Gazing at the crimson moon outside the window, Alaric spent three minutes processing the influx of information and confirmed several things.
First, he had transmigrated into the world of Lord of Mysteries. His new name was Alaric Zoroast, and he seemed to be a descendant of Pallez Zoroast from the original story.
Second, a fragment of power from the legendary Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep, sealed within him had been sliced and reshaped by the Yog-Sothoth he had summoned. Using the unique rules of the Lord of Mysteries world, this power was transformed into something akin to Beyonder characteristics, creating an entirely new pathway called the Chaos Pathway.
Though Alaric didn't know why that entity had helped him, the fact remained: if he followed the rules, concocted potions from these Beyonder characteristics, and consumed them, he could start at sequence 9 like the humans of this world. By acting, digesting, and advancing, he could fully master Nyarlathotep's power and make it his own.
Third, his innate "Shadow of Time" skill was still usable, a time-related ability similar to the historical projection of this world's Scholar of Yore. It had two methods of use. The first allowed Alaric to summon the "Shadow of Time" of an entity with high favorability, merging it with himself to borrow their power... the higher the favorability, the more power he could wield.
The second method involved using an entity or something related to them as a medium to summon their "Shadow of Time" And request their aid.
At first glance, the second method seemed simpler, but it had a significant drawback: the summoned shadow would carry the past consciousness of the entity. As a result, shadows summoned this way might not always help Alaric. With favorability, it could work out, but without it, while the shadow couldn't harm him, it wasn't guaranteed to assist either.
It was an incredibly powerful yet frustratingly unreliable ability.
In his previous life, Alaric had tirelessly built favorability with powerful beings to summon their shadows. Now, in a new world, all that effort was wasted.
"Well, at least the skill still works in this world. What more could I ask for?" Alaric consoled himself, though a flicker of confusion lingered. "But why did I transmigrate? Did Yog-Sothoth send me here…?"
Alaric wasn't particularly close to the entity known as Yog-Sothoth. He had only read about it in ancient texts, learning it was one of the few Outer Gods that held no malice toward humans... possibly even benevolence... and seemed to have a strained relationship with Nyarlathotep.
So, when his original world faced Nyarlathotep's avatar, and all resistance failed as the world teetered on the brink of destruction, Alaric, in a desperate attempt, used the connection between Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth to summon the latter's Shadow of Time.
Then, with the appearance of billions of radiant lights, Alaric nearly lost consciousness. He witnessed Nyarlathotep's avatar perish and saw time in his city seemingly rewind, restoring everything to before its destruction.
Finally, he saw Yog-Sothoth turn toward him. It was hard to say if a deity of indescribable light and shadow had eyes, but in that moment, Alaric felt its gaze... curious, surprised, perhaps even wistful.
It seemed to say something to him, but Alaric couldn't make it out.
Then he lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he was in a new world, with the defeated Nyarlathotep avatar's power sealed within him.
"So, what was that deity's deal? Does it know me?" Alaric felt genuinely perplexed. He couldn't recall any connection to such a being. After racking his brain, he could only conclude that maybe the deity found him likable.
Regardless, Alaric was certain it meant him no harm... otherwise, he'd already be dead.
Pushing down his doubts, Alaric sighed and muttered to himself, "I wonder how my home's doing. Based on what happened before I transmigrated, it should be fine…"
"I did my best. If the world still ends up destroyed, there's nothing more I can do." A wry smile crossed his face. He wasn't a conventional hero, but he still cared for his city and didn't want to see it fall.
"Whatever. For now, I need to focus on myself. This world isn't exactly peaceful either." Alaric shook his head, thinking about the state of the Lord of Mysteries world, and couldn't help but want to gripe.
He had just resolved his city's crisis, only to land in another world on the verge of its own apocalypse. What was the point of all that effort if it felt like starting over?
"The only silver lining is that I'm not the savior here. Honestly, who would've thought a trickster like me would end up saving the world back then? Is that even fitting?" Alaric quipped, a grin spreading across his face. "This is great. Now I can just be a pure trickster."
After chuckling for a moment, Alaric began planning his next steps.
First, he needed to find a way to advance to sequence 9, embark on the Beyonder path, and harness Nyarlathotep's power within him before it became a ticking time bomb.
Second, he should connect with powerful figures and build favorability to borrow their strength.
Finally, he'd make sure to find some fun along the way.
"Let's see… the Chaos Pathway's sequence 9 is… Joker?" Alaric paused, then nodded, recalling Nyarlathotep's personality. It made sense. He continued reviewing the information Yog-Sothoth had left about the Chaos Pathway.
"The main ingredient for the Joker potion can come directly from the processed characteristics. For auxiliary materials, aside from common spiritual ingredients, I'll need an item related to Error, Fool, and Door or other specified high-sequence pathways…" Alaric raised an eyebrow, rubbing his chin in thought. "Ideally, a Worm of Spirit, Worm of Time, or Worm of Star… That's going to be tricky."
Alaric then sifted through the memories of his current identity, confirming the timeline aligned with the start of the Lord of Mysteries story. If he was correct, Mr. Fake It Until You Make It was likely staring into a mirror, marveling at his own wild imagination.