The Fool and the Demonic Wolf.

Bustle Bustle

As the dust swayed by on the road, the bustling sound of people walking on its rough surface resonated through the surroundings. People went by, some coming and some going, some talking to each other, while others simply stood by looking over at the bright crimson sky, littered with countless stars, casting their illumination on the planet.

It was a peaceful time, a blissful time for the newly established Tingen City. The people that were once subjected to a terrible, harsh life, with death being their only moment of rest, had now slowly begun to be rejuvenated with their new life; one actually worth living. They could now wear extravagant clothing that wasn't tattered, or ripped. Clean proper clothes that protected them from the harsh weather and made them appear like living, breathing people.

They had the luxury of foot wears, providing their feets protection from dust, pebbles and a number of other things. They had plentiful and scrumptious meals, allowing them the luxury of choice. They had their own houses providing them ample shelter, and had the autonomy to choose their own vocations in life unlike merely hoping they'll peacefully see the next day.

To most, this felt like a dream. A lustrous one they would soon wake up from, back into their harsh reality, a scary thought that constantly plagued their minds, creeping at every corner. Yet, even if it did turn out to be nothing more than a dream, the people having slowly learned to enjoy it, were slowly escaping from their previous nightmare.

As the constant bustle on the streets went by, with people going back to their home or some preferring to wander around in the starry night; suddenly, everyone froze. The town itself became motionless as if frozen in time, as the hundreds of people all stood at their spot, their eyes widened with shock as an illusory voice drilled into their head, ringing itself into their ears like an illusory raving.

An unknown amount of time went by, as one by one, the people in town dropped to their knees, clasped their hands together, and in unison spoke out loudly, their varying voices mystically tuning together, as certain words escaped their lips.

"An Existence from a Bygone Time;

"The Lady of Concealment;

"Herald of Misfortune;

"Mistress of Repose and Silence."

Hundreds of people chanted the Honorific name of Goddess of Misfortune, a revelation they have just received providing them with a means of praying to their benevolent deity. They chanted the Honorific name over and over again, an act of genuine piousness towards the deity.

Their chorus spread far and wide, as the morning Sun faintly parted the sky.

The sound of chanting filled the entire area, making itself known. Perhaps far away, landing in the ears of a certain Sun God.

…

Far away from Tingen, even further than the Northern Continent. Klein Moretti, the King of King of Angels of Fool pathway, leaned against a giant boulder in the middle of a lush forest. His eyes were closed, while his relatively slender body bathed in the bright sunlight, giving birth to a massive shadow. He was relaxed, seemingly having no worries in his life, as he comfortably stood, patiently waiting for someone.

That someone didn't take much of his time, as Klein felt a certain change in his surroundings, most noticeably the shadows created by the trees and that of his own thicken. It wasn't exactly the shadow, but the commutative darkness that was created from so many shadows gathering together. Klein observed as the darkness around him gathered at a spot, and then shaped into a corporal figure, resembling a wolf with 8 legs.

The darkness suddenly scattered by, as a figure approached Klein—a black furred, 8-legged demonic wolf, who had dark eyes that appeared serene, having the ability to calm one's soul. Klein chuckled, lifted his hand, and took off his hat, soon placing it on his chest. After offering her a gentlemanly bow, he spoke out in a soft but mischievous tone, "Good Afternoon. Isn't the weather nice today?"

I don't know why, but I suddenly don't have a nice feeling about this… The Servant of Concealment, Amanises, frowned. She let out a sigh and laughed, "I would say, it's a little too bright today." She spoke, trying to replicate his tone. Klein's eyes narrowed slightly as put his hat back on, and through the use of his clown prowess, immediately took notice of a change that had occurred in Amanises body.

She has gotten much smaller! He thought as the image of the goddess of misfortune surfaced in his mind. Comparing that image to the demonic wolf in front of him, Klein confirmed his observation, and took notice of a number of more differences.

Not only has her body reduced in size, it seems her internal skeleton is contracting alongside her organs. Her body has begun to change! Klein was amazed to a certain extent, as the figure of the Evernight Goddess flashed in front of his eyes. Though, It's not by too much. She is still a demonic wolf, just a smaller one. With the rate, it would still take quite a while before she will truly gain a Human form… I wonder if she will have those six arms.

Amanises took notice of his prolonged stare and felt awkward. "So… From where shall we begin this adventure?" Klein, unbothered by her weird expression, replied nonchalantly, "I haven't actually decided yet. Where do you wanna go?"

Where do I wanna go? I thought you had something in mind, that's why I didn't bother thinking… Amanises lampooned inwardly. She then looked up at the bluish sky and thought of the various places she knew of by name. Moon city? No… Anywhere but that. Giant King's court? Too dangerous. Actually, I'd rather not be in the Eastern Continent because of Master…

Then, How about the Northern or Southern Continent? I did want to visit Tingen, that should be a good place to start! Amanises looked back at Klein, and softly spoke, "How about Tingen for starters? We can explore from there." She saw Klein smile, and gave a thumbs up.

"Very well then. Though I'll need to hide you through illusion. They wouldn't take a demonic wolf entering their newly established town lightly? No?" Amanises nodded, indicating understanding. I need to gain a human body quickly... She emphasised in her mind, as they both entered the spirit world. "Follow me." Klein said, waving his hand, as the two wandered through the illusory realm.

Tingen it is then… Actually, I wonder if… Klein thought for a moment, as he caressed his chin. Turning around, his gaze landed at Amanises as he asked, "Do you want to directly go there, or should we just go to the Northern Continent and travel to Tingen by foot from there. I am asking this, because we are essentially 'adventuring' together. What fun would it be, if we were to directly reach our destination without experiencing a Journey?"

Klein had another unspoken reason. That was, that he had, so far, only seen the condition of this world in the more prominent places, such as Moon City, or the shores of the Northern Continent. He had not truly borne witness to this world of the second epoch, being utterly unaware of what might be happening in secrets. His main goal for exploring the world was to strengthen his humanity, so by embarking on a true journey of sorts, he could achieve just that. 

On a side note, the bluff I made in front of her, would become true too. Klein inwardly nodded to himself, as he waited for his friend to give a reply. Amanises thought, weighing his words, before ultimately nodding, indicating agreement. Not gonna lie, with how this is shaping, I feel like I have isekaied into an RPG world…

Amanises teased herself, as she and Klein got a move on again. After travelling for a bit further, while having a small chatter among themselves, they finally exited the spirit world, appearing not too further away from a shore. Amanises gazed at the shore, looking over the various tents, burnt out campfires littered with ashes, and the hundreds of humans that assumed a defensive stance against the sea at all times.

Her gaze naturally moved over at sea, where she saw enormous tsunamis, capable of levelling entire cities, approaching the shore at high speed. Immediately her head turned towards Klein, who wore a nonchalant expression, displaying no care. Amanises took it as a good sign, and turned her head back towards the enormous tsunamis approaching their way. But before they could get dangerously closer, a giant, sharpened, windblade slashed through the body of water. This windblade was followed by thousands more, as they quickly took care of the sea calamites.

"Get used to this. This is essentially life outside the Demonic wolves settlement." Klein paused for a moment, as his gaze settled on Amanises. "Constant War." The demonic wolf remained incredibly still, feeling her companion's emphasis on 'war' at the end. She then silently nodded as they began to walk away from the shore, while Klein gave her a rundown.

"The Humans and Elves are at war with each other on the shores of the continent and its neighbouring island. The southern continent is mostly uncharted, with only phoenixes loitering around. The Eastern Continent situation is something you are already aware of..." Amanises listened calmly, before posing a question. "What about Dragons, and Devils?" 

"I don't have much of an idea on Devil's but Dragons usually stay in the City of Miracles, Liveseyd. Only on special occasions would they come out of this divine kingdom and descend on to the real world." Her curiosity instantly peaked. "City of Miracles, Liveseyd?"

She and Klein were walking down in a forest on a makeshift dirt road, presumably built for easy transportation of goods. While Amanises did not know of the route to Tingen, she had at least this much trust on Klein that they were heading in the right direction. While Klein…

I have zero idea where this road leads us. He had an extremely innocent expression on his face as he explained, "Do you know of Divine Kingdoms? Well regardless, at Sequence 0, you became capable of manifesting a complete divine kingdom. It is essentially a realm that embodies the concept represented by the corresponding True Deity. City of Miracles, Liveseyd is…"

As Klein spoke, Amanises took notice of their darkening surroundings, as seemingly a shadowy veil enveloped the whole area, cutting off any and all connection from the outside world. She blinked as she felt her connection with the spirit world, and the surroundings darkness vanished. Not only this, all her abilities felt suppressed, weakening her.

"Dragon of Imagination, Ankewelt's divine kingdom." Klein uttered the true name of 'The one who must not be named' causing Amanises to freeze up and gulp her own saliva. She remained still for the longest of time, waiting for a fleet of dragons to suddenly rain down upon the both of them. But as time went by, and nothing came to be, she slowly loosened herself, still on guard, and gave Klein a look of "What's wrong with you?" Klein in response, presented the most innocent looking smile ever, like that of a newborn, yet beneath it was a poorly concealed spite that very loudly spelled out, "Everything".

I was correct. Travelling with this guy is gonna be stressful and troublesome! Amanises spited on her poor choice of companion. "Do not worry. Before uttering Dragon of Imagination real name, I brought forth the embryonic form of my Divine Kingdom…" Klein paused and looked around for a moment, gazing at the thick shadowy curtain that veiled the area. "Realm of Mysteries. It has the capability of distorting Space and time to separate; blocking information transfer. You can think of anything or anyone in here, without having to worry about them being aware of it. You can even think of Grisha."

Amanises face slowly morphed into that of amusement. Embryonic form? That means it's still incomplete. But even more of a fact, that at sequence 1 you can create an embryonic form of a divine kingdom? Interesting. Or could it be due to Klein's connection to his corresponding Great Old One Sefirah? I am pretty sure his level is much above Sequence 1 but below Sequence 0, so it would make sense if that is the case… I suppose, I can only discover that once I became one myself.

It seems to be that The Realm of Mysteries has extremely high concealment authority for it to completely separate itself from material, spirit and even the astral world. The concealment authority doesn't seem to be any less potent than in the Darkness path, but their way of concealment is wildly different. Back to topic. So, the city of dragons is in fact a divine kingdom? Is that why no one could ever discover it?

Countless thoughts plagued the Servant of Concealments mind, as she bent her head down and began to make a few more connections which she hadn't thought of yet. Also, now that I can think of it. Merely thinking about Dragon of Imagination can cause "Him" to be aware of you, this same applies for Grisha according to Klein. Does that mean one of the pathways of Chaos Sea, or should I say, God Almighty's is the Dragon pathway? 

Klein silently stood there, letting her ruminate over her thoughts and make necessary connections. I am bored… He took out some cards from the historical void, and began to cut the deck in various ways to pass the time. A few moments later, Amanises finally looked back at him, and quickly noticed his activities as well as his stoic and bored expression. This is weirdly cute… She complimented in her head, and coughed lightly causing Klein to come out of his trance. "You done?" Amanises smiled and nodded. She then noticed the surroundings returning back to normalcy as the thick shadowy curtain retreated to void. 

Klein put away his deck of cards, and tipped his head. "Then shall we get going?" Amanises chuckled at his gentlemanly activities as they began to move again. 

Time flew by, as The Fool and the Demonic wolf continued on their journey, occasionally chattering, while sometime silently ruminating. Occasionally stopping in their route to eat too. 

"But we are Mythical Creatures, we don't have any need to eat?" Amanises questioned as Klein rolled over a picnic carpet, and took out a basket from the historical void. "Simple. Another way to maintain humanity is to perform mundane human tasks. For how meaningless they may be, they, to beings like us, hold a significant connection, a corresponding memory of sorts, that evokes emotion."

Does that include washroom business too? Amanises tilted her head, but regardless laid down on the picnic carpet that was smaller than her body. Klein put on some jam and butter on a piece of white bread and then handed it over to her. Amanises sniffed the bread for a moment and then bit on it with her wolf teeths, before completely snatching it away from Klein's hand and eating the entire sandwich in one large bite.

Klein chuckled upon seeing this, causing Amanises to feel slight embarrassment. I truly am acting like a dog now… Like a talking dog! She looked away as her ears twitched wildly. They both ate their picnic fills, before lying down on the carpet, laid on a grassy field. Klein looked at the bright sun that was hanging on top of them, signifying mid-day. He couldn't help but gulp his own saliva and narrowed his gaze while looking at the bright 'Sun', before ultimately relaxing himself. Hehe, Taking out that worry over the 'Sun'. I have never been this relaxed in a long while… Seems like coming to this age wasn't a bad thing after all. He silently chuckled to himself as he closed his eyes, feeling the warm breeze flutter his hairs specks.

Amanises whose head was turned towards this Angel, watched his calm and relaxed expression, and felt herself feeling relaxed from it. It's a shame I can't feel sleepy without making it up… She closed her eyes, letting the warm rays of sun and gentle breeze calm her soul. This was possibly the best time she has had ever since her transmigration.

After resting for quite a while, Klein dispelled the Historical Projections, as he and Amanises continued on their journey, walking side by side.

…

"The Sun has begun to set." 

Amanises commented as she and Klein walked inside a small abandoned village. The cracesses of wooden buildings and structures, and the settled dust on their wooden frames alongside the deafening silence, gave this deserted place an eerie feeling, as if it has been preserved in time, creaking on untold history. What could have happened here? What secrets might lie beneath? What untold story have these wooden buildings witnessed? What happened to the people who onced called this their home? They both could only merely speculate, with no way of confirming their guesses.

"Considering it's about to be nighttime, shall we set up a campfire and rest here for today?" Klein asked, looking over at Amanises who stood a few feet away from him, her gaze fixed over a toppled house. You truly do consider it an adventure, huh? Amanises found it quite amusing and simply nodded.

Since they were already in the middle of a forest and within the carcassess of a village that was made out of wood, it didn't take Klein too long to set up a campfire. He quickly brought over some logs and set up a seating beside the bright burning fire. The environment grew increasingly quiet as time went by, the crimson slowly creaking in filling the night sky as well as illuminating the entire land, albeit faintly.

Klein and Amanises mostly remained silent, while the former cooked pieces of meat on top of the fire. Amanises had zero idea where he even got them. It didn't take too long as the meat was nicely grizzled, Klein took out condiments from the historical void and sizzled the piece of meat, before a plate of them over to Amanises. She instinctively bent down and sniffed the plate, confirming that they weren't human meat. Seems like beef or pork… Wait? There are cows and pigs in this world? Amanises was slightly taken aback, having never considered the existence of normal animals in this world. She shook her head and ate her portion, admitting to herself that Klein is a good cook.

"You enjoy cooking, huh?" Amanises commented, earning a stiff laughter from Klein. "Well… I used to live alone in a rented apartment, and my salary wasn't really that great, to be honest. So, I kinda just learned how to cook to save up on money." Amanises furrowed her eyebrows hearing this. This was the first time Klein had revealed anything regarding himself ever since their first meeting. Uhh should I also talk about myself??

"I used to be a part of the higher management of a big company… And I was kinda bad at cooking." Amanises said, and then instantly felt awkward. Seems like my communication skills have suffered from my godhood and prolonged isolation… Amanises lampooned and looked up at Klein, who had an expression of amazement. "That's really nice! I used to be an engineer." Amanises felt a tug upon hearing this, and further chatted.

"Cool. My brother was an engineer too. Besides, I thought they had a good salary?'

"Not really…I mean, it depends upon experience. I was freshly out of college."

"That means you are younger than me. Hehe…"

For some reason, that "Hehe" does not give me good vibes… Klein lampooned as the both of them chatted their dinner away. Klein couldn't help but bring out a genuine smile, as someone that didn't have too many people to talk to, especially ever since his transmigration, it was a nice change to be able to talk freely without having to put up a character in place. He could truly just be himself.

They both quickly finished their dinner, while continuing to chat about their profession and before long, Amanises felt like sleeping once more, an action she felt was quite important to her mental health. Klein only chuckled at this, as he summoned a blanket for her to rest upon, and before he knew it, this sleepless angel had fallen asleep.

To think this woman would be the Sequence 0 of the sleepless pathway… Klein leaned towards a tree and rested his head against the hardwood. He gazed at the starry crimson sky, letting a sigh escape himself. Moving his head towards the sleeping Amanises, Klein smiled and shook his head. She is much different than what I imagined. There is almost no semblance of this Amanises and the Evernight Goddess I am familiar with…

Hmm, it only invokes my imagination further as to what that Goddess went through? How did "Her" and Grisha's first meeting go without me? Did "She" ever experience these moments? Haha, Likely not. Another sigh escaped, as he felt bad for his fellow transmigrator and a true friend. But that's not the case anymore… I changed it. I wonder how "She" would have felt about this development? Hehe, In saying 'I wouldn't change history too much' to changing one of the biggest, most prominent figures in history. I truly did underestimate myself.

Klein facepalmed while smiling like a madman. What has been done, has been done. There is nothing I can do anymore, neither do I wish to. I took a choice and I shall bear its consequences no matter how severe or serene they may be. He resonated with himself, affirming his past actions.

But, there is one person I still can't decide what to do with… Klein's smile dropped as he turned his head towards some trees. It wasn't the trees that Klein was staring at, but far away in the direction of his head, hundred thousands and thousands of Kilometres away, was a certain pseudo Visionary whose gaze had been long fixated on the Fool and the Demonic Wolf.

Grisha… The contents of his last meeting flashed in Klein's eyes.