Thump! Thump! Thump!
The knocking outside the hall brought "Zaratul" back to His senses, temporarily suppressing His doubts as the doors to the palace hall swung open on their own.
Outside the doors, members of the Secret Order stepped inside one after another, all clad in hooded black robes that concealed most of their heads. Keeping their heads low in absolute silence, they took their seats along both sides of the hall in an orderly fashion.
Before long, the mid-and-high-level members of the Secret Order within Intis were all seated, silently awaiting their leader's address.
...Today is the Secret Order's semi-annual gathering... The thought flashed through "Zaratul's" mind. He harbored no suspicion, instinctively believing the reason. Looking at the crowd seated on both sides of the hall, He spoke casually:
"You may begin."
It seemed everyone was terrified of Him. The hall remained dead silent for a long while before someone finally spoke up:
"The official factions of South Intis seem intent on making contact with us. They've discovered some clues and are testing the waters in a roundabout way."
"As long as we don't get involved in the struggles between the Churches, it shouldn't be too dangerous for us."
...
The Secret Order's meeting quickly concluded, leaving only "Zaratul" still sitting in His seat within the empty hall. With His head hung low, He continuously muttered to Himself:
"Did I seem to forget something very important?"
"Were my marionettes, characteristics, and a portion of my memories truly 'stolen' by that 'The Fool' during our tug-of-war?"
Muttering to Himself, He quickly entered a state of sleep through meditation, attempting a dream divination.
The moment He closed His eyes, the surrounding light dimmed imperceptibly, and everything grew extraordinarily quiet—a deathly silence.
A bizarre, cold, and illusory mask with no facial features materialized out of thin air, automatically fixing itself onto His face.
Yet "Zaratul" remained completely oblivious to all of this. Whether it was a Seer's spiritual intuition or His own sensory perception of the outside world, everything had failed.
"Go into the dream. I will make this dream blanket enough people, allowing them to become your witnesses and drive the progress of the ritual."
A gentle, calm, and ethereal voice echoed through the darkness.
Draped in a classical black robe and shrouded in a thin layer of grayish-white fog, Klein appeared in the hall.
He looked at the figure fast asleep on the highest seat and chuckled softly:
"Your characteristics belong to Zaratul, your memories belong to Zaratul, your spirit belongs to Zaratul, and your destiny belongs to Zaratul. Everyone believes you are Zaratul, so you are Zaratul."
"When the already dead Zaratul reappears, doesn't that count as fooling history and fooling time to a certain extent?"
"It's not enough, unless you possess the authority of 'Error' to pull off a 'Deception' against the rules and against time."
The voice of the "Evernight Goddess" echoed out in the darkness, hovering by Klein's ear.
Klein nodded, his tone devoid of any ups and downs as he said:
"I understand. What comes next is putting on a grand performance within the dream, letting Zaratul successfully turn me into a marionette and ascend to 'Sefirah Castle.'"
"And all of this will end the very second He successfully gains control of 'Sefirah Castle.' I will reclaim this 'Attendant of Mysteries' characteristic, master the Uniqueness at the same time, and converge the final characteristic from Antigonus."
Beneath the thin fog, Klein's body turned into a crudely cut paper figurine. The consciousness grafted onto the paper figurine fell into a deep sleep, entering the dreamscape that the "Evernight Goddess" had woven for him and "Zaratul."
.....
In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, the starlight in the sky had already dissipated. Having endured a millennium of darkness, sunlight finally spilled across this land once more.
The people who had survived by relying on the protection of the True Creator looked up at the sky in confusion, astonishment, and disbelief, terrified that all of this was nothing but an unrealistic, beautiful dream.
After an unknown amount of time, those holding the positions of priests walked down from the high platforms built of gray stone, stepping into the crowds one by one. In voices either deep or resounding, they proclaimed the oracle of the True Creator.
Noticing the scenes on the ground below, Roselle let out a sigh with a smile:
"So you actually have this many believers left here. I thought you did nothing but throw mad fits in the Forsaken Land of the Gods."
"That was the case for most of the time in the past. It wasn't until the divine side of me returned that my state truly turned around."
The True Creator did not mind Roselle's tone at all, replying with a smile.
Pausing for two seconds, He suddenly looked at Leyton and spoke: "That 'The Fool's' ritual to accommodate the Uniqueness should have begun, right?"
Roselle's eyes narrowed slightly, and the surrounding atmosphere abruptly froze.
Ignoring Roselle's solemnity and Leyton's indifferent expression, the True Creator continued:
"Amon is still mastering the authority of 'Door.' This will be their most peaceful period of time."
"I have a premonition that you already know what my trump card is. 'Knowledge' is superior to 'Omniscience' in certain aspects."
"You, who already possess a Half Great Old One status and power, are the greatest obstacle. I cannot stop you and Herabergen, Aucuses, and the others all at once."
Before the True Creator could continue, Roselle interrupted in a deep, grim voice:
"So you think you can stop the two of us at the same time? Aren't you worried that your believers, who just escaped the darkness, will fall into another predicament?"
The True Creator smiled and shook His head: "There will be no battle between us. This is a cooperation. The ally He needs doesn't necessarily have to be the 'Lord of Mysteries'; it can also be 'God Almighty.'"
Roselle's gaze swept back and forth between Leyton and the True Creator. In a deep voice, he asked:
"Did you two strike a new deal behind my back?"
Leyton shook his head and explained:
"No, this was a consensus from the very beginning. We never hid it; it's just that the orthodox gods didn't possess enough information to see through it."
"They placed all their focus on Amon and the others' struggle for the position of 'Lord of Mysteries,' overlooking that what is required to undo the seal is a Great Old One, not 'God Almighty' or the 'Lord of Mysteries.'"
"What's the difference?" Roselle raised an eyebrow and pressed.
Leyton shook his head, offering no detailed explanation, only saying:
"You'll find out if you wait a bit longer. Don't worry, it's not a bad thing. On the contrary, this matter is beneficial to everyone to some extent."
Roselle nodded somewhat suspiciously. As if suddenly thinking of something, he cast his gaze toward the magnificent barrier formed by the grayish-white fog to the east, asking with some uncertainty:
"You want to join forces to undo the seal? Is that even feasible?"
.....
Within the massive dreamscape that covered the entirety of South Intis and neighboring regions like Lenburg and Segar, crows with pitch-black feathers landed on the dark, spired churches, emitting caws with a bizarre rhythm.
In the church hall below, figures—both young and old—turned around in perfect synchronization. Staring at the figure that had abruptly crossed the doors to enter the hall, they chorused:
"I caught you..."
Maintaining the face of Gehrman Sparrow, Klein froze in shock for a fraction of a second before turning around without a moment's hesitation.
Bang!
The church doors slammed shut, and the surroundings instantly plunged into gloom. This church was cast into concealment, completely isolated from the outside world; even information could not be exchanged.
At the deepest part of the church hall, "Zaratul" sat on a stone bench with His head hung low, chanting aloud:
"I wish: Divinity to fail here!"
Abruptly, all Beyonder abilities at the demigod level and above lost their efficacy, including a "Miracle Invoker's" ability to grant wishes.
Without giving Klein a chance to react, "Zaratul" immediately commanded His marionettes to launch a coordinated assault on Klein.
A barrage of various Beyonder abilities descended one after another. Klein's figure dissolved into ashes amidst a burst of fire, only to leap out from another direction.
Before he could even land, a streak of silver-white lightning struck out of thin air, turning Klein's figure into charred debris once more.
By controlling His marionettes to unleash continuous attacks, "Zaratul" relentlessly wore down the paper figurines Klein carried on his person. Simultaneously, He divided His attention to manipulate Klein's Spirit Body Threads, attempting to convert him into His marionette.
Boom!
A ball of crimson, near-white fire suddenly exploded beside "Zaratul." Klein leaped out from the flames and threw a whip kick at "Zaratul," but passed straight through Him—it was merely an illusion.
Rolling across the ground, Klein managed to stabilize himself with great difficulty, only to suddenly freeze on the spot. A pale figure was mirrored in both of his eyes at the same time.
It was a "Wraith Possession" coming from a "Wraith" marionette!
At the same time, Klein felt the sluggishness of his body and thoughts grow progressively more severe; his body was falling completely out of his control.
"Too many of your characteristics, destiny, time, and abilities were stolen by Amon, and you failed to seize the opportunity to return to 'Sefirah Castle' at the very first moment. In this state, it is very difficult for you to contend with me."
"Of course, we still need to settle this quickly; Amon will be pursuing us very soon."
"Zaratul" narrated to Klein in an incredibly calm tone, sounding as if He were talking to Himself, yet also as if He were stalling for time to crush Klein's conviction.
With a creaking sound, the doors to the spired church were pushed open from the outside.
In the dim light, a figure appeared at the church entrance, wearing a classical black robe and a matching spired soft hat, with black curly hair, black eyes, a broad forehead, and a thin face.
He wore a monocle over His left eye, looking at "Zaratul" with a half-smile:
"Apologies, I put it on backward just now."
While speaking, He took off the monocle from His left eye, brought it toward His right eye in a symbolic gesture, and then restrained His movements.
Before Him, the figures of "Zaratul" and Klein had already vanished, leaving behind only the marionettes—or rather, corpses—abandoned by "Zaratul."
"Heh... using Amon's identity to scare people is indeed quite fun. I didn't even need to perform any Beyonder abilities of the 'Error' domain before he fled straight away."
Muttering a sentence to Himself, the figure of Amon outside the church doors rapidly shifted, turning into an old man clad in a coarse cloth robe with graying beard and hair—Pallez Zoroast, who was parasitizing Leonard!