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*****
"It seems the clues from the Church were remarkably accurate. This place really does contain everything a Seer needs for the higher sequences—formulas and materials alike."
George stared at the Half-Fool Antigonus perched upon the stone throne, his thoughts racing behind a calm facade.
"However, if this entire setup is part of the Evernight Goddess's design, what was Her purpose in letting me in? Is this a test? Or does She intend to use Antigonus and Zaratul to eliminate me—or perhaps use me to dispose of them?"
If the Goddess hadn't permitted it, the Church would never have handed over such precise intelligence regarding the Fool pathway. George was certain that the Goddess was watching everything unfolding in this hidden realm, harboring her own intricate schemes.
But he didn't care.
Whatever Her objective—whether a trial or a move to "borrow a knife to kill"—it was irrelevant to him. As long as he walked away with what he wanted, it was a win-win.
"A Mythical Creature beyond Sequence 1, the closest thing to a Sequence 0 True God... let's see what you're really made of!"
Antigonus had never fully ascended to Sequence 0 because he lacked two additional Attendant of Mysteries characteristics. While his raw power couldn't match a True God's, he was currently in a permanent Mythical state due to losing control. Furthermore, the awakening consciousness of the Celestial Worthy within him meant his peak output was only a hair's breadth below that of a deity.
He was the perfect benchmark. Up until now, George had gauged the strength of True Gods primarily through the sheer volume of their spiritual energy, which was imprecise. His encounter with the Depraved Mother Goddess had been skewed by the Original Creator's barrier. This was a chance to experience the pinnacle of the Seer pathway firsthand.
"Giant's Fist!"
George's body expanded rapidly, his form swelling into a towering giant. He threw a punch that seemed to collapse the air itself, aimed straight at the figure on the throne.
Having gathered intelligence from Roselle, George knew that the Fool pathway was among the least suited for physical brawling across all twenty-two pathways. He decided to lead with a overwhelming physical strike to test the waters.
As the massive fist loomed over him, the sealed Antigonus reacted with pure, divine instinct.
Why hadn't the Evernight Goddess killed Antigonus? Why seal him instead? Because She couldn't kill him without paying a catastrophic price. At his level, a cornered Antigonus would lash out with such madness that even a True God would be severely wounded. She had only been able to seal him because he was occupied with the internal struggle against the Celestial Worthy.
The caveat of the seal was simple: do not provoke him. Once provoked, you would face the most frenzied retaliation imaginable.
Just as George's fist was about to crush the crown of his head, it vanished. Time flickered, and the fist was back at its starting position, as if the punch had never been thrown.
"Fooling Time?"
George's brow twitched. He recognized the ability; Antigonus had Fooled the concept of time, resetting the state of the attack to its inception.
Simultaneously, thousands of slimy, malevolent tentacles erupted from every shadow in the hall, far more numerous and potent than the ones George had incinerated moments ago.
"Grand Magic: Fairy Sphere!"
With a sweep of George's hand, the power of Time surged outward, blanketing the entire hall. Antigonus and his legion of tentacles were instantly frozen in place.
"You Fool time, but I command it."
While the entire hall was locked in a stasis of George's making, his own fist remained unaffected. It descended once more toward Antigonus's head.
BOOM!
The ground shattered. The hidden power shielding the main peak trembled violently, nearly collapsing. The stone throne disintegrated into dust, but Antigonus's body was gone—only a single, crushed Worm of Spirit remained in the crater. At the critical moment, Antigonus had used a Substitute, sacrificing one worm to save his main consciousness.
"Fooling!"
A distorted voice echoed as the time-lock was forcibly broken. The air began to writhe, and a literal celestial body—a planet—manifested in the sky above the hall, hurtling toward George with crushing force.
"Is this Reassembly?"
George narrowed his eyes. He leaped upward, his hand stiffening into a blade. With a single, vertical strike, he cleaved the incoming planet in half.
Reassembly—also known as Tampering or Grafting—was an ability awakened at Sequence 1, Attendant of Mysteries. It allowed the user to combine physical objects or abstract concepts that had no logical connection, essentially rewriting definitions, logic, and rules. It was a divine authority that allowed one to act as a god of change.
Because Antigonus was an incomplete Fool, he had merely Grafted the concept of a planet. Had he been a True God, he could have Grafted a literal star. Even so, the Grafted concept carried the weight and destructive power of the real thing. It was a reminder that while the Fool's physical body might be weak, their "artillery" was second to none. Even the Eternal Blazing Sun would have to think twice before facing a barrage of Grafted stars.
"That's enough testing."
After shattering the planet with his bare hands, George reverted to his normal size. He was done playing around. It was time for an attack at the level of a True God.
"Grand Magic: Fairy Law!"
A gargantuan magic circle manifested over the entire mountain peak. Blinding, holy light flooded the hidden realm. Fairy Law targeted only those the caster perceived as enemies; within its range, there was no escape, no matter the trickery.
Trapped by the Evernight Goddess's seal, Antigonus couldn't leave the peak. He had no choice but to take the full brunt of a True God-level spell.
When the white light finally faded, the Mythical Creature that had been composed of millions of worms was reduced to a few hundred, writhing feebly on the floor. Antigonus was at the end of his rope.
"It's good that he's still alive. I can search his soul for any missing details."
George stepped forward, ready to reclaim the Fool Uniqueness and the Attendant of Mysteries characteristic while peering into the ancient wolf's memories.
But after one step, he stopped.
"Interesting!"
The writhing worms suddenly began to coalesce, but not back into the form of the wolf. Within the blink of an eye, they transformed into a young man. This man's eyes held no trace of madness. Instead, they radiated an infinite, cold majesty and an indescribable, eldritch aura.
"Antigonus? No..." George's voice turned low. "I suppose it's the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings now."
(End of Chapter)