Leyton ignored Amon's suggestion. After all, with an Amon appearing before him, his illusion was likely already riddled like a sieve by multiple Amons.
As the thought crossed his mind, the illusion covering the entire Afternoon Town suddenly vanished. Under the occasional flashes of lightning from the sky, the surrounding dilapidated houses and streets reappeared, and even the air seemed to carry a hint of stale odor.
Amon, wearing a monocle, leaned casually against a half-collapsed wall, one hand tidying a few strands of hair on his forehead, and said, "You carry many good things on you. I smelled it even before I got close—the scent of Pride and the Sun."
Leyton lowered his eyes and said nothing, the urge to push Amon and the wall behind him down becoming increasingly strong.
He took a deep breath, and a faint deep blue glow shimmered in his eyes, finally suppressing the constantly fluctuating thoughts in his mind.
The next moment, his body suddenly became transparent, turning into a statue composed of countless starlight. This statue instantly shattered, transforming into points of brilliant starlight that surged away from the area.
The moment the starlight surged past the edge of Afternoon Town, the silver-white glow covering the entire Afternoon Town flickered and vanished. He was back in the square in the center of Afternoon Town, back in front of Amon.
"Do you want to know the secret of the City of Silver?"
Amon's voice, tinged with a hint of mischief, echoed in his ears. Leyton ignored him, his eyes still a bit dazed.
This situation only lasted for an instant. Soon, he received the new memories in his mind and clarified his current predicament.
"Oh? You've reacted? That was quite fast."
Amon's teasing voice echoed in his ears. Leyton twitched the corner of his mouth, saying somewhat speechlessly, "Did you steal Ouroboros's Fate cycle ability?"
Amon raised a hand and pressed the edge of the monocle over his right eye, saying in a calm tone, "That silly big snake isn't the only one who can restart fate within a certain range."
Leyton didn't bother to ponder the truth of his words and instead asked, "How did you find me? You couldn't have been sending avatars to follow the people of the City of Silver all this time, could you?"
Amon curved his lips and said, "Although I have many avatars, they are not meant to be wasted like that."
"I sensed some disturbance in fate, and then followed the source of that disturbance to this place."
"You want to say you haven't done anything yet? Perhaps you're just too unlucky, and the slight ripple you caused happened to be within my observation."
Leyton twitched his mouth. He didn't quite believe Amon's explanation, but he didn't refute him either.
Amon reached out and pinched his monocle. Suddenly, a bonfire appeared, along with two dark red wooden chairs with many scratches on their surfaces.
Where did Amon steal the bonfire and chairs from? The style of the chairs didn't look like they were from the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Do all Amons share one utility room? Leyton mused as he dragged a chair over and sat down.
Amon sat on the chair opposite the bonfire, leaning against the wooden chair and saying, "As long as it's not a place like the Forsaken Land of the Gods that would block my connection with other avatars, we can freely control what each other steals."
"Alright, you've asked so many questions. Now it's my turn to ask, isn't it?"
"Alright." Leyton leaned back slightly in the wooden chair and nodded gently.
This Amon is probably at the Sequence 3 level, not too dangerous, but not someone to let your guard down around. Is he doing this on purpose?
To be able to coalesce a Sequence 3 avatar so quickly, was he nearby from the start? Or is it some ability I don't know about?
Opposite the bonfire, Amon's face was illuminated by a flickering red glow. He held one arm across his chest and propped his chin with the other hand, looking as if he was deep in thought.
As more and more chaotic thoughts interacted in Leyton's mind, he finally spoke:
"Who was that gray stone statue in the illusion just now?"
Leyton looked at Amon with surprise. Seeing the other party listening intently, he organized his words slightly and said, "The Erudite, a new belief in the Southern Continent Paz River Valley. He is the guide for those lost in confusion, the disseminator of knowledge, the supreme being of all mysteries and philosophies..."
"Are you willing to learn about His belief?"
"If I say yes, will you start preaching to me right now?" Amon said with a faint smile on his lips, looking very curious.
Leyton gently shook his head and said, "No, preaching is not my job. This counts as a question too."
"Heh, no problem." Amon chuckled indifferently, then continued, "Why are you here? To select a group of loyal believers, or to help Him obtain the blasphemy slate in the Giant King's Court?"
Leyton leaned back, resting against the chair, and replied in a calm voice, "Perhaps only the former, or perhaps both. It depends on your father's choice."
Across the bonfire, Amon's expression changed for the first time, and he said in an unusually calm tone, "My father is dead. He is just a lingering evil spirit."
Leyton acted as if he hadn't noticed Amon's expression and continued to press, "If He isn't, why would Ouroboros, the King of Angels of the Fate pathway, follow Him all this time? Madness won't last forever. What if He recovers His sanity one day in the future?"
Amon gazed deeply at Leyton across the bonfire. Just as Leyton thought he wouldn't answer the question, he spoke in a relaxed tone, as if he didn't care at all, "He isn't. That big snake is foolish. Perhaps in his eyes, that Lunatic is some continuation of my father, but in my eyes, He isn't. He is just a Lunatic, a Lunatic who inherited a portion of my father's legacy."
"Even if He recovers His sanity one day, it will only be a resemblance."
Leyton nodded gently. After a moment of contemplation, he continued to ask, "What if He retrieves the other half?"
Amon suddenly straightened his body, which had been leaning against the chair, and a barely perceptible sharpness flashed in his eyes.
He said in a deep voice, "The other half?"
Leyton nodded, his tone sounding as if he were making a bold hypothesis. "The True Creator is your father's humanity. Do you think there's a divine incarnation of Him hidden outside?"
"At that time, He had already stepped halfway into that stage. Do you believe He would just die like that?"
Amon lowered his head, frowning slightly, as if lost in thought.
After a moment, he spoke to himself, "Most of my father's remaining characteristics were devoured by those three traitors. Do you think they would be my father's contingency for resurrection? Perhaps they once were, but certainly not now."
"The remaining part formed that Lunatic who crawled out of my father's corpse. Although He inherited some of my father's memories, emotions, and will, He is not Him."
"The last remaining piece of the Author characteristic was taken by that fanatic…"
Amon's unfinished words suddenly paused. He stood up thoughtfully, looking down at Leyton, who was leaning back in the chair, and said in a deep voice, "Do you know something? Spectators are best at acting and deceiving people's hearts. Is my fanatic brother not what he appears to be?"
"I don't know. After all, I haven't even met your brother."
Leyton shrugged. As he spoke, his body transformed into a swirling mass of stardust, scattering and surging throughout Afternoon Town.
Amon snorted without raising his head. He raised his hand, pinched the edge of his monocle, and rubbed it lightly twice, a silver-white light flashing past.
The entire Afternoon Town was instantly frozen, whether it was the lightning in the sky, the flickering bonfire, or the scattering stardust...
The surrounding scene rapidly rewound. The scattered stardust reassembled into Leyton's figure, only to instantly disintegrate into sparkling starlight, invisible gravity, and electromagnetism.
"Heh, interesting."
Amon curved his lips and casually took a step forward. His figure instantly vanished from his original spot, and the next moment he appeared at the edge of Afternoon Town, hundreds of meters away.
He gazed in a certain direction, constantly stepping forward, covering hundreds of meters with each step by stealing distance and his own position.
In less than half a minute, he caught up with Leyton, who was running in the Darkness.
The next moment, their positions swapped. He looked at Leyton with burning eyes and said, "Are you walking so slowly because you're waiting for me? Is this the battlefield you chose for yourself?"
"That method you used to escape just now has the style of a High-Sequence Marauder—the rules of deception… Have you seen Pallez? How is he doing? Next time you see him, remember to say hello for me. It's been a long time since we last met, and I've missed him very much."
Pallez just wants to shout: Don't come here!
The Mysticism learned from Old Man really doesn't work. I'm not a true Marauder. Even if I catch him off guard, it's hard to hide it from Amon. He was mostly just watching the show just now, not genuinely failing to react.
And I'm not a Mysticism Magister. I can only use these Mysticism through magic scrolls, which is really inconvenient.
After sighing in his heart for a moment, Leyton said somewhat helplessly, "I just thought about it, and I realized that there's no hatred between us, nor any unavoidable conflict. Why can't we be amicable?"
"Isn't it that your reaction whenever you see me is always too intense?" Amon spread his hands, looking innocent.
"Perhaps your reputation is too well-known."
Leyton sighed slightly, paused, and then continued, "So, since we have no conflict, can we part ways now?"
Amon smiled and refused, "No, I'm very curious about you coming to the Forsaken Land of the Gods. If you don't want me to follow you, then I'll have to bring my main body here."
"Or, how about we play a game of cat and mouse?"
"No thanks." Leyton refused without thinking.