"Are you expecting us to open the door, allowing your consciousness to reconnect with your body, and thus escape madness to officially become an Attendant of Mysteries?" Lynn smiled as he looked at Zaratul, who was sealed in the historical projection.
Zaratul's heart sank, but he remained silent.
"What a pity. It was true initially, but now you're formally sealed within this historical projection!" Lynn spoke with a smile, delivering his "ruthless" words.
What he said was indeed the truth because, in the future, the Fool's historical projection would genuinely seal Zaratul's consciousness into this historical projection, which originally served as his vessel. The method likely involved the Path of the Door's sealing and the Fool's grafting.
It could be said that if the original Zaratul was only unable to leave the church and return to the outside world due to the Evernight Goddess's concealment—needing someone to open the door to regain freedom—then the current Zaratul would remain sealed, even if brought outside, unless he escaped the seal.
At this moment, Zaratul's expression darkened, not only because he knew what the other party said was true but also because he realized that the ability used by the historical projection that just attacked him seemed a little odd.
'Could it be that the Lord of Mysteries has already been born?'
'Impossible. The Uniqueness of the Fool is still with Antigonus. Even if Amon devoured Mr. Door outside, he couldn't have ascended to the Lord of Mysteries, right?' Zaratul's mind was working hard, but he couldn't figure out where a Lord of Mysteries had emerged from.
Lynn didn't care about what Zaratul thought. He merely turned to Klein and said, "As for him, my suggestion is to keep him locked here. When you need the Characteristic of an Attendant of Mysteries, you can use him to locate the maddened original body of Zaratul. However, the seal formed by a historical projection alone isn't secure enough. I'll have Bethel add a few more layers of sealing later, ensuring he can't escape..."
Klein had no objections to this. He didn't particularly want to release the tiger back into the wild either.
As for killing Zaratul—considering the miracle abilities of a Miracle Invoker, who knows if killing him here would result in his resurrection in some remote corner of the world.
"Right, I'll extract the Miracle Invoker Characteristic for you." Lynn suddenly remembered something and smiled as he looked at Zaratul.
A few minutes later, Zaratul was lying on the ground like a lifeless fish, while Lynn held a fresh Miracle Invoker Characteristic between his fingers.
"You won't need this for now. Should I help you divide it and craft it into some mystical items?" Lynn asked, playing with the Miracle Invoker Characteristic between his fingers.
"What will I need to pay?" Klein asked, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the Characteristic. It wasn't that his will was weak, but rather the inherent allure of the pathway was too strong.
"Hmm, let me think..." Lynn made a thoughtful expression, somewhat troubled. "It seems I don't lack anything. How about this—if I disappear one day, could I trouble you to look after my friends?"
Klein was taken aback, staring at Lynn in astonishment.
"I probably won't be gone for long. If all goes well, I should return before the apocalypse. In the meantime, just watch over my dear employees and friends!" Lynn continued with a smile, as if unaware of Klein's gaze. "Of course, you don't need to take care of them too much. They're not helpless babies. Just keep an eye on them. I'm mainly worried they'll get themselves killed before I return, and then I'd have to go and rescue them..."
"And..." Lynn looked into Klein's eyes and smiled, saying, "Take care of yourself. Though I'm not sure if the world will still follow its original course after I leave, there are precedents..."
"But no matter what, the facts I've changed won't be erased by fate. Those I've brought back won't revert to their original state..." Lynn said this, then couldn't help but laugh, adding, "So, even if you're unlucky and still have to fall into a slumber as in your original fate, fighting the Celestial Worthy in your dreams, things are already different from before. You now have Bethel as your teacher, Roselle as a fellow transmigrator, and many who care about you and are waiting for you to wake up. So, remember, the Celestial Worthy isn't that scary. Just give him a good beating."
Lynn wasn't entirely certain if Klein's fate would still follow its original path if he suddenly left—after all, the past he had changed was free of the butterfly effect, and from a dialectical perspective, this moment was also part of the past for him.
So, there might still be a situation where Klein, despite all the roads laid out for him, would have to ascend as the Lord of Mysteries prematurely and fall into a slumber to battle the former Lord of Mysteries.
After all, strictly speaking, the Klein walking such a path still existed, and he was, in fact, the same person as the Klein standing before Lynn. It was just two flowers blooming on different timelines, as was the case with many of Lynn's other friends—seemingly different, but ultimately the same.
But one thing Lynn was sure of was that, though the butterfly effect was absent, the facts he changed wouldn't be erased by fate.
So, even if Klein followed the old path, Lynn wasn't particularly worried.
He believed that the Fool of the original novel could make it through, and the Klein he knew now could do the same.
Listening to Lynn's words, which sounded like some kind of "last testament," Klein opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found it all stuck in his throat.
Because Klein realized he couldn't help the other party at all. What Lynn, or rather the Angel of Secrets, was dealing with, was far beyond his reach.
Not just him—even Mr. Door had almost lost himself just by coming into brief contact with the other party.
This left Klein feeling lost. He wasn't even sure if he could help Lynn, even if he reached the peak of the Sequence as Lynn envisioned, to the point where he could save the world.
"Don't belittle yourself. Your existence is quite important." The Angel of Secrets seemed to know what he was thinking and suddenly spoke. "I've been reflecting lately, pondering the significance of this journey of mine. Eventually, I came to a realization. Besides power, the greatest thing I've gained from this journey is all of you."
"In this world, after becoming an angel, one needs faith and anchors to maintain their humanity, and I, too, need anchors to preserve my humanity." Lynn spoke seriously. He had indeed pondered the meaning of his journey after losing his memory, and he had truly come to this understanding.
Becoming the Demon of Knowledge was important.
But meeting family and friends worth cherishing, experiencing sadness and joy on the journey—those were just as important.
Perhaps even more so than the former.
(End of Chapter)