Evil Gods Don’t Save People

After receiving monetary compensation as well as some Beyonder items as promised and separating with Maric and Sharron, Fors and Zhou Mingrui left the bar.

Then, Zhou Mingrui bumped into an unknown gentleman.

He had bronze skin, an average height and build, black hair, brown eyes in which you could see the vicissitudes of life, and gentle facial features. Under his right ear was a tiny mole that one wouldn't notice unless closely examined.

Zhou Mingrui tilted his head in wonder, feeling that such an appearance seemed familiar.

"Death Consul…?"

Azik suddenly felt pain in his head, his temples throbbing. As he held his forehead, some memories seemed to resurface from the depths of his mind.

By pure coincidence, a fateful encounter between an amnesic Death Consul and a fallen evil god occurred, the two facing each other on the streets of Backlund.

Thoughtful, Azik regarded the stranger in front of him and inquired, "Do you know me?"

Fors watched the exchange in silence, not daring to interrupt. If Mr. Fool knew that gentleman, was he perhaps a very strong Beyonder?

Zhou Mingrui hesitated, "…You're Salinger's son, aren't you?"

The Death Consul held his temple again, his soul unstable as some memories were stirred up.

Facing this stranger who could casually call a True God's name and seemed to know who he was, Azik politely apologized.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember you."

Zhou Mingrui shook his head.

"It's fine, we didn't meet in person to begin with."

Azik appeared thoughtful before taking something out of his pocket.

"I have forgotten my past and have been in search of my lost memories. If you are willing, I wish to communicate more through letters."

Zhou Mingrui grabbed the copper whistle handed to him and looked at it.

"Of course. But are you alright?"

Azik nodded.

"My mind is a little unstable right now, I'll be fine after adjusting to my new memories."

Then, colors momentarily overlapped and the Death Consul disappeared, teleporting away with the help of the spirit world.

Zhou Mingrui remained in place, silently staring in the direction where Azik was standing before glancing at something unknown.

At the same time, in Backlund, a certain Mercury Snake who had felt the evil god's presence retracted his attention.

Finally, Zhou Mingrui turned toward Fors.

"…Shall we conclude this outing?"

Fors snapped out of her thoughts and nodded.

"Ye-"

Before she even had time to answer, Fors was left alone in the streets of Backlund.

Fors looked at the place where her god had vanished and finished her sentence.

"…Good night."

That was quite an eventful Full Moon night.

***

Fors's vision turned clear as she saw the figures sitting across the long, mottled table.

'Two new members?' With a thought, she quickly settled down.

Through the fog, she recognized the wraith she and Mr. Fool had met during the last Full Moon night.

She vividly remembered how they had visited food stalls before stopping at a bar where He had made that lady recite His honorific name, so it wasn't that surprising.

Then, she turned her attention towards the other new member when she heard Miss Justice's usual greeting that lacked her exuberance.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

Fors was quick to associate it with the incident of the smog and plague from last week.

Alger, even though he was drifting out at sea, had received news of the great smog in Backlund. He was interested in the secrets and the truth behind it, confident in the belief that this was definitely a struggle between deities.

Mr. Fool: ?

With this in mind, Alger turned his head to look at The Sun. Seeing how he wasn't anxious but calm and reserved, he knew that the City of Silver's exploratory team had already broken out from the fate of repeating their lives.

Similarly, Audrey, who had figured out that the operation was successful from reading Little Sun's reaction, heaved a secret sigh of relief. She prepared herself to understand what had happened later in detail.

After a solemn bow towards Mr. Fool, Audrey sat down and questioned the Tarot Club members.

"Do any of you know more details about the cause and reasons behind the Great Fog of Backlund?"

The Fool, who was totally not listening, had spaced out again while others were exchanging information.

Then, the others belatedly noticed the appearance of two additional members and turned their attention towards them.

Snapped out of his thoughts by the sudden silence, the Fool looked at the situation and remembered to introduce the newly-arrived members.

"Uh, this is Mr. Moon and this is Miss Temperance."

Sharron found the Fool and the young man named Zhou Mingrui who had told her the Fool's honorific name strangely similar, but she pushed it back to a corner of her mind.

At the same time, the Fool had an ominous feeling and wondered where it came from.

Hearing the awkward introduction, Fors invisibly shook her head. Mr. Fool wasn't any different than during the Full Moon night.

'Mr. Moon, I thought it would be a lady who would choose the Moon…' Not noticing the reactions of the people next to her, Audrey greeted politely while her thoughts scattered.

Similarly, Emlyn wondered whether the members such as The Hanged Man and Justice were humans or transcendent creatures, which pathways they were from, at which Sequences, from which organizations, or if they were friendly to the Sanguine.

Meanwhile, Leonard casually sat in his seat, not caring about any of that.

Audrey looked at The Sun diagonally across from her.

"Have you extricated yourself from the cycle?"

Derrick nodded honestly first before bowing towards the end of the bronze table.

"Honorable Mr. Fool, thank you for your guidance. It allowed me to find the key point of the Angel of Fate on the mural with the words 'Rose Redemption'. It aided the Chief in destroying the repeated cycle of fate."

The Fool in question wasn't listening.

Deadpanning, Fors, who knew about the trash pile under the table, discreetly kicked her book toward Mr. Fool.

Warned by His spiritual intuition, Mr. Fool caught the book with a tentacle and was brought back to attention.

"…"

Using divination to recall the contents of the previous conversation, He used Blind Fool on the other members to make them forget His previous silence and nodded to the Sun.

After Derrick thanked Mr. Fool, The Hanged Man shifted his position slightly, leaned slightly towards him, and said in a normal tone, unaware of what had just happened, "What was the exact sequence of events?"

Derrick didn't hide anything and honestly replied, "Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, Miss Magician, and Mr. Star, thank you for your concern, and thank you for the suggestions you previously gave me. In my sixth exploration, I tried…"

Fors witnessed the Fool's skillful operation, speechless.