The echo of the name "Mysteries" still vibrated in Klein's soul, a bell that wouldn't stop ringing.
He scrambled up from the floor, his breathing ragged.
"I don't have time," Klein gasped. "He knows. If he wanted to kill me, I would be dead. He is waiting..."
He needed to advance. Now. He needed to become an Angel.
His consciousness shot up to the gray fog.
He frantically dug through the air. Hanging on the back of The Fool's chair was a piece of fabric. A translucent black velvet curtain.
It was the item Kim Hajin had received as a reward in the "original" timeline. But here, in this Recorded Past, it was still part of the Sefirah Castle. It contained the Beyonder characteristics of the Fool pathway, from Sequence 9 to Sequence 1.
Klein grabbed it. It was heavy, pulsing with the madness of the Celestial Worthy.
"Break down," Klein commanded, summoning the [Cane of the Depraved Monarch] into his hand.
He didn't use a beam. He used the cane's inherent property.
He pressed the cane against the curtain. The velvet writhed. The concept of "Unity" decayed. The curtain dissolved, separating into nine distinct, glowing blobs of light. Red, Blue, Gray... and finally, a pitch-black, devouring singularity.
[Sequence 1: Attendant of Mysteries Characteristic]
He already had the one from Antigonus. Now he had a second. "Two," Klein hissed, his eyes bloodshot. "I will match the level of a King of Angels."
He opened his [Tower Inventory]—the interface provided by the system. He shoved the two Sequence 1 characteristics inside.
Shift.
Klein reached into the empty air. His hand passed through a digital ripple. He pulled out the two black singularities. They swirled around his hands, hungry for a host.
He clasped his hands together. He didn't have the supplementary ingredients. He prayed.
"The Evernight Goddess stands higher than the cosmos..."
The shadows in the basement thickened. Amanises stepped out. She looked tired. Her starlight dress was dim.
"Goddess," Klein said urgently. "He came. The Ancient Sun God."
"Grisha?" Amanises blinked, her expression shifting from divine indifference to genuine confusion. "He came here? Personally?"
She frowned, tapping her chin. "That... shouldn't be possible. He is fighting the Primordial One's will every second. He is barely maintaining his lucidity. Usually, he is asleep." She looked at Klein with a strange expression. "Why would he spend his precious, fleeting moments of brightness to visit a fake city? Unless..."
She shook her head. "Never mind. You want to advance?"
"Yes. I need the supplementary ingredients. Nine Spirit World specialties."
Amanises sighed. She reached into the void and pulled out a crystal jar. Inside floated nine distinct items—a feather of a Spirit World Plunderer, the eye of a Six-Winged Gargoyle, the dust of a shattered dream... "Here. Highest quality. I keep a stash."
She handed him the jar, then hesitated. "Are you sure, Junior? The ritual... it's not done. Utopia has only existed for a month. The 'History' hasn't settled. The fate connection is weak. If you drink now, you might just dissolve into the Spirit World and never come back."
"I have a plan," Klein said, his grip on the cane tightening. "I have tools that don't belong to this era. And I have... status."
He looked at the cane. The seal of the 9th Demon King. He tapped his wrist. The Neurotech Chip.
"Conceal me," Klein requested.
Amanises laughed. It was a dry, humorless sound. "Ignorant child. You think concealment matters now? Grisha has already seen you. If he wanted to find you, he would just look at the sun and know where the shadows fall."
She waved her hand. "But fine. I'll guard you. Just... don't die."
Klein nodded. He placed the ingredients in a metal cup. He added the two Sequence 1 Characteristics.
Hiss.
The mixture didn't boil. It vanished. It turned into a liquid that was as dark as the deepest ocean trench, yet as light as the air itself. It swirled with millions of tiny, illusory bubbles, each containing a distorted voice.
'Player Encyclopedia.'
[Potion: Attendant of Mysteries]
Klein lifted the cup. He didn't hesitate. He drank it in one gulp.
BOOM.
There was no pain. There was only... erasure.
The moment the potion entered his body, Klein Moretti ceased to exist. His flesh melted. His bones turned to mist. His Spirit Body unraveled like a knitted sweater pulled by a giant.
He became a cloud of fog. He became a stream of data. He became a collection of symbols.
[System Alert: Critical Existential Failure.]
[User Consciousness Dissipating...]
He felt himself floating in the infinite, chaotic expanse of the Spirit World. He saw countless strange figures—spirits, monsters, lights. They flowed through him. He flowed through them. He was losing his "Self". He was becoming the Spirit World itself.
'Who am I?'
'I am the fog.'
'I am the history.'
'No...'
'I am...'
He looked down (if he still had eyes ;3). He saw a connection. Thousands of thin, silver threads anchored him to a specific point in reality.
Utopia.
He saw the baker kneading dough. He saw the police officer patrolling. He saw "Adam" the clerk arranging candles. He saw five thousand lives. Five thousand stories he had written.
'These are me.'
The threads pulled. The mist that was Klein began to swirl. Under the guidance of the ritual, he flowed down the threads. He fused with the spirit world projections of his marionettes.
He was the laughter of a child. He was the sorrow of a widow. He was the pride of a mayor.
The dissociated personalities threatened to tear him apart. Five thousand voices screaming
[Neurotech Chip: Overclocking.]
[Self Sense: Absolute.]
[Skill 'False Logic' activated!]
'I am not them. They are me.'
'I am me.'
And then, he unleashed the Status.
He tapped into the [Cane of the Depraved Monarch]. He used the aura. The aura of a Demon King who refused to fade. The aura of an entity that stood equal to mightiest constellations.
ROAR.
The scream of the Demon King echoed in his soul, terrifying the fragmented personalities into submission. The mist coalesced. The worms of spirit gathered. A body formed in the basement of the cathedral.
Flesh. Blood. Top hat. Monocle. Klein opened his eyes.
They were pitch black. No whites. No pupils. Just the void of the Spirit World.
He had advanced.
[Your Trait 'Miracle Invoker' has evolved.]
===
「Attendant of Mysteries」
[King of Angels rank] [Spirit attribute] [Grade 1 – Proficiency EXP: 0%]
===
['Star Will' debates on your modifier...]
[Your Giant Story...]
The messages dissipated. Looks like the 'Star Will' was still affected by Third Epoch's probability.
But he was shaking. The madness was still there, clawing at the edges of his mind. The Primordial Will within the characteristics was screaming. He was teetering on the edge of losing control.
"Steady..." Klein grit his teeth, his body flickering between flesh and fog.
Suddenly, the basement was flooded with light. It wasn't the lamp. It wasn't the sun. It was a presence.
A man in white robes stepped out of the air. He didn't walk. The world simply rearranged itself so he was there.
Amanises, who was guarding the door, stiffened. She bowed her head, a complex expression on her face. "Grisha."
The Ancient Sun God nodded to her. Then, he looked at Klein.
He didn't speak. He reached out a hand. His palm was warm, glowing with the authority of the Visionary and the Sun.
He placed his hand on Klein's shoulder.
Silence.
The madness vanished. The screaming of the characteristics stopped. The dissociation reintegrated instantly. It was absolute order. Absolute purification. Like a father calming a nightmare.
"Come," the Ancient Sun God said.
Klein blinked. The basement was gone. The cathedral was gone. Utopia was gone.
He was standing in a hallway. The walls were white. Sterile. The floor was tiled. Overhead, fluorescent lights buzzed with a sound that belonged to a different era.
There was a smell of antiseptic and stale coffee.
Klein's heart stopped. He knew this place.
The Chernobyl Research Center.
He looked at the man standing beside him. The Ancient Sun God was no longer wearing white robes. He was wearing a white lab coat. A security badge hung from his pocket. He looked like a researcher. A tired, brilliant, human researcher.
"Where..." Klein whispered.
"A memory," the man said. His voice was no longer layered with divinity. It was just a man's voice. "It matters not."
He began to walk down the hallway. Klein followed, his footsteps echoing on the tiles.
"I have been researching something," the man said, running his hand along the wall. "For a long time."
He stopped in front of a heavy steel door. "I researched the source. The madness."
He turned to Klein. His golden eyes were sad.
"You are not the Celestial Worthy," the man stated. "I verified that when I touched your mind in the cathedral."
He raised a finger and pointed at Klein's forehead.
"I cannot stop my death," the Ancient Sun God said softly. "The Primordial One is waking up inside me."
"But..." He tapped Klein's forehead.
"I can leave a key."
BOOM.
Information exploded in Klein's brain. It wasn't a Beyonder power. It wasn't a formula. It was pure, raw Truth. Knowledge about the Cosmos. About the Pillars. About the Outer Deities. And about the entity that Klein was destined to become.
Words surfaced on the edge of his mind, burning like fire.
"King of Space-Time."
"Beacon of Destiny."
"Embodiment of Sefirah Castle."
"Dominator of the Spirit World."
And finally, a new line, one that the Ancient Sun God whispered directly into his soul:
"Lord of Mysteries."