Chapter 5: Conversation

Chapter 5: Conversation

The Evernight Goddess’s projection spoke in a calm tone.

“As for Him, or Them, we cannot defeat or stop Them. We can only resist and suppress Them.”

Perhaps at certain moments, with only the slightest negligence or the faintest relaxation, we would become Them… On the Beyonder path, danger is ever-present. No one knows when they might slip into the abyss… Klein silently added those words for the Evernight Goddess.

After a moment’s thought, he asked, “When I was born into this world, did You interfere in some way?”

The Evernight Goddess’s projection, almost merging into the surrounding environment, gave a slight nod.

“I used Antigonus’s Uniqueness to indirectly influence Sefirah Castle and ‘tamper’ with the corresponding location of the Beyonder characteristic that descended with you, changing it to the Forsaken Land of the Gods.”

As expected… Klein sighed inwardly. Frowning slightly, he asked, “Antigonus’s Uniqueness can indirectly influence Sefirah Castle?”

The Evernight Goddess’s projection replied in a voice as gentle as a nocturne, “He has already lost control and gone mad.

“That means His self-recognition can no longer suppress the will of the Lord of the Mysteries within Him. The two spirits have been stitched together, manifesting the most primitive, most instinctive, most bloody, and most insane side of things.

“And that Lord of the Mysteries was the former owner of Sefirah Castle. Through this identity, the current Antigonus can naturally affect Sefirah Castle indirectly.”

No wonder the Evernight Goddess understands Sefirah Castle and that strange door of light better than Emperor Roselle did. On one hand, She Herself descended from Sefirah Castle; on the other, She imprisoned the out-of-control and mad Antigonus… Klein suddenly understood a little more and continued asking, “Why were You and Roselle not accompanied by Beyonder characteristics when You descended?”

If that had happened, whether the Evernight Goddess or Emperor Roselle, they would surely have chosen the Seer, Apprentice, or Marauder pathway first.

The Evernight Goddess’s projection said with composure, “That is precisely why I said the Lord of the Mysteries seems to have suffered some unknown accident and lost control over many arrangements.

“Only after two consecutive failures did Sefirah Castle undergo a certain change.

“For you, this is also a good thing. As the apocalypse draws near, the Lord of the Mysteries’ remaining will is fading. In the end, only His spirit will remain, trying to awaken.

“If you had been born during the Fourth Epoch, the moment you became an Attendant of Mysteries, you would already have become Him.”

This was because, at the time, Klein had advanced purely using the Curtain left behind by the Celestial Worthy, whereas the Beyonder characteristics inside angels such as Antigonus and Zaratul had already been worn down and mixed with others through generation after generation of Beyonders and extraordinary creatures.

Klein had the feeling that the Evernight Goddess had some conjecture about what had happened to the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings. But since She had deliberately chosen not to mention it, he found it inappropriate to press further. He could only change the subject.

“How did Antigonus accommodate The Fool Uniqueness back then?”

The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection did not conceal the answer. In a soft voice, She said, “He asked Adam and Amon for help.

“At the time, They both supported Alista Tudor.”

“Using the Trojan Horse of Destiny’s ability?” Klein sharply identified the key point based on Will Auceptin’s words and his own thoughts.

The Evernight Goddess’s projection was like a starry night sky, quietly soothing everything around Her.

“They captured a demigod from the Solomon Empire. Adam performed deep hypnosis and implanted corresponding memories, causing that person to believe he was Antigonus.

“Then, with Antigonus’s cooperation, Amon stole His identity and fate. Antigonus then used the authority of ‘Tampering’ to combine the identity and fate in Amon’s hands with the experimental subject.

“That Solomon Empire demigod began living as Antigonus. After some time, he took the initiative to attempt to accommodate The Fool Uniqueness.

“He unquestionably lost control. At that moment, the true Antigonus undid the Tampering, letting His identity and fate return to Amon’s hands, while Amon ended the theft and returned them to their original owner.”

Klein listened intently, then added thoughtfully, “In that case, the two utterly different fates of ‘Antigonus failed to accommodate the Uniqueness and became a monster’ and ‘Antigonus is alive and well without any problem’ both existed in the real world at the same time. To a certain extent, fate was fooled…”

Before he finished speaking, Klein detected certain hidden dangers and immediately asked, “Wouldn’t there be problems?”

“There is great risk,” the Evernight Goddess’s dream projection calmly replied. “Fate is not easy to bear. If the fate cannot be retrieved within the extremely brief moment when the target is about to lose control, the matter will unquestionably fail. Retrieve it a second too early, and the ritual will have no effect. Retrieve it a second too late, and Antigonus will bear the fate of losing control and going mad, inevitably moving toward the same end.”

That makes sense. If you receive fate, you naturally receive the troubles that fate brings… If this weren’t the case, Amon would have stolen my fate long ago and swaggered into Sefirah Castle… Klein muttered inwardly and began considering how he could imitate the ancestor of the Antigonus family’s ritual.

—Under the premise that the normal ritual was difficult to complete and the situation was urgent, using a simplified ritual to accommodate The Fool Uniqueness seemed to be the best current option.

Once I become half a Fool, my control over Sefirah Castle will deepen further. My level and strength will at least reach the status of a true god. Then, even if I have no chance of victory against Amon as a dual-pathway true god, I will at least be able to protect myself while waiting for aid… Klein compared their strength and the future he hoped to obtain, and at the same time, he formed a preliminary ritual plan.

He intended to ask the Evernight Goddess for help in suppressing the ancestor of the Antigonus family. Then he would use Sefirah Castle to steal the other party’s identity, fate, and self-recognition.

That way, Klein’s body would simultaneously contain his own consciousness, the Celestial Worthy’s will, the self-recognition of the Antigonus family’s ancestor, and anchors from the New City of Silver, New Moon City, and the Rorsted Archipelago. He would, to a certain extent, become Antigonus and bear His fate of losing control and going mad.

Antigonus had gone mad because His self-recognition could no longer suppress the awakening will of the Celestial Worthy, and the two spirits had been stitched together. Once His self-recognition entered Klein’s body, the same process would undoubtedly repeat, because the Celestial Worthy’s will inside Klein was not much weaker than the one inside Him.

In other words, the fate of losing control and going mad was already inevitable. Klein taking it on would bring no additional burden. At the same time, his own consciousness and the anchors he possessed, which were far more numerous than the current Antigonus’s, could mediate from the center and maintain a bottom line where a sliver of reason still remained.

In such a state, he would accommodate The Fool Uniqueness as the ancestor of the Antigonus family. And in that corresponding fate, this was something he had already accommodated long ago, so it would not bring any further impact.

Thus, fate would be fooled.

After the ritual ended, Klein would undo the theft and recover his original identity and fate. He would no longer be affected by madness and would directly become half a Fool.

The main hidden dangers in this plan lay in two areas. First was the maintenance of his own state. With the slightest accident, Klein could easily go completely mad and become unable to save himself. Second was the question of how far the Celestial Worthy’s will inside the ancestor of the Antigonus family would awaken, and what changes it would bring, once there was absolutely nothing suppressing it. No one could say. He could only rely on the Evernight Goddess to balance it.

At that moment, the Evernight Goddess’s dream projection seemed to guess what he was thinking.

“If you wish to steal Antigonus’s fate, it would be best to place Him in a temporary state of eternal slumber.

“I can attempt to help you, but I need a medium to have sufficient confidence. He is, after all, an angel who has accommodated The Fool Uniqueness.”

“What medium?” Klein asked as though pondering.

The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection said, with a hint of amusement in Her voice, “Water from the River of Eternal Darkness.”

As expected… To Klein, this answer was not at all surprising. It had even been among his conjectures, giving him the feeling that the second boot had finally dropped.

After weighing his words, he asked, “Only the river water?”

The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection nodded gently.

“You cannot take the entire River of Eternal Darkness now. Once you reach the depths of Calderón, you will understand.

“Some things can wait until you return before you ask.”

Without waiting for Klein to respond, She added, “For you, that place contains an unusual danger. It would be best to wait until your mental state has stabilized before going.”

“Understood.” Although Klein did not know what he would encounter in the depths of Calderón City, he knew his current state was unsuitable for adventure—especially an adventure involving a sefirah.

The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection continued, “When you wake, perform a ritual requesting a bestowment. I will give you an item used to collect water from the River of Eternal Darkness.”

Klein nodded without wasting words. Then he said, “Adam is a part of the ancient Sun God. He is one of His identities.”

No obvious emotional fluctuation appeared in the Evernight Goddess’s dream projection. In a soft, soothing tone, She said, “He has already gone to the Forsaken Land of the Gods and met the True Creator.”

So quickly… Klein was briefly surprised, then felt that it was only natural.

The reason Adam had exposed His secret was that the secret no longer had value.

The Evernight Goddess’s dream projection continued, “No matter what happens next, it will require a comparatively long time. You need not pay attention to it for now.”

After Klein nodded, the figure before his eyes quickly turned blurry. The night vanilla and deep sleep flowers by his feet rose one after another, scattering across the darkness.

Then he opened his eyes and saw the dim, shadowed hall, and the pure light shining through the holes in the wall. The latter was like stars embedded in a velvet curtain of night.