Above the massive crater left by the vanished Constant City, only Amon and Bernadette remained, still in a standoff.
Larrion, the former chief Shepherd of the Church of the God of Combat, gave up on retrieving 0-02 from Amon and departed directly. Arianna followed closely, seemingly intending to completely deal with the High Priest.
Amon looked at the silent Bernadette and asked, "How are your considerations?"
Bernadette calmly shook her head and said, "I refuse."
As she spoke, thick, green vines descended from the sky, covering the surrounding area like a downpour.
"What a pity," Amon sighed, shaking his head.
His figure, along with the brass book in his hand, blurred and vanished from the spot.
He had deceived the rules, deceived time; what remained was merely an illusion from a few seconds ago. The true him had already departed with 0-02.
Above the Gray Fog, Klein frowned. He hadn't noticed that Amon had replaced himself with an illusion. Amon seemed to have grown stronger than before. I suspect he has truly become an 'Error,' not holding a ritual, but maintaining his sanity with the help of his father's psychological treatment.
Lost in thought, he saw Amon's figure appear at the bottom of the massive crater, next to Arrodes.
"He didn't take 0-02? Was that just an avatar?"
While muttering to himself, Klein used the "Box of the Great Old Ones" to swap Arrodes's position with the microorganisms in the nearby air, sending it to Bernadette's side.
At the bottom of the crater, Amon raised a hand to adjust the monocle over his right eye, then looked up and met Klein's gaze. He made no attempt to invade Sefirah Castle, and his figure vanished directly from the spot.
On the other side, Bernadette looked at Arrodes, which was struggling to float, and after a moment of thought, she said:
"You are a Sealed Artifact of the Steam Church, that mirror that likes to ask people questions?"
On the silver mirror's surface, ripples spread out, revealing one Intis word after another:
"Yes, learned and wise lady, but the Steam Church no longer exists, and I have found the master I will follow and serve for a lifetime."
"So, can you not send me back to the Church?"
"If possible, it would be best to send me to the great, supreme, and ultimate Fool, or you could also send me to Gehrman Sparrow or Admiral of Stars Cattleya. Let them bring me to meet my master."
"In exchange, you can ask me one—no, three questions, any questions. The great Arrodes knows everything, with the exception of matters involving deities."
Bernadette was silent for a moment, gazing at the floating mirror arrodes, then suddenly smiled and said:
"First question: What was Amon's true purpose in taking 0-02?"
The silver mirror's surface suddenly darkened, reflecting nothing. This state lasted for a while before ripples began to stir on the surface again, followed by the appearance of one silver Intis word after another:
"0-02 is something evolved from Uniqueness; I cannot see it clearly, and neither can Amon. My ability to glimpse things related to him, who has accommodated a Uniqueness, is very limited."
"However, I can filter and deduce based on existing phenomena. While I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, there won't be a large deviation."
Bernadette gently nodded and said, "That's acceptable."
Upon receiving Bernadette's reply, Arrodes made the words on its silver surface disappear, quickly outlining new words:
"Amon is only one ritual away from becoming a true deity. Although he claims he can skip the ritual and directly ascend, if he has a choice, he would certainly not do so. Even with the help of the world's best Psychiatrist, the risk is still too great."
"According to the information I saw from an Erudite, the essence of the deification ritual is to make the ascendant feel a slight disharmony, unnaturalness, or abnormality, allowing a small part of their spirit, which had merged into all things, to pop out and regain a sense of self-awareness, no longer losing themselves."
"Regarding 'Error,' the Ancient Sun God described it as the wooden horse of fate, the bookworm of time, the loophole of rules, and the embodiment of all Errors."
"And 0-02 is the Uniqueness of the Justiciar Pathway, representing order and rules. Based on previous encounters, it can alter the world's underlying rules when activated to a certain extent."
"Therefore, my guess about Amon taking 0-02 is that he wants to use the book's ability to complete his deification ritual in an indirect way."
"Lady, are you satisfied with this answer?"
Bernadette nodded gently, then asked the second question: "What happened to the former Archpriest of the Steam Church, Horamick Haydn?"
On the silver mirror's surface, ripples of light continuously spread. After a long while, words finally appeared:
"He was corrupted, parasitized, and quietly replaced. That thing came from the Cosmos. It said it serves the 'Stars.'"
Bernadette nodded lightly and pressed, "And what else?"
On the silver mirror's surface, new words quickly appeared:
"It is only close to Sequence 2, but not yet at the angel level. However, the level of that corruption is very high; it even corrupted and controlled a portion of an Illuminator characteristic. But now, that Illuminator characteristic has been recovered by an Erudite."
"It seems to be searching for something. I'm not sure exactly what, but that thing seems to be in a certain sea area near Feynapotter. It should have determined the exact location, but because it has been constantly tracked, it can only keep circling around places like Loen and Lenburg."
"Lady, are you satisfied with this answer?"
Bernadette nodded gently, saying nothing, and directly reached into the void to pull out a silver whistle. She brought it to her lips and blew; no sound emerged, but spiritual fluctuations emanated from the surroundings.
Bernadette instructed the air in front of her, "Send it to Cattleya's ship."
The next second, the silver mirror in her hand vanished, leaving only a slowly fading afterimage.
Above the Gray Fog, Klein, who had witnessed the entire scene through the prayer light spot, breathed a sigh of relief, but soon grew tense again.
If Arrodes's guess is correct, Amon has already begun to assault the true deity rank. This will be my last period of relative peace. Once Amon becomes an "Error," the first thing he will do is contend with me for Sefirah Castle. To be precise, he should only take Sefirah Castle, but the danger brought by the corresponding fate will still be borne by me.
I must become a Miracle Invoker as soon as possible and fully control Sefirah Castle. Only then can I gain some initiative in the subsequent struggle.
Collecting his thoughts, Klein put down the sea god scepter and the "Curtain." His figure quickly faded, disappearing from the palace above the Gray Fog.
On the Fog Sea, in the captain's cabin of the Future, which had just set sail from Lessel's port, Cattleya's spiritual intuition was suddenly triggered. She turned her head to look at the desk, which had a nautical chart spread on it. At some point, an ancient silver mirror had appeared there, with gem-decorated eyes on either side of the mirror.
"A mirror? Sent by the Queen?" Cattleya murmured to herself as she approached.
The surface of the silver mirror immediately rippled with light, revealing silver-white Intis words one by one:
"Hello, I am Arrodes, who follows the great master above the Spirit World. May I trouble you to send me back to my master?"
"The great master above the Spirit World?" Cattleya asked, a little confused.
On the silver mirror's surface, words continued to emerge: "Yes, he also has some other titles, for example, 'The Fool.'"
"...Mr. Fool." Cattleya widened her eyes in astonishment, then quickly calmed down and retorted, "Why should I believe you?"
On the silver mirror's surface, words appeared one after another:
"You can directly verify it. You carry an ancient aura from that place; I can see it."
"Wait a moment, you don't need to verify it. The person coming to pick me up will be here soon."
At the end of the text, there were several little figures making cheering expressions.
Cattleya frowned slightly. The little figures used by this mirror felt somewhat familiar to her; she seemed to see them often.
Before she could ask, new words appeared on the mirror:
"You have already asked me two questions; it's my turn to ask."
"First question: In truth, your heart has always been that of a little girl who hasn't grown up, right?"
Cattleya's expression froze. If this mirror weren't suspected of being a follower of Mr. Fool, she would have already sunk it to the bottom of the sea.
Arrodes paid no attention to Cattleya's expression, continuing to reveal character after character:
"Refusing to answer or answering incorrectly will result in punishment. Failing to answer within the time limit is considered a refusal to answer."
After a brief silence, Cattleya sighed. She decided to directly sacrifice this strange mirror to Mr. Fool.
Before she could begin setting up the ritual, a figure suddenly materialized by the captain's cabin window.
He wore a white shirt, a black vest, and a semi-tall silk top hat. A revolver was in the gun holster at his waist.
"Gehrman Sparrow?"
Seeing who it was, Cattleya was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, pointing to the silver mirror on the desk and saying:
"You came for this strange mirror?"
Klein's threads briefly glimpsed the question Arrodes had posed to Cattleya on the desk. He paused slightly before nodding in response:
"Yes, just give it to me. There's no need to answer its question."
Cattleya nodded gently, turned her body, and motioned for Gehrman Sparrow to take it himself.
After leaving the Future, Klein took Arrodes and teleported to the Rorsted Archipelago, visiting the living area Anderson had chosen for the City of Silver and Moon City residents to conduct an on-site inspection.
After all, they are my first official believers; I still need to invest more. As his thoughts drifted, he looked down at the mirror in his hand and casually asked:
"Why did you act so docilely in front of Bernadette, not showing any of your mischievous instincts?"
On the silver mirror's surface, golden characters flickered into view:
"Her father was watching me the whole time. If I dared to ask any inappropriate questions, I would surely turn into a pile of debris in the next second."
"Then I wouldn't be able to serve you, my great master, anymore. I cannot die before I have followed in your footsteps, master."
Even in text, Arrodes was fully expressing its excitement. This enthusiasm made Klein temporarily unaccustomed to the mirror's sometimes socially outgoing nature, which could make others socially anxious.