For a moment, Alger was deeply shaken, but he quickly masked his emotions. With reverence in his eyes, he cast a glance toward the inscrutable Mr. Fool seated high above and respectfully lowered his head.
Klein, on the other hand, was utterly bewildered.
Wait a second—Hanged Man, are you imagining things again?
Audrey gently asked, "How are you now?"
"I'm temporarily safe," Edward replied. "But I suspect I've been targeted by another angel in the Forsaken Land. So I need to leave here as soon as possible." He then turned to Derrick. "Mr. Sun, last time—didn't you try using a suitcase to make a sacrifice to Mr. Fool?"
Derrick nodded. "I did, but…"
He looked toward Mr. Fool and said, "That dangerous angel who latched onto me…appeared during the moment I was making the offering."
"If it hadn't been for Mr. Fool's intervention, I might've already…"
Klein silently wiped his forehead.
No…honestly, that whole thing was kind of my fault.
Fors gasped. "Wait…are you still in that fallen—er, that True Creator's temple?" She snuck a glance at Edward and consciously revised her wording.
"No," Derrick said. "After Mr. Fool helped cleanse that entity, Elder Lovia found an exit and brought us back to the City of Silver."
He then gave a brief account of what had happened afterwards.
"So," Edward asked, "it's still unknown whether the offering method can help one leave the Forsaken Land?"
"Right." Derrick lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tower."
"Ah, it's fine, really." Edward turned to Mr. Fool and asked respectfully, "Mr. Fool, after the gathering, may I attempt to make an offering again?"
Klein replied with a calm, "You may." Then he asked, "Who will assist with the prayer?"
"I can!" Audrey offered quickly.
Derrick hesitated for a moment before asking, "Mr. Tower…where exactly are you in the Forsaken Land?"
"Afternoon Town," Edward replied. Then, fearing Derrick might not have heard of it, he added, "It's the final settlement before entering the Giant King's Court."
"You've been there this whole time?"
"Not exactly. I wandered around a bit. I also visited another city in the Forsaken Land and brought the light of Mr. Fool to the people there."
He then turned toward Klein and bowed. "Apologies, Mr. Fool. This time I took it upon myself to act in your name and spread your glory to those who, like Mr. Sun, have lost their divine protection and fallen into despair. But I never mentioned your title—I simply told them of a supreme being who brings hope and light."
Oh boy…
Klein felt his face flush a little.
Even in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, you're still out there…hyping me up?
He gently tapped his fingers on the table and said with a smile, "It's fine."
Derrick immediately sat upright in astonishment.
"There…there are other cities in the Forsaken Land?!"
Edward nodded. "Yes. It's called Moon City. They too, worship the Ancient Sun God. It lies to the east of the Forsaken Land of the Gods."
Derrick's eyes lit up with hope. "And the people there…?"
"Conditions are likely worse than in City of Silver," Edward said gravely. "They've resorted to consuming mutated monsters that dwell in the darkness. Their bodies have been tainted and poisoned—many are deformed or sickly. Even newborn children are often born with abnormalities."
"That's why I preached in Mr. Fool's name—to offer them some measure of hope. Unfortunately, I couldn't cure their afflictions."
Hearing this, Derrick's expression dimmed.
Alger, meanwhile, was stunned.
Mr. Tower is moving way too fast! While the rest of us are still cautiously building strength, he's already out there spreading Mr. Fool's teachings?
At this rate, he's bound to become Mr. Fool's most favoured follower!
But…how is he able to preach in a place like the Forsaken Land, while I'd be branded a cultist in the outside world the moment I tried?!
Fors, on the other hand, felt more and more confused about Mr. Tower—no, Edward—as a person.
One moment he's like a deranged terrorist…then a sinister cultist…and now he's showing compassion to those poor, suffering residents of the Forsaken Land of the Gods?
Even the characters I write in my novels aren't this complicated!
Edward turned back to Derrick and said, "Mr. Sun, if you get the chance, could you ask Elder Lovia whether City of Silver has any sealed artifacts related to healing? I'm willing to negotiate a trade."
Based on Derrick's past statements, Edward figured that he and Lovia had tacitly formed a kind of silent alliance to "save City of Silver" in their own ways. So making such a request through her was the most direct route—perhaps she could bring it to the Chief.
Derrick paused. "I don't know. I don't have the qualifications to access sealed artifacts."
Alger spoke up at the right moment: "You could try asking Elder Lovia. I doubt she'd mind helping."
Derrick nodded earnestly. "I understand."
Just then, Klein, manipulating the World, spoke in a cold, grating tone, "Mr. Tower, do you plan to meet Mr. Sun in the City of Silver anytime soon?"
He almost said "meet up IRL."
Derrick's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Audrey gave the World a long look.
He's so different in the real world and at the Tarot Club…In the gathering, he's all gloomy and reserved, but in person he's more like a friendly neighbourhood boy.
Edward gave a helpless shrug. "To be honest, I was planning to…but now, I've decided against it."
"Why?" Audrey asked, before quickly realising, "Is it because of the angel hunting you?"
"Yes—but not because of the pursuit, rather because…"
Edward's voice dropped low and steady.
"I happened to learn that one of "His" avatars has been hiding inside City of Silver this whole time. If I go there now, it's basically walking right into a trap."
"What?!" Derrick cried out in alarm. "Where is "He" hiding?"
"Before I answer that," Edward said, casting a glance at Mr. Fool as though seeking "His" permission, "let me give you all a brief explanation of this angel."
"Have you ever heard of the King of Angels?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Fors hesitantly raised her hand. "Um…does listening to this kind of knowledge cost money?"
We're talking about angel-level secrets here…how many coins is that worth?! I only just scraped together enough to afford the Sequence 7 potion formula…
Edward chuckled. "No, it's free."
Since Derrick didn't end up communicating with Amon in the bottom of the round tower, the Tarot Club never got wind of "His" existence. I might as well give everyone a heads-up about this character who's basically the final boss of the original story.
"The term 'Kings of Angels' originally referred to the eight high-ranking angels who served directly beside the Ancient Sun God. They were the most powerful of all angels, second only to the gods themselves—far stronger than ordinary angels."
"Oh, right. I nearly forgot—you probably haven't heard much about the Ancient Sun God either. He was a deity from the Third Epoch, said to be The Lord That Created Everything,The Omniscient and Omnipotent Lord."
Derrick froze.
Wait…isn't that exactly how we describe our own deity in City of Silver?
Edward didn't dwell on the detail and continued:
"The angel who's been hunting me is one of those Kings of Angels—Amon, the Angel of Time."
"Ah!"
Audrey instinctively covered her mouth.
Amon?!
Alger's eyebrows twitched. He vaguely remembered that name from Church records—it was the surname of a family belonging to the Tudor Dynasty in the Fourth Epoch.
Unexpectedly, Priscilla—the usually silent Miss Death—raised her hand.
"I've heard of Amon. One of the evil spirits inside me talks about "Him" all the time and calls "Him" 'that annoying little raven.'"
Everyone was stunned.
Wait…one of Miss Death's spirits actually knows Amon?
Edward explained, "Amon is the Sequence 1 of the Marauder pathway. "He" possesses all sorts of bizarre abilities. One of them is parasitism: "He" can possess and replace others, and "He" has countless avatars."
"The one hiding in the City of Silver is one such avatar."
Derrick wasn't stupid. He immediately caught the implication.
"You mean…Amon replaced someone in the City of Silver?"
"Exactly. According to the information I received, "He" parasitised and replaced a former exploration team leader who was imprisoned at the bottom of the round tower."
Normally, Edward wouldn't casually share such a heavy-hitting secret like this—it would make him seem almost omniscient. But now that everyone knew he'd recently spoken face-to-face with the True Creator, they would just assume this information came from a god.
Derrick clenched his fists.
"What does "He" want with the City of Silver?"
Edward shook his head. "I don't know. But knowing Amon, it's either because "He" finds it entertaining…or "He" foresaw something happening in the future and is making preparations in advance."
"I doubt "He'd" find hiding in a dark, damp prison cell particularly fun, so "He" must be waiting for something."
Seeing Derrick's clenched fists and furrowed brow, Edward continued, "Even though this is only one of Amon's avatars—probably at Sequence 4 strength or so—City of Silver's sealed artifacts should be capable of eliminating Him."
"But here's the thing about Amon: there's a saying—'If you discover one Amon, it means countless others are already nearby.' Without special methods, it's nearly impossible to eliminate "Him" completely. So I advise you not to act rashly."
The room fell silent. Everyone quickly understood what he meant, and a chill ran down their spines.
Derrick looked slightly dazed.
But we can't just…leave "Him" there, right?
Just because Amon is hard to deal with, does that mean we're supposed to ignore "Him" and do nothing?
He wanted to ask Mr. Fool what to do—but then he remembered how last time he almost caused trouble for Mr. Fool. He swallowed the question.
As for Edward, he did have an idea about how to deal with the Amon in City of Silver—one similar to what had happened in the original storyline: deliberately sending Derrick to the bottom of the round tower to attract Amon's attention, let "Him" latch onto Derrick again, and then have Mr. Fool deal with it using the Paper Angel.
The only problem is…we already used that move once at the temple. If this avatar of Amon in the City of Silver already knows about that, "He" might have prepared for it in advance. That would be troublesome…
At that moment, the World suddenly spoke up, "Mr. Tower, could you briefly describe this Amon's appearance…I mean, just so everyone here can recognise "Him" if we run into "Him" again."
The reason Klein asked this was because he suddenly recalled the strange encounter in 15 Minsk Street, when he'd been attacked. "He" had felt a foreign consciousness forcibly invade his mind, like he'd lost control of both body and thought—
Wasn't that the "parasitism" ability of the Marauder pathway?
And now that he thought about it…the first time he'd met that person had also been when Derrick was praying in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
What if…they were the same individual?
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.