Behind Amon, light composed of countless complex and pure knowledge surged out of nothingness, quickly reassembling Leyton's figure.
Leyton stood beside Amon, chuckling, "The play is at its final act. Aren't you going to watch?"
"If I say no, will you make me search for Pallez, who is hiding nearby?"
As he spoke, Amon tossed the crystal monocle he was holding twice. On the lens, two subtle cracks had not yet been repaired.
Leyton slowly shook his head, "Even if you get the last Worm of Time characteristic, you don't have a suitable ritual for becoming a god right now. There's no need to be so anxious."
After a second's pause, he continued, "The God of Knowledge and Wisdom is still observing, but Storm and Sun will certainly prevent the True Creator's descent."
"Without your help, this ritual will be difficult to succeed. Then your father will be pushed back into prison as soon as he steps one foot out."
"He is not my father yet," Amon said calmly.
As he spoke, Amon reached forward and pulled out a Worm of Time from who knew where—a Worm of Time with twelve transparent segments, a Worm of Time that had lost its characteristic!
The moment he saw this Worm of Time, Leyton's head felt as if it had been struck, and some long-forgotten memories resurfaced.
Seemingly noticing Leyton's reaction, Amon turned around with a mischievous smile and said, word by word, "It seems you still remember that a Worm of Time without its characteristic is not equivalent to me. At certain times, it can produce unexpected effects."
"For example, now I already know that Pallez is parasitic on a Nighthawk of the Night, and he just chanted the honorific name of the Fool."
"Unfortunately, this Worm of Time without its characteristic can only passively receive information I've preset. Otherwise, I think I'd have a chance to find the Fool as well, don't you think?"
After two seconds of silence, Leyton calmly nodded, "If it were like a living Worm of Time, then yes, it could. Unfortunately..."
"Unfortunately, having lost its characteristic, it naturally lost the quality of being alive."
Amon chuckled, finishing Leyton's unspoken words.
In the sky covered by twilight, the orange-red setting Sun suddenly rose in reverse, gradually turning golden, then blazing, as pure and magnificent sunlight dispelled the twilight, occupying half of the sky.
The other half of the sky was shrouded in layers of dark clouds, with destructive silver-white electric currents darting through them.
"Tsk... those two are getting anxious too."
As he murmured, Amon's figure vanished from his original spot, only to reappear on a rooftop at the edge of the horizon the next second, and then vanish again.
Leyton's body instantly became illusory, breaking down into streams of information, closely following behind Amon.
On the outskirts of Berens Port, Klein nervously watched the figure that had just flashed past, his heart pounding uncontrollably.
"Don't worry, he can't see us."
A slightly aged but very gentle voice echoed in Klein's ear.
He turned his head in surprise and saw an old man with dark golden hair and beard, but remarkably smooth skin without a single wrinkle. He had no idea when the other party had appeared, but it seemed to have been for some time.
Feeling no malice from this stranger, Klein took a deep breath and hesitantly nodded to the other party, "You are?"
The old man with dark golden hair and beard nodded in response and said in a calm tone, "We meet again. You can call me Ariehogg, or my other name, Ankewelt."
Klein paused, then reacted, taking off his semi-high silk top hat and pressing it to his chest in a bow, "My apologies, it's my first time seeing you in human form, so I didn't recognize you at first."
He paused again, then added, "0-08 has been taken."
Ariehogg nodded gently, not answering Klein's words, and walked directly towards Ince Zangwill's corpse.
During this process, tall, gray-white stone pillars rose around them, and ancient-style temple-like buildings emerged from the ground. In the blink of an eye, the city of Miracles, Liveseyd, was projected from the Mind World into reality.
"Under the witness of many Spectators, Klein Moretti completed a magnificent play, directed a splendid murder, and accomplished a revenge that bid farewell to his past. Through this performance, he completely digested his Beyonder potion and had surplus energy to attempt advancement in the epilogue!"
Sentences more akin to chanting flowed from Ariehogg's mouth. He spoke Dragonese, but under the influence of Liveseyd, everyone present could understand. Everyone's gaze turned towards Klein.
Gulp... Klein subconsciously swallowed, finally understanding why Leyton had him prepare the Beyonder potion materials in advance. Was this something he had foreseen? Or was it something he or they had planned?
As thoughts floated, various pre-prepared materials flew out from Klein's coat: golden grapevines, strange black eyes, an ugly rubber mask. Guided by spirituality, they gathered and merged one by one, finally transforming into a gray-white liquid that spontaneously poured into a glass bottle.
Klein reached out and grasped the transparent glass bottle filled with the Beyonder potion. His gaze lingered on the constantly floating bubbles; each rising bubble seemed to contain a curled, translucent little worm.
This time, Klein didn't throw a coin for divination. His spiritual intuition was already capable of accurately grasping the proportions of various materials and, replacing simple divination, directly obtaining answers based on intuition.
Gulp! Gulp!
Klein slightly tilted his head. The cold Beyonder potion slid down his throat, bringing a slight numbness, a numbness that went straight to his soul. Before the Beyonder potion slid down his esophagus into his stomach, it was completely absorbed by his body.
His caution was inexplicably heightened, as if his entire being had suddenly ascended to a high altitude, looking down from above at the place where he had completed his revenge...
Leonard stood not far away, looking at Klein with a complex expression. For some reason, he felt that the distance between him and his former colleague was growing further.
Perhaps from the moment he resurrected, we had already headed in different directions.
"What, are you envious that he's starting to advance towards demigod status in such a short time?"
"If you hadn't wasted so much time back then, and had worked harder to act and digest the Beyonder potion, you would also be a Sequence 5 Beyonder preparing to advance to demigod status by now. Before demigod, Beyonder potion digestion and acting aren't difficult."
Pallez's voice suddenly echoed in Leonard's mind, carrying a hint of lament and some sarcasm towards Leonard.
Before Leonard could retort, he continued to lament to himself, "Ankewelt has indeed revived. When everyone thought 0-08 and Liveseyd were his means of resurrection, they didn't expect that among the only three remaining ancient dragons, one had already awakened its self."
Leonard turned his head to examine the golden-haired old man with his back to him. As his thoughts drifted, he suddenly saw the old gentleman, who called himself Ariehogg, smile at him.
Leonard shook his head in surprise. When he looked again, he found that the old gentleman, suspected to be an ancient god from the second epoch, still had his back to him.
After a brief thought, he dismissed the question from his mind, slightly tilted his head, and whispered, "Old man, you woke up right after the battle ended. You weren't doing it on purpose, were you?"
Pallez snorted in displeasure, "I'm not that bored. I just discovered Amon's tracks; he might have noticed me."
Leonard's expression froze on his face. He swallowed, then said hesitantly, "Didn't that... that old Mr. Ariehogg say he couldn't see us?"
"Earlier, yes, but he's already left. Amon probably doesn't intend to reclaim the last Worm of Time characteristic right now."
"This is an unavoidable problem. As time approaches, whether by coincidence or inevitability, I will eventually be discovered by Amon."
As he spoke, Pallez's voice gradually faded. After a worried sigh, Leonard could no longer hear any sound.
"Old man? Old man?"
He lowered his voice and called out twice, but received no response from Pallez.
The rumbling sound of thunder interrupted his thoughts. Leonard looked up in surprise and saw at the edge of the sky, countless silver-white lightning bolts falling like a downpour, whitening half the sky.
"The Dragon of Wisdom always seems unfathomable; no one knows what he's truly thinking."
As he sighed, Ariehogg turned his head to look at Leonard, asking with a hint of a smile in his eyes, "Do you think he truly gave up on this struggle?"
"Ah, are you asking me?" Leonard hesitantly pointed a finger at himself.
Ariehogg chuckled and shook his head, his gaze cast afar, taking in the violent lightning, the blazing sunlight, and the dark, viscous, degenerate "ocean."
Adam, dressed in a simple white robe, stood calmly on the dark, Fallen "ocean." His right hand held a silver cross pendant, and his left arm cradled a gray-white stone slab inscribed with highly discordant ancient patterns, exuding a solemn, heavy aura.
The light golden beard covering the lower half of his face swayed slightly in the turbulent air. In his pure, innocent, infant-like light golden eyes, a deep, dark sea was reflected—the collective unconscious sea formed by the convergence and interweaving of countless living beings' consciousnesses!
Every drop of liquid there was like a light and shadow, seemingly representing a point of consciousness, an imprint.
Silently, all the silver-white lightning bolts falling from the sky vanished. They, along with the surrounding space, were distorted by Adam to some unknown place.