Thoughts racing, Edward drew in a deep breath, forcing out the chaos in his mind.
With Invisible Hands, he lifted the cauldron's mist-woven potion, slowly bringing it before him. The moment he did, his exposed skin began to shimmer with faint points of starlight. One by one, luminous insects—each glowing with silver brilliance yet wreathed in grayish-black fog—crawled out from beneath his skin.
Those Worms of Star squirmed restlessly, as if drawn toward the condensed mist before him, eager to dive in.
Tch, truly—every member of the 'cowardly trio' pathway is essentially just a bunch of worms.
Even though he was no longer a "pure" member of the Door Pathway, the essence remained unchanged—only now, the Worms of Star that composed him were veiled in a faint halo of grey-black mist.
Edward extended his right hand, took the potion, and raised it to his lips.
Just as he was about to inhale, something struck him. Reaching into his spatial pocket, he retrieved the small jewellery box the little snake had given him and flipped it open with a snap.
"Come on, let's make a deal—give me a six, yeah?"
The Die of Probability didn't budge.
"Have a little mercy…or at least, for Lilith's sake, lend me a hand?"
The moment his words fell, the dice trembled faintly. A few seconds later, with a reluctant clack, it rolled over—landing on a five.
"…Fine. Five it is. Thanks."
Tilting his head back, Edward opened his mouth and drew in a long breath.
The misty potion immediately spun into a vortex, elongating into a stream that flowed into his mouth. At the same time, the glowing Worms of Star surged back into his body, vanishing beneath his skin.
In utter silence, a chill swept through him—icy cold yet tinged with a burning sting that coursed along every single Worm of Star.
Suddenly, before his eyes unfolded a vast, radiant river of stars. Within that galaxy gleamed countless points of light—each one like a screen playing scenes from his life.
From the moment he first arrived in the past—his meeting with Bernadette, descending into the underground ruins to find Medici, his first encounter with Reinette, his participation in the Twilight Hermit Order, scaring away Zaratul, his meeting with Roselle…Pallez, Amon—
Figures and moments flashed past in rapid succession.
He felt himself become something else—a stream of information, neither physical nor spiritual, nothing but a current of binary-like data flowing through the deep imprints he had left on others' minds.
Each person's memory of him was different, each impression unique. Yet every memory, every thought, acted as a sturdy anchor—each one infused with their own understanding and imagination.
Soon, Edward realised that with each leap through these recollections, he was becoming more and more like the version of himself they imagined. And though those imaginations varied, they shared a single, overwhelming image:
A being lofty and untouchable—
Mysterious, vast, and terrifying.
A God.
But Edward knew that wasn't truly him.
He tried to gather his scattered consciousness, to break free from this uncontrollable drift and return to his real self—but no matter how he struggled, there was no path of escape.
Until—
A snow-covered door appeared before him.
It was the same door he had used to leave Groselle's Travels, the one he had led the five story characters through to enter reality.
"Let a story step into reality."
At that instant, Edward understood.
When he had acted as the Spiritcaster, he had left behind deep impressions—each one a story engraved in others' minds.
The traversal during this advancement meant he had now become a character within those stories—just like Groselle and his companions. If they had never left the book, they would have become mere fragments of fiction, forever trapped as storybound beings.
The ritual of advancement now let him experience, ahead of time, the feeling of stepping out of the story—so that he would not lose himself completely in the labyrinth of "memory-stories."
He flew toward the door, pressed both hands against it, and pushed.
With a silent turn of the hinges, the crack widened—and endless starlight poured through.
The next moment—
A rushing river, the castle of Hogwarts, an endless ocean—all flashed before his eyes. Then he found himself once again beneath that boundless starry sky he had seen during every previous promotion.
As expected—there was still no sign of Mr. Door.
In the vast and endless cosmos, beneath the ceaseless shimmer of stars, Edward stood alone.
All of a sudden—
Edward felt it.
It was as though each star, no matter how many light-years away, had become a destination his feet could reach. This…this was the might of the Door Pathway's Sequence 3—The Wanderer.
In the truest sense, "the journey is among the stars and the sea."
At that moment, countless stars converged upon him, flooding his mind with the information born of his ascension. When his consciousness returned to his body and he saw the barren island beneath his feet again, he had already successfully advanced to Sequence 3.
In his mind, new knowledge quietly unfolded—information about his current state:
[Sequence 3: Deconstruction Scholar]
To know, understand, and deconstruct the essence of all things—that is the path of the Deconstruction Scholar.
Abilities:
-[Wandering]—No longer reliant on the Spirit World for teleportation. You may now freely traverse the stars, sail through the Astral Realm, and visit other worlds.
-[Space Tearing]—The preliminary mastery over space itself—tear through it to strike directly at enemies.
-[Regression]—Deconstruct the target and induce full-spectrum regression, including—but not limited to—movements, behaviour, Sequence, and overall strength. The more you understand the target, the higher the success rate, the stronger the effect, and the longer the duration.
-[Deconstruction]—The core ability of the Sequence. One can analyse and deconstruct the target to discover its secrets, flaws, and governing principles—to understand its essence, and to a certain extent, replicate it.
After becoming a Deconstruction Scholar, Edward had gained four new abilities—two inherited from the Wanderer, and two native to this Sequence.
The [Wandering] ability was an advanced form of Traveler's Door. From now on, Edward's "teleportation" would no longer rely on the Spirit World, but on direct traversal through the stars and the Astral Realm.
That meant ordinary Prohibitions could no longer restrict him from entering or leaving the battlefield at will.
(In the original "Circle of Inevitability," Fors could already do this; in this story's setting, only an Arbiter Pathway Beyonder of Sequence 2 or higher could truly restrict such movement.)
Before, in battles, despite belonging to one of the most mobile Pathways among the 22, all it took was a single "Prohibition" to shut him down completely. It was suffocating.
But now—other than a few top-tier Beyonders—Edward would be the freest existence on any battlefield.
And even against those apex beings, he still had [Hearth], his ultimate fallback.
The [Space Tearing] was his first true offensive space-type ability—able to tear open the space around an enemy to strike them directly. Compared to before, when he could only [Exile] or hide in alternate dimensions using the Phantom Doors, this was far more aggressive.
The [Regression] ability spoke for itself—temporarily reducing an opponent's Sequence level. Even if it lasted only seconds against a powerhouse, that brief regression was terrifying.
As for [Deconstruction], it was undoubtedly the core of the Deconstruction Scholar. Judging by its description, Regression was merely one of its derivative effects.
But the true depth of this power…couldn't yet be defined. He would have to experiment and explore its limits gradually.
In addition, all of his prior abilities had been enhanced to varying degrees.
The only disappointment was that the number of [Silverfish–Solidify] slots hadn't increased. Otherwise, he'd have chosen to permanently fix either [Prohibition] or [Distortion] this time.
"Ah well, guess that's just me being greedy."
Edward shook his head, focusing his mind to receive the final bit of potion feedback—the information for his next Sequence.
[Sequence 2: Fantasist]
Ingredients:Planeswalker Potion + Miracle Invoker's Beyonder Characteristic
Advancement Ritual:Turn a well-known event into a falsehood.
"Fantasist?" Edward muttered. "Now that's an interesting name…eerily similar to the Visionary. It can't be that bad, then."
The formula was still the same familiar 'dual-Pathway fusion' model. The Planeswalker potion was obvious, but the Miracle Invoker's characteristic…that was going to be tricky.
He recalled the little snake's words from the original story—about where those characteristics were scattered:
One with Zaratul (who hadn't yet advanced to Attendant of Mysteries).
Two with Antigonus.
One inside the Magic Wishing Lamp.
One with the Dark Demon Wolf in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
One sealed in the Veil.
Two stored as sealed artifacts within the two major churches.
And finally, the future Zaratul's advancement potion as an Attendant of Mysteries contained one—likely from Zaratul Sr.
Counting them all—
If he couldn't reach the Forsaken Land, then Zaratul's Miracle Invoker characteristic was the most accessible. With a bit of luck, he might even seize the Attendant of Mysteries characteristic alongside it.
"I shouldn't have scared him off by pretending to be Amon last time…" Edward muttered helplessly. "Once that guy decides to hide, he's harder to find than a cockroach."
He narrowed his eyes. "But since he wants to retrieve the Antigonus Family Notebook from the Church through Roselle, he'll have to return to Trier eventually. The moment he shows up—I'll strike."
He refocused on the advancement ritual:
'Turn a well-known event into a falsehood.'
At first glance, it sounded like he was supposed to create a widely spread story—then, once everyone believed it, expose it as false.
But…what exactly counted as "well-known"?
He frowned. And what did the word "event" truly mean here? Could it be understood as "story"? Perhaps. But maybe it wasn't limited to stories alone.
"Honestly…" Edward sighed, rubbing his temple. "Why can't these formulas and rituals ever be straightforward? Why must everything be phrased like a damn riddle?"
Still, thinking back to his Sequence 3 advancement, he'd also been lost at first—until he suddenly remembered Groselle's Travels. Then everything had clicked.
"Let's hope this Sequence 2 ritual comes together as naturally as that one did."
He massaged his aching temples and exhaled slowly, then turned his attention to the final stream of information from the potion.
The next moment, he froze.
The flow of information stopped there—unlike previous times, there was no faint vision, no [Delusion] insight into the next Sequence's abilities.
"…A bug?"
Closing his eyes, he reviewed the data again—only to confirm that this time, there was indeed no "preview."
Ten seconds later, realisation dawned.
"It's not a bug."
It was the limit of his Sequence 7 ability—[Delusion].
Its power to "preload" future abilities had finally reached its end. The [Regression] of Sequence 3 had been its final song.
From now until he reached Sequence 0, Edward would no longer enjoy the luxury of "early access."
———
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