Xio had always been looking forward and uneasy as to what her mission was.
She looked forward to it because she had already chosen to accept Mr. Fool's gift, so she definitely had to pay the corresponding price. Knowing the mission earlier allowed her to prevent unnecessary second-guessing due to the unknown, guesses that only led to greater fear.
She was uneasy because she knew that the remuneration she received was too generous. She believed that the final mission wouldn't be simple and would definitely be filled with danger.
At that moment, after hearing Mr. Fool's words, her heart finally settled. At the same time, she secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
Investigating the three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics and the Uniqueness of the Red Priest pathway and their locations, and even confirming the present state of the Primordial Demoness was indeed very dangerous. It was a mission that would result in a terrifying corruption if she wasn't careful, but it was at least better than snatching the Uniqueness and Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics or directly facing the Primordial Demoness.
If it were the latter, even with the official factions supporting her, Xio didn't think that she could accomplish it. All she could do was write a will, ready to sacrifice herself at any moment. And if it was just the former, she could use a more roundabout method to obtain the information. She didn't need to encounter powerful existences with high statuses. As a Sequence 4 demigod, Xio was confident.
Without any hesitation, she immediately replied, "Yes, Mr. Fool."
The Fool Klein had planned on looking to the other side. After some consideration, he added, "Be careful of Bansy."
Without waiting for the Tarot Club members to start making connections, Klein said to Leonard, "Your mission is similar to The Moon's. During the besiegement of the Rose School of Thought, gather blessings, auras, and items from the Mother Tree of Desire from their members. It's equally dangerous."
He only gave a single warning, without saying as much as he did like when he gave Emlyn the mission.
This was because Leonard had a senior angel from the Marauder pathway "Parasitizing" him. "He" knew many secrets and knew how dangerous the Outer Deities were. "He" wouldn't allow Leonard to act recklessly.
Seeing that Leonard was about to nod, The Fool Klein maintained his tone and continued, "You don't have to do too much in promoting my name. You can even choose not to do it."
As one of the twenty-two high-ranking members of the Church of Evernight, as one of the few high-ranking deacons of the Nighthawks, it was very easy for something to happen if Leonard spread the faith of The Fool in private. He would be misunderstood by his colleagues and cause unnecessary conflicts.
Miraculously, to Klein, The Moon Emlyn's actions didn't seem to be misunderstood in the same way. To the people and Sanguine around him, anything he did wasn't too strange.
That's right... Leonard had already recovered from his previous eagerness and realized the cruelty of reality.
However, he still wanted to do something.
At this moment, The Fool Klein added, "You can share the stories of The World with songs and poetry."
Songs and poetry... Leonard instinctively frowned. He didn't immediately respond to Mr. Fool.
Klein then said, "Other than that, try your best to raise your own level to prepare for the apocalypse.
"The reward for all the missions is a wish."
Although many Beyonder characteristics had fallen into the real world when the God of Combat died, bringing with them a batch of Beyonder creatures, mutated monsters, and abnormal lands, Klein didn't know how many Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics the Evernight Goddess had obtained from the Warrior pathway other than the Uniqueness, but at the very least, a number of the Sequence 2 angels of the Church of Evernight had the possibility of becoming a Sequence 1 angel.
At the same time, if "They" had obtained additional Beyonder characteristics, "They" could still switch to the corresponding Sequence of the Death pathway.
This would open a path for the saints to advance, not limiting them to just one pathway.
Of course, not every Sequence 3 saint wished to become an angel, but Leonard was currently only a Sequence 4 Nightwatcher. Furthermore, if the corresponding Sequence 3 Horror Bishop position was limited, he could consider Silver Knight and Ferryman—Klein had one set of the former.
Leonard fell silent for two seconds before he slowly exhaled.
"Yes, Mr. Fool."
The Fool Klein immediately cast his gaze at Miss Justice who had been waiting.
"Apart from promoting my name, you have two missions: One is to assist Judgment and investigate the whereabouts of the Red Priest pathway's Uniqueness and Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, confirming the present state of the Primordial Demoness. The other is to work hard to raise your level."
One of the missions is to increase my Sequence... Audrey was somewhat puzzled about this mission.
In her opinion, this seemed to be telling an ordinary person: Your mission is to earn even more money.
Furthermore, this isn't of any value to Mr. Fool. Could it be that he wants me to treat Mr. World? Just as this thought flashed across Audrey's mind, The Fool Klein added, "The higher your Sequence, the more opportunities you have to awaken The World.
"In this aspect, you can make use of external forces to help. The Psychology Alchemists that Hermes rebuilds will be one of the choices, but you need to be careful and take precautions.
"You have to pay a certain price for this.
"You can give up the reward you received before. This depends on your will and thoughts."
Audrey no longer had any doubts. After a moment of silence, she nodded solemnly.
"Yes, Mr. Fool."
Klein's gaze landed on Alger.
"You will know what your mission is in time to come."
Klein had already foreseen the corresponding scene.
Without waiting for Alger to speak, he continued, "You can bring the Sea God Scepter, but during this period of time, all the prayers of the Sea God believers will be transferred to The Sun, directly pointing at me."
Although Alger still couldn't accurately guess what his mission was, he already had a vague premonition. After a moment of thought, he replied in an upright manner, "Yes, Mr. Fool."
Klein retracted his gaze and looked around before slowly saying, "After this, on the first Monday afternoon of every month, you can still gather here, but there will be no convener.
"If you need to do a private, mini discussion, pray in advance and wait for a response."
At this point, The Fool Klein closed his eyes and said, "Let us end today's gathering here."
The Tarot Club members couldn't help but feel a baffling sense of sorrow. It was as though a grand ball was coming to an end.
They stood up at the same time and solemnly bowed towards the end of the long, mottled table.
"Your will is our will."
Klein waited until they finished speaking before he dispelled his control of them. He watched as the crimson starlight scattered and quickly fell.
After staring at the scene for a few seconds, he conjured a yellowish parchment and a dark red fountain pen.
After some thought, Klein simply wrote:
"Dear Mr. Azik,
"Due to some complicated reasons, I might be sleeping for a long time. I'm sorry, but I might not be able to write a letter to you for a long time..."
With just that sentence, Klein stopped and made the pen disappear.
Although he had conjured that piece of paper, with his current status, level, and strength, he could sustain it for more than a hundred years—even if it was brought to the outside world.
He closed his eyes again, summoned Azik's copper whistle, and blew it.
At the same time, he released some of the restrictions that came from Sefirah Castle.
The skeleton messenger appeared, and every bone in its body trembled intensely as if it would collapse at any moment.
If not for the letter that Klein had handed over, it might've prostrated itself.
After the skeleton messenger received the letter and left Sefirah Castle in a hurry, Klein rubbed his temples.
This wasn't because the will of the Celestial Worthy had already escaped from "His" state of eternal slumber, nor was it because of the pain from maintaining his lucidity; it was just a habit.
Klein slowly leaned back into his chair and sighed.
On both sides of the long, mottled table, Justice Audrey, The Hanged Man Alger, The Sun Derrick, The Magician Fors, The Moon Emlyn, The Hermit Cattleya, The Star Leonard, and Judgment Xio appeared in the order they joined the Tarot Club.
But this time, they weren't real. They were only projections. They no longer appeared blurry, revealing their images from Klein's memory.
Soon after, more figures appeared. They were:
A mature man with a receding hairline with deep eyes; a beautiful witch with blue eyeshadow and red blush; a middle-aged man with black hair mixed with silver hair, his voice unusually loud and sonorous; a woman in her late forties with ear-length short-hair; a youth that gamed on his phone while eating delicacies; a happy young lady who kept giggling; a civil servant who looked old than his age with a high hairline; a young girl dressed in an old-fashioned skirt who focused on machinery; a doll-like lady with a pale face; a teacher with soft facial features and bronze skin; a child licking on ice cream; a madam holding four heads; and an elder looking all serious at a bill...
They either sat or stood, gathering beside the people they knew. In the flickering candlelight on the long table, they discussed different things, followed the music, and danced.
Klein silently watched the lively scene as his expression gradually softened.
After an unknown period of time, he stood up, passed through them, and walked into the depths of this space.
Behind him, the figures, the candlelight, and the music faded away and disappeared.
When he saw the strange door of light above the grayish-white cloud, Klein beckoned for the magic mirror, Arrodes.
At that moment, the transparent or opaque worms and insects that clustered together to form spherical lights in the strange door of light turned bluish-black.
It was like a thick layer of fog that made one unable to see what was behind the door.
After Klein arrived, he didn't immediately enter. He felt as though there was an extremely terrifying monster behind the door, waiting to devour him.
He raised his head and looked at the transparent cocoons hanging above the door of light. He looked at the "modern" humans with different skin colors inside the cocoons.
Closing his eyes to sense them, Klein raised his right hand and closed his five fingers.
The cocoons cracked open as the people inside transformed into specks of light. They flew out of Sefirah Castle and landed in the real world, into the bodies of those who had just died.
After doing this, Klein lowered his head and looked at the magic mirror in his hand.
"Are you scared?"
The aqueous light on the surface of the ancient silver mirror swirled and the pale words outlined itself:
"No."
In the next second, Arrodes raised his own question according to the rules:
"Great Master, are you afraid?"
The corners of Klein's mouth twitched.
"Yes."
With that said, he took a step forward with the magic mirror in hand and walked towards the bluish-black fog in the middle of the strange door of light, passing through it.
His figure disappeared behind the door that had the unknown hidden behind.
The cracked "cocoons" were still gently swaying.
