New Moon, the stealth jet created by Melissa, tore through the Earth's atmosphere.
For a brief moment, it adjusted its nose, aligning itself away from The Boundary before killing the engines.
There, it remained suspended freely for some time.
Inside the jet, Luke, Nyx, and Mushroom-nimi sat in the cockpit, keeping an eye on the holographic panel.
The jet itself wasn't big, barely as large as a school bus.
Melissa had designed it for the singular purpose of being as fast as possible so that she could reach anywhere on the planet to help out a fellow Apostle. This was especially true now, given that it was her duty to monitor the safekeeping, distribution, and timely retrieval of all the faux Sealed Artifacts.
Speaking of faux Sealed Artifacts, Luke looked at the box holding Peaceful Hair Strands from the corner of his eye.
That wasn't the only card he had brought himself to play with, though.
Luke's right hand was in his greatcoat's deep pocket, rolling another object between his fingers.
The Beyonder Characteristic of the Sequence 8 Unwinged Angel belonged to the Abyss Pathway, also known as the Devil Pathway.
When Miss Justice had told him this, it had unnerved Luke a bit, given Devil was his Code Name for the Tarot Club.
Was it only a coincidence that the first Monocle he faced was from the Devil Pathway?
The Devil Code Name was only symbolic, Luke believed. The name hadn't even left the illusory boundaries of the Gray Castle, which itself rested in another dimension. No one even knew it in his world.
But, then again, it was Amon on the other side.
It was hard to tell what He could and could not figure out with His abilities.
Anyway, it didn't matter if the meeting was a coincidence or a sick joke played by Amon.
What did matter was the fact that the Apostles of Mr. Fool had gained a potential Sealed Artifact.
Sadly, as per Miss Justice, only an Artisan from the Paragon Pathway could effectively and safely turn a Beyonder Characteristic into a Sealed Artifact.
The only other way was to let the Beyonder Characteristic interact with an object over a long period of time, corrupting it, and finally turning it into something that could technically be called a Sealed Artifact.
The first method was safe, but impossible to put into practice, given that there was no Artisan in his world.
The second method, although feasible, guaranteed a product, but with an overwhelming number of negative effects.
So, Luke had two choices.
First, store the Beyonder Characteristic and wait for the time when he would be able to sacrifice it to Mr. Fool and enlist the help of the Tarot Club on the other side to hire an Artisan and turn it into a proper Sealed Artifact. The channel between him and Mr. Fool could not handle the transfer of items that held corruption within them. But it wouldn't remain the same forever, something Mr. Fool Himself had acknowledged.
The only caveat about this safe choice was the uncertainty of time.
Who knew when the channel would strengthen enough to accommodate corrupt items?
Luke didn't need a powerful, workable Sealed Artifact years later. He needed it now, when the threat of more Monocles raging across the world was not only imminent but also inevitable. Not to mention, with so many Monocles… just how many was he planning to store and wait to send to Mr. Fool?
Then, there was the second choice.
Let the Beyonder Characteristic interact with an object, corrupt it, and turn it into a dangerous, but usable Sealed Artifact.
It would also take time, but Miss Justice had promised that the process would be completed before the event related to Shie Hassaikai ended up playing out, probably before the beginning of the second semester.
After thinking for a few days, Luke ultimately went with… the third choice.
Use the Sequence 8 Unwinged Angel's Beyonder Characteristic not to create a barely usable Sealed Artifact, but… another Unwinged Angel!
The greatest threat of an Unwinged Angel was the insanity and deranged ideologies it brought with itself; ideologies that a Beyonder from the Abyss Pathway willingly accepted, rising from Sequence 9 Criminal.
What if he could, somehow, separate these ideologies?
Better, what if he could prevent these ideologies from manifesting in the Beyonder's mind?
Best, what if he could create a Beyonder from scratch, who didn't have the capability of putting these ideologies into practice, but could still use the abilities that came with it?
Something like… a Beyonder-Nomu.
The thought born out of the third choice would end up consuming more time, going past the period that the second choice promised. Not only that, but he might also end up losing the Beyonder Characteristic without meeting any success.
Still, with more Beyonder Characteristics around the corner, if he managed to succeed only one time, then…
So, no.
The object flipping between Luke's fingers wasn't an item related to the Unwinged Angel's Beyonder Characteristic, as that was stored safely at the Headquarters of the Apostles of Mr. Fool.
It was something unique.
It was a power that could easily rival Bioalchemy, perhaps going beyond its realm.
It was a power that, if used strategically, could even help him against the likes of Amon.
It was…
"They are here, Master," Mushroom-nimi said, pointing at the blinking object on the holographic panel. "Adjusting course and tracing their potential trajectories."
The New Moon, finally, stirred, letting Luke rest his thoughts.
They didn't know where the spaceship that had gone into space a few weeks ago was.
The most optimal and fastest way to reach the ship was to follow the route Alexander Becking was taking to reach them and overtake it once they had solid coordinates for the stuck ship.
As the stealth jet flew through space, following the Radiant of Gravity's ship, Luke again began rolling the object in his pocket between his fingers…
… hoping dearly that he would not have to use it.
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