Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 1383 Home Field Advantage

While Amon was speaking, Klein appeared to be listening, but in reality, he was already trying to leave "Source Castle".

This was by no means an attempt to give up or surrender, nor was it because he was too cowardly and instinctively considered avoiding the situation; rather, he believed it was the optimal solution under the current circumstances.

If Klein stays in "Source Castle," he will face three major challenges:

First, he had just been promoted to "Fool," and his state was extremely unstable. He had to devote most of his energy to suppressing the will of "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun" to revive. Second, he could not get help from his allies and could only fight alone. Third, with everyone able to influence "Source Castle," even if Klein wanted to control this source essence a step further than Amon, he could not show an overwhelming advantage. In fact, because the other party was good at using loopholes and creating "bugs," he would be interfered with by Amon and would find it difficult to use "Source Castle" well, thus being on the same level as the other party.

In this way, the probability of the "Fool" of Sequence 0 winning against the half-mad "Error" and "Gate" dual-path true god is extremely small, even if it is not a 100% chance of failure.

By seizing the opportunity to escape "Source Castle," Klein will immediately receive help from his allies, reversing the situation for both sides:

If Amon were to pursue, Klein would interfere with His return to the "Source Castle," forcing Him to confront His allies. At that point, the "Primordial Witch" would certainly not intervene, and the Ancient Sun God might not be able to recreate half of the power of the Old Days in a short time. The six true gods, led by the "Goddess of Night," would be enough to deal with Amon.

Even though Amon, who holds all the power over the realms of "Error" and "Gate," is not so easy to kill, the true gods can certainly weaken him and seal him away. Once Klein stabilizes his mental state and deepens his control over the "Source Castle," they can then kill him in a targeted manner.

This process is almost irreversible. Even if the ancient sun god could still unleash the same rank, level, and power as before, it would not change anything—His limit seems to be suppressing three righteous gods at the same time, not including the "Goddess of Night".

Of course, the Outer Gods would never want to see a new "Lord of Mysteries" born. If such a situation were to occur, they would do their best to interfere and prevent Amon from falling. However, before the world barrier collapses, the influence they can exert is quite limited and may not have much effect. Just like before, Klein believed that the combined strength of the "Dark Side of the Universe" and the "Bound God" was less than that of the "Hidden Sage".

Even if the situation is indeed affected by the Outer Gods, Klein will not suffer too much loss. In any case, those beings will not allow Amon to kill him in return. He can calmly find a place to hide, stabilize his mental state, and wait until he is ready before making new plans. The misty town of the "Goddess of the Night" is a good choice.

If Amon doesn't pursue and remains inside the "Source Castle," Klein can use his status as the owner of the "Source Castle" and his control over various affairs within it to prevent Amon from doing anything inside, including using the Crimson Star to deal with the Tarot Society members.

In short, it would be very difficult for either of them to make better use of the "Source Castle," but it would be absolutely easy for them to try to destroy the other's castle.

With this stalemate, Klein had ample time to stabilize his mental state, deepen his control over "Source Castle," and gradually turn the tide.

In the end, Amon either had to escape and hide, or he had to completely resurrect "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun" and drag Klein down with him.

Therefore, although there wasn't time to analyze the pros and cons in detail, Klein quickly reached a conclusion:

Leaving "Source Castle" now is the best option.

However, just as his consciousness sank to the edge of the "Source Castle," he saw a monocle made of crystal.

This thing appeared just in time, disrupting Klein's escape.

"Do you think I would leave such an obvious loophole? Of course, you can stop me from leaving 'Source Castle' at any time." Amon smiled, bending his right index finger and resting it against the bottom of his monocle.

Behind the chair He sat, the symbols outlined by the dazzling light changed rapidly, sometimes a mixture of symbols corresponding to parasitism, time, and fate, and sometimes a series of overlapping "doors".

These two different symbols alternate, making it impossible to truly fixate on one another.

Klein ignored what Amon said. As soon as he failed to break away, he created the real "Mysterious Realm," the complete "Fool's" divine kingdom.

Before Amon's eyes, light and shadow shifted instantly, causing the magnificent palace, the mottled long table, and the ornate high-backed chair to disappear, and bringing forth an ancient castle.

Amon didn't know exactly what the ancient castle looked like, because he was standing in a corridor inside the castle and could only sense the various changes in the "Source Castle" and see the limited scenery within his field of vision.

The corridor was unusually gloomy and dark, seemingly endless at both ends, with an elegant silver candlestick every long interval, its light dim and yellow.

On both sides of the corridor are rows of tightly closed dark red wooden doors, seemingly connecting different rooms.

All the rooms were completely silent, and no one knew what was hidden inside.

Amon glanced at it casually, then smiled with interest:

"That's interesting."

As the most powerful "deciphering scholar," He was well aware that this was a divine kingdom, and one that could not be broken by brute force.

This is because each door is "recombined" with different things, and forcibly breaking it will trigger unknown effects—Amon does not underestimate the ability and intelligence of a Sequence 0 "Fool," and does not intend to experience multiple surprises and unexpected events.

However, once the rules of the divine kingdom are established, the master of the divine kingdom will also be subject to certain restrictions.

Simply put, Klein must be in one of the rooms right now, and it can't be anywhere else.

Those who reap benefits must also bear corresponding responsibilities.

"Trying to buy time and stabilize your mental state this way?" Amon muttered to himself, seemingly speaking to someone else.

Then, wearing a pointed soft hat and a classic black robe, He walked to the nearest dark red wooden door.

The wooden door has no holes, so people cannot see what's inside.

In other words, without opening the door, it would be difficult for Amon to know whether Klein was there.

With a slight smile, Amon stretched out his right hand and drew a vertical rectangle on the dark red wooden door.

Inside the rectangle, tiny specks of starlight emerged, then quickly became transparent, revealing the scene inside the room.

Amon, relying on the authority of the "door" and the ability of the "bug," forcibly opened a window on the door without triggering the effect.

Then, He turned His gaze to the interior of the room.

There were no tables, chairs, carpets, or other furniture inside; instead, there was a vast blue sea.

"Sure enough, this door has been connected to the outside sea." Amon smiled, not at all surprised.

Once He turns this door, He will directly leave the "Source Castle" and appear in that sea.

At that time, with Klein on guard, it would have been almost impossible for Him to re-enter the "Source Castle," just as Klein is now unable to leave the "Source Castle."

This is why Ammon did not forcibly destroy the "Fool's" kingdom, but opened the doors one by one.

—Destruction will lead to similar, recurring effects that affect Amon again and again, and even with many loopholes to exploit, He cannot be completely exempt.

Turning his gaze away, Amon walked to the room opposite and, following the same method, opened a window in the door.

But this time, it was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen.

Amon raised his hand and pinched the top and bottom edges of his monocle, then coughed lightly.

His figure instantly split into two.

The number of Amon has increased.

The one who was separated glanced at the one standing still and clicked his tongue:

"Why don't you go and seek out thrills yourself?"

As he spoke, Amon extended his right hand and grasped the handle of the dark red wooden door.

He had just started to move when his expression suddenly became blank, and he sat down straight down as if he had lost the ability to think.

"A deceptive effect." Amon, standing still, nodded slightly.

The already foolish Amon collapsed instantly, turning into a transparent worm with twelve segments.

A tiny bit of extraordinary properties were extracted from it and returned to Amon's body.

By exploiting the loopholes, He avoided the negative effects of the clones on His true self.

Once all his extraordinary traits had returned, Amon unleashed a stolen flame that burned the corpse of the "Time Worm".

After slowly finishing this task, He looked up and adjusted the monocle on His right eye.

On the monocle made of crystal, countless symbols, patterns, and logos stand out, moving rapidly, intertwining, rearranging, or changing, as if calculating something.

This is a combination of the "Decryption Scholar's" decryption abilities and the "Star Key's" positioning authority.

Amon's two attempts were mainly to gather intelligence and grasp the rules, in preparation for cracking the mysteries of the "Fool's" kingdom.

Soon, those symbols, patterns, and logos formed a scene on the monocle:

Behind a dark red wooden door, Klein, with several slippery tentacles extending from his body, sat in a high-backed chair, calmly watching the entrance.

Amon's lips curled into a grin, and in a flash, he appeared directly in the room.

However, everything before His eyes suddenly collapsed.

Klein, who exuded the aura of the "Fool," rapidly thinned and transformed into a playing card.

On the playing card, Russell Gustav wears a magnificent headdress and colorful clothes, carrying a cane and luggage, his eyes full of longing.

The Fool card.

The Fool card from the "Blasphemy" deck.

Klein knew that simply relying on the "paper doll substitute," even with the added "fooling" effect and the "grafting" of real aura, would not be enough to deceive Amon, a top "fraudster." Therefore, he used the "Fool" card, which has the corresponding aggregation ability, to make the paper doll.

Although "Source Castle" can no longer be used, it is still Klein's home ground. It contains his junk pile, various items he has collected, the newly acquired "Trensost Brass Book", and the borrowed "Wishing Lamp".

P.S.: There will be an extra chapter at 7 PM.

(End of this chapter)