Three hours before the drug trade.
Luke waited and waited.
Hours had gone by since he had reported to Mr. Fool the heart-palpable event of almost dying while using Spirit Vision. He had gone as far as to write to all the Tarot Club members, describing the situation. The Mecha toy, the symbols, and the feelings… he had mentioned it all, in as much detail as possible, even including the matter of Compound Monocle.
Yet, Luke received no response.
It was like even the Tarot Club members were processing the shocking series of events on the other side with apprehension.
God…
Luke suddenly remembered Miss Justice's words.
Almost. He had almost done the greatest taboo. He had almost looked directly at something he shouldn't have.
Luke might not have grasped the true weight of these words before.
However, after what happened to him due to looking directly at a different Singularity and Conformity in the past, with the help of Yoichi Shigaraki, he still carried a dread in his heart.
If it hadn't been for Amon, ironically, he would have certainly lost control beyond return.
Luke could still recall the changes he had been going through, the feelings he had been experiencing, and the regrets he had been lamenting at that time.
The effect was such that, since then, he hadn't even visited the Vestiges.
And something like that would have happened again, if it hadn't been for his Danger Intuition.
There was a difference between this and the matter with Conformity and Singularity.
At least, in Their cases, he knew, or could remotely guess, why he had lost control.
What about this one, though? What God? Amon… was not a God, he knew. Mr. Fool Himself had confirmed that Amon was only an Angel, and that, too, outside The Boundary. On Earth, Amon had sent only his Avatar at a Demigod level.
So, yeah.
What God?!!
The matter was so drastic that even Miss Justice was chewing her nails, instead of placating Luke.
Then, suddenly, she screamed.
[It's here!] Miss Justice shouted in relief.
"What?" Luke shot to his feet. "Who replied…"
If it were possible, he dearly wanted it to be a reply from The Hanged Man.
[Mr. Fool…] Miss Justice answered. [Pray to Him… Hurry.]
Stunned, Luke hurriedly set up the ritual again and prayed to God.
Instead of giving a short response, though, Mr. Fool chose a much more efficient way, sending detailed info directly to the System.
[Hmm… Whoa… Hmm…]
"What?!"
[Yup…] Miss Justice said, her voice sounding lower than ever. [Those Symbols belong to a God… An evil God that can travel between dimensions. According to Mr. Fool, it seems Amon has taken His help to arrive in your world, Luke. That Mecha Toy is a Totem, a ritualistic tool that Beyonders of this evil God's Pathway use at Sequence 9 — Shaman. In return, Amon may be helping this evil God to incarnate in your world through that Beyonder. Or… It's also possible that Amon is not involved in it at all and the evil God is doing it behind His back.]
"…"
Luke blankly stared at nothing in particular.
God…
Evil God…
"If Amon has taken this God's help to come to my world, then…"
Luke couldn't bring himself to say those words.
[Yeah…] Miss Justice admitted, making him face the reality. [Not only Amon, but this evil God is also lingering outside The Boundary… Sorry…]
Luke did not know what kind of emotion he was radiating at this moment.
Perched on his shoulder, Nyx knew, perhaps, but she had gone utterly silent as well.
Only hours ago, they had carried a strong hope in their hearts — a hope to kick Amon out of their world before The Boundary broke and He could descend with His real body.
Now… all hope, even the tiniest one, abandoned them.
The thought of fighting an Angel, putting everything on the line, had already been a damning one, but still acceptable.
How to even think of fighting a literal God, though?
Wasn't it like preparing to fight Mr. Fool?!
[Your mental capacity has strengthened a lot,] Miss Justice pointed out. [I didn't need to use Placate once… Sigh…]
"What else did Mr. Fool say?" Luke calmly asked with a strange emptiness.
[Sadly, nothing,] Miss Justice replied. [He cannot tell you much, Luke. Otherwise, you have a chance of being corrupted instantly. But, with what He had shared with you, you already know more than even the other Tarot Club members.]
"What do you mean?" Luke asked, furrowing his brows.
[… This…] Miss Justice paused, picking her words carefully. [Let's say, the Tarot Club members haven't come in contact with the Shaman Pathway, either.]
Luke… suddenly felt lonely.
Nyx dug her claws into his shoulder. "You have me," she reminded him. "And you have Apostles to look after, too. You have more important matters to finish. This… This is not good for us, but that's the card Fate has dealt us. It's Fate's vengeance… for us continuously defying it… time after time. So, in a way, it's also a good sign. It means… not exactly in our way, but… we are winning."
"…"
[…]
Luke and Miss Justice looked at Nyx, even more stunned than by the matter of the evil God.
"Cough…" Nyx cleared her throat. "Just practicing Faceless Acting beforehand… A noble, kindly, elderly Priest…"
Luke shook his head, letting out a sigh.
"Miss Justice… can I…" he asked.
[No.] The System rejected him flatly. [Even an attempt at killing an evil God's Vessel can result in disaster, Luke. Also, that God might not be able to incarnate until this Beyonder is at least a Demigod. For now, Mr. Fool has suggested gathering more intel on this Beyonder and how the evil God breached The Boundary to turn him into a Shaman. Also, we need to find if Amon is related to all this.]
Compound Monocle…
Monocles were praying to the evil God…
Kazuho mentioned what if these Monocles weren't limited to Amon's Pathway…
"There's no question of if, Miss Justice, because He is related," Luke said, looking up at the dark sky. "The question is — how.