Chapter 319: A Message from the Red Light

It floated in midair, its movements somewhat unaccustomed as it bowed toward Klein.

A voice at once deeply majestic yet somewhat amiable rang out:

"Good evening, Your Highness!"

"I have come in response to your summons."

"Good evening, Mr. El Moria~"

"There's no need to be so formal with me. Let's just converse normally."

Klein maintained Gehrman Sparrow's persona and refrained from raising a hand to wipe away the phantom sweat on his forehead.

He felt he had severely underestimated the weight of the identity "Great Dominator Above the Spirit World." I'm still only a Sequence 6, yet a crude ritual bordering on disrespectful was enough to summon the descent of "Red Light" El Moria. If I hadn't reacted fast enough, a divine descent incident would have occurred in Bayam today!

The paper figure floating in midair made a motion of stroking its beard with some awkwardness, but since the paper figure had no beard at all, the gesture appeared rather bizarre.

El Moria controlled the paper figure to stop its hand movements, then spoke:

"Understood, Your Highness."

"May I ask what questions you wish to inquire of me? Or do you require some assistance?"

If I said I needed help, would you charge straight into the ruins where Cattiva hides and take its trait for me? Klein muttered to himself, and he even felt this was not an impossible outcome.

After a moment of silence, he organized his thoughts before speaking:

"I wish to know information about Cattiva, as well as the location of the ruins where it hides."

The paper figure floating in midair answered with almost no hesitation:

"Cattiva was originally just an ordinary sea snake. By chance, it wandered into an ancient elven ruin and fused with a Sequence 3 trait left behind by the 'Queen of Calamity' Goshinam, thereby becoming the Sea God worshipped by the indigenous people of the Rorsted Archipelago."

"Two hundred years ago, it was wounded by two Saints of the Storm Church wielding Sealed Artifacts, and could only hide within an elven ruin concealed in the Spirit World. A few days ago, because the 'Book of Calamity' left behind by the Queen of Calamity was stolen, it could no longer maintain its state and headed toward an inevitable collapse."

"The elven ruin where it hides is within my observation, and I will provide you with the coordinates. But... Your Highness, I must remind you that although its current state is poor, it has not yet completely collapsed. You will still need to wait for a period of time."

"Alternatively, I can directly take you to that ruin and obtain the trait from it, succeeding to the faith belonging to the 'Sea God.'"

You really do plan to take direct action! Even though that is only a Sequence 3 on the verge of collapse... Hah, since when could I describe a Sequence 3 with "only"? But why succeed to the faith belonging to the "Sea God"?

From the demeanor of "Red Light" El Moria, He did not regard Cattiva as worth consideration at all — not because it was on the verge of collapse, but because a Sequence 3 "Sea God" was simply beneath His notice.

The Seven Lights of the Spirit World likely do not possess traits of their own. Is this a result of harnessing the Spirit World's special nature? Is each of Them equivalent to an Angel? If I truly became the "Great Dominator Above the Spirit World," wouldn't I directly have seven Angels!

Klein maintained Gehrman Sparrow's persona, his expression not changing the slightest from beginning to end, though his mental activity never ceased for a moment.

After a bout of intense internal deliberation, Klein shook his head slightly:

"There is no need for that for now. I only require the coordinates of the ruins where Cattiva hides."

"Thank you for the information. If there is a need, I will seek your assistance."

"Red Light" El Moria responded, his tone betraying no discernible change:

"No thanks are needed. This is what I ought to do."

After a brief pause, He continued:

"Your Highness, I must remind you of something."

"That friend of yours — I'm not sure whether he is a follower of 'Knowledge' or an incarnation of 'Knowledge' — has recently been keeping very close company with the True Creator's avatar. That 'Book of Calamity' was previously in his hands, and the theft of the Book of Calamity itself has a great deal to do with the Hidden Sage."

"The True Creator's avatar has already pastured a calamity trait, and He is also spreading a new faith in the Southern Continent, providing the true Himself with a sufficient number of normal anchors, which will continuously improve His state of madness."

"Faith and anchors?"

Klein concisely voiced his question.

El Moria controlled the paper figure to make a nodding motion, then explained:

"The potion system is in fact the path of converging divinity. As one advances through the sequences, a Beyonder will inevitably be influenced by divinity and the instinctive madness contained within the traits. If one advances using Beyonder traits, there will also be the influence of residual spirits from other Beyonders."

"The faith of believers is like an anchor, stabilizing the spirit of high-sequence Beyonders so that they do not lose control, go mad, or collapse."

So this is the reason why all the major churches and cults spread faith. Klein felt that a long-standing question of his had been answered, and what accompanied it was sorrow at the mad essence of this world.

After a moment of silence, he asked again:

"Wouldn't an evil god gradually returning to normal be a good thing? There is no conflict between the True Creator and myself via adjacent pathways."

El Moria shook his head slightly:

"All gods need faith, but the people in this world are finite."

"Your Highness, although there is no conflict between you and the True Creator, He is the human side of the Ancient Sun God, and to a certain extent can be equated with the Ancient Sun God. And A Meng is the child of the Ancient Sun God. Conflict between you and A Meng is inevitable, and at that time, you will be enemies."

"I understand. Thank you for telling me."

Klein nodded slightly in response, feeling a weight upon him.

I'm still only a Sequence 6, yet the enemy I will face is a King of Angels, or even a true god.

From the attitude of "Red Light," at least the Seven Lights of the Spirit World are on my side — but this is predicated on my connection with the Sefirah Castle and on matters not involving A Meng. Once A Meng is involved, the Seven Lights of the Spirit World may not maintain their current attitude.

Klein ran through various conjectures in his mind, and with an expressionless face, bid farewell to El Moria before ending this completely transformed pact ritual.

Pop!

He parted his lips slightly, producing a faint sound, controlling the power of the air pellet so that it just barely extinguished the candle's flame.

After swiftly cleaning up the remnants of the ritual site, he lay down on the bed, his mind heavy with thoughts.

A moment later, he sighed softly, rose, and walked backward four steps while chanting an incantation.

His spirit swaying slightly, he arrived in that palace, seemingly eternal and unchanging, and sat in the high-backed chair belonging to the Fool.

"I wonder if, by drawing upon the power of this gray fog, I can divine Al's condition."

Murmuring softly to himself, he materialized the citrine pendant he habitually used, leaned back against the chair, half-closed his eyes, and silently chanted the divination statement:

"There is a problem with Al's condition."

After silently chanting the divination statement seven times, he opened his eyes again. The citrine pendant held in his hand showed not the slightest sign of movement.

This... what's going on? The question I divined doesn't exist?

No, something must have gone wrong in the process. The pendulum method of divination relies on my own spirituality communicating with the Spirit World to obtain revelation. In other words, the source of divination revelation is existing information within the Spirit World. For this situation to occur, it can only mean that the relevant information in the Spirit World has been blocked.

Klein pondered for a moment, quickly guessing the cause of the problem.

He caused the yellow crystal pendant he had manifested in his hand to vanish, his gaze turning to the deep red star representing Lecton, and immediately extended his spirituality, touching that star.

Baiyam, the Loen people's settlement.

Lecton sat on the sofa by the fireplace, a yellow-covered book he was browsing before him, and in his hand he held a cup of steaming coffee.

"The Seer has the ability to 'perceive' the world's rules; the 'wisdom' of the Wisdom Angel perhaps means applying the world's rules, and should also represent the authority of 'wisdom'."

"Then, the authority possessed by the White Tower pathway is wisdom, rationality, partial knowledge, and fate, and it is also a symbol of omniscience."

On the sofa, Lecton absentmindedly murmured softly, inwardly speculating about the authority contained within the White Tower pathway.

Unlike the Moon pathway, which covers a wide range, this seems to be the common point of the omniscient and omnipotent pathway where God's authority is divided among the five pathways, making the authority held by a single pathway appear less than that of the Moon, the Fool, and these pathways?

In the midst of his thoughts, a thick grey-white mist suddenly welled up before his eyes, deep red light rising from the mist and condensing into a figure towering above the endless grey fog.

Klein's calm voice came from beside his ear:

"Do you have time? Come to above the grey fog."

"Yes." Lecton replied softly.

In the next moment, he felt his vision blur; when he came to, he found himself inside the grand, ancient palace above the grey fog, seated in the high-backed chair of the White Tower.

"What were you just muttering? I faintly heard words like reason and knowledge."

Klein did not rush to ask his original question; instead, curiously he asked about the murmuring he had heard from Lecton when they had just made contact, feeling that it seemed to be some kind of high-level secret.

(End of chapter)