"Don't save me... Don't save me..."
Being located in Sefirah Castle and having accommodated The Fool's card, Klein already had the status of a King of Angels. He no longer suffered any direct corruption from Mr. Door's cries, but the contents of the cries made his scalp tingle. His pupils dilated, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of horror surging in his heart.
He originally believed that Mr. Door was constantly shouting for help, but what he heard now was:
"Don't save me!"
Amidst Klein's silence, the weak, wispy voice pierced through his Spirit Body like needles. After shouting for more than ten seconds, it suddenly changed.
"Help me... Help me..."
This time, there was a certain change in the language used.
"..." Klein expressionlessly leaned back into his chair and listened for nearly ten seconds.
Following that, he removed his control over the Master Key and the Scarlet Lunar Corona's Historical Void projection, allowing the atmosphere of the space above the gray fog to completely return to silence.
Phew... He exhaled as he tapped the edge of the long mottled table out of habit and muttered to himself, Mr. Door is indeed half-mad, but the mad part isn't the "Him" who is desperately screaming, but the "Him" who appears calm, the one that's able to communicate with people rationally... The latter can influence the former to a certain extent, distorting the contents of "His" shouts?
When Mr. Door is lucid, "He" actually shouts "don't save me"... To a King of Angels who had been imprisoned for more than a thousand years, this definitely isn't a normal reaction. Unless "He" feels that "He" will bring a disaster that "He" doesn't wish to see upon returning to reality... A King of Angels that has completely lost control?
Together with Mr. Door's communication with the Emperor, and how "He" had been constantly enticing him to visit the moon which is occupied by an Outer Deity. There is another possibility to this matter:
Mr. Door, who was exiled, lost the protection left behind by the original Creator. "He" encountered the corruption of a particular Outer Deity and lost most of "His" rationality. "His" condition is only slightly better than the Chained God...
The Apprentice pathway can wander the cosmos at Sequence 3. Mr. Door's honorific name also includes the title of "Guide of the endless cosmos"... Does this mean that before this King of Angels was exiled, "He" might have already made contact with Outer Deities and came under some influence?
Yes, what does Miss Magician's final glimpse of the crimson land, pyramid-like buildings, and cosmos in a different area represent? This doesn't seem like it's in the current solar system, but it's a little different from the mausoleum that a Black Emperor needs... It's the lair of some Outer Deity who affected Mr. Door; or should I say that when Mr. Door became a Planeswalker and left legends behind on other planets with living beings, this is one of "His" anchor points? It's highly likely the latter, because when Miss Magician saw this scene, she didn't encounter any corruption from the cosmos...
The more Klein thought about it, the heavier his heart became. This was because it was possible that this was a reflection of how the apocalypse would dawn.
The apocalypse was definitely not something that wouldn't happen by not thinking about it or pretending not to know!
It's no wonder Yellow Light Venithan had prophesied that the day when the curse is removed is the beginning of the true disaster for the Abrahams... Mr. Door keeps calling for help, causing the Abraham family to be unable to produce another demigod. Perhaps it's a certain form of protection... Although this will make the Abraham family lose their status and most precious items, making them mediocre, it can at least save their bloodline... Heh heh, in the prophecy, the solution to resolving the curse is in the hands of an Apprentice who has obtained the help of a secret existence... Klein chuckled softly and had an idea about the response to give Miss Magician.
He planned on getting Fors to give a half-truth when informing her teacher.
Firstly, it was to emphasize that Mr. Door was already half-crazy and extremely dangerous. Even communicating with "Him" implied tremendous risks. Secondly, it was to not mention the second ritual for the curse removal. All she would say was about the sacrificing of a Seer, a Marauder, and an Apprentice demigod.
With the first point, the Abrahams could understand why their ancestor was insistent on calling for help. This was because "He" had already lost "His" mind and could do all sorts of terrifying things.
This could effectively eliminate the anxiety of the Abrahams, preventing them from helping Mr. Door escape, and allowing them to quickly start believing in The Fool.
The second point was to dispel the small number of extreme Abrahams who wanted to try their luck. This was because they lacked the ability to complete such a ritual.
At the same time, informing the Abrahams of the ritual increased the trust they had in Fors.
Ignoring the small number of Secrets Sorcerers available, those who can become Bizarro Sorcerers are definitely very difficult to capture. Furthermore, most of them are concentrated in the Secret Order. To deal with them is to provoke Zaratul. Even if the Abrahams have a demigod, and can use a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact for a short period of time, it's impossible for them to complete the ritual so easily. Yes, dealing with a Parasite is the most dangerous. If they aren't careful, they might end up targeting Amon's avatar. When that happens, it will be equivalent to serving Amon desserts...
Also, I'll use The World's Gehrman Sparrow in the future to remind Miss Magician to keep her guard up against the Abraham family's extremists... Klein thought for a moment before replying Fors's prayer.
...
After returning from the fog of history to the real world, Klein boarded a steam locomotive and arrived at the capital of Midseashire. In the past, it was the second-largest city in Loen, and also the frontline of the recent war, Constant City.
...The damage suffered here is very serious... After getting off the train and leaving the platform, Klein stood up high and looked at the industrial city.
Although it was his first time here, he had seen all sorts of pictures of Constant in newspapers and magazines.
Those photos were all black and white, and they recorded the various aspects of this city.
Among them, there were three points that left a deep impression on Klein:
Firstly, it was filled with chimneys and tall blast furnaces. It was as though it was a man-made forest. It gave a striking visual impact, one that was more representative of industry than Backlund.
Secondly, the majority of the buildings used concrete and steel. They were more densely built than their counterparts in Backlund.
Thirdly, there were many places that were stained with coal ashes, including the bodies of humans, but the air quality was better than Backlund because the sea breeze was strong.
And now, the towering blast furnaces, chimneys, and tall buildings had become rather sparse. All that was left was a pile of ruins.
However, in comparison, the damage dealt to the factory district was lesser than the residential areas. This was because there were many steel and military factories that were equally important to Feysac.
The death toll here is definitely more than 100,000... Klein sighed inwardly. He carried his luggage and walked down the stairs to the steam locomotive station and entered Constant City.
On the way to the hotel, he continued his acting as a Miracle Invoker and randomly chose a young, burly man in his thirties.
"I'm a wandering magician. My best magic trick is to grant anyone's wishes. Do you want to try it?" The previously thin-skinned Klein was now able to strike up a conversation naturally.
The burly man glanced at him and waved his hand impatiently.
"Can you let my father, mother, two brothers, and a child be revived?"
With that said, he didn't wait for the magician to respond as he walked towards the nearest public carriage station in a slightly irritable manner. He struck his left chest with his right fist.
Klein stood where he was and maintained the smile on his lips as he quietly watched the man leave.
He recalled a magazine he had read on a steam locomotive. It contained several pages of images reflecting the current state of each cemetery in Constant City.
The tombstones were similar to the original chimneys and blast furnaces. The racks that held up urns of ashes resembled tall buildings that had collapsed...
The entirety of Constant City seemed to be buried in a cemetery.
Retracting his smile, Klein walked around the already dried-up fountain and walked to a nearby inn.
Along the way, he heard many pedestrians discussing haunted places and the places with terrifying monsters.
"When I was passing by the Maris River, I heard a lot of people crying in the water. I didn't dare to look and ran back into the city like the wind..."
"That's nothing. I saw something even scarier on 9 Hyacinth Street! There was a face plastered on the window there! A very pale face!"
"A few passersby disappeared behind my house, and the blood continued all the way to the nearest ruin, but the police couldn't find the bodies..."
"How terrifying. May the Goddess bless us!"
"Holy Lord of Storms. Let these ghosts and monsters stay away from us."
"By the way, City Hall has posted an announcement that we are to report it to the police the moment such things are discovered."
From the looks of it, the meatgrinder-like war made it impossible to placate many corpses, allowing them to turn into ghosts. Phew, most of the time, some of the dead might not even have their bodies left intact... Yes, there are definitely many Beyonders who lost control due to a mental breakdown or from losing their limbs... Also, most of those who didn't consume the potion according to the normal procedures also easily lose control... The Nighthawks and Mandated Punishers will definitely clear up these matters, but at least in Constant City, people might have encountered plenty of Beyonder matters for quite a long period of time. After all, some ghosts and monsters are good at evasion and hiding. They are innately very cunning... Klein walked straight and gained a new understanding of Constant's situation.
Here, encountering supernatural events was no longer a coincidence. Instead, it was a daily occurrence with a certain probability.
At this moment, Klein saw a group of Nighthawks wearing red gloves and black trench coats walk across the crossroad ahead of him. However, he didn't recognize any of them.
Indeed, the Cathedral of Serenity has sent the Red Gloves team to help... Uh, what's happening nearby? Klein nodded indiscernibly and, following his spiritual intuition, cast his gaze to a particular apartment building behind a pile of ruins.
On the fourth floor, behind an oriel window, a greatly rotting face was plastered to the window, looking out through the glass. Pale yellow liquid with black hints slid down the window one after another.
