After roughly noting down the layout of the entire Foggy Town, Klein was still surprised that he couldn't sense Sefirah Castle, when his spiritual intuition suddenly began to warn him frantically.
He looked up in astonishment, gazing at the high sky, and saw that the Crimson Moon had pierced through the mist, clearly and serenely illuminating the town.
Instinctively snapping his fingers, Klein was about to swap places with his Marionettes to evade the unknown danger, but he awkwardly realized that all his Marionettes seemed to have been left on the Black Tulip.
His mouth twitched, but he didn't panic too much. Before he could even ask for help, he found himself back inside the church, on the dark altar where the female statue stood.
Looking at Aaron with his reserved smile, Klein composed himself, sorted out the jumbled thoughts in his mind, then cleared his throat, drew a crimson moon on his chest, and continued to ask, choosing his words carefully:
"Duke, did the Goddess bring me here because of Sefirah Castle? And what do I need to pay to leave this place?"
Selectively forgetting the embarrassment of his identity being exposed, Klein naturally accepted the identity of The Fool, and also tried to gain some secrets about Sefirah Castle through this.
Aaron did not directly answer the question. He thought for a moment, then asked instead:
"What is your understanding of deities?"
Klein fell silent for a moment. Having a Card of Blasphemy in hand, he knew what Sequence 0 represented, but he still cautiously gave the most standard answer, which was the myth jointly recorded in the holy texts of the major Orthodox Churches:
"At the beginning of creation, after the fall of the Original Creator, His spirit and body transformed into deities."
Klein, who had thoroughly read "The Revelation of Night," was naturally not unfamiliar with this. Thanks to Frank's personal instruction, he was equally familiar with the holy texts of the Church of the Earth Mother.
Thinking of that crazy mushroom enthusiast, Klein suddenly worried about his Marionette, Ludwell:
"I hope Captain can take him away, and he absolutely doesn't turn into Frank's experimental subject..."
Without exposing Klein's evasive answer, Aaron chuckled lightly, shook his head, and said to himself:
"The holy texts are only for propaganda; some things are not accurate."
"You should have heard, 'What is separated will converge, and what converges will separate.' This describes not only Beyonder characteristics but also the spiritual imprints contained within them."
"The Original Creator indeed existed, and most Sefirah and characteristics came from this supreme existence, so they naturally have a tendency to gather and recombine. And that one was the embodiment of all contradictions in the universe; after the Sefirah and characteristics gathered, they would irresistibly split again."
Looking at Klein, who was frowning in thought, seemingly understanding yet not, Aaron added lightly:
"His spirit fragmented into different parts, and the two most powerful parts, driven by instinct, converged and fell into slumber after a great battle."
"One of them has quite a few honorific names, such as 'Dominator of the Spirit World,' 'Incarnation of Sefirah Castle,' and 'Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings'!
The last six familiar syllables echoed in his ears. If not for the Faceless's instinctive control, Klein couldn't even imagine his current expression.
Glancing at the stunned Klein, Aaron recalled the incident caused by snatching the Attendant of Mysteries characteristic in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and clicked his tongue before continuing:
"Due to some special reasons, some imprints of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings have begun to become active, especially since you just advanced to demigod and cannot control your own divinity, leading to a disordered perception of yourself."
"If you were outside, you would involuntarily interact with Sefirah Castle, and some unpleasant things would happen."
Damn it.... Klein, who had come back to his senses, felt a chill throughout his body and couldn't help but curse. The thought of one day unknowingly turning into another person, into the resurrected Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, sent shivers down his spine.
"I can't possibly stay here forever. What do I need to do next?"
After a while, Klein slowly exhaled, pinching his brow with a slight headache.
"It's simple: digest the potion as much as possible here and stabilize your divinity!"
"If you meet the standards for leaving, you can naturally depart."
Aaron pointed to the statue of the Mother beside him and added:
"There is also a demigod in Foggy Town, Panatiya, the 'Despair Nightingale' of the Demoness Sect, who was the main culprit of the Great Smog of Backlund."
"She also has an accomplice, Mr. A of the Aurora Order. After failing to sacrifice the accumulated negative emotions of Backlund to bring about the True Creator's descent, he suffered a backlash and degenerated into a Monster, no less powerful than Panatiya."
"Both of them were sent in by Him. This should help you create opportunities to digest the potion."
Him... Noticing this address, Klein's gaze swept over the female statue, instantly memorizing all its features, but he was somewhat unsure if transforming into the appearance of this angel using the Faceless's ability would be taboo.
Before he could ask the question in his mind, Aaron, standing opposite him, took a step forward, his dark golden pupils interwoven with obscure patterns. He gently swiped upwards, as if erasing some barrier, causing the previously separated space to re-converge.
"Hornacis.... Flegrea...."
"Hornacis.... Flegrea...."
At this moment, voices with different timbres echoed and overlapped, suddenly emerging and merging into one, drilling into Klein's ears, giving him an unusual sense of familiarity!
This was precisely the ravings he had heard every time he advanced before!
Following the sound upwards, the hollow dome that had revealed the crimson moon had disappeared, replaced by swaying corpses that resembled wind chimes. The almost ravings voices emanated from them.
After advancing to demigod, Klein's mastery of Spirit Body Threads deepened, and he recognized those corpses at a glance. In essence, they were all Marionettes, but their sheer number inexplicably shocked him.
Before he could think too much, Klein saw several illusory black threads extending to the highest point of the ancient church suddenly break, or more accurately, detach, dragging their corresponding bodies down towards him.
Since the Marionettes above demigod were all hanging in the palace sealing Antigonus, Aaron threw the few Sequence 5 Marionettes in the church to Klein, then simply waved his hand and threw the somewhat surprised Klein out into the Foggy Town.
The next second, the entire church suddenly became illusory, with up, down, left, right, front, and back all inverted.
Transparent tentacles with strange, mysterious patterns swarmed forward, slapping against the illusory door, but they couldn't open it. They could only seep in a small amount of power, attempting to "grasp" Aaron's Spirit Body Threads!