Chapter 1104: Contradiction

The world above the gray fog had been restored to its state of silence,

as though the gathering that had just ended was an illusion.

Klein bent his finger and lightly knocked on the edge of the long,

mottled table. He made the pages of the Roselle diary which Cattleya had

just given appear once again.

Amidst an indescribable stillness, Klein cast his gaze towards the first

paragraph of the first page with a solemn expression.

"27th September, I saw Miss Ithaca once again. I had a nerve-wracking

and thrilling but sufficiently wonderful experience with her. As

expected, I prefer women of this age. I'm not just reminiscing about my

youth, but rather that I haven't changed after so many years. Heh heh,

I'm really dedicated."

...I read your diary with such seriousness, and you're giving me this?

The corners of Klein's mouth twitched as he lampooned at the emperor who

he had only seen a portrait of.

He immediately gathered his thoughts and shifted his gaze.

In a lounge at the basement of Saint Samuel Cathedral.

After Leonard Mitchell opened his eyes, he deliberated for a moment and

said in a low voice, "Old man, the Secret Order's Zaratul seems to be in

Backlund."

In his mind, the slightly-aged voice quickly sounded:

"Indeed..."

Upon hearing this, Leonard immediately asked, "Old Man, are you familiar

with that Zaratul? Didn't you say that the Zoroast family and the

Zaratul family are both important nobles of the Solomon Empire?"

From his point of view, as ex-colleagues and former comrades in arms,

how could Old Man not be familiar with Zaratul?

Pallez Zoroast scoffed.

"I'm familiar with the Zaratul who died in the War of the Four Emperors.

The one alive who's now should be 'His' descendant. I might or might not

have seen him before.

"Sigh, the Zaratul back then had already obtained clues regarding the

second Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic from the True Creator. 'He'

was waiting for the War of the Four Emperors to end before searching for

it. If he succeeded, 'He' would be considered a King of Angels.

Unfortunately, in the War of the Four Emperors, 'He' directly

encountered the existence from the Antigonus family who could be known

as 'The Half-Fool,' and Bethel Abraham was also involved. 'He' could

appear anywhere, anytime. If 'He' hadn't been quickly banished and

sealed by Evernight and Storm, I might not have survived to the end of

the War of the Four Emperors either."

The Half-Fool... Leonard's eyelids twitched when he heard this title as

he thought of the entity above the gray fog for some baffling reason.

He then forced himself to control himself and directed his thoughts to

something else:

Even from the description of a bystander, Mr. Door was clearly one of

the top existences among the Kings of Angels. It required two true

deities to join forces to banish and seal "Him." Uh, there's a high

chance that "He" was especially good at escaping, making it very

difficult to kill. And back then, the battle situation was tense, so it

was imperative to eliminate an enemy that posed a threat as soon as

possible...

Heh heh, Old Man is reminiscing about the past, so he's feeling a little

uneasy. He actually said so much in one breath...

Amidst his thoughts, Leonard suddenly said, "I was left in Backlund

because they wish to use you to attract Amon here?"

The wistful feelings in Pallez Zoroast's tone vanished as he clicked

"His" tongue.

"Who made this guess? I don't think it's you.

"However, it's not bad that you know how to use your own resources to

probe for the truth."

This is something I've been very familiar with ever since I joined the

Nighthawks! Leonard replied inwardly but didn't say a word.

Pallez Zoroast continued, "I guessed that too.

"To be honest, your ex-colleague's relationship with Evernight really

confuses me. If it wasn't for how familiar the concealment forces that

appeared that day was, I wouldn't have dared to make such a guess.

"Heh heh, with Zaratul and I in Backlund, Amon will arrive soon too. It

truly is a perfect triangle of balance."

What do you mean... The concealment forces used to deal with Amon came

from the Evernight domain, not Mr. Fool? Does this point that there is a

certain level of cooperation between Mr. Fool and the Goddess, or is it

that the faith of those higher-up in the Church actually to Mr. Fool?

Leonard suddenly felt a strong sense of confusion and puzzlement

regarding his position in the grand scheme of things.

Seeing that Pallez was also quite confused, he converged his thoughts

and didn't ask any questions regarding this. He frowned and said, "Two

Sequence 1 angels and a King of Angels. Will this bring about a

devastating disaster to Backlund?"

He remembered that Amon was a terrifying existence that could kill

countless people silently, and could even live happily as "His" victim.

Using this as a reference, Zaratul, who was of a neighboring pathway,

definitely possessed similarly terrifying powers.

If "He" and Amon were to clash, half of Backlund or the entirety of

Backlund could become the Capital of Death or the Capital of

Bizarreness!

Pallez Zoroast laughed and said, "Balance also means that everyone will

be very restrained. Besides, it's very likely that Amon won't let 'His'

true body enter Backlund. At most, 'He' will send a large number of

avatars over. After all, the impossibility of a divine descent by

Evemight doesn't mean that Storm or Steam can't."

"What do you mean?" Leonard acutely grasped the key point in Old Man's

words.

Pallez Zoroast's tone suddenly became more relaxed.

"Regardless of whether it's because of the war or for other reasons,

Evemight is likely unable to interfere with the matters on the ground at

the moment. Otherwise, why would 'She' need to lure Amon over to form a

balance? 'She' directly set up a trap, and who knows, 'She' might be

able to capture Zaratul or scare the cowardly Seer away."

"...Did something happen to the Goddess?" Leonard suddenly turned

nervous.

The slightly-aged voice replied, "It might not be a bad thing, and it

might be a good thing."

Without waiting for Leonard to ask further, Pallez Zoroast sighed again.

"Amon was attracted to Backlund by me. What about Zaratul? What about

me?"

"I think Zaratul is also here because of you, and you're in Backlund

because of me..." Leonard pondered as he replied. "Heh, why do you think

you're in Backlund?" Pallez immediately scoffed.

Leonard immediately replied, "This is the arrangement of the Church. It

can't be the effect of the law of convergence of Beyonder

characteristics, right?"

"That's not necessarily true." Pallez's tone turned a little stem. "Most

of the time, the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence will not

directly show in places where you can sense it. Most of the time, it

will influence fate. Just like when you board a train, you'll suddenly

feel that the scenery along the way is beautiful and will get off the

train in advance, resulting in you entering the small city. This might

be because there are Beyonders or mystical items of neighboring pathways

around you."

"In other words, there are other things in Backlund that attracts you

and Zaratul here, and through you, my fate is affected, causing me to be

arranged by the Church to stay in Backlund most of the time?" Leonard

asked in enlightenment, hoping to gain confirmation.

Pallez Zoroast slowly sighed and said, "That possibility can't be ruled

out."

Above the gray fog, Klein soon flipped to a diary page of value.

"21st November. As I had made too many preparations in the early stages,

I obtained that chaotic and terrifying Grade

0 Sealed Artifact even faster than I imagined.

"And then, after a difficult battle, and with some help, I finally

restored it to a pure Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic.

"In a few more days, the ritual will be completed. I should be able to

advance to Sequence 1 Knowledge Emperor of the Mystery Pryer pathway."

"26th November. Sunny and breezy.

"The ritual was very successful. I digested it thoroughly, and my

anchors were even more stable. There weren't many difficulties during

the entire process.

"I'm already a Sequence 1 angel, a Knowledge Emperor. Bernadette no

longer has to worry about the influence of the Hidden Sage. She can

abide by the words 'do as you wish, but do no harm,' and continue on

this path!

"At the same time, the level of an angel at Sequence 1 means that I can

greatly resist the notice and corruption from the cosmos. I can head to

the crimson moon and see what's happening there.

"Regardless of whether Mr. Door is lying or not, everything points to

the fact that the crimson moon is the key to the problem. If I wish to

become a true deity, I have to figure out the reason.

"I'll make preparations for another three more days before attempting to

land on the moon!

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind! Haha, don't

quote me on that."

Upon seeing this, Klein recalled the hysterical diary page of Roselle.

He began to suspect that it was written after the emperor's "landing on

the moon."

Putting down the remaining, unread diary pages, Klein began to use dream

divination to recall the content he had read over the past year. He

wanted to use the comparison to find clues to Roselle's abnormal mental

state.

Not long after, he saw a few lines of text in his dream. It was the last

diary entry that was theoretically written by Roselle:

"I'm unable to give any actual suggestions because I myself can't see

the true faces of the seven deities or those evil gods. This might be

partially related to the second Blasphemy Slate that the ancient

organization hides. Unfortunately,

"I only have a rough idea of the hidden parts, and I'm unable to verify

them."

In this diary, the Emperor had even solemnly warned his "friends" to be

careful of the moon.

The dream suddenly shattered, and Klein snapped awake. There was an

obvious look of fear in his eyes.

He clearly remembered that, a long time ago, Roselle had confirmed that

there was a hidden portion in the second Blasphemy slate.

"19th July. The night of the Blood Moon.

"Mr. Door's answer allowed me to confirm one thing: In that ancient

secret organization, the second Blasphemy Slate I saw wasn't complete!"

This... The emperor forgot? No, how could he have forgotten such an

important matter? He only appeared a little extreme, and he didn't have

much of a problem. Why did this happen... Klein couldn't help but mutter

to himself silently, having an inexplicable and terrifying feeling.

The last diary entry, or rather, the Emperor Roselle who wrote that

sentence seemed to be another person.