Night fell.
Carrying various gemstones with him, Edward arrived at a small island in the Berserk sea. Tonight was another full moon night; he intended to contact Mr. Door once again.
Just as he was about to set up the ritual, a noisy wave of prayers echoed by his ears. He looked up at the rising round moon on the horizon, then put the gemstones back into his spatial pocket, and walked backwards four steps to enter the Sefirah Castle.
"What have you been busy with these last few days? You haven't even come up to the Castle."
The moment he sat down, Amon's curious voice sounded.
Edward replied calmly, "Hunting Zaratul."
"Oh?"
Amon's eyes brightened. "That fellow is more cautious and afraid of death than anyone. Even I can't catch him. What are you planning to do?"
"Use Sefirah Castle as bait."
"That IS a good method, but…before Zaratul advances to Sequence 1, it may not have much effect."
"How would we know if we don't try?"
"That's true."
Amon nodded, a faint gleam flashing in his monocle. "Have you been spending a lot of time at Stiano's place lately?"
"How do you know?"
Edward looked over. This Amon was becoming more and more like one of those masterminds in old films: without stepping out of the Castle, he knew "everything happening in the world."
"After all, we used to be very familiar old acquaintances." Amon smiled. "So—what did you two talk about? Care to share it with me?"
"We didn't talk about anything. Just said hello."
"Heh."
Amon smiled silently.
Laugh some more, I'll punch your face crooked.
Thinking it and doing it was exactly Edward's way.
He snapped his fingers, and the bird beak on Amon's face instantly slanted sixty degrees to the side. In an instant, his face looked much more…abstract.
Now that felt good.
Amon: "..."
At that moment, Edward extended his spirituality into the flickering stars, and Roselle's figure appeared within the depths of the grey fog.
"Mr. Chairman, I've already acquired that notebook."
Such efficiency.
He had only just helped 'Steam Muscle' translate the book, and Roselle had already gotten hold of the Antigonus Family Notebook.
"Good. Next, hand it over to Zaratul."
Right when the image was sent over, Roselle replied again: "However, when I returned home just now and thought back on how I obtained the notebook, the more I thought about it, the more strange it felt. Too easy. Too coincidental…Could it be that I was set up by that person you mentioned…that priest?"
"No."
The one who "set you up" was not Adam. It was your most beloved Papa Steam.
Edward then manifested a paper figurine and tossed it towards Roselle's crimson star. Midair, it transformed into a black-winged angel and embraced Roselle.
"You have been blessed. Now, go…"
Amon, his mouth still tilted sixty degrees, chuckled, "So you're using the Antigonus Family Notebook as bait. In that case, little Zaratul is guaranteed to bite the hook."
"But are you really confident you can keep him?"
"I will have a way."
———
When he returned to the deserted island, the crimson moon had already risen high in the sky.
Edward continued setting up the altar. He arranged rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, pearls, lapis lazuli, and various ritual materials around the altar.
After confirming there were no issues, he ignited the altar's flame, burned the strands of hair in his hand, placed them into the cauldron, and then, watching the booming blaze, he solemnly chanted in Jotun:
"Great Door of All Doors."
"Guide of Endless Cosmos."
"Key to all..."
Edward was just about to recite the third line when sharp, piercing murmurs suddenly forced their way into his ears. His consciousness boiled like heated water, bubbles constantly rising, trying to tear open the restraints in his head—accompanied by intense pain.
"Don't save me! Don't save me! Don't save me!"
This was…Mr. Door's ravings?
But aside from that first time when he took the potion to become an Apprentice—perhaps due to Door's "Uniqueness"—he had only heard Mr. Door's murmurs that once. After that, he had never heard them again—after all, he wasn't an Abraham descendant.
So why was this happening again now…?
Oh, right.
It was the Wanderer's Beyonder characteristic from the Abraham family!
It must have come from the remains of a deceased Wanderer of the Abraham family, and after using it to advance—just like Fors, who heard Mr. Door's murmurs after using the Abraham family's bead-like bracelet—he could now hear Mr. Door's ravings as well.
Even so, the pain caused by the murmurs remained within tolerable limits—no loss of control, no mutation. He clenched his teeth and hesitated whether he should continue reciting the third honorific of Mr. Door.
Suddenly, Mr. Door's murmurs became lucid and clear:
"Oh, it's you?"
"You've changed so much, I almost didn't recognise you."
Edward had always felt that there was a slightly contradictory setting regarding Mr. Door in Lord of the Mysteries:
Every full moon night, Mr. Door would send maddening murmurs to the Abraham descendants. The content was always "don't save me." Not only was he telling his descendants not to rescue him, but he was also minimising the appearance of demigod-level apprentices—essentially trying to prevent his own return.
This implied that Mr. Door was lucid during full moons.
Yet strangely, the ritual to contact Mr. Door also required a full moon. Whether it was Roselle or later Trissy, whenever they conversed with Mr. Door, one could see he was in a madness tainted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
So that raised the question:
On full moons, is Mr. Door lucid or mad?
He felt like Schrödinger's cat—existing in a quantum superposition of lucidity and madness. Before "opening the box," you never knew which state he would be in.
"Why aren't you speaking?"
Mr. Door's voice sounded again. "Although your ritual is not yet complete, I've already sensed it. You must have something you want to ask me, right?"
His voice was gentle and elegant, as if he remembered nothing of what happened last time in the City of Calamity.
Edward wanted to ask: Are you lucid or are you mad right now?
But he knew that even if he asked, Mr. Door's answer would be impossible to judge. So he might as well get straight to the point.
"Mr. Door, I've almost finished digesting the Wanderer potion, but the Planeswalker Beyonder characteristic still hasn't surfaced. May I ask what I must pay in order to obtain information about it from you?"
"Oh, I remember last time we met you were still a Secrets Sorcerer. Young people truly are amazing—less than two months, and you're already about to advance to Planeswalker."
There was a hint of admiration in Mr. Door's voice.
"As for a Planeswalker Beyonder characteristic…I have two left here, and the Abraham family also has several Planeswalker Sealed Artifacts."
Edward didn't speak—he waited for the "but."
"But as I told you last time, I cannot reveal any information about the Abraham family to you. Therefore, if you want the Beyonder characteristic, you can simply come find me."
"..."
Very good.
He had shamelessness carved into his bones. Last time he lured that Abraham branch into sacrifice, and now he was pretending to be a kindly senior cherishing later generations?
Previously, he only tried enticing him with the Planeswalker's advancement ritual to lure him into the starry sky. Now that he knew Edward was no longer afraid of corruption, he directly told him to come and die in person.
This Mr. Door was definitely the insane version controlled by the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
Once Edward confirmed he was talking to the mad version, he understood that Mr. Door had only one purpose in communicating with him:
To make him help bring Mr. Door back to Earth.
Therefore, Mr. Door could not speak nothing but lies—otherwise even a fool wouldn't fall for it. Conversely—whether facing Roselle or Trissy—most things Mr. Door said were true, with only two topics being vague: his current state, and returning to Earth.
Edward needed exactly this—he hoped Mr. Door could help answer a few questions to complete the digestion of the Deconstruction Scholar potion.
Only problem was—now that Mr. Door realised Edward clearly understood him and the Mother Goddess of Depravity, would he still be willing to "deceive" him?
"Where should I go to find you, then?"
"The moon."
Mr. Door sighed.
"Most of the time, I remain there—gazing at the planet I once lived on. You must have been to the starry sky already, right? When you look at your homeworld from another angle—how does it feel?"
"Isn't it miraculous, grand, beautiful?"
Edward nodded. "Yes."
Mr. Door's words surprised him—he suddenly realised that aside from the first time he roamed the stars and casually glanced at Earth, every subsequent time he used the starry sky only as a transit point—or went directly to other planets.
He had never again viewed Earth from space.
The reason was obvious—he didn't dare stay too close to the moon, lest the Mother Goddess of Depravity or other Outer Gods seize the opportunity.
"Yes, every night, when I gaze at that blue planet that seems so close…I feel many things. I always wonder…when can I return? Do I still have a chance to return?"
Tsk. Why are you suddenly getting poetic?
Edward replied lightly, "You will have a chance."
"Then I'll borrow your good words."
Mr. Door chuckled softly.
"Pardon me—I got carried away. Back to the topic. If you truly want the Planeswalker Beyonder characteristic, you must come to the moon, so I can personally give it to you."
"Give it to me? Without any cost?"
"Of course not."
He continued, "My request is still the same as before—help me return."
Edward sighed. "But didn't I already tell you the method last time?"
"..."
Mr. Door fell silent.
"Fine, fine, we'll discuss the Planeswalker characteristic slowly later."
Edward said, "Do you still remember what happened last time in the City of Calamity? I'm very curious—what exactly were you trying to accomplish there?"
Another long silence.
Edward fired consecutive questions:
"Were you trying to use the City of Calamity as a springboard—using the abilities of the Door pathway—to reach the Western Continent?"
"Was that really possible? If I hadn't interfered, would you truly have succeeded in opening the route to the Western Continent?"
"That wooden door at the time—was it some special ability you used to achieve it?"
"How did it work?"
———
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