Faced with the lure of a Sequence 3 potion formula, Klein remained on high alert toward "Zaratul," yet temptation inevitably stirred within him.
More importantly, he knew that this venture was the Goddess's test—and since She had not stopped "Zaratul's" jailbreak, She was most likely intending to use his hands to release the angel.
He just didn't know what the Goddess was calculating behind the scenes… nor whether letting Zaratul go would add a troublesome enemy in the future…
Turning it over, Klein realized that the room for choice he had was actually very limited.
As "Zaratul" had said, when it came to opening the "passage" and leaving the Evernight Kingdom, their interests were aligned.
But a new question arose: since he would have to find the "stone slab" and open the passage no matter what, why tempt him further with the Scholar of Yore formula?
What was he afraid of? What kind of plot lay behind this?
As Klein weighed how to draw out more information, Ebner—having already seen through him—chuckled and said, "Don't think I'm being redundant… Trading a formula to settle the favor of you letting me out is actually profit on my end."
Hmm… in fact, this is both the Goddess's investment and compensation for letting you take the blame.
"Zaratul" really was the sort to care about propriety. Before using Roselle to steal the Antigonus notebook, he had paid sufficient "remuneration" in advance and cut ties afterward.
With his doubts temporarily settled, and seeing the crimson moon above the mist-shrouded town growing clearer, Klein did not dare delay. Using the symbol in the second row of the parchment as a medium, he performed a divination and received a vague hint.
He snapped his fingers, lighting a candle on another wall far from himself. Then he had Wraith Senor possess him, leapt forward, rolled in succession, and slipped out of the church.
Once Mr Fool had left, Ebner turned toward the statue of the Mother of Heaven and asked carefully:
"Do You intend for Klein to open a 'door' leading to the place where Vicente Miranda sleeps, so that certain beings will misjudge the situation?"
Ebner had opened the second space on the parchment during his first visit. It contained three sigils: one leading to Antigonus, one to the Evernight Goddess, and one to Vicente Miranda—the Death Consul slumbering deep within Calderón City.
"Do you think Zhou will open it?" the Goddess asked, her voice carrying a faint smile.
"He will!" Ebner replied with certainty.
A 'cat' without this bit of curiosity wouldn't be a cat at all—especially when opening a door via symbols carries no great danger.
"Then it will be Zhou's own choice, not Me 'making' him do so," the Goddess said softly.
But the outcome of a choice often lies in how the options are arranged… Ebner muttered inwardly, before asking aloud:
"You're also letting Zaratul escape to divert Amon's attention, so He won't come after Klein too early, right?
"After all, to Amon, whether it's Alvin Abraham or Zaratul, both are very likely the 'Lord of Mysteries' You truly support."
Unexpectedly, the Goddess replied meaningfully:
"Amon is not the real problem… With you here, there is no need to rush the birth of a new 'Lord of Mysteries.'"
No rush? Then what about the seal on the Western Continent? The apocalypse is approaching—without those Sefirot, Earth's side will lack Old-One-level combat power.
Will I have to open the seal myself? Does the Unknown truly possess enough strength to break a seal set by the Lord of Mysteries?
Before Ebner could ask further, Klein's figure reappeared inside the church, an obsidian stone slab in hand.
Ebner had no choice but to resume his "Zaratul" role, and he had a premonition that even if he pressed the Goddess further, She might not answer—this was something he would have to investigate on his own.
Meanwhile, Klein's mood was excellent—no, it would be more accurate to say he was over the moon.
After seizing the slab from a Reaper, he had not only obtained a Sequence 5 characteristic, but also a "stomach-bag" formed from the aggregation of characteristics from many different pathways. It was clearly the remains of some ravenous "strong figure" who had devoured numerous Beyonders indiscriminately.
Although its exact value could not yet be determined, a rough estimate alone told Klein it was worth at least a hundred thousand pounds—once the contents were separated.
For now, however, its side effects were terrifying. Without the upgraded Creeping Hunger barely suppressing it, he would not have dared pick it up at all.
Once I'm back, I'll ask Miss Messenger to pulverize this stomach-bag. After she ate one of Sua's arms outside Bayam and digested it for a month, she should have recovered to angel level by now…
It's just that her fees are always exorbitant—I wonder what kind of quote she'll give this time…
Thinking this, Klein walked up to "Zaratul," placed the obsidian slab onto the second row of the parchment, and saw the three symbols appear clearly.
He recognized both the Antigonus symbol and the Goddess's symbol at a glance.
"Which of these leads outside?" Klein asked.
"Would you believe me if I told you?" Ebner glanced at him, then chuckled softly. "You'd better try them yourself."
I really hate people like you—everything vague, always smiling without saying anything… though I wouldn't believe you anyway. Klein complained inwardly, then asked:
"Then can I have the Scholar of Yore formula now?"
"Certainly." Ebner nodded and flicked a finger. Lines of text appeared on the ground—precisely the Scholar of Yore potion formula.
Klein focused, letting every word imprint itself into his mind. There was no need to memorize it immediately; once he returned above the gray fog, Mr Fool could activate the memory.
Still, he deliberately glanced at the ritual. When he saw:
"Completely detached from reality for at least three hundred years, and only consume the potion after one has become history and no longer belongs to the current era."
He nodded silently. It matched what Roselle had recorded in his diary—"Zaratul" was telling the truth.
Next, exactly as Ebner had expected, after fierce internal debate, Klein's curiosity won out. He resolved to test each symbol—and even added half of The Fool's Pupil-less Eye and half of a Twisted Line.
When he tested the Antigonus symbol, he saw tentacles formed from countless maggots, and beneath them, upon the throne, the Blasphemy Card—
—the Fool card!
Although he had long known the Sequence 0 name from Mr Tower, the sight still shook him deeply, and he began to grasp the true purpose of the Goddess's "test."
As an investor, the Goddess is both displaying Her capital and observing the abilities and advantages of this start-up evil god…
Mr Tower said She's a fellow transmigrator—was She a venture-capital manager before transmigrating?
While sighing inwardly, Klein tested the symbol shaped like a crowned skull. This time, he saw only a thick coffin, soaked in illusory river water.
Yet this simple scene made his spirituality scream warnings, as if continuing to look would invite something utterly terrifying.
Klein did not dare linger and immediately closed the "door."
"What was that place? That aura was horrifying!" He turned to ask "Zaratul," only to discover that the other party had vanished without him noticing.
"Was that terrifying place what Zaratul truly wanted? What's inside that coffin—his body?"
As Klein wildly speculated, certain beings who had been monitoring Calderón City also detected a subtle disturbance deep within it, and began investigating the cause.
…
In the early hours of the morning, Backlund.
After retrieving the Zaratul projection, Ebner Flashed back to Princess Vera's bedroom. She had clearly anticipated his arrival and was waiting.
"Congratulations on regaining your former strength—an angel of the Abraham family. My brother has already ordered MI9 to fully investigate the Abrahams," Vera said with a smile.
Although she was not a potion-path Beyonder, she possessed genuine angel-level authority and had naturally received Ebner's broadcast.
"A fate arranged long ago—there's nothing to be proud of," Ebner replied softly, then changed the subject. "Vera, please inform George III to arrange the meeting between Owen and himself."
Vera was briefly surprised, then realized the implication and laughed. "So now that you have angel-level power, you're ready to avenge Miss Xio Derecha?"
"With strength, some things must naturally be done," Ebner nodded, then added gently, "and this also helps you ascend and complete the Feng-shan ritual."
Vera shot him a sideways glance, smiling as she teased:
"Sweet talker!"
(End of chapter)