After successfully petting Antigonus's head, Lynn saw off the seemingly terrified Little Antigo-brand demonic wolf, whose mind was likely filled with thoughts of fleeing. He then bid farewell to Mr. Door, who appeared hesitant to speak. Finally, with a "click," he closed the door.
"Whoo—"
Leaning against the door, Lynn exhaled softly and then smiled. He took out the Characteristics of the Weather Warlock he had extracted from Alista Tudor.
"Little Red, Little Red, I'm truly worried about you. You should serve as my tool for ten thousand years."
Lynn played with the Characteristics in his hand, speaking to himself silently.
The reason he took the opportunity to forcibly extract the Characteristics of the Weather Warlock from Tudor was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Lynn had planned this long ago. Partly because merely defeating the Blood Emperor felt insufficiently satisfying, and partly to prepare for Medici.
Lynn's second Smurf Account was created in the wrong era, making it impossible for him to change Medici's fate of being hot in a pot right now. However, this didn't mean Lynn could do nothing.
For instance, although Lynn couldn't change Medici's fate, he could now find a Sequence 2 Characteristic for Medici, helping a certain evil spirit gain some self-preservation ability within the limits before his fate was rewritten, to prevent any tragic events.
Lynn could have done this in the Fifth Epoch, but in that era, the Seven Gods had already taken their positions. Without useful tools like Mr. Door or Sasrir by his side, finding a Sequence 2 Characteristic would be far more difficult than in the Fourth Epoch.
Moreover, the stronger Medici is in the Fifth Epoch, the more he can help Lynn later. While relying on a King of Angels-level tool might be out of the question for now, given the current situation in the Fifth Epoch, an Angel-level tool would suffice.
At the same time... "This will also allow me to verify in real-time how major changes in others' fates manifest in the future. It's quite exciting."
Lynn chuckled softly. At the same time, in the Fifth Epoch, after listening to Klein's story of the past and sending him out of the house with the excuse of "wanting to be alone," Lynn's main body closed the door. His divine persona suddenly reappeared beside him.
"It's time to meet Medici. I hope they like the surprise I brought," Lynn said. Then, as if remembering something, he smiled at his divine persona and added,
"And I need to rehearse the script with Little Red. They are now the only one who knows the truth, and likely will remain the only one. If we don't rehearse, I might get killed later."
"You're overthinking it. From a practical standpoint, even combined, the Six Gods can't defeat you." The divine persona spoke dispassionately, naturally reflecting Lynn's own control.
This was partly because this rascal's inner drama was surfacing again, but also because Lynn wanted to get used to this dual persona situation, aiming to maintain the separation between his Smurf Accounts and main body even when no one was watching. This way, he was least likely to slip up.
"That's true, but that power doesn't truly belong to me. Strictly speaking, it is 'mine'..." Lynn said with a self-deprecating smile. "The more I use this power, the closer I get to my true self. If I let myself indulge in it, even without overusing the power, the cumulative aftereffects would eventually drag me into the abyss."
"That's why you hit Alista Tudor hard, so that they would be most fearful and least likely to make a move, saving you a lot of trouble later," the divine persona stated calmly, continuing to outline the facts: "Actually, the optimal solution was never to provoke them from the start. Whether it was Amon or Alista Tudor, if you had simply kept your identity as Mr. Door's son, they wouldn't have done anything to you."
"Yeah..." Lynn nodded slightly. He looked at his divine persona, observing the part of his will within it. It was the same will he used to control his other Smurf Accounts, only influenced by the divine persona's accumulated divinity, making it think more coldly, more like his early self.
This was undeniably an interesting experience. From the perspective of Lynn's main consciousness, he could clearly perceive himself thinking in two different ways simultaneously. One was his usual way of thinking, and the other was influenced by the divinity, colder and closer to his former self.
But this wasn't disjointed nor did it give Lynn a feeling of impending split personality. Rather, it felt oddly familiar, as if he had long been accustomed to this split yet unified way of thinking.
Considering his true form and his knack for creating Smurf Accounts, perhaps it wasn't surprising. He might indeed be a habitual offender in this regard... Lynn mused, then smiled and said, "But that would be boring. Living purely for profit is too dull."
This was, of course, an answer to his divine persona, or rather, a self-question and answer.
"Life is interesting because you get to meet all kinds of people, experience various emotions from them, and get involved in all sorts of things due to these emotions!" Lynn declared, beaming. He loved experiencing different emotions, and constantly seeking fun was part of that.
For Lynn, avenging important family members was something he had never experienced before coming to this world, and that made him very eager to experience it.
And as it turned out, avenging someone important was indeed immensely satisfying.
"Besides..." Lynn added as if he had learned something new, "beating Amon is so enjoyable. Even without Little Red, I would still beat him up."
"Otherwise, I'd feel so cheated I wouldn't be able to sleep."
"You should let Amon hear that. He'd be thrilled," the divine persona finally smiled with emotion.
"So better not tell him. Let him think it's all Medici's fault. This way, at least he'll hold onto some hope for reconciliation." Lynn said, patting his nonexistent conscience and sighing, "I really am a good person."
The divine persona didn't comment on Lynn's "truth." Instead, it opened a door and said, "Let's go!"
(End of Chapter)