In the blink of an eye, Amon saw the grayish-white fog and the ancient and majestic palace above.
"He" just needed to reach out "His" hand and pass through the final obstacle to truly touch Sefirah Castle and directly occupy the place and, in essence, take it away.
But at that moment, a gigantic bluish-black palm suddenly appeared above the Amon phantom, blocking "Him" from entering Sefirah Castle.
Amon's projection subconsciously turned its head and looked in the direction of the palm. It saw the pus-covered, one-eyed giant who had long since died.
Bladel, who was known as the God of Glory, still didn't show any signs of life in "His" exaggerated vertical eye. The curse of the grayish-yellow fog kept emanating from "His" body.
However, it was different from before. There were seemingly illusory black tubes behind "His" back. They extended all the way into the infinite distance, a mystery as to what they were connected to.
Boom!
The towering bluish-black giant instantly condensed a broadsword formed from the orange-red light of dusk. Holding it in one hand, "He" cleaved down at the side of the deep ravine where Amon's body was.
This youngest son of the Giant King, the one who had died due to the curse, suddenly unleashed an unimaginable power after roaming aimlessly for thousands of years.
The "Twilight Sword" tore through the void and jumped out from the spot where the Angel of Time, Amon, was standing. It ripped through everything around it, turning into a storm that could destroy this desolate moor.
Amon didn't move and remained standing there. No matter how the orange-red "sword" storm raged, it didn't harm "Him" at all.
"He" seemed to have used some sort of "error" in this world again.
However, in this state, Amon was no longer able to transmit "His" ravings into Klein's mind, allowing him to finally gain a sliver of peace.
Ignoring how he was about to lose control, he regained his clarity of mind using the clear and real surroundings and the layers of prayer. Then, he immediately resonated with the dark red "figure" sitting at The Fool's seat above the gray fog, and he established a new connection.
He didn't hesitate to return to Sefirah Castle!
And at this moment, Amon's phantom, which was attempting to infiltrate above the gray fog, was obstructed by the bluish-black palm of the God of Glory, Bladel. "He" wasn't able to instantly break through the titanic obstruction.
The monocled King of Angels, be it "His" avatar or true body, opened "His" mouth and said a name, "Evernight."
Yes, this was help coming from the Evernight Goddess, but it wasn't without reason!
Although Klein lacked confidence in this matter, he had always kept it as one of his trump cards. He only believed that it might not be effective and had a very low chance of success. It could only be used as a glimmer of hope at his most desperate hour.
After entering the Forsaken Land of the Gods and obtaining some space to think on his own, he worked hard to find "resources" available to him that could be used. Then, he recalled something:
The matter of the former Chief of the City of Silver!
This Demon Hunter had attempted to switch to Sequence 3 Ferryman of the Death pathway, but he ended up turning into a monster inside the mausoleum he built.
This anomaly was related to illusory black tubes, and such a phenomenon had been seen from the Numinous Sect's Artificial Death.
In other words, the mutation of the former Chief of the City of Silver was very likely related to Artificial Death.
This indirectly explained something—that for some unknown reason, those that could influence the Forsaken Land of the Gods, other than the True Creator, included Artificial Death who had come to "life" to a certain level.
And now, Artificial Death could be considered the Evernight Goddess in some ways!
Based on this reasoning, Klein suspected that the Goddess could use the Uniqueness of the Death pathway to exert a low level of influence to some degree on certain things in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
In addition, there were only three people involved in the matter regarding the former Chief of the City of Silver. One of them was the current Chief, Colin Iliad; the demigod Elder, Waite Chirmont, and Shepherd Elder, Lovia. They were either Sequence 4 saints or an important believer of the True Creator. It was impossible for them to be completely unaware that they had been "parasitized" by Amon.
As for the only person who received feedback from the escapade, it was Derrick Berg who was under The Fool's watch. He wasn't one of Amon's "Parasites" either.
In other words, Amon wasn't aware of the former City of Silver Chief's abnormality involving the black illusory tubes. That was key.
Therefore, even if "He" was able to guess that the Evernight Goddess had obtained the Uniqueness of the Death pathway, causing the God of Combat to have an intense reaction, there was no way for "Him" to know that this would bring about unforeseen developments to the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
With this knowledge in mind, Klein consciously performed certain tasks, despite not having much confidence.
In the city that believed in the phoenix, he didn't take away the remaining Death pathway's Beyonder characteristics, hoping to leave a trail.
After summoning Zaratul's historical projection, he didn't seize the opportunity to commit suicide immediately. On the one hand, he was afraid that Amon would still have the ability to stop him and affect his other arrangements; while on the other hand, he tried to use the summoning of the Servant of Concealment Arianna's projection to inform the Evernight Goddess about the exact situation.
After completing these two matters, Klein had no idea what the final outcome would be. He had mostly focused his attention on the fact that Amon's avatar had been replaced by "His" true body.
When he arrived at his final destination and saw the roaming angel's corpse, he had just thought of something when he was distracted by Amon's introduction. It took him only until now to realize that the Goddess had long gained some rudimentary control of this Giant King's youngest son through the Death pathway's Uniqueness. "She" had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to use this cursed angel.
And the concealment forces that filled the Forsaken Land of the Gods helped "Her" conceal the illusory black tubes very well.
Suddenly, in the ancient palace above the gray fog, at The Fool's seat situated at the end of the long, mottled table, the dark red figure that kept warping and scattering took the form of the scholarly Klein with his black hair and brown eyes.
With just a thought, Klein's consciousness and Spirit Body had returned to Sefirah Castle!
Following that, he used the close connection between his body and Sefirah Castle, together with the prayers of the Tarot Club members, to amplify the resonance effect. He then saw himself—glazed eyes, on the brink of losing control. He saw Amon's projection which had circled around the bluish-black palm using an "error."
The monocled Amon raised "His" head, making eye contact with Klein, who was seated at The Fool's seat.
Klein beckoned for the Sea God Scepter and raised it.
The entire gray fog boiled as the entirety of Sefirah Castle quaked.
A vast amount of terrifying power gathered over, transforming into a torrent of lightning. The blue gems that lit up at the same time sent an illuminating light that surged down like a torrent, drowning Amon's avatars and his own body.
A deep rumble of thunder echoed as the terrifying silver lightning tore everything it enveloped apart.
Amon's projection disintegrated, and Klein's body was destroyed.
He had finally succeeded in committing suicide.
After completing this attack, Klein, who was high above the gray fog, immediately cut off the connection between Sefirah Castle and the real world, so as to prevent Amon's true body from creating any new accidents.
Right on the heels of that, he began to wait for the "miracle" and waited for his "resurrection."
Beside the deep ravine which had grayish-white buildings at the bottom, Amon's true body adjusted the crystal monocle, stealing the curse that kept Bladel "existing."
The bluish-black giant immediately began to rot, quickly being reduced to bones. The illusory black tubes didn't persist, and they instead shrank back into the depths of the darkness.
Dressed in a pointed hat and a classic black robe, Amon stood there. "He" raised "His" head and looked into the sky silently for a few seconds, as though he was looking at Sefirah Castle through the fog of history.
Finally, "He" pinched the crystal monocle and muttered to "Himself" as the corners of "His" mouth curled up.
"Interesting."
...
In the ancient palace, at the end of the long, mottled table, Klein sat at the seat belonging to The Fool. He carefully looked down at the grayish-white fog.
He discovered that the Beyonder characteristics that had been destroyed with his body had unknowingly entered the Historical Void. It fused with the Worms of Spirit from the past, turning them corporeal.
As long as Klein willed it from Sefirah Castle, these Worms of Spirit would immediately be able to escape the fog of history and reform his body in the real world.
The miracle of "resurrection" was essentially a deeper use of one's strength from the past.
"Miracles" happen using the past and future? Klein frowned slightly as he attempted to analyze how the "Miracle" in Miracle Invoker came about.
After thinking for a few seconds, he quickly pulled his attention back and attempted to revive himself in Sefirah Castle. Then, he discovered a problem:
His body could only be revived in the real world. Furthermore, it had to be within a certain range of his remains. As for his Spirit Body, it could be reborn above the gray fog, but Klein's Spirit Body hadn't been destroyed—it was sitting on the high-back chair of The Fool.
Obtaining help from the past works. The number of resurrections I'm using now is depleting the number I'll have after I become a Miracle Invoker... From the looks of it, there's only one chance now. Tsk... Amon should be guarding my "corpse" now. I have to think of a way to get out of this predicament..."His" sense of time is different from a human's. He's a very patient God of Mischief... Yes, my current state can only be maintained for three days. After that period of time, I won't be able to borrow powers from the past to resurrect... If it really doesn't work, I'll just abandon my body and become an undead! Klein's mind raced. Although he was somewhat vexed, he was in his most relaxed state over the past few days.
He finally got out of that nearly hopeless situation.
He looked at the high-back chairs that had symbols light up on their backs, as well as the burgeoning and contracting dark red stars. Klein exhaled and relaxed as he leaned back into his chair. He couldn't help but reveal a smile.
"These are my anchors."
