Chapter 1177: Substitute

On the desolate moors filled with deep ravines, Amon stood in different

spots. "They" opened "Their" mouths and chanted in Jotun, "The Blessed

of the spirit world and Sefirah Castle..."

"The Mystery stemming from ancient times;

"The witness of an extended history;

"Protector of Backlund magic and drama performers;

"The great Gehrman Sparrow..."

These voices were layered as they bored into the void, as though they

extended to an infinite distance.

Ten seconds later, all of "Them" adjusted "Their" crystal monocles in

different manners and chuckled softly.

"He changed it really quickly."

If Gehrman Sparrow was still automatically responding to this honorific

name, "They" could then use this opportunity to determine the other

party's location and create an "error" to appear directly beside "Their"

target.

In the darkness that was illuminated by lightning from time to time, the

hatted and coated Klein proceeded north at a moderate pace while holding

a lantern.

*There's a prayer... Amon is using Gehrman Sparrow's honorific name...

This means that a number of Amons aren't too far from me... But the City

of Silver doesn't have 'His' parasites... They're in the surrounding

patrol teams, or in some unexpected creatures?* As he walked,

Klein suddenly turned his head and listened carefully for a few seconds.

Regarding this matter, he was rather glad that he was cautious enough.

He had changed the honorific name that allowed default acknowledgement

while above the gray fog. It went from the "Protector of Backlund magic

and drama performers" to "Protector of all poor children in Backlund."

This came from the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation he had set up.

*Yes... Amon is a Cryptologist. It's very likely that he can "interpret"

this honorific name from all the information regarding Dwayne Dantès...

No, I don't even need an automatic response...* As Klein looked

at the faint yellow light emitted by the lantern, he quickly made a

decision.

He made every Worm of Spirit only capable of listening to prayers,

without having the ability to autonomously respond unless they had been

given permission from the main body.

This way, frequent prayers would severely affect his daily life, but it

wasn't a big problem. This was because, other than Amon's vile

harassment, no one else would pray to Gehrman Sparrow since he hadn't

spread the word about his honorific name.

After settling this matter, Klein thought of all of Amon's terrifying

aspects. He suddenly had some doubts about what to do next.

His original plan was to stay far away from the City of Silver and head

to the Nois ruins in the north to investigate the situation there. He

wanted to see if he could obtain the main ingredients needed for the

Miracle Invoker potion. However, after connecting that ancient city

ruins with Amon, a problem was revealed:

Klein could already confirm that the upper levels of neighboring

pathways also followed the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence.

Since Amon had been wandering around the Forsaken Land of the Gods for

more than a thousand years and had come near the City of Silver, how

could "He" not be attracted to the Nois ruins in the north?

*For the Chief of the City of Silver to not dare to enter, it means the

power in Nois City has definitely reached the level of an angel. Amon

wouldn't ignore it... "He" probably doesn't dare to directly eat such a

high-level Beyonder characteristic of a neighboring pathway, but that

doesn't prevent "Him" from setting up a trap... Even if "He" hadn't done

so in the past, "He" would definitely be rushing over there now... Of

course, I can't exclude the possibility that Amon has yet to discover it

because, during the City of Silver Chief's first visit, the Nois ruins

weren't as dangerous. Perhaps that power at the angel level came to the

Nois ruins later... "He" has been constantly migrating "His" believers

to avoid Amon?* Amidst his thoughts, Klein felt a little afraid

about heading northwest for the ancient city.

He decided to first see if there were any other ways to obtain the main

ingredient of the Miracle Invoker potion before considering if he should

head to the periphery of the Nois ruins to observe and gather some

intel.

With this in mind, he walked towards the wreckage of a tall tower in his

black coat and half top hat, guided by the occasional lightning.

Along the way, in the dangerous darkness outside the dim yellow light,

monsters lined up and silently followed him.

They were already his marionettes.

Compared to them, the saints of the Seer pathway were even more bizarre

and terrifying.

As they walked, one of the monsters that looked like a fish with limbs

suddenly chanted in Jotun, "The Sun that is Eternal;

"You are an Inextinguishable Light;

"You are the Embodiment of Order..."

The moment it finished reciting the three-lined honorific name, the

monster collapsed to the ground and lost its life.

The honorific name of deities often wasn't limited to three lines, but

when chanting, one could choose any three. For example, the Eternal

Blazing Sun's complete honorific name was "Eternal Blazing Sun,

Inextinguishable Light, Embodiment of Order, God of Contracts, Guardian

of Businesses." And just now, Klein had used the first three.

With this method, he prayed to the Lord of Storms, the God of Knowledge

and Wisdom, and the Evernight Goddess, hoping to receive a certain

response.

However, there was no change in his surroundings fifteen minutes later.

*It's useless to pray to a Sequence 0 true deity in the Forsaken Land of

the Gods? Unless the target is the True Creator, or is an existence that

wields things like Sefirah Castle or the Chaos Sea?*

*That's not right. In Afternoon Town, that clergyman had the Goddess's

true name concealed when saying it. When he mentioned the fourth King of

Angels, he suffered "immolation" due to the involvement of deities...

Perhaps it's because there's still all kinds of divine power in the

Forsaken Land of the Gods, not only concealment and degeneration. And

the true names of the different deities each have special meaning in

mysticism, allowing it to stir the corresponding powers?*

*This way, it would explain why the City of Silver has been teaching the

two true names of Badheil and Herabergen, but they didn't end up

establishing any connection with the God of Combat or the God of

Knowledge and Wisdom... The prayers in the Forsaken Land of the Gods are

not heard by the true deities, or even if "They" can hear them, "They"

are unable to respond... This also means that there are no remnant

powers of the God of Combat or the God of Knowledge; otherwise, there

would have been certain anomalies...*

*Yes, it's also possible that it's not because there are no anomalies,

but that the two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, uh---god-level Sealed

Artifacts---in the City of Silver have eliminated them...*

*In that case, if I were to directly chant the true name of the Goddess,

would I cause the surrounding darkness and concealment to stir? If this

kind of power can be controlled, I'll have an additional effective trump

card when being tracked by Amon... The probability isn't very high.

Directly chanting the true name of a deity is an act of blasphemy, and

it will result in the corresponding backlash, just like Afternoon Town's

clergyman...* Based on his logic and the phenomenon he had seen,

Klein came up with a theory on the present situation. He was eager to

try reading out all the true names of the deities he knew, one by one,

and checking their effects.

Finally, he restrained himself and didn't blindly make the attempts.

*I'd better go above the gray fog to do a divination first. Otherwise,

who knows if there will be an unbearable accident... Hmm, divination

involving deities might not give a clear revelation...* After

muttering inwardly for a while, Klein scoffed at his impulsiveness. *My

previous plan was akin to: I haven't been courting death for two days. I

shall do it seriously today!*

At that moment, he had already arrived at a collapsed tower. He sat

beside a wall that had only been cut down by half. He reached out to

take out a paper crane from the Historical Void, and he ignited it.

He wanted to see if he could contact the Snake of Fate Will Auceptin

Ceres if there was a medium. He wanted to know where he could obtain the

main ingredients of the Miracle Invoker potion.

Under the illumination of his third summoning of the lantern, Klein fell

into a deep sleep, but he didn't dream of anything.

Indeed, it doesn't work... After he woke up, Klein shook his

head and let his body enter a Historical Void.

Following that, he took four steps counterclockwise and arrived above

the gray fog.

Sitting at the seat belonging to The Fool, he beckoned for a small paper

box from the junk pile. Inside was a stack of paper cranes.

These were personally folded by a certain baby.

At the same time, The World Gehrman Sparrow was conjured. He prayed to

Mr. Fool in a grayish-white region and requested "Him" to forward his

request to Miss Justice, saying that this act could allow her to make

contributions to her exchange for the Manipulator potion formula.

Of course, Klein had already revealed that the potion needed to be

consumed while amidst a huge emotional resonance.

Backlund, Empress Borough, Inside the Hall family's luxurious mansion.

Audrey returned to her bedroom once again and set up a bestowment ritual

to obtain the paper crane.

She picked up a thin pencil and wrote on the paper crane's surface:

"Dwayne Dantès has requested you to meet with me."

After finishing her preparations, Audrey followed Mr. World's

instructions and placed the paper crane under her pillow before lying

down to sleep.

Soon, she saw a pitch-black desolate plain. As a Dreamwalker who had

given herself hints in advance, she maintained her consciousness and

walked towards the black steeple in the middle of the plains with strong

curiosity.

As soon as she arrived at her destination, Audrey's spiritual perception

was triggered. She raised her head and looked at the top of the steeple.

At some point in time, there was a giant silver snake coiled there.

This gigantic snake didn't have any scales. Its body was covered with

symbols and patterns that formed wheels that were connected to each

other, with different labels.

At that moment, the gigantic snake was staring at Audrey with its bright

red and cold eyes. It said in a low voice, "What does Dwayne Dantès

want?"

*This is the angel of the Fate pathway that gave Ma'am Hermit a drop of

blood?* Audrey controlled her thoughts and calmly looked at the

gigantic snake. She said in honesty, "He wanted me to ask you where he

can obtain the main ingredient of the Miracle Invoker potion?"

The gigantic silver snake suddenly fell silent for a few seconds before

saying, "The number of Sequence 2s in different pathways differ in

numbers. Under the situation of the quota of Attendant of Mysteries

being filled, there can only be a total of six Miracle Invokers."

*A Miracle Invoker is the name of a Sequence 2 potion... Mr. World is

going to become an angel? Or is he making preparations for his partner?

No, if it's a companion, he can get them to ask "Him"

themself...* Audrey was first alarmed before she began to look

forward to the mysterious serpent's answer.