Mystery: When the Fool Meets the Masked Fool

Chapter 580 marks the beginning of promotion to Sequence Zero.
Klein expressionlessly gripped his right hand, swallowing the vortex in his palm and embracing the special property that was being offered to him.

A sense of pleasure rose from within, diluting the sudden surge of "divinity" within.

Klein's lips curled into a smile, shaking off the indifference he had felt a few seconds earlier.

"Hmph, as expected of me, the King of Yellow and Black who controls good fortune."

“Aside from financial luck, I am truly ‘lucky’ in the real sense.”

He then took two steps forward, using the "Useless Scholar" ability to skip the process and teleport directly to the summit of the Hornach Mountains, where he "saw" an ancient palace shrouded in mist, dilapidated, and overgrown with weeds.

Facing the ancient palace, Klein adjusted his top hat, raised his right hand, and snapped his fingers.

The summit of the Hornach Mountains suddenly darkened, and illusory stars began to appear around it.

Klein connected this place with the Astral Plane.

He then walked to the main entrance of the ancient palace, stretched out a hand, and pushed the heavy stone door open.

Amidst the scraping and rubbing sounds, the door slowly opened, revealing the scene inside.

It was pitch black inside; you couldn't see anything.

Klein knew that this was the place where "Half the Fool" slept, and it should have been eerie and mysterious, but the "Goddess of Night" used the waters of the "River of Eternal Darkness" to put the ancestor of the Antigonus family into an eternal slumber.

Although it wasn't really necessary, Klein still thanked the goddess in his heart.

It's really comfortable working with smart people.

Klein stepped inside, and the darkness swayed and changed.

Buildings appeared all around, figures walked along the streets, and voices rang out, suddenly bringing the entire environment to life with a touch of hustle and bustle.

People ignored Klein and went off to different places, talking about various things.

They and the buildings were all in muted, almost black-and-white colors, like an old photograph from the depths of history that had suddenly come to life.

As Klein walked, he observed the lives of these people, as if time itself were intertwined, and the past and future were connected.

He knew very well that this was a dream, a dream belonging to Antigonus.

It is a "dream" that has been absent for over a thousand years.

It is Antigonus's "utopia".

Klein strolled leisurely through this eerie town, walking along the gradually ascending streets.

The higher you go, the more magnificent the building becomes, with huge stone pillars supporting an exaggerated dome.

The scenes here change continuously, showcasing the birth of a baby, the growth of a child, the confusion of adolescence, the troubles of adulthood, the pressures of middle age, and the sadness of old age.

As we traveled, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly.

But Klein's responsiveness was enough to handle these countless changes that spanned seconds and years.

As he walked step by step, Klein felt as if he had gone further and further down the path of "pleasure".

Then, Klein witnessed the townspeople passing away.

Their relatives did not grieve much. They carried the dead home, placed them on the bed, and put them beside their pillows, as if the corpses were still alive.

As Klein was about to leave the town, he saw the dead being transformed into puppets by an unseen force. They got out of bed, left their loved ones, walked out of their homes, and walked step by step along the street to the highest point.

There is also a city there, which seems to be the city of the dead, the final destination of all life, the land of eternal sleep.

The land of the living and the city of the dead were thus connected at opposite ends of a short road. The distance between life and death was so close, as close as neighbors.

When you miss your family, you can even visit them.

They will look exactly like the images in the memories of the living.

What a merciful God...

Klein's lips curled into a smile.

He likes gentle people, and he also likes gentle gods.

“Antigonus…” Klein murmured the name of this “half-fool.” He decided to take only His uniqueness and Sequence 1 traits during the ritual, retaining the Extraordinary traits of Miracle Masters and below.

Ryan nodded slightly and climbed step by step to the summit in the dim environment.

What came into his view was a seemingly normal town, but every single person there was a puppet. Their spiritual threads stretched towards the sky, intertwining together.

Passing through the various costumed and uniquely shaped puppets, Klein entered the magnificent palace ahead, which resembled a place dedicated to deities.

During this time, Klein raised his hands and made a hugging motion.

He is using the connection between this dream and his true self to steal Antigonus's extraordinary characteristics.

Deep within the palace, on that enormous stone chair, a figure rested his elbows on the armrests, his head leaning against the back of the chair.

His face was quite young, but his long hair was already half white, half hidden and half obvious; he was male, and his eyes were darker than Zarathustra's, containing an indescribable sense of vicissitude; his features were quite good, but tufts of coarse black hair like wolf hair grew on his cheeks, giving him a contradictory feeling of being both old and young, both rational and crazy.

At this moment, specks of light began to emanate from His body, converging to form a piece of supple cloth and a mask.

This is the ancestor of the Antigonus family, the real "Antigonus".

Klein heard the murmur of "Honakis...Fregora..." in his ears.

These are words that Antigonus murmured unconsciously in his dreams even in his "eternal sleep".

These correspond to His "second homeland" and His father, respectively.

He no longer took on the form of a mythical creature, but sat on the giant stone chair in his original form.

At this moment, His eyes were half-open, as if He were resting, while inside the hall, hanging were corpses dressed in simple or elaborate clothing.

They swayed gently in the wind, like a forest growing backwards.

Klein calmly stole His characteristics.

Among them, some of the spiritual imprints in the characteristics were inevitably stolen.

Those were Antigonus's most profound memories.

Klein's expression suddenly turned somewhat strange.

This little wolf...

Did He actually have a crush on the Goddess of Night...?

Ah... that really is...

Klein brought his left index and middle fingers together, as if he were holding a knob.

As you gently turn it, those memories slowly drift towards Klein's phone in the mists of history, merging into it.

Dark history, GET.

Whether it's for the goddess or for Antigonus, it's a good choice for the future.

Or you could show it to the Earth Mother Goddess.

While recording embarrassing moments with his left hand, his right hand wasn't idle either.

Klein made a grabbing motion forward, and the supple cloth entered his hand and merged into his body.

Above Klein's head, the "Lord of Mysteries," Klein, whom he had encountered more than once, appeared.

This is an illusion, but it can also be real.

His appearance confirms the historical fact that "the Lord of Mysteries was born long ago," which is beyond doubt.

At the same time, Klein reached out and grasped the uniqueness of the Fool's Path.

It was a semi-transparent, grayish-white mask.

He brought the mask close to his face, pressing it against the Pleasure Mask that was already on his face.

The mask of joy slowly melts away, encompassing the fool's uniqueness.

(End of this chapter)