The gazes of the Tarot Club members scanned back and forth across The World Gehrman Sparrow, their mentalities being highly complex and shocked.
Not too long ago, a King of Angels was merely a great existence they occasionally mentioned in their conversations, yet now, someone among them had already reached this rank!
...A King of Angels of the Door pathway. In other words, Mr. Fool has already grasped this pathway, bestowed the extra Beyonder characteristics upon Mr. World, and helped him become a King of Angels who surpasses Sequence 1 but has yet to become a true god. No, Mr. World is already a "He" now.
...Deducing according to the information obtained previously at the Tarot Club, there is a high probability that another rank exists Above the Sequence 0. This is precisely the rank where Mr. Fool and the Ancient Sun God reside, the rank of grasping plural neighboring pathways.
...This represents that our Tarot Club has grown even more powerful, to a certain extent already reaching or even surpassing the orthodox churches. Aside from the new church in the Southern Continent that worships the True Creator, the remaining churches combined cannot bring forth a King of Angels.
As individual thoughts floated through her mind, Justice Audrey's mood became uncontrollably excited. The growth of the Tarot Club gave her a sense of shared glory.
The Star Leonard looked at The World with a somewhat reflecting lament, his thoughts expanding uncontrollably:
...A King of Angels who switched pathways. Is this related to the result Old Man has been waiting for all along?
...Mr. Fool has already reclaimed the authority of Door from Amon and made a separation. However, looking at Mr. Fool's words just now, Amon does not seem to have suffered too great a blow, at least not losing the most important authority of Error. I'll ask Old Man when I get back; as an Angel, He certainly knows more.
Amidst everyone's diverse thoughts, Klein looked toward The Sun Derrick and said in a calm tone:
"Your holy scriptures need to be re-compiled to add a few Angels..."
"Spread the identity and active deeds of 'The World' Gehrman Sparrow out. He needs sufficient anchors."
"Yes, Mr. Fool." The Sun responded very solemnly with his hand pressed against his chest.
Sitting at the absolute head of the mottled long table, Klein, having finished explaining all matters, leaned back against the high chair and stopped speaking, adopting a posture that signaled for them to continue their exchange.
After a brief silence, Leyton raised his hand, looked toward Justice Audrey, and said:
"That one has already agreed to the Dream Weaver characteristic you need, but you need to head to the Gargas Archipelago's capital, the 'City of White' Nas, to find Him yourself to obtain it. In exchange, you need to help Him accomplish some matters."
Hesitating slightly, Audrey pursed her lips and asked: "What kind of matters exactly?"
"This requires you to find Him to negotiate yourself. If an agreement cannot be reached, you can refuse. This won't carry any risks; I will be watching, and Mr. Fool also favors you."
Leyton replied calmly without much fluctuation in his tone.
After a brief deliberation, Justice Audrey nodded gently and said:
"I understand. Please help me pass the word to that Angel that I will find an opportunity to head to the Gargas Archipelago before this week ends."
Seeing that Miss Justice's topic had come to a temporary close, The Star Leonard leaned his body forward, sat a bit more formally, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth to inquire:
"Everyone, do you know of any potion clues regarding Horror Bishop, Ferryman, or Silver Knight?"
After learning the news of Klein becoming a King of Angels, a sense of urgency rose in his heart once more. Although catching up to the other party's progress was an impossible matter, he did not wish to lag behind too much either.
...Under the condition where the God of Combat just perished not long ago, my possibility of becoming a Sequence 3 Saint is still not small. Whether within the Church or the outside world, there is a batch of ownerless characteristics. Only, compared to a crude warrior, I truly still prefer to be a poet.
Amidst his floating thoughts, Leonard heard the voice of The World Gehrman Sparrow:
"I can obtain a Silver Knight characteristic and the corresponding potion formula."
Leonard froze for a brief moment. He somewhat suspected that this was something Klein had prepared long ago. Pausing slightly, he said with some embarrassment:
"Uh... are there clues for Horror Bishop or Ferryman?"
...You're even being picky... Klein lampooned in his heart, after which he manipulated The World to speak:
"If the Church of Evernight still has extra Horror Bishop characteristics, you can take that Silver Knight characteristic to make an exchange. The Church will not refuse. Nurturing a Horror Bishop and nurturing a Silver Knight makes no difference to the Church itself; these both belong to the pathways controlled by the Evernight Goddess."
"Or, you can also consider jumping to a neighboring pathway to become a Ferryman. Because of the Church's relationship, the competition for your pathway is too fierce, with Sequence 3 basically being the peak. If you wish to continue upward, you will still need to switch pathways."
Leonard nodded and said:
"I understand, but I still quite like this current pathway of mine. An Angel is still too distant for the current me; there's no need to rush to consider it."
"If I want that Silver Knight characteristic, what do I need to exchange with you?"
The World Gehrman Sparrow gave a light laugh in a good mood and said:
"A same-sequence characteristic of any pathway. You can owe it first, then find a way to hunt a Saint of the Rose School after heading to the Southern Continent. With that one's help, this won't count as too difficult for you."
"Deal." Leonard nodded gently, agreeing to Klein's condition.
Subsequently, The Magician Fors and Judgment Xio consecutively inquired about the ritual problem of Wanderer and the potion formula of Imperative Mage, both obtaining relatively satisfactory answers.
After a brief silence, everyone spontaneously entered the free exchange segment.
The Hermit Cattleya scanned her gaze around the surroundings, after which she spoke:
"Starting from two days ago, both the Mystery Pryer and Savant pathways have experienced some changes. Beyonders belonging to these two pathways will unconsciously fall into a certain type of hallucination, seeing strange light and characters. People immersed within it can harvest useful knowledge and inspiration more or less."
"I have made some summaries regarding this. What Mystery Pryers see seems to be knowledge in some kind of strange state, and a lantern always guides us, allowing the spirit immersed in the ocean of knowledge to maintain its self and not go so far as to become lost."
"What Savants see are fragments of civilization. Some of them come from the past, while some herald a certain future. Savants who peer into these fragments of civilization can draw inspiration from them, and can even digest potions to a certain extent."
"This sounds like a good thing." The Magician Fors said with some uncertainty.
The Hermit Cattleya nodded gently and said:
"At least no obvious negative effects have been discovered so far. The Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom has not offered an explanation for this, appearing to adopt an attitude of tacit consent and support."
While speaking, she shifted her gaze toward Leyton at the forward flank, hoping to obtain some information from him.
Perceiving Cattleya's gaze, Leyton gave a light laugh and said:
"This is an attempt, a type of preparation made for subsequently promoting the process of civilization."
"...An attempt?" Cattleya wanted to continue following up with queries, but Leyton did not answer her question further.
After everyone shared some more information with one another, this week's Tarot Club came to an end.
As streams of crimson light flared up from the gray fog, the figures of the Tarot Club members rapidly dissolved into them, and Leyton's and Roselle's historical projections vanished along with them.
The hall very quickly became empty, leaving only The Fool and The World sitting at the absolute head and foot of the long table.
Gazing at the suddenly vacant hall, Klein let out a long breath, extending his right hand forward. Specks of gray-white fluorescence separated from his body, converging upon his extended right palm.
Within a few seconds, the gray-white fluorescence took shape and turned into a dark heart, resembling nighttime seawater, light as air, and continuously throbbing.
This heart throbbed twice in his hand and suddenly vanished, subsequently appearing in the hand of The World Gehrman Sparrow.
"Bring it to Mr. Door, and let Him head to the absolute easternmost side of the Forsaken Land of the Gods to await the appearance of the Western Continent."
"Yes, Mr. Fool."
After The World saluted, his figure distorted instantly, immediately catching brilliant starlight and becoming extremely illusory, looking as though he transformed into a star door, directly disappearing from this space above the gray fog.
.....
In the sky above the Sonia Sea, inside an airship painted in black and featuring dark holy emblem patterns on both sides, Leonard sat up from the sofa as though startled awake from a dream.
Pallez's elderly voice subsequently echoed by Leonard's ear:
"Your gathering today ended very quickly. That Fool's state isn't too good?"
Leonard twitched the corner of his mouth, leaning back onto the sofa once more as he spoke lazily:
"Not at all. Mr. Fool's state looks to have no problems, one can even say it's very good. He even reclaimed the authority of the Door pathway, and even Klein is a King of Angels of the Door pathway now."
Pallez followed up with a query with quite some suspicion:
"Are you sure you didn't see a monocle ground from crystal upon the faces of that Fool and your former colleague?"
"Of course not." Leonard shook his head, then continued to speak: "However, the feeling Mr. Fool gave me today was indeed a bit different. His humanity seems to have grown a bit more concentrated."
Pausing for a brief moment, Leonard described the two commissions issued by The Fool at the gathering in detail. At the end, he added further:
"Old Man, what exactly is the situation with the apocalypse, and in what kind of form will it appear?"
Pallez spoke without much fluctuation in His tone:
"This is not something the current you should know. Some information itself is extremely dangerous, unless you wish to experience an inexplicable disappearance and death."
Pausing slightly, He continued to add: "Wait until you reach my stage before coming to inquire. In fact, without you actively asking, your Church's higher-ups and your former colleague will actively come to tell you."