Bernadette was wearing an Intis-styled blouse and was sitting there quietly. Her chestnut-colored hair was naturally draped over her shoulders, and her straight brows were spread out perfectly. She actually had the aura of a female professional from Earth, one that had been in a high position for a long period of time.
The Emperor's sense of aesthetics still has quite the influence over Queen Mystic. However, it's limited by the environment around her, and it cannot be fully manifested... Klein took off his hat and pressed it to his chest. He bowed slightly before casually pulling out a chair and sitting down.
With a sweep of her blue eyes that resembled the deep-blue sea, Bernadette's gentle and calm voice rang out:
"Why did you contact me so urgently this time?"
Aren't you a Clairvoyant? Didn't you receive a hint of a revelation? Klein subconsciously replied in his mind before he felt that he was being too arrogant.
This should be the aftereffects of interacting with the Red Angel evil spirit for too long... With "His" level, it would naturally affect the people around "Him." If "He" was willing, this effect would definitely turn into a form of corruption... Klein quickly did a self-analysis and made a judgment.
He pondered for a moment before asking, "Have you attained what you wanted to achieve in Backlund?"
Bernadette slowly shook her head.
"No.
You can even say that I failed."
"Oh?" Klein used a tone to express his surprise and puzzlement.
Bernadette glanced at him and said unhurriedly, "There's a strange name for the Sequence 2 potion of the Mystery Pryer pathway. It's called ‘the Sage.' To advance to this level, one has to prevent a disaster that involves a higher level of power."
Sage... So that's where "sage" of the Hidden Sage comes from... Klein was momentarily enlightened. Just as he was about to ask, he heard Queen Mystic continue, "I anticipated such an opportunity in Backlund, so I came here a few years in advance to make preparations. I've recently been waiting for it for a long time.
"Unfortunately, I predicted that it would happen in the second half of this year. Last year, I wasn't in Backlund at the end of the year, so I wasn't able to stop the Great Smog. And in this war, I tried my best to do something, and I achieved something. But to my surprise, Feysac directly attacked Backlund with an air raid, and the disaster ultimately erupted."
That's why you said you failed... Klein nodded indiscernibly and said with a sigh, "I didn't expect the ones to start the war to be the Feysacians either."
As he spoke, he sighed inwardly. The difficulty of Queen Mystic's advancement ritual was controversial. It all depended on one's luck.
One had to know that before he became a demigod, Klein had already stopped the True Creator from descending. He had saved Tingen and Backlund, which were feats that could definitely satisfy the ritual requirements of becoming a Sage. But under normal circumstances, there weren't as many disasters like these, and they weren't things that could easily be stopped.
Just like the present situation, Amon's brother had planned for one to two thousand years. Even if something went awry with King George III, war would erupt as "He" had expected. This was because the root cause of the Uniqueness of the Death pathway hadn't been resolved.
This made him suspect that Mr. Azik's life in the Northern Continent had always been under the arrangement of Amon's brother. If not, how did "He," who had lost his memories, escape from the sights of the various major Churches without a shape-shifting mask?
More importantly, it was unknown why Azik had used his real name in this life!
And this wasn't something that was suspected by anyone, nor did it incur any investigations!
Is this all part of your plan? Amon's brother... Upon thinking of this, Klein felt a certain trauma, a result of post- traumatic stress disorder. His body nearly trembled.
He silently took a deep breath and looked at Queen Mystic and added, "This war involves the son of the Creator, King of Angels, and the true deities. It's not something you can stop."
With Bernadette's knowledge and experience, she still had some changes to her facial expression when she heard the sentence. She repeated a few keywords in a low voice:
"The son of the Creator... King of Angels... Deities..."
She wasn't too surprised by this, as if she had already made a prediction. However, even if she was a Clairvoyant, she wasn't able to pry into the "script" composed by Amon's brother.
After repeating it again, Bernadette fell silent for two to three seconds before sighing to herself, "So that's the reason..." Klein adjusted his posture and thought.
"Actually, to you, this war is also an opportunity.
"Next, there will be many disasters, including the clashing of powers at the angel level. I believe that you should at least be in control of a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. You can stop certain matters from happening at the critical moment. Of course, you have to choose a good time and method."
Bernadette nodded gently and agreed with what he said. She also tacitly acknowledged that she possessed at least one Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
Of course, as the daughter of the protagonist of the previous era, as the child Emperor Roselle doted on the most, it would be unbelievable if her father didn't leave her one or two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts.
What was more important was that Bernadette was already preparing the ritual needed to advance to Sage. This meant that she definitely had the corresponding Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristic in her hands. To a certain extent, it was equivalent to a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
After tacitly agreeing, Queen Mystic Bernadette's gentle but emotionless voice changed slightly.
"However, I still don't like war, even though it will give me a chance.
"I once hated him and couldn't understand him. That's why I didn't call him father for many years. It's because he did too many things against the trend of the times and hurt the innocent. I couldn't accept my heroic father turning into a crazy tyrant...
"And now, through the answers from the entity behind you and my own investigations, I somewhat understand his situation. I understand that he was suffering from despair, pain, and loneliness. I understand him as a drowning person, only struggling on instinct."
When Klein heard that, he sighed and felt his emotions in turmoil.
In this world, the only people who understood Huang Tao—Roselle Gustav—the most were probably the two people sitting here.
Of course, this feeling didn't stop him from sensing that Queen Mystic Bernadette's condition was a little different today. In the past few times they had met, this king's daughter had never said so much, nor had she opened her heart so directly. At most, she would play the tune of music, subtly expressing her sadness.
After some thought, Klein pretended not to notice, and he asked, "When did ‘He' start changing? Do you think there was any prior warning, or something worth paying attention to?"
Queen Mystic Bernadette's deep blue eyes moved slightly, as though she had sunken into her trove of memories.
After a while, she slowly said, "Not long ago, he proudly said to me, ‘Haven't you always wanted to know what's surrounding our moon and other planets? In the future, our journey might be towards the sea of stars."1
The sea of stars... What's on the moon and other planets... As Klein pondered over Queen Mystic's words, he suddenly recalled a key phrase and something.
The keyword was:
Cosmos!
That matter was:
Mr. Door had once told Emperor Roselle that once he had the ability, he could take a look at the moon. That would resolve many of his doubts.
The emperor finally went? That hysterical diary page[l] was written after this exploration attempt? He had unknowingly changed his personality, becoming extreme? Klein recalled the corresponding content. Under Queen Mystic Bernadette's gaze, he deliberated and said, "At your level, you should more or less know that there's corruption coming from the cosmos."
Bernadette nodded and didn't pursue the matter. It was as though she knew that Gehrman Sparrow wasn't sure either. She knew that only an angel-level demigod could detect and resist the corruption.
After more than ten seconds of silence, the topic was directed towards Klein's reason for being here.
"One of the reasons for this war is because the Loen King, George III, discovered the nine secret mausoleums left behind by the Blood Emperor, doing so with the intention of switching to the Black Emperor pathway and becoming a Sequence 0. As such, he abolished the Grain Act..."
Klein didn't care if Queen Mystic knew anything about these matters. He followed his own pace and roughly told her everything without missing out any key matters. Finally, he said, "The Black Emperor does have the ability to revive, but once a new Black Emperor appears, the original entity would perish completely."
The original entity here referred to Emperor Roselle, who might've succeeded before being "assassinated."
Sometimes, Klein even suspected that Roselle had intentionally given others a chance which resulted in him perishing on the spot. This way, when he revived from the astral world and regained his Uniqueness and absorbed the three Sequence 1 characteristics, he would no longer absorb the characteristics of Knowledge Emperor, Arcane Scholar, and the characteristics of another pathway. He could make himself pure; thus, free from madness.
This was a way to live through death, but the prerequisite was that Roselle's ritual had succeeded. He had died during or after the ritual, and not before the ritual.
Queen Mystic Bernadette took it all in before slowly saying, "You want to stop George III?"
"Yes." Klein nodded frankly.
"Why?" Bernadette pressed in an unperturbed tone.
The corners of Klein's mouth curled up as he smiled.
"Some ridiculous reasons that aren't worth mentioning."
Bernadette's gaze landed on his face for a moment before she said, "That's enough. I'm also doing such things for something that has slim chances, one that's almost impossible to happen.
"We can cooperate on stopping George III."
We're all "ridiculous" people... Klein sighed and said, "I'll give you the method to summon my messenger." "Alright." Bernadette reached out her right hand and lightly tapped the table.
The fountain pen that was originally placed diagonally in front of her suddenly jumped up, as if it was held by an invisible elf before writing fluidly on the paper.
"This is the method needed for summoning my messenger," said Bernadette calmly.
[1] Author's Note: From Chapter 715
