2427 1300 - 1308

Chapter 1300 The Fourth Person

Bernadette stared at the outline for a long time until it gradually became clearer as the Dawn approached. It was the silhouette of a large island.

On the island, there were huge, towering, dark-green trees that almost bordered on black covering the ground and mountain.

Although Bernadette couldn't be sure that this was the primitive island that her father had once visited, her intuition as a Clairvoyant told her that this was likely the place she was seeking.

As the coastline entered her eyes, she pursed her lips and lowered her head. She chanted an honorific name:

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray fog; the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck…"

Right on the heels of that, Queen Mystic Bernadette raised her hand and made the crewless Dawn stop in the nearby waters without approaching the shore.

At the same time, the sound of pianos, violins, cellos, flutes, and other musical instruments interweaved together into a lively tune.

As the music echoed, the toast, steak, mashed potatoes, fried mushrooms, and other dishes on a plate jumped up one after another and returned to the oven amidst a dance or threw themselves into the trash can.

The red wine bottle, white dining cloth, and other items had all returned to their original positions. They either sealed themselves with wooden corks or kept folding themselves neatly.

Then, Bernadette gently threw out a bright and unrealistic ball of yarn with her right hand.

The ball rolled into the void, leaving a thread behind. Bernadette followed it and strolled through the spirit world before arriving at the border of the nameless island.

This Queen Mystic wasn't in a rush to head deeper. She searched for the possible existence of the Black Emperor mausoleum, and she cautiously made her sea-like blue eyes turn dark and deep. She temporarily lost focus, as though she was prying into the secrets of the river of fate.

A few seconds later, Bernadette's eyes returned to normal as she subconsciously looked up into the sky.

She felt that she was being watched by a certain existence.

Of course, this was something she had expected, as she had taken the initiative to recite Mr. Fool's honorific name.

Above the gray fog, in the ancient palace, Klein accommodated The Fool's card, draped himself with the "curtain," and held the Staff of the Stars. He was checking the situation on the island through Queen Mystic's prayer light.

In his true vision's field, the island was shrouded in a thin layer of distorted blackness. It made it impossible for him to see the situation inside directly. He could only obtain Bernadette's point of view.

Even if it's not the primitive island that Emperor Roselle discovered, this place isn't simple… Klein nodded indiscernibly as he waited for Queen Mystic to do a deeper exploration.

Bernadette didn't use the ball of yarn anymore, because she had a premonition that she was going to lead herself into a dangerous abyss that she had no way of fending off.

She took out an illusory hat and wore it.

Her captain-looking figure disappeared, her existence concealed.

This was also one of the fairytale magic that stemmed from Mystical Re-enactment. At its core was a hat that made one invisible.

Then, Bernadette followed a path that appeared to have been opened up by humans and entered the forest consisting of huge trees.

There were no birds chirping, no wild beast roars, or disturbance caused by crawling insects. It was so peaceful as if time had frozen, so dead that there was no sign of life.

According to Bernadette's understanding, there should be many supernatural beings that had already gone extinct in the outside world. Normally, it would be quite lively. But now, she felt as if she was walking through an uninhabited cemetery. Every giant tree was a tombstone.

If it were any of the Beyonders with weaker minds, they would definitely feel tense. Burdened with a heavy pressure, they would slowly approach the edge of losing control. However, Bernadette's expression didn't change at all, as though she was already used to proceeding through danger and strangeness.

After walking for nearly half an hour, she still didn't see any living thing or even sense the wind.

Suddenly, her vision opened up, because the huge trees in front of her had become sparse.

Bernadette didn't feel any joy. Instead, she slowed down and raised her hand to press against her glabella.

A pair of eyes that were without eyelashes appeared in front of her, looking cold and heartless.

Then, the pair of Eyes of Mystery Prying was grabbed by invisible hands and placed on an invisible person's face.

This was Bernadette's Invisible Servant.

The Invisible Servant brought the Eyes of Mystery Prying and quickly crossed the remaining path to the open forest.

During this process, its vision gradually became clearer, as if it was no longer affected by the faint blackness in the air.

Finally, the Invisible Servant arrived at the boundary of the open region and transmitted the situation to Bernadette through the Eyes of Mystery Prying.

Outside the sparse forest, there was an empty space. There were countless creatures prostrating there.

Among them were red dragons with skin flowing with flames. There were treants that had gnarls for eyes and hollows for mouths. There were demonic wolves with eight legs, giants with four long limbs, and feathered serpents with oily feathers and scales with a dark green shade. The latter coiled there, resembling small hills. There were also different kinds of creatures that looked like human and wild beast hybrids.

At this moment, they were all facing one direction. They had their upper bodies or heads prostrated, as though they were worshiping an unknown existence. None of them made a sound.

There were even a few humans among them.

One, two, three, four, five… When Bernadette counted a few humanoid creatures, her blue eyes suddenly widened.

She had learned from Admiral of Stars Cattleya that the primitive island which her father had discovered had a special type of corruption that allowed dead creatures to return here—to the source—regardless of where their corpses were.

Amongst the "knights" who served Emperor Roselle, Grimm was first to be killed because of this, followed by William and Poli. However, apart from the three of them, no one else was sacrificed in corresponding matters. And at that moment, there were five supernatural or mutated creatures present.

In addition, Bernadette also knew that her father had eventually resolved the corruption problem and made the primitive island his secret base.

Is this not the island? Queen Mystic examined the five humans through the Eyes of Mystery Prying.

They were dressed in opulent clothes from Roselle's era. Their faces were pale, their skin shriveled, and they looked more like zombies than humans.

As the five of them were prostrating, Bernadette temporarily couldn't see their faces. She could only patiently wait for the "praying" to end.

A few minutes later, those creatures straightened their bodies and the entire forest came alive.

Seizing this opportunity, Bernadette saw the five of them and compared them with her memories and the images she knew.

Grimm, he really is Grimm. This is the primitive island…

That's Uncle William. I remember him. He taught me swordplay before…

Uncle Poli…

When she recognized the fourth person, a look of astonishment could be seen on Bernadette's face.

That person was:

Edwards!

In Bernadette's memory, the knight had outlived her father's death. Then, he migrated his family to Lenburg. He hadn't died on this primitive island.

According to the information she received from Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina, Edwards had lived for nearly a hundred years. He died peacefully and was buried in a cemetery in the suburbs of Lenburg.

Uncle Edwards has also returned to this island… Didn't he not experience any corruption and didn't die because of this… Thoughts flashed through Bernadette's mind one after another. As a result, the Eyes of Mystery Prying on the Invisible Servant's face kept staring at the human suspected to be Edwards.

The "gentleman" had an old appearance and his hair was completely white. It was the same portrait of the ancestor in his advanced years—the one that Edwina Edwards had shown her. And from his facial features and outline, Bernadette could tell what he looked like in his prime.

At that time, Edwards had been her equestrian teacher.

Suddenly, the human who was suspected to be Edwards turned his head and gazed coldly at the Invisible Servant.

Although Bernadette had inherited quite a bit of Emperor Roselle's inheritance, she definitely didn't rely on items to advance to this point in the mysterious world. At that moment, she made a prompt decision and directly made the Eyes of Mystery Prying vanish, allowing the Invisible Servant to return to the spirit world.

Right on the heels of that, she quietly changed her position.

At the same time, above the gray fog, Klein tapped the edge of the long mottled table and enhanced the probability of Bernadette not being discovered.

When the person suspected to be Edwards retracted his blank gaze and walked to a different spot in the primitive forest with the surrounding creatures, Klein frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "What kind of anomaly happened?"

He remembered that the Emperor had already resolved the corruption of the cosmos on this primitive island when he was alive. However, these creatures were still worshiping an unknown existence, holding a mysterious ritual that was close to the earliest descriptions in the diary.

After the emperor's death, did a particular entity from the cosmos infiltrate this place again? Or is it that they're worshiping some symbol left behind by the Emperor? Who are the other two? They look like Edwards and Benjamin Abraham from the historical fragment? Klein, who was temporarily unable to see what was being worshiped due to the faint black interference of the island, could only follow Bernadette's eyes to observe the surroundings.

After a while, Bernadette, who was proficient in prophesying, finally confirmed that there was no living creature in the open space. She summoned the Invisible Servant again and gave it the Eyes of Mystery Prying.

The Invisible Servant passed through the sparse areas of the forest and the empty area, carefully arriving at the spot where the creatures had been worshiping.

There was a huge rock, and on it was a simple baldachin made of dark red wood.

The Invisible Servant circled halfway and arrived in front of the baldachin. It was empty inside. There was no statue, nor was there an emblem formed from symbols.

The creatures on this island were praying to something that didn't seem to exist.

Chapter 1301 "New Life"

Through the Eyes of Mystery Prying, Bernadette saw that the interior of the dark-red baldachin was empty—nothing was there. All she could see were shadows that usually shrouded things in reality.

She was unable to prophesize anything from it. Having no choice but to look away, she followed her intuition and made the Invisible Servant walk towards the other end of the open area, which was also part of the primitive forest filled with towering trees.

As the Invisible Servant couldn't be too far away from her, she silently followed behind while wearing the Invisibility Hat. She unhurriedly passed through the area where all the creatures on the island were gathered.

Here, the sky seemed to be perpetually gloomy, one permeated by a faint blackness.

Time passed quickly. The Invisible Servant entered the forest that blotted out the sky with the tree branches and everything before it suddenly dimmed.

Right on the heels of that, the nearly transparent, cold, and undetectable Eyes of Mystery Prying saw through the dim environment. There were pale-white corpses placed in between the trees. Skulls and rotting corpses hung down from many branches.

They consisted of dragons, avian creatures, and some had eight legs, while others were strange giant trees that occupied every empty spot in the forest.

At a glance, Bernadette seemed to have arrived at a cemetery. A scene naturally surfaced in her mind:

It was a scene of supernatural beings giving birth to their descendants before they died, thus passing on their Beyonder characteristics to them. And these creatures would struggle towards this region in the primitive forest from every direction, in search of an unoccupied spot. Then, facing a particular direction, they would silently die, gradually rotting and being reduced to bones.

What's the meaning behind this? As a Clairvoyant, Bernadette fully believed that the scenes produced in her mind were what had happened in the real world. However, she was puzzled about the type of power that made the creatures on this primitive island choose this area as their tomb.

Furthermore, since Grimm, William, and Poli, who had died long ago, appeared to remain alive in some form, it didn't make sense that supernatural and mutated creatures that had stayed on this island all this while and had suffered even more corruption would end up dying.

This made Bernadette frown slightly as she directed the Invisible Servant to continue proceeding deeper into the creature cemetery.

Just like that, the Invisible Servant proceeded forward for nearly fifteen minutes in this forest filled with bones and corpses.

Finally, it saw a fourth object beyond trees, weeds, and corpses.

It was a black stone pillar. It was very thick, with a width spanning about six arm spans, and thirty to forty meters tall. Its surface was covered with rings which were signs of weathering. It resembled a finger wearing rings that didn't suit its size.

Bernadette made the Eyes of Mystery Prying observe the stone pillar for several seconds, but she didn't discover anything mysterious about it. It was as though it was a symbol that was casually erected.

The Invisible Servant looked around and discovered that the surrounding corpses around the stone pillar didn't suffer from serious rot. They were even covered in rather intact flesh and skin.

There aren't any supernatural powers or magical effects that are different from other places… Unless the new deceased were gathered near the stone pillar, it's impossible for them to have such a unified trend… Bernadette suspected that it wasn't because there was no mysterious influence in this matter, but that it would only happen at a specific moment.

She didn't use her powers of prophecy to search for the reason. This was because a prophecy, at its core, was to pry into the secrets of the river of fate. The more serious the problem involved was, and the higher her status and level, the more damage the backlash would bring to her. And at this moment, it was impossible for Bernadette to not be cautious. She was afraid that it might involve an unknown existence.

In addition, this hadn't caused any harm to her. She didn't have to take the risk to make a "prophecy."

After searching for a while to no avail, the Invisible Servant continued forward, attempting to pass through the cemetery and head to other regions of the forest.

Just then, Bernadette heard a rustling sound.

It was the sound of a breeze passing through the vegetation, a tidal wave in the void.

Ever since she landed on this strange island, this was Bernadette's first time feeling the wind.

Subconsciously, she made the invisible servant look back at the black stone pillar.

In the Eyes of Mystery Prying, the corpses around the stone pillar began to rot and shed one by one. New flesh and blood grew out like they had their own spirituality, and their skin slowly covered this harrowing scene one inch at a time.

This change lasted for less than ten seconds before stopping. A small number of the corpses no longer showed any signs of decay. It looked like they had just died.

In the next second, a mutated curly-haired baboon and a wolf with eight legs wobbled to their feet.

Their fur was slightly white and their skin was slightly dry, their eyes dull and cold.

Then, the two originally deceased creatures each got their bearings and left the cemetery from different spots.

Bernadette's gaze froze as she watched this. Her brows raised slightly as she finally understood why the creatures on this island had struggled to come to this area before dying and why they had to die here:

Here, death—an endpoint—didn't mean entering the state of eternal slumber, but rather a new beginning!

Furthermore, this wasn't the "resurrection" of a zombie or skeleton that a Spirit Guide was capable of. It was a "new life" with a certain will and vitality.

A distortion and disorder of the world's underlying rules? In addition, it seems to contain some mystery from the Black Emperor's resurrection… However, those who obtained new life aren't in a proper state. They're even closer to zombies… Such revivals are very problematic… Klein, who was above the gray fog, also saw this scene and had many guesses.

Of course, this was under the premise that the Emperor had fundamentally left his last mausoleum here and exerted some form of influence here.

As he thought about it, Klein rejected this idea.

This was because, before the Emperor became an angel, this primitive island had a similar situation. The dead Grimm was proof!

Yes, the exact details that happened back then might not be the same as what's happening now. Perhaps, compared to the past, it has already been distorted and "disordered"… Klein nodded gently, prepared to bless and protect Bernadette at any time.

Bernadette also came up with a guess. She didn't allow the Invisible Servant to stay in its spot to wait for a "new tide of life."

This was because she had foreseen a development:

After being repeatedly affected by the "new tide of life," the Invisible Servant would oddly develop some sort of sentience and come "alive"!

In addition, it wasn't that the Invisible Servant hadn't done any investigation prior to this, but it had ultimately failed to discover anything special about the black stone pillar. Bernadette didn't believe that it would gain anything new by remaining here.

In such a situation, it was better to establish a basic understanding of the primitive island rather than alarming an unknown existence due to a deeper study.

Many a time, there were problems that eluded one in the beginning, but the answer might be nearer to the end.

This was thanks to the experience that Bernadette had accumulated over all these years.

The corpses on the trees and branches gradually grew fewer as the Invisible Servant moved forward. During this process, Bernadette discovered another phenomenon:

In the "new tide of life," it wasn't certain that a corpse would be revived. However, once they revived and left the empty area, the rest of the corpses would be attracted like metal to magnets in the next five minutes. They would stiffly move towards the center, filling up the corresponding spots like they were in line for a bestowment.

The law of Beyonder characteristics convergence? No, it doesn't seem like it. The deceased have already passed down their characteristics… As Bernadette's thoughts wandered, she suddenly thought of a question:

It's impossible for the deceased to produce new Beyonder characteristics after obtaining new life, but do they still possess their powers in their previous lives?

Once I have a complete grasp of the situation on this island, I can find a "resurrected" being to test it out… Bernadette quickly made a decision and followed the Invisible Servant's route forward.

She didn't use any Beyonder powers other than her Invisibility Hat. She hoped that she wouldn't disturb the environment and miss out on any details. Therefore, she didn't walk too fast. She took about fifteen minutes to leave the cemetery.

The Invisible Servant had already entered the forest up ahead. It could hear the occasional bird chirping and beast roars. The vibrant vitality here was different from the other remaining regions.

Above the gray fog, Klein sighed.

Thankfully, I'm now the owner of Sefirah Castle. Here, I have the status of a King of Angels. I can observe reality for as long as I want to, and I don't have to worry about draining my spirituality. Yes, the only thing I need to pay attention to is my body that's hidden in the ancient city located in the fog of history before the First Epoch.

After traveling for another few minutes, the Invisible Servant suddenly saw something that appeared incongruous to the primitive island's environment.

It was a log cabin that seemed to be a residence of a forest ranger.

The log cabin was brown in color and was less than 2.5 meters tall. It looked like it was prepared for humans, but every detail was rough and crude.

At that moment, the cabin's door was open, allowing Bernadette to see the situation inside through the Eyes of Mystery Prying.

A wooden table, a fur-covered bed, and a low-back chair formed a scene of a residence lived by humans.

Who lives here? With a thought from Bernadette, the Invisible Servant rapidly approached the cabin in search for possible clues.

It then realized that the interior of the cabin was ice-cold. Apart from the furniture, there was nothing else. It seemed like no one had lived there for a very long time.

Just as Bernadette was using the Eyes of Mystery Prying to carefully inspect every detail in the cabin, she suddenly had a premonition. She hurriedly made the Invisible Servant turn around.

At some point in time, a person had appeared behind the Invisible Servant!

He was wearing luxurious clothes from the Roselle era. His hair was completely white, and he looked old. He had a pair of light blue eyes that were extremely cold and blank.

Edwards.

This was the knight who had outlived the Emperor, Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina's ancestor.

Edwards stared at the Invisible Servant for a few seconds. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and said in a low voice, our Highness."

Chapter 1302 The Scene in the Prophecy

Bernadette fell silent for two seconds before replying through the Invisible Servant:

"Uncle Edwards, why are you here?"

She used the way she addressed him when she was young to reduce the chances of an accident.

Her voice reverberated in the surrounding air with the Invisible Servant as a conduit. It was dry, dull, and completely different from normal.

Edwards's face was pale. It was as if he had just crawled out of the grave without any warmth.

"I don't know either.

"When I woke up, I discovered that I had returned to this island.

"This might be my destiny. A destiny of guarding His Majesty."

He paused with every word he said, but he didn't give the impression that he was out of breath. It seemed like he hadn't spoken for a long time, so much so that his throat was "rusty." He wasn't used to speaking.

Without waiting for Bernadette's further inquiries, the knight, who was famous across the continent more than a hundred years ago, added with a flat tone, "His Majesty's mausoleum is nearby.

"I've been guarding this place, waiting for 'Him' to revive.

"But after so many years, the mausoleum has never changed.

"There haven't been any signs of a resurrection."

Bernadette made the invisible servant look around and said, "This log cabin is where you live?"

Edwards's exposed skin was slightly shriveled. It matched the aging spots he originally had. His voice was low and hoarse as he answered, "That's right.

"I used the surrounding trees to make materials to build this cabin."

Bernadette's Invisible Servant looked in the direction where she had come from.

"Uncle William and the others aren't with you?"

Edwards's cold, wooden eyes moved.

"They have long been corrupted and are dead.

"Although they've come back to life, they're more like monsters. They aren't their former selves.

"Your Highness, you must be wary of them and avoid them.

"Do not trust anyone but Benjamin and me."

Bernadette fell silent for a while before asking through the Invisible Servant:

"Where's my father's mausoleum? I want to take a look."

Edwards's somewhat stiff neck moved.

"Okay."

He then took a step towards the cabin and took out a rusted black axe.

"I'll take you there," Edwards said as he looked at the Invisible Servant that normally couldn't be seen.

During this process, his expression was stiff and almost unchanged.

"Alright." Along the periphery of the forest, Bernadette responded using the Invisible Servant to make her hoarse voice echo in the surroundings.

Edwards was almost 1.9 meters tall, and he looked rather thin. He carried his axe and walked behind the log cabin before saying in a flat tone, "It's very close.

"Be careful along the way."

Bernadette immediately controlled the Invisible Servant and made it follow the luxuriously-dressed Edwards.

Walking through the forest one after another, Bernadette suddenly made the Invisible Servant ask, "Uncle Edwards, what were you worshiping in the empty space from before?"

Edwards didn't turn his head as he maintained the same pace.

"His Majesty."

At least two kilometers behind him and the Invisible Servant, Bernadette immediately pricked up her brows. She took nearly three seconds to control her emotions.

Through the Invisible Servant, she continued asking without any emotion, "Uncle William and the others are worshiping him?"

Edwards paused, but he kept his back towards the Invisible Servant and the Eyes of Mystery Prying.

"No."

He slowed down as though he was thinking of an answer.

"I don't know what they worship…"

Bernadette's eyes narrowed slightly as though she could see some changes in the river of fate.

She didn't ask any more questions as she made the Invisible Servant silently follow Edwards. Amidst the dark-green, towering trees and the black, sharp shrubs, they headed for the island's mountain peak.

In just four or five minutes, the trees up ahead disappeared.

This wasn't a process that went from dense to sparse until there was nothing. Instead, the towering trees suddenly disappeared after an imaginary boundary line.

Beyond the invisible line was a mountain that was hundreds of meters tall. It was covered by dark-green trees that were almost black in color. From afar, it was almost as if it was one with the forest, virtually inseparable.

However, the side of the mountain facing Edward and Bernadette was mostly without vegetation—half of the mountain had been excavated.

In the middle of the mountain, a pitch-black mausoleum stood there with a majestic appearance.

Most of it was part of the mountain range. A small portion of it had signs of man-made constructions and polishing. It truly expounded on what it meant to be a "mountain mausoleum."

Thus, the mausoleum didn't look like the common pyramid. Instead, it looked more like a towering mountain. It wasn't exactly symmetrical, but it was definitely majestic.

Perhaps the mausoleum itself had influenced its surroundings, or perhaps Edwards had cleaned the area, its surface was void of weeds, nor was it covered with vines commonly seen in other mountains.

This allowed Bernadette to see the various texts and symbols engraved on the mausoleum through the Eyes of Mystery Prying. She saw the heavy thirty-meter-tall stone door that seemed to be prepared for giants.

Bernadette wasn't unfamiliar with those words and symbols. She didn't take much time to recognize them as either the "Civil Code" that was created by her father, the new social trends that he had established, or even some design drafts of some invention.

Just as Bernadette was carefully examining it, Klein, who was above the gray fog, was completely certain that this was the last mausoleum left behind by Emperor Roselle.

This was similar to the mausoleum he had seen in the Tudor ruins. It had the majesticness and "distortion" traits of the Black Emperor.

After walking out of the primitive forest and passing through the invisible boundary, they arrived near the mausoleum. Edwards stopped.

He half-turned his body and aimed his pale face and cold eyes at the Invisible Servant. He said without any change in his voice, "Don't go in."

"It will interrupt the resurrection…"

Bernadette frowned slightly and thought for two seconds before using the Eyes of Mystery Prying to lock onto the mausoleum.

Then, her blue eyes that resembled the sea became extremely deep, like the surface of the sea before a storm.

Under such circumstances, her eyes clearly lost focus as her vision turned blurry.

She was prying into the secrets of the River of Fate and making a prophecy for what would happen next.

Klein tapped the long mottled table and increased the probability of her success. He then prepared himself to resist the corruption of the cosmos.

Of course, the latter wasn't necessary, because Bernadette had a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact that she could control.

Bernadette raised her right hand the next second.

Her skin instantly turned as white as snow. Her lips turned as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony.

An illusory, ancient mirror appeared in her hands.

This was Snow White of her fairytale magic. Bernadette had used it to enhance the success rate and accuracy of her "prophecy."

Silently, she "saw" a scene:

The majestic and solemn dark mausoleum visibly shook as the tall, heavy stone door opened.

Then, a huge black arm stretched out from the stone door.

The style of this arm was close to that of the trees on the island. From its color and state, it looked more like a part of a shadow. However, it wasn't a thin layer, but was instead filled with flesh and blood. It looked extremely strange.

It supported itself with its elbows and moved forward with great difficulty, as though it wanted to pull out bigger and more terrifying parts from within.

Boom!

The entire island began to shake.

Boom!

The transparent Eyes of Mystery Prying suddenly shattered.

Bernadette's eyes immediately closed, as if she had seen a blinding light or encountered some unbearable damage.

Blood trickled down from the corners of her eyes as the color in her face drained significantly.

On her body, a pair of illusory and holy wings spread out, descending upon her with its clean, white feathers to neutralize the invisible corruption.

Indeed, she has the ability to resist. The Emperor sure left a huge inheritance for her… Heh heh, before I taught Ma'am Hermit a lesson, she liked to use the Eye of Mystery Prying to examine the people and objects around her. It definitely has something to do with how she was brought up… In short, it's all Roselle's fault! Klein heaved a sigh of relief as he couldn't help but criticize the Emperor.

Then, his mind raced as he analyzed the scene that Bernadette had prophesied:

A terrifying creature crawls out from the mausoleum after the stone door is opened.

This might be the resurrected Roselle, or perhaps a symbol of some kind of disaster. For example, a particular Outer Deity who had once corrupted this island, or the Primordial Moon who secretly corrupted Roselle…

Yes, even if it's Roselle, he definitely wouldn't be taking on the form of a human. He's even closer to that of a Mythical Creature, a deity… Also, I can't be sure if the terrifying creature is rational or if it can communicate…

There's another important problem. Was the stone door opened by Bernadette or someone else? Or did the terrifying creature in the mausoleum do it by itself? If it's the latter, things might develop to the stage of the prophecy even if we don't do a thing…

A prophecy is truly filled with ambiguity.

Klein conjured a gold coin and flicked it, making a divination.

The results of the dream divination showed that the mausoleum was both dangerous and safe.

How do I interpret this? As Klein pondered, he focused his attention back on Bernadette.

Bernadette took nearly a minute to recover and stopped appearing that weak.

However, she was temporarily unable to interpret the direction of the prophecy from the scene she saw. She could only confirm that the problem was definitely very complicated.

Due to the Eyes of Mystery Prying shattering, there was no way for her to use it to see the various secrets. All she could do was use the Invisible Servant's perception to observe the situation around her.

She realized that Edwards remained silent and motionless when she was unable to control the Invisible Servant, as though he hadn't noticed anything abnormal.

After some thought, Bernadette said to Edwards through the Invisible Servant, "Do you still remember the years you spent in Lenburg?"

Edwards's indifferent blue eyes moved.

"I remember."

"I think…"

At this point, he seemed to recall something. His expression twisted as though he was suffering some indescribable pain.

In such a state, his eyes suddenly glowed with a strange light.

"I think… I think I'm already dead…"

Chapter 1303 Coming to Life

"Already dead…"

Edwards turned his head and looked at Bernadette's Invisible Servant with his light-blue eyes. His gaze was no longer cold and blank. It emitted a strange glint that was filled with disbelief.

It was only at this moment that he seemed to realize that he had long died and had come back to "life." He was no different from William, Poli, and Grimm, who he claimed were individuals who they needed to keep up one's guard against.

This transformation lasted for only two seconds before Edwards's face twisted. His already pale skin rapidly dimmed as it ruptured inch by inch.

Beneath his skin, the red pieces of flesh began to rot at a discernible speed, dripping foul yellow liquid.

With a swoosh, Edwards raised the black axe in his hand.

Oof!

His axe ruthlessly cleaved the top of his head, as though it was trying to stop the bad thoughts that surfaced in his mind.

The axe was heavy and sharp. It tore through Edwards's skull all the way to his glabella.

Drip, drip, drip. Drops of milky-white cerebrospinal fluid dripped down from the axe's blade, sliding across Edwards's grimaced and torn face, as though he had poured some milk onto a bright red strawberry.

"Don't… Don't come near me…" Edwards said in a low and hoarse voice to Bernadette's Invisible Servant after striking himself in the head.

Before he could finish his sentence, his expression returned to its blank state. The look in his eyes gradually turned hollow as he turned around and walked towards the forest.

That thin and shriveled body of his stooped a little, as though his back was hunched.

Bernadette had probed him because of the doubts and concerns she had about entering the mausoleum. All she could do was indirectly determine the problem with Edwards's existence, and see if she could obtain more clues from his answer. She never expected this knight from Roselle's era, who had been famous across the Northern Continent, would react in such an intense and strange manner.

After two seconds of silence, Bernadette made the Invisible Servant say to Edwards's back:

"Your descendants are doing pretty well. All of them are accomplished in a certain sense."

Edwards, whose back was facing the mausoleum, stopped for a moment. Then, he continued forward, passing the invisible boundary and entering the forest.

His target seemed to be in the direction of the cemetery with the stone pillar, the place where the deceased could obtain "new life."

At the same time, Bernadette looked up into the sky.

The faint black colors that permeated the area had clearly faded, but there was an indescribable feeling. The entire primitive island underwent a subtle change that couldn't accurately be described.

Suddenly, Bernadette, who was hiding at the edge of the invisible boundary, rubbed her back.

She felt that it was heavy, as though there was something there.

When her left palm touched her target, Bernadette realized that there was an extra strand of hair.

At this moment, she was wearing an Intis-styled blouse with a large lace flower around the collar, an indigo patterned captain's uniform, a pair of beige trousers, knee-length boots, and a triangular hat with feathers on it. She was dressed like the leader of a pirate ship.

She styled herself such that her long chestnut hair was tied into a bun, leaving the remaining strands in a way that would reach the middle of her back. But now, even though her hairstyle remained unchanged, her hair had grown longer and reached her waist.

Then, Bernadette lowered her head and looked at her right palm. She saw the fingernails of her five fingers extending.

Queen Mystic didn't show any signs of surprise or panic. She followed the instincts of a Clairvoyant and from all the experience she had accumulated over time. She took a few steps forward, and through an invisible boundary, she completely left the primitive forest and entered the empty area where the Black Emperor's mausoleum was.

During this process, Bernadette even made the Invisible Servant return to the spirit world.

Three or four seconds later, she felt the earth shake. The mausoleum began to tremble visibly.

Subconsciously, Bernadette turned to look at the primitive forest.

Her gaze froze for a moment.

The dark-green trees were waving their branches and uprooting their roots. Then, like humans, they approached Bernadette.

The entire primitive forest had come to "life"!

Looking at the dense cluster of trees that seemed to blot out the sky surging at her, Bernadette had the feeling that doomsday was approaching. She felt as if the entire area would be blanketed by the forest.

A gigantic red dragon with flames flowing across its skin rapidly flew into the sky. An eight-legged demonic wolf began to run madly between the trees… All the supernatural beings and mutated creatures on this island stirred as they rushed towards the mausoleum.

Although she was a Clairvoyant, Bernadette still didn't expect that her simple, indirect question would bring about such an anomaly. It was as though it was a key that had opened the door to the abyss.

Above the gray fog, Klein saw a lot more. Together with his knowledge of mysticism, he had a certain guess.

The situation of Edwards is different from William, Grimm, and Poli. It's like a loophole of the order on this primitive island, or rather, a shadow…

When he realized that he was already dead, this loophole was discovered by the order, and it began to conduct "repairs."

And the repairs brought with it an enhancement of the order, causing the entire island to experience an anomaly.

I can sense that the Black Emperor's powers are present here to a certain degree. It affected Edwards, causing him to maintain a portion of his will after obtaining new "life." And where did the original order of this primitive island come from?

Eh…

As Klein's thoughts raced, he suddenly sensed that Bernadette was suffering certain anomalies.

Thump, thump, thump. Bernadette could vaguely hear her own heartbeat.

This heartbeat was rather chaotic, as though it was a combination of two sounds.

Two… Bernadette's heart stirred as she calmly directed her attention back to herself.

In the next second, she confirmed that there were two sources of her heartbeat.

One came from her heart, the other from her abdomen.

There seemed to be an additional heart in her abdomen, one that was rapidly expanding and contracting.

Furthermore, this "heart" was developing bit by bit!

Without needing to use her Mystery Prying powers to look at her abdomen, Bernadette immediately sensed that there was a fetus in her womb.

It had grown from the size of a grape to the size of a normal human palm. If it was left to grow, it didn't seem like it would take long before it matured. It would then tear open her mother's womb, and drill out while covered in blood.

Unknowingly, Bernadette had become pregnant. Her spiritual perception and the Sealed Artifact on her body had failed to detect it in advance or attempt to stop it. It was as though she was powerless to deal with such an influence.

Earth Mother… Primordial Moon… Mother Tree of Desire… Three divine names flashed through Bernadette's mind.

According to what she knew, there weren't many mysteries that could cause such an anomaly. Most of them came from domains related to the Earth and the Moon pathway.

Sequence 0 of the Planter pathway was Mother. The Primordial Moon could make a stone have reproductive powers, while the Mother Tree of Desire seemed to possess some High-Sequence Beyonder characteristics of the Moon pathway.

Bernadette wasn't in a hurry to deal with the fetus in her stomach. Her gaze turned dark once again as she used her prophetic ability to see what her best choice was.

This time, she only took one second to obtain the corresponding prophecy:

"Survival lies inside the mausoleum."

Without any hesitation, Bernadette reached out her right hand and quickly drew out words filled with stellar radiance.

These words, which were similar to the words on the Blasphemy Slate, quickly interwove into a strange symbol and opened a secret door that seemed to lead deep into the spirit world.

Following that, the "secret door" opened and a strong gust of wind blew out, transforming into an entity that was half-man, half-air. His upper body was wrapped in white cloth.

"Sage Frontlet," Bernadette's tone was calm as she ordered in a dignified voice.

The man responded respectfully and removed an accessory from the white cloth wrapped around his body.

The core of this accessory was a vertical eye embedded with "diamonds." It shimmered with pure light, exuding an abnormal holiness. It was filled with intelligence, but it also appeared cold without any warmth.

Bernadette then took the accessory and "embedded" it into the middle of her forehead.

This was a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact which Bernadette usually didn't carry with her, as the negative effects were too severe.

However, at this moment, the Sage Frontlet had an ability that was extremely important to Bernadette. She was willing to bear the consequences of not being able to use evil magic and the gradual influence that the Beyonder characteristic would have on her as it slowly fused with her.

If she didn't remove the Sage Frontlet in a short period of time, it would be equivalent to having a Sequence 2 potion splashed on her. When the time came, she could either end up lucky and succeed in advancing to become a Sage, or lose control and become a monster. And without the supplementary ingredients and the corresponding ritual, the former's probability was nearly negligible.

With the diamond vertical eye on her forehead, Bernadette's body began to turn incorporeal as she dissociated into a series of complicated knowledge.

In that instant, she became a creature of pure information.

The baby in her womb failed to obtain such a state as it fell to the ground.

It was half the size of a normal baby. It already had facial features and limbs. Its skin was wrinkled, and it was dripping with sticky pus.

As it left its mother's body, the undeveloped "it" began to regress and quickly melted in the air.

The baby was clearly unwilling to give up. It tried its best to open its eyes, which were sealed by the sticky liquid. It opened its mouth wide open in a bid to make a final struggle.

At this moment, Klein, who was above the gray fog, rapped the edge of the long mottled table.

Pa!

He increased the probability of failure with respect to the baby's struggling.

Unable to maintain itself, the baby completely dissipated in front of the approaching black forest.

At the same time, the flood of information that Bernadette had transformed into had entered the Black Emperor mausoleum's interior through the heavy stone door as she reformed her original body.

During this process, she seemed to see a black shadow.

Chapter 1304 The Importance of Ideas

When she entered the Black Emperor's mausoleum, Bernadette vaguely saw a black shadow. However, after she extricated herself from being an embodiment of information, and reassembled her body with the pure, messy knowledge, she didn't sense anything. It was as though what she had just experienced was just an illusion.

Queen Mystic wasn't in a rush to venture deep into the mausoleum. She stayed in her spot and carefully observed her surroundings.

Without using the powers of Mystery Prying, everything was clearly presented before her eyes.

The interior of the Black Emperor mausoleum was empty. Apart from the pitch-black walls and the high platform in the middle, there was nothing.

On the high platform, there was a chair that looked like it was prepared for a giant. It was made of iron, and its surface was engraved with complicated and distorted patterns. At the top of the seat, there was a crown-shaped object.

At this moment, there wasn't a single figure on the huge, heavy seat, as if it was waiting for its emperor to return.

Just as Bernadette was about to take a step forward and approach the platform, she suddenly realized that her body was completely immobilized, as if she was being bound tightly by invisible shackles.

Right on the heels of that, pairs of illusory and holy white wings appeared behind her as though they were passively resisting something.

In the next second, on the pairs of angel wings, white feathers dropped as they fluttered. They grew deformed, thin, and fluffy limbs. The gaps in the layers of feathers spread open one after another as though they had become countless eyes.

The deformed feathers immediately let out crisp laughter, causing a hollow chuckle to echo inside the mausoleum.

All of them had come alive, turning into miniature "winged creatures."

This reminded Bernadette of some fairytales that her father had told her. There were always little pixies that weren't as big as a thumb in them.

As this thought flashed through her mind, Bernadette felt her right eye itch.

The eyelashes of that eye grew rapidly, turning into tiny arms that took root on her face, trying hard to pull her eyeball out.

"I see it! I see it!" The veins in Bernadette's right eye protruded as they let out a child-like voice as though they had gained sentience and consciousness of her body.

This was also a form of new "life."

Almost at the same time, Bernadette's left ear suddenly drooped down and covered her ears.

"I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it!" the ear shouted with a sharp voice.

If she didn't use her spirituality, Bernadette would definitely imagine that she had a young maiden by her side—one that was covering her ears, stamping her feet, and screaming.

Without cushioning anything, the Sage Frontlet in the middle of her forehead automatically left her body and floated into the air.

The surface of the vertical eye embedded with "diamonds" instantly flashed with countless cold beams of light. It was as though numerous tiny eyes had grown out of it.

Each eye reflected Bernadette.

The Sage Frontlet had also obtained a certain living characteristic.

Just as the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was about to awaken and affect its target, a pale-white, slender, illusory palm reached out and grabbed it.

The Sage Frontlet's living characteristic rapidly dispersed, as though it had reached the end of its life.

The ice-cold and pale hand that clearly belonged to a woman came from behind Bernadette. At some point in time, a figure with only an upper-body appeared.

This figure grew out of Bernadette's back. It was almost transparent and rather illusory.

She was wearing the same clothing as Bernadette, and she was wearing the same feather triangular hat. Her blue eyes were like the projection of the ocean. It was like Bernadette herself, a part of her spirit that had drilled out of her body.

However, there was a pale-white face mask on Bernadette's half-body phantom.

The mask only had holes where one's eyes were with no other gaps elsewhere. This made Bernadette's phantom appear extremely cold and noble, but it lacked the aura of a living being.

This was the third item she possessed, and also her last Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. It was an item made after Emperor Roselle returned from the Southern Continent in his later years, called "Pale Death."

Its negative effect was to make the wearer slowly die until it became a corpse and become its slave.

At this moment, Bernadette had used this point to restrain the abnormal life growing in her.

Just as the half-body phantom appeared, her right eye quelled. Her eyelashes which had turned thicker and longer into arms began to fall off one by one.

Her ears didn't make any noises either. They slowly opened and returned to normal.

Without such a suppression, Bernadette's facial features, arms, and legs would've broken apart to seek "freedom."

After stabilizing her body, Bernadette tried to take a step forward. However, she was still unable to do anything. All she could do was control the half-bodied Spirit Body.

After some thought, she made the Spirit Body behind her take out a ritual silver dagger from her pocket. Then, bending down, it drew a circle in the middle of her right boot.

With a ripping sound, the leather boot quickly shortened by half.

Then, Bernadette used her half-body Spirit Body to tear her pants near her left knee. She cut off a corner of her coat and blouse, removing one of the feathers on the side of her triangular hat.

This attempt didn't seem to have anything to do with supernatural beings. It was just like a willful and rebellious girl who wanted to dress up in a different way from the normal sense of aesthetics.

However, as Bernadette completed this series of actions, she carefully took a step forward. Her body could actually move, as she no longer felt restrained.

The invisible suppression effect vanished instantly. The Black Emperor mausoleum seemed to accept Bernadette in this form.

Who would've thought that something an ordinary person could do was able to deal with such abnormalities?

Furthermore, Bernadette suspected that the more she used her Beyonder powers to resist whatever she was facing, the deeper the effects.

This was because she had the feeling that she was facing an invisible deity. Only by pleasing the other party's sense of aesthetics could she be pardoned. Otherwise, she could only rely on the authority of a Sequence 0 to circle around it.

In addition, the lucky thing was that Bernadette wasn't once a knowledgeable Mysticologist, but she also had a deep understanding of the Black Emperor pathway. She knew what the authorities this domain consisted of. She knew that it represented the shadow of order, a distortion of order.

That was why Bernadette twisted the normal order around her using her dressing; thus, obtaining the recognition and acceptance of the invisible deity.

Yes, in the matter regarding mysticism, knowledge and ideas are more useful than abilities at times… In that situation just now, any resistance would've been viewed as a provocation towards the internal order of the mausoleum, triggering unpredictable and terrifying changes. Once one figures out the crux of the problem, the negative effects will be easily resolved… Klein nodded above the gray fog and learned quite a lot from Queen Mystic.

Although he was already a Sequence higher than her, to the point of being a King of Angels inside Sefirah Castle and having experienced quite a number of major events, his growth had been too fast. He was still lacking when it came to the details in problems. Now was the perfect time to make up for the deficiency through observation.

After taking a step, Bernadette began to follow her spiritual intuition and walk toward the huge, empty chair on the platform.

One step, two steps, three steps. Suddenly, a breeze blew past her neck.

This cold wind made Bernadette's body turn numb.

At that moment, she felt a black shadow appear behind her.

Silently, her long chestnut-colored hair parted, revealing a pair of eyes on her scalp.

It was a pair of eyes without any eyelashes. They were almost transparent, cold, and heartless.

Eyes of Mystery Prying!

The pair of eyes turned slightly and saw that the shadow-like curtain in the mysterious world showed clear signs of distortion.

However, it didn't notice the shadow, nor did it find the source of the cold wind.

Just as Bernadette attempted to close the Eyes of Mystery Pryer and lower the possibility of an accident, the cold and sinister breeze suddenly appeared in her mind.

Her thoughts became active as she became increasingly out of control. She was unable to direct her thoughts in the required manner.

This seemed to be a trend that couldn't be changed—one that led to chaos.

Without any hesitation, Bernadette grabbed the few seconds of thought she was capable of. She let the half-body spirit on her back remove the pale-white mask.

Then, she put Pale Death on her face, while the half-body spirit retracted into her body and fused with her.

From this second onwards, Bernadette's thoughts would gradually die along with her body. However, her thoughts could not help but stir and turn chaotic.

Both of these conflicting conditions offset one another, forming a weak and delicate balance that helped Bernadette regain her ability to think.

To Bernadette, compared to the Beyonder effects of Pale Death itself, its negative effects were even more effective at this moment.

Maintaining the balance, Bernadette took a few steps forward.

During this process, she always felt that there were shadows hovering around her, but she couldn't find them no matter how hard she tried.

After thinking for a few seconds, Bernadette's blue eyes darkened once again, losing focus.

She tried prophesying the consequences of her choice.

Soon, a corresponding scene appeared before her eyes:

After putting on the Sage Frontlet again, she once again transformed into pure and complicated information streams, using it to circumvent the obstruction and head to the high platform in the middle.

However, just as she approached, the flood of information suddenly disintegrated. It lost its order and formed several Bernadettes built on different tenets. There was a young girl in a layered dress, a tall young girl, a melancholic and confused girl, a woman with a twisted and pained expression, and a calm and determined queen.

The prophetic vision instantly disappeared and Bernadette's eyes instantly regained focus.

At this moment, she saw the black shadow.

It was standing right in front of her, no more than a fist away from her!

That face formed from pure shadow completely occupied her vision.

Chapter 1305 That Black Shadow

The moment Bernadette saw the black shadow, she instinctively clenched her right hand and conjured an ancient spear.

From the tip of the spear to its handle, it was dyed with crimson red balls. It emitted a strong destructive aura, as though it could harm a true deity.

Spear of Longinus!

This spear had once appeared in an ancient era that couldn't be traced back, stained with the blood of a great existence. At this moment, it had descended into the Black Emperor's mausoleum through Mystical Re-enactment.

However, when Bernadette thrust it forward, she failed to achieve any effects because the tip of the spear was directed at her back.

Despite wanting to attack the black shadow in front of her, the Spear of Longinus had strangely thrust backward.

The area had been affected by "disorder," or suffered some form of distortion.

Above the gray fog in the palace, Klein noticed the black shadow when it appeared in front of Bernadette. He didn't hesitate to raise the Staff of the Stars in his hand.

He didn't wait this time, unlike his prior observations of Queen Mystic's actions before where he would consider if he would provide her with protection. This was because the level of danger of the black shadow sounded off alarms within him. He was an angel of the Seer pathway after all.

More importantly, Bernadette could sense the shadow's existence after entering the Black Emperor's mausoleum from time to time. As for Klein, he was unable to find clues through the true vision provided by Sefirah Castle.

This undoubtedly meant danger and terror.

When all the gems embedded in the black cane lit up, the sound of melodious bells resounded in the area where Bernadette and the black shadow were.

Gong!

The bell that came from an infinite distance exuded an indescribable emptiness. It made the interior of the Black Emperor's mausoleum visibly freeze, turning Bernadette's figure stiff as if she had been frozen. She couldn't do anything.

However, the black shadow didn't sink into the vortex of time. As though situated in another world built with completely different fundamental rules, the shadow continued moving forward in between the contradictory of two rivers of fate—one filled with raging torrents and one that was almost completely still.

This only made it appear to slow down, in no way affected by the illusory bell.

This was the first time Klein had encountered such a situation after he gained the ability to replicate powers.

Although the Beyonder effects he had replicated with the Staff of the Stars were lacking compared to the original version, it would still be able to show a certain level of authority that wasn't easy to ignore regardless.

However, the black shadow's slow movements gave him a second chance to try again.

This time, he activated the Staff of the Stars's powers and moved Queen Mystic out of the Black Emperor's mausoleum. He wanted her to first conclude what she experienced before considering entering again.

Gems flashed on the tip of the staff, and Bernadette, who was almost about to make contact with the black shadow, disappeared into thin air.

In the next second, she appeared tens of meters away, appearing near the high platform in the mausoleum.

The Staff of the Stars's teleportation was disrupted. The destination had been distorted, turning everything extremely chaotic.

The experienced Bernadette didn't feel any fear or panic because she was stuck inside the Black Emperor mausoleum. She decisively raised her left hand and pressed the Sage Frontlet in the middle of her forehead as she used her fingers to stroke the Pale Death mask.

The shimmering golden mask suddenly became soft and rapidly squirmed as if it was about to form a face that didn't belong to Bernadette.

The face had soft features and obvious characteristics of a Southern Continent native, but it exuded a bizarre and terrifying feeling. Anyone who witnessed it would believe that it would come alive once the face became clear enough—an entity that came from ancient times, the eternal darkness where the dead slumbered.

By then, Bernadette's body, spirituality, and consciousness would all belong to this face.

With the protrusion of this face, the stone walls and floor tiles in the Black Emperor mausoleum began to weather. It happened so fast that thousands of years appeared to be washed away in a short span of two seconds.

They quickly became mottled, constantly dropping fragments or throwing up dust due to the wind. In between the cracks, thin white fur grew out.

In just the blink of an eye, the fur grew into white feathers, and their surface seemed to be soaked in light-yellow oil.

The aura of the black figure gradually weakened, as though it was running towards death with huge strides.

Its color faded away, its movements growing slower.

Within the area where the pale-white mask was, even the concept of "death" itself would weather away and dissipate.

However, what was labeled as "death" wasn't the endpoint. When the stone wall and the floor tiles in the mausoleum were weathered to a certain extent, and when the black figure degraded to a certain stage, new stone blocks began to take form as ethereal auras quickly grew.

During this process, the black figure stretched out his right hand.

This palm that was formed from shadows suddenly grabbed Bernadette's neck from dozens of meters away!

This wasn't fulfilled by extending the arm, but distorting the concept of distance for an instant—45 meters became equivalent to 45 centimeters.

The dark palm didn't exert too much strength, but it made Bernadette feel cold.

Under such coldness, she realized that she couldn't use the two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts of the Sage Frontlet and Pale Death.

Typically, as long as she injected her spirituality into it and gave the corresponding thoughts, the Sealed Artifacts on her would react in the correct manner, creating different effects. But now, the silent process and rules had been disrupted and distorted. No amount of thoughts that Bernadette willed were able to stir the Sealed Artifacts.

It felt like she was speaking to the air.

Klein, who was above the gray fog, didn't waste any time after failing to teleport Queen Mystic away. A series of complicated symbols and magic labels quickly formed in his mind.

He wanted to replicate a Secrets Sorcerer's "Space Concealment." He planned on separating Bernadette's location from the Black Emperor's mausoleum and concealing it to help Queen Mystic escape her current predicament.

In fact, it might be more appropriate replicating the fairytale magic, Peace Blossom Source, but considering how Bernadette was formerly a Mysticologist, Klein felt that it was better to use Space Concealment. Otherwise, it might expose some of The Fool's secrets.

As for where he had learned "Space Concealment" from, it naturally came from the recently advanced Fors.

Previously, in the name of The World Gehrman Sparrow, Klein had rented Leymano's Travels. He had also requested Miss Magician to "Record" the corresponding powers.

Then, he released and recorded it while summoning the complete Leymano's Travels from the fog of history again and again. It didn't take long for him to grasp the knowledge and technique, allowing him to replicate "Spatial Concealment."

As more gems lit up on the Staff of the Stars, the area around Bernadette darkened, as though it was covered by a curtain weaved by shadows.

The curtain distorted as it concealed the space, isolating the black shadow and its palm outside.

This helped Bernadette regain her freedom.

In the next second, the black palm that had been forcefully separated reached forward again and touched the boundary of the concealed space.

In an instant, a transparent vortex-like "door" appeared in the abnormal void. Or rather, the secret "door" that originally existed appeared autonomously and opened up in front of the black palm.

All concealed space had a "door," but the location of the door depended on the creator's thoughts.

The palm formed by the shadows rapidly passed through the open "door" and entered the concealed space. It grabbed Bernadette's neck and once again disrupted the connection between Queen Mystic and her Sealed Artifact, distorting the corresponding order.

At the same time, the black figure raised its head and looked at the top of the mausoleum.

It seemed to be studying Sefirah Castle and Klein through layers of space and fog.

Klein's eyelids twitched instinctively.

He sensed that the shadow had a certain understanding of where he was and felt that it was distorting something.

Klein's expression unknowingly turned abnormally heavy. The different gems on the Staff of the Stars lit up at the same time.

He wanted to attempt to steal the corresponding Beyonder powers of the other party. Only by doing so would he have the chance to restrict the black shadow.

And in order to increase the success rate of stealing his target's powers, Klein turned his left palm and tapped the edge of the long mottled table.

However, his "theft" failed. He didn't even get anything.

His target had long since escaped the lock-on, despite just standing there!

Klein's gaze froze. Then, he saw the black figure flash and enter the concealed space, closing the distance between it and Bernadette.

This… It distorted my true vision, causing the situation I saw to be from one or even two seconds ago… A thought flashed through Klein's mind as he made a preliminary judgment on the previous failure. He then decided to summon Will Auceptin's historical projection to get "Him" to reboot the area.

At that moment, Bernadette, who was unable to use her Sealed Artifact, grew white, illusory swan feathers on her back.

This was her fairytale magic's "Ugly Duckling." It could make Bernadette reveal an incomplete Mythical Creature form while maintaining her clarity of mind. Should could use it twice a day, with each use lasting fifteen seconds.

At this moment, her thoughts went wild again. They started to boil and become more chaotic.

This caused her "Ugly Duckling" magic to be cut off before it could even show its effects.

Almost at the same time, she saw the black shadow stick to her body. It was sticky like a viscous, corrosive liquid that seeped into her body.

Bernadette's eyes darkened as she suddenly sensed something. She grabbed the final moment of lucidity and opened her mouth slightly, speaking in a fluent Chinese accent:

"Home…"

The black shadow's infiltration paused for a moment. Its upper body slowly rose as it looked at Bernadette.

Chapter 1306 Seal

The black figure froze as it released its grip on Bernadette's neck. It was as though it was staring at Queen Mystic with its non-existent eyes.

A dry, hoarse voice echoed in the concealed space:

"Home…"

This voice was filled with hesitation and confusion as though it was seeking confirmation. It was as if it had come from another world.

The corrosion that Bernadette encountered vanished. Her connection with the Sealed Artifact was instantly restored.

Pale Death once again ate at her vitality little by little. This helped her resist the chaos in her thoughts, maintaining her basic clarity and rationality.

Just as she was about to say something, the black figure suddenly stretched out its palm.

But this time, it didn't strangle Bernadette's neck, but instead, it pushed her hard.

Following this push was the collapse of the concealed space. It was a voice filled with pain as though it was resisting something.

"Leave!"

As the voice echoed, the black figure vanished.

In an instant, it appeared on the huge, black, high-backed chair in the middle of the platform.

Two cracks appeared on its face, as though two asymmetrical eyes had grown out.

However, the "eyes" didn't have any pupils. It was blood-colored.

Right on the heels of that, another crack appeared beneath the two "eyes." They too were filled with a pure, blood-red light.

This allowed the black figure to finally open its mouth.

It faced Bernadette as obvious sounds of pain resounded around it as though it was resisting something.

"Leave this place!"

After being pushed out more than ten meters away, Bernadette easily found her footing. However, she didn't follow the voice's order by leaving the Black Emperor's mausoleum. She stood there, staring blankly at the central platform. As she looked at the black figure, her expression revealed an unspeakable sadness.

She could sense and now confirm that the black figure was her father, the man who called himself Caesar—Roselle Gustav.

In the next second, more cracks appeared on the black figure's body. They ruptured from top to bottom, blooming blood-red flowers in different parts of his body.

This made Roselle look like he was left with a shadow that wrapped around a blood-red object that emitted pure light.

When Klein saw this scene above the gray fog, he naturally thought of the crimson moon high in the sky.

At that moment, Roselle seemed to have transformed into a shadow. He wanted to block the crimson moon, but openings ruptured from his body, allowing more and more moonlight to shine into the real world.

When these openings were connected together, the black shadow would completely split apart and give birth to a brand new crimson moon.

When that happened, something extremely terrifying would definitely happen.

At that moment, Roselle's black figure turned much more illusory, as though it had become an illusion.

This made him look like he had been isolated in another world. There was an invisible barrier between him and the real world.

Then, Roselle raised his right arm with great difficulty and pinched his forehead.

The frequency at which blood-red cracks appeared on his body instantly decreased to a nadir. However, the "eyes" that had already appeared blinked repeatedly.

However, this didn't bring any negative effects on the surroundings. It was as though it was just a simple change of order. The new "growth" of blood-red cracks was constantly being distorted to its original state of only having gradual activity.

After completing this, Roselle raised his head and looked at Bernadette who was dozens of meters away. He said with a hoarse voice, "You really have become an important figure in the mysterious world. You managed to come here alone.

"Come over, let me see how my little princess has grown."

Bernadette's eyes reddened as she took a step forward.

Roselle laughed again.

"Back when I made sketchbooks, textbooks, and invented all kinds of small games for you, you were just a tiny midget. Now, you're able to save your poor old father.

"I remember that you liked the clothes I designed for you when you were young. Unfortunately, you can't wear layered dresses after you're an adult…"

The Emperor rambled on, as if he had arrived in his twilight years and was someone who enjoyed reminiscing about the beautiful past.

Bernadette walked faster and faster. Above the gray fog, Klein frowned indiscernibly.

Suddenly, Emperor Roselle lowered his head and said with great force, "Stop!"

His voice carried an indescribable pain.

Bernadette was stunned for a moment before she slowed down and stopped.

She looked at the dark figure and her eyes gradually revealed an indescribable sadness.

Roselle raised his head again and coughed lightly.

"Didn't you really want to ask why the Black Emperor's mausoleum has to be engraved with the order one implemented and the style that one ushered? In fact, this wasn't necessary. I just wanted to let anyone who sees it remember my greatness…"

Before he could finish his sentence, the Emperor gripped the armrest by his side tightly. He suppressed his voice and said in extreme pain, "Don't come near me!

"I've been corrupted…"

The sadness in Bernadette's eyes deepened.

Her guess had finally been confirmed.

At that moment, the red cracks on Roselle's face began to turn chaotic. They "closed" and "opened" randomly with no signs of having a unified will.

The Emperor took the opportunity and straightened his body. He looked at Bernadette and shouted with great difficulty, "Seal me!"

Seal… Queen Mystic Bernadette repeated the word silently. Her blue eyes quickly turned moist as a faint mist enveloped them.

Even though she had lived for many years and was no longer the little girl she had been in the past, she was still unable to contain her emotions.

However, she didn't ask for the reason, nor did she hesitate. With just a slight struggle, she firmly raised her right hand and pressed it on the pale-white metal mask.

She calmly made a decision, just like how she had faced all the major events that happened on the Element Dawn over the years.

On the surface of Pale Death, the metal instantly turned soft as it reformed into a new face with two black eyes.

In the deep-black parts of the eye, white lines appeared, forming an extremely complicated and mysterious three-dimensional symbol. It was like a long-feathered bird or a coiled feathered serpent.

The symbol absorbed the surrounding light and quickly turned corporeal. Then, it separated from Bernadette's eyes and extended its "body" before flying towards Roselle Gustav on the iron-black chair.

Along the way, the strange symbol caused the surroundings to become increasingly dim. The floor tiles and stone walls suffered another round of weathering as if the deity in charge of death had passed the final judgment.

The falling rubble and flying dust followed the corporeal symbol and came to Roselle's side. Then, they coiled around him, enveloping the illusory black figure that seemed to exist in another world.

During this process, Roselle failed to control himself several times. He attempted to leave the iron-black chair, but he ended sitting back down. He didn't resist the seal that Bernadette had exerted on him.

As the symbol fused with his figure, he immediately had a connection with Pale Death. He saw the illusory deity that lorded over the countless undead and the swollen body of a water ghosts loitering in a dark river.

Roselle's aura immediately vanished as the cracked red openings closed one after another.

What awaited the Emperor was a quiet and peaceful sleep.

As for the symbol, it was sealed within Roselle's body, constantly influencing him until Pale Death stopped responding.

In the blink of an eye, several blood-red cracks appeared on Roselle's body again. After his aura declined to a nadir, it gradually began to glow as he fought back against the corporeal symbol.

Klein, who was above the gray fog, sighed when he saw this. He clenched his fist and pressed it against his mouth.

The "curtain" he draped around himself suddenly rose up, and the entire Sefirah Castle "boiled over" in an obvious manner.

Silently, the aura of new life that Roselle had just obtained began to dissipate.

After vanishing to a certain point, it gained new life once again. Then, it was affected by the Pale Death and continued to fade away.

Using the power of the Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder characteristic and Sefirah Castle, Klein directly "Grafted" new life and death, and skipped the process in between.

The corruption that Roselle suffered was no longer able to recover to the extent needed to break through the pale seal.

Following that, Klein extended his right hand and used the power of Sefirah Castle to draw out the mysterious symbol behind The Fool's high-back chair—the mysterious symbol made up of the Pupil-less Eye and the Contorted Lines.

The symbol absorbed the aura of Sefirah Castle and quickly turned corporeal. With a wave of Klein's wrist, it entered the prayer light representing Bernadette and landed on Roselle's black figure, fusing into his body.

Every time the "Grafting" vanished, this symbol that was directly related to The Fool and Sefirah Castle would draw upon new powers and complete the "Grafting" process once more.

As he constantly passed away and gained new life, Roselle's face, which seemed to be a pure shadow, obtained facial features. Then, he looked to the top of the mausoleum, as though he was looking into an infinite height.

He then retracted his gaze and looked at Bernadette. He said with an abnormally weak voice, "This seal is good. I can sleep in peace…"

With that said, he frowned slightly as his tone changed:

"Who taught you how to dress like this?"

Bernadette felt a little lost as she listened. It was as if she had returned to her teenage years.

At that time, when she had dressed up to the nines for a ball held by other nobles. Roselle would use a similar expression and a similar tone to pepper her with a series of questions.

The mist in her eyes became obvious, and she could no longer control herself. She lowered her voice and shouted, "Daddy…"

Roselle's facial features immediately turned gentle before tensing up again. He sternly said, "Leave.

"And never return!"

Bernadette opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her vision went black as though she could see the shadow of order.

In the next second, she found herself back at the edge of the primitive island.

Bernadette stared blankly at the mountain peak in the middle of the primitive island for a few seconds before slowly turning around and walking towards the sea.

This time, she didn't stubbornly insist on walking straight without looking back. Every few steps she took, she would stop and turn back to take a look.

Soon, she returned to the Dawn and entered the captain's cabin. She opened the room that was specially used to hold her collection.

At a glance, Bernadette saw books, stacks of textbooks, clothes, and skirts. She saw the chess game that few people in the world knew, and the neat pile of wooden block toys.

She leaned against the wooden door, slowly curled up, and sat on the floor.

She raised her head to look at the dark sky outside the captain's cabin and pinched her lips with her right thumb and index finger. She whistled a melodious tune—it was a gentle, sweet, and sad melody that could calm people down.

As the melody echoed, water beads fell from Bernadette's face and dripped onto the floor.

After an unknown period of time, the captain's cabin was filled with a suppressed whimper.

"Daddy…"

Chapter 1307 Meeting

In the middle of the primitive island, in the Black Emperor mausoleum.

After sending away Bernadette, Roselle didn't immediately fall into a deep sleep. He slowly raised his head and looked up once again into the infinite distance.

Above the gray fog, Klein sighed silently. He put down the Staff of the Stars and grabbed a paper figurine before shaking it.

With a smacking sound, the paper figurine rapidly thickened and expanded before flying into the translucent vortex formed from illusory mysterious symbols beside The Fool's chair.

Although Bernadette had already moved to the edge of the primitive island and Klein could no longer see the situation inside the Black Emperor mausoleum through the prayer light. However, he could use the symbol of The Fool that had merged with Roselle's figure to maintain a connection with the Emperor up to a certain extent.

After the paper figurine passed through the slowly spinning vortex, it descended into the dim mausoleum which had an unknown light source. It then turned into a human in front of the central platform.

This human's black hair and brown eyes were somewhat similar to Gehrman Sparrow's, but he didn't have clear-cut features. The lines weren't deep enough, and his bearing wasn't cold enough. There were also certain differences in his facial features. His chin and stomach had a small amount of fat induced by an indulgent society. It was Klein's original appearance as Zhou Mingrui, the Zhou Mingrui who had been hanging inside Sefirah Castle for thousands of years beside Roselle Huang Tao Gustav.

Roselle wasn't surprised by his appearance. With one hand on the armrest, he leaned forward slightly and said, "You're here."

"I'm here." Klein nodded indiscernibly.

"You shouldn't be here." Roselle sighed.

"I'm already here." Klein very naturally participated in completing the meme populated by a popular Chinese novel by Gu Long.

Having completely confirmed the origins of the fellow in front of him, Roselle returned to his normal sitting posture, chuckling as he said, "I originally planned on asking where you're from to see there's any need for regional discrimination[1], but after some thought, there's no need for that. We're all anachronistic miserable wretches without a home."

Without waiting for Klein's reply, the Emperor's voice sank as he asked, "You know the truth about the apocalypse?"

"Yes." Klein nodded slightly.

Roselle continued asking, "You know that this is Earth?"

"Yes," Klein answered frankly.

When Roselle heard that, he laughed self-deprecatingly.

"You actually learned about it so early. I only dared to confirm it after I went to the moon and saw the true appearance of this planet from high above."

At this point, the Emperor sighed and said, "The moon is bizarre. I clearly felt terror, but I didn't even consider the possibility of being corrupted. Then, I became more and more extreme.

"However, I did occasionally gain a certain level of clarity from the views of people around me, but I didn't dare to write it in the diary in that state. I was afraid of exposing secrets and losing my final chance.

"I eventually decided to use all the groundwork I did previously to switch to the Black Emperor pathway. Apart from the impending apocalypse with Sequence 0s being the only ones capable of protecting the people 'They' wish to protect, 'They' can hide them in other planets in the vast universe and use the corresponding authorities to rebuild a set of order for humans to survive in desolate lands. I also saw the hope of escaping my corruption, by using the Black Emperor's ability to 'resurrect.'

"As long as I became a Sequence 0 Black Emperor and was truly killed after turning half-crazy, I'd have the chance of resurrecting in the mausoleum or in the astral world. When that happened, what would return to me would be a pure Uniqueness and three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics. I wouldn't be tainted at all, nor will I contain an uncontrollable madness.

"Speaking of which, I made use of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery to a certain extent back then.

"But the horror of the Great Old Ones far exceeded my imagination. Accompanying my revival was a new life of corruption… Perhaps only Great Old Ones can resist Great Old Ones.

"I could only terminate the revival process, and live such an ignoble existence in my final mausoleum to prevent the Great Old One from using my body to be born in the real world. That would've brought about a devastating disaster."

Klein had long guessed Emperor Roselle's condition based on what he knew and what had just happened. He wasn't surprised at all as he calmly replied, "The one who corrupted you is called the Mother Goddess of Depravity. 'She' has bewitched many believers as the embodiment of the Primordial Moon."

The facial features that appeared faintly on Roselle's face immediately changed.

He fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "I know the Primordial Moon, but I didn't know that 'Her' true honorific name is the Mother Goddess of Depravity.

"Now that I think about it, my discovery of Mr. Door's cry for help might not have been a coincidence…"

Upon hearing this, Klein was alarmed. He instantly recalled the situations happening off-island. He had some sort of premonition about what Emperor Roselle was about to say.

Roselle laughed and sighed.

"The biggest problem in the first half of my life was that I was too confident. I always had the feeling that I could reload a save file and redo things. I didn't pay enough attention to the details.

"Back then, Grimm was corrupted by the strange powers on this island. He returned here after dying and regained new life. Isn't this the influence of the Primordial Moon? After I finished all sorts of investigations and did the corresponding purifications, I felt that I was fine. But in fact, fate might've undergone a tiny change at that moment. This resulted in me encountering Mr. Door later, and was slowly guided to the moon by 'Him'…

"You can't blame Mr. Door. 'His' condition might be worse than mine."

Does the Emperor mean that he has been targeted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity the moment he discovered this primitive island? Klein sighed.

"At that time, who would've thought that the problem would be so serious?"

Before Sequence 2, understanding the cosmos and the Great Old Ones led to terrifying corruption. And without understanding it, one wouldn't be able to accurately determine how serious the problem or what kind of patchwork was needed subsequently when faced with certain situations. This made Roselle treat this primitive island as his secret base; thus not informing existences that had the right to understand the Outer Deities, Great Old Ones, and Cosmos.

"That's right." Roselle seemed to be very gratified that he had committed a mistake that almost anyone would make.

He then said, "In that ancient and secretive organization, there was almost no mention of the Great Old Ones or Outer Deities."

At that moment, Roselle paused for a moment before saying, "You should've read my diary. You should know what the ancient and hidden organization represents."

Klein nodded.

"I know which organization it is referring to. I never expected that you wouldn't dare mention the name of 'His' organization after having the level of a Sequence 0."

"I have a nagging feeling that 'He' isn't simple. 'He' might have an understanding of the Outer Deities that far exceeds our imagination, so it's better to be more careful. After all, I'm not a complete Sequence 0 true god." After Roselle said this simple sentence, his brows suddenly furrowed. "How much of my diary did you read?"

If the atmosphere wasn't that heavy and sorrowful, Klein would definitely find it irresistible to reply with "the taste of a Demoness ain't bad" as a way to tease his fellow Earthling.

Finally, he replied calmly, "Plenty."

After saying the word, he casually added, "I even found a few Cards of Blasphemy."

"Which ones?" Roselle blurted out.

Klein controlled the paper figurine's expression from above the gray fog and said in a flat tone, "Black Emperor, Tyrant, Red Priest, and The Fool."

"Phew…" Roselle exhaled as the faint crease on his brows eased. "Thankfully, it's not the Demoness, The Moon, and the Mother card."

You had to mention it yourself… Klein didn't respond as he looked at the Emperor without a change in expression.

After Roselle said that, he realized something and hurriedly coughed.

"Well we've all watched live-streams, so you should know very well how normal it is to cross-dress…"

As he spoke, he coughed again and sighed.

"Which pathway are you from?"

"Seer," Klein replied succinctly.

Roselle immediately fell silent. After a few seconds, he said, "Unfortunately, if everything is fine and dandy, you should be responsible for pulling out a large-screen television and a game console from the Historical Void. We can chat while playing. That's a romantic dream of us men."

Unfortunately, there's no electricity. I have to rely on you to invent it… Klein didn't voice out his thoughts. He maintained his tone and said, "I hope such a day will come."

Then, he pulled the topic back on track.

"I'm very curious why the Card of Blasphemy you created can't even be found by deities? Such a level of anti-divination and anti-prophecy is amazing."

Roselle immediately chuckled.

"It's because knowledge can bring power, and power can also bestow knowledge. This is the authority of a Knowledge Emperor.

"After I infused the potion formula of the twenty-two pathways with power, they naturally produced the convergence powers between Beyonder characteristics. They also gained anti-divination and anti-prophecy effects to a certain extent.

"And then…"

As he spoke, Roselle suddenly paused, as though he had sensed something amiss.

After one or two seconds, he said in an ethereal voice, "The creation of the Card of Blasphemy was a year before I held the Black Emperor ritual. Back then, I had already suffered the corruption of the Primordial Moon, and I didn't have the corresponding realization most of the time.

"Why can the twenty-two cards not be found by deities?"

Upon hearing this question above the gray fog, Klein's heart tightened as he felt his scalp tingle again.

Without waiting for his response from the paper figurine, Roselle's voice suddenly raised, bringing with it an indescribable fear.

"Don't gather the twenty-two cards!

"Be careful of the Mother card!"

These two sentences echoed in the deep interior of the Black Emperor mausoleum for a long time.

[1] Something common in China. Instead of being "racist," they look down on people from poorer regions.

Chapter 1308 Goodbye

Above the gray fog, Klein's pupils instantly widened as he subconsciously looked down at the long mottled table in front of him.

There were four Cards of Blasphemy with different patterns on the back.

At that moment, he felt a little scared and relieved. He felt as though he had been wandering about on the edge of the abyss while blindfolded, but he never fell.

If he had done his best to gather all the Card of Blasphemy, or had obtained the Mother card, with the way how he liked to put the different cards in his body to obtain the corresponding levels and special characteristics, he might've already been corrupted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity, or be pregnant with something.

However, I'm not Roselle. Even if I have the Mother card, I probably wouldn't have done so. Furthermore, in order to prevent the deities from finding it, Cards of Blasphemy are extremely difficult to gather. It's almost impossible to gather all of them… From the looks of it, this is a casual arrangement made by the Mother Goddess of Depravity. If anyone were to unfortunately obtain the Mother card, they would become one of the latent dangers in this world… Klein retracted his gaze and continued using his stand-in Paper Figurine Substitutes to look at Roselle Gustav who was sitting on the black iron seat.

At that moment, Roselle raised his body slightly. His voice was sometimes low and sometimes high-pitched.

"Everything has godhood in them…

"The Oldest One is still alive, alive in everyone's bodies!"

Klein frowned slightly. He didn't know if the one speaking was Roselle or the crimson moon in his body.

Not only did he have a certain level of understanding regarding such secrets, he had also personally experienced it before. Thus, he wasn't that horrified or panicked. He only recalled the teachings of the Aurora Order he had seen in the past:

They promoted the belief that the Creator was omnipresent and existed in every living being's body. Therefore, all living beings had godhood. Once godhood reached a certain concentration, they could become an angel. And the current orthodox deities are nothing more than slightly stronger angels. To ordinary people, as long as one was able to grasp that the essence of life was a spiritual travel, and tempered one's mind, strengthen one's spirit, and find their own godhood, as well as fuse with more godhoods, one would be able to escape their mortal coils and become an angel.

Back then, I felt that a cult like the Aurora Order had a complete set of mysticism and religious canon, just like the orthodox Churches, but now, I can interpret the truth underlying these words… From a certain point of view, it's true. The only problem is that after fusing with more godhoods, they might no longer be themselves… The True Creator actually placed the deepest secrets of this world into "His" teachings. Isn't "He" afraid that a believer might suddenly have an epiphany and learn of the underground corruption, eventually becoming a vessel for the Oldest One's revival? This Hanged Man really is a little crazy. "He" doesn't have much rationality most of the time… Klein mumbled inwardly as he waited for Roselle to say more.

Two to three seconds later, Roselle, who had been in a cycle of slumber and the obtaining of new life, sat back on his iron-black throne. He panted and didn't say a word.

Klein then controlled the paper figurine to say, "Which of the words that you have just said should be trusted, and which ones should I be wary of?"

Roselle chortled.

"Consider the answer yourself."

"Heh, isn't that how you Seers like to speak?"

He didn't wait for Klein's reply as he continued, "When I created the Pale Death mask, I sensed something: The Death of the Fourth Epoch might not have completely perished. 'He' might've left a hidden trump card for being revived. It might involve the River of Eternal Darkness. Heh heh, Death will definitely not die so easily…"

With that said, Roselle looked at Klein, who stood at the foot of the platform.

"Indeed, only by choosing the Seer, Apprentice, or Marauder pathway can a transmigrator enter Sefirah Castle. By the time I figured out this factor, it was already way too late.

"I don't know if you want to become a Great Old One or not, nor do I know if this requires a ritual. I can only tell you that this is definitely more dangerous than becoming a deity—countless times more dangerous. Perhaps the existence who stored us and threw us back into the real world is waiting for you there.

"The only suggestion I can give you is to communicate with the Genie of the Magic Wishing Lamp before you make any attempts."

Genie? Using the grudge between "Him" and the Celestial Worthy to obtain certain assistance? Klein nodded slightly and said, "Okay."

After hearing his answer, Roselle sighed and said with a smile, "If you really can become a Great Old One, you can consider saving me. Only a Great Old One can resist a Great Old One."

At this point, he fell silent for a moment before he slowed down his speech.

"If you can't completely free me from the corruption of the Primordial Moon after becoming a Great Old One, then remember to wipe my existence off the face of the world. Destroy this mausoleum, support the creation of a new Black Emperor, and prevent me from ever being revived…"

The light inside the mausoleum seemed to dim a little. Klein fell silent for two seconds before saying, "I won't forget that."

Roselle fell silent. After a few seconds, he laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Of course, before that, you should try to save me a few more times."

Such a sense of humor didn't make Klein smile. Instead, it made his heart sink even more, making him unable to speak.

Roselle didn't continue the topic as he recalled.

"My wife passed away a long time ago. The mistresses I once had definitely had their own endings. Towards them, I feel very sorry. I've never truly loved them. I only coveted their looks and the pleasure they gave me…

"I don't have any illegitimate children. Towards such matters, a Beyonder is quite aware of that. As for the time before I became a Beyonder, I believe those ladies definitely coveted my looks and body to enjoy such pleasures. They won't leave any trouble for themselves…

"My eldest son, Ciel, should be dead for years. I don't know how many descendants he left behind. My second son, Bornova, would definitely be an angel now if nothing unexpected happens. I have complicated feelings for him. On the one hand, I'm very detached, disappointed, and resentful, but on the other hand, I would occasionally secretly care about him. I remember how adorable he was when he was just born…

"You've already met my eldest daughter, Bernadette. Isn't she beautiful? She was pretty from a young age, obedient, and smart. She knew how to be filial to her old father, protect her younger brother, and dote on her mother. Sometimes, she acted especially righteous and appeared a little silly. There were several times when I secretly cheated while playing chess or games with her, but she didn't realize it. Such a temper made it difficult for her to accept what I did later. Of course, now, I can just push the blame onto the Primordial Moon. It's all because of 'Her' corruption. I'm rather grateful for 'Her' on this point.

"I don't know what right I have to make a request. After all, I've never helped you before, nor do I have much of a relationship with you. It's just that we're from the same era and same place—the ties as a fellow Earthling."

Upon hearing that, Klein said in a deep voice, "Your diary gave me plenty of help. It allowed me to grasp a lot of high-level knowledge when I was weak, allowing me to avoid many dangers and know how to direct my efforts in a targeted manner.

"Also, those Cards of Blasphemy have shown their use at different stages."

"Can you not mention the diary?" Roselle coughed lightly and said, "However, in the later stages, I was indeed consciously leaving a message to the next transmigrator. The only thing I couldn't be sure of is which language you know."

The Emperor slowly exhaled before saying, "My request is to help me look after Bernadette. When she needs help, provide her some help.

"Although she is about to become an important figure in the mysterious world, I still can't feel at ease as a father."

Without any hesitation, Klein got the paper figurine to answer directly.

"I'll take care of her for you."

"…Man, why does this sound a little awkward?" Roselle's tone instantly turned odd. "By the way, I haven't asked for your name. As for me, you should know very well that I'm Huang Tao."

"Zhou Mingrui," Klein answered frankly.

"Are you married? Do you have children? How old are you?" Roselle raised three questions in one go.

Emperor, why are you acting like a gossipy middle-aged woman from next door? Klein shook his head and gave a simple answer.

"No."

Roselle immediately fell silent. After a moment, he said, "You and I are of the same generation. Bernadette should call you Uncle Zhou.

"Yes…"

As he spoke, Roselle's tone suddenly became filled with pity.

"After coming to this era, I treated everything as a game in the beginning. I was having a great time playing, but I would occasionally recall my home, remembering the past where I cultivated most of my personality and hobbies.

"The longer I lived, the higher the frequency I felt this feeling. It's like the fallen leaves will always want to return to the roots of a tree. However, at the very least, I have a daughter, a wife, and two sons. There are still many things in this world that I'm worried about, and some sense of belonging to a certain extent. As for you… I can feel your loneliness, the loneliness that comes from deep within your bones."

Upon saying that, Roselle suddenly sighed.

"If only we were still living in that era. I'll go to work punctually every day and work overtime from time to time. Whenever I'm free, I'll visit my daughter's extracurricular lessons, pick her up, bring her home stuff my wife constantly reminds me about. Every weekend, we'll either head out for some fun or head to my parents' place to accompany them…

"When one day I'm exhausted from life, I'll use an excuse that you as my friend are treating me. As men, we can sit by the street and eat some skewers, drink some alcohol, brag, curse our superiors, reminisce about the days of our youth, and urge you to quickly find a girlfriend… When I wake up the next day, I'll be able to have the zeal to continue facing life again…"

Klein listened quietly without interrupting the Emperor's prattle.

Roselle's voice gradually lowered as he smiled.

"Goodbye, my friend.

"I hope we can really meet again one day."

His figure quickly turned illusory, as though he had disappeared from the world, leaving only a faint shadow hovering over the iron-black throne.

Roselle Gustav had returned to his eternal slumber.