Chapter 484: Asymmetrical
As he thought back to the recent events, The Moon, Emlyn, was quick to
associate it with the great smog and the plague outbreak, guessing that
this was what the lady opposite him was referring to.
*But I heard that it was the work of a Demoness of Despair who was
trying to advance herself... Furthermore, the Church of Storms responded
quickly, creating a hurricane to blow everything away. How could it be
said that The Fool saved Backlund?* Emlyn, who had an entire
clan behind him, was quite well-informed. Upon doing the comparison, it
was hard for him not to be surprised and confused.
Although he had always been proud and didn't wish to spend time on
social interactions, he still felt an instinctive fear when faced with a
hidden existence that he had to address with "He." He didn't dare to
open his mouth to ask and decided to listen for a while.
Alger, even though he was drifting out at sea, had received news of the
great smog in Backlund. He was interested in the secrets and the truth
behind it, confident in the belief that this was definitely a struggle
between deities. After all, it had attracted the attention of Mr. Fool!
*I'll ask Miss Justice when we exchange information. However, she might
not be too sure of the details. It's rather impossible for her to know
too many details based on her standing. Heh heh, she has great
curiosity. To open up with such a greeting, she would definitely attempt
to get an answer from Mr. Fool, hoping to get an answer. I hope that I
have the opportunity to listen in from the side...* With this in
mind, Alger turned his head to look at The Sun. Seeing how he wasn't
anxious but calm and reserved, he knew that the City of Silver's
exploratory team had already broken out from the fate of repeating their
lives.
Similarly, Audrey, who had figured out that the operation was successful
from reading Little Sun's reaction, heaved a secret sigh of relief. She
prepared herself to understand what had happened later in detail.
After a solemn bow towards Mr. Fool, she thanked the seemingly unkind
Tarot Club member, The World, for his advance warning.
"...Mr. World, if it wasn't for your advance warning, then perhaps tens
of thousands of people would've died in Backlund during this great
smog."
"In truth, I was also doing it to save myself." Klein controlled The
World to give a hoarse laugh.
He said it with sincerity and without any trace of acting, because if it
wasn't for Miss Justice who was notified in advance and warned the
Church of Evernight, then the powerful existence who erased Mr. A
wouldn't have arrived in time, and he himself might not have been able
to hold on for long.
*If Mr. A had disintegrated me and ate me, then perhaps I might not have
a chance of reviving...* Klein thought in appreciation.
Mr. A's feasting would literally be feasting!
Immediately after, as The Fool, he leaned back in his chair and
responded with a smile, "All I did was provide some trivial help."
"No, your Blessed really helped save Backlund. His contribution is the
greatest amongst everyone," Audrey praised from the bottom of her heart.
"His warning allowed the Goddess, the Church of Evernight to make
preparations, wiping out the Demoness of Despair in a timely manner and
preventing the Primordial Demoness from awakening. It allowed the
contamination of the great smog to be kept under control. Furthermore,
he even destroyed the Aurora Order's ritual, preventing the attempted
descent of the True Creator's once again, keeping him at bay from the
real world."
Audrey received unanimous praise by Earl Hall and his wife for providing
the most important information. They hadn't concealed the results of the
investigation and some of the details they had gathered from her.
Of course, they also raised their wish as parents that their daughter
wasn't to get too involved with that secret organization. It would be
enough if she stayed in the outer circle and gathered some information,
then maintained her strength below that of Sequence 7.
*The Primordial Demoness's awakening... The True Creator's attempted
descent. What exactly happened in Backlund?* At the same time,
Alger and Emlyn had the same reaction, but their expressions were
different. The former only slightly raised his eyelids as his pupils
contracted, unconsciously sitting to the side a bit, while the latter
gave the illusion that he was about to jump up.
*Mother, no, Esteemed Moon, when did Backlund become so dangerous? Two
evil gods had actually made "Their" appearance during the great smog! Is
that young lady lying? Even though Mr. Fool is an existence suspected of
being a deity, it's also impossible that "He" would simultaneously
offend two entities of the same level, right... Could it be that "He" is
actually the incarnation of a true god? Or is there an alliance of
deities behind "Him?" Is that why the Ancestor asked me to pray to
"Him?"* The more Emlyn thought about it, the faster his heart
beat, but it was impossible for him to receive verification.
The fact that Sanguine had the nickname "vampire" didn't mean that they
didn't have a heartbeat. It was just that they were relatively slow, and
the heart itself was one of the Sanguine's fatal weaknesses.
*Indeed! Indeed it's an event that had attracted the attention of Mr.
Fool... But, what benefits could "He" gain from sabotaging the evil
gods' plans?* Alger sighed inwardly.
Fors was surprised and frightened. She didn't expect that the horrible
great smog that had taken the lives of tens of thousands of people would
conceal an even more horrifying truth.
*If it hadn't been stopped in time, the whole of Backlund would've been
destroyed, and Xio and I wouldn't have survived...* Fors
swallowed a mouthful of saliva hard.
Her feelings were similar to Audrey's feelings as well. Through this
matter, this young noble lady clearly understood one thing, which was
that the life she believed to be peaceful and calm was like a soap
bubble amidst a clash between deities. Just a slight perturbation could
immediately pop it into nothingness.
*Or it could be said that the entire kingdom, the entire human society,
exists only because of the balance between the deities, and this balance
is extremely fragile...* Every time a similar thought gushed to
her mind, Audrey felt a wave of grief wash over her.
Klein was pleased when he saw that someone knew and remembered his
contribution. He smiled and said, "Unfortunately, he has to stay away
from Backlund as a result."
Mr. Fool's Blessed has to temporarily leave Backlund? Audrey
stood up again and sincerely bowed.
"Please convey my gratitude to him."
Klein maintained his image without giving a reply other than nodding his
head.
At this moment, Audrey added, "I'm very sorry, as the three Churches and
the military are cleaning up Backlund, I was unable to get the follow-up
pages to Roselle's diary. Please wait one more week."
"Sure," Klein said in a flat tone.
Hearing their conversation, Fors was startled as she hurriedly looked to
the end of the long bronze table and said, "Honorable Mr. Fool, I
received three pages of Roselle's diary."
*Not bad. More members mean more channels, and many things snowball
quickly...* Klein gently nodded.
"Very good."
Roselle's diary? Emlyn felt as if he had heard something
extraordinary again.
Under his puzzled gaze, Fors conjured three pages of the diary and
passed them on to Mr. Fool.
Only then did Klein remember that he had missed introducing a particular
vampire. Smiling, he introduced, "This is a new member, Mr. Moon.
"This gathering is called the Tarot Club. They are..."
*Mr. Moon, I thought it would be a lady who would choose the
Moon...* Audrey greeted politely while her thoughts scattered.
Similarly, Emlyn wondered whether the members such as The Hanged Man and
Justice were humans or transcendent creatures, which pathways they were
from, at which Sequences, from which organizations, or if they were
friendly to the Sanguine.
Klein didn't care about them sizing each other up as he cast his gaze to
the diary entries in his hands.
"11th February. Today, I found out about a secret of the Sauron family.
Hahaha! I'm going to die from laughter! Hahaha!
"So it turns out that the Hunter pathway that they possess will change
gender at Sequence 4. Men wouldn't change, but women will change into
men! It's no wonder that none of the High-Sequence Beyonders of the
Sauron family that I'm aware of are female. The Iron-blooded Knight is
indeed a true man!
"Hahaha, if it wasn't for how sensitive this secret was, then I would
even feel like ridiculing Floren next time. The Sauron family ancestor
that he looks like might've been a woman!
"This potion is way too much of a trap, isn't it? I hope the Savant
pathway wouldn't have any strange changes upon reaching the high
Sequences. I don't want to one day suddenly realize that I either don't
advance, or I have to change into a woman."
The first thought that flashed through Klein's mind at the sight of this
diary entry was: *Emperor, you won't become a woman, but you will do it
with a Demoness, perhaps more than one...*
*Indeed, there's a pathway that changes women to men. Furthermore, it's
within the ones I expected... Hunter represents war, causing women to
change genders at Sequence 4... This is a little odd. The Demoness
pathway changes at Sequence 7 Witch. It doesn't actually strictly
correspond...* Klein felt the warped and feeling of madness even
more acutely. It was a result of the extreme asymmetry.
*Could it be that the underlying logic of this world is chaos,
distortion, madness, and asymmetry?* He tried his hardest not to
frown.
"12th February. This won't do. I want to laugh whenever I see Floren.
"Hahahaha!
"15th February, the modified artillery I designed and supervised was
completed. The effect was worse than I expected, but the problem isn't
that great. With it and mass production, I'll be able to show the world
what true advanced tactics are!
"In order to celebrate, I decided to hold a banquet to invite those
fellows who looked down on me. Just wait to be slapped in the face!"
The Emperor truly doesn't let a grudge go... While sighing,
Klein turned to the second page of the diary.
"5th May, that unspeakable organization called for another gathering.
"I'm struck by the way they gather their members every time. It's
phenomenal, no---a miracle.
"With my earlier observations, I raised some problems at this gathering.
For example, all the Sequence 0 names have a high-enough level on the
Blasphemy Slate. Only Red Priest appears rather unique. It doesn't sound
strong enough. The old gentleman sitting beside me told me that 'red'
represents the red of war. And priest can be understood as the ritualist
of strength at its core.
"Someone objected, believing that the 'priest' in Red Priest represents
being a priest of that Creator.
"I leaned towards the former and asked for the name of the old gentleman
in a low voice. I didn't know the identity of every member. To put it in
an extreme manner, I only know a portion of them.
"The old gentleman answered me with a smile. He said his name was
Hermes.
"Hermes? The Hermes who created the language of ancient Hermes? Hermes,
the founder of humanity's mysticism?"