If he hadn't asked for the "Traveler" Beyonder Characteristic, Mr. Z wouldn't have gone looking for the Sage of Secrets. If he hadn't come, he wouldn't have run into Loen. And the Black Knight would never have been called in...
"Is Lanevus with Butis right now?"
"Yes."
"Where are they?"
"The last time I saw them, it was at an activity center for a retired MI9 general. Our Lord's vessel was there too, at the time."
Bernadette thought it over for a moment, then asked Vincent, "Any other questions?"
"Ask him if he has any special way of contacting Butis — a signal, a mark, anything like that."
The Black Knight shook his head. "No."
"In that case, there's no way to track down Butis or Lanevus from this." The moment he said it, Vincent caught himself. "Er, sorry, guess I overstepped again."
"All right, one last question."
Vincent said, seriously. "Ask him how long it's been since the True Creator last handed down a decree."
Bernadette's eyes narrowed slightly. "When was the last time you heard our Lord's decree?"
The Black Knight gave a specific time.
"Have you tried praying to Him since then?"
"We have. But our Lord hasn't responded. That's exactly why we're so desperate to bring about His descent."
Bernadette cut off the summoning ritual at that point, letting the Black Knight's lingering soul dissolve completely.
Vincent thought it over. "That time he gave — it lines up with right around when we ran into the Primordial Witch."
"Could it be... the True Creator got hurt trying to help us against the Primordial Witch?"
Was the True Creator really that fragile?
Or was the Primordial Witch really that strong?
And that clash had, at most, just been a single collision between the two entities' consciousnesses.
"I don't know either. I don't understand much more about those two gods than you do."
Bernadette answered. "Compared to how the Seven Gods occasionally reveal miracles, the Primordial Witch and the True Creator are both far more mysterious."
"Well, whatever's going on between gods isn't really something we can manage anyway. Let's clear out — Church people might show up any minute."
Especially the Storm pigeons — they were always late to everything, but they always showed up eventually.
"Oh, might as well deliver the Black Knight's Beyonder Characteristic straight to Mr. Z while we're at it."
Bernadette waved a hand, dispelling the "Peach Blossom Spring," then used magic to erase her traces from the area before stepping into the Spirit World. After a few minutes drifting through that vividly colored world, she arrived once more at the remote island where Mr. Z resided.
"Mr. Z, I've brought you the Black Knight's Beyonder Characteristic."
Bernadette's voice rang out across the whole island. Within a few minutes, Mr. Z — bloated in form, grotesque in shape — came slithering over. The instant he saw the Black Knight's Beyonder Characteristic, his eyes went round, and an ever-lengthening arm made of assorted animal remains reached out to grab it.
Bernadette's figure instantly turned insubstantial and vanished. She said flatly, "Mr. Z, this Beyonder Characteristic is meant to be given to you by me — not taken from me."
Only what I give you is yours.
Mr. Z's eyes twitched rapidly for a few seconds, and he pulled his arm back, saying in a low voice, "My apologies, Mr. A. I got carried away."
"But I... genuinely need it right now."
"Not for my own sake — for our Lord's."
Bernadette said nothing further, simply tossing the gleaming black hand-bone over to Mr. Z. "It begins next week. Be ready."
"Understood."
Now that he actually had the Beyonder Characteristic in hand, Mr. Z's demeanor settled.
"By the way — what do you make of the Sage of Secrets, Butis?"
"What?"
Mr. Z blinked, a little confused. "Sir Butis... is one of our Aurora Order's Sages of the Apprentice Pathway. He's said to be responsible for a Sequence 0 sealed item, and as a 'Traveler,' he's often the one who handles long-distance reinforcement missions."
"I know of him, but that's about the extent of it."
Bernadette folded her arms, her tone flat. "If I told you Butis has betrayed our Lord, and is colluding with Loen to sabotage Him — would you believe me?"
"..."
Mr. Z's eyes twitched rapidly again, and half a minute later he said, in a low buzzing voice, "If it's you saying it, of course I believe it. And it wouldn't be the first time he's betrayed us, either."
"But... I'd like to know why."
"Why Butis would betray our Lord."
"That, I don't know."
Bernadette shook her head. "He suddenly attacked me today, destroyed the things I'd prepared for our Lord's descent ritual, and claimed I was the traitor. Oh, and Lanevus was taken by him."
Confusion surfaced on Mr. Z's twisted face. "Butis said you're the traitor, and attacked you? How could you possibly be the traitor? Our Lord Himself told me — you're His follower, the one responsible for everything."
"Our Lord... of course everything He says is true."
"So what Butis said... must be false! Which means Butis really has betrayed our Lord!!!"
Mr. Z's emotions surged into violence in an instant. "He deserves death! Death! I'll kill that traitor myself!"
Vincent thought, astonished: "I really wouldn't have guessed — you can lie through your teeth without so much as a blink, can you?"
Bernadette said, flat and dry, "Whatever gave you the idea a pirate captain wouldn't know how to lie?"
"Er."
As she spoke, Mr. Z shoved the black arm into his mouth, chewing it with a wet, crunching sound, thick black fluid seeping from the corners of his mouth and spreading down over his body.
Everywhere the black fluid touched, flesh and limbs collapsed, and by the time it had covered his entire body, Mr. Z's massive form had fully broken down, dissolving into a churning, undulating lake of flesh and blood.
Waves of corruption radiated outward from the lake of flesh — every plant it touched withered and died, the ground itself drying and cracking, the corruption spreading all the way to the shores of the island, turning even the seawater black.
Within a few minutes, dead fish began floating up from the ocean floor, bellies-up, bobbing in the waves.
Vincent said, amazed, watching this. "No supplementary materials, no ritual — he's just swallowing the Beyonder Characteristic raw to ascend?"
"I told you before — supplementary materials and rituals are only there to assist the ascension, to help maintain sanity during it and avoid losing control. The Beyonder Characteristic is the only truly necessary part." She paused, then gave a small laugh. "Wasn't that exactly how you ascended, too?"
"So you're saying Mr. Z doing it this way isn't a problem?"
"No — he's basically a half-mad lunatic. Whether the ascension succeeds or fails, who knows?"
Bernadette watched the lake of flesh for a moment longer. "By the look of it, this'll take him a while. Let's head back."
"Sure. Guess this night can finally end."
"I'm used to it by now."
Bernadette said. "Hasn't something like this been happening every few days, ever since I met you?"
"Er — must just be a Beyonder Characteristic magnet effect from the Nation of Disorder!"
"Heh, sure, if you say so."
She smiled faintly. "Let's hope you get to 'reunite' with Dad soon — he was a Black Emperor once, after all."
To be continued…
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