Lord of Mysteries: Reawakened

The Fool Klein stepped out of the great door of light as squirming tentacles filled with maggots spread out toward the concealed city.

With eyes that were covered by a shadow due to his top hat, he stared at Amon, Adam, and Arianna.

With no prior warning, Klein instantly took over the authority of concealment and made the corresponding changes:

The 'city' of Tingen had all of its buildings flattened in a very smooth way. All of the walls on the buildings had coalesced into a long corridor that stretched infinitely.

The crimson blood moon had spilt from the sky and onto the edges of the corridor, appearing as little crimson eyes that 'watched' the lifeforms in it.

Klein had created a Realm of Mysteries, a divine kingdom of The Fool.

This was in the event that if Adam and Amon decided to go after Leonard and Arianna using 'Their' true forms, Klein would've been able to trap them instantly, killing 'Them' shortly afterwards.

Without hesitating, through the crimson eyes, Klein saw Adam and Amon at a certain point in the corridor, seemingly discussing something.

Klein didn't waste any time. He quickly turned the bodies of Adam and Amon into a marionette using Spirit Body Threads.

But, in less than a second, 'Their' bodies quickly faded out of existence as 'Their' essences scattered.

Klein sighed as he understood the situation.

"Adam never came here in 'His' true body, 'He' merely came as a projection using a virtual persona…"

"As for Amon, 'He' immediately left after taking Pallez' characteristic, leaving only an avatar that 'He' completely cut off any conceptual connection with. In a way, using loopholes, the Amon I turned into a marionette was never actually Amon."

"Marauders are too hard to kill when they're prepared. Same for Seers and Apprentices…"

Even though Klein had used the powers of 'Grafting' and 'Fooling' in order to deceive reality to truly turn the bodies of Adam and Amon into marionettes, 'They' had anticipated such an action and made the corresponding fail-safes.

Though, if Klein had come a second earlier, he would have been able to easily take control of Amon.

But of course, all of this was already in Amon's calculations.

In The Fool's divine kingdom, the modestly dressed Arianna leisurely stood up as 'She' saw the corridor extend endlessly behind 'Her', and in front of 'Her'.

'She' mentally composed 'Herself', adjusting 'Her' black hair and drawing 4 spots counter-clockwise on 'Her' chest, saying, "Praise the Lady."

"Arianna," From an unknown spot, or perhaps from all spots in the divine kingdom, Klein's voice had echoed. "I take it that you hid Leonard from Amon?"

"Yes." Arianna's voice was soft and angelic.

"Good. Can you take him out?" Klein asked politely.

Arianna nodded. In a certain direction, Arianna held out her hand and grabbed a certain patch of darkness.

Out of it, Arianna held the back of Leonard's jacket as his body emerged from the darkness.

His blackish-grayish hair covered his closed eyes as his body looked as if it was limp. Arianna held his body nonchalantly, not bothered by the fact his legs were on the ground.

Again, Klein's voice that came from nowhere but everywhere at the same time resounded.

"Pallez Zoroast."

Immediately, emerging from Leonard's body was an old, hoarse voice.

"Yes?"

"My apologies for arriving late. Truthfully, if I didn't make certain mistakes, Amon and Adam weren't going to move like they did. This apologies extends to you too, Arianna." Thinking back on certain actions that Klein made, he came up with an accurate account of what happened.

When he had traveled to the Forsaken Land of The Gods in order to get his anchors, Amon had tried to steal them from him. At first, Klein only thought 'He' had done that to make him lose control, but the actual reason was to search for the reason why he had suddenly been transported here. In doing so, 'He' was able to use a loophole, decrypting the location of any potential marionettes or points of interest.

The reason Amon made this gamble was because 'He' had a premonition that The Fool wasn't really Celestial Worthy. After all, why would The Fool start to lose control if not the Lord of Mysteries awakening inside of him?

Using the fact that the Fool would obviously try to fix the error in time, he would then try to search for the Error characteristics. It would then logically follow that the marionette that was in Tingen was because it was a point of interest relating to that characteristic. After confirming this, it didn't take long for Amon to know that Pallez was in Tingen. Using this point, Amon also figured out that The Fool and Evernight had some connection, making preparations for Arianna beforehand.

Normally, Klein would have easily figured all of this out, especially knowing Amon's craftiness. But due to his horrendous mental state after going back in time, he was unable to figure Amon's plan in time—which was immediately after 'He' tried to stole his anchors.

Arianna closed 'Her' eyes as 'She' nodded.

"I understand. You are allied with the Goddess, so I don't have any animosity towards your actions. We are dealing with a God of Deceit and an Angel of Imagination after all." After getting a rough understanding due to Amon's ravings, Arianna concurred.

Pallez only sighed.

"Amon has all the ingredients needed for the Error potion. 'He' only needs to satisfy the ritual. If Adam has the third Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, then 'He' will arrange events so that 'He' will become a true deity. Then, 'He' will help Amon become Error through a certain sealed person…"

"The Fool, how will you manage that?"

Klein's chuckle stuck in the minds and soul of both Arianna and Pallez. Using his faint prophesying abilities, he said:

"Don't worry. I have a plan."

Pallez paused for a while. Then, in an almost teasing tone, 'He' said, "Heh, you Seers are always so vague!"

"This is coming from a Marauder, though…" Klein lampooned. He later stayed on topic.

"Pallez, a part of my plan involves you becoming my Blessed. What do you think?"

Pallez stayed silent for some time once more. Arianna waited patiently as 'She' just observed with a stoic expression.

Then, 'He' said in almost sarcastic tone, "Heh, now that Amon has taken my Sequence 1 characteristic, I am only a pesky Sequence 2. What use am I to someone as powerful as The Fool?"

Klein responded in a tone that sounded as if he was smiling.

"There are plenty of uses. You have no drawbacks in being my Blessed. You get to be under the curtains of two Gods that hold the authority of Concealment. As for someone who likes to hide, that should be perfect for you. I can also make you apart of my angels that are under my protection."

"You also don't have to do much as my Blessed. All you have to do is take care of Leonard."

Pallez, confused, asked: "Is that so? Do you think that he is my grandchild?"

Klein didn't fully respond to 'His' question, saying, "Leonard will be a believer of me soon enough. It isn't that hard compared to the duties of other angels, no?"

"Not only that, as one of my angels, you are able to get certain blessings, like wishes."

Pallez didn't discuss any further. 'He' then said to Klein, "I understand it now."

"What's your honorific name?"

Klein, still holding onto his humanity, said inwardly, "I almost feel like a mix between a charlatan and a salesperson doing this. However, isn't this just the proper method of acting as a Seer?"

After Klein had said his honorific name to Pallez, he turned to Arianna and said, "When the time comes, can you tell Leonard my honorific name? It would be better if you explain the situation with him, especially considering your high rank."

"With Klein Moretti, Leonard will naturally want to join with him. You will know when Klein joins. That's the time that will come."

"Of course, all of these are preparations for the 'times' that are to come."

Despite being somewhat confused by Klein's strange wording, Arianna still got the gist of what he was trying to say. 'She' only nodded as 'She' said, "Okay."

Without any further warning, the crimson eyes closed themselves as the walls of the endless corridor suddenly collapsed.

Like if time was reversed, the buildings that took up the city of Tingen coalesced back into themselves, like they were never affected. The crimson blood moon filled itself in the night sky, shining a scarlet light over the city of Tingen.

This entire process was soundless. It was as if a battle of angels had never taken place.

In the room where Leonard once stood, Arianna appeared out of seemingly nowhere. 'She' held Leonard's body as 'She' gently placed his sleeping body on the chair.

Then, completely unbothered, 'She' gradually disappeared into the darkness.

…

At the Sonia Sea.

Wearing a black trench coat and a human-skinned glove, Klein, with the persona of Gehrman Sparrow, apathetically walked on water at decent speed as he made his way in a certain direction.

Then, he stopped as he sensed something in the horizon.

It was a large ship that had a certain pirate flag flowing through the wind.

Smiling, Gehrman Sparrow muttered to himself, "There's my target."