Bernadette wept uncontrollably. That single cry, saturated with nearly a century of longing and repressed emotion, pierced through the vicissitudes of time and echoed through the air.
In that instant, all her former identities dissolved like passing clouds. She was no longer the figure who stirred storms within the mysticism world, no longer the awe-inspiring Queen Mystic, no longer the lofty Sequence 3 powerhouse admired and feared by all.
At this moment, she was simply the daughter who had been separated from her father for a long, lonely age—who had tasted the bitterness of yearning for almost a hundred years. Her entire heart, her entire world, held only the man before her: the father who had given her life and carried most of her childhood memories.
And Roselle—who only moments ago had casually waved his hand and killed an archangel—now looked a little at a loss. After hesitating for a moment, he placed both hands on his daughter's back and patted her gently.
"Alright, alright…Daddy is back. Daddy is back."
Only after quite some time did Bernadette lift her head. She wiped away her tears and asked softly, "Daddy…do you know where Mr. Sparrow went?"
Roselle's brows instantly knit together. "We meet for the first time in so many years, and the first thing you ask is about another man?"
"…"
Bernadette inhaled deeply. Bit by bit, she regained her usual calm as the Queen Mystic.
"I only want to know what really happened back then—what he and you were planning together."
"You can't ask me that directly?"
"Of course I can. So, Daddy, please tell me?"
"This…" Roselle's tone faltered. He scratched his head.
"It'll be better to find that brat and say it together. He made me rot in that mausoleum for over a hundred years without a single person to talk to. I've been itching to settle accounts with him!"
As he spoke, he reached out and tugged lightly at her cheeks. "And another thing, don't talk to me with that cold, I-see-through-everything expression. I still prefer the way you used to smile. It was adorable. It was beautiful."
Bernadette replied flatly, "Sorry, but I really can't smile at a father who wrote those…things in his diary."
"!!!"
Roselle felt as if a sword had stabbed straight into his heart. His eye twitched rapidly. "You…you learned Chinese?"
"Mm."
"Bastard!"
Roselle exploded in fury.
"That bastard Edward clearly promised me he wouldn't teach you Chinese! That little shit! That dog-fucked traitor! He dared to stab me in the back! I'm going to kill him!"
"Come!"
He grabbed his daughter by the wrist.
Bernadette frowned. "Where are we going?"
"To find that bastard Edward!"
She followed him for two steps, but suddenly her foot halted. From the depths of her spirituality came a faint but certain sensation:
Her advancement ritual to Sequence 2—was complete.
— — —
In an inn in the East Borough of Backlund.
Lilith glared at Amon through gritted teeth. Her form abruptly restored itself to that of a human, and her aura surged severalfold—yet on the left side of her chest there was a fist-sized hollow cavity, within which protruded a patch of gray-white, stone-like material.
Amon looked genuinely surprised.
"You're injured? No wonder you didn't foresee my attack earlier."
He pinched his monocle and added with growing curiosity,
"But who in this world—aside from a true god—could injure you?"
Lilith's expression darkened. "Even wounded, if I really went all out, none of you would walk away unscathed."
Adam held a quill in one hand, his expression as calm as ever while he regarded Lilith. "Lilith, what you should be doing right now is securing victory in the Southern Continent war, jumping to Red Priest, then seeking to merge with the City of Calamity through Cheek. Only then can you advance to Natural Calamity of Destruction."
"The apocalypse is drawing closer."
Lilith sneered.
"Heh. And when you speak of the apocalypse, are you referring to that ring of outer gods beyond Earth's barrier? Or the Oldest One? If it's the latter…how do you intend to deal with Him?"
Adam replied, "If the Oldest One's awakening is inevitable, then there is only one response available to me: to take His place. To use His power to tear open the barrier between worlds, leave this place, seek out an uninhabited world, and complete my resurrection there."
"This…was also the first method I considered the moment that person arrived in our world. It would minimise casualties to the greatest extent."
A faint gleam flickered in Amon's eyes, the thoughts behind it unreadable.
Lilith paused, visibly startled.
"You really do have a sense of self-sacrifice."
Adam continued, "I said long ago that everything I do is to prevent the apocalypse."
"Fine! I'll give you that—you have my respect!"
Lilith gave a thumbs-up, then said, "Then why must you treat Edward as an enemy? He's not as irresponsible as Amon. Can't you cooperate with him instead?"
Amon silently pointed at himself, his expression full of question marks.
"No."
Adam held the cross on his chest, shook his head gently, and said softly, "At first, I intended to. But once he advanced to Sequence 3, I discovered a problem."
"What problem?"
"His advancement alone directly severed the possibilities for both the Door and the Visionary pathways to become pillars. And even if he manages to find his own Uniqueness and advance to Sequence 0…what then? How would he progress further beyond that?"
Adam said calmly, "I cannot place my hopes on the unknown."
"And my earlier strike against him was not truly to harm him. I merely intended to leave certain psychological cues behind…so that he would accompany me."
His words sent Lilith's thoughts spinning, giving her the illusion that she suddenly needed a larger brain. But she quickly found the flaw and snorted, "No, that's wrong! At most, Edward only occupies the Door Pathway. The Visionary Pathway wouldn't be affected just because it lost a Author's Beyonder characteristic. That shouldn't interfere with your advancement to a pillar."
"Oh~"
Lilith suddenly came to a realisation. "I understand now. In the end, you intend to advance to Visionary first, then complete your final fusion with the True Creator…and you want to be the one to control the final consciousness, isn't that right?"
Adam remained silent.
"Adam, oh Adam…you refuse to entrust hope to others, so you use that as an excuse to strike at them. But when it comes to yourself, you insist on controlling everything."
"You really are the embodiment of double standards."
Adam's eyes remained clear—serene, unshaken.
Lilith abruptly lowered her hands.
"Fine. I can't beat the two of you anyway. Your fists are bigger, so you're always right."
She produced a silver mirror and lifted a leg to step into it.
But Adam suddenly extended a finger and tapped the mirror lightly.
It shattered at once.
"What are you doing?"
He said calmly, "Wait."
"???"
"Wait for Edward to arrive."
With a boom, black flames erupted from Lilith's body. She said coldly, "Adam, you're pushing your luck!!!"
Before her words faded, the ground trembled faintly, accompanied by a long string of deafening roars from the distance. The distortions of order and rules spread outward, centred on Backlund.
Within Backlund, all kinds of rules and laws shifted in a short span—some reversed, some intensified, and some plunged into chaos.
Amon smiled faintly as he looked toward the distance. "Oh, the mn that was locked away has been released…"
A second later, his smile vanished. His brows furrowed. "A new Black Emperor has been born."
All this time, the three had nearly forgotten Edessak's presence. He struggled to stand and leaned against the window, his expression furious.
"No! George III doesn't deserve it! He doesn't deserve to become a deity! He's just a despicable bastard!"
Amon gave him a sidelong glance. "Oh, then be at ease. George III failed his advancement."
Edessak froze.
"Emperor Roselle has resurrected."
———
Memorial Square
Below the platform, Audrey and her parents watched George III finish his speech. They saw him solemnly put on a military uniform, then draw the long sword that symbolised the royal authority of the Loean Kingdom. With great force, he stabbed it into the floor, letting his voice boom across the square through the loudspeakers:
"I, George Augustus III, will personally command the front! I will not retreat a single step! I swear that the Feysac Empire will pay in blood for their crimes!"
BOOM.
The next second, George III's flesh and blood exploded into a spray of fireworks.
Everyone present stood frozen, unable to react to the abrupt sight.
A few seconds later, chaos erupted. Amid waves of screams, the Royal Guard soldiers rushed onto the platform:
"His Majesty has been assassinated! Seal the area!"
Audrey stared blankly at the scene before her, feeling as though everything were unreal.
George III…dead?
A King of Angels who had been only half a step away from Sequence 0 ascension—killed right before her eyes?
Bernadette's plan had succeeded?
No. Bernadette was only Sequence 3. There was no way she accomplished this alone.
Which meant…Mr. Fool himself had taken action?
With the tacit approval of the Seven Gods…had Mr. Fool truly intervened to stop George III's ascension?
At this moment, countless thoughts converged into a single sentence:
"Praise Mr. Fool."
Suddenly, Audrey felt someone tug her sleeve. When she looked down, she saw a familiar face—a boy in a tiny suit, round-cheeked and adorable. He held an ice-cream box in one hand, eating happily.
Audrey instantly recognised him: Will Auceptin, the Angel of Fate.
"Y-You…why are you here?"
Will sighed. "What else? I'm overworked, as always. Someone was worried about you and asked me to keep watch over you personally."
"Who?"
Will curled his lip.
"Klein Sparrow."
"???"
"Of course, you may also know him as Gehrman Sparrow…or—Edward."
———
Meanwhile, outside the perimeter of Memorial Square, Fors and Xio were equally stunned by the sudden turn of events. Even though they had known Mr. Fool's stance, even though they knew Miss Strength might act against George III, they had not expected the strike to come so suddenly.
Right during George III's public speech—he had been sniped, killed instantly, and the King of Angels, only half a step from godhood, had not even managed a sliver of resistance.
The two stared at each other for a long time before murmuring in unison:
"Praise Mr. Fool."
Elsewhere, in a nearby square, Leonard, who had recently avenged Ince Zangwill at Saint Samuel's Cathedral, came to rest for a brief moment. He listened to George III's speech broadcast through the loudspeaker in the square. Although every sentence was meant to inspire morale and radiated righteous determination, Leonard felt only nausea.
Pallez chuckled faintly. "Heh…all politicians are this hypocritical."
"That's why I'll never become a politician."
The old man fell silent for a few seconds. "That sentence I can agree with. But the reason you won't become a politician isn't because you don't want to—it's because you don't have the brains for it."
———
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