The Terror of Option Chapter 1037 1037: 185 LOTM

The black figure froze as it released its grip on Bernadette's neck. It was as though it was staring at Queen Mystic with its non-existent eyes.

A dry, hoarse voice echoed in the concealed space:

"Ho..."

This voice was filled with hesitation and confusion as though it was seeking confirmation. It was as if it had co from another world.

The corrosion that Bernadette encountered vanished. Her connection with the Sealed Artifact was instantly restored.

Pale Death once again ate at her vitality little by little. This helped her resist the chaos in her thoughts, maintaining her basic clarity and rationality.

Just as she was about to say sothing, the black figure suddenly stretched out its palm.

But this ti, it didn't strangle Bernadette's neck, but instead, it pushed her hard.

Following this push was the collapse of the concealed space. It was a voice filled with pain as though it was resisting sothing.

"Leave!"

As the voice echoed, the black figure vanished.

In an instant, it appeared on the huge, black, high-backed chair in the middle of the platform.

Two cracks appeared on its face, as though two asymtrical eyes had grown out.

However, the "eyes" didn't have any pupils. It was blood-colored.

Right on the heels of that, another crack appeared beneath the two "eyes." They too were filled with a pure, blood-red light.

This allowed the black figure to finally open its mouth.

It faced Bernadette as obvious sounds of pain resounded around it as though it was resisting sothing.

"Leave this place!"

After being pushed out more than ten ters away, Bernadette easily found her footing. However, she didn't follow the voice's order by leaving the Black Emperor's mausoleum. She stood there, staring blankly at the central platform. As she looked at the black figure, her expression revealed an unspeakable sadness.

She could sense and now confirm that the black figure was her father, the man who called himself Caesar—Roselle Gustav.

In the next second, more cracks appeared on the black figure's body. They ruptured from top to bottom, blooming blood-red flowers in different parts of his body.

This made Roselle look like he was left with a shadow that wrapped around a blood-red object that emitted pure light.

When Klein saw this scene above the gray fog, he naturally thought of the crimson moon high in the sky.

At that mont, Roselle seed to have transford into a shadow. He wanted to block the crimson moon, but openings ruptured from his body, allowing more and more moonlight to shine into the real world.

When these openings were connected together, the black shadow would completely split apart and give birth to a brand new crimson moon.

When that happened, sothing extrely terrifying would definitely happen.

At that mont, Roselle's black figure turned much more illusory, as though it had beco an illusion.

This made him look like he had been isolated in another world. There was an invisible barrier between him and the real world.

Then, Roselle raised his right arm with great difficulty and pinched his forehead.

The frequency at which blood-red cracks appeared on his body instantly decreased to a nadir. However, the "eyes" that had already appeared blinked repeatedly.

However, this didn't bring any negative effects on the surroundings. It was as though it was just a simple change of order. The new "growth" of blood-red cracks was constantly being distorted to its original state of only having gradual activity.

After completing this, Roselle raised his head and looked at Bernadette who was dozens of ters away. He said with a hoarse voice, "You really have beco an important figure in the mysterious world. You managed to co here alone.

"Co over, let see how my little princess has grown."

Bernadette's eyes reddened as she took a step forward.

Roselle laughed again.

"Back when I made sketchbooks, textbooks, and invented all kinds of small gas for you, you were just a tiny midget. Now, you're able to save your poor old father.

"I rember that you liked the clothes I designed for you when you were young. Unfortunately, you can't wear layered dresses after you're an adult..."

The Emperor rambled on, as if he had arrived in his twilight years and was soone who enjoyed reminiscing about the beautiful past.

Bernadette walked faster and faster. Above the gray fog, Klein frowned indiscernibly.

Suddenly, Emperor Roselle lowered his head and said with great force, "Stop!"

His voice carried an indescribable pain.

Bernadette was stunned for a mont before she slowed down and stopped.

She looked at the dark figure and her eyes gradually revealed an indescribable sadness.

Roselle raised his head again and coughed lightly.

"Didn't you really want to ask why the Black Emperor's mausoleum has to be engraved with the order one implented and the style that one ushered? In fact, this wasn't necessary. I just wanted to let anyone who sees it rember my greatness..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the Emperor gripped the armrest by his side tightly. He suppressed his voice and said in extre pain, "Don't co near !

"I've been corrupted..."

The sadness in Bernadette's eyes deepened.

Her guess had finally been confird.

At that mont, the red cracks on Roselle's face began to turn chaotic. They "closed" and "opened" randomly with no signs of having a unified will.

The Emperor took the opportunity and straightened his body. He looked at Bernadette and shouted with great difficulty, "Seal !"

Seal... Queen Mystic Bernadette repeated the word silently. Her blue eyes quickly turned moist as a faint mist enveloped them.

Even though she had lived for many years and was no longer the little girl she had been in the past, she was still unable to contain her emotions.

However, she didn't ask for the reason, nor did she hesitate. With just a slight struggle, she firmly raised her right hand and pressed it on the pale-white tal mask.

She calmly made a decision, just like how she had faced all the major events that happened on the Elent Dawn over the years.

On the surface of Pale Death, the tal instantly turned soft as it reford into a new face with two black eyes.

In the deep-black parts of the eye, white lines appeared, forming an extrely complicated and mysterious three-dinsional symbol. It was like a long-feathered bird or a coiled feathered serpent.

The symbol absorbed the surrounding light and quickly turned corporeal. Then, it separated from Bernadette's eyes and extended its "body" before flying towards Roselle Gustav on the iron-black chair.

Along the way, the strange symbol caused the surroundings to beco increasingly dim. The floor tiles and stone walls suffered another round of weathering as if the deity in charge of death had passed the final judgnt.

The falling rubble and flying dust followed the corporeal symbol and ca to Roselle's side. Then, they coiled around him, enveloping the illusory black figure that seed to exist in another world.

During this process, Roselle failed to control himself several tis. He attempted to leave the iron-black chair, but he ended sitting back down. He didn't resist the seal that Bernadette had exerted on him.

As the symbol fused with his figure, he imdiately had a connection with Pale Death. He saw the illusory deity that lorded over the countless undead and the swollen body of a water ghosts loitering in a dark river.

Roselle's aura imdiately vanished as the cracked red openings closed one after another.

What awaited the Emperor was a quiet and peaceful sleep.

As for the symbol, it was sealed within Roselle's body, constantly influencing him until Pale Death stopped responding.

In the blink of an eye, several blood-red cracks appeared on Roselle's body again. After his aura declined to a nadir, it gradually began to glow as he fought back against the corporeal symbol.

Klein, who was above the gray fog, sighed when he saw this. He clenched his fist and pressed it against his mouth.

The "curtain" he draped around himself suddenly rose up, and the entire Sefirah Castle "boiled over" in an obvious manner.

Silently, the aura of new life that Roselle had just obtained began to dissipate.

After vanishing to a certain point, it gained new life once again. Then, it was affected by the Pale Death and continued to fade away.

Using the power of the Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder characteristic and Sefirah Castle, Klein directly "Grafted" new life and death, and skipped the process in between.

The corruption that Roselle suffered was no longer able to recover to the extent needed to break through the pale seal.

Following that, Klein extended his right hand and used the power of Sefirah Castle to draw out the mysterious symbol behind The Fool's high-back chair—the mysterious symbol made up of the Pupil-less Eye and the Contorted Lines.

The symbol absorbed the aura of Sefirah Castle and quickly turned corporeal. With a wave of Klein's wrist, it entered the prayer light representing Bernadette and landed on Roselle's black figure, fusing into his body.

Every ti the "Grafting" vanished, this symbol that was directly related to The Fool and Sefirah Castle would draw upon new powers and complete the "Grafting" process once more.

As he constantly passed away and gained new life, Roselle's face, which seed to be a pure shadow, obtained facial features. Then, he looked to the top of the mausoleum, as though he was looking into an infinite height.

He then retracted his gaze and looked at Bernadette. He said with an abnormally weak voice, "This seal is good. I can sleep in peace..."

With that said, he frowned slightly as his tone changed:

"Who taught you how to dress like this?"

Bernadette felt a little lost as she listened. It was as if she had returned to her teenage years.

At that ti, when she had dressed up to the nines for a ball held by other nobles. Roselle would use a similar expression and a similar tone to pepper her with a series of questions.

The mist in her eyes beca obvious, and she could no longer control herself. She lowered her voice and shouted, "Daddy..."

Roselle's facial features imdiately turned gentle before tensing up again. He sternly said, "Leave.

"And never return!"

Bernadette opened her mouth, wanting to say sothing, but her vision went black as though she could see the shadow of order.

In the next second, she found herself back at the edge of the primitive island.

Bernadette stared blankly at the mountain peak in the middle of the primitive island for a few seconds before slowly turning around and walking towards the sea.

This ti, she didn't stubbornly insist on walking straight without looking back. Every few steps she took, she would stop and turn back to take a look.

Soon, she returned to the Dawn and entered the captain's cabin. She opened the room that was specially used to hold her collection.

At a glance, Bernadette saw books, stacks of textbooks, clothes, and skirts. She saw the chess ga that few people in the world knew, and the neat pile of wooden block toys.

She leaned against the wooden door, slowly curled up, and sat on the floor.

She raised her head to look at the dark sky outside the captain's cabin and pinched her lips with her right thumb and index finger. She whistled a lodious tune—it was a gentle, sweet, and sad lody that could calm people down.

As the lody echoed, water beads fell from Bernadette's face and dripped onto the floor.

After an unknown period of ti, the captain's cabin was filled with a suppressed whimper.

"Daddy..."

-x-X-x-

In the middle of the primitive island, in the Black Emperor mausoleum.

After sending away Bernadette, Roselle didn't imdiately fall into a deep sleep. He slowly raised his head and looked up once again into the infinite distance.

Above the gray fog, Klein sighed silently. He put down the Staff of the Stars and grabbed a paper figurine before shaking it.

With a smacking sound, the paper figurine rapidly thickened and expanded before flying into the translucent vortex ford from illusory mysterious symbols beside The Fool's chair.

Although Bernadette had already moved to the edge of the primitive island and Klein could no longer see the situation inside the Black Emperor mausoleum through the prayer light. However, he could use the symbol of The Fool that had rged with Roselle's figure to maintain a connection with the Emperor up to a certain extent.

After the paper figurine passed through the slowly spinning vortex, it descended into the dim mausoleum which had an unknown light source. It then turned into a human in front of the central platform.

This human's black hair and brown eyes were sowhat similar to Gehrman Sparrow's, but he didn't have clear-cut features. The lines weren't deep enough, and his bearing wasn't cold enough. There were also certain differences in his facial features. His chin and stomach had a small amount of fat induced by an indulgent society. It was Klein's original appearance as Zhou Mingrui, the Zhou Mingrui who had been hanging inside Sefirah Castle for thousands of years beside Roselle Huang Tao Gustav.

Roselle wasn't surprised by his appearance. With one hand on the armrest, he leaned forward slightly and said, "You're here."

"I'm here." Klein nodded indiscernibly.

"You shouldn't be here." Roselle sighed.

"I'm already here." Klein very naturally participated in completing the populated by a popular Chinese novel by Gu Long.

Having completely confird the origins of the fellow in front of him, Roselle returned to his normal sitting posture, chuckling as he said, "I originally planned on asking where you're from to see there's any need for regional discrimination[1], but after so thought, there's no need for that. We're all anachronistic miserable wretches without a ho."

Without waiting for Klein's reply, the Emperor's voice sank as he asked, "You know the truth about the apocalypse?"

"Yes." Klein nodded slightly.

Roselle continued asking, "You know that this is Earth?"

"Yes," Klein answered frankly.

When Roselle heard that, he laughed self-deprecatingly.

"You actually learned about it so early. I only dared to confirm it after I went to the moon and saw the true appearance of this planet from high above."

At this point, the Emperor sighed and said, "The moon is bizarre. I clearly felt terror, but I didn't even consider the possibility of being corrupted. Then, I beca more and more extre.

"However, I did occasionally gain a certain level of clarity from the views of people around , but I didn't dare to write it in the diary in that state. I was afraid of exposing secrets and losing my final chance.

"I eventually decided to use all the groundwork I did previously to switch to the Black Emperor pathway. Apart from the impending apocalypse with Sequence 0s being the only ones capable of protecting the people 'They' wish to protect, 'They' can hide them in other planets in the vast universe and use the corresponding authorities to rebuild a set of order for humans to survive in desolate lands. I also saw the hope of escaping my corruption, by using the Black Emperor's ability to 'resurrect.'

"As long as I beca a Sequence 0 Black Emperor and was truly killed after turning half-crazy, I'd have the chance of resurrecting in the mausoleum or in the astral world. When that happened, what would return to would be a pure Uniqueness and three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics. I wouldn't be tainted at all, nor will I contain an uncontrollable madness.

"Speaking of which, I made use of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery to a certain extent back then.

"But the horror of the Great Old Ones far exceeded my imagination. Accompanying my revival was a new life of corruption... Perhaps only Great Old Ones can resist Great Old Ones.

"I could only terminate the revival process, and live such an ignoble existence in my final mausoleum to prevent the Great Old One from using my body to be born in the real world. That would've brought about a devastating disaster."

Klein had long guessed Emperor Roselle's condition based on what he knew and what had just happened. He wasn't surprised at all as he calmly replied, "The one who corrupted you is called the Mother Goddess of Depravity. 'She' has bewitched many believers as the embodint of the Primordial Moon."

The facial features that appeared faintly on Roselle's face imdiately changed.

He fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "I know the Primordial Moon, but I didn't know that 'Her' true honorific na is the Mother Goddess of Depravity.

"Now that I think about it, my discovery of Mr. Door's cry for help might not have been a coincidence..."

Upon hearing this, Klein was alard. He instantly recalled the situations happening off-island. He had so sort of premonition about what Emperor Roselle was about to say.

Roselle laughed and sighed.

"The biggest problem in the first half of my life was that I was too confident. I always had the feeling that I could reload a save file and redo things. I didn't pay enough attention to the details.

"Back then, Grimm was corrupted by the strange powers on this island. He returned here after dying and regained new life. Isn't this the influence of the Primordial Moon? After I finished all sorts of investigations and did the corresponding purifications, I felt that I was fine. But in fact, fate might've undergone a tiny change at that mont. This resulted in encountering Mr. Door later, and was slowly guided to the moon by 'Him'...

"You can't bla Mr. Door. 'His' condition might be worse than mine."

Does the Emperor an that he has been targeted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity the mont he discovered this primitive island? Klein sighed.

"At that ti, who would've thought that the problem would be so serious?"

Before Sequence 2, understanding the cosmos and the Great Old Ones led to terrifying corruption. And without understanding it, one wouldn't be able to accurately determine how serious the problem or what kind of patchwork was needed subsequently when faced with certain situations. This made Roselle treat this primitive island as his secret base; thus not informing existences that had the right to understand the Outer Deities, Great Old Ones, and Cosmos.

"That's right." Roselle seed to be very gratified that he had committed a mistake that almost anyone would make.

He then said, "In that ancient and secretive organization, there was almost no ntion of the Great Old Ones or Outer Deities."

At that mont, Roselle paused for a mont before saying, "You should've read my diary. You should know what the ancient and hidden organization represents."

Klein nodded.

"I know which organization it is referring to. I never expected that you wouldn't dare ntion the na of 'His' organization after having the level of a Sequence 0."

"I have a nagging feeling that 'He' isn't simple. 'He' might have an understanding of the Outer Deities that far exceeds our imagination, so it's better to be more careful. After all, I'm not a complete Sequence 0 true god." After Roselle said this simple sentence, his brows suddenly furrowed. "How much of my diary did you read?"

If the atmosphere wasn't that heavy and sorrowful, Klein would definitely find it irresistible to reply with "the taste of a Demoness ain't bad" as a way to tease his fellow Earthling.

Finally, he replied calmly, "Plenty."

After saying the word, he casually added, "I even found a few Cards of Blasphemy."

"Which ones?" Roselle blurted out.

Klein controlled the paper figurine's expression from above the gray fog and said in a flat tone, "Black Emperor, Tyrant, Red Priest, and The Fool."

"Phew..." Roselle exhaled as the faint crease on his brows eased. "Thankfully, it's not the Demoness, The Moon, and the Mother card."

You had to ntion it yourself... Klein didn't respond as he looked at the Emperor without a change in expression.

After Roselle said that, he realized sothing and hurriedly coughed.

"Well we've all watched live-streams, so you should know very well how normal it is to cross-dress..."

As he spoke, he coughed again and sighed.

"Which pathway are you from?"

"Seer," Klein replied succinctly.

Roselle imdiately fell silent. After a few seconds, he said, "Unfortunately, if everything is fine and dandy, you should be responsible for pulling out a large-screen television and a ga console from the Historical Void. We can chat while playing. That's a romantic dream of us n."

Unfortunately, there's no electricity. I have to rely on you to invent it... Klein didn't voice out his thoughts. He maintained his tone and said, "I hope such a day will co."

Then, he pulled the topic back on track.

"I'm very curious why the Card of Blasphemy you created can't even be found by deities? Such a level of anti-divination and anti-prophecy is amazing."

Roselle imdiately chuckled.

"It's because knowledge can bring power, and power can also bestow knowledge. This is the authority of a Knowledge Emperor.

"After I infused the potion formula of the twenty-two pathways with power, they naturally produced the convergence powers between Beyonder characteristics. They also gained anti-divination and anti-prophecy effects to a certain extent.

"And then..."

As he spoke, Roselle suddenly paused, as though he had sensed sothing amiss.

After one or two seconds, he said in an ethereal voice, "The creation of the Card of Blasphemy was a year before I held the Black Emperor ritual. Back then, I had already suffered the corruption of the Primordial Moon, and I didn't have the corresponding realization most of the ti.

"Why can the twenty-two cards not be found by deities?"

Upon hearing this question above the gray fog, Klein's heart tightened as he felt his scalp tingle again.

Without waiting for his response from the paper figurine, Roselle's voice suddenly raised, bringing with it an indescribable fear.

"Don't gather the twenty-two cards!

"Be careful of the Mother card!"

These two sentences echoed in the deep interior of the Black Emperor mausoleum for a long ti.

-x-X-x-

Above the gray fog, Klein's pupils instantly widened as he subconsciously looked down at the long mottled table in front of him.

There were four Cards of Blasphemy with different patterns on the back.

At that mont, he felt a little scared and relieved. He felt as though he had been wandering about on the edge of the abyss while blindfolded, but he never fell.

If he had done his best to gather all the Card of Blasphemy, or had obtained the Mother card, with the way how he liked to put the different cards in his body to obtain the corresponding levels and special characteristics, he might've already been corrupted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity, or be pregnant with sothing.

However, I'm not Roselle. Even if I have the Mother card, I probably wouldn't have done so. Furthermore, in order to prevent the deities from finding it, Cards of Blasphemy are extrely difficult to gather. It's almost impossible to gather all of them... From the looks of it, this is a casual arrangent made by the Mother Goddess of Depravity. If anyone were to unfortunately obtain the Mother card, they would beco one of the latent dangers in this world... Klein retracted his gaze and continued using his stand-in Paper Figurine Substitutes to look at Roselle Gustav who was sitting on the black iron seat.

At that mont, Roselle raised his body slightly. His voice was sotis low and sotis high-pitched.

"Everything has godhood in them...

"The Oldest One is still alive, alive in everyone's bodies!"

Klein frowned slightly. He didn't know if the one speaking was Roselle or the crimson moon in his body.

Not only did he have a certain level of understanding regarding such secrets, he had also personally experienced it before. Thus, he wasn't that horrified or panicked. He only recalled the teachings of the Aurora Order he had seen in the past:

They promoted the belief that the Creator was omnipresent and existed in every living being's body. Therefore, all living beings had godhood. Once godhood reached a certain concentration, they could beco an angel. And the current orthodox deities are nothing more than slightly stronger angels. To ordinary people, as long as one was able to grasp that the essence of life was a spiritual travel, and tempered one's mind, strengthen one's spirit, and find their own godhood, as well as fuse with more godhoods, one would be able to escape their mortal coils and beco an angel.

Back then, I felt that a cult like the Aurora Order had a complete set of mysticism and religious canon, just like the orthodox Churches, but now, I can interpret the truth underlying these words... From a certain point of view, it's true. The only problem is that after fusing with more godhoods, they might no longer be themselves... The True Creator actually placed the deepest secrets of this world into "His" teachings. Isn't "He" afraid that a believer might suddenly have an epiphany and learn of the underground corruption, eventually becoming a vessel for the Oldest One's revival? This Hanged Man really is a little crazy. "He" doesn't have much rationality most of the ti... Klein mumbled inwardly as he waited for Roselle to say more.

Two to three seconds later, Roselle, who had been in a cycle of slumber and the obtaining of new life, sat back on his iron-black throne. He panted and didn't say a word.

Klein then controlled the paper figurine to say, "Which of the words that you have just said should be trusted, and which ones should I be wary of?"

Roselle chortled.

"Consider the answer yourself."

"Heh, isn't that how you Seers like to speak?"

He didn't wait for Klein's reply as he continued, "When I created the Pale Death mask, I sensed sothing: The Death of the Fourth Epoch might not have completely perished. 'He' might've left a hidden trump card for being revived. It might involve the River of Eternal Darkness. Heh heh, Death will definitely not die so easily..."

With that said, Roselle looked at Klein, who stood at the foot of the platform.

"Indeed, only by choosing the Seer, Apprentice, or Marauder pathway can a transmigrator enter Sefirah Castle. By the ti I figured out this factor, it was already way too late.

"I don't know if you want to beco a Great Old One or not, nor do I know if this requires a ritual. I can only tell you that this is definitely more dangerous than becoming a deity—countless tis more dangerous. Perhaps the existence who stored us and threw us back into the real world is waiting for you there.

"The only suggestion I can give you is to communicate with the Genie of the Magic Wishing Lamp before you make any attempts."

Genie? Using the grudge between "Him" and the Celestial Worthy to obtain certain assistance? Klein nodded slightly and said, "Okay."

After hearing his answer, Roselle sighed and said with a smile, "If you really can beco a Great Old One, you can consider saving . Only a Great Old One can resist a Great Old One."

At this point, he fell silent for a mont before he slowed down his speech.

"If you can't completely free from the corruption of the Primordial Moon after becoming a Great Old One, then rember to wipe my existence off the face of the world. Destroy this mausoleum, support the creation of a new Black Emperor, and prevent from ever being revived..."

The light inside the mausoleum seed to dim a little. Klein fell silent for two seconds before saying, "I won't forget that."

Roselle fell silent. After a few seconds, he laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Of course, before that, you should try to save a few more tis."

Such a sense of humor didn't make Klein smile. Instead, it made his heart sink even more, making him unable to speak.

Roselle didn't continue the topic as he recalled.

"My wife passed away a long ti ago. The mistresses I once had definitely had their own endings. Towards them, I feel very sorry. I've never truly loved them. I only coveted their looks and the pleasure they gave ...

"I don't have any illegitimate children. Towards such matters, a Beyonder is quite aware of that. As for the ti before I beca a Beyonder, I believe those ladies definitely coveted my looks and body to enjoy such pleasures. They won't leave any trouble for themselves...

"My eldest son, Ciel, should be dead for years. I don't know how many descendants he left behind. My second son, Bornova, would definitely be an angel now if nothing unexpected happens. I have complicated feelings for him. On the one hand, I'm very detached, disappointed, and resentful, but on the other hand, I would occasionally secretly care about him. I rember how adorable he was when he was just born...

"You've already t my eldest daughter, Bernadette. Isn't she beautiful? She was pretty from a young age, obedient, and smart. She knew how to be filial to her old father, protect her younger brother, and dote on her mother. Sotis, she acted especially righteous and appeared a little silly. There were several tis when I secretly cheated while playing chess or gas with her, but she didn't realize it. Such a temper made it difficult for her to accept what I did later. Of course, now, I can just push the bla onto the Primordial Moon. It's all because of 'Her' corruption. I'm rather grateful for 'Her' on this point.

"I don't know what right I have to make a request. After all, I've never helped you before, nor do I have much of a relationship with you. It's just that we're from the sa era and sa place—the ties as a fellow Earthling."

Upon hearing that, Klein said in a deep voice, "Your diary gave plenty of help. It allowed to grasp a lot of high-level knowledge when I was weak, allowing to avoid many dangers and know how to direct my efforts in a targeted manner.

"Also, those Cards of Blasphemy have shown their use at different stages."

"Can you not ntion the diary?" Roselle coughed lightly and said, "However, in the later stages, I was indeed consciously leaving a ssage to the next transmigrator. The only thing I couldn't be sure of is which language you know."

The Emperor slowly exhaled before saying, "My request is to help look after Bernadette. When she needs help, provide her so help.

"Although she is about to beco an important figure in the mysterious world, I still can't feel at ease as a father."

Without any hesitation, Klein got the paper figurine to answer directly.

"I'll take care of her for you."

"...Man, why does this sound a little awkward?" Roselle's tone instantly turned odd. "By the way, I haven't asked for your na. As for , you should know very well that I'm Huang Tao."

"Zhou Mingrui," Klein answered frankly.

"Are you married? Do you have children? How old are you?" Roselle raised three questions in one go.

Emperor, why are you acting like a gossipy middle-aged woman from next door? Klein shook his head and gave a simple answer.

"No."

Roselle imdiately fell silent. After a mont, he said, "You and I are of the sa generation. Bernadette should call you Uncle Zhou.

"Yes..."

As he spoke, Roselle's tone suddenly beca filled with pity.

"After coming to this era, I treated everything as a ga in the beginning. I was having a great ti playing, but I would occasionally recall my ho, rembering the past where I cultivated most of my personality and hobbies.

"The longer I lived, the higher the frequency I felt this feeling. It's like the fallen leaves will always want to return to the roots of a tree. However, at the very least, I have a daughter, a wife, and two sons. There are still many things in this world that I'm worried about, and so sense of belonging to a certain extent. As for you... I can feel your loneliness, the loneliness that cos from deep within your bones."

Upon saying that, Roselle suddenly sighed.

"If only we were still living in that era. I'll go to work punctually every day and work overti from ti to ti. Whenever I'm free, I'll visit my daughter's extracurricular lessons, pick her up, bring her ho stuff my wife constantly reminds about. Every weekend, we'll either head out for so fun or head to my parents' place to accompany them...

"When one day I'm exhausted from life, I'll use an excuse that you as my friend are treating . As n, we can sit by the street and eat so skewers, drink so alcohol, brag, curse our superiors, reminisce about the days of our youth, and urge you to quickly find a girlfriend... When I wake up the next day, I'll be able to have the zeal to continue facing life again..."

Klein listened quietly without interrupting the Emperor's prattle.

Roselle's voice gradually lowered as he smiled.

"Goodbye, my friend.

"I hope we can really et again one day."

His figure quickly turned illusory, as though he had disappeared from the world, leaving only a faint shadow hovering over the iron-black throne.

Roselle Gustav had returned to his eternal slumber.

-x-X-x-

After circling the primitive island three tis, the Dawn finally made its way off into the distance which was perennially covered in storms.

Bernadette slowly retracted her gaze and fixed it on the Sage Frontlet that remained suspended in the air.

As a Clairvoyant, she clearly saw the opportunity to advance. She knew that she had completed the corresponding ritual, preventing a disaster that involved a higher order of power.

However, the price she paid was to personally seal her father, the father she had missed and sought for more than a hundred years.

"How ironic..." Bernadette looked at the vertical eye embedded with diamonds and sighed softly.

After leaving Intis, she had two big wishes. First, she wanted to investigate the truth behind the matter and see if she had misunderstood her father. Second, she wanted to follow her father's footsteps and see if there was a possibility of reviving him.

Bernadette had already fulfilled her first wish. The truth was that she had indeed misunderstood her father. This curtailed her pain and conflicted feelings. Her hatred for her father had completely dissipated, but it also added to her guilt.

With this kind of guilt and yearning all this ti, she tried her best to fulfill her second wish, but the outco wasn't pleasant.

If there hadn't been any hope from the beginning, she might not have had such a huge reaction. However, she had clearly seen the light and seen her father, but she had no choice but to personally place him into a state of slumber.

After a mont of silence, Bernadette's slightly unfocused eyes beca clear again.

She no longer hesitated and no longer blad herself. She no longer had all kinds of negative emotions. She firmly raised her right hand and drew out ancient words that shimred with a stellar radiance in the void. She summoned the spirit world creature who was half-man, half-wind, and she retrieved the Sage supplentary ingredients from it.

As for the rest, as there was no need for them to be specially preserved, they were in the collection room of the Dawn.

Not long after, Bernadette used Pale Death to shatter the Sage Frontlet. She concocted the potion that could allow her to advance to Sequence 2.

Looking at the bubbling Sage potion with each bubble containing a transparent eye, Bernadette firmly raised her right hand and brought the glass bottle to her mouth.

She knew that what she needed at this mont wasn't sorrow, nor corny emotions, but determination and the will to forge forward. This was because if she wanted to help her father, Emperor Roselle, escape the corruption and completely revive, she needed a higher Sequence and greater strength.

Because of this, she was willing to bury the pain in the deepest part of her heart and not let it affect her ntal state. It was only when there was no one around at night that she could retrieve it and savor it alone.

With the Sage potion entering her mouth, Bernadette's body turned illusory at a discernible pace.

She broke down into thick and complicated knowledge, changing into an existence that was a flux of information.

The entire Dawn, as well as the surrounding winds, storms, lightning, seawater, and waves, all lost their sense of reality. It was as though they had been restored to the most fundantal blocks of information.

For most of Sequence 3 Beyonders of the Mystery Pryer pathway, such a state was extrely dangerous. If one's willpower wasn't strong enough, their luck wasn't good enough, and they weren't prepared enough, the knowledge that they had transford into would be infiltrated by all kinds of information within seconds. They would be washed away, assimilated, and thus quickly lose consciousness. They wouldn't be able to reassemble their bodies, turning into a very strange and difficult monster to deal with in mysticism.

A Knowledge Demon!

This was also known as an Information Creature.

Bernadette had relied on the Sage Frontlet and had previously transford into a flux of information on several occasions. Although it was limited to two to three seconds and didn't last too long, it was still considered experience. At that mont, she tried her best to maintain her consciousness and establish a connection with the information produced in the spirit world by preventing a high-level disaster.

The information had a clear imprint belonging to her, and it involved a very high level of power. It was exceptionally "solid" and couldn't be dispersed by other information for short periods of ti. It helped her to stabilize her consciousness and slowly gather the dissipating flux of information around her body.

During this process, Klein, who was above the gray fog, tapped the edge of the long mottled table with the help of the prayer light. He used a Miracle Invoker's ability of changing the probability of certain developnts and actions to a certain extent, and he bestowed Bernadette with a certain amount of good luck.

Ti ticked by. There were several tis when Bernadette wavered on the border of losing consciousness, but in the end, she managed to tide through it. She gathered all the information that belonged to her and began to reconstruct her body.

At that mont, she gradually felt the concern Admiral of Stars Cattleya had for her. She felt the mbers of the Elent Dawn and her crew making their daily prayers.

This stabilized her condition better, allowing her to resist the ancient will that was slowly developing in her body.

At this mont, a series of secret information ca from nowhere. Taking the opportunity while Bernadette was reforming her body, it attempted to fuse with her.

This was interference from the Hidden Sage!

As an embodint of this world's knowledge and information, as a quasi-Sequence 0 existence of the Mystery Pryer pathway, the Hidden Sage had a certain influence on Beyonders of a lower Sequencer than "Him."

Without giving Bernadette the chance to use the pale-white mask, the "curtain" draped over Klein gently rose.

Space-ti distorted around Bernadette, completely isolating her from the outside world. Even information couldn't be interchanged.

Grabbing this sudden mont of peace, Bernadette completely reassembled her body and used her own anchors to balance out the terrifying will that was surfacing in her body.

At that mont, she had truly beco a "She," a Sequence 2 angel of the Mystery Pryer pathway—an important figure in the mysterious world that could be addressed as a secret existence.

Right on the heels of that, she saw the distorted space around her return to normal. She saw a series of hidden information surging towards her.

She stretched out her right hand and grabbed the information with ease, extracting the useful information contained within.

Just as Bernadette was about to return to reality from the spirit world, an orange light suddenly blood in front of her eyes.

The light instantly condensed into a fat elder with a short white beard.

The elder smiled and said, "Ma'am, I'm Orange Light Hilarion."

Orange Light... Bernadette was puzzled. She didn't understand why Orange Light Hilarion had suddenly appeared in front of her—they hadn't interacted much before.

As the leader of the Elent Dawn and a forr Mysticologist, she wasn't unfamiliar with the Seven Lights of the spirit world. She even knew how to pray to Seven Lights, as well as the ritual needed to receive the corresponding advice. She knew that the seven lustrous lights were a symbol of the spirit world, and they contained endless knowledge of different domains. They were definitely at the angel level.

Orange Light Hilarion added with a smile, "A great existence wants to inform you of the knowledge regarding the Great Old Ones, the Outer Deities, and the Cosmos, so that you have a relatively accurate grasp of the state of this world and the corresponding corruption."

"Which existence is it?" Bernadette asked, puzzled and cautious.

She had vaguely guessed the answer, but she still found it quite unbelievable. After all, the Seven Lights in the spirit world were also important figures in the mysterious world. Even if a Sequence 0 true god wouldn't find it easy to get "Them" to do "Their" bidding.

Orange Light Hilarion chuckled and replied, "The greater ruler above the spirit world."

The great ruler above the spirit world... Bernadette repeated the honorific na, and her thoughts raced.

Hilarion glanced at her and smiled.

"'He' also has another title:

"Mr. Fool."

...

Sowhere out at sea, the Future which was cruising on a safe sea route.

Cattleya suddenly jolted awake from her dream as her forehead was covered in cold sweat.

In the dream just now, she saw the Queen lying on the ground drenched in blood. Her chest was torn open, and a baby-like monster crawled out of it.

As a Mysticologist, a Mysticologist who had advanced with a drop of the Snake of Fate's blood, Cattleya believed that her dream wasn't without any reason. It was definitely a premonition.

It was obvious that the dream she had wasn't pleasant.

While feeling uneasy, Cattleya sat up and put on her cloak. She attempted to pray to Mr. Fool, hoping that this mighty existence would give her so hints or to protect the Queen.

Soon, a scene appeared before her eyes.

Queen Mystic Bernadette walked out of the spirit world and returned to Dawn, allowing the ship to gradually distance itself from the naless island.

Cattleya imdiately heaved a sigh of relief and sincerely thanked Mr. Fool.

After finishing her prayer, she opened the window of the captain's cabin in joy, causing starlight to condense into a long bridge that reached the deck.

She put on her heavy glasses and walked along the resplendent bridge of starlight to the deck where she proceeded to stroll leisurely in the quiet night.

When she arrived at the bow of the ship, Cattleya saw Frank Lee tinkering with bottles.

"What are you doing?" Cattleya subconsciously frowned.

Frank looked up and said with a bright smile, "My ideas encountered a setback so I can't proceed any further for now. I asked Nina to get so soil from the bottom of the sea to study the microbes in it."

With that said, Frank said with a look of anticipation,

"When I have my next vacation, I'd like to go to the depths of the North Sea or the poles where it's a world of ice and snow. There might be many ancient microorganisms buried beneath the thick layer of ice there, from the Fourth Epoch, the Third Epoch, or even the Second and First Epoch. This will bring plenty."

You won't have any vacations for the ti being... Cattleya said inwardly.

...

Klein conjured a box and placed the four Cards of Blasphemy inside. After sealing them, he imdiately returned to the real world and headed for the nearest Evernight cathedral.

He planned on informing the Evernight Goddess in the form of a prayer of the hidden dangers of the Card of Blasphemy, reminding "Her" to pay attention to such problems. He didn't want the Earth Mother, Lilith, to obtain the Mother card or The Moon Card.

-x-X-x-

The prayer hall in the Evernight cathedral was as dark as before. Only the holes on the walls allowed so light to seep in, like stars in the night.

Klein sat in a corner that wasn't eye-catching. He took off his tall hat and began praying like a pious mber of the congregation.

He simply ntioned how Roselle had revived in his last mausoleum, and focused on the corruption of the Primordial Moon. He deliberately emphasized that, in order to prevent the "crimson moon" within him from being born in the real world, Roselle had chosen to terminate the process of having his Black Emperor Uniqueness and three Sequence 1 characteristics return to him.

At the end of the prayer, Klein pointed out the hidden dangers of the Cards of Blasphemy, and he expressed his concerns about the whereabouts of the Mother card and The Moon Card.

In fact, Roselle only ntioned the need to be careful of the Mother card and didn't ntion The Moon. However, Klein knew that the two pathways of Earth and Moon belonged to the Mother Goddess of Depravity. Therefore, to be cautious, he specially added The Moon Card.

This was also the main reason he was worried about Earth Mother Lilith.

Compared to most of the twenty-two pathways, the High-Sequence Beyonders of the Planter and Moon pathway had a huge advantage. That was that they didn't need to worry about the Primordial One from awakening in their bodies. They didn't need to worry about dissociation from approaching the world underground. This was because the Beyonder characteristics they possessed didn't directly co from the Primordial One which led to no corresponding ntal imprint. However, if they were to directly go underground and enter the Chaos Sea, no matter who it was, they would encounter corruption. It was just that the extent would be different.

This advantage was very likely due to the fact that the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith was more special than the other ancient gods. After all, "She" didn't need to divert a large part of "Her" energy to resist the will of the Primordial One awakening within her. And back then, the invisible barrier protecting this world was still sufficiently sturdy, separating the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the other Great Old Ones from Earth, making it difficult for "Them" to exert too much of an influence on the situation inside.

But with the passage of ti, this advantage gradually beca a problem.

As the underground corruption beca weaker and weaker, the invisible barrier also beca weaker and cracks began appearing. Under such circumstances, Earth Mother Lilith's situation beca worse. This was because "She" was facing the intrusion of the Mother Goddess of Depravity that was ever increasing in potency and terror. In this aspect, the original Creator—the Oldest One—who was dead was definitely inferior to the living Mother Goddess of Depravity.

Considering how Outer Deities who had transcended Sequences had an influence on Beyonders from their own pathway, Klein felt that he couldn't afford negligence on such matters.

After he finished his prayer, he waited for nearly five minutes. After confirming that there was no response, he stood up, put on his wandering magician's tall hat, and walked out of the cathedral that belonged to the Evernight.

To him, this was mainly a disclosure obligation. As for what the Evernight Goddess planned to do with it, or if "She" would remind him of certain matters, it was beyond his control.

In short, Klein could only temporarily believe that the Evernight Goddess knew the relative importance of matters.

...

Backlund, at the Harvest Church south of the Bridge.

The top-hatted Emlyn White got off his carriage and looked at the sun covered by the clouds and mist.

On the way to the entrance of the cathedral, he gently rotated the ring on his left hand, as if to flaunt his identity.

The ring was semi-translucent in color, as though it was made from light-red amber. There was a blood-red gem embedded on its tip—a reward Emlyn had received a long ti ago—Lilith's Ring.

After becoming a demigod, Emlyn could suppress the effect of bloodthirst from the ring to a certain extent. Every day, he only needed to drink three bottles of human blood to be immune to the corresponding negative effects. Therefore, in order to showcase his special identity as the Ancestor's Blessed, he began wearing this ring permanently.

After entering the Harvest Church, Emlyn automatically removed his top hat.

At this mont, Cosmi, Ernes, and the other Sanguine in Backlund, who were waiting for Bishop Utravsky, stood up one after another. Looking down at the aisle, they greeted softly, "Good morning, My Lord."

Emlyn looked ahead and nodded indiscernibly.

"Is Mistral still not here yet?"

"Count Mistral set up a chapel at ho," Ernes simply explained.

Emlyn didn't comnt on this. He walked forward and casually said, "He will still have to co when Mass is held."

He looked around before saying, "Where's Bishop Utravsky?"

"The bishop is waiting for you behind. The Church's envoy has arrived." Ernes controlled his facial expression as he answered Emlyn's question politely.

The Church's envoy... Emlyn rotated the light-red ring on his left hand and walked to the back of the cathedral.

Soon, he saw Father Utravsky and the slightly curly black-haired envoy the Church with a tall nose and deep eyes.

"This is the archbishop, His Grace Loreto," Father Utravsky introduced the envoy to Emlyn.

He stood by the window, blocking most of the light.

"Good morning, Your Grace," Emlyn replied with the etiquette of the Church of Earth.

Loreto smiled and spoke in rather awkward Loenese.

"There's no need to address as Your Grace. Although you aren't an archbishop, you have the status of an archbishop. From today onwards, you will be a hierophant, a high-ranking deacon of the Church. You will be in charge of the Sanguine matters in Backlund."

Without giving Emlyn any ti to digest this information, Loreto continued, "I ca to Backlund under the Holy See's orders. I'll tell you everything that needs to be taken note of within the Church."

"Please speak," Emlyn suppressed his glee and said politely.

Loreto's expression imdiately turned serious.

"First of all, the most important point is that, be it the clergyn of the Church or the believers of the Earth Mother, as long as you claim that you have obtained a revelation, they are individuals who have been enticed by demons—with no exceptions.

"If anyone reports sothing like this to you, or if you have obtained a revelation personally, please inform Bishop Utravsky as soon as possible and report it to the Church."

Father Utravsky didn't ntion this before... This request sounds very strange, as though there's so suspicion... Emlyn frowned as he looked at Father Utravsky who was standing by the window.

"The bishop never said anything about taking note of such matters..."

Before he finished his sentence, Emlyn suddenly realized that he ca off as criticizing Bishop Utravsky, but he couldn't find any better explanation in his haste.

Almost at the sa ti, he understood what was odd about what Archbishop Loreto had said.

This was telling everyone that the Earth Mother you sensed isn't the real Earth Mother!

This is saying that a large number of the revelations us Sanguine received from the Ancestor are fake. It's from demons or evil gods... The look in Emlyn's eyes sank as he tried to maintain his composure.

At this mont, Loreto didn't mind and smiled.

"Bishop Utravsky didn't tell you because he didn't know either."

Father didn't know... In that instant, Emlyn actually felt a little sympathetic towards Bishop Utravsky. He felt that as a Feysacian, a hierophant who had changed faith in his later years, he had been ostracized by the other mbers of the Church of Earth.

Sensing the change in his gaze, Loreto added, "That's because he's a Blessed. He doesn't need to care about the temptation of demons and evil gods."

Bishop Utravsky nodded and said calmly, "The revelations of Earth Mother are in 'Her' Holy Bible, in those lines of teaching. Anything other than that is heresy."

Emlyn was sowhat puzzled, but he couldn't think of any question. He grunted and said to Loreto, "Then what is the second point that needs paying attention?"

Loreto made his expression turn serious.

"If you receive a revelation, don't blindly believe it. Please imdiately seek confirmation from Bishop Utravsky."

"Why?" Emlyn was puzzled.

This was basically telling him that the only response he would receive was either from evil gods or demons.

Loreto deliberated over his words and explained in detail,

"In this world, there are many evil existences. 'They' will pretend to be deities, and bewitch the clergyman in an act of enticing believers.

"That's because the two main pathways of the Church of Earth Mother are related to life. Therefore, the effects they receive are more severe than the other Churches. From ti to ti, there are people who will take the wrong path and attempt forbidden life experints; thus, slowly degenerating.

"In order to prevent such a developnt, we reorganized the Church a long ti ago under the guidance of the Mother's will to establish the system of a Favored and Blessed."

Favored and Blessed... Emlyn's understanding of the Church of Earth was limited to the Holy Bible and part of the scriptures. He was montarily at a loss.

He had never taken the initiative to ask Father Utravsky about the Church of Earth Mother.

Loreto glanced at Emlyn and nodded slightly.

"The Favored are clergyn who have won the Mother's favor and are from the two pathways of Earth and Moon. The Blessed refers to people who have obtained the Mother's blessing and are from other pathways.

"The latter is less affected by the demons and evil gods. It can help us verify the authenticity of the revelations.

"Under such circumstances, even if it's a decree issued by the Holy See, there has to be at least a second-in-command Favored. Otherwise, it can be regarded as null and void."

As he spoke, Loreto took out a docunt and unfolded it in front of Emlyn. Apart from what the archbishop had just said, it included the details of him accepting the mission and appointnt as an envoy.

At the end of the docunt, there were a few nas. The first was from the Holy See of the Church of Earth, Matriarch Roland, and the rest were all nas that Emlyn didn't know. He barely recognized the last one to be Father Utravsky.

Father Utravsky's handwriting is really ugly... As Emlyn mumbled to himself, he began to have a strong sense of doubt regarding the Blessed and Favored system.

Why were the Blessed less enticed by evil gods or demons?

Why were they able to verify a revelation, but the Favored couldn't?

As his thoughts raced, Emlyn suddenly noticed a detail:

The Blessed aren't from the two pathways of Earth and Moon!

Therefore, the problem didn't lie in the Favored, but the two pathways themselves? Emlyn vaguely felt that his guess was the truth.

-x-X-x-

Emlyn vaguely sensed that there might be so abnormalities in the two Beyonder pathways of Earth and Moon, but he didn't ask Archbishop Loreto about it directly.

He doesn't seem like he would answer... It's better to wait for the next Tarot Gathering to ask The World, The Hanged Man, and the others... Emlyn nodded indiscernibly, indicating that he already knew the difference between a Favored and a Blessed as he muttered to himself.

He didn't consider seeking Mr. Fool's answer, because he felt that there was no need since the corresponding problem wasn't too important. After all, the Sanguine's Dukes, Marquises, and Counts were still alive and well, and there hadn't been any particularly negative news regarding the Church of Earth Mother.

At the sa ti, his previous guess also made Emlyn connect these to the influence the Primordial Moon, an existence which was perhaps an evil god or a high-level Devil in disguise, had on the Moon pathway. "He" had once caused many Sanguine who had prayed to "Him" to lose control, turning into monsters that only knew how to mate and reproduce.

Emlyn suspected that this was one of the evil existences that sent the fake visions and revelations.

With no more questions from him, Loreto put away the docunt in his hand and thought for a mont before saying, "This is the problem that requires special attention.

"In addition, I hope that you can set up three to five Beyonder teams in Backlund. They should mainly be mbers of the Sanguine."

Emlyn was always law-abiding. The only cri he did was steal blood at the hospital. He subconsciously raised his question, "Does the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms have any objections?"

Loreto said with a benevolent smile, "This was a request from them.

"As most of the forces of the Church of Steam have withdrawn, there is a lack of official Beyonders in Loen.

"Although the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms have also recruited a group of Machinery Hivemind mbers who don't wish to leave Loen, and the lower-ranking clergyn, they are ultimately just a minority. Furthermore, they still need to handle the purge in Feysac and the independent colonies overseas. Therefore, they hope that they can provide so help.

"This is quite beneficial for our proselytizing in Loen. However, you have to rember that, here, we have to restrain ourselves. We can't freely proselytize. Just be on the sa level as the remnant Church of Steam. Of course, our believers won't be able to catch up to the Church of Steam for a long period of ti. This requires a generation, two generations, or even three generations of effort."

Yes, maintaining the present scale and having a certain degree of developnt is enough... It's too troubleso to proselytize... Emlyn heaved a sigh of relief and calmly replied, "Okay."

...

In the Sonia Sea, City of Generosity, Bayam.

Alger wore a bishop's robe embroidered with symbols of lightning and waves. He wore a tal Storm Sacred Emblem and stood at the peak of the coastal mountain range, looking out at the other side of the forest.

There were very few trees there. The surrounding hills and short mountains had been flattened, revealing a hidden harbor.

It was a private harbor that belonged to the Resistance. It was definitely not comparable to Bayam's port, but it was of dium size, enough to sustain many people's lives.

A city with an unconstrained and crude style had been built near the harbor. The city wasn't huge, probably only one-fifth the size of Bayam or smaller.

In the center were two towers. One was a spire, the other steeple. They were all strangely silver, reflecting blinding light under the sun.

Surrounding the twin towers were many paved roads made of cent. They led to buildings that were mainly made of stone or were connected to open squares and training grounds. The green trees lining the sides of the street exuded a feeling of grandeur.

Alger knew that the city didn't only consist of residents from the City of Silver, but also people from Moon City.

Many of the latter were extrely deford. They were temporarily unwilling to interact with Bayam, as well as the residents of the other cities on the island. They only purchased their necessities through the people of the City of Silver.

It was said that they planned on building a city that belonged to them deep in the forest, and would only leave a path to the new City of Silver.

These are all believers of Mr. Fool. I'll have to slowly integrate them into the entirety of the Rorsted Archipelago... For now, I'll temporarily not disturb the deford and allow the residents of the City of Silver to bring normal-looking Moon City residents to Bayam... Alger seriously considered his subsequent actions.

After settling down the residents of the City of Silver and Moon City, he had actually completed the mission that Mr. Fool had given him. However, he believed that he was still far from being able to exchange for Sea God's identity, authority, and status. Therefore, he did his best to deal with the problems left behind by the "great migration."

To be frank, Alger was most worried that Mr. Fool didn't give him anything to do. If that happened, he didn't know how long it would take for him to make enough contributions.

Accompanying the new City of Silver's establishnt and the imnse vibrancy it exuded, he acutely sensed danger.

There was more than one Sequence 4 demigod in the City of Silver and Moon City, and they were Mr. Fool's loyal believers. Perhaps, Mr. Fool would one day bestow the identity, status, authority, and power of Sea God to one of them!

There are two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts in the City of Silver, a Sequence 3 saint, three Sequence 4 saints, and nearly ten Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, as well as a few demigod Beyonder characteristics that can temporarily be used as Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts... There are three demigods in Moon City, five Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, and a large number of potion formulas... This... Alger only made a slight calculation before realizing that the two factions that ca under Mr. Fool were a little terrifying.

All of them combined was equivalent to a quarter of the Church of Storms!

According to what Alger knew, the number of Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts each Church had numbered between five to eight. There were fewer than four Grounded Angels active at present. In this aspect, they were indeed much stronger than the combined Moon City and City of Silver.

However, the orthodox Churches had no advantage in numbers when it ca to Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts and saints, especially the latter.

Due to an all-out war, with the brass increasing the number of saints by nurturing them, the Church of Storms only had around twenty saints.

The Church of the Sea God doesn't have a demigod yet, but it won't be long before a new Sea God will appear... As for the angels under Mr. Fool, there's The World, the Death Consul, and the angel of the Fate pathway... There are the saints from our Tarot Club... The more Alger thought about it, the more alard he beca. He realized that he was a little slow in this aspect.

Perhaps it was because he couldn't extricate himself to take an objective look at things, and although he had always been amazed by such matters, he finally ca to a clear realization today:

Unknowingly, Mr. Fool's faction had already developed to a level that was comparable to an orthodox Church. Even if there was a certain gap, it was only due to the lack of accumulation that needed to span across years.

And it hadn't even been three years since Alger joined the Tarot Club!

If I hadn't experienced all these changes myself, I definitely wouldn't have believed it. Alger sighed inwardly as he fervently wished to do sothing for Mr. Fool so that he could quickly accumulate the contributions needed to transform into Sea God.

When that happened, he could truly cast his gaze towards the Book of Calamity and attempt to complete the request of the elven queen, Cohinem.

Retracting his gaze, Alger glanced at Bayam at the foot of the mountain. He saw that this city, which hadn't suffered any serious damage in the war, had once again lit up. It could also be called the most prosperous city in the Sonia Sea.

At that mont, the priests, bishops, and believers of the Church of the Lord of Storms were cooperating with the new governnt civil servants and the Church of Sea God to build schools and hospitals to the children in the slums and the natives with no financial capacity that would provide education, dical treatnt, and assistance.

As Alger watched the people walking along the streets like ants and the colorful buildings that were different from the vast majority of Loen, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly before he wiped away his smile.

He narrowed his eyes, unsure what he was experiencing or enjoying.

At that mont, a grayish-white fog suddenly appeared in front of him.

Following that, he saw the ancient palace and blurry figure in the middle of the fog. He heard Mr. Fool's words:

"A mission. Monitor a man nad Verdu Garcia."

Along with the revelation, plenty of miscellaneous information rained down and drilled into Alger's mind, allowing him to know the exact situation of Verdu Garcia.

He was a mber of the Abraham family that had concealed his identity. He had recently left Desi County and had co to the Rorsted Archipelago.

Alger was thrilled. He bowed his head respectfully in response. "By your will."

...

Klein knew that Verdu Garcia Abraham had left the Northern Continent and was heading to the Rorsted Archipelago, as Dorian Gray had ntioned this when he prayed.

He knew very well that the person nad Verdu yearned to save Mr. Door so that the King of Angels could return to the real world.

The reason why Klein had gotten Miss Magician to inform the Abraham family of one of the rituals that helped Mr. Door escape was because the trust between the two parties was insufficient. If he were to hide it or lie by saying that an angel needed to be hunted for the ritual, the Abraham family would definitely suspect Fors and make her continue contacting Mr. Door and try to confirm it through other ans.

Once they discovered anything, Klein would lose control of the Abraham family, preventing him from nipping the problem in the bud.

If it had been a few years ago, Klein wouldn't have been too worried about such problems. However, as the apocalypse approached, the infiltration of the Outer Deities would only increase. It was possible that a mber of the Abraham family would co into contact with a corresponding item or believer and obtain the correct ritual.

Therefore, Klein believed that the ritual that was extrely difficult to complete could be used to effectively gain the trust of the Abrahams, allowing them to deepen their faith in Mr. Fool and beco more devout. Then, he could monitor the extre ones among the devout and grasp their trajectories, and interfere with them in ti.

-x-X-x-

Midseashire, Limon City.

Jasmine wrapped a scarf around her face and exited the apartnt.

She had heard that the annual Limon Carnival had begun, so she wanted to visit it at the municipal square.

Because of the war last year, the carnival hadn't been held. This had greatly disappointed Jasmine. After that, she suffered the greatest trauma in her life. From then on, she hid at ho and didn't dare to go out.

Perhaps it was because she had been confined at ho for too long—one that was very cramped—Jasmine had been eager to go on the streets recently. She wanted to walk around just like she did in the past.

As she turned her gaze, she saw her reflection in the large glass window by the side of the street.

Her figure was pitch-black without any other color. Her long dress reached her ankles, and the veil of her hat covered half of her face. From the bottom of her eyes to her neck, there was a scarf wrapped several tis around her neck. Both of her hands were wearing a pair of knitted gloves.

This was completely different from the cheerful and lively Jasmine in her mories.

In the previous war, a cannonball had destroyed her original ho and resulted in a fire. She suffered burns to the face, causing her body to be covered in wounds.

If not for the fact that she was lucky enough, Jasmine would've died from the serious injuries. But even so, she felt like her life had ended from that very mont.

Her nose had been burnt away, leaving only two black holes. There were many traces left behind by the fire on her face, neck, and hands. If she were to walk in the dark, she would pass off for a devil perfectly.

Jasmine clearly rembered one thing: on the first night of moving to this apartnt, she had washed up in the public bathroom before sleeping. Just as she walked out of the door, she saw a youth walk over. The youth had also seen her.

Under the crimson moonlight, the youth revealed an expression of extre horror, as if he would jump up at any mont. He turned around and ran away.

Finally, he controlled himself and took a few steps to the side, not daring to look at Jasmine's face again.

This pierced through Jasmine's fragile heart. From that day onwards, she never left the house again. Even if she had to wash up, she would wait until it was late at night.

In this aspect, she was very grateful to her parents because they didn't say a word. They did their best to maintain their lives, relying on their original savings and the work they later found to barely support the family. They didn't need Jasmine to work outside for a salary.

After walking a distance, Jasmine saw the main venue of the carnival—Lemon City Municipal Square.

There was a sea of heads and all kinds of reveling emotions. The enthusiastic atmosphere made Jasmine subconsciously stop in her tracks.

She didn't dare approach, afraid that soone would notice that she was dressed strangely, afraid that she might accidentally drop her scarf.

After hesitating for a few seconds, she finally stopped. She found a clean spot by the street and sat down. She stared intently at the municipal square.

After an unknown period of ti, Jasmine sensed soone beside her.

It was a young man in a long black robe and a tall hat. He was like a magician from a circus.

The municipal square is over there... Jasmine wanted to remind him, but after she quivered her lips a few tis, she didn't part them.

She didn't dare to speak to anyone.

However, the young man took the initiative to walk over. He took off his hat and bowed slightly.

"Miss, do you know what this machine is for?"

Machine? Jasmine subconsciously looked up and dazedly followed the young man's gaze.

Under the streetlamp, a small wardrobe-like machine was sitting there at so point in ti.

Its surface was a brass color with a few transparent glass, gears, and bearings embedded in it. The components were exposed, looking very crude.

Jasmine retracted her gaze and shook her head, indicating that she didn't know what the machine was.

At the sa ti, this also expressed her intention to reject conversing.

"It's called a 'Fully Automatic Wishing Machine,'" the young man introduced with a smile. "It's my invention. It can automatically fulfill the wish of soone who operates it. By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My na is rlin Hers, a wandering magician."

Fully Automatic Wishing Machine... Jasmine realized that she could understand every single word but failed to understand the combined na.

"You can give it a try. As the first user to experience it, it's free," Klein, who had taken on the identity of rlin Hers, said with a smile.

Jasmine shook her head, refusing the conversation.

Klein didn't give up. He looked at her and said, "For example, you can make a wish to be restored with your original looks."

These words were like a sharp arrow that shot into Jasmine's heart. She stood up in shock and retreated hastily in an attempt to leave.

She suspected that he had already seen her current appearance.

"If you don't give it a try, how do you know that your wish won't co true? It's free," Klein said unhurriedly as he looked past her into the background.

Jasmine gradually slowed down and finally stopped.

If she could be restored with her original looks, even if she had to pay a huge sum of money, she would still be willing to do so.

However, she knew that the wish in her heart couldn't be granted by money.

I don't have to pay anything... It's a free try... What if it cos true... Jasmine's thoughts were in an upheaval, and she slowly turned around as if she was being enticed by a devil.

"Really?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

Klein pointed at the machine.

"I can retreat ten ters, and all you need to do is to turn the wrench on the machine.

"You don't have to remove your hat and scarf."

The last sentence moved Jasmine into action as she quickly nodded and said, "Okay."

Not long after rlin retreated a certain distance, Jasmine moved closer to the machine, gingerly grasping the wrench on the "door."

She was actually very worried that this was part of a prank that involved pulling the wrench, such as being splashed by water. This was sothing that would happen every year during the carnival. She and her friends had often played such pranks on others, but compared to a wish that could be fulfilled, she felt that it was an acceptable risk.

Even if it was proven that having her wish granted was impossible, it could still be treated as her experience at the carnival.

"Rember to make your wish before you turn it," Klein reminded her from not too far away.

Jasmine collected her thoughts and silently voiced her wish.

"I want to return to my forr self before the burns."

With that, she turned the wrench nervously and expectantly.

In the next second, the "door" to the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine opened. A normal wooden cane reached out and tapped Jasmine's forehead.

What Jasmine didn't notice was a golden ring embedded with rubies that had appeared on her hand.

When the wooden cane retracted back into the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine, the golden ring with the rubies disappeared as well.

As the gears turned, Jasmine saw the machine's "door" slowly close.

That's it? she thought blankly.

She didn't experience the feeling of having her wish fulfilled, nor was she being pranked. Everything seed so strange.

"Congratulations. Your wish has been granted." Klein walked back and clapped gently like a witness to a magical event.

My wish has been granted... How is this possible... Just as this thought flashed through her mind, she suddenly felt sothing beneath her scarf.

The spot where there were only two black holes left had been propped up!

Jasmine slowly raised her hand and touched her face, clearly sensing the presence of her nose.

And the quality of her breathing proved this point.

She suddenly turned around, her back facing rlin Hers. She walked to a shop by the side of the street and cast her gaze at the glass window.

Then, she removed the scarf covering her face.

Eyes that weren't big, a nose that wasn't too well-defined, and her lips that weren't too full—the freckled face of a girl was reflected on the window.

Jasmine subconsciously raised her hand and covered her mouth. Her eyes glistened.

After a few seconds, she raised her arm and wiped her face with her sleeve. She turned to look at rlin Hers and said, "Are you a god?"

"I'm just a magician who likes to create miracles." Klein smiled as he pointed at the machine beside him. "The thing you should thank the most is that—the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine."

"Fully Automatic..." Jasmine's emotions stirred as she subconsciously repeated.

Klein nodded and said, "Yes, a Fully Automatic Wishing Machine that can operate without any external help.

"You can understand it as a gas ter. As long as you throw in a coin, you can get a wish granted like how you obtain gas.

"The specific steps are very simple. Throw one penny in and make your wish before turning the wrench.

"Rember, only three wishes can be fulfilled."

While explaining, Klein inwardly mocked himself, If I were to unfortunately die one day and beco a Sealed Artifact, I hope it's sothing similar to the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

After leaving the capital of Midseashire, Constant City, Klein changed the thod of granting other people's wishes to prevent himself from being too bored.

One had to learn to seek joy in mundane work.

How miraculous... Jasmine couldn't find the words to describe how she felt inside.

Her exhilarated emotions cald down a little.

"Will it... I an will this Fully Automatic Wishing Machine stay here forever?" Jasmine asked hesitantly.

Klein smiled and said, "No."

"It could stay here for three days, or maybe not that long. Perhaps it would disappear when the sun rises.

"But it won't disappear forever. Perhaps one day, you will see it at the corner of the street again."

Jasmine's mind was in a ss and she was unable to sort out her thoughts. All she could do was bow to the machine and say seriously, "Thank you, Mr. Fully Automatic Wishing Machine."

Then, she bowed at Klein.

"Thank you, Mr. Hers."

As soon as she said that, Jasmine recalled the words rlin Hers had just said. Filled with anticipation, surprise, and embarrassnt, she asked, "Three wishes can be granted?"

"Yes, but it won't be free in the future. You will need to pay a penny," Klein replied, unfazed by the question.

-x-X-x-

Jasmine was excited, but she was still worried.

"What kind of price has to be paid?"

From her point of view, a prior free attempt didn't an that the subsequent wishes were without a price.

Klein adjusted his tall hat and smiled.

"The penny you paid is the price. The corresponding change that you have to bear after achieving your wish is also the price."

Jasmine nodded without completely understanding him. Without any hesitation, she reached into her pocket and attempted to take out a few copper pennies for her wish.

However, her pocket was empty except for a handkerchief.

Having stayed ho all this while, she hadn't had any contact with money.

She had relied on walking to go from ho to the municipal square instead of taking a trackless public carriage.

"I-I... Can I go ho first?" Jasmine asked, both vexed and embarrassed.

"Of course, this is your freedom, but I can't guarantee that the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine will always be waiting for you here," Klein said with the tone of a magician. "Sotis, it's very willful."

Jasmine tersely answered, thanked him, and turned around, jogging in the opposite direction of the municipal square.

The more she ran, the more relaxed her body beca. She found herself in her forrly healthy state before she was burnt, transforming back into a teenage girl in her pri.

To her, this was a scene that would only appear in a dream.

Of course, as an ordinary person, she gradually felt exhausted after running for a while. She had no choice but to slow down and begin walking slowly.

The cool night breeze blew, revealing resplendent stars peeking through the clouds high up in the sky. The trees by the side of the street swayed gently and scattered the swaying shadows on the ground. All of this was so quiet and beautiful. Jasmine only felt her body and mind relax, and all her worries disappeared.

This was the first ti she was in such a good mood ever since she was injured. Unknowingly, a smile appeared on her face.

After walking for about five minutes, she suddenly heard soone shout her na.

"Eh, Jasmine?"

Jasmine turned her head and saw a familiar face. It was her forr neighbor, Mrs. Hamil.

"Good evening, Mrs. Hamil, I haven't seen you in a long ti. Are you going to the carnival?" Jasmine, who wasn't wearing a scarf, said with a heartfelt smile.

Mrs. Hamil was a woman with a head of white hair. She carefully sized up Jasmine and said, "I haven't seen you since you moved away. I heard that you were injured in the previous blast?"

"Yes, but I've recovered." Jasmine nodded heavily.

She then asked, "How is Jolie now?"

Jolie was Mrs. Hamil's eldest daughter, and was her forr playmate.

Mrs. Hamil's expression instantly wore a shade of gloom.

"The Feysacians did unspeakable things to her, and she ended up dying..."

Jasmine was taken aback, thinking back to her experience while feeling sad.

A Feysacian soldier had rushed into her house in an attempt to do unspeakable things to her, but he only gave her a kick and left when he saw her disfigured face.

"Poor Jolie." Jasmine sincerely tapped her chest four tis in a clockwise fashion, outlining the stars.

It was only after she heard what had happened to her friend that she realized that she might have been relatively lucky.

After bidding farewell to Mrs. Hamil, Jasmine walked back to her apartnt.

When she got ho, she felt much better and her mood was back to normal. She started to look forward to the expression her parents would have when they saw her appearance restored.

They probably wouldn't keep the pain deep in their hearts and pretend that nothing has happened. They would definitely cry with joy and hug ... Jasmine took the key that was hanging around her neck like a necklace, and as she thought about it, she opened the door.

The room was dark. None of the candles or the gas wall lamps were lit.

On the bed outside, light and heavy snoring could be heard from her parents, forming a contrast with the bustling municipal square.

They're asleep... Yes, they've been working hard... Jasmine gently closed the door and walked to her parents' bed. With the crimson moonlight shining in through the window, she cast her gaze over.

Daddy has a lot of white hair, and his wrinkles have deepened... Mommy keeps frowning when she sleeps. Her face is flaking; it's dry, and coarse... Only then did Jasmine realize that she hadn't seriously looked at her parents' faces for a long ti. She didn't know that they had aged so much.

Before the war, her father was an accountant with a pretty good inco. They could afford to rent a terrace house and allow his wife to not work so as to focus on taking care of the family. But now, he could only work at textile factories and do all kinds of strenuous labor. Jasmine's mother had no choice but to leave her family and beco a textile worker.

Daddy's health is getting worse and worse. He's always coughing, but he has passed the recent Civil Servant Unified Examination. When the interview results are announced, he will have a decent job... Mommy keeps complaining that her arm is getting worse... Jasmine looked at her parents intently and didn't wake them up.

She had already thought of her second wish.

Softening her footsteps, Jasmine entered the room inside and poured out the last few pennies from her piggy bank that she had previously almost emptied.

Then, she left the apartnt and boarded a trackless public carriage.

She was afraid that the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine would be gone if she delayed any further.

At that mont, there were a lot of passengers on the public carriage. Most of them were heading to participate in the carnival. Jasmine looked around and saw that there were no seats, so she had no choice but to support herself as she stood on the aisle, squeezing with plenty of people.

Ten minutes later, she reached her stop and turned into that street.

When the brass-colored machine embedded with a few pieces of glass appeared before her eyes, Jasmine silently heaved a sigh of relief and quickly approached.

During this process, she surveyed her surroundings and didn't find the magician by the na of rlin Hers.

"It really is fully automatic. There's no need for him to be by my side?" Jasmine muttered in puzzlent.

She didn't waste any ti. She took out a penny and placed it inside the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

"I wish for my parents to be healthy again. I hope that my family will beco rich." Jasmine softly voiced her wish. She closed her eyes and waited for the miracle to happen.

In the next second, she heard the clanging sound as though a coin had rolled out from the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

Jasmine opened her eyes in shock and looked ahead, only to see that the penny she had just put into the machine had landed on a small tray around the coin slot.

This wish can't be fulfilled? Uh, a wish can't contain too much content? My wish was actually two wishes... With the experience of being cured of her burns, Jasmine didn't suspect that there was sothing wrong with the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

She thought seriously and stuffed the penny into the coin slot. Then, she lowered her head and made a wish softly.

"I hope my parents are healthy again."

This ti, she heard a soft knock sound out from the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

Tak!

Seeing that the copper coin remained inside the machine, Jasmine knew that her wish had been fulfilled. She couldn't wait to go ho and check on her parents' situation.

Suppressing her excitent, she inserted another penny.

She had originally planned on making her family wealthy, but rembering that her father was basically going to beco a civil servant in Limon City, and that her family inco was guaranteed, she couldn't help but have other thoughts about it.

When she was ten years old, she already knew that she wasn't good-looking. It wasn't that people around her would despise her and say that she wasn't good-looking, but amongst her playmates, there were two rather beautiful girls. This allowed them to be accorded with greater treatnt and experience the kindness of the world.

Such a comparison only served to make Jasmine inevitably dream of becoming prettier as she grew older. But reality proved that dreams could only be dreams.

However, this ti, her dream could turn into reality, because she had a miraculous Fully Automatic Wishing Machine in front of her.

If I can make myself beautiful, I can find a good husband, and I can improve my family situation... Jasmine seed to have heard the devil whispering in her ear. She closed her eyes uncontrollably and made a wish:

"I wish to beco extrely, extrely, extrely beautiful."

She used "extrely" thrice to accentuate the beauty she wanted.

Just as she finished speaking, the "door" to the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine opened once again. A silver-white mask was pushed out and covered her face.

Jasmine quickly opened her eyes and happened to see the mask disappear.

At the sa ti, she felt sothing connect to her.

She turned around in anticipation and once again walked to the shop by the side of the street. Using the light from the gas lamps and the glass on the window, she saw her current appearance.

For a mont, Jasmine couldn't describe the exact changes in her facial features and outline. All she knew was that at this mont even she was srized by her beauty.

Her nose had beco sharper and her lips had beco fuller. Her eyes beca bigger and limpid. Her skin was as tender as milk pudding. She only had slight similarities to her previous self.

"Is... Is this a miracle..." Jasmine couldn't help but let out a heartfelt sigh of amazent.

She looked at herself, intoxicated. It took her great effort to finally retract her gaze before bowing at the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.

Following that, she walked towards the public carriage stop. On the way, eyes kept turning to look at her.

Bang!

A man, who was too focused on her, slamd into a gas lamp post.

Jasmine pursed her lips into a smile. Without a word, she boarded the trackless public carriage.

There were still many people on board, and all the seats were taken.

Just as Jasmine was trying her best to find a spot, several n lifted their buttocks and straightened their bodies. They looked at her and smiled.

"Miss, you can sit here."

Jasmine was montarily stunned. She hadn't expected to receive so much kindness.

She didn't decline and sat down. She smiled at the man who had given up his seat.

"Thank you."

The man's expression beca extrely animated as he said humbly, "This is what a gentleman should do."

Jasmine still retained the habits from when she was previously cooped up at ho, so she didn't say anything else. She quietly sat there until she reached the stop near her apartnt. Then, she got off the carriage.

After a few steps, she suddenly felt that soone was looking at her. She quickly turned her head to look.

It was a drunkard. He was staring at Jasmine with an indescribably disgusting look.

Jasmine jumped in fright and briskly walked to her apartnt. However, the n she t along the way revealed similar looks, as though they could turn into beasts at any mont.

At that mont, Jasmine felt as though she was walking in the wilderness.