Zaratul was only briefly confused before quickly realizing what was happening and swapping places with his puppet.
His figure flickered for a moment, then reappeared in its original spot.
His process of swapping places with the puppet was distorted, its destination modified, sending him back to the starting point.
"Roselle," Zaratul murmured softly, his figure vanishing directly into the historical fog.
Roselle, now a True God, was not someone he could contend with; the best course of action was to hide in the historical fog and await the outcome of the clash between the True Creator and them.
Amidst his racing thoughts, Zaratul suddenly paused; he felt the aura of Sefirah Castle, stronger than before, infinitely close to that of a True God.
The Seer's dangerous intuition erupted completely at this moment; without thinking, Zaratul rapidly burrowed deeper into the historical fog.
A secret history known only to him was his best hiding place now.
Zaratul transformed into countless Worms of Spirit, frantically surging towards a brightened spot deep within the historical fog.
The moment he approached that historical light spot, a Hound of Fulgrim, covered in black fur like it was wearing a black cloak, ran out of the light spot; it roared upwards, as if transmitting a signal.
Countless slimy tentacles stretched out from the surrounding historical fog, firmly sealing off this historical area.
Almost in the next second, a slowly rotating, deep and obscure Worm of Spirit vortex descended behind Zaratul.
Without the slightest hesitation, Zaratul chose to exit the historical fog and return to Utopia in reality.
"I wish: to leave here."
The moment he returned to reality, Zaratul used his method of making a wish to himself and responding to himself to leave Utopia.
In Sivellaus County, on the coast of Midseashire, Zaratul's figure appeared out of thin air in a dense thicket.
Zaratul's face instantly turned pale; this was not his pre-selected destination, his wish had been distorted.
Before he could react, a large amount of complex, useless knowledge flooded his mind, causing every Worm of Spirit on his body to swell as if they would explode at any moment.
In this state, his body became stiff, his thoughts sluggish, making it difficult to think or move.
Klein, who had been waiting there, transformed into a deep and obscure Worm of Spirit vortex, from which countless slimy tentacles emerged.
He magnified the Convergence effect between Beyonder characteristics to its extreme; countless transparent Worms of Spirit drilled out of Zaratul, turning into streaks of grayish-white light points, merging into the deep and obscure Worm of Spirit vortex.
Whenever Zaratul tried to resist, countless complex and useless knowledge would pour into his mind, making it difficult for him to even form the thought of resistance.
Within a few seconds, Zaratul's figure completely vanished from this world.
At the same time, in northern Intis, Loen, and Feysac, near Midseashire, crows, fishermen, and Sailors fell silently, their bodies rapidly decaying, as if they had been dead for a long time.
Having absorbed all the characteristics from Zaratul, the deep and obscure Worm of Spirit vortex seemed to suffer from indigestion, wriggling with difficulty and changing into various shapes.
Leyton's Historical Projection, standing beside it, lost its support and instantly disappeared.
After about ten minutes, the struggling Worm of Spirit vortex seemed to finally regain its balance, re-condensing into Klein's figure.
His eyes held an unconcealed madness and indifference as he glanced at the spot where Zaratul had disappeared, muttering to himself:
"One Miracle Invoker characteristic is missing; it seems he still has a resurrection trump card."
Then, looking towards Utopia, Klein returned directly to the Gray Fog; the sea god scepter spontaneously flew into his hand, radiating pure light.
Above Utopia, streaks of silver-white lightning appeared out of nowhere, covering the entire city like a torrential downpour; in less than a minute, this town located on the Midseashire coast was completely erased, as if it had never existed.
As for the outsiders he had brought to Utopia, they had already been sent back to their original locations, and this period of memory had been erased.
To the outside world, they had only been missing for a period of time and lost the memory of that time; there would be no other problems, except for Darrell, who was influenced by the True Creator; he had completely disappeared.
Setting down the sea god scepter, Klein sat back in the high-backed chair belonging to The Fool, letting out a long breath; from everything that had happened until now, only about ten minutes had passed.
Collecting his scattered thoughts, he finally had the energy to check his current state:
"Although I have only accommodated one Attendant of Mysteries characteristic, with the blessing of Sefirah Castle, both my status and strength have surpassed Sequence 1 Angels, reaching the level of King of Angels, and the most top-tier kind, a King of Angels among King of Angels."
"I am on the same level as Sasrir was back then, having accommodated two Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, plus the Sefirah he controlled."
"In this state, I finally have some confidence to contend with Amon."
After muttering a few words, he reached into the historical gap and pulled out the historical projections of Leyton and Roselle, their historical projections from before they became Gods.
As soon as the historical projections appeared, Leyton and Roselle each projected their consciousness over using their respective methods.
"It seems you have succeeded."
Roselle looked at Klein, whose aura was stronger and colder, and nodded, then murmured to himself as if with some Feelings:
"My guess was indeed correct; although that Genie is trapped in the lamp and its influence on the outside world is limited, the power it can display still exceeds most Sequence 1 Angels."
Klein nodded calmly, then casually asked, "You two seem to have foreseen this scene long ago?"
Roselle chuckled and nodded:
"The True Creator did not hide too much; it was difficult for us not to notice the coincidences and anomalies happening around us."
"Based on our respective goals, we reached an unspoken understanding without communicating, shifting our focus to Antigonus, who was sealed by the Evernight Goddess; this was Zaratul's opportunity, and yours as well."
Klein nodded in sudden understanding, saying, "Because of the Genie's status, he is a variable that the True Creator cannot predict?"
He paused, then asked, "What happened in the Hornacis Mountains?"
Leyton leaned back against the chair, saying calmly:
"Simply put, Antigonus woke up, then was killed, and now he has been reborn, free from his madness, and has Concealment himself with his characteristics and Uniqueness."
"Next, it's a race between you and Amon to see who finds him first and takes the Uniqueness and the last Attendant of Mysteries characteristic from him."
"You can seek help from the Evernight Goddess; she knows the Demonic Wolf best, and she is also the Mother of Concealment; very few secrets in this world can be hidden from her."
"I understand." Klein sighed and nodded. With things having developed to this point, it was becoming increasingly chaotic; a Attendant of Mysteries who wanted to fully hide himself would not be so easy to find.
In the prayer hall of St. Samuel Cathedral in Backlund, after the exchange, Klein's figure appeared silently, without attracting anyone's attention.
He walked past the crowd, went to the Evernight Goddess holy emblem on the front table, found an empty chair, sat down, and began to pray softly.
Unbeknownst to him, the surroundings became unusually quiet; there was no sound of worshipers moving in the hall, nor any soft prayers; the air was filled with the scent of Night Jasmine and Moonflower.
Klein was moved and looked up, opening his eyes; he had unknowingly entered a dream and arrived at a vast grassland covered with Night Jasmine and Moonflower.
Directly in front of him stood a lady in a black classical long dress, her head resting on the moon; her clothes were layered but not intricate, embedded with specks of starlight, like the night sky.
Her body was somewhat ethereal, with signs of ripples spreading outwards; her face seemed to be covered by layers of thin veil, hazy yet exceptionally beautiful.
Klein was slightly stunned; this was his first time seeing the Evernight Goddess, even in a dream, but at their level, dreams were no longer entirely illusory.
Klein was still thinking about how to speak when the Evernight Goddess's soft voice, tinged with tranquility, echoed:
"Antigonus has grasped The Fool's Uniqueness; in some aspects, he is almost a Deity, capable of traversing various real or conceptual gaps; even I find it difficult to track down secrets related to him."
"After dying once, he broke free from the slumber I created, and at the same time, he broke free from his own madness; this is not entirely a bad thing for you."
"Now, the characteristics on him are relatively safe; they no longer carry the will of that Celestial Worthy waking up, and will no longer add to your burden, but you need to find him, defeat him, or persuade him."
"Persuade…" Klein chewed on the Evernight Goddess's choice of words, then asked with some confusion:
"Are you saying Antigonus might give up his contention for The Fool, for the position of Lord of the Mysteries?"
The Evernight Goddess's soft voice echoed around them:
"He is not a very ambitious person; compared to those former Demon Wolves, he prefers quietness, preferring to stay in his puppet's city."
Klein nodded, then continued to ask, "Where should I go to find him? And if I find him, what should I do?"
The Evernight Goddess replied very calmly:
"You are better at finding his traces than I am."
"If you are confident you can find him, first go to Calderon city deep in the Spirit World Depths and retrieve some water from the River of Eternal Darkness; I can create a sufficiently solid dream to allow you to avoid the gazes of Amon and the True Creator, and negotiate or contend in the dream."