Lord of the Mysteries

Thud! Thud!

The doors of Backlund, Trier, Lenburg, and St. Millom opened and closed at the same time without a breeze.

Inside a white tower in the headquarters of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Lucca, who was on duty underground, sensed that something was amiss and stood up abruptly.

As a Prophet, he acutely sensed that something was happening.

The elder in a brass-threaded, white robe immediately used a mystical technique and arrived at the entrance of the underground area. He pushed the door open.

However, the door that wasn’t considered heavy to a demigod didn’t budge as though it was sealed by an invisible force.

Lucca Brewster didn’t attempt to forcibly open it as he cast his gaze deep underground.

There was silence. There was no sound.

This isn’t normal... Lucca didn’t need to rely on his Beyonder powers to determine the problem here.

Usually, in the deepest part of the ground, there would always be sounds that made people’s hair stand on end. But now, it was as if it had disappeared as though it never existed.

Others might not know, but as a high-ranking member of the Church of Knowledge, Lucca knew that the voice came from an extremely terrifying Sealed Artifact that even he didn’t know the exact details of, so it was impossible for it to be erased out of thin air.

The current situation could only mean one thing:

Either the Sealed Artifact had already escaped the restrictions and entered a more bizarre state, or it had been sealed further, preventing it from affecting the outside world.

Regardless of the possibility, it meant that there was extreme danger lurking in the surroundings. This was because the Sealed Artifact’s number was:

0-01!

At the top of Bayam’s remaining bell tower, the light on Amon’s monocle gradually faded, returning to normal.

Mr. Error hadn’t held back from showcasing “His” new Beyonder powers, doing so to make a statement to all the existences watching “Him”:

“He” had already accommodated Door’s Uniqueness and obtained the corresponding authority!

“He” had used this opportunity to shut off everything related to the concept of a door in the entire world, greatly strengthening the effects of any seals.

This caused the orthodox Churches and secret organizations to be unable to use sealed items for a short period of time because no one could remove the seal.

Even if a true deity descended from the astral world, it would still take “Them” a certain amount of time before “They” could break the restrictions.

Therefore, Amon eliminated most Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts in the subsequent battle of gods. “He” no longer needed to consider the corresponding interference.

Of course, such authority wouldn’t be able to influence the entire world for too long unless Mr. Error had put all “His” energy into this matter. It was precisely because of this that “He” didn’t do it ahead of time. Only when “He” observed the disturbance in Klein’s anchors did “He” suddenly act.

The more powerful a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was, the more terrifying the negative effects would be. It was even more so for those that could produce effects at the level of a deity. Even a Sequence 0 true deity might not be able to withstand it for too long. Therefore, true deities wouldn’t unseal them unless it was necessary; otherwise, this would bring about an even greater disturbance to “Them,” causing them to suffer a net loss.

After doing this, Amon held up “His” palm and gently leaped up. Without the bearing of a true god, “He” sat on the railing at the top of the bell tower.

As “He” gazed at the horizon out into the sea, “He” leisurely waited for the concealment to be removed. That was when Klein’s ritual to accommodate The Fool’s Uniqueness officially began.

When that happened, “He” would strike the death knell for him.

...

In the concealed world of the Evernight Goddess.

Under the repeated impact of the awakening of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, and Antigonus’s self-awareness and mental imprint, Klein’s consciousness was like a sailboat in a storm. It would sometimes be thrown high while being struck down. At times, it would suffer corrosion, and at other times be slammed to the side.

This made his thoughts turn extremely chaotic. He was about to split into two different personalities, known as Antigonus, and the Lord of the Mysteries.

At the same time, his avatar also lost its rationality. It was in a state of being about to collapse into a whirlpool of maggots. Only the marionette remained standing there in a daze due to the lack of any control.

The prayers from the believers resounded in Klein’s ears, forming a corresponding image of what he knew.

This was like a dam that was resisting a surging flood.

Klein wasn’t too unfamiliar with such a situation. He had a similar experience after becoming an Attendant of Mysteries and swallowing Zaratul’s Beyonder characteristic. Therefore, with the help of his anchors, he managed to survive the initial chaos. With great familiarity, he directed the self-awareness and mental imprint of Antigonus towards the awakening will of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings. This caused both parties to corrode each other and be occupied with each other.

The “mind storm” weakened a lot, finally giving Klein’s self-consciousness a breather.

Before he could calm down, he immediately directed the image of him as a god formed by many anchors, into the two mental corruption’s struggle and tried to find a new balance.

However, this didn’t go smoothly. Compared to before, the essence of Antigonus’s mental imprint, resilience, and madness were clearly stronger than Zaratul’s. After all, this was a King of Angels that had accommodated the Uniqueness and was known as The Half-Fool.

Furthermore, Klein had also stolen the other party’s identity and fate. This brought about two other negative effects.

His personality was constantly on the edge of dissociating. From time to time, he would think that he was Antigonus, attempting to fuse “His” mental imprint with his own mind. Having accepted the fate of Antigonus’s loss of control, his entire body was collapsing uncontrollably. This brought about even more mental corruption.

In addition, Antigonus’s mental imprint and the awakened will of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings wasn’t completely incompatible. In some aspects of “Their” “battle,” “They” showed signs of fusing together. It was as if “They” originated from the same existence.

This gave Klein preliminary confirmation. As a natural Mythical Creature, Antigonus was born with some of the Celestial Worthy’s will. When “He” advanced to Attendant of Mysteries, the problem suddenly became serious, causing “Him” to undergo unexpected changes without “Him” realizing it. By the time “He” managed to accommodate The Fool’s Uniqueness, madness had apparently become another side of “Him.”

In other words, before completely losing control, Antigonus was already a mentally-sutured monster to a certain level. “His” self-awareness and mental imprint were part of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, and this was something that couldn’t be separated by using “Theft.”

Compared to “Him,” Zaratul’s mental imprint was much cleaner. There was only a small portion that belonged to the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings. Most of it came from Zaratul’s intense emotions at “His” deathbed.

The reason why the two were different was that, apart from the fact that Antigonus had accommodated The Fool’s Uniqueness, the former had become the Attendant of Mysteries at the beginning of the Fourth Epoch. At that time, the will of the Celestial Worthy hadn’t weakened to the state it was in during the late Fifth Epoch.

Without being able to form a new balance, the speed of Klein’s breakdown became faster and faster. More than half of his body was formed from transparent and distorted maggots, and he extended slippery and sinister tentacles into his surroundings.

Just as he was trying his best to maintain his consciousness and not give up searching for a new balance, his collapsed body, Antigonus’s crazy mental state, and the consciousness of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings all fell into a deep sleep.

This caused all the changes to stop abruptly and return to normal.

As for Klein’s self-consciousness, he used his trait of resisting dreams and the invasion of his mind to maintain his clarity of mind.

That’s right. The fate that I stole includes the fate of being in a state of eternal slumber outside the fate of going crazy and losing control... As for me, I can resist eternal slumber to a certain extent... Klein grabbed the sliver of clarity and gained a certain understanding of his present state.

To him, this was an opportunity.

It was only at this moment that he fully understood why the Evernight Goddess needed the river water of the River of Eternal Darkness to use as a medium to attempt this.

This wasn’t only because it was difficult to put a King of Angels who had accommodated the Uniqueness, and the awakening will of the Lord of the Mysteries in “Him” to temporarily enter a state of eternal sleep, but it was beneficial to Klein for this state of eternal slumber. This could create an excellent environment of him being the only one with a sliver of consciousness while the other interference was all sleeping!

At the same time, Klein also confirmed one thing:

The reason why he was able to remain clear-headed in a dream and during the instances where his mind was intruded wasn’t because of the special traits from Sefirah Castle. This was because the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings in his body was also sleeping.

Although the awakening of the Lord of the Mysteries was still greatly limited, “His” level and “His” connection with Sefirah Castle were undoubtedly stronger than Klein’s. If “He” couldn’t completely resist a state of eternal slumber, why could Klein?

Therefore, Klein believed that this trait was likely due to the blessings of the Evernight Goddess, a gift he received when he came to life.

The blessings given by a true goddess who wielded the power of the dream domain, and the aura, strength, and magical powers that Sefirah Castle augmented him with had combined together to form such a special trait!

It was as if a gentle song came from deep within the dream. Klein’s consciousness became clearer.

Without any hesitation, he immediately adjusted the sleeping imprint and corruption in his body and found a new balance.

Following that, he extended slippery tentacles with strange patterns and used Sefirah Castle’s powers to steal The Fool’s Uniqueness inside Antigonus’s body.

Perhaps it was because he was now Antigonus, the theft this time was successful after a small number of failures.

A translucent mask with the symbol of The Fool flew out from Antigonus’s body!

The man with the thick black beard was still sleeping, as though “He” would sleep forever.

At the same time, the fog dissipated and illusory starlight shone into the hall.

This ancient palace suddenly appeared in the dark and mysterious astral world, appearing at the peak of the Hornacis mountain range.

The Concealment had been removed, and fate began to be exchanged.

At this moment in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, on one of the mountain peaks, a shadow-like curtain appeared on the surface of a huge cross. It cracked open and a man walked out from it.

“He” was Adam, dressed in a simple white robe with a thick blond beard. Behind “Him” was a thick shadow with five heads.

This shadow had partially merged with “Him,” but it hadn’t completely become one.

Adam raised “His” head and looked at the astral world which had been distorted from authority and symbolism. “He” smiled calmly and said to the shadow behind “Him.”

“They don’t seem to be aware of the reason why I used Visionary as the foundation this time.

“I’ve never told anyone about the results of this research.”

Just as “He” said that, “He” proclaimed in a solemn and deep voice, “I am One, and also Infinity, the Beginning and the End.”

“His” eyes suddenly turned illusory as an ocean that seemed to contain all possible colors that appeared around “Him.”

Adam then raised “His” hand and grabbed the silver cross pendant hanging in front of “His” chest.

A burning but illusory sun suddenly appeared above “His” head. To “His” left, lightning, squalls, and waves formed a supercilious phantom. On “His” right, there was a white tower with numerous brass eyes.

The authorities and symbols that Adam had envisioned entered “His” body one after another under the influence of the Chaos Sea.

Finally, the shadow that clung tightly to Adam’s back shrank into “His” body.

Suddenly, the sea that contained all the colors began to rise. Adam expanded into a giant shadow that seemed capable of holding up the world.

The shadow slowly walked on the “water surface” of the illusory, chaotic darkness. It pointed at the astral world and solemnly declared, “Let there be light!”

In a blink of an eye, the entire astral world lit up. There were no other secrets that could be concealed. Even portions of the astral world that connected to Earth, the entire astral world, and the invisible barrier that had been separated from the universe appeared.

At that moment, giant, indescribable faces seemed to cling to the transparent, cracked barrier, silently watching the developments inside.