Leonard said hurriedly, "Er, that's not what I meant."
"The True Creator wasn't an evil god back in my time, and the Aurora Order wasn't a cult. They held the same standing as the Church of the Evernight or the Church of Storms does now — a proper, orthodox church."
Pallez went on, flat and even. "It's just that certain things happened afterward, and that's how the True Creator and the Aurora Order ended up the way they are now."
"But no one can guarantee there isn't still a clear head or two left inside today's Aurora Order, can they?"
Leonard still found it hard to believe. "But wouldn't that mean betraying the Aurora Order — betraying the very Lord he worships?"
"Heh. You really think George III intends to let the True Creator actually descend? A Black Emperor's existence depends on the nation it rules and the rules it builds. The moment the True Creator descends onto Loen's capital and a divine war breaks out that destroys everything... what would George III have left to ascend with?"
"At the end of the day, he's just using those Aurora Order lunatics to stir up chaos and split everyone's attention. Unfortunate for him... this particular Mr. A isn't actually the kind of lunatic who's dead set on bringing his Lord down."
Pallez laughed at that. "George III has surely realized this too, by now. I'm actually curious what countermeasure he's got planned."
"All right, quit spacing out, kid. Go report to the Church already."
"Right!"
There was one thing Pallez left unsaid: given how blatantly everything was already laid out, the Church of the Evernight had only sent Leonard and Klein — two Sequence 7s — to investigate all this.
Wasn't that already a clear enough statement of attitude?
Which meant the Evernight had, most likely, already tacitly agreed to let George III's ascension go ahead.
...
Midnight.
After Bernadette and Vincent had finished discussing what questions to bring to Mr. Fool at the next Tarot Club gathering, she went to bed.
Starting the next day, the two of them would swap again.
And this swap would span Sunday, next Monday, and next Tuesday — three days that covered "next week."
Katerina's letter had only mentioned "next week," with no specific day given. In the original story, from the outbreak of the great fog to the resolution, the whole thing had only taken a few hours.
And the "Nightingale of Despair," Panatia, had spread her fog even faster than that — once it started spreading, stopping it became extremely difficult.
One of Vincent and Bernadette's goals this time was to stop the disaster from breaking out, and to help Bernadette complete her ritual to advance to Sequence 2.
Not to mention the extra unstable variable now in the mix: Lanevus.
In the original story, Mr. A, lacking Lanevus, had used himself as the vessel for the sacrificial ritual, leaving him too distracted to deal with Klein — which was how Klein was able to destroy it with a Master Key.
But this time, it was MI9 using Lanevus for the "divine descent" — and in terms of power, resources, and secrecy, they were leagues above what Mr. A had been.
Even though George III would never actually let the True Creator descend, there was still every chance he'd produce another "Godchild" to cause havoc.
"Don't overthink this."
Bernadette cut into Vincent's train of thought. "We're not saviors, and we've never set out to be one. So you don't need to take everything onto your own shoulders."
"Our goal has always been simple: complete my ritual to become a 'Sage,' help you process the 'Black Box' potion, and if we can, throw a wrench into George III's ascension. That's the absolute limit of what we're aiming for."
"Fair enough."
Vincent gave a rueful laugh. "I guess I really was overthinking it."
...
As the night deepened, Bernadette let her guard down, allowing sleep to wash over her.
Some time later —
Bernadette suddenly jolted, waking sharply from deep sleep. Everything around her was a hazy, dim gray, and she immediately realized she'd been pulled into a dream again.
The world around her flipped and twisted violently, and Bernadette found herself standing on a barren plain, the ground beneath her feet black stone, without so much as a single blade of grass.
At the center of the plain rose a black spire, coiled around by a massive, silver-white serpent, its head already raised, blood-red eyes staring coldly in her direction.
This silver-white giant serpent had no true scales — its body was covered in dense patterns and symbols, forming interlocking wheels, each wheel ringed by different markings.
This was a Snake of Mercury.
Bernadette relaxed slightly, looking up at the great serpent. "Sir, was there something you needed from me?"
The silver serpent opened its mouth wide, though no scent came from it. Its eyes were cold and merciless, regarding everything as prey, yet without a trace of bloodlust or cruelty. A humming voice emerged from its throat: "The Black Knight's Beyonder Characteristic you wanted — I've already sent it over. Go ahead and receive it."
Bernadette blinked. "Did one of your subordinates deliver it?"
"No."
The silver serpent said, "It delivered itself."
"???"
Before Bernadette could make sense of that, the barren plain and the spire twisted again, and she jolted fully awake from her dream, the Snake of Mercury's words still echoing faintly in her ears: "I'd suggest finding somewhere else to 'receive' this Beyonder Characteristic — wouldn't want the fighting to disturb the Church, would we? That wouldn't look good."
"Damn it!"
Vincent caught on, cursing under his breath. "What do you mean 'sent the Black Knight's Beyonder Characteristic' — it just sent an actual Black Knight our way!"
"..."
Bernadette was at a loss for words. This "Snake of Mercury" elder's way of doing things was genuinely... bizarre.
She quickly threw on a coat and shot off toward the docklands, weaving through the shadows of the night, and within moments had crossed nearly half of Backlund, arriving at the deserted, out-of-the-way docklands.
The fog at the docklands was even thicker at night than during the day, hanging in the air like something alive — and that was just the docklands. Around the factory district, the air was even worse.
In truth, even without the great fog the Despair Witch had triggered, people living in air this polluted would have their lifespans cut drastically short anyway; stretched out long enough, the number of people who'd eventually die from that alone would far outstrip the death toll from a single fog event.
But that was the price industrialization demanded — a price paid by the people at the very bottom, while the benefits flowed to the aristocrats sipping champagne at their high society galas.
Once she'd confirmed no one was around, Bernadette made no attempt to hide who she was, standing quietly out in the open, waiting for the "Black Knight" to arrive.
A few minutes later, an indescribable ripple of spiritual energy, tinged with madness, spread out like an undercurrent beneath water. A silhouette rose from the shadows of a warehouse, quickly solidifying into flesh — a man, young-looking, with striking features, though his face seemed veiled beneath a faint, shifting curtain of darkness.
The instant he saw Bernadette, the eyes in his sockets flared up like flame. "Killer of my Aurora Order's Divine Envoy. Impersonator of Mr. A. Puppeteer of the Aurora Order. Obstructer of my Lord's descent."
"You. Must. Die."
With every word, his aura surged higher, his form growing taller and larger, until, by the time the last word left his mouth, he had transformed into a towering knight in full black armor, wielding a long, broad straightsword.
"What's going on?"
Vincent said, startled, in his mind. "This guy's from the Aurora Order?"
The moment he said it, he realized how pointless the question was — the odds of a "Secret Petitioner" who could reach demigod status being some wild, unaffiliated Beyonder were basically nil.
But that was exactly the problem — becoming the new Mr. A had been the True Creator's own choice. Wasn't he practically half its follower by now? So why was this Black Knight coming at him with murderous intent?
Damn it — don't tell me the True Creator only told Mr. Z about all this, and none of the rest of the Aurora Order even knows I'm under its protection?
This is such bullshit.
To be continued…
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