"How was this trip? Pretty nice, right? No need to worry about promotion or the apocalypse. Don't you feel like your humanity has stabilized a bit?"
Upon hearing Lynn's words, Klein was momentarily stunned.
Indeed, this period could be considered the most relaxed time Klein had experienced since his transmigration, aside from his days in Tingen. He didn't have to think about the role of the Miracle Invoker, didn't need to worry about the impending apocalypse, witnessed an era that only left fragments in history, and even became the teacher of his archenemy's child, stabilizing his humanity through teaching.
"So, is that why you brought me on this journey?" Klein couldn't help but ask.
"One of the reasons, yes. But mainly because traveling alone can get lonely..." Lynn said, glancing at Klein. His tone suddenly became somber, "I'm sorry for constantly pushing you forward during this time. But that won't happen anymore. You're now capable of protecting yourself and have strong enough allies. So, from here on out, just enjoy this journey."
Klein was once again taken aback. He suddenly realized something and looked at Lynn, pressing his lips together.
But Lynn simply smiled and said, "Alright, let's head to the next era. It's about time I introduce you to Antigonus."
Meanwhile, in the Fifth Epoch—
Amon, who had been temporarily entrusted to Bethel in a crystal ball due to Lynn's time travel, suddenly opened his eyes, his expression indescribable.
"What's wrong?" Bethel, who was reading a book beside him, noticed this and asked.
"Bethel, is humanity really that important?" Amon asked his old colleague, showing a rare look of confusion.
Despite not lacking anchor points, Amon had never had normal humanity. His anchor points were all himself, and his humanity was highly unique.
"Humanity..." Bethel closed the novel in his hand and looked at Amon. Though unaware of what Amon had experienced, he earnestly said, "I don't know how others see humanity, but to me, if I were to completely lose my humanity, I'd rather die."
"I... don't understand." Amon's eyes showed a rare trace of bewilderment.
…
Compared to the peaceful and romantic Third Epoch, when Lynn brought Klein to the end of the Fourth Epoch, the Nation of Evernight was engulfed in war.
"What's this… the Church of the Evernight Goddess destroying the Nation of Evernight?" Even though Lynn hadn't explained, Klein immediately understood the timing of this journey.
"Yeah..." Lynn nodded, sighing as he watched the war-torn Nation of Evernight, "Come on, let's stop this war."
The Evernight Goddess's destruction of the Nation of Evernight wasn't driven by personal grievances but more due to the fact that Antigonus' power had become too dangerous.
As half a Fool, Antigonus had benefited from the War of the Four Emperors, killing the old Zaratul and acquiring his Attendant of Mysteries Characteristic. However, everyone knew Antigonus' state. With the experimental help of Amon and others, he had absorbed the Uniqueness, but this caused his humanity to destabilize, and the consciousness of the Lord of Mysteries had mostly revived within him. If he continued to ascend, it would essentially offer the Lord of Mysteries a vessel for revival.
This was something the Evernight Goddess could not allow.
Thus, at the end of the Fourth Epoch, the Evernight Goddess, who had been treating Antigonus and his Nation of Evernight as irrelevant, took action to destroy them. This led Antigonus, who had lost his anchor points, to lose control, dissolve into a swarm of Worms of Spirit, and ultimately be secretly imprisoned by the Evernight Goddess.
Aware of the cause of the war, Lynn took Klein directly to the heart of the Nation of Evernight, where the battle between the Evernight Goddess and Antigonus was taking place.
It was clear that both Antigonus and the Mother of the Sky were fighting desperately against the Evernight Goddess. Unfortunately, the gap between an King of Angels and a Sequence 0 was too great. The advantage in the war was obvious.
"How about stopping the fight here?"
Lynn smiled as he spoke, borrowing power from his true self. With a snap of his fingers, the entire battlefield froze as if someone had pressed pause on a movie.
Three seconds later, time resumed, but this time, both the Evernight Goddess, Antigonus, and the Mother of the Sky restrained themselves and stopped fighting. They all turned to Lynn, and after a brief pause, seemed to understand something.
"You've come to fulfill our agreement?" Antigonus asked, sounding incredulous.
He was surprised both by the fact that someone like Lynn could travel freely through time and space, and that the man had actually kept his promise to come save his sister.
The Mother of the Sky, unaware of the agreement, was somewhat confused, but after gaining memories related to Lynn, she understood that this was no ordinary individual and seemed to have some relationship with her brother.
The Evernight Goddess, on the other hand, was more straightforward. She looked at Lynn and directly asked, "Have you chosen Antigonus as the Lord of Mysteries?"
"No way. Absolutely not. Don't say things like that," Lynn quickly denied, shaking his head vigorously. He shot Antigonus a disdainful look and said, "It's not that I look down on him, but with his current state, if he ascended to the Lord of Mysteries, it'd be like handing the former Lord of Mysteries a vessel on a silver platter!"
At this, the atmosphere turned even more silent. Antigonus opened his mouth as if wanting to refute but didn't know what to say, nor did he dare.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Have you finally decided to become my pet, little Antigo?" Lynn asked with a grin, making it clear that if Antigonus agreed, he would immediately take up the role.
Antigonus: "..."
He lowered his head, pretending he hadn't heard anything.
"Ugh, what's so bad about being my pet? I treat my own people really well," Lynn muttered unhappily. Then, remembering Antigonus' appearance after losing control, he wrinkled his nose in disgust and said, "I didn't even mind when you turned into a swarm of worms after losing control. So ugly!"
Antigonus: ...
He remained silent, but a pair of fluffy ears appeared atop his head, and a soft, bushy tail sprouted from his back. However, the tail hung low, indicating its owner wasn't in a good mood.
Klein: "..."
Amanises: "..."
Mother of the Sky: "..."
'Didn't you say you'd never be a pet? Then what is this?!' The three of them had this same thought in mind.
(End of chapter)