Above the gray fog.
Amon walked leisurely, humming a song under his breath with a faint smile. His steps echoed softly as he climbed the staircase that stretched endlessly upward.
At last, the fog began to thin, and a strange glow flickered in the distance. His smile widened as the Door of Light slowly came into view.
It gleamed with a bluish-black luster, both inviting and oppressive. The surface was made of countless layers of spherical light, each sphere encasing a translucent maggot that squirmed in silence.
Behind the door spread a vast curtain of bluish-black fog, dense and impenetrable, as if it was concealing something ancient and terrifying.
Amon's monocle glinted as he looked up at the sight, his smile growing brighter as he extended his arm. A crimson light manifested on the palm of his hand.
It pulsed a couple of times. Each time it pulsed, a toot sound rang in the air, as if he were using a phone to call someone.
A click sounded, and the crimson light burst outward, forming the shape of a human. He appeared in a simple white cloak, with golden hair and beard, and a silver cross on his neck, looking just like any ordinary priest.
Adam looked around and asked, "How…" His eyes widened slightly. Seeing his face, Amon beamed a bright smile.
"Didn't I tell you, brother? Father had planned everything out for us. He was the one True Omniscient and Omnipotent after all."
Adam turned back and looked at Amon. Amon met his gaze with a mocking smile.
Suddenly, the Sea of Collective Subconscious manifested above the gray fog.
The next moment, Amon found himself standing atop his Mind Island in the sea.
"For shame, brother. Did you think the previous Lord of Mysteries awakened inside me? Would he remain my handsome self if he revived?" Amon said as he pinched his monocle and made a pouting face.
His face lit with joy as he looked around his mind island. "Hey! Didn't this grow bigger?"
Adam stood beside him, doing the same. "How did you achieve it?"
Amon ignored the question and walked to the end of the island, peering down toward his subconscious. Deep in the depths, he saw the suppressed will of the previous Lord of Mysteries inside him.
A chuckle escaped his lips. ""He" does look like a Giant Land Octopus."
Turning around, he retorted to Adam, "Achieve what? You need to be more specific, brother."
"Getting the Sefirah was easy. I just found the resurrection vessel of "Him" and stole the connection the vessel created to the Sefirah Castle. I also fixed his tampered destiny. No need to worry, he wouldn't die in a ditch."
"I wasn't asking about that. I was asking how you achieved humanity," Adam said in his usual low and calm voice.
"Huh… I thought you didn't care about that?"
A sigh left Adam's mouth. "I assumed it was another one of your tricks."
A few seconds of quiet silence passed.
"I do not know…" Amon finally answered. "My guess is that Father did something while creating me. After you denied the accusation, my next guess was that the Primordial God Almighty did something to the Error Uniqueness to stop the resurrection attempt of the Lord of Mysteries."
Another silence stretched between them until Amon broke it. "Anyway, the reason I called you here is because I need your help in gaining ownership of the Door of Light."
Adam let out a long sigh as the Sea of Collective Subconscious slowly receded.
When the mist cleared, the two of them were once again standing before the Door of Light.
"Sooo… did you like what you saw?" Amon tilted his head sideways and adjusted his monocle.
"You're such a handful," Adam said, his voice carrying the faint shred of warmth and humanity he still possessed.
"Yes!" Amon pumped his fist into the air, a bright smile lighting up his face. "Anyways… I know where the last characteristic of my pathway is. Let's go get that first."
He pinched his monocle with a sly grin. "Oh, and I'll be borrowing your Corpse Cathedral for a while. I want to prank him."
Before Adam could respond, Amon snapped his fingers. Both of them vanished from the space above the gray fog.
***
Leonard walked down the cobblestone street in the cool morning. The city was waking up. Carriages passed by and vendors opened their stalls. The smell of bread and coffee drifted from the shops.
Gas lamps were still lit, though the daylight was already brighter. Policemen stood at corners, watching the streets.
Ahead, the Blackthorn Security Company building came into view. Leonard tugged his coat tighter and sighed. He still had to write that report about Klein's apartment. Just the thought of it made him groan inside. Too much work first thing in the morning.
His eyes suddenly, involuntarily, turned to his right. A man in a classic black robe and pointed hat had his right leg crossed over the left and was leisurely reading a newspaper in the middle of the road.
As if sensing Leonard's gaze, the man raised his head and adjusted the monocle on his right eye, revealing a teasing smile.
"Hello, old man," the monocle-wearing man said, the teasing smile growing deeper.
"Boy, run," the old man's voice rang inside Leonard's mind.
Leonard turned and prepared to run. But 13 Zouteland Street had changed. At some point, pitch-black stone pillars had risen around him, supporting a majestic cathedral.
Each column of the cathedral was embedded with the bones of different races, densely packed, their empty eye sockets staring down at Leonard as if conducting a trial.
Before he could react, his vision blurred and he lost consciousness.
---
When Pallaz regained his bearings, he found himself sitting in the middle of the Corpse Cathedral, the Artifact of the Angel of Imagination. His ancestor had once recorded seeing it in use during the Four Emperors War.
He looked at his hands. His body seemed to have returned, though only temporarily.
His eyes finally turned toward the person sitting in front of him, someone he had been trying to ignore.
"Would you like some tea?" Amon asked, sipping a cup of tea with one hand while holding the saucer in the other.
"Amon… How… how did you find me?" Pallaz's voice was strained. The deepest thought in his heart was relief that Leonard was alive. If Leonard remained alive, Pallaz has a chance of only being demoted to a severely weakened Sequence 2 parasite.
"Oh, I was just nearby to meet a peer of mine. I saw you and decided to say hi," Amon said with a small smile, taking another sip of tea.
Who could it be? The only person he would consider a peer is the Angel of Imagination. What was he doing here then? Is this why he could use the Corpse Cathedral? Pallaz's mind raced with a thousand thoughts.
"Do not worry too much, or all your gray hair might fall out," Amon said with a chuckle.
"Anyways, tea," he continued, gesturing toward the cup in front of Pallaz. "It is a very famous blend from the Pre-Epoch."
"What… what do you want?" Pallaz asked, resignation showing on his face.
"Let's make a deal, I just need the Sequence 1 characteristics. Give them to me and I will give you all the characteristics you need to recover," Amon said, setting the cup down and pinching his monocle.
"You know," Amon's voice trailed as he dragged out the word, "the apocalypse is going to happen soon."
"And I have decided I have played enough. It is time to take responsibility."
"You… you… and responsibility in the same sentence," Pallaz said, slamming his hand on the table. His face twisted in anger. "Did I die and you appear in the River of Afterlife just to torture me or what?"
He looked back at the impassive Amon as his anger faded into resignation next moment.
"Why are you making such proposal only to me?"
***