Leonard fell silent for a moment, likely calming his emotions. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he said, "Old man, you don't seem surprised at all that Lucifer is an angel."
"Is it so strange for a god's favored one to be an angel?" Pallez countered.
"Not really, I guess." Leonard admitted, ruffling his hair. His expression turned conflicted as he continued, "But if the Lord of Chaos and the Evernight Goddess are really allies, should I join that… Joker Club?"
He'd been reluctant to join due to his faith in the Evernight Goddess, but now that it seemed the Goddess Herself was allied with the Lord of Chaos, Leonard saw no reason to resist.
Pallez didn't respond immediately, seemingly deep in thought. After a few seconds, he said, "It's probably not a bad thing for you."
A few days later, when Alaric, under his "Alaric Zoroast" Alias, came to casually build rapport with Pallez and pry into some Fourth Epoch gossip, he heard Leonard say, "That Joker Club you invited me to join... does the offer still stand?"
Oh? So he's finally confirmed the Lord of Chaos and the Evernight Goddess are allies?
Alaric raised an eyebrow, not entirely surprised. He'd long expected Leonard to change his stance once the Goddess's position became clear. Smiling, he replied, "Of course it stands. So, Leonard, you've finally come around?"
"Cough, let's be clear." Leonard said, either out of embarrassment or unease, clearing his throat. "Even if I join the Joker Club, I won't betray the Goddess."
"I thought you'd already confirmed that my Lord and the Evernight Goddess are allies." Alaric said, grinning at him.
"So Helel is Lucifer, then?" Leonard pounced on the detail.
"Mr. Lucifer does prefer the name Helel when doing good deeds. It seems to hold some special meaning for him." Alaric explained leisurely, not denying it.
"Why do you call Lucifer 'him'? Isn't that an angel?" Leonard asked, momentarily pleased his guess was correct but puzzled by Alaric's choice of pronoun.
"I don't know Mr. Lucifer's Sequence, but he does prefer to be called 'him,'" Alaric said earnestly, shaking his head.
That was the honest truth. Alaric preferred the more human "him" over the divine "Him."
"Weird angel." Leonard muttered.
"Angels tend to have quirks." Alaric said with a laugh, following Leonard's lead. "For example, I've heard a certain angel of the Fate pathway loves ice cream. Maybe it's their way of clinging to humanity!"
That was no lie. Everyone knew angels in the Lord of Mysteries world weren't complete without some oddity.
"Huh?" Leonard froze, clearly not expecting such a juicy tidbit.
Pallez glanced at Alaric and chuckled. "Will does have a thing for ice cream. Probably because he keeps resetting into a child."
"No need to probe, old man." Alaric said with a smile, catching the subtext in Pallez's words. "I'm not close with Mr. Will. Even if the organization has contact with him, it's handled by others. Right now, the only angel I'm tasked with dealing with is you."
Pallez picked up on Alaric's implication and smirked. "I would've thought, with your alliance to the True Creator, you'd be hostile toward Will."
Pallez's reasoning was obvious. The Fate pathway's Angel of Fate, Ouroboros, was a known factor. As everyone knew, only one Sequence 0 could exist per pathway, so Sequence 1s aiming for godhood had to eliminate their rivals. Ouroboros and Will, the only two Sequence 1s of the Fate pathway, were locked in a constant struggle.
Typically, Ouroboros had the upper hand, backed by the True Creator and holding two Sequence 1 characteristics as an King of Angel. Will, despite possessing the Fate pathway's uniqueness, was hampered by his luck, which prevented him from fully integrating it. The uniqueness was more a burden than a boon, leaving him in a rough spot.
Ouroboros's lack of cunning and the True Creator's descent into madness after the Fourth Epoch's defeat were likely the only reasons Will hadn't been fed to the "big snake" yet.
Alaric understood Pallez's point and smiled. "My Lord is indeed allied with the True Creator, but that doesn't mean He's hostile to Mr. Will. In fact, my Lord welcomes alliances with anyone."
"…Because chaos suits your needs better, doesn't it?" Pallez said, either misunderstanding or deliberately twisting the meaning.
Alaric didn't correct him, only saying, "Competition makes the world livelier."
"Just hope it doesn't get too lively." Pallez said, shaking his head. He could already envision the chaos to come, but… well, it might not be all bad.
Turning to the now thoroughly confused Leonard, Pallez said with a chuckle, "Leonard, don't forget you're joining the Joker Club."
Snapping back to the matter at hand, Leonard looked at Alaric. "Is there some kind of ceremony for joining the Joker Club?"
"We don't bother with that kind of formality." Alaric said, shaking his head with a smile. He pulled a badge from his pocket, handed it to Leonard, and explained how to use it.
"So mysterious…" Leonard examined the strange badge, his eyes drawn to the unfamiliar text in its center. Somehow, he understood its meaning despite never seeing it before. "What language is this? I've never come across it."
"It's my Lord's script." Alaric said with a smile, offering no further explanation.
Pallez studied the badge's central word, seemingly lost in thought, but ultimately said nothing about it. After a moment, he remarked, "I see some familiar techniques in this badge. Reminds me of an old friend."
"These badges were indeed crafted by Mr. Bethel." Alaric confirmed with a nod. "I only just got mine recently. The older ones weren't nearly this impressive."
He knew this was a potential slip... Pallez could likely guess Bethel had recently allied with the Lord of Chaos. But what did it matter? The badges being new didn't mean the Joker Club was newly formed. Perhaps the group had simply used different methods for gatherings before.
Even if Pallez suspected the Club was a recent creation, it didn't change the facts: the Evernight Goddess's stance was real, Mr. Door's cooperation was real, and the True Creator's alliance was real. In the face of those truths, the rest was irrelevant.
***
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