Above the gray fog, in the ancient palace, Klein's figure appeared.
At that moment, on the high-back chair belonging to The Fool sat a person shrouded in grayish-white fog.
As Klein returned to Sefirah Castle, this "person" instantly disintegrated, turning into transparent and distorted Worms of Spirit that flew to Klein and entered his body.
Thankfully, the restrictions placed by 0-02 only involved no leaking of secrets or returning. I didn't have my connection with the Worms of Spirit that were guarding Sefirah Castle severed. Otherwise, they would've already lost control and become monsters... Klein sighed inwardly as he sat at the seat belonging to The Fool and picked up The Fool card he had previously sacrificed to himself.
As the Card of Blasphemy had already been activated, there was no need for him to seek out any additional incantations. All he needed to do was inject spirituality into it to see the corresponding changes.
The Fool card quickly transformed into a miniature, illusory book. With Klein's guidance, it kept flipping back until it reached the last two pages.
"Sequence 1: Attendant of Mysteries
"This is an angel who serves the profound mysteries. ‘He' has gained initial control of the corresponding domain's authorities. ‘He' can summon Spirit Body Threads of objects that originally existed. ‘He' can combine many physical objects or abstract concepts together...
"The potion formula is as follows:
"Main ingredients: One Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder characteristic.
"Supplementary ingredients: Nine spirit world specialties.
"Advancement ritual: Build a town consisting only of marionettes, and design a trajectory of fate for every marionette. By letting them interact with each other, they would act as a sufficiently real-life painting and create a corresponding area in the spirit world.
"The larger the town, the more the marionettes involved, the more detailed the daily lives are, and the more realistic and extensiveness the different fates are, the better the ritual's effects would be.
"Sequence 0: The Fool.
"This is a true deity. In a sense, ‘He' is an embodiment of the corresponding authorities...'He' is adept at using all kinds of methods to fool all things, showcasing all kinds of fascinating miracles...
"The potion formula is as follows:
"Main ingredients: The Uniqueness of The Fool. Two Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder characteristics apart from one's characteristic.
"Supplementary ingredients: Control at least a quarter of the fog of history.
"Advancement ritual: Fool time, history, or fate once."
As he read, Klein slowly frowned and silently muttered to himself, Compared to the advancement ritual of Attendant of Mysteries, The Fool's ritual is just too abstract... What does it mean to fool time, history, or fate? How does one decide if it's successful?
Controlling at least a quarter of the fog of history is relatively simple for me. On the one hand, I know a lot of ancient secrets and have lit up many historical fragments. On the other hand, I can directly influence the fog of history through Sefirah Castle...
I'll put The Fool's matter aside for now. Currently, my focus is on Attendant of Mysteries. You have to walk one step at a time before running is possible. Uh, of course, some lucky ones can fly directly...
It's very easy to find the nine specialties in the spirit world. Be it to get Miss Messenger to help, or to seek the Seven Light's advice, this isn't a problem... The advancement ritual is very close to the environment around Zaratul and the Antigonus family's ancestor. Furthermore, it matches what the Seven Lights said about having a close connection with the spirit world. I can determine it to be true for now.
With this in mind, Klein took off the topaz pendant wrapped around his left wrist and used divination to confirm the authenticity of the Attendant of Mysteries potion formula.
It wasn't that he didn't believe in Emperor Roselle, but his fellow countryman had likely been influenced by Mr. Door before he created the Cards of Blasphemy. He had gone to the moon and suffered the corruption and contamination of the Mother Goddess of Depravity; thus, resulting in distorted memories.
It was precisely because of this that it was highly possible that Roselle had buried some traps in the key areas of the Cards of Blasphemy in his final days.
In this aspect, Klein had always been cautious and careful.
Speaking of the Primordial Moon's true form, the most powerful Great Old One, the Mother Goddess of Depravity, could it be that the Emperor had unknowingly been tainted based on "Her" title... On the moon, perhaps there are many younger brothers and sisters that Bernadette has never met before. Of course, it's unlikely that there are gender differences...
The marionettes needed for the Attendant of Mysteries ritual can be obtained from the Forsaken Land of the Gods. The copious number of monsters there is a good thing. Furthermore, I've accumulated quite a few of them previously. As Klein's thoughts wandered, he turned his head to look at the other side of the ancient palace and made the grayish-white fog beside the junk pile dissipate.
As the fog receded, rows of brownish-yellow seats appeared, each of which sat a figure.
Those figures were either giants covered in silver armor, humans with deformed facial features in linen clothes, and large chunks of flesh overgrown with eyes... They sat quietly in their rows of seats, their eyes glazed over and indifferent as they stared in the direction of the long mottled table.
These were all marionettes that Klein had gathered in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Every time he needed to switch location, and it wasn't convenient for him to carry too many with him, he would sacrifice a batch of them above the gray fog.
Of course, this had nothing to do with environmental protection. Instead, it was what had happened to the foggy town and the scene displayed by Zaratul. It made Klein instinctively believe that there was a high chance that a particular ritual would require many marionettes. Therefore, he had always been very frugal in this aspect.
As for why he didn't hang these marionettes up, and had made them sit in rows in a conjured theater as members of the audience, this was because Klein felt that the actions of the Antigonus family's ancestor and Zaratul were a little perverse.
He had tried to imitate and mimic them, but the goal was for acting. Now, he didn't need it anymore.
But how can such a marionette city produce corresponding spirit world information? The spirit world is a gathering of the past, present, and future information, but it doesn't directly include such fake objects...
Generated from what others know? Every living being's actions and words would be reflected in the spirit world in an abstract manner, becoming the source of divination. When their actions, words, and certain intense feelings are clearly built into a marionette city, the city's spirit world projection would appear, turning into a "true" existence...
The interactions involved in this are linked to the more profound secrets of the spirit world... Klein closed The Fool card in thought and played with it.
As he had already reached the angel level, he had a certain understanding regarding the creation of the Cards of Blasphemy.
Back then, not only was Roselle able to draw powers from knowledge, but he could also give actual powers to abstract knowledge!
As for what kind of material the Emperor used to create it, and how he accomplished the effects of anti-divination and anti-prophecy at the level of deities, Klein was unable to figure it out.
After some thought, Klein tried to accommodate The Fool card in his body.
His condition immediately changed. His body was covered with colorful clothes, and there was an extremely gorgeous piece of headwear on his head. His aura was deep and terrifying, but it gave off a comical, ridiculous, ludicrous feeling. It was a condition filled with a strange conflict.
The space attached to Sefirah Castle gently swayed, as though it wanted to surrender to the feet of this indescribable deity.
My level has been enhanced a little. There aren't any substantial changes. After all, I'm already the owner of Sefirah Castle. Heh, it's like I have a fashionable costume that can accentuate my aura... Klein shook his head and said a few self-deprecating words.
At the same time, a transparent and distorted Worm of Spirit crawled out from his body, forming a figure that was identical to him.
After splitting off a Worm of Spirit of "himself" that could respond to prayers at any moment, Klein returned to the real world and strolled around Belltaine City. He used the method of granting wishes to treat the injuries of people, and he learned about the war from them.
...
"Dogsh*t!" Danitz couldn't help but curse when he heard the crew's report. "They actually finished the whale oil? Why didn't you stop them?"
As they passed by the Gargas Archipelago, Danitz and his crew bought a batch of whale oil that hadn't been refined. They planned on bringing it back to Bayam and selling it at a high price. Who would've expected that a portion of it had been "secretly eaten" by the City of Silver's half-giants?
The crew member glanced at the Oracle and whispered, "They don't understand what we're talking about. We don't understand what they're talking about either. Only the shortest one can communicate, but it doesn't mean we can find him at any time. He always Cogitates in places where the sun shines, changing positions every time."
Danitz subconsciously sneered.
"This is what happens to illiterates.
"If you could grasp all sorts of languages like ancient Feysac, Jotun, and Elvish like me, something like that wouldn't have happened.
"Of course, linguistic talent is related to intelligence. You don't have to force yourself."
The crewman carefully looked at Danitz again.
"Oracle, they ate the portion of whale oil you bought."
...Dogsh*t! Danitz's reaction was faster than his thoughts as he rushed towards the cabin.
After a period of chaos, Danitz received compensation with a Sequence 8 Beyonder characteristic. He didn't know if he had profited or suffered a loss. After all, the dirty bodily fluids left on the characteristic made him feel disgusted and nauseous.
By the time the ship returned to peace, City of Generosity, Bayam, was already in front of the City of Silver's reconnaissance team.
Derrick led Liaval, Candice, and the others to the deck and looked at the destination of their "journey."
Although they had passed by many ports, they had never been allowed to alight from the ship. They could only watch from afar. Now, it was finally time for them to step onto the land outside.
Even so, the large number of people, houses, and hardships that they had seen from afar were still unable to conceal their bubbling enthusiasm. They continued to yearn for life in the world of light.
Of course, having been used to the darkness and lightning, they took quite some time before they could get used to the sun outside. If not for the fact that they were Beyonders, they would've suffered permanent damage to their eyes.
As he looked at the docks and the numerous people, the airships that were traveling high in the sky, and the other ships around him while hearing noises that he could barely understand, Derrick suddenly felt a sense of nervousness. This would be the area where the City of Silver would take up residence in the future.
As he swept his gaze, he suddenly saw a man standing on the coastal lighthouse. He was wearing a long robe embroidered with the symbol of Storm. His hair was dark blue— nearly black—like a clump of seaweed. His face was rough and carved.
As their gazes met, Derrick instantly calmed down and no longer felt uneasy.
