The air within the Hall of Truth seemed to solidify, as though even time itself had grown thick and sluggish. Lilith's state bordered on madness—her figure twisted abruptly, shifting into the mythic form of a Gorgon. Her long hair writhed like venomous serpents, each strand carrying a destructive might.
Flames of insanity burned in her eyes. Ignoring the worsening of her injuries, she unleashed wave after wave of catastrophic force. Under her power, the entire City of Miracles trembled on the verge of collapse, as if it might shatter in the very next second.
Adam stood not far away, a quill pen held in His hand, His expression as calm as ever. He had just "pre-spent" the authority of the Ancient Sun God, and now appeared somewhat weakened, but His gaze remained unfathomable, as deep as an abyss.
Faced with Lilith's frenzied onslaught, He merely flicked the quill gently, writing line after line of ancient symbols upon a sheet of parchment, dissolving each of her destructive forces one by one.
But Lilith had not come unprepared. A flicker of grim resolve flashed across her eyes. She raised her hand sharply, and a massive mirror materialised high above, suspended over the City of Miracles.
Within the mirror shimmered a warped world, as though connected to some unnameable abyss. Without hesitation, she invoked the authority of the Mirror World, attempting to break its inner barrier and release the sealed "Oldest One"!
"You're insane!" Amon's voice rang out abruptly. His figure appeared beside Lilith like a phantom, the eye beneath His monocle flashing with sly brilliance. Before Lilith could even react, Amon had already stolen her current train of thought, plunging her into a brief moment of mental blankness.
Adam seized this opportunity. His quill danced swiftly across the parchment, and His voice, gentle yet irresistible, sounded:
"Leave this place, Lilith."
Before the words fully settled, Lilith felt an overwhelming force surge toward her from all directions. The rules of the Hall of Truth, the will of the City of Miracles, and the Sea of Collective Subconsciousness of the Book World all rejected her simultaneously. Her body was pushed backwards uncontrollably, as if an invisible titan's hand were driving her out of the space.
"No!!" Lilith screamed, desperately reaching out, attempting to seize something—anything. But just as her fingertips brushed the edge of the mirror, she was hurled completely out of the Hall of Truth.
Her enraged howl reverberated through the air:
"Adam! Amon! I'll kill you! I will definitely kill you both!!"
At that moment, Adam's gaze shifted toward Edward, who stood motionless nearby, his eyes empty and unfocused. Adam walked toward him slowly, the silver cross pendant in His hand gleaming with cold light. With a gentle motion of His fingers, the sharp tip of the cross pierced into Edward's chest.
However, in that very instant, Adam's eyes narrowed slightly. He seemed to sense something—but before He could react, Amon had already appeared behind Him.
"Apologies," Amon said softly, His voice tinged with a faint, nearly imperceptible complexity. His monocle suddenly shone, and the enormous phantom of a stone clock behind Him began turning, the grinding of gears echoing through the air.
The next second, a translucent phantom gear materialised from thin air. It rotated clockwise—and pointed straight at Amon Himself.
The authority of "Error" was pried open entirely at that moment. Amon's aura surged violently, His spirituality undergoing a qualitative leap in an instant—He ascended directly to become Sequence 0: Error!
Adam's aura collapsed at once. Golden blood spurted from His chest, for the cross He held had somehow driven itself into His own heart. For the first time, astonishment flashed in His gaze, as though He could not comprehend what had just occurred.
"Why?" Adam's voice remained calm, yet it quivered ever so slightly.
Amon's lips curled into a crooked smile. Beneath His monocle, His eyes gleamed with a blend of emotions.
"Though I hate to admit it…Edward seems to have given me a bit of 'humanity.'"
A faint bewilderment flickered through Adam's pale-golden eyes. His gaze drifted toward Edward, who stood beside them.
By now, Edward had released the cross. Calmly, he took the quill from Adam's hand. Lowering his head, he wrote line after line upon the yellowed parchment. His tone remained gentle and steady as he spoke:
"After temporarily losing your Uniqueness and a Sequence 1 characteristic, and suffering heavy trauma, you will no longer be able to suppress the Ancient Sun God's human consciousness. You will be forced to undergo the final fusion with the True Creator…"
"Under the influence of your 'Visionary' pathway authority and traits, the True Creator will awaken from the darkness and corruption—not mad, not out of control. The Ancient Sun God's true consciousness will take dominance of the fused soul."
"The Ancient Sun God will have completed the first step toward a true resurrection."
After finishing, Edward placed down the quill. He lifted his head, meeting Adam's gaze—deep, steady, unfathomably calm.
"Can you accept such an outcome?"
The Hall of Truth fell utterly silent. Even the air seemed to have hardened into clear amber. The starlight dripping from the dome cast mottled trails behind Adam. The cross skewering His chest still dripped golden blood, each drop striking the floor with a searing, resonant hiss.
His pale-golden eyes fixed on Edward. After a brief moment, He shifted His footing.
The blood-stained silver cross swayed lightly with His unsteady steps, dragging a winding trail of gold across the pale stone tiles—like a god walking a path of thorns—before Adam collapsed onto the front row of seats.
"I accept."
Adam's voice was soft, yet it made the entire hall tremble. Leaning against the seat, the shattered white robe on His body soaked in golden blood, He resembled a toppled holy effigy.
"This was always the pattern woven upon the spindle of fate…When I promised Grisha that we would bear the Primordial One's shackles together, I had already foreseen the end."
His fingertips brushed against the cross embedded in His chest. The smeared golden blood suddenly turned into fine sand, slipping through the gaps between His fingers. "I merely used 'Envisioning' to distort the vow, splitting His will—one part confined within Sasrir's body, the other suppressed deep within my consciousness. Now, everything has simply returned to its original form."
"So, I accept this outcome."
Edward's "avatar" walked over at that moment and sat beside Adam. He smiled faintly. "You make it sound as though you're about to die. You didn't intend to kill me, and I never intended to kill you."
"I already said it—I only did all of this because I wanted the humanity side of the Ancient Sun God to be the dominant consciousness in your final fusion. Since the Ancient Sun God version of you trusted 'that person,' and even reached consensus and agreements with him, why not give each other a little more time? Why not trust your past judgment a little more?"
Adam replied coolly, "Pinning the future upon the unknown isn't a wise decision. Even if He once stood higher than I did, I simply made the most correct choice based on present reality."
"Alright, enough of that rhetoric, you paranoid zealot." Amon had returned to His usual form. "Get some proper sleep."
Adam looked toward Amon, and the corners of His mouth lifted in a faint smile.
"It comforts me that a naturally mythical creature, one who anchors himself to no one but himself, would one day also possess humanity."
"Tch."
Adam turned once more toward the massive cross before Him. The golden blood surging from His wound transformed into radiant golden feathers that wrapped around Him. The colossal phantom of the Ancient Sun God appeared again—only this time, He spread His arms in the posture of crucifixion.
When the phantom burst apart into a sky full of stellar dust, the Adam seated in the chair vanished. All that remained upon the seat was a cross soaked in golden blood, its cracks forming the symbol of The Hanged Man.
Edward picked up the cross and looked toward Amon.
"After a period of slumber—once their souls finish the fusion—He will awaken again."
"Mm." Amon responded with a cold hum.
"I thought you weren't going to act," Edward said, narrowing his eyes slightly as a probing light flashed within them. "After all, Adam is—strictly speaking—equivalent to a father to you."
"Heh."
Amon's lips curved in a mocking arc, disdain written plainly across His face.
"I never intended to interfere. To be honest, I don't care which consciousness dominates after His resurrection. But if that paranoid zealot were in control, He would drown Himself in self-sacrifice—believing that offering Himself to resist the apocalypse was the entire meaning of His existence. A puppet carved with a predetermined purpose."
"Utterly ridiculous."
He spat out the words with quiet contempt.
After a short pause, Amon lifted His monocle. The eyes behind the lens shimmered strangely as He stared sharply at Edward.
"And you? What state are you in now? Didn't the paranoid zealot grant your avatar humanity and consciousness? Didn't He already rewrite your main body's personality and mind?"
"Why are you completely unaffected? Are you the main body right now—or the avatar?"
Edward raised his hand and grabbed at the void beside him. Several wriggling Worms of Time appeared instantly within his palm, their translucent bodies glowing with eerie light.
"When you ask someone a question, don't try to secretly parasitise them. Otherwise, you won't get any answers."
"Tsk."
A flicker of annoyance crossed Amon's gaze. "Back to Sequence 1 again? As expected—false things remain false."
"Though I admit…that feeling just now was intoxicating," He murmured softly, almost tender. "To momentarily steal even the Uniqueness of the paranoid zealot. Like snatching the last piece of candy from one's father's pocket."
Amon shrugged, then turned his back to Edward and strolled a few steps forward with a leisurely gait.
"Edward, the next time we meet, it might very well be when we compete for the position of the Lord of Mysteries."
"I never intended to ascend to the Lord of Mysteries."
"Heh, and what difference does that make?" Amon's mocking laughter drifted back from afar. "You block my path forward—I'll simply kick you out of the way…"
"Hey, you aren't even the slightest bit curious about who the 'person' Adam and I mentioned is? About what secrets are involved?"
"When the day comes that I parasitise you, I'll naturally know everything."
Amon glanced back, smiling faintly as His figure dissolved into the hazy mist.
"Wait for it."
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.