"Sequence 0: The Fool!"
Identifying the words on the Tarot card, Klein once again felt the same sensation as when he heard Zaratul speak that name.
At this moment, a strong sense of fatalism surged within him. He felt that everything had been arranged from the very start, like what "0-08" did.
He began to doubt his initial judgment, suspecting that the female tamer at the traveling circus in Tingen City who had performed the tarot divination for him was no ordinary person.
As his thoughts raced, Klein approached from a different angle, gaining a new insight. He gradually became less terrified, fearful, and dejected:
"Maybe it wasn't an arrangement, but a change brought about by myself.
"Because of the ritual that caused my transmigration, I established a connection to the mysterious space above the Gray Fog. My fate was naturally affected. More accurately, as a visitor from another world, I originally had no 'fate' here. The current trajectory is forged by my own personality, the original owner's experiences, the influence of the Gray Fog, and the surrounding environment.
"That mysterious space above the Gray Fog is clearly strongly related to the Seer Pathway, and the Sequence 0 of this pathway is called 'The Fool'. Reflected in reality, if I were to divine the present, I would inevitably flip the 'Fool' card!
"In the same way, this led to me using 'The Fool' as my title later on."
Klein's mood gradually calmed down. He believed this was the most likely reason.
"If removing all currently unknown factors with Occam's razor still yields a reasonable explanation, it means the probability isn't low…" Klein forced himself to stop pondering questions he couldn't yet find definite answers to, shifting his focus back to what had just happened:
"That enormous seat, those transparent maggots—they are the things I saw when divining above the Gray Fog.
"Judging by the various clues that send chills down one's spine when thought about carefully, this is very likely an Angel of the Seer pathway, an Angel who lost control and turned into a monster!
"Zaratul himself?
"Or the most powerful member of the Antigonus family from the Fourth Epoch?
"If it's the former, the 'Magic Mirror' Arrodes and the 'Snake of Mercury' Will Auceptin both confirmed that Zaratul had already reached Sequence 1 and lost control, going mad and collapsing into a monster. This matches up… It also explains why Zaratul only demanded to 'open the door'. Once that 'Concealed Door' is opened, He, connected from both sides, can break free from his current state and slowly recover. The repeated emphasis on the ashes was just a smokescreen.
"But the problem is, the environment Arrodes showed for Zaratul wasn't similar to that ancient palace on the mountain peak. Otherwise, I would have recognized it immediately.
"If it's the barely-surviving Angel of the Antigonus family, the one who made Zaratul—who obtained the notes during Roselle's era and came to the Hornacis Mountains to hunt for treasure—suffer, secretly splitting off a part of himself without realizing it, thus going mad during his advancement, then this guy should at least be a Sequence 1 'Servant of the Concealed'. After all, Zaratul was already a 'Miracle Invoker' at that time...
"From this perspective, Zaratul's goal is likely still to open the door, to allow the history and fate of the Misty Town to connect with the outside world, resolving his own split nature...
"Regardless, that transparent maggot is highly likely a Sequence 1 who lost control. No wonder the 'Despair Witch' was nearly driven to collapse just by seeing Him. With the slightest struggle, she was hoisted up, becoming a puppet waiting to be dried. Good thing I didn't have many clues back then, and the image I saw through divination wasn't clear enough. Otherwise, I would have also suffered a severe blow from witnessing a complete, insane Mythical Creature, losing control and mutating…
"Wait, no matter how strong He is, can He be stronger than the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' or the 'True Creator'? Even considering the Seer Pathway's suppression effect on the mysterious space above the Gray Fog, He's at most on the same level as them. In other words, as long as I can endure the pain and the prerequisites are met, I have a chance to peek. And a complete Mythical Creature form is interwoven with corresponding knowledge.
"I might even be able to get one or two High-Sequence formulas from it, just like how I got the 'Light Supplicant' formula from the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' back then."
Thinking this, an image involuntarily surfaced in Klein's mind:
"The Fool" above the Gray Fog had quietly extended his black hand again.
While delight surged within him, Klein also felt a sharp pang of grief. With his current level, strength, and possessions, there was absolutely no way for him to approach the ancient seat occupied by that transparent worm and pick up the "Fool" card.
Seeing the most desired item but being unable to obtain it is always painful.
Phew… At least I already got the potion formula for "Faceless". I also have one chance to peek in the future. This risk wasn't taken in vain. The gold pounds I spent and the puppets I lost weren't wasted either… Hmm, Zaratul probably wouldn't give a fake formula. To Him, it's beneath contempt to trick a Sequence 5 who has no hope of getting out alive in such a way. Besides, if He were lying, He'd have to worry that I already knew the "Faceless" potion formula and was only asking to confirm whether He could be trusted… I'll go back and divine it above the Gray Fog… Klein let out a breath. Seeing that there had been no abnormal changes outside for a long time, he decided to approach the pitch-black church immediately and observe what it had become inside.
To him, all the questions he had just thought about were not the most important thing at the moment. The most important thing now was to leave this hidden world, leave this Misty Town!
Leaving the house, Klein, wearing an old tricorn hat and a dark red coat, navigated with extreme caution to the entrance of the ancient church. He carefully passed through the half-open door, stepping inside one step at a time.
The corpses in various attires and with different faces were still hanging in mid-air just like before, swaying occasionally and emitting the murmurs of "Hornacis… Flegra…"
Klein passed through under "them." His eyes gradually adjusted to the dim environment, allowing him to see more and more.
The half-demon wolf, half-humanoid statue remained standing, completely unharmed. The obsidian stone slab and the tin ash urn had fallen behind the statue at an angle, without cracking.
Klein first sighed in relief, then swept his gaze around, and abruptly froze.
In that dark corner stood a giant mushroom, taller than himself.
The top of this mushroom was blood-red with white patterns. Its body was composed of many similar small mushrooms, and their patterns collectively depicted a face—Mr. A's face.
However, Mr. A's "expression" was utterly wooden, devoid of any semblance of human life. On both sides, mushrooms grew out, forming long arms. On the left palm was still a thin glove of human skin, the two seemingly fused into one.
… What kind of monster is this… Klein involuntarily took a step back, feeling that his knowledge of mysticism was utterly insufficient at this moment.
Having never closed his corresponding mystical vision and continuously performing protective actions, he also discovered that this terrifying mushroom had no "Spirit Body Threads." It seemed it had already died long ago, and its current activity was merely the residual response of its bodily nerves.
In a flash, Klein had a sudden guess:
Mr. A, who had been implanted with mushrooms, had no time to escape. He witnessed that transparent worm, witnessed the complete Mythical Creature. His spirit died on the spot, his body completely collapsed, undergoing a terrible mutation. Then, the nearby cursed and disintegrating "Wraith" Seniol was fused into it, transforming it into a mushroom-shaped monster never seen before!