp.

Klein then took out an iron cigarette case whose surface bore traces of corrosion.

“This is your payment.”

Even without using her Eyes of Mystery Prying, Bernadette could sense the cigarette case’s “extraordinariness” and roughly guess what kind of corrosion it had suffered.

But that was not why she chose to accept it. Rather, she suddenly felt there was no reason to refuse.

She hesitated for only a moment before calmly taking the iron cigarette case.

If Klein had still been in his earlier, more frenzied state, he would certainly have laughed in an exaggerated manner the instant Bernadette hesitated and said, “If Uncle gives it to you, just take it!”

But now, he had only the last sliver of lucidity left. It took great effort for him to keep himself from sinking into slumber, and he had no impulse whatsoever to act like a Clown.

After leaving Bernadette’s City of Emerald, Klein seized the time and Roamed to Backlund, then Roamed again to Dr. Allen Kriss’s home.

Will Auceptin, who was sitting amid a pile of toys, lifted His head and looked at Dwayne Dantès before Him. Suddenly, tears flowed down His face, and He sobbed heavily.

“I finally sensed that opportunity.”

The opportunity to accommodate the Fate pathway’s Uniqueness.

Klein crouched down and said expressionlessly, “I came precisely to help you accommodate it.”

“I will steal your childhood and adolescence, letting you grow up in an instant. Then, relying on a status that surpasses the Sequences but has not yet reached the level of a Great Old One, I will help you forcibly accommodate the Die of Probability.

“Of course, that alone will not be enough. We will also need one instance of Fooling and one exploitation of a Bug.”

Will Auceptin’s falling tears abruptly stopped. Somewhat stunned, He murmured, “So those two choices were actually the same.”

Ordinarily, accommodating the Uniqueness of one’s own pathway required either being born with it, asking an existence at the level of a Great Old One for help, or relying on a simplified apotheosis ritual. There were no other possibilities.

As the Snake of Fate, Will Auceptin clearly had not been born with the Uniqueness. He could only consider the latter two options.

Previously, His focus had always been on carrying out a simplified ritual—that was, waiting for a destined opportunity. Who could have known that this opportunity would turn out to be Klein obtaining a status close to that of a Great Old One? In essence, it was actually the second method.

Thinking of this, Will Auceptin, still a chubby child, cried even harder, as though He had been deceived by fate itself.

“Have the demigods of the Life School of Thought bring the Die of Probability over now. Under normal circumstances, with your luck, the Die of Probability should already be by your side at this moment.” Klein ignored Will’s loud crying. “Begin as soon as possible. I don’t have much time left.”

Will stopped. After looking at Klein for a while, He said while still faintly sniffling, “Forget it. I’ll wait for the next opportunity.”

“With your current state, forcibly helping me accommodate it would be an enormous burden. You might lose control on the spot. I don’t want to face that Lord of the Mysteries.

“Mm. Next time. I have a premonition…”

At this point, Will looked into Klein’s eyes.

“I have a premonition that the next opportunity will be better.”

Klein still maintained that sleepwalking-like expression. His voice lowered slightly.

“Is that a prophecy?”

Will Auceptin’s tears flowed again.

“No. It is a blessing.”

Klein gently nodded, stood, and retreated step by step.

During this process, his figure grew increasingly faint and quickly vanished.

He returned inside Sefirah Castle and sat in the high-backed chair, allowing grayish-white fog to cover the surface of his body.

After looking around and confirming the state of the crimson stars one by one, Klein leaned wearily against the chairback and slightly lifted his right hand.

This time, he no longer created the fake person called The World.

On both sides of the mottled long table, beams of crimson light rose at the same time, freezing into the figures of the Tarot Club members: The Hanged Man, The Sun, The Hermit, The Magician, and the others.

This sudden convocation clearly exceeded the expectations of Miss Justice Audrey and the rest, leaving them all momentarily stunned and surprised.

Before this, they had indeed visited Mr. Fool’s divine kingdom outside Monday afternoons, but each time there had been a reason, and they had known in advance that they would be pulled here—either because they had applied beforehand for a small gathering, or because they were avoiding the full moon ravings, or because they were treating Mr. World’s psychological problems.

One could say that apart from the very first time, this was only the second time Mr. Fool had gathered them without any warning.

Even the slowest among them sensed an uneasy atmosphere and felt the air itself grow still.

Then, recalling The World Gehrman Sparrow’s previous visits and the things this Blessed of Mr. Fool had said, Miss Justice Audrey, The Hanged Man Alger, and Judgment Xio all had similar thoughts flash through their minds:

Has it finally arrived?

Audrey subconsciously turned her head toward the lowest end of the mottled long table, only to see that place empty, devoid of any figure.

Although she had prepared herself to a certain extent, Audrey still could not help but freeze. An unstoppable sorrow welled up in her heart.

In her mind, the image of The World Gehrman Sparrow had long since changed from a mad adventurer and an extremely dangerous Beyonder into a friend with a cold, hard exterior, a gentle heart, great strength, a loving nature, mysterious origins, and profound loneliness, someone who carried many things upon his shoulders.

She believed that in the Tarot Club, apart from Mr. Star, she should be the one who understood The World best.

And now, this friend seemed to have met with misfortune, leaving behind only an empty seat.

The Tarot Club had lost its first official member.

Where did Klein go…? The Star Leonard suddenly panicked.

In this world, he had only this one close friend left.

When Klein had suddenly appeared on the Southern Continent and dropped that gold coin into the church’s donation box, Leonard had in fact already felt something subtle, as though the other party were preparing to meet the judgment of fate and was saying farewell one by one to the past.

It was just like back then in Tingen, when they had decided to step forward and face Megose.

Old Man has been strangely silent lately… Klein couldn’t really have had something happen to him, could he? With Mr. Fool’s level and status, as long as there’s still a chance, He should be able to save him… Leonard’s heart tightened, and he abruptly turned sideways, casting his gaze toward Mr. Fool at the head of the mottled long table.

This great existence was still shrouded in grayish-white fog, making it impossible to tell His current state.

At that moment, The Moon Emlyn, The Hermit Cattleya, The Sun Derrick, and the others also noticed Mr. World’s absence.

Combined with the suddenness of this gathering, they were both astonished and puzzled. They did not know what had happened; they only instinctively believed it would not be anything good.

As a Prophet who had only recently advanced, Cattleya even felt that Mr. Fool also had a certain problem.

Mr. World didn’t come… Xio mentioned before that Mr. Fool and His Blessed seemed to be facing a major challenge, one that might very likely lead to something terrible… The Magician Fors was likewise somewhat panicked, inevitably producing strong fear because of the unknown change.

She had once thought she would let out a breath of relief if Mr. World disappeared. But now, that did not seem to be the case. Instead, her heart felt heavy, and she was filled with unease.

Only now did she discover that at some unknown point, The World had become one of the Tarot Club’s great pillars aside from Mr. Fool. Seeing him made everyone feel reassured.

Of course, fear was equally unavoidable.

As Miss Justice Audrey and the others turned and looked toward the head of the mottled long table, Klein—now the true Fool—said in a low, flat voice, “This is a temporary gathering.”

Mr. Fool is very tired… Having sensed this, Miss Justice Audrey’s heart tightened further.

She looked around, then stood as she usually did.

After the Tarot Club members rose one after another, Audrey solemnly lifted the hem of her skirt and bowed toward the head of the mottled long table.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Fool.”