Hearing
"I merely followed your arrangements and gave up. It's just that I was a bit more thorough about it than you expected."
As he spoke, an illusory brand surfaced on his forehead, which was covered by that cold, eerie mask.
It was a strange gate of light, tinged with faint traces of blue-black.
And Klein's body was similarly enveloped in something like it.
Beneath the semi-transparent dark cloak draped over him, more and more slippery, sinister tentacles surged out — densely packed, stretching longer and longer, claiming the sky nearby.
Amid the faint flicker of his increasingly darkened eyes, Klein looked at Amon and smiled: "For me, rather than letting you become the '
Once his mental state had stabilized and he'd figured out the key to Amon's surprise attack, Klein had used that mindset of "giving up" to initially lift the suppression on the "Lord of the Mysteries'" will within him, allowing It to revive one step further.
Precisely because of this, he had been able to seize greater control of the "Source Castle" at the critical moment, borrowing the power of the "Error" and evading the spatial collapse Amon had created.
Without waiting for Amon to respond, the corners of Klein's mouth curved noticeably upward as he smiled: "You were able to recover immediately after being contaminated by the 'Source Castle' and showing signs of madness, turning the 'Source Castle' against itself to produce the effect of 'Mindlessness.' You were able to release the suppression on the 'Lord of the Mysteries'" will within you without entering a half-mad state — that's because there's an external force helping you.
"You should have a critically important avatar, or even a main body that deliberately lowered its own standing, like Pales, slumbering within
"So your most serious vulnerability is that you must constantly maintain a normal connection with that body. Once it's disrupted, your condition will falter, and this connection is actually quite fragile under the severing effect of the 'Source Castle.' "By deliberately displaying half-mad behavior, apart from luring me to look for opportunities in that direction and step into your preset trap, you were also hiding this point, preventing me from building a battle around that connection.
"Of course, beyond this, there are still quite a few problems — after all, you haven't truly finished preparing. If I had discovered these earlier, even if I had only grasped the Uniqueness of a King of Angels, I would have had ways to defeat you."
Amon listened quietly, raised his hand to adjust the crystal monocle clipped over his right eye socket, the corner of his mouth curling slightly as he let out a smiling sigh.
Seeing this, Klein shook his head with a smile: "You truly are powerful, cunning, and terrifying — worthy of the title 'God of Deception.' If I hadn't already considered what to do when you cornered me with no other options, I would have hesitated just now, and the slightest hesitation would have meant death by now."
If that had happened, Amon would have gained complete control of the "Source Castle," using it to prevent Klein from returning from the fog of history and denying him any chance of resurrection.
Amon gazed at the increasingly numerous sinister tentacles extending from beneath Klein's dark cloak, slowly drew a breath, and spoke with a smile: "The 'Lord of the Mysteries' inside you is about to truly awaken."
The smile on Klein's face had already taken on a slightly neurotic edge: "You can compete with me on that too.
«Next, our battle is simple: we compete on how much of the ‘Lord of the Mysteries’ will awakens within us, on who has deeper control over the ‘Source Fort.’ Fifty percent, seventy percent, ninety percent, all the way to a hundred, and then, boom, we explode, and It returns.
«How about it? Care to make a wager? See who crumbles first? It’s thrilling, amusing, right up your alley—like the Russian roulette popular in Forsakel. Two people, one revolver, a single bullet. You take turns pressing the trigger against your own temple. Whoever gives up first concedes victory to the other, but if neither gives up and they persist to the very end, there won’t be a winner. Only It will be.»
Amon’s eyebrow twitched slightly. He smiled but said nothing.
Klein looked at Him, beaming.
«Although you’re always known for seeking thrills and daring adventures, most of the time you’ve achieved your goals—not only without loss, but with substantial gains. And in the minority of cases, you’ve merely lost a few avatars, maybe some items, never truly suffering severe trauma or being cornered into a desperate situation.
«Almost every one of your actions is the product of meticulous planning; even if you fail, there’s always an exit route.
«Does this perhaps indicate that you value your own life more than I imagined? You certainly enjoy the thrill and seek pleasure, but paying any price for them is just an image you’ve cultivated. The true ‘God of Deception’ would never use himself as a stake in a gamble, would he?
«Of course, this is just my personal guess—it might be wrong. Anyway, care to place a bet?»
Amon adjusted his single lens, ground from crystal, and clicked his tongue just as
Klein replied with a smile: «To others, it does seem insane.
«But for me, it’s merely a choice.
«Compared to you, I’d rather trust that past ‘Lord of the Mysteries.’ He was a true Old One, looking down upon the universe, viewing the vast majority of beings as mere insects—and that very fact keeps Him detached from reality.
«Moreover, I should still have time to ask the ‘Genie of the Lamp’ to bear witness, and have that ‘Lord of the Mysteries’ promise something—something simple and of little value to Him.»
At this, Klein’s lips curled up with exaggerated flair: «What I’ll lose won’t be much. Only my self, really.
«There are always some things that matter more than others.»
Amon kept smiling but remained silent.
Klein immediately surveyed his surroundings and located the «Wishing Lamp» and «Trenson’s Brass Book» among the barren fragments of wilderness floating in the void.
He burst into hearty laughter: «You see? I wasn’t punished. That proves I wasn’t lying—everything I said was the truth.»
Actually, the rules set by «Trenson’s Brass Book» had begun to fail long ago, when the «Star» descended and the divine kingdom shattered. The various Amons had even dared to attempt multiple «thefts» afterward. But Klein’s main purpose wasn’t to prove something with this; it was to demonstrate his resolve, his determination—or perhaps his madness.