Vincent leaned back, tilting his head up. "In the future, apparently, for some reason, I'm forced to go back into the past, and end up following some fixed, predetermined path, doing whatever needs to be done to steer the future into the shape I already know."
"Everything already arranged, everything already destined... it's just — no fun at all."
Bernadette was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said, dry, "I think you're just scared of dying. If you knew for a fact that your future self, after going back to the past, successfully ascended to godhood, and is still alive and well right now — would you still call it 'no fun'?"
"???"
Vincent blinked, momentarily thrown — and then his mind flashed through three works notorious for their heavy "predestination" themes, and something clicked into place. As a reader, sure, "fate is already written" feels flat, unsatisfying. But as the protagonist himself, living out that "destiny" firsthand? That felt incredible.
I get to travel through time back into the past, hook up with the Goddess of the Evernight, and even have a kid with her...
He sat bolt upright, clenching a fist. "Now we're talking!"
Bernadette: "..."
Vincent pulled out Little Miss Christmas Tree Renet's coin and channeled spirituality into it.
Half a minute later, Renet, carrying her four heads, stepped out of the Spirit World, back in her headless form. Four pairs of blood-red eyes fixed on Vincent, speaking in turn: "Did you need..." "...something..." "...from me...?"
"Nothing's wrong. Just wanted to check whether you got hurt back there."
"No..." "She was set on..." "...chasing you down..." "I was only trying to hold her off..." "...it never really became..." "...a fight to the death."
"Good to hear."
Vincent remembered Renet was in fairly rough shape at this point in time. In the original story, the reason she could smoothly use her Mythical Creature Form, transforming into that castle-sized doll, was because of Klein's "Yesterday Once More" talisman.
"Did forcing yourself into that Mythical Creature Form just now leave any lasting effects on you?"
"Yes..." "For a while..." "I won't be able..." "to use that form again..." "And besides..." "Sithea has probably..." "already caught my scent..."
Vincent immediately recalled the favor Renet had asked of him the last time they'd met — precisely because she'd known exactly what stepping in like this would cost her.
He conferred with Bernadette silently for a moment, then pulled out a scroll and offered it to her. "This scroll works the same way as the coin you gave me — just channel spirituality into it, and I'll sense it and get there as fast as I can."
"If you're ever in danger, use it to call for help."
"But..." "your own strength..." "..."
"I'll be advancing to Sequence 2 soon. Combined with a few Sequence 0 sealed items I've got, I should be able to hold out against a Sequence 1 long enough to buy you time to escape, at least."
"All right..." "Thank..." "...you..." "..."
Renet raised a hand, letting one of her heads lean in, mouth opening to catch the scroll between its teeth, then stepped back and vanished rapidly into the Spirit World. Just as the last head slipped through, it suddenly spoke up: "Don't forget..." "...the mummy."
"Don't worry, I remember."
Watching Little Miss Christmas Tree vanish, Vincent thought, "Good. Everyone's fine, then."
"..."
Bernadette was quiet for a moment. "Did you forget about Klein?"
"Er."
He genuinely had.
"Since you don't seem worried about his death at all — does that mean this isn't actually over? That Klein isn't really dead?"
"Right."
Vincent nodded. "You know how Sequence 2 Fortune Teller Pathway Miracle Workers have a certain special ability?"
"Death and resurrection?"
Zaratul had once told Emperor Roselle directly — death and resurrection was, itself, a miracle.
"But that's a Sequence 2 ability. Klein's only Sequence 7."
"But he's the master of Beyond the Grey Fog — the Source Fortress, in other words."
Vincent said, "He can draw on the 'death and resurrection' ability early, before formally reaching Miracle Worker. So death, for him, isn't the end — it's a fresh start."
He couldn't say for certain whether this whole "death" had been something the Goddess of the Evernight had planned all along, but the outcome would likely be the same either way: once revived, Klein would probably make the same choice he had in the original story — going into hiding, acting alone, under an assumed identity.
Barring surprises, after his resurrection, once he advanced to Sequence 6, he should end up making a similar decision to prepare for his Sequence 5 ritual — heading out to sea to search for a mermaid.
Which would, conveniently, dramatically accelerate his growth.
"Now that you know who Klein really is, going forward, are you going to..."
"Handle it however I would normally."
Bernadette said, "I'll pretend I don't know anything."
"Hm, that's not strictly necessary, actually."
Vincent thought it over, then, unexpectedly, raised an objection. "The way the 'story' is unfolding now is already completely different from what I originally knew. Maybe telling Klein the truth wouldn't actually be a bad thing."
"Of course, exactly how to go about it still needs some thought."
"Mm."
The two of them spent a while discussing the matter further.
Until, faintly, a low, hoarse voice reached Vincent's ears — a prayer, clearly from a woman. Though muffled, he could just make out that it was the black-dressed woman's voice.
"The Goddess of the Evernight's daughter is praying to me."
"Mm."
Bernadette responded, cool and detached. "I'll go rest, then. You two enjoy your little father-daughter chat."
She put a bit of extra weight on the words "father-daughter."
"Er. Having a 'daughter' who's a thousand-plus years older than me is a lot of pressure to deal with, honestly."
Even having reasoned out that this woman might be his own daughter, Vincent felt absolutely nothing real toward her. To him, she was just a powerful Dark Pathway Angel — a total stranger he'd only just met.
Something about the whole thing just felt off, regardless.
Bernadette said nothing more — genuinely off to rest, it seemed.
Vincent shook his head, and with a thought, entered the ancient, magnificent palace of the Nation of Disorder.
The unadorned scale sat wreathed in golden mist, and within it, faintly, he could make out a figure in a black dress. As spirituality flowed into the scale, her image and voice sharpened into clarity:
"...I sincerely beg that you would meet with me, that you would answer the questions I carry."
Vincent settled back against the stone chair, fingers tapping absently on the armrest, brow furrowed in thought: When she first learned I was connected to Lord of Chaos, the very first question she asked was about the relationship between Lord of Chaos and the "Lamp Spirit."
And Stephen asked something similar too — if he'd already been parasitized by Amon at the time, then it was really Amon who wanted the answer. Which means... he deliberately maneuvered the Goddess of the Evernight's daughter into investigating Lord of Chaos on his behalf.
But why would both of them care so much about the "Lamp Spirit"?
Vincent's gut told him this had to be connected to his "past self" somehow — even if it wasn't really him, at least someone who'd influenced the past in his place.
Could it be... that "past me" drove out the original Lamp Spirit, and took up residence himself, as the "new Lamp Spirit"?
To be continued…
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