Audrey thought it through and asked: "So — is that why MI9 stepped in to take Lanevus into custody? To stop the Aurora Order?"
Vincent smiled. "No. MI9 intends to use Lanevus to conduct the descent ritual themselves."
"???"
That landed like a thunderclap. Everyone except Derrick went silent.
Alger spoke first, his voice genuinely thrown off: "Why would they do that? Is MI9 planning to betray the Loen royal family? Are they trying to destroy Loen?"
"MI9 is still completely loyal to the royal family. To the Augustus Family."
Audrey blinked: "Then how could they possibly—"
She didn't finish the sentence. It hit her all at once: if MI9 was still loyal to the crown, that meant the one who actually wanted the evil god to descend was the Loen royal family themselves.
But — why?
That was an evil god. If it descended in Backlund, the casualties would be unthinkable.
Alger seemed to reach the same point a moment later. He turned toward Mr. Fool, voice hushed: "Is this the real reason you issued that 'simple' commission?"
...
You're reading into it again, Mr. Hanged Man. I just wanted personal revenge.
Klein suppressed a quiet frown. Lanevus falling into the royal family's hands, to be used in a descent ritual — that was genuinely beyond anything he'd anticipated.
He needed to get this to the Church as soon as possible. The problem was, he had no proof at all. And given how the Church had handled the George III situation before, who knew how they'd respond? He let a faint smile cross his face and said nothing more, then shifted his gaze to the Hanged Man.
Alger understood immediately. He reached into memory and manifested the final page of the promised Roselle diary.
Vincent, meanwhile, materialised a few pages of his own — the ones retrieved from Edwina a few days ago.
Klein accepted both and read the Hanged Man's page first:
"January 14th. I've noticed something: high-sequence items with no consciousness, if left unsealed, will unconsciously attract lower-sequence Beyonders from the same Pathway to gather nearby. The higher the original Sequence, the more pronounced this tendency."
Klein's attention sharpened. He'd had a suspicion along these lines before.
His eye drifted over the dense grey fog around him and the faint red-violet stars floating within it. Something stirred in his chest: "If this Grey Fog also counts as a Seer Pathway Beyonder item — and one of extraordinarily high Sequence at that — then doesn't that make me like a whirlpool, constantly giving off 'pull,' drawing other Seer Pathway Beyonders toward me?"
Wasn't that a plausible explanation for how he'd ended up caught in the crossfire of that Sequence 5 Marionettist's attack?
And if so — will more of the same keep happening?
What a headache.
He shook that line of thought loose and turned to the second diary entry:
"January 16th. The flavour of a Witch is really quite something."
If he'd read this before, Klein would have rolled his eyes at the Emperor's complete lack of standards.
But right now — sitting here while dressed as a woman — he felt something twist: Your Majesty, your range really is remarkably wide. But did it never occur to you that those Witches used to be perfectly ordinary men, and that some of them were probably bigger than you?
"January 20th. I've finished the second Card of Blasphemy… I plan to disguise it as a bookmark inside a very valuable book. If the person who finds it isn't the right one, they'll never imagine that in a book of great worth, the truly valuable thing is an unremarkable slip of paper between the pages!"
Klein flipped forward instinctively, only to find the diary ended there. A pang of disappointment. Why can't you be more specific?
He exhaled slowly and moved on to the Lovers' pages from Edwina — and immediately, his breath caught. Behind the Grey Fog, his expression cycled through colours like a kaleidoscope.
By the time he reached the last line — "that voice said: What a pity. What a pity — you chose the wrong Pathway" — he closed his eyes and pressed himself back against the chair. "So that's why Emperor Roselle later wrote in his diary that the correct Pathway should have been the Apprentice, the Seer, or the Thief? That only those three are the 'right' ones — only they can properly master this Grey Fog?"
He stared at the mist. Then his eyes dropped to the diary again: who was the voice Roselle heard in the Grey Fog back then, before anyone held this place?
The previous master of the Grey Fog?
Where did they go?
Were they still alive?
Would they come back?
After a long silence, Klein dispersed the diary pages and looked at Vincent. "About these entries — does Miss Lovers have any questions she wanted to raise?"
Vincent shook his head. "None. She didn't expect to miss this week's session."
"Then save them for next time. Or she can pray directly to me."
"Understood, Mr. Fool."
Klein rested his chin on his hand and gave the bronze table a light tap:
"You may all begin."
Derrick's hand went up immediately. "Mr. Lovers — just now when you mentioned the True Creator, you called Him an evil god. Is that what He is?"
"That's right." Vincent nodded. "In the world outside the City of Silver, the True Creator is the evil deity worshipped by an organisation called the Aurora Order — a being who is mad, bloody, and merciless, and whom the gods themselves refuse to tolerate. Some call Him the Fallen Creator."
"…How can that be?"
Derrick murmured to himself.
Audrey looked at him curiously. "What's wrong, Mr. Sun?"
"I…"
He swallowed. "Three days ago, I set out with Elder Lovia — one of the City of Silver's six council members — to explore a ruined ancient temple."
"Right — you mentioned last week that the Elder told you the temple walls might carry murals of the Angel of Time."
Derrick nodded, and when he spoke again his voice was heavier. "There were murals of the Angel of Time there — just as the City of Silver's books describe. A twelve-winged angel wearing a monocle."
"But beyond that, the walls also showed a naked man nailed upside down to a cross. And deeper in the temple, there was a statue of the same figure."
"Only then did I realise — that temple belongs to the True… the Fallen Creator. And Elder Lovia appears to be one of His faithful."
Alger's voice dropped: "And you're currently…"
"We're still inside the temple."
"Then I'd advise you to leave as soon as possible."
"But — I can't. Even if I tried to split from the team and go alone, the creatures lurking in the dark out there would tear me apart before I got anywhere."
Vincent spoke up: "Mr. Sun — how long have you been inside the temple now?"
"Almost two days."
"Have you noticed anything off about the others?"
Derrick thought carefully. "I suppose… everyone's been getting hungry faster. Appetite's larger, too. Oh — and once, in front of a mural of the Fallen Creator, Elder Lovia suddenly coughed up blood and flesh, then licked it all back up. Does any of that count as 'off'?"
Vincent quickly ran through what he knew from the original novel. If he was right, they'd soon begin finding mushrooms and nuts shaped from blood and flesh. Whether the team got infected by eating them, or ate them because they were already infected — he wasn't sure. But not eating was definitely better than eating.
"Mr. Sun — the moment this meeting is over, go find Elder Lovia and tell her to lead everyone out of the temple immediately. And remember this, no matter what: whatever you find in there that looks like food — no matter how hungry you are — do not eat it."
"Oh?" Derrick hadn't quite connected the dots. "Why?"
"If my guess is right, your team may already be contaminated by the Fallen Creator's influence. If you don't get out quickly, everyone will eventually lose control and become monsters." He emphasised: "Mr. Sun, your situation is extremely dangerous right now."
Derrick's face drained of colour. "But — Elder Lovia won't listen to me."
That was fair. Even if Lovia weren't a True Creator worshipper, there was no reason she'd just take Derrick's word for something like this.
"In that case, I'll give you something. If you present it to her, it might help."
"Yes — alright."
The group leaned forward with curious expressions. What was Mr. Lovers planning to hand over, and why did he think it might work on a True Creator fanatic?
To be continued…
Guys, do support me on Patreon; It helps me a lot!
Advance 100 -- temporarily 125 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus