"Hello there, Old Zhou…the time of our first meeting turned out to be far earlier than I ever imagined."
Edward waved at him, greeting half in jest, half in awe.
"I wonder…if I were to release Zhou Mingrui from that cocoon right now, what would happen? Heh…that would make a real mess. A mess so bad, I wouldn't even know how to 'patch it' back together."
Best not to court death.
Edward circled around the hundreds of cocoons. Judging from the way the people inside were dressed, he could roughly estimate the era they came from. The smartphones they clutched showed no epoch-defining changes either.
From that, he could infer when the last "world destruction" had occurred.
And its cause? Merely a clash between two Pillars. The "apocalypse" that arrived a decade later was, in essence, much the same.
Just thinking about it was enough to breed despair.
After his circuit, Edward returned to the entrance. He glanced at Zhou Mingrui.
"Klein—see you in two hundred years."
Back in the grand palace above the grey fog, Edward began summarising what entering the Sefirah Castle meant for him.
"Being able to enter the Castle is indeed a good thing. But if all I use it for is divination and spirit channelling with its high authority, isn't that…a little wasteful?"
Klein's greatest use of the Castle wasn't just divination—it was the Tarot Club. He gathered a group of people, acquired intelligence and knowledge, and that accelerated his growth tremendously.
So…should I follow Klein's example, and gather a group of my own?
But Klein was still an ordinary man when he founded the Tarot Club—even weaker than most Beyonders. That was why it was so helpful to him. At Sequence 4, what kind of people could I gather that would actually benefit me?
Should I imitate the Ancient Sun God and form "Redemption Rose", full of angels of roughly equal strength?
Heh. That requires caution. Even if [Madman to the Right] is greatly empowered inside the Castle, I can only use it once a day.
"…Still, having people isn't without merit."
Not only could they help me search for Lilith, but feigning mystery and profundity would be of great help in playing the Seer role.
Edward leaned back in the chair, propping his legs atop the bronze table.
"Of course, before that I need to resolve a problem: as the 'half-master' of the Castle, can I, like Klein, establish a three-part prayer formula for others to use when invoking me?"
First issue—my "divine name." I can't just carelessly use The Tower, can I? But none of the other Tarot card titles fit any better either…Ugh, why must I fixate on Tarot cards anyway?
After all, Klein's Fool, the Evernight Goddess, the Lord of Storms—their names essentially corresponded to their pathway's Sequence 0 titles.
And I have…two paths.
One is the Door pathway. The other is…hm. I don't even know what it's properly called. Its Sequence 9 is Fool—so is it the Fool Pathway?
Ah! Kill me now.
If I actually named myself "The Fool"… then I'd truly be a fool.
So…I can only base it on the Door Pathway?
But Mr. Door, though not at Sequence 0, is undoubtedly the one closest to the Door's uniqueness. If I choose that direction, wouldn't it inevitably point back to him?
Besides, I don't even know his prayer incantation. If I did, I'd have summoned him long ago to ask about Lilith.
Edward scratched his head.
"So…what should I call myself?"
Hmm?
He suddenly recalled what Adam had told him, just before his "death"—keywords for the one who was meant to bear the uniqueness of the Door pathway:
"An outsider;
The source of the apocalypse;
The one who set everything in motion;
The saviour."
Edward frowned, deep in thought.
I certainly count as an outsider to the world of mysticism.
"The source of the apocalypse"…though its meaning is unclear, when the Elven Queen heard me mention 'apocalypse,' she pointedly asked: Are you talking about yourself?
At the time, I thought maybe it was because I was a "reader-traveller"—what Cuttlefish called a high-dimensional observer. But even so, that shouldn't make me the apocalypse itself, much less the origin of all disasters. A high-dimensional observer is, at best, just another Outer God circling Earth—not even a Pillar.
Still, "outsider" does give me some inspiration.
Compared to the Fool, who is "one who doesn't belong to this era," I truly am an outsider—both to this world of mysticism, and to this very age.
"…Then—'Guest Beyond the World and Time'?"
Edward racked his brain.
"This should…probably be able to point to me, right?"
"But the first line feels a little low-grade. Let me think…beyond the world and time…maybe I can phrase it differently. World + time together—that's…dimension?"
"Yes! Beyond dimensions…no, above dimensions…a guest?"
He frowned. "That sounds awkward. If it's above dimensions, then how could it still just be a guest?"
Edward scratched his head. Suddenly, a phrase flashed through his mind: Ruler of Dimensions.
"Above dimensions…the Eternal...Sovereign."
That does sound much more impressive. But…does the word Sovereign really point to me?
Then what about the second line?
Klein has "The Mysterious Ruler Above the Grey Fog," which makes the invocation very precise. What about me?
What description would most accurately point toward me?
Maybe…I can draw from my other "Fool" pathway.
Back at Sequence 6 as a Bookworm, I gained the ability of the Bookworm—to consume mystical texts and gain supernatural power. That was, at least in the early and mid-sequence, one of my core abilities.
Put simply, I can draw strength from stories and words.
"So… the second line could be: The Recorder of Stories and Words? No, that's too bland."
Edward shook his head.
"Then…The Creator of Stories? No, that's not right. I don't create stories."
He scratched his head harder. What, then?…Wait, my Sequence 3 is Deconstruction Scholar, and the ritual for ascending to Sequence 3 is to 'deconstruct a story, and bring it into reality.'
"So, the second line could be…The Deconstructor of Stories. Add a powerful prefix…The Deconstructor of Endless Stories. Yes, let's go with that for now."
That left only the final line. But this time, clarity struck at once.
"I came from the future into nearly two hundred years ago. I exist in both the past and the future, without being bound by time as mortals and even gods are. So the third line should be…The Transcender of Past and Future."
Edward smiled. When combined, the three phrases became:
The Eternal Sovereign Above Dimensions;
The Deconstructor of Endless Stories;
The Transcender of Past and Future.
He snapped his fingers, and the sound echoed across the empty palace.
"Yes! That's it."
Lowering his legs from the bronze table, he sat upright.
"Next step—find a 'lucky audience' and test whether this three-part invocation can really direct prayers to me."
He stroked his chin.
"Now…who should I try it on?"
———
Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!
Bernadette sneezed several times in a row. Rubbing her nose, she continued eating.
Her mother, Matilda, immediately touched her forehead. "Are you sick, Bernadette?"
"Nope~"
She shook her head. "My nose just got itchy all of a sudden. It's nothing."
But no sooner had she spoken than her right eye twitched inexplicably. A strange feeling welled up inside her.
"Why do I suddenly feel…like something bad is about to happen?"
It must be an illusion!
She grasped her little knife and fork, cutting with great effort into a thick slice of steak. Satisfied, she nodded at the neatly carved piece and was about to spear it with her fork when—
"Ha!"
The sudden shout from behind startled her. She whirled around—just in time to see her father, Roselle, lean forward and gulp down the piece of beef she had painstakingly cut.
"Mmm~ delicious. As expected of something cut by my precious daughter just for her dad."
"!!!"
Bernadette was furious. "Daddy, you're so sneaky!"
"I call it wisdom~" Roselle smugly chewed the beef, sat down in his seat, and with a yawn grabbed a glass of iced sweet tea, draining it in one long gulp before letting out a contented sigh.
Bernadette huffed. "Did you go to another banquet at noon?"
"Nope."
"Your nose just grew longer!"
"Really, I didn't. Ask your mother if you don't believe me."
Matilda smiled gently. She had always been a simple, pure-hearted woman. She knew very well what sort of person her husband usually was, but as long as the whole family could sit together for a meal, she felt satisfied and happy.
This time, Roselle truly wasn't lying. He had no mood for any banquets.
After discovering signs of a possible "traveller" last night, he hadn't slept at all. First thing in the morning, he posted that bounty in the newspaper, then sat in his study waiting for the traveller to make contact.
Unfortunately, the whole day passed without the slightest shadow of that person.
Only when night fell did he remember he hadn't eaten anything. Driven by hunger and the smell of food, he finally came to the dining room.
With a steak and roast chicken in his stomach, warmth and satisfaction quickly restored his energy, and he once again began pondering the matter of the mysterious traveller.
Their absence left him both disappointed and relieved.
Disappointed, because in this strange world, he was still alone.
Relieved, because if another traveller really had appeared—and turned out to have a rotten character—then…
So-called countrymen meeting abroad, and stabbing each other in the back.
"Bernadette."
Roselle turned toward his daughter. "Did your Uncle Grimm come looking for you today?"
"…"
Bernadette raised her head, giving her father a strange look. By now, she was quite certain—the one who gave her Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid hadn't been Uncle Grimm at all.
But her father seemed determined to play dumb. No—that wasn't it.
He was calling a deer a horse!
She bit down on her fork, hesitating inwardly.
Should she…tell her father about the mysterious man?
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.