Chapter 614: Meeting

Holding the "Ironblood Knight" trait and returning to his own room, Anderson's expression relaxed considerably, but soon grew solemn again:

"I don't have the 'Ironblood Knight' demon‑potion formula; even with this trait, I can't use it."

"Moreover, the ceremony to ascend to demigod isn't easy. I'm also carrying a bait aimed at high‑rank 'Hunters', which could attract an unknown demigod at any moment."

He sighed deeply, and Anderson collapsed onto the lounge chair on the balcony, looking as if he didn't want to think.

In the reception hall, the senior deacon Ilya of the Night Church explained her purpose: "Thank you for the assistance you provided in eliminating Ins Zangweier. His lingering spirit suffered considerable damage, and the clues I could obtain through spirit‑talking are scarce, so I have come to learn more details from you."

"Beyond the matter of Ins Zangweier, I also represent the Night Church's support for the independence of the South Continent's regime, and on that basis I propose cooperation with you."

Rekton opened his mouth, initially intending to say, "Why don't you go directly to Bishop Luke?" As the words reached his lips, he suddenly remembered that the other party was preparing the ascension of the 'Dream Weaver', and he was temporarily handling his affairs.

His clone was also preparing the ascension of the 'Insightful', and he couldn't even find anyone to share the workload.

He muttered a sigh in his mind, Rekton straightened his expression, and began a relatively formal negotiation with Ilya, who had come representing the Night Church.

On the south bank of the Pas River Valley, inside the Red Rose Church of Insnis, Beiernadai walked slowly to sit beside Sasilier, who was praying before a statue. Beside her, a black‑and‑white penguin's body rapidly elongated, transforming from a cute, adult‑leg‑high penguin into Roselle wearing a dark‑red coat threaded with rust‑colored gold.

Roselle calmly gazed at the upside‑down humanoid statue before him and said, with a rather wistful tone:

"How surprising—it turns out Adam is another incarnation of the Ancient Sun God. I must say, once you reach the high‑rank 'Audience', it's truly terrifying and impossible to guard against."

"You deceived everyone, and you deceived all the gods."

"Not all of them," Sasilier shook his head slowly, speaking evenly: "'Night' should have long suspected this. Herabogen was once the 'Wise Dragon'; he is not unfamiliar with the 'Dreamer's' abilities, and the 'Sage' who can represent knowledge to a certain degree also knows this."

Before Roselle could ask, Sasilier continued:

"Both 'Night' and I have kept an eye on you, but unfortunately you didn't choose the 'Diviner' path, and you secretly went to the Moon beyond the gods' gaze, resulting in contamination."

"…kept an eye on me," Roselle froze for a second, his eyes shifting from bewilderment to shock; he pointed at himself, then at Sasilier, murmuring, "You too."

"Why? Why have you never contacted me? I once thought I was the most unique one."

Sasilier rose slowly, speaking calmly:

"When I first noticed you, you were already the 'Steam Son', a mad evil god, and also one of the seven righteous gods, 'Steam'; the choice was obvious."

"As for 'Night', she may have sensed it from the start, but since she doesn't belong to those three paths, she can't grasp the details precisely. Later, perhaps she thought your methods weren't suitable for a reliable ally."

Roselle's complexion flushed red then turned pale; he barely dared glance at Beiernadai standing nearby, and weakly defended himself: "It's the customs of Indith, I was just going with the flow."

The prayer hall fell silent for two seconds; Roselle sighed, ending the topic, and then asked, "How is Bonova's situation?"

Sasilier paced slowly toward the stained‑glass window set into the wall, his voice deepening as he said, "I have planted the seed of 'Corruption' in him; the human‑side emotions and desires within him will gradually surface, though they are largely negative."

"To truly resolve the issue of divinity suppressing humanity, we must wait for my true self to awaken from slumber."

"Before that, he needs more anchors imbued with strong emotions and will, to counter the oppression of divinity."

Roselle sighed, nodded, and said, "I understand."

After two seconds of silence, he turned his head toward Beiernadai, gave a slight nod, indicating she could leave.

Layer upon layer of teal vines descended from mid‑air, swiftly engulfing Roselle and Beiernadai, while a pumpkin carriage clanged and rattled out of the void, stopping before them.

On the pumpkin carriage, Roselle leaned against the cabin, watching Beiernadai across from him frown slightly, a look of wanting to ask yet hesitating. He chuckled twice, then said, "When I truly resurrect, I'll tell you these long‑concealed secrets. For now, there are still things I haven't figured out."

He paused, then added:

"Do you know the honorific name of the 'Fool'? I'd like to have a proper conversation with that guy who collects my diary."

Beiernadai hesitated, then nodded, reciting the 'Fool's' honorific name in Ancient Hermetic: "The Fool beyond this era, the mysterious ruler above the Gray Mist, the Yellow‑Black King who governs fortune."

Above the Gray Mist, shortly after finishing psychotherapy, Craine, meditating in a manor room to recover, suddenly heard layers of ethereal prayers echo around his ears.

The unfamiliar voice was female—could it be Ms. Daili? —the thought flickered, and Craine sprang out of bed, re‑locked the door, shut the windows, drew the curtains, and erected a spiritual wall. After completing this, he walked back four steps and entered the Gray Mist.

Within the grand ancient palace, Craine gazed beyond the main hall at a new deep‑red star rising in the boundless Gray Mist, extending his spiritual reach toward it.

The deep‑red light burst forth instantly, engulfing most of the hall, and quickly coalesced into an image.

"'Mysterious Queen'? And next to her is… Emperor Roselle?"

Craine was stunned; he never imagined he would one day see a life‑size figure of Emperor Roselle.

Is this a one‑to‑one replica figurine? As the thought drifted, he saw Emperor Roselle, seated opposite Beiernadai, lift his head and meet his gaze, as if he could see him through the Gray Mist.

"So you're the one collecting my diary? Won't you meet me in person?"

Roselle's voice echoed in his ears, leaving Craine momentarily dazed. Not a doll?

He inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and casually manifested his usual yellow crystal pendant, beginning a divination.

After a simple divination, he stared at the motionless pendant in his hand, frowning slightly: "Divination failed. In a way, this explains the issue—something of true‑god caliber must be shielding my divination above the Gray Mist."

Muttering to himself, he again extended his spirit, reaching the deep‑red star representing Rekton, and sent the earlier information into it.

Soon, the deep‑red star linked to Rekton quivered, and a message traveled along the newly formed connection to the Gray Mist, materializing as a string of deep‑red characters:

"In a sense, he is indeed Roselle; you can ask him yourself for the specifics."

"If he asks you to destroy it, or issues a request at the Tarot Assembly to destroy the diary, remember not to refuse."

He was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized that the diaries the emperor wrote in his early days were truly socially disastrous; since he himself wasn't completely dead, wanting to erase such personal black history was also normal.

As thoughts surged, he leveraged his demi‑god stature to manipulate the Gray Mist's power, channeling it into a paper figure he summoned from a pile of junk, then, via the deep‑red star that linked to Beiernadai, flung the paper figure toward Roselle seated opposite her.

In the pumpkin carriage, Roselle looked up in surprise; his gaze pierced the void, seeing a towering angel emerging from the endless Gray Mist, and from the angel he sensed the aura of the Black Emperor.

"Interesting—is that the Black Emperor (Item)?"

Roselle raised an eyebrow, quickly recalling something Beiernadai had mentioned: the Fool's kin had found the Black Emperor (Item) disguised as a bookmark through his diary.

He allowed the angel, clad in full black armor and bearing twelve pairs of jet‑black wings, to land before him, enveloping him with its layered wings.

The deep‑red light surged like a tide, swiftly swallowing all his sight.

Relying on the Black Emperor's stature and the aura on the paper‑angel, Roselle amplified and used that subtle connection, allowing Craine to easily pull him onto the Gray Mist.

Within the grand ancient palace, the deep‑red light flickered rapidly, coalescing into Roselle's figure, seated on the low‑ermost high‑back chair at the left side of the weathered long table.

Roselle's curious gaze roamed around for a while, finally settling on the figure shrouded in Gray Mist at the far end of the weathered long table, and he said with a rather wistful voice:

"I have always tried to connect with this place, but every attempt failed. I never expected that after my death I would still have a chance to enter here—how fickle fate!"

Craine gave a gentle nod and, with an even tone, asked, "What is your current situation?"

Just now, while observing the other party above the grey mist, he had already almost seen through the other party's details — it was merely a mechanical puppet, a mechanical puppet that had awakened self-awareness, so at first he did not think the other party was really Russell.

Russell sighed, gave a bitter smile, and said: "The location of the last mausoleum I built is problematic; that place has long been contaminated by the \"Primordial Moon, \" causing problems with my resurrection. I couldn't truly shake off the contamination, so I could only forcibly interrupt this process and wait for an opportunity."

"Now this me is merely a mechanical puppet; relying on a trace of the \"Fallen Count\" characteristic I have contaminated, it has produced an independent self and erroneous cognition. By relying on my own Sequence 0 status, I have distorted this error, allowing this mechanical puppet to, to some extent, be equivalent to me; it is akin to my eyes for observing the outside world."

"Although it's a bit grim, at least it's much better than that previous state of being neither dead nor alive, neither alive nor dead."

"As long as I truly resurrect — even without needing to be fully resurrected — I can turn this mechanical puppet into the real me."

(End of chapter)