Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Above the gray fog, Klein leaned back in his chair, his mind racing with thoughts:

"Roselle hasn't been able to leave Beldan yet. The disordered kingdom has likely experienced some anomalies, causing them to be trapped there. Fortunately, the divination results show that they are still alive, but they are temporarily unable to leave the city."

"But no matter what, Rosell was ultimately unable to make it to this divine battle, losing a great general for nothing."

"As for Adam, He is untrustworthy..."

As Klein assessed the situation, he leisurely straightened his collar.

He slowly looked around, his gaze settling on the strange, bluish-black light gate and on the humans suspended there, enveloped in transparent cocoons.

As he scanned the items one by one, his gaze settled on the three broken, transparent "cocoons".

The next second, Klein's figure disappeared and appeared in the gray mist of history, walking step by step to the pre-First Era, into the layered old city.

He stood atop a dilapidated building that barely stood, looking down at the piles of housing ruins, public transport vehicles turned into discus, and cars stacked one on top of another.

In the silence, his gaze swept over the remaining houses, seemingly piercing through the barriers of history to see one electric light after another lit up inside them.

The soft glow of these lights spread out, illuminating the glass, the buildings, the streets, and the ruins of a corner of the old city.

After gazing at it for a long time, Klein looked away, took a step, and returned to the real world.

Immediately afterwards, he was teleported directly to the summit of the Hornach Mountains, where he "saw" the ancient palace shrouded in mist, dilapidated and overgrown with weeds.

The choice of this place as the site of ascension to godhood was not merely for the sake of ritual, but also because the power of the goddess of night permeates this mountain to a degree that is almost second only to the Church of Tranquility.

However, while the Goddess of Night would grant him secret protection, she clearly would not offer the Church of Tranquility as a sacrifice.

Therefore, the main peak of the Hornach Mountains is the best choice.

"call!"

Klein took a deep breath, reached out and grabbed at the void, tearing out a mask, a semi-transparent facet engraved with the symbol of the Fool—that was the uniqueness of the Fool's Path, and the foundation of his godhood!

The stage is ready, and the day of his ascension to godhood is today. He has no time to wait for Roselle to emerge from Beldan.

The month-long series of "dreams" has deeply ingrained the "Zeroth Era" in people's minds, and they all firmly believe in it. In comparison, the "Creator" has been reduced to almost zero in people's hearts.

But the Creator is ultimately different from the True God of Sequence 0. The True God needs to fight against the Creator, that is, the will of the 'Primordial,' through faith in order to maintain himself. However, the will of the 'Primordial' exists among all things. Even though the First Flame has spread throughout the entire world, the will of the 'Primordial' still exists, only it has been weakened considerably.

But for Klein, the difficulty of becoming a true god has not decreased much.

Although the will of the 'Primordial' has gradually faded, what Klein needs to face is not the 'Primordial', but the 'Lord of Mysteries', the 'Heavenly Venerable of Blessing and Prosperity'!

Under secret protection, when Klein began to truly embrace the uniqueness of the 'Fool' path and ascend to the path of godhood, the will of 'Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun' immediately awakened within him, and its spiritual imprint began to frantically impact Klein's self-awareness.

Like a sailboat in a storm, it is sometimes tossed high, sometimes slammed down, sometimes eroded, and sometimes pushed sideways.

This threw his thoughts into utter chaos, as if he had split into two personalities. One was Zhou Mingrui, fused with Klein, and the other was an ancient being known as the "Heavenly Venerable of Blessing and Profound Yellow"!

These two are irreconcilable within him, eroding each other upon contact and attempting to completely destroy the other to become the true 'Lord of Mysteries'! In this process, the 'Klein' personality is at an absolute disadvantage and can only struggle to survive under the erosion of 'Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun'.

Such "intensity" was completely beyond Klein's expectations, but he immediately realized the reason—although "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun" had fallen, His will and instincts had realized His situation, and His erosion of Klein was precisely His last act of resistance!

Prayers and praises immediately rang in his ears, intertwining to form a phantom image that joined the chaotic battlefield. This divine image, composed of numerous anchor points, was manipulated by 'Klein' to resist the erosion of 'Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun' and achieve a new balance.

He is like a dam, struggling to resist the raging flood.

Meanwhile, Klein gradually regains himself, maintaining a sliver of clarity amidst his madness. In this process, the "deception" that Klein orchestrated—replacing the "Primordial" with the "First Flame," successfully deceiving and fooling all life, all time, all history, and all destiny in the world—forms an indestructible mark within him. The mark is enveloped in flames, standing firm no matter how the floods wash it away.

It was under the support of this mark that Klein's personality became more and more distinct, and his sense of self gradually became stronger!

Faced with the final counterattack of "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun", he had to fight with all his might, as no one could help him.

Conversely, as long as he can maintain his composure during this counterattack, "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun" will no longer be a problem for him!

Of course, this is all on the premise that there are no unexpected events that would interfere with his ascension to godhood.

Unfortunately, nothing is possible without unexpected events.

But as Klein's condition steadily improved, and he was only one step away from becoming a true god, the misty fog dissipated, and illusory starlight shone into the hall. The ancient palace suddenly appeared in the dark and mysterious astral realm, atop the main peak of the Hornach Mountains.

The secret was broken, and fate began to intertwine.

Adam, dressed in a simple white robe and sporting a thick golden beard, watched all this quietly from the astral plane.

While the hidden authority could protect Klein for a time, at the final moment of becoming a god, Klein still needed to return to the astral plane and back to reality.

This was undoubtedly the weakest moment for Klein before he became a god, and also their last chance!

Behind Him, a blazing sun slowly rose, its blinding light seemingly capable of melting the entire world. But then, a towering structure composed of countless books suddenly appeared, completely obscuring the sun's rays!

Adam remained completely calm in the face of this unexpected turn of events.

There will always be people who try to stop Him, but He doesn't care, because He doesn't need the extraordinary qualities of a fool.

That's something Amon should consider.

At the same time, Amon entered the astral plane and saw the main peak of the Hornach Mountains, which had been "grafted" here, and the ancient, dilapidated palace on its summit.

Wearing a pointed soft hat and dressed in a classic black robe, He swiftly darted toward the palace, searching for Klein who was inside.

But suddenly, He saw a blurry, indistinct figure.

The figure wore a layered but not elaborate black dress, adorned with countless stars.

He was as huge as a mountain, with a pair of arms covered in short, dark hair growing from his ribs and waist, but he had a beautiful and gentle face veiled by a thin black gauze.

His eyes seemed to encapsulate the starry night sky, instilling both peace and an uncontrollable sense of dread. Two of his hands held a long, massive scythe, while the other held a golden bird-shaped ornament, the rest of his hands empty, as if supporting something intangible.

Amon's lips curled into a slightly mocking smile, yet he remained completely unfazed by the attacks from the three true gods.

Because He knows that someone will always clear the obstacles for Him.

Sure enough, just as the Goddess of Night raised that giant scythe, the main peak of the Hornach Mountains beneath her feet collapsed with a deafening roar!

At the same time, one after another, black, python-like tentacles extended from somewhere in the astral plane.

Each of these tentacles has an eye at its tip, either closed or open. Anything that is seen by them instantly turns into grayish-white stone. Anything that is directly touched by the tentacles will twist and stretch out limbs and a head, turning into a woman of varying sizes, and a very beautiful woman at that.

Those tentacles transformed into a dense, impenetrable net, completely surrounding the "Goddess of the Night" and setting up numerous obstacles for her.

Countless witches of all sizes brought about a cataclysmic destruction, causing the main peak of the Hornakis Mountains to grow towards a giant stone sphere. This caused the dilapidated outer walls of the ancient palace to collapse rapidly, exposing Klein within to the astral plane.

A crimson moon peeked out from the astral plane, causing clumps of wheat, blooming flowers, mushrooms, and trees to sprout in the bare hall. They intertwined and layered upon each other, forming a natural barrier that sealed the exposed Klein inside.

Just then, a hazy light burst forth from nothingness, instantly decomposing all the surrounding plants!

In the blink of an eye, a crack appeared, and Klein could be clearly seen inside it.

Amon seized the opportunity and tried to squeeze into the 'palace' through the gap!

Just then, a thundercloud suddenly gathered in the sky, and surging lightning descended from the sky, completely covering the airspace in front of Amon!

In this final, crucial moment, the Lord of Storms finally made His choice!

Even if Amon is a true god, he would still need to pay a price to pass through this area covered by thunderstorms. Even if it couldn't fundamentally harm Amon, it would be enough to delay Him for a certain amount of time, and that would be sufficient!

As for beings like the Goddess of Night, they don't expect to kill beings like Adam; they are merely stalling for time.

Once Klein fully recovers and ascends to godhood, the situation can be reversed instantly.

However, at the very moment the thunderstorm struck, a giant serpent burst forth from the void, its gaping maw snapping at the sky and swallowing the thunderclouds whole, causing the last obstacle in Amon's path to vanish without a trace!

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Amon successfully squeezed through the gap into the palace and came to stand in front of Klein, who was wearing a semi-transparent mask!

The whole process went incredibly smoothly, so smoothly that it made people suspect something was amiss.

But upon closer reflection, it seems to be inevitable.

When Klein's three allies—the Goddess of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Goddess of Night, and the Earth Mother—were blocked by Adam, the Primordial Witch, and the God of Steam and Machines, respectively, he was left all alone.

While the Lord of Storms remains an unstable factor, they too have their own contingency plans. The Undying Serpent has always been secretly coveting them; even if the Lord of Storms were to intervene, what could he do?

Roselle is the only one who can influence the course of the war, but he is currently trapped in the Land of Chaos.

In the end, this battle was their victory.

Amon adjusted the monocle he was wearing over his right eye, and approached Klein step by step, a slight smile playing on his lips:

"Mr. Fool, we finally meet..."

Amon's voice abruptly stopped, because he saw a figure standing in front of Klein.

Ember gazed silently at Amon, and said calmly:

"You're a bit early."

"Is it still early?"

Amon clicked his tongue and said, "Things couldn't possibly go this smoothly. So the big one is right here!"

He only regretted arriving too late; if he had come any later, Klein would have truly become the "Fool." At that time, he would not have faced the "Fool," but a dual-path True God who controlled the Source Matter, whose strength was almost equivalent to half of the "Mysterious One" of the Old Ones.

This is now the last and only chance, and Amon has no choice but to seize it. But clearly, Klein also realized this, which is why he left this as a final safety net.

However, Amon was not entirely unprepared.

Amon suddenly chuckled softly and said:

"Your opponent is not me."

Snapped!

Accompanied by heavy footsteps, a tall knight in armor suddenly appeared behind Amon, even though he hadn't been there just a moment before!

He appeared abruptly in the palace, seemingly out of nowhere, yet the pressure of death was palpable.

"The Incarnation of the King of Cinder"

Ember looked at the tall knight, his expression remaining calm.

He knew this day would come sooner or later.

Amon needs the uniqueness of the Fool and the Sequence 1 Extraordinary trait, and he needs the Source Castle.

Adam also needed the extraordinary characteristics and uniqueness of the other three paths among the five paths of omniscience and omnipotence.

And compared to them, aren't the Embers and the First Flame just as good?

They each possess only a portion of the characteristics of the "Primordial Flame." Only by "merging" with the other half of the characteristics can they return to completeness and allow the "Primordial Flame" to truly replace the "Creator" and become the creation myth of this world.

Ultimately, only one of them can fully inherit the Primordial Flame.

Just like between Amon and Klein, only one of them can become the Lord of Mysteries.

Flames spread from behind the two people, and in the blink of an eye, they spread to the entire mountain.

The next moment, both the embers and the knight had vanished.

Amon chuckled softly and walked towards Klein again.

He adjusted the monocle on his right eye and revealed a mocking smile:

"This time, no one will come to your aid."