976 Zealo

Dressed in pajamas, Klein didn't move. In his spiritual perception, the intruder's Spirit Body Threads appeared.

This also meant that if he so wished, he could turn everyone in 160 Böklund Street into his marionette without leaving the bed. Of course, to a demigod—a Bizarro Sorcerer—the neighbors a few buildings away were within range.

There are many Spirit Bodies around. One of them is helping him fly. He has landed on the opposite balcony… Is it a Beyonder from the Death pathway, or the Evernight pathway? To be able to do this, he must at least be a Sequence 6… He's here for Richardson? No, he's walking towards my bedroom. He has paused and has reached out his right hand to knock gently on my door… He's certain that I've detected him? Klein sat up with a slightly heavy expression.

He had made the initial judgment via the Spirit Body Threads, but subsequently, he did it via direct "sight"—a scene that formed in his mind.

After Klein reached Sequence 4, not only was his danger premonition as a Clown enhanced, the amount of power he could stir and use from the mysterious space above the gray fog had experienced a qualitative boost. With the two combined, it wasn't difficult for him to use his intuition to have a projection of the intruder's figure and actions, despite the distance.

In addition, due to his deepened control over the mysterious space, Klein could converge the augmentation effects the gray fog had on him in the real world. This prevented Beyonders of certain pathways from seeing anything. Based on his judgment, by being above the gray fog, augmenting himself with a Card of Blasphemy, and using the Sea God Scepter, the strength that The Fool could direct at the real world was asymptotically closer to that of an angel.

If that weren't the case, even if the gray fog and the Paper Figurine Substitutes could allow others to maintain their lucidity in dreamlike states, Klein wouldn't have dared to allow Miss Justice to face a Sequence 4 or even Sequence 3 of the Spectator pathway.

Amidst his thoughts, he left his bed, wore his slippers, and straightened his pajamas. He walked to the reclining chair and leisurely sat down.

"Please come in."

The door to the master bedroom opened silently, but no cold wind blew in. All it did was spiral in the corridor.

The visitor was a man about Dwayne Dantès's age, and of similar height. He had black hair and brown eyes. He had cut facial features, a classic example of a Loenese man.

He wore a silk top hat and had a rather thin face. His demeanor was cold but wasn't one that left others feeling uncomfortable. Instead, it was a manifestation of the night view at a suburban cemetery.

At this instant, Klein saw countless Spirit Bodies hugging a middle-aged gentleman. It made his surroundings dark and stacked, as though a world was hidden within.

Klein's spiritual intuition told him that this was a demigod.

Why would there be a demigod coming to me moments after I arrive back in Backlund… Apart from the Church of Evernight's Backlund archbishop, nothing has been exposed in regards to this identity as Dwayne Dantès… Having a headache, Klein looked at the door without an expression. It was unknown whether he was feeling angry or alarmed.

After taking two steps, the demigod's right hand suddenly hung down straight. Together with his waist, it bent like a bow pulled to its limit.

He had bowed deeply in a strange manner, his attitude extremely reverent. Meanwhile, a cold wind blew over, closing the door silently.

Klein was nearly taken aback, feeling at a loss. His mind whirred as he came to a rough guess.

At this moment, the demigod maintained his pose and said in a deep voice, "In response to a revelation, I, Patrick Bryan of the Numinous Episcopate, am here to meet Your Excellency."

Revelation… Klein controlled the twitching of his facial muscles. Together with his previous guess, he had a rough understanding of what was happening.

The Evernight Goddess had deepened "Her" control of Artificial Death—in other words, the Death pathway's Uniqueness! "She" was able to give revelations to the high-ranking members of the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction!

Klein sighed as he chuckled. He pressed his right hand to his chest, but he didn't make any additional movements.

"What is God's revelation?"

Bryan slowly stood straight and looked at the gentleman with the white sideburns sitting at the reclining chair. He replied with some level of fervor, "We succeeded. God has finally awakened. 'He' has requested me to listen to your commands from this day forth, and to follow your arrangements."

Klein had already expected this, but he felt his face burn, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

This is making me be a Blessed of Evernight while also part-timing as a Blessed of Artificial Death, so as to silently lead the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction… Is this a bestowment of fate, or a price that had been exacted? Since the Goddess didn't get the Church's archbishops or high-ranking deacons to handle this matter, it means that "She" wishes it to be kept confidential… Klein instantly stood up and tried to appear pious in tone and expression.

"As God's revelation commands.

"God's wish is my wish!"

After expressing his devotion, he looked at the demigod standing straight in front of him and pointed to the sofa opposite him.

"Please have a seat. Oh, do introduce yourself. That's the most basic form of politeness, isn't it?"

Moments ago, as the thoughts ran through his mind, Klein had vaguely grasped the reason why the Goddess had handed him leadership over the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction.

As Gehrman Sparrow, he had close connections with the Death Consul!

Therefore, if anyone were to really discover anything amiss and begin investigating the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction, they would realize that it had something to do with Gehrman Sparrow and be enlightened. They would believe that they had grasped the truth as to why Artificial Death was able to come to life and send a revelation.

Due to this guess, Klein deliberately made Dantès use Gehrman Sparrow's usual speech.

Patrick Bryan sat on the sofa and said after some thought, "I'm Loenese. I once did business in East Balam and nearly died because of a disease. I was rescued by members of the Numinous Episcopate, and during that ritual, I received God's grace and survived. Later, I secretly changed my faith.

"The faction I'm in is always being vilified by the other members of the Numinous Episcopate. They believe that we're engaging in sacrilege, that we're in a bid to create a new Death. But that's not the case. We firmly believe that God didn't perish at the end of the Fourth Epoch. 'He' is merely asleep and requires certain things to be done in order to awaken. The facts have proven that we were right. You are witness to this."

The ancient chronicles I received didn't say so. Those high-ranking members of the Numinous Episcopate are fully aware that they are emulating the matter of the Hidden Sage to create Artificial Death… Could it be that this gentleman in front of me isn't a core member of the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction? And he also lacks sufficient knowledge regarding the Uniqueness? But how can a demigod not be a core member? Even if the Numinous Episcopate is a remnant of the Balam royal family and Death's Church, with copious amounts of knowledge and powerhouses, there's no way they will let a demigod go to waste… Even the seven orthodox Churches wouldn't do such a thing… Klein was extremely puzzled hearing this as he asked, "What about the other high-ranking members of your faction?"

Patrick Bryan said with a reverent look, "When I joined the Numinous Episcopate, God had already awakened a little. This is all the work of the saints of the past. They had sacrificed themselves over the numerous rituals.

"Currently, we have a total of three saints and an angel. They are in East Balam while I'm in charge of Backlund matters."

That's not right. Based on the information provided by Leonard, the Numinous Episcopate have their members split into many small teams in Backlund. They aren't aware of each other, and they only make contact with a specific person in the Southern Continent. There's no overall person-in-charge… Klein's first reaction was that Patrick Bryan was lying, but he immediately dismissed it. This was because it was something easily verifiable for a Blessed who had been the focus of a revelation.

He thought for a moment before he asked, "What's that angel's name? Where is 'He'? Are there any other revelations?"

Patrick Bryan answered frankly, "God made me not inform others, nor make inquiries to others about matters.

"Our leader's name is Haiter, both a last name and first name. 'He' was once the archbishop of the Church, and later he became an angel thanks to God's grace. 'He' has always been working hard to awaken the sleeping God, but he was severely corrupted in one of the rituals. Currently, 'He' is unable to leave his mausoleum; otherwise, he would directly lose control. 'He' is considered my teacher."

This demigod that has existed since the Balam Empire is clearly key in steering the Artificial Death project… Klein asked in thought, "'He' and the other two demigods are Balamese pure-bloods?"

"Yes." Patrick Bryan nodded.

I roughly get what's happening… Klein couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He believed that Patrick Bryan wasn't an ordinary demigod, but a byproduct of the Artificial Death project!

Back then, Haiter and the other members of the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction had no intention of saving a Loenese. Instead, they had planned on using him for a ritual's sacrificial item or material. In the end, something unexpected happened during their attempt which they originally hadn't had high hopes of. Death's Uniqueness gained some level of instinct or produced other changes. This led to Patrick Bryan's survival and his establishment of a certain connection with Artificial Death. His spirit and body became special.

Upon witnessing this, Haiter and the other high-ranking members began viewing Patrick Bryan as key to the success of the Artificial Death project. They gave him potions and taught him, proselytizing him with the faith of Death; thus, fabricating a perfect excuse for themselves. And due to Bryan's specialness, he had advanced rapidly and became a demigod.

Of course, no matter how key he was, he was merely an experimental subject. Patrick Bryan had never been treated as one of the members of the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction. Later, he was sent to the Loen Kingdom's Backlund to lead two or three teams. He did various kinds of rituals in a bid to bring the Uniqueness alive.

Such a guess was in line with the situation which Klein was currently aware of. First, Leonard had mentioned that the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction had placed their experiments in Backlund, planning to destroy the enemy's capital even if an accident happened. Second, many teams were independently connected to the Southern Continent and Backlund and had no overall person-in-charge. Third, Patrick Bryan's knowledge of Artificial Death was very different from reality.

This also meant that the people in the Southern Continent didn't care for Bryan's life and death, nor did they tell him the truth. Under such circumstances, there was no other explanation unless he was a byproduct of the Artificial Death project.

Hmm, from the looks of it, the Goddess's control of the Uniqueness is still limited. "She" can only send revelations to one person who is directly connected to Artificial Death. "She" is unable to influence Haiter and the other saints… Klein reined in his thoughts and asked, "What's your current Sequence?"

Patrick Bryan didn't hide the truth.

"I'm an Undying."