Hearing Alaric's confident words, past Bethel glanced at him and said tactfully, "I believe you wouldn't physically harm them…"
The implication was clear: past Bethel was convinced Alaric would mentally torment His descendants.
It wasn't surprising Bethel thought this way. After all, Alaric had just deceived the polluted Mr. Door right in front of Him and had a track record of outwitting Pallez, leaving little room for trust.
"Bethel, you're far too indulgent with your descendants." Alaric said, spouting what sounded like absurd nonsense. Ignoring past Bethel's reaction, he suddenly perked up, as if struck by a thought, and said eagerly, "Since you can't help me create the alternate space without the materials right now, why don't we use the remaining time to talk about something interesting?"
Alaric looked at past Bethel with a grin and said, "I've always been curious about your relationship with Amon. It feels like you two get along pretty well?"
This was indeed something Alaric had long wondered about. Setting aside Mr. Door's self-sacrifice, the fact that Amon, the ultimate trickster, had returned the unused Sequence 1 characteristic to the Abraham family after consuming Mr. Door was downright shocking.
Past Bethel glanced at Alaric and answered without evasion, "We're probably friends, in a way. We can work together, share a drink, but we'd also kill each other without hesitation if it came to a fight."
"What a peculiar dynamic!" Alaric could tell Bethel was being genuine, prompting him to let out a sigh of amazement.
"That's just how it is among high-sequences in this world. Solomon and Tudor were once close friends, but that didn't stop Tudor from betraying Solomon when it mattered." Bethel said, seemingly unfazed, even offering an example with a calm expression.
"How terrifying, you people of this world." Alaric said, feigning fear before bursting into laughter. After gauging his remaining spirituality and chatting a bit more with past Bethel, he released the summoning.
"I trust you've received the relevant memories, Mr. Door." Alaric said, re-establishing contact with Mr. Door, who had been sidelined until now, and smiling.
Mr. Door was silent for a long while before asking for the third time, "What are you?"
"Alaric Zoroast, a mere mortal." Alaric answered again.
"Let's hope so." Mr. Door sighed. "Right now, I probably don't have much to offer you."
"Not true. You have plenty of bargaining chips, like knowledge and hidden history." Alaric said unhurriedly. "Sure, I know a lot, but there are still gaps in my understanding of history and knowledge. You, on the other hand, are well-learned and have lived through much of that history."
Alaric grinned again. "So, are you willing to place that chip on the scale to make our deal more balanced?"
Mr. Door wasn't surprised by this. There was no such thing as true omniscience in this world... not even the ancient Sun God could claim that.
Still, Mr. Door couldn't shake his suspicion about what this self-proclaimed human really was.
"I can only contact you during the full moon. If you can keep me lucid like you did today, I'll share some of the things you want to know." Mr. Door said, showing no intent to refuse. With Alaric's abilities, anything He wanted to know would eventually come to light, whether Mr. Door shared it or not.
Might as well use this chance to learn more about what kind of existence Alaric was.
"Thank you." Alaric said politely.
"Oh, by the way…" Alaric added, as if remembering something. "Mr. Door, I could actually use your help with a small favor."
Klein was at home, studying.
For the past twenty days, Klein had enjoyed a rare period of calm. His routine consisted of studying occult knowledge, practicing combat, holding Tarot Club meetings, and little else... no unexpected incidents. It left him almost disoriented, wondering if all the prior mishaps had truly been coincidences.
But Klein knew better; they couldn't be mere coincidences. All he could do in this brief calm was learn as much as possible and improve himself in every way.
At that moment, he suddenly heard a familiar prayer. The voice was male, and after careful discernment, Klein confirmed it belonged to Alaric.
Klein mentally raised a question mark, puzzled why Alaric would suddenly pray to him out of the blue.
"Has Jack come up with another wild idea?" Klein wondered, but his expression soon grew serious. He noticed that Alaric's prayer carried a tone of intense pain.
"Has something happened?" Klein hurriedly ascended the gray fog to investigate.
Through the prayer's light, he soon saw a familiar study. Alaric was writhing in pain on the floor, surrounded by scattered books.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;
The mysterious ruler above the gray fog;
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
"Save me, save me…"
Klein heard Alaric's desperate plea and noticed something unnatural about him... his hair was growing longer, his nails extending, and other anomalies.
"Is Jack about to lose control? What do I do?" Klein panicked, his mind racing through his knowledge but finding no solutions.
Then, he caught faint, almost imperceptible ravings mixed with Alaric's prayer.
This reminded Klein of his own experiences... he occasionally heard such ravings before ascending the gray fog. He knew how terrifying they could be.
"Is Jack on the verge of losing control because of these ravings?" Klein thought, an idea forming. "If I pull Jack onto the gray fog, would it block out those ravings?"
Without hesitation, Klein established a connection with Alaric and pulled him onto the gray fog.
Alaric blinked. Moments ago, he had been mimicking a certain dramatic initiation scene. Now, looking at the bronze table before him, he put on a perfectly in-character expression of shock and confusion, though inwardly, he wasn't surprised at all.
This had been part of his plan. Just earlier, Alaric had asked Mr. Door to whisper a few extra words in his ear. Then, using his acting skills, he feigned the appearance of losing control. His goal was to replicate Fors' ascent to the gray fog, using the pretext of "life-threatening danger" To force Klein to pull him up.
***
Every 100 Power Stones and 5 Reviews will earn you a Bonus Chapter.
And if you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)