The world above the gray fog had been restored to its state of silence, as though the gathering that had just ended was an illusion.
Klein bent his finger and lightly knocked on the edge of the long, mottled table. He made the pages of the Roselle diary which Cattleya had just given appear once again.
Amidst an indescribable stillness, Klein cast his gaze towards the first paragraph of the first page with a solemn expression.
"27th September, I saw Miss Ithaca once again. I had a nerve-wracking and thrilling but sufficiently wonderful experience with her. As expected, I prefer women of this age. I'm not just reminiscing about my youth, but rather that I haven't changed after so many years. Heh heh, I'm really dedicated."
...I read your diary with such seriousness, and you're giving me this? The corners of Klein's mouth twitched as he lampooned at the emperor who he had only seen a portrait of.
He immediately gathered his thoughts and shifted his gaze.
In a lounge at the basement of Saint Samuel Cathedral.
After Leonard Mitchell opened his eyes, he deliberated for a moment and said in a low voice, "Old man, the Secret Order's Zaratul seems to be in Backlund."
In his mind, the slightly-aged voice quickly sounded:
"Indeed..."
Upon hearing this, Leonard immediately asked, "Old Man, are you familiar with that Zaratul? Didn't you say that the Zoroast family and the Zaratul family are both important nobles of the Solomon Empire?"
From his point of view, as ex-colleagues and former comrades in arms, how could Old Man not be familiar with Zaratul?
Pallez Zoroast scoffed.
"I'm familiar with the Zaratul who died in the War of the Four Emperors. The one alive who's now should be ‘His' descendant. I might or might not have seen him before.
"Sigh, the Zaratul back then had already obtained clues regarding the second Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic from the True Creator. ‘He' was waiting for the War of the Four Emperors to end before searching for it. If he succeeded, ‘He' would be considered a King of Angels. Unfortunately, in the War of the Four Emperors, ‘He' directly encountered the existence from the Antigonus family who could be known as ‘The Half-Fool,' and Bethel Abraham was also involved. ‘He' could appear anywhere, anytime. If ‘He' hadn't been quickly banished and sealed by Evernight and Storm, I might not have survived to the end of the War of the Four Emperors either."
The Half-Fool... Leonard's eyelids twitched when he heard this title as he thought of the entity above the gray fog for some baffling reason.
He then forced himself to control himself and directed his thoughts to something else:
Even from the description of a bystander, Mr. Door was clearly one of the top existences among the Kings of Angels. It required two true deities to join forces to banish and seal "Him." Uh, there's a high chance that "He" was especially good at escaping, making it very difficult to kill. And back then, the battle situation was tense, so it was imperative to eliminate an enemy that posed a threat as soon as possible...
Heh heh, Old Man is reminiscing about the past, so he's feeling a little uneasy. He actually said so much in one breath...
Amidst his thoughts, Leonard suddenly said, "I was left in Backlund because they wish to use you to attract Amon here?"
The wistful feelings in Pallez Zoroast's tone vanished as he clicked "His" tongue.
"Who made this guess? I don't think it's you.
"However, it's not bad that you know how to use your own resources to probe for the truth."
This is something I've been very familiar with ever since I joined the Nighthawks! Leonard replied inwardly but didn't say a word.
Pallez Zoroast continued, "I guessed that too.
"To be honest, your ex-colleague's relationship with Evernight really confuses me. If it wasn't for how familiar the concealment forces that appeared that day was, I wouldn't have dared to make such a guess.
"Heh heh, with Zaratul and I in Backlund, Amon will arrive soon too. It truly is a perfect triangle of balance."
What do you mean... The concealment forces used to deal with Amon came from the Evernight domain, not Mr. Fool? Does this point that there is a certain level of cooperation between Mr. Fool and the Goddess, or is it that the faith of those higher-up in the Church actually to Mr. Fool? Leonard suddenly felt a strong sense of confusion and puzzlement regarding his position in the grand scheme of things.
Seeing that Pallez was also quite confused, he converged his thoughts and didn't ask any questions regarding this. He frowned and said, "Two Sequence 1 angels and a King of Angels. Will this bring about a devastating disaster to Backlund?"
He remembered that Amon was a terrifying existence that could kill countless people silently, and could even live happily as "His" victim.
Using this as a reference, Zaratul, who was of a neighboring pathway, definitely possessed similarly terrifying powers.
If "He" and Amon were to clash, half of Backlund or the entirety of Backlund could become the Capital of Death or the Capital of Bizarreness!
Pallez Zoroast laughed and said, "Balance also means that everyone will be very restrained. Besides, it's very likely that Amon won't let ‘His' true body enter Backlund. At most, ‘He' will send a large number of avatars over. After all, the impossibility of a divine descent by Evemight doesn't mean that Storm or Steam can't."
"What do you mean?" Leonard acutely grasped the key point in Old Man's words.
Pallez Zoroast's tone suddenly became more relaxed.
"Regardless of whether it's because of the war or for other reasons, Evemight is likely unable to interfere with the matters on the ground at the moment. Otherwise, why would ‘She' need to lure Amon over to form a balance? ‘She' directly set up a trap, and who knows, ‘She' might be able to capture Zaratul or scare the cowardly Seer away."
"...Did something happen to the Goddess?" Leonard suddenly turned nervous.
The slightly-aged voice replied, "It might not be a bad thing, and it might be a good thing."
Without waiting for Leonard to ask further, Pallez Zoroast sighed again.
"Amon was attracted to Backlund by me. What about Zaratul? What about me?"
"I think Zaratul is also here because of you, and you're in Backlund because of me..." Leonard pondered as he replied. "Heh, why do you think you're in Backlund?" Pallez immediately scoffed.
Leonard immediately replied, "This is the arrangement of the Church. It can't be the effect of the law of convergence of Beyonder characteristics, right?"
"That's not necessarily true." Pallez's tone turned a little stem. "Most of the time, the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence will not directly show in places where you can sense it. Most of the time, it will influence fate. Just like when you board a train, you'll suddenly feel that the scenery along the way is beautiful and will get off the train in advance, resulting in you entering the small city. This might be because there are Beyonders or mystical items of neighboring pathways around you."
"In other words, there are other things in Backlund that attracts you and Zaratul here, and through you, my fate is affected, causing me to be arranged by the Church to stay in Backlund most of the time?" Leonard asked in enlightenment, hoping to gain confirmation.
Pallez Zoroast slowly sighed and said, "That possibility can't be ruled out."
Above the gray fog, Klein soon flipped to a diary page of value.
"21st November. As I had made too many preparations in the early stages, I obtained that chaotic and terrifying Grade
0 Sealed Artifact even faster than I imagined.
"And then, after a difficult battle, and with some help, I finally restored it to a pure Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic.
"In a few more days, the ritual will be completed. I should be able to advance to Sequence 1 Knowledge Emperor of the Mystery Pryer pathway."
"26th November. Sunny and breezy.
"The ritual was very successful. I digested it thoroughly, and my anchors were even more stable. There weren't many difficulties during the entire process.
"I'm already a Sequence 1 angel, a Knowledge Emperor. Bernadette no longer has to worry about the influence of the Hidden Sage. She can abide by the words ‘do as you wish, but do no harm,' and continue on this path!
"At the same time, the level of an angel at Sequence 1 means that I can greatly resist the notice and corruption from the cosmos. I can head to the crimson moon and see what's happening there.
"Regardless of whether Mr. Door is lying or not, everything points to the fact that the crimson moon is the key to the problem. If I wish to become a true deity, I have to figure out the reason.
"I'll make preparations for another three more days before attempting to land on the moon!
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind! Haha, don't quote me on that."
Upon seeing this, Klein recalled the hysterical diary page of Roselle. He began to suspect that it was written after the emperor's "landing on the moon."
Putting down the remaining, unread diary pages, Klein began to use dream divination to recall the content he had read over the past year. He wanted to use the comparison to find clues to Roselle's abnormal mental state.
Not long after, he saw a few lines of text in his dream. It was the last diary entry that was theoretically written by Roselle:
"I'm unable to give any actual suggestions because I myself can't see the true faces of the seven deities or those evil gods. This might be partially related to the second Blasphemy Slate that the ancient organization hides. Unfortunately,
1 only have a rough idea of the hidden parts, and I'm unable to verify them."
In this diary, the Emperor had even solemnly warned his "friends" to be careful of the moon.
The dream suddenly shattered, and Klein snapped awake. There was an obvious look of fear in his eyes.
He clearly remembered that, a long time ago, Roselle had confirmed that there was a hidden portion in the second Blasphemy slate.
"19th July. The night of the Blood Moon.
"Mr. Door's answer allowed me to confirm one thing: In that ancient secret organization, the second Blasphemy Slate I saw wasn't complete!"
This... The emperor forgot? No, how could he have forgotten such an important matter? He only appeared a little extreme, and he didn't have much of a problem. Why did this happen... Klein couldn't help but mutter to himself silently, having an inexplicable and terrifying feeling.
The last diary entry, or rather, the Emperor Roselle who wrote that sentence seemed to be another person.
