Inside the Sefirah Castle.
Edward lay sprawled on the ground, his chest rising and falling with exhaustion. Tilting his head upward, he gazed at the transformation unfolding before his eyes. His sight pierced through the swirling white mist, reaching into the deepest recesses of the space—where countless "human figures" hung suspended in a vast, enigmatic chamber.
That hidden space trembled violently, and all those hanging forms swayed along with it, as though at any moment they might break free and crash to the ground.
Amon stood nearby, arms folded across a newly rounded chest, the crystalline monocle glittering on her right eye. Her expression remained calm and composed, as if she were inspecting her own domain.
She didn't seem to care in the slightest that she now wore the form of a woman—for to Amon, gender had never carried any meaning.
When the Sefirah Castle finally began to quiet down, Amon lowered her head slightly, the corners of her lips curving faintly as she looked at Edward.
"Perhaps I overestimated the cost of bearing the Sefirah Castle's burden," she said softly. "I should've made my move earlier."
Edward pushed himself up on one arm, then sat upright with a weak smile.
"Congratulations."
"Congratulations?"
Amon chuckled, genuinely amused.
"I just took your Sefirah Castle, and you're congratulating me? What is this—flattery? Are you hoping I'll spare your life and let you serve as one of my angels?"
Even as she spoke, she extended her will—attempting to parasitise him again. There's always something wrong when someone acts too calm.
"No."
Edward's voice was quiet, but steady.
"I told you long ago—I was never interested in becoming the Lord of the Sefirah Castle. I only thought it was a convenient tool to use."
"When I advanced to Sequence 3 and truly became its master, that was something I hadn't even planned for. So now that it's been taken away…honestly, I feel relieved."
"My congratulations," he continued, his tone gentle but cutting, "are for something else entirely—because, compared to before, you're no longer so afraid of taking responsibility. Maybe it's because I gave you a touch of humanity. Maybe it's because you've grown attached to this world. Or maybe…you were never truly without humanity to begin with, nor as terrified of responsibility as you claimed."
Amon laughed softly, pushing her monocle higher on her face.
"Then you're going to be disappointed. Amon is still Amon, and will always be Amon…"
Edward's gaze remained calm, almost piercing.
"If you had two choices before you—becoming the Lord of Mysteries, or resurrecting the Ancient Sun God—which would you choose?"
"Of course, I wou—"
Amon began to answer reflexively, but the words stopped midway. She tilted her head, lips curling into a faint smirk.
"What a pointless question."
Taking a few steps closer, she said lightly,
"You'd better worry about yourself instead. Do you have any idea what kind of end awaits you now?"
"Actually," Edward said, his tone unreadable, "I think letting you become the Lord of Mysteries might not be such a bad thing after all."
He reached into himself and stole out the Worm of Time Amon had used to parasitise him.
"But unfortunately," he added, "that would make the future…a complete mess."
"What?"
Before Amon could process the words, she launched another round of [Theft]—snatching at Edward's thoughts, his powers, even attempting a deeper parasitism.
But the thoughts she "stole" were incomprehensible—mere fragments of phrases repeating one after another:
Madman to the Right.
Madman to the Right.
Madman to the Right.
What…does that mean?
The thought had barely formed when Amon suddenly felt a violent sense of expulsion tearing through her body. Everything in her vision was rushing away—her form turning transparent.
The Sefirah Castle is rejecting me?!
In that instant, the once-calm Sefirah Castle began to shake violently again.
From afar, Amon saw Edward rise to his feet. He stood still, merely watching her, expression serene—as if he had foreseen this exact moment all along.
"!!!"
Grayish-white mist surged from all directions, filling Amon's field of vision.
In that final moment before her figure was engulfed, a sudden clarity struck her, and she shouted four questions, voice echoing through the collapsing space.
"You—knew from the start that I was the real body?"
"You foresaw all of this happening today?"
"Everything—was part of your plan?"
"What is it you're really after?!"
Edward stood tall within the grand, towering palace, gazing down at her with a faint smile.
"Correct," he said softly. "But unfortunately, there's no reward."
In the next instant, the mist dispersed.
When Amon blinked again, she was standing alone—adrift in the boundless Starry Sky of the Astral World.
The connection she had just established with the Sefirah Castle—barely three minutes old—had vanished completely.
For a long moment, Amon stood there in stunned silence. Then, slowly, a chuckle escaped her lips.
"How…entertaining."
"Oh? Amon? What brings you to my domain?"
A lilting, bewitching voice broke the stillness.
Amon turned toward it—and for a brief instant, even she found herself entranced.
A breathtakingly beautiful woman approached with languid grace, every movement dripping with charm that eclipsed the stars themselves.
The Primordial Demoness—Cheek.
———
Weakness.
A suffocating, all-consuming weakness was slowly devouring him.
It wasn't like the frailty he'd felt after losing the Sefirah Castle. That earlier weakness had merely stripped him of a "powerful tool," reducing him to an ordinary Sequence 3. But this—this was different. This time, the weakness came from the steady erosion of his life force itself.
Edward could feel it clearly: his vitality was draining away, his existence inching closer and closer toward death.
This was the price of using "Madman to the Right"—without the Sefirah Castle's protection.
And for the first time, the cost had manifested in a tangible, deadly form. It was no longer about triggering external dangers or inviting indirect calamities—it was the direct, fatal consumption of his own life.
By using Madman to the Right to forcibly reverse reality, he had stripped the current Lord of the Sefirah Castle of his authority—a being who was, at this moment, a powerful King of Angels. Edward had long anticipated that this would not come without a price.
He staggered forward, step by step, and collapsed into the high-backed chair opposite the Fool's Seat at the grand bronze table. A faint smile tugged at his pale lips.
He had done it.
He had turned a widely known event—into a falsehood.
The ritual was complete.
Edward had prepared a double layer of insurance for the ritual.
The first layer: using Amon's hand to strip himself of the title of Lord of the Sefirah Castle.
His ascension as the Castle's master had been a publicly acknowledged event, something known across the higher ranks of existence. The moment Amon forcibly took that authority away from him, the fact that "Edward was the Lord of the Sefirah Castle" became false.
The second layer: after Amon became the new master, Edward immediately used Madman to the Right to reverse that reality once more—turning yet another universally known truth into falsehood.
He couldn't be certain whether the ritual's success had come from the first act or the second, but one thing was clear—
The advancement ritual for Sequence 2 was complete.
The idea had first come to him in the Sefirah Castle itself—at the moment he learned that Lilith was trapped in the Mirror World, unable to return.
At that time, Edward had tried directly using Madman to the Right to reverse his identity as the Sefirah Castle's master—but it failed.
It made sense, in hindsight. Using the Castle's own grafted powers to shoulder the burden of Madman to the Right, while simultaneously using that same ability to deny his ownership of the Castle—it was a paradox, self-contradictory at its core.
After much thought, he had shifted his focus—to Amon.
Edward had begun suspecting that the Amon before him was the true body during one particular attempt to deconstruct Amon's monocle inside the Sefirah Castle. In that process, he had discovered traces of the Authority of Error—the very foundation of the monocle's composition.
Every clone of Amon wore a monocle and could use the powers of Error, yes—but the Uniqueness of the Authority of Error should logically belong only to the true body. Handing it to a clone would be asking for rebellion.
That suspicion had driven him to test the theory through divination—and the result had confirmed it.
From that moment, the plan began to take shape.
Every day thereafter, Edward had used Madman to the Right once—Amon thought he was "injecting humanity" into him again and again, but in truth, Edward was laying the groundwork for Amon's "escape," subtly influencing his thoughts bit by bit, making him believe everything was proceeding according to His own plan.
Until, finally, the appearance of the Miracle Invoker (Attendant of Mysteries) Beyonder Characteristic—the signal Edward had been waiting for, the sign that Amon would take action.
Even then, Amon had been overly cautious.
Even with the Sefirah Castle right before him, he still tried to take it without paying the price—just as he once did with Klein—trying to make Edward bear both fate and consequence.
So Edward turned that caution against him. Using the fragmentary Authority of Error he had acquired through Sefirah Castle reversals—an authority that could only function within the Castle—he stole Amon's Uniqueness to corner him, forcing Amon to act rashly and seize the Sefirah Castle outright.
Yes, the plan had been perilous, full of uncertainty and possible death. But Edward had no better option.
Lilith was still trapped in the perilous Mirror World, her life and death unknown. He needed to ascend to Sequence 2 as soon as possible to find her.
Even if things went wrong—even if it all collapsed—he could still use Madman to the Right to force his own death, then revive himself through his recorded memories.
It was a gamble—a mad gamble.
But after all, hadn't he grown quite accustomed to madness back when he played the role of a Madman?
As for the divination needed to trigger Madman to the Right…
Who said divination had to involve coins, or crystals, or astrolabes?
Those flashy coin tosses in front of Amon were nothing more than misdirection.
Amon certainly knew that at a sufficiently high Sequence, divination required no tools—but what of it? Knowing wouldn't change a thing.
The moment Amon completed his theft of the Sefirah Castle, Edward was already capable of reversing everything through Madman to the Right.
He had merely delayed it—since Amon wasn't rushing to act, Edward had gladly let him take full ownership, ensuring the event of "Amon becoming the Lord of the Sefirah Castle" became even more widely acknowledged.
And then—at the very instant Amon succeeded—Edward reversed it all.
"Phew…"
Edward exhaled deeply, fighting against the waves of nausea and pain tearing through his body. His life was still slipping away. He knew that if this continued, death was inevitable.
He had to admit—the price of using Madman to the Right this time had completely exceeded his expectations.
There was only one solution he could think of: immediate advancement.
He had to ascend to Sequence 2, to gain greater vitality and longevity—only then could he resist this withering death.
"Fitting, isn't it?" he muttered, bracing himself against the table. "After everything I've done—after all that risk—it was all for this very moment."
He glanced once more at the grand hall shrouded in grey mist.
"Heh…maybe the Sefirah Castle's throwing a tantrum. After having its 'master' changed twice in a row, it didn't even re-recognise me when Amon left."
"Or maybe," he added dryly, "it's telling me to start the whole damn process over next time."
But he knew it wasn't worth it. Getting the Sefirah Castle back into a masterless state had been difficult enough—trying again would be nearly impossible.
So this ending...was good enough.
With a calm, untroubled smile, Edward turned and stepped away, leaving the space behind.
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.