Lord of the Mysteries

Amon, who had been looking up into the sky, suddenly turned “His” head and looked at the paper crane who was a vessel of flames. “He” then raised His” palm again.

A cold glint had lit up in the eye beneath the monocle.

Suddenly, the flames on the paper crane’s surface vanished. Klein and his ability to swap locations with his marionette vanished. Likewise for Flame Controlling, Flaming Jump, and Air Cannon!

In that instant, he had six Beyonder powers stolen—four of which were rather important ones!

If Amon was able to make a few more thefts, then Klein might’ve even turned into an ordinary person.

This was “Theft” at the angel level!

Amidst the extinguishing flames, the paper crane slowly floated.

Backlund, Dr. Aaron’s house, in a black pram.

Wrapped in silver silk, Will Auceptin rubbed his mouth and eyes, grumbling, “Life is just so hard...”

Before “He” finished “His” sentence, “He” took out what looked like a cane from somewhere. It was embedded with clear gems.

Pure bright light lit up, illuminating the calendar in the room clearly.

Today was Tuesday[1].

160 Boklund Street, inside Dwayne Dantes’s garden.

The paper crane which was already charred and incomplete suddenly froze in midair. Complicated chrome-colored symbols appeared out of it, instantly taking on the form of a huge, illusory, scaleless snake.

The dense patterns and symbols on the surface of the gigantic silver snake formed a wheel that was connected to each other. Around each wheel were different symbols.

With a sweep of the cold, bright red eyes, this giant serpent soared into the sky and stayed above Boklund Street. It curled its body and bit its own tail.

Its shadow blanketed the entire street like a mysterious and ludicrous wheel.

Suddenly, Macht, Riana, and several servants in 39 Boklund Street’s activity room wiped the smiles from their faces. They raised their hands in unison, taking off the monocle on their faces, allowing the monocles to turn incorporeal in their hands before transforming into beams of light.

Immediately following that, they wore their eye accessories once again and pinched their eye sockets, either leisurely looking out the window or returning to their former state.

Hazel sat on the ground watching this scene. As she shook her head, feeling the world crumbling around her, she used her hands to hold her body up while rapidly retreating.

The cold glimmer in Winner Enuni’s eyes vanished. The crystalline monocle was left cooked, and he no longer wore that supercilious look.

In addition, something in his body seemed to be extracted as a clear, thick, but transparent and mysterious Worm of Time took form above his head.

And amidst Concealment, this Worm of Time quickly transformed into a figure with black hair, black eyes, a broad forehead, and a thin face.

This wasn’t time reversing itself on Boklund Street, because Klein and Leonard didn’t suffer any of its effects. It was Amon having “His” condition return to a few minutes prior to this!

Snake of Fate. Reboot!

Although Will Auceptin had predicted that there would be some changes in Fate, things had happened slightly later. However, “His” influence that descended from afar came in such a timely fashion.

In order to gain this Snake of Fate’s help, Klein had not only fed “Him” five different flavors of ice-cream, but he had also agreed to further compensation. The outcome of their negotiation was that Klein had to think of the means to create at least two items that could allow Will Auceptin to briefly regain some of “His” strength while in “His” weakened state!

When Amon suffered this unexpected blow, Klein didn’t hesitate and drew Death Knell. He cocked it, gently pushed the cylinder, and aimed it at his enemy.

Bang!

He staidly and decisively pulled Death Knell’s trigger, shooting out the Control Spirit Bullet he had long prepared.

A black stream of light flashed out, striking the illusory Amon figure with the sharp bonnet and classic black robe—the Worm of Time. This was even thicker and clearer than all the Worms of Time Klein had previously seen before!

The light scattered as Amon’s figure quivered in midair and froze without being able to wear any expression.

And at this moment, Leonard, who had already arrived overhead, followed Old Man’s instructions. Standing on Word of the Sea, he floated in midair, slightly spread out his arms, and relaxed his Spirit Body.

Both his green eyes immediately reflected a slightly gloomy, twelve-ringed transparent Worm of Time in each one of them.

These two Worms of Time had their heads and tails connected together, forming a similar loop.

As the loop slowly spun, they projected a huge ancient mottled illusion behind Leonard.

This illusion looked like the surface of a wall clock carved from stone. There were twelve segments, each segment was either grayish-white or bluish-black. They were clearly demarcated from each other, and the symbols were all different. With just one look, Klein had the feeling that life was speeding past him.

Gong!

A bell gong that seemed to travel across time from ancient history resounded through the spacious secret world. Everything before Klein seemed to slow down, including the Amon figure above Enuni.

An indescribable invisible surge appeared, sweeping around that Amon figure before hurling it towards that huge, illusory stone-carved wall clock.

What was actually a Worm of Time—Amon’s avatar with a monocle—suddenly extended a hand, aiming it at Gehrman Sparrow.

Suddenly, Klein saw the skin on the back of his hand rapidly dry up as they wrinkled up, producing unobvious aged spots.

The speed at which Amon’s illusory figure was being pulled away slowed down, but the process couldn’t be interrupted. Finally, it contracted into the form of a ringed worm and was thrown towards the illusory, ancient stone- carved wall clock behind Leonard.

Gong!

Another bell gong sounded as the grayish-white and bluish-black clock’s surface had an additional mottled hand.

This hand quickly rotated a few segments, speeding up the sound of the gongs.

Inside 39 and 160 Boklund Street, all kinds of resplendent glimmers of light flew out, pulled and attracted by that ancient, illusory, stone-carved wall clock.

Law of Beyonder characteristics convergence!

“He” had used the connection between the avatars and “His” higher level to strengthen the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence!

Gong!

Several streams of light from different spots in Backlund flew over.

After everything calmed down, Klein’s current appearance appeared in his mind.

He had more white hair than black. His forehead and the corners of his mouth and eyes were covered with obvious wrinkles. His skin had sagged with several aged spots. He looked like an elderly gentleman, ready to pass away at any moment.

At this moment, the clock’s gonging sounded again.

The grayish-white hand on the ancient, illusory stone-carved wall clock began spinning counterclockwise!

One tick. Two ticks. Three ticks. Klein saw his skin rapidly recover its luster as the spots faded and vanished.

In just seconds, he recovered his original appearance. Life had seemed to begin flowing in him again.

Powers at the angel level are almost godlike... I only suffered some repercussions of it, and I nearly died of old age... I wonder if I can revive under such conditions... Klein observed his condition and hurriedly look up and said to Leonard Mitchell, “How should the people Parasitized by Amon be rescued?”

At this moment, the ancient, illusory clock behind Leonard rapidly faded away, turning into glimmers of light that drilled back into his body.

Leonard cocked his head slightly as though he was listening to something. After a while, he said, “The Beyonder characteristics of the Worms of Time in them have been sucked out. The remaining parts have either been absorbed or have some remnants left behind. However, it wouldn’t result in having an excessive influence on them. Uh, Old Man said that it won’t be excessive, but it might be from the viewpoint of an angel. In short, they can pray to the deities they believe in and see if they can obtain a complete purification. However, without them explaining what exactly happened, the deities might not give a response. If you’re afraid of any remnant effects, you can consider guiding them to pray to... uh, that existence. All the items that come from that will be yours.”

Perhaps having personally “experienced” a battle at the angel level, and having seen the Snake of Fate’s spectral form, Leonard’s agitation and trembling could hardly be suppressed in an instant.

The people on this street are basically the believers of the Goddess, so how can I get them to pray to The Fool? I don’t wish to be thrown into the foggy town... Uh, the Goddess is very aware of this matter. They will likely receive a response if they were to pray to “Her.” Then, I can get Her Eminence Arianna to return the Worms of Time that they cough out to me... Uh, I can give “Her” some... As Klein’s thoughts raced, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

He then asked in passing, “Will there be any side effects after a complete purification?”

Although he had some experience from Little Sun, this youth of the City of Silver wasn’t an ordinary person.

After listening for a moment, Leonard said, “A little. As it’s a deeper level of Parasitizing, even if ordinary people were to experience a full recovery, there will be some level of influence left on them, such as them liking to wear monocles.”

“...Alright. Head back first. Leave the rest to me.” Klein nodded and was glad that the parties involved in this battle weren’t the kinds with obvious destructive might. Otherwise, it might not only be Boklund Street, but all of North Borough might not be left intact.

In Pritz Harbor, a black-haired, black-eyed, thin-faced young man wearing a monocle rode on a bicycle as he leisurely returned home.

He wore an obvious smile as he opened the letterbox and took out the newspapers and letters inside.

After entering the house, the young man pinched the monocle on his right eye while tearing open the letters, reading their contents as he walked. This continued until he found a letter without any name on it.

“If all connection to ‘us’ in Backlund is lost, it means that Pallez Zoroast might very well be hidden in the vicinity of North Borough’s Boklund Street.

“Don’t ask us why we’re taking such risks. Life often requires some excitement, joy, and anticipation.”

[1] Author’s Note: To make the plot run smoothly, the details of a Tarot Gathering was skipped. As for Will’s prediction, a deviation happened because of Amon’s ability to bore through fate.