[Mission status has been updated.]
[Mission: 'Acting as the Marionettist Master']
[Having been promoted to "Marionettist" you have already summarized certain acting rules. Please follow the acting rules and gradually perfect the acting method content to improve the potion's digestion level.]
[Mission completion: 100%, reward has been distributed, please check and receive.]
[Advancement to Sequence 4, Bizarro Sorcerer ritual requirements: Relying on your own power and planning, under the witness of numerous spectators, direct a grand drama to murder a demigod or equivalent beyonder being, and consume the potion during the drama's finale.]
With the conclusion of this grand drama, the god's descendant from the Dark Side of the Universe in the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw, the Sequence 4 Demon, died.
[Ritual requirements have been met.]
Don released his cane. As "A Moment of Luck" was invested into the system's "Artisan" module that had already been preheated with Knowledge Fragments, the "Bizarro Sorcerer" and "Winner" beyonder characteristics were shattered. The mental imprint of the previous Bizarro Sorcerer hidden within the "Bizarro Sorcerer" beyonder characteristic was erased, then rapidly separated and reorganized.
At the same time, the system manipulated the auxiliary materials that had been prepared and stacked in the warehouse, feeding them one by one into the "Artisan" module.
The blood of the Trickery Fiend and the dust of the Spirit World Plunderer were both inventory from the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw. Don hadn't bothered to collect them separately from the Spirit World, and the other auxiliary materials for the Bizarro Sorcerer weren't difficult to obtain. Before coming to the Orkney Highlands, he had already prepared everything.
Standing before the abyss fissure, Don lowered his eyes, and an exquisite glass bottle appeared in his hand.
Within the bottle swayed thin threads that emitted black light, with hazy twisted patterns. Sometimes inexplicable foam would appear, and it seemed to hide countless tiny, undetectable worms writhing and clustering together, driving anyone who looked directly at it to madness.
Don closed his eyes and drank the potion.
The potion slid down his throat, dry and cold, striking directly at his soul.
The next moment, his astral body seemed to suddenly rise, and countless things within Euclidean space appeared completely before him.
This sensation was very familiar. When in Euclidean space, most of the time was spent in this ethereal, overarching state.
The red moon in the sky was enormous, peaceful and silent.
Countless Spirit Body Threads extended outward from his body, seemingly stretching to extremely distant, endless voids. Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—complex emotions continuously transmitted from the ends of the Spirit Body Threads
Before him, countless human figures appeared again.
Those were marionettes, that was the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw back in Tingen, that was the War Bishop, that was the Sun Scepter, that was the traveler Ange, the god's descendant from the Dark Side of the Universe, and countless spirit bodies flying toward this place.
Like a cold observer directing a silent yet grand puppet show, Don quickly entered the state, detaching his emotions and allowing the potion's power to rapidly settle.
But this was not the end.
The next moment, the potion permeated his body.
Countless thin threads surged in with the potion's power, beginning to cut through his astral body.
The system's panicked screams were isolated, and the maddening knowledge surged, temporarily separating it from Don's body.
Indescribable pain emanated from his soul. Don felt his astral body being cut into countless fragments. His astral body convulsed, instinctively wanting to escape this painful, oppressive environment. Don had experienced this sensation when advancing to Marionettist and when advancing to Faceless, but it was even more painful and more maddening than those times.
Continuing like this would kill him. His body would disintegrate, and each of those fragments had its own will, all trying to fuse with a piece of flesh and leave independently.
Don felt his fragmented thoughts becoming uncontrollable and chaotic. He saw himself, saw his former self from his previous life, saw himself when he first arrived in this world, decadent in an empty room, saw himself playing all sorts of different people, saw his painful self, saw himself with his family in this world, saw countless versions of himself.
Each one was an inseparable part of his emotions, yet they were all falling apart.
Don's body began to writhe. Transparent worms crawled under his skin, emerging from flesh buds that sprouted from his skin, rising and falling in horrifying madness.
He was about to lose control. As the potion's power transformed his body and astral body, he was about to collapse into countless transparent worms and become an indescribable monster.
But at this moment, Don, without the support of divine power, was forcibly pulled out of Euclidean space by the rules set by the frenzied knowledge. His figure quickly materialized beside the abyss, standing on the muddy ground, with countless black thin threads appearing around Don.
One image after another, a series of scenes appeared before his eyes.
It was himself holding the "Trunsoest Brass Book" parchment.
It was himself wielding the Sun Scepter.
It was the scene of the War Bishop cutting off half of the devil's body.
It was the gaze from deep within the abyss—extremely mad, as if looking at a father's killer.
It was an obscure, unremarkable gaze cast from an extremely distant place.
It was the attention cast by the figure above the red moon.
That was the system, that was the frenzied knowledge, that was a chaotic mass, like the gaze of pollution source "stars."
And various versions of himself.
That was himself sleeping in a room, as if hidden in eternal tranquility; that was himself sitting in a strangely styled office, toying with miracles; that was himself lecturing something in a classroom; that was himself in a place with steam trains and gas lamps, standing in a Divination's club; that was himself caressing a piano; that was himself wielding the Scepter of the Sun, continuously summoning the Spirit Body Threads of that giant feathered serpent.
That was an even more indescribable self, like a world observer.
Those gazes penetrated Euclidean space, looking at himself whose body was continuously writhing with Worms of Spirit.
He was his past self, and he was also his future self.
Mental imprints formed anchors, each gaze became substantial, and the black thin threads became the connection for every piece of flesh, every fragment of astral body, the power that reunited the body that had transformed into Worms of Spirit!
I am Don Eggers, a transmigrator, a child of Death's descendants, the system's holder, and also an ordinary person who most hopes to live a peaceful life. I am myself!
His twisted and deformed body was reuniting, and something was rapidly metamorphosing—that was his cold, calm, observing, overlooking self, that was his divinity!
Countless mystical knowledge surged from the depths of his astral body. Don's high position played a powerful role, allowing him to quite easily absorb this knowledge. He successfully returned to himself, restoring the Worms of Spirit and the protruding flesh buds on his body to their original state.
Advancement complete. The system pushed aside the frenzied knowledge that had emerged from its own mainframe and separated it, reconnecting with its host.
[Main Quest One: Advance to Sequence 4, Bizarro Sorcerer.]
[Mission progress: Completed.]
[Reward has been distributed, please check and receive.]
Don stood beside the abyss that was still continuously bubbling black water, calming his fluctuating spirituality.
"System, recover the Sun Scepter."
[Got it.]
The sun's ascension had ended. The abyss gate had suffered such a blow, with pollution brazenly entering from its doorstep. This abyss fissure was basically finished.
The earth's trembling hadn't stopped. The Abyss's pollution and the Chaos Sea's pollution were still continuously struggling against each other, but the sun's rises had ended. What happened next wasn't his concern.
Next, it would be up to the Dark Side of the Universe and the Mother Tree Of Desire to worry about whether the abyss would become a branch of the Chaos Sea or... become a branch of the Chaos Sea?
Hmm, a good question. I'm sure the Dark Side of the Universe would be happy to worry about this.
The Abyss fissure bubbled again. Don maintained his composure, and a dark golden staff flew out from the abyss, shooting straight toward Don. However, halfway there, it was stuffed back into the system warehouse.
The next moment, the deliberate calm on Don's face was suddenly shattered. Without even hesitating or bothering to inform the system, he directly entered Euclidean space and fled into the distance. He didn't even want the extraordinary characteristics extracted from that unfortunate Planter pathway demigod nearby.
[??]
The system was dumbfounded. [Host?]
"Idiot, where did that huge moon overhead come from!"
Don's voice became ethereal. Within Euclidean space, the surrounding images flashed frantically. Having advanced to demigod, Don could already use his marionettes' Spirit Body Threads to rapidly expand Euclidean space's visible range, achieving near-teleportation abilities.
Taking a moment to look back, this glance scared him into accelerating his escape.
With the birth of divinity and fundamental changes in himself, compared to his previous false demigod state, Don could observe much more and see many previously overlooked things.
Just like in the previous battle, he had observed his surroundings multiple times without detecting any hidden presence.
Above the red moon, a figure had appeared at some unknown time—wearing a hood, dressed in a dark robe, with vacant eyes and beautiful features, possessing feminine grace.
She had been waiting in the sky beneath the red moon for an unknown duration, watching who knows what.
Don gritted his teeth, his heart pounding.
He had wondered what was wrong with his advancement ritual, and something had been crawling above his head watching him!
Otherwise, where would the red moon in his advancement ritual components have come from! It couldn't possibly be the Mother Goddess of Depravity secretly watching him!
And that gaze from the distance—previously, Don had instinctively felt it wasn't important, but thinking about it now, this gaze seemed to have existed since the battle began, after he appeared before the universe's dark side god's descendant.
Also capable of countering Euclidean space observation, equally secretive and coincidental, watching the tide of the times—well, a high-sequence Spectator, most likely that old bastard Adam!
Hilarious, these two—one True God, one Angel King—just watched him fight there?
Behind him, countless petroleum and the fissure connecting to the abyss were rapidly fading, being erased like an eraser.
The robed figure was also gradually disappearing, showing no signs of following Don's departing figure.
Even Euclidean space, which could observe Sequence 1 Worm of Time without being detected, would have difficulty seeing the crater hidden behind secrecy without careful examination.
That was the Mother of Secrets, that was the Evernight Goddess! Sequence 0, a True God at the pinnacle of sequences!
Even if he relied on Euclidean space's special nature to try staying and observing, who knew whether the Goddess who controlled the authority of secrecy could trace his gaze through clues, learn more of his secrets. Even if she couldn't affect him within Euclidean space, he couldn't stay here forever, could he?
Besides, as long as one could break through Euclidean space's defenses, erasing him along the way probably wouldn't be too difficult.
For the Evernight Goddess, this might not be impossible.
Never underestimate a deity's power. This was the common understanding of beyonder beings who had lived in the beyonder world since childhood and knew some secrets.
"0-17, Angel of Concealment, capable of serving as the Evernight Goddess's divine descent vessel, Mother of the Sky, Antigonus's sister, Sequence 2 Servant of Concealment."
Don was grateful he had run quickly, or perhaps the Goddess had shown mercy, wanting to see what he really was, so she didn't erase him immediately. Otherwise, Don would now be neighbors with the fish on the chopping board.
He didn't want to chat with the Goddess about life right now!
Don had self-awareness. He wasn't some golden pound charmer, and his family composition was too special. Death was dead but not completely gone. Who knew what attitude these inhuman deities had toward descendants of Death?
Gambling that he had done something beneficial to society, staying there to await the Goddess's judgment—either being erased, being let go, or being asked to join the Church of Evernight as an archbishop?
Don't joke around, okay? The mystical world had another saying: "Believe in the deities' power, but don't trust Their mercy."
The Goddess's attitude was unclear, and he had no compelling reason to seek refuge with the Church of Evernight. Going over there foolishly to wait for the Goddess to have a heart-to-heart chat, then becoming the Church of Evernight's blade to backstab his own father?
Death's descendant, Seer pathway—either one was dancing on the Church of Evernight's minefield.
There was also that old bastard priest. Who knew whether the universe's dark side god's descendant's attempt to open the abyss gate was part of this Angel King's predetermined tide of the times.
If so, then he, who had disrupted this tide, was probably also being watched.
Don was grateful he had many anti-divination and anti-prophecy items here: the system, Euclidean space, and the pollution erupting from both the abyss and Chaos Sea—all could greatly interfere with Adam's observation. Moreover, he hadn't appeared in his true form, and perhaps the Goddess had also bestowed the power of secrecy, preventing him from being completely exposed to Adam.
Even if exposed, he might be able to manipulate the situation, using the Goddess as a shield, letting Adam mistake him for the Night family's Bizarro Sorcerer... Why did this routine feel so familiar?
Otherwise, one day Tingen wouldn't just have Amon—Adam would also come sit at his place when he had nothing to do.
After running far away, Don even saw two demigods rushing toward the crater.
They should be high-ranking members of orthodox churches.
(End of Chapter)
TL/n: I can no longer upload more than ten chapters because I've been extremely busy over the last few weeks and have only recently begun translating, so I can only translate two chapters for the time being.