1156 Thinking

Most of the areas in the Forsaken Land of the Gods didn't have paths that one would consider normal, but it wasn't that difficult to walk through them. This was because large swaths of the land were barren. Everything was mostly black in color.

On the moors, there were occasional sightings of plants that stubbornly grew. They were of a variety of strange shapes and distorted sizes. Klein had no way to tell what they originally were.

Around them, in the areas that the lantern couldn't illuminate, the darkness seemed to have a life of its own. It seemed to move silently, as though it wanted to devour everything that they could blanket.

As a Scholar of Yore, Klein just needed one glance from the corner of his eye to see the Spirit Body Threads extending out from the darkness around him. They were illusory, dense, and countless. This meant that there were many monsters lurking in the darkness.

These monsters were extremely silent. They stared at Amon, who was dressed as an ancient mage, as well as Klein, who looked like a present-day gentleman. Under the dim yellow light, they walked through the wilderness.

With his eyes fixed ahead, Klein casually held the animal hide lantern in his hand, not worried about when it would be extinguished.

Just as the two of them were about to leave this barren wilderness and enter a hilly region, a deformed monster of mangled flesh with two heads and five arms suddenly trembled in the darkness behind them.

It had become Klein's marionette.

Controlling Spirit Body Threads was silent to begin with, and it wasn't more than 500 meters away.

In the next second, the monster collapsed silently, losing its life.

Walking to Klein's left, Amon, who was wearing a pointed hat, smiled. "He" raised "His" right arm and opened "His" palm, revealing something.

It was a transparent maggot with three-dimensional patterns.

A Worm of Spirit!

This was stolen from the marionette, along with the Spirit Body Threads.

Without waiting for Klein to speak, Amon easily crushed the transparent maggot with "His" fingers.

Klein immediately felt a pain that came from deep within his soul. His head felt like it was about to split open.

Thankfully, he had gotten used to this feeling from him repeated creating Yesterday Once More charms and Control Spirit Bullets. He only grimaced without losing his composure.

Amon maintained "His" smile and threw down "His" palm.

"You're too reserved. You can be more daring."

Having recovered from the pain, Klein raised his hand to rub his temples, feeling exhausted. Every Worm of Spirit was calling for him to rest.

As he was being chased by Zaratul, the spirituality that he borrowed from his past self had been mostly expended. There was still the continuous "Traveling" after that. By using Angel's Embrace to remove traces, he was already nearing his limit.

After he returned to a safe zone, he had planned on going above the gray fog to check on his surroundings before entering a deep sleep and replenish his energy. Alas, he ended up suffering an ambush from Amon, which resulted in him being parasitized. He had been tormented all the way to the Forsaken Land of the Gods. If he wasn't in a perilous situation, he might've fainted or showed signs of losing control.

"I need to rest now," Klein put down his right hand and said frankly.

He believed that Amon would satisfy his request, because the more he failed at escaping despite trying his best, the more he could satisfy this God of Mischief's desire for entertainment.

"Alright." The monocled Amon's face turned slightly as "He" said while facing the hillside, "There's a resting place there. We'll arrive soon. Of course, I don't mind if you want to camp out in the wilderness. I just feel that you humans might prefer a place that gives you a sense of security."

"Let's go there." Klein originally wanted to directly control the flame of the lantern to complete a Flaming Jump, but his drained spirituality stopped him. He could only follow Amon and rely on his feet to move forward.

Along the way, with a mind of asking more questions, he said to Amon, "Why don't you 'steal' the distance to immediately arrive at our destination?"

Amon turned "His" head and glanced at Klein with "His" monocled right eye. The corners of "His" lips curled up slightly.

"I'm not the one who wants to rest."

"…" Klein shut his mouth and quietly walked forward.

After about ten bolts of lightning flashes, Amon raised "His" hand and pointed diagonally ahead.

"We're here."

In the shadow of a hill less than a hundred meters away, there were a few buildings that looked like half-steeples. More than ten giant stone pillars protruded out from the ground, reaching only the height of Klein's knees. A few strands of wild grass grew out from the crevices, their blade-like tips were dark red like blood.

"There used to be people living here?" Klein rubbed his temples and asked.

Nudging the monocle with "His" right index finger's second joint, Amon smiled and said, "This place used to be a very large city. When the Cataclysm happened, the land cracked open and devoured the entire city, leaving behind only these structures to prove that it once existed."

The destruction of civilization… This thought suddenly popped up in Klein's mind. He sped up his pace and arrived at the destination where there was strange wild grass.

After entering a half-collapsed building, Klein instinctively looked around and observed the place.

The grayish-white stone walls that had cracked open had murals that had been washed away by thousands of years. They were already indiscernible, and he could tell that the people in the city believed that entering Heaven after death was an honor.

After regulating his breathing, Klein threw away the animal hide lantern in his hand. Leaning against a thick stone pillar, he barely managed to imagine layers of spherical lights.

He didn't care about the dangers of sleeping in such an environment.

Let the danger come strike harder! Before he fell asleep, Klein shouted in his heart.

The black-robed Amon glanced at him before casually sitting down beside him and snapping "His" fingers.

The candle that was about to burn out in the lantern stopped melting, but the dim yellow light continued to spread.

Despite only having fuel to last a few more minutes, it seemed to be able to last another few hours or even days.

It was like an error that violated the laws of nature.

After for an unknown period of time of feeling groggy, Klein finally recovered his energy and was woken up by Miss Magician's prayers.

He was temporarily unable to respond to this. He closed his eyes and pretended that he was still dreaming.

Without being "Parasitized" at a deeper level, I don't think Amon can monitor my thoughts. "He" can only tell if my thoughts are harmful to "Him"… With a thought, he secretly summoned the grayish-white fog.

He had borrowed a state from his past self through the Historical Void, a state that wasn't directly meant for escaping.

That was when Hvin Rambis invaded his island of consciousness.

This attempt wasn't stopped or stolen.

Using this state, and the fact that he was able to maintain his lucidity in dreams and the mind world regardless of any intrusions, he split a portion of his self-awareness and stayed in the spiritual sky, calmly looking down at the island.

He began to examine if there were any abnormalities in his mind and thoughts that were being parasitized.

After a series of strict comparisons, he confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his mind world.

In other words, even if there was still a Worm of Time in his body, it was still considered being parasitized at a superficial level. It was impossible to monitor his thoughts.

After finding such a "safe zone," Klein finally released his repressed thoughts and analyzed the current situation. He considered the subsequent methods for self-preservation.

Amon is a God of Mischief and also a God of Deceit. It's impossible that "He" is playing this game purely for his entertainment… If "He" really wants to do that, "He" can definitely wait until "He" meets with "His" true body and steals my fate. "He" can attempt it after obtaining Sefirah Castle. That way, even if something unexpected happens, "His" main goal will also be achieved and "He" wouldn't suffer any losses…

What is "His" goal behind this matter? If I can grasp the crux of the matter, I might be able to discover true freedom…

Also, after "He" recited the luck enhancement ritual incantation in Mandarin, "He" actually didn't show any concern towards this special language, nor did "He" ask any questions. This totally doesn't match the sense of curiosity that "He" portrays…

Uh… Did "He" deliberately use the word "Bug" to probe me… so as to see what connections I'll make…

But "He" didn't steal my thoughts. No, if all my ideas are disjointed from one another, I wouldn't be able to discover that they've been stolen…

Klein recalled the situation back then, and he used the logical connections between his thoughts to confirm that he hadn't had his thoughts stolen.

This made him confirm one thing:

That was, that being "Parasitized" at a deeper level, Amon could directly monitor his thoughts without stealing it!

Amon made it seem that he had to notice malintent before he took action. It was a bluff!

I knew it, this deeper level of "Parasitization" seems to be different from what Pallez described…

Based on this deduction, the thoughts that I've been thinking of along the way have been heard by Amon, including Earth, fellow Earthling, and child education…

How terrifying…

Thankfully, when I was plotting to destroy the advancement ritual of George III, I had imagined the perilous situation of being "Parasitized" by Amon. Half of my thoughts were my instinctive reactions, while the other half was intentionally let loose. This way, not only do I reveal my secrets, but I can also use this to gain Amon's "trust," concealing the most important and core matters.

For now, "He" definitely knows that I plan to obtain more historical secrets from "Him" so as to quickly digest the Scholar of Yore potion. However, "He" doesn't know that I'm not far from being able to fully digest it. I'm just a few steps short or just one opportunity away…

Did Amon deliberately remove the parasite and play such a game with me because "He" had once heard of Earth from the ancient sun god and had come into contact with some secrets? He plans on using my attempt to save myself to complete certain matters that might be inconvenient or impossible for "Him"? If that's the case, there will definitely be something happening next…

Yes, I have to show that I didn't notice this and still plan on escaping like a normal person."

Once I've returned to my optimal state, I'll make my first "attempt"! After a while, Klein opened his eyes.

The pointed hat-wearing Amon sat beside him and smiled at him.

"Have you decided? When are you going to take action?"

"He" acted as if "He" was Klein's partner and not the target from which Klein was trying to escape from.