Above the gray fog, the ancient temple-like building stood quietly.
After noticing some abnormalities in the series of coincidences, Klein entered the mysterious space after lunch, in an attempt to confirm a guess in his mind.
He picked up a fountain pen he conjured, paused for two seconds, and then wrote: "I am involved in a series of coincidences created by Sealed Artifact 0-08."
Putting down the dark red pen, Klein held the silver chain in his left hand and began his divination.
Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at the spirit pendulum just inches away from him.
The topaz pendant stood still without any rotations.
This meant that the divination had failed!
Divination cannot be completed — possibly due to not fulfilling sufficient conditions, or it could be because 0-08 is resisting it... In both cases, a similar result would occur... Klein changed his statement and tried to direct it at different targets, but all of them failed.
He tapped the edge of the long mottled table with his finger, hesitating on whether he should go to Red Rose Manor the day after tomorrow.
If there's no 0-08 or a similar power to arrange these matters, then my sudden escape will definitely raise Prince Edessak's suspicion. No, my escape might not be successful. Prince Edessak's men live next door... Of course, since I'm already a Faceless, it's easy for me to find a chance to escape when I'm out, but is there a need to go this far?
Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be able to "leave" Backlund without attracting too much attention by honestly seeking an audience with Prince Edessak and normally handing over the mission. His Highness will likely not force me, an unaffiliated Beyonder, to accomplish too difficult a task...
If there really is a Sealed Artifact or demigod like 0-08 influencing the recent events, then from my past experience, I should just be a side character who mistakenly entered the stage and haven't received enough attention. In this case, escaping is tantamount to telling the other party that I have detected your presence! I'm highly problematic!
In this way, relying on my Faceless powers wouldn't necessarily allow me to escape the "attention" that has locked onto me...
The best method would be to calmly go to the Red Rose Manor and go through the normal procedures to exit the stage. After graciously bowing from the curtain call, I'll fade away from the "attention" of the unknown party...
After combining the two elements, Klein finally decided to pretend that he hadn't discovered anything and to "leave" Backlund according to plan.
...
The bonfire in the campsite was burning with flames, and there was someone standing guard inside the campsite the entire time.
Derrick Berg leaned against a stone pillar and slept to recover his strength.
At this moment, he was dreaming of the endless grayish-white fog, an ancient chair situated at the highest point in the center, as well as the indifferent figure sitting on that chair, overlooking everything.
Mr. Fool... Derrick said the name in a chanting manner in his mind.
Following that, he heard The Fool's voice: "Prepare for the gathering."
Yes, Mr. Fool. Derrick answered silently and began counting his heartbeats.
His eyes never opened, as if everything that had just happened was just a prelude to a dream.
There's still quite a bit of time before we set off. There's enough time to attend the Tarot Gathering... he thought with relief.
He originally imagined that he, who had joined the exploratory team, would miss this gathering.
After a thousand heartbeats, Derrick waited a little longer before he felt himself entering that quiet and serene divine hall.
The moment he opened his eyes, scenes flashed through his mind. It was as if an external force had instantly injected all his lost memories into his head once again.
The scenes were: crumbling city walls; buildings crisscrossed with white and blue; the temple of the Fallen Creator with a similar architectural style as the City of Silver; murals detailing the approaching apocalypse and the Fallen Creator's protection of the remaining humans from the six great evil gods; the beautiful and dangerous "mushrooms;" and Jack, the eerie pale yellow-haired boy of unknown origins.
These kinds of scenes had repeated over and over again for a total of five times, but each time there was a slight difference in the details.
The first time, outside the Fallen Creator's Temple, all of the animal hide lanterns had been extinguished, nearly causing a tragedy. The second time, someone lost control of themselves and almost swallowed a "mushroom," fortunately, Chief Colin stopped them in time. The third time, the little boy, Jack, told a story, which was that he and his father had been searching for the Creator's holy residence in the endless ocean, and they ended up encountering a huge storm. The fourth time, Joshua was severely injured by Jack who had mutated without any warning. The fifth time, the temple completely collapsed, blocking the exit of the underground area.
And all of these occurrences ended with Demon Hunter Colin killing the little boy, Jack, and then started off with their rest in the camp, preparing to enter the ruined city. The beginning and end were connected as it repeated in a cycle.
We've explored the temple five times... We have been living through this experience all this time, and there is no way to truly end it! The more Derrick understood his sudden new memories, the more frightened and terrified he became.
Audrey, who was sitting on the other side of the long bronze table, originally wanted to greet Mr. Fool and the others with a cheerful and light voice as usual. However, when she glanced over, she immediately noticed that Little Sun's mood wasn't right. She immediately asked, "Mr. Sun, did something happen? Has the exploration of the True, uh—Fallen Creator's temple not gone smoothly?"
Derrick seemed to have grabbed onto hope as he hurriedly described the rough situation once. When he was done, he said, "After that little boy was dealt with by His Excellency, we all closed our eyes and woke up in the campsite outside the city in preparation to begin a brand new exploration. We no longer had any memories from before.
"This process has been repeated five times, with only the details being slightly different.
"If it wasn't for Mr. Fool's alerting me to this, then I wouldn't have even known that I've been living a recurring life all this time."
He took it for granted that the extra memories from his arrival above the gray fog were the result of Mr. Fool's reminder. He stood up and gave a solemn salute to the blurry figure seated at the head of the long bronze table.
I only understood the situation after listening to your description... Klein was still in a daze.
He maintained his original posture and lightly nodded his head in response.
In a situation where the reasons are unknown, a superior wouldn't so easily express his opinion, so I can't rashly open my mouth... Klein secretly reviewed what he had learned from his past life as a keyboard warrior.
Seeing that Mr. Fool seemed to be an imperturbable ancient wall, Derrick felt a lot more at ease and felt that the matter could finally be resolved.
He turned to look at The Hanged Man, The World, Justice, and The Magician, and he sincerely asked, "Do you know the root of the problem? How can this be resolved?"
The zealous Audrey instinctively wanted to answer, but she found herself without a clue or even a guess.
Fors was in a similar state as she was.
Filled with rich knowledge from Earth and having read many novels of being stuck in the same day, Klein originally wanted to control The World to give out ideas to give everyone some inspiration to consider regarding the matter, but after thinking about it carefully, he chose to stay low-key and prepared to observe first.
After listening to The Sun's description, Alger remained silent for a long time. At this moment, he said in a measured tone, "I can only think of two possibilities. First, you have encountered a Nightmare or hallucinatory power at a level that exceeds a demigod. After regaining your memories with Mr. Fool's help, you should be able to immediately detect something amiss once you return to the real world. That way, the problem will easily be resolved.
"Second, you were forced to or you proactively entered a strange space or state at a particular node where time is controlled to flow in a certain manner, but the time is fixed within a certain range which is cyclical and the continuation is balanced, that is to say, it is relatively static.
"In this situation, there aren't many ways to end the cycle. Either there is an external force that can forcefully break the balance, or you find the key point that connects the distortion of time."
An external force that can forcefully break the balance? Upon hearing this, Audrey, Fors, and Derrick all subconsciously glanced at the calm and leisurely Mr. Fool sitting at the end of the long bronze table.
No, I can't always seek Mr. Fool's help... By not saying anything directly, "He" probably wishes to test my ability at dealing with such matters... After a moment of thought, he said, "Mr. Hanged Man, let's assume the second situation. In your opinion, what do you think is the key point that connects the distortion of time?"
Without waiting for The Hanged Man to respond, Audrey guessed with interest, "That little boy Jack?
"You can't kill him when you're facing him?"
Alger nodded.
"That's a possibility."
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "The Sun's description of Jack and his father reminds me of a particular incident."
He turned to look at Miss Justice.
"Didn't I once mention that I was pursuing a Listener of the Aurora Order at sea? The goal for his voyage was to seek the True Creator's holy residence."
Audrey carefully recalled and said without any strong confirmation, "That seems to be the case."
Alger immediately said with a deep voice, "That Listener also brought his son, and the son's age is very close to The Sun's description of Jack."
"Are you saying that Jack went from your world to the vicinity of the City of Silver?" Derrick asked, stunned.
After a short period of settling down, he inwardly felt an indescribable sense of happiness.
This means that the City of Silver hasn't been completely sealed off yet. There's still a chance to connect with the normal world where The Hanged Man and Justice are from!
"I can only say that it is possible." The Hanged Man couldn't give an affirmative answer.
He thought for a moment and suggested, "You can find a chance to bring up the Sonia Sea, the Loen Kingdom, and the port city in front of Jack. Perhaps there will be a different reaction, but of course, try to avoid doing so in front of the Chief of your City of Silver as much as possible.
"Also, the key point doesn't necessarily lie with Jack. We have to consider other possibilities as well. You should tell us the specifics, such as the details of the mural, and maybe we can find something useful."
At this point, Alger began to look forward to receiving information.
