Deep among the rolling, undulating mountains, within the ancient castle.
The Black Dark Demon Wolf
Although He still did not understand, even by that point, what exactly had happened earlier, on the premise that an accident had already taken place, His experience told Him: hold no illusions, withdraw when withdrawal is called for, abandon when abandonment is called for!
At the same moment, Klein — within the City of Yesterday — gave a single thought, and his figure appeared in an instant inside the ancient palace above the Grey Fog; he merged with the deep-red «human-shaped silhouette» at the «Fool's» seat, the one that now twisted, now scattered, and so condensed into form.
Within this mystical space, the deep-red stars representing «Justice», «Hanged Man», «Star» and the other members of the
This was one of Klein's preparatory measures: under the name of Gehrman Sparrow, with various pretexts, he had made the Tarot Club members pray, one after another, to «Mr. Fool», asking that Existence to relay some answer or piece of intelligence to «Mr. World».
Doing so caused the deep-red stars to resonate, and the resonance fed back into the «Origin Fortress», prompting it to summon the «Fool» to deal with the matter.
This had been one of the keys to Klein's escape from
And in this sort of clash at the angel tier, a difference of a single second might decide what the final outcome looked like; Klein wanted to leverage the small against the great, and so had to account for every detail!
After seating himself in the high-backed chair belonging to the «Fool», Klein waved his hand to draw the «Star Wand» and the «Sceptre of the Sea God» over to him, and at the same time began to observe the other changes within the «Origin Fortress».
In that grey-white mist a deep-red patch of light had appeared; it was shrinking rapidly, and before long it would vanish; beside the «Fool's» chair, ring upon ring of brightness was unfolding, as if to form a pure passage.
On the deep-red patch the silhouette of an enormous demon wolf was faintly visible: this was the contamination Kotar had unknowingly suffered as He spied upon the «Origin Fortress», acquiring, as time passed, a certain understanding of it; through this He had established a preliminary link with the «Origin Fortress». Of course, as an angel, as the «God of Wishes» of the Second Era, He had the divinity and the means to sever a link of this degree and clear away the corresponding contamination; if Klein could not seize these one or two seconds, he would once again lose the lock on the Black Dark Demon Wolf's whereabouts.
Beside the «Fool's» chair, however, the rings of light reflected the figure of «Gehrman Sparrow», in his half-tall silk top hat and long black trench coat — a crystal-ground monocle set over his right eye.
Amon!
This avatar of the «Blasphemer», having exploited some loophole or other, had slowed the dispersal of Klein's historical-aperture image, and was now availing himself of the subtle relationship between «him», the main body and the «Origin Fortress», attempting — under the special scenario in which the «Origin Fortress» was performing a summons — to break directly into the realm above the Grey Fog!
As the halo rippled outwards, «Gehrman Sparrow's» long, powerful hand pierced the barrier and thrust violently into the ancient palace, as if pushing open an invisible door.
Although Klein had long since prepared his contingencies and knew Amon would not be so easily disposed of, when he saw this his scalp could not help prickling, fearing that, in the next second, his own hand would be lifting a crystal-ground monocle towards his right eye.
This too was a matter that had to be settled within one or two seconds, lest the fate of the «Origin Fortress» be saddled with a great heavy question mark.
Klein did not hesitate. He let one twisted, transparent «Spirit Worm» after another work itself up out of the surface of his skin; they coalesced in an instant, forming another Klein.
This Klein caught the «Sceptre of the Sea God» and prised loose the power of the «Origin Fortress»; under the layered support of the invisible «waves», every blue-green gemstone lit up, and bolt after frenzied bolt of lightning gathered into a silvery-white sphere, which rolled into the spreading rings of light.
Amid the snapping and crackling, the hand that had pierced into the «Origin Fortress» instantly came apart, dissolving and evaporating.
The ball lightning, full of the breath of annihilation, expanded outwards and descended upon reality, swallowing the «Gehrman Sparrow» with the monocle.
This image, drawn from the historical aperture, was sustained only just barely by means of a loophole; having taken such a blow, it could no longer hold its form. It could only straighten its crystal-ground monocle and shake its head with regret as it watched its own figure swiftly turn translucent, broken inch by inch by the snakes of lightning.
While dividing off a small portion of the «Spirit
He gripped the wand-head set with various gemstones and pointed this grade-0
Simultaneously, a particular scene rose up in his mind.
On the «Star Wand», the ruby, emerald, sapphire, pearl and diamond all lit up at the same instant, without the least order between them.
Dong!
A faraway, sonorous chime descended as though crossing untold ages of time; it echoed in the grey-white mist, and echoed within the deep-red patch.
Before the eyes of Kotar, the Black Dark Demon Wolf, the pitch black abruptly receded, revealing a vast stone wall-clock.