Lucas's voice echoed above Sefirah Castle, but just then, a voice from the distant Tarot Club stone table seemed to penetrate the gray fog barrier and reach his ears.
"Good afternoon, Mr. 'Fool'~"
The Tarot Club had begun. Lucas exhaled deeply, walked forward a few steps, and sat at the edge of the gray fog area.
Although he didn't understand why his current situation was so strange, he still conducted a basic investigation of his surroundings.
While sitting down, he gently pressed the edge of the gray fog area with his hand. The sensation from his fingertips felt like touching rough stone slabs. As Lucas heard that voice, the originally blurry Tarot Club scene before his eyes quickly became clear.
"This area seems able to change according to my will to a certain extent, but I can't leave this area temporarily."
Lucas reached out and gently touched the constantly writhing gray fog in front of him, feeling an insurmountable resistance that confirmed he couldn't leave this place for now.
Just then, a voice transmitted from the distance. Lucas recognized that high and mysterious voice, his expression inevitably becoming somewhat strange:
"The Tarot Club has officially begun..."
"Miss 'Justice' obtained the 'Audience' potion formula. Alger seems to have opened his spirit vision, secretly peering at 'The Fool'... was he really this brave at the beginning?"
He couldn't help but complain: "Fortunately, the 'Sailor' pathway's spirituality isn't too strong—not much different from the 'Hunter' pathway that can see 'red, very healthy.' Otherwise, a Sequence 7 directly looking at a deity might have quite a miserable end..."
Earlier, Lucas had used his Cryptologist's considerable spirit vision to confirm that Klein had already become a Beyonder.
Although Klein had just stepped into the Beyonder pathway and was only a Sequence 9 "Seer," his entire body was genuinely shrouded by Sefirah Castle's fog. Any Beyonder with more sensitive spirit vision would probably die on the spot.
"However, my gaze doesn't seem to be blocked by the fog covering them... What exactly is my current state?"
Lucas muttered, stood up, and while listening to the clear voices transmitted to his ears, walked toward the plaza hanging with numerous light cocoons.
His gaze swept across the faces of the figures sealed inside each light cocoon, while his ears continuously picked up the discussions happening at the Tarot Club.
Just now, their respected Mr. "Fool" had already informed the two members of the Tarot Club about the "acting method"—while understanding nothing himself—and requested both to collect Roselle Gustav's diary.
When hearing the Tarot Club discuss Roselle's diary, Lucas once again felt grateful for his previous action of burning his notes.
After all, although the "Black Emperor" could continuously resurrect and return, social death was different—once dead, always dead.
Unless Roselle "twisted" the memories of everyone in the world who knew about "Roselle's diary," there would be no possibility of salvation.
Time at the Tarot Club passed quickly. Lucas listened as the three discussed everything from "Roselle's diary" to "Audience potion," and then turned to Ruen's governmental system, hearing Klein speak as a "keyboard politician," proposing solutions that had once appeared on Earth.
When he felt this meeting was about to end, Lucas quickened his pace, walking toward the light cocoons he hadn't finished examining.
He suspected that since his opportunity to come to Sefirah Castle coincided with Klein holding a Tarot Club meeting and ascending to Sefirah Castle, perhaps when Klein left Sefirah Castle, he might also be taken away with him.
Light cocoons passed by his vision one by one. Soon, Lucas's footsteps stopped again. He stood in place, looking at the brilliant light gate tinted with blue-black color before him and those cocoons composed of light, gently raising his head.
Below the light gate, there were only three broken cocoons swaying in the wind.
The gray fog slowly dispersed before Lucas's eyes. As he had expected, when Klein left Sefirah Castle, he also felt a strong sense of falling, then returned to his study.
"Indeed, just as I thought..." Lucas had just exhaled when he felt a slight burning pain on the back of his hand. He quickly brought his hand to his face and saw a mark slowly appearing below the gray countdown on his right hand.
This mark appeared blue-black overall, curved at both ends, looking just like the light gate he had seen above Sefirah Castle—only simpler, without those coiled worms, just a symbol resembling "Ω."
"This is... after ascending to Sefirah Castle, some changes appeared on my body?"
Gentle sunlight fell on Lucas's face. He gently stroked the blue-black mark on his right hand with his left index finger, attempting to inject the spirituality he had been able to sense since transmigrating toward the location of the blue-black mark.
Soon, the blue-black mark on the back of Lucas's hand rapidly changed with the injection of spirituality. The gray fog space he had seen hanging with light cocoons reappeared before him, and his spirituality began to be rapidly consumed.
Looking at the gray fog appearing before him, a bold idea suddenly emerged in Lucas's mind. He casually grabbed a stack of papers beside him and quickly stuffed them into the gray fog in front of him.
Then, he directly stopped injecting his spirituality.
The gray fog quickly dissipated after losing spiritual support. After several seconds, Lucas took a deep breath and again activated the mark on the back of his hand with his spirituality. The gray fog reappeared before him, and he reached out to extract the papers he had just put in.
"This is similar to Klein's later development of applications for Sefirah Castle..." Lucas casually placed the stack of letter paper on the table beside him, talking to himself:
"It seems that although I temporarily cannot go to Sefirah Castle, I can also have a storage space. No matter whether the countdown ends with a return to the original world or another transmigration, I can use Sefirah Castle to store some things."
"I'll go to Aurora Order's small treasury now to see what useful things there are. Maybe they'll come in handy later..."
"Damn, why is Amon so terrible? Even stealing from his father's subordinates?"
When Lucas arrived at the completely empty warehouse interior, his expression immediately darkened.
He looked grimly at his surroundings devoid of any Beyonder spiritual light and couldn't help but think, "How could Amon be so bad?"
An Aurora Order member standing beside him was already covered in sweat, his forehead damp. His face was pale as he explained his previous experiences, trying to excuse his dereliction of duty.
If it were the original "Mr. L," when he heard you trying to excuse your mistakes, he might have directly given you "physical" dismissal, you know? Lucas glanced at the Aurora Order member beside him and spoke indifferently:
"Before tonight, go purchase some high-powered firearms and replenish the things here."
"I don't want you to make mistakes even with such simple matters. Tonight, go confess before the Lord yourself."
Deep night. Crimson moonlight spilled through the window into "Mr. L's" bedroom. Lucas stood quietly by the window, watching the countdown on the back of his hand approach zero bit by bit.
[00:00:31]
I have already put enough food and medicine, as well as weapons urgently purchased by Aurora Order, into the mark on my hand. My hand's mark shares the same origin as Sefirah Castle, with a high probability of still being effective after the countdown reaches zero.
I have also made marks on my body and clothes. If after the countdown reaches zero, I still use this body and these marks haven't changed, then I very likely transmigrated together with my current body.
[00:00:03]
As long as the countdown reaching zero doesn't result in my direct death, any outcome is acceptable...
[00:00:02]
[00:00:01]
[00:00:00]
Gray fog and familiar pain once again emerged in Lucas's mind.
A streak of intense deep red subsequently appeared.
Lucas opened his eyes to see a blonde, blue-eyed youth holding an axe, looking at him warily.
He was about to speak when he saw indescribable terror emerge in the youth's eyes, who turned and ran without hesitation.
Uh... Lucas was somewhat dazed for a moment. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt a stinging pain in his hand.
He lowered his head to see the countdown on his hand beginning to jump strangely.
[72:00:00] [71:59:59] [71:59:58]
"Great, it's Cordu Village. We're finished."
After surveying the surrounding environment, Lucas spoke with resignation.