Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 486 Bethel Advances to Lord of Mysteries

Bethel does not need all the traits of the Thief's Path to become Lord of Mysteries; theoretically, Amon could indeed retain a Sequence 1 trait.

Bethel didn't answer. Instead, he turned to look at Rowling beside him. After seeing Rowling nod slightly, he looked at Amon and said, "Okay."

"Thank you!" Amon said, looking at Rolin as well.

“Wait a minute, what about me?” Antigonus couldn’t help but ask, “Shouldn’t I also retain a Sequence One property?”

Bethel smiled upon hearing this, and this time he didn't seek Rolin's opinion again, because he knew very well Rolin's attitude towards Antigonus, so he nodded and said, "Of course."

Antigonus visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you want to be promoted now, Bethel?" Rowling asked Bethel, sensing something.

Bethel didn't hide anything, nodding and saying, "Well, there are still about ten years until the apocalypse. If there are any problems with my promotion, we can make up for it in time. At worst..."

He glanced at Little K beside him and said, "So that the handover can be completed in time."

Xiao Ke pursed his lips; he clearly wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

Bethel then looked at Rowling and smiled, saying, "It would be too late to wait until the end of the world, so please allow me to be a little willful, Your Majesty."

Rowling pursed his lips, looked at Bethel, and finally smiled, saying, "Okay."

Bethel then laughed too.

……

Bethel's ascension to the Lord of Mysteries was not a big deal, since he didn't have to fight Amon to the death like in the original story, nor did he cause a war among the gods.

But this doesn't mean that Bethel's ascension to Lord of Mysteries will be easier.

No one will have an easy time at this stage. The difference in the essence of the soul between mortals and celestial beings is too great, so great that anyone who wants to advance must exert all their strength.

For those other than Bethel, however, it was a rather long wait.

Perhaps from a purely temporal perspective, this period of time is not long, but waiting always makes people feel that time is infinitely extended.

Fortunately, no matter how long the wait was, it eventually came to an end.

When Bethel left the Source Castle and returned to the real world, he was met with pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

This surprised Him for a moment, then He smirked and said, "Do I need to prove my identity?"

“No need for that.” Rowling shook his head. He could tell whether the person in front of him was Bethel himself or not.

Roland merely glanced at Bethel before him. Compared to before, aside from his aura becoming more powerful, Bethel's condition had visibly deteriorated considerably.

"Are you alright?" Rowling couldn't help but ask.

"It's alright, I'm just having a mental argument with the Celestial Venerable, so I need to be a little distracted," Bethel said, his tone ambiguous, as if he were joking or telling the truth. He rubbed his temples, looked at Roland, smiled at him, and said:
“I won the first step. I am now the Lord of Mysteries. Perhaps I will lose to Him later, but at least I am the winner now.” Upon hearing this, not only Rolin, but many people present breathed a sigh of relief.

Bethel then seemed to remember something, a strange expression appearing on his face. After hesitating for a moment, he looked at Roland and said, "Speaking of which, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel that the Celestial Venerable isn't very enthusiastic..."

"Tell me about it?" Rowling asked, suddenly intrigued.

“Well…” Bethel paused for a moment before saying, “It’s kind of a feeling. After all, I’m now symbiotic with the Celestial Venerable in a certain sense, so I can actually vaguely sense some of the other’s emotions. It seems that the Celestial Venerable… doesn’t particularly want to return.”

As he said this, Bethel glanced at Rowling several times, his meaning particularly clear.

Rowling naturally picked up on this implication. He raised an eyebrow, pointed at himself, and said, "Does He think I would do something to Him?"

"You don't know how?" Bethel asked sincerely.

"You know what, I actually do." Luo Lin answered quite frankly, and after a little thought, he understood why the Celestial Venerable wasn't very enthusiastic about returning.

After all, with Nyarlathotep around, it's hard to say whether the Celestial Venerable's return would be good or bad for Him.

From this perspective, it would be better to give the initiative to Mr. Men first. After all, a being like the Celestial Venerable is immortal unless he encounters Roland, so he can afford to wait.

If Luo Lin is truly angered, the consequences will be unbearable for the Celestial Venerable.

"As expected of the pinnacle of the Gu family, they are indeed very cunning." Luo Lin sighed, stroking his chin, then looked at Bethel and said, "But even if the Celestial Venerable's attitude towards the struggle is not proactive, it must not be easy for you either!"

“At least it’s bearable.” Bethel did not deny that an existence like the Celestial Venerable, as long as it does not completely disappear, will still have a great impact on the Ascendants, even if its attitude towards fighting is not proactive. Not to mention that the divinity and madness inherent in the Lord of Mysteries are still something that Bethel needs to fight against.

That's just how the world is. If you want to gain power and climb to the top, there's no easy path; it's bound to be full of thorns.

Rowling looked Him up and down, and after confirming that Bethel was telling the truth, he nodded and suddenly said, "Bethel, would you mind if I made a copy of your feelings for me?"

Bethel paused for a moment, not understanding why, but still nodded and said, "With pleasure, Your Majesty."

……

After obtaining the necessary materials to concoct the Chaos Child potion, Rolin did not rush to advance his promotion. Instead, he chose an auspicious day and, while basking in the warm sun, concocted the Chaos Child potion.

Unlike the various fancy potions before, the Chaos Child potion looks very ordinary, like a cup of plain, unremarkable bitter coffee.

"Is this considered returning to the original state?" Roland couldn't help but complain, then quickly burst into laughter, raised a toast gesture towards the sky, and the next second downed the Chaos Child potion in one gulp.

The Chaos Child potion is neither as bitter as the Time Memory Potion nor as sweet as the Fictional Potion. In fact, this potion can be described as completely bland, like a glass of plain water, tasteless and unremarkable.

But the impact it had on Rowling was no less than any of the potions he had ever used before. Rowling found it hard to describe the impact. For a moment, he felt as if he had completely lost his form and transformed into the air that was everywhere. But the next second, Rowling felt as if everything in the world was him, and countless versions of himself were opening their eyes and gazing at this silent world.

It wasn't until intense emotions rose from his heart, emotions stemming from the pillars most deeply connected to this world, that Roland was brought back to his senses from the shock. The changed fates of millions of people also became the most solid anchor point at this moment, allowing Roland to completely stabilize himself amidst the madness brought on by the potion.

When Rolin opened his eyes again, he was already a true Child of Chaos.

(End of this chapter)