Queen Mystic Bernadette seemed to have a sense of foreboding when she saw Gehrman Sparrow's arrival. Without any surprise, she put down the ancient scroll in her hand and cast her gaze at the visitor at the door.
Klein didn't stand on ceremony and said directly, "I wish to borrow the Magic Wishing Lamp for a day."
Bernadette nodded gently and raised "Her" hand to pick up the Magic Wishing Lamp beside "Her."
"Her" invisible servant immediately held the unique lamp and brought it to Klein.
Klein took it and said in a deep voice, "Thank you."
Bernadette didn't make any requests. It was as though she wasn't afraid that she would end up having accumulated an additional wish and dying a strange death.
She believed that Mr. Fool would be able to resolve this problem because the existence had displayed this ability the last time.
In the next second, Klein, who had transformed into Gehrman Sparrow, vanished from the Dawn and returned to Sefirah Castle.
When he placed the Magic Wishing Lamp on the table in front of him, he immediately saw the candlewick light up, emitting a sticky light that formed a distorted, blurry golden figure.
"You haven't fulfilled your promise yet, so I won't fulfill your wishes according to your will again," Genie said with a majestic and dignified voice. "You should know that the current owner of this lamp is Roselle's daughter. The first wish you made was to place 'Her' accumulated wishes that could allow 'Her' to suffer a backlash at the level Above the Sequences on you. And this time, I won't permit you to transfer 'Her' wishes onto yourself."
When Klein had used the Magic Wishing Lamp to escape, he hadn't changed the ownership of this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. It still belonged to Bernadette, and its wielder was still Queen Mystic.
Therefore, his wish would simultaneously be accumulated on himself and Bernadette.
At that time, his first wish was to transfer the two wishes that Bernadette had previously made under his name. This cleared Bernadette's accumulated wishes, and he was burdened with two wishes.
But at the same time, this first wish was also accumulated. Therefore, after it was fulfilled, Bernadette's count became 1, and Klein's was 3.
Following that, Klein made a second wish. It would undoubtedly be counted towards both Bernadette and him.
Finally, Bernadette's wish count was 2 without exceeding the critical point, while Klein reached 4. Without any surprises, he encountered the backlash from the rules that were at the level of an Outer Deity. He died on the spot in Adam's corpse cathedral and successfully escaped.
Under the premise that Klein made another wish, it would make Bernadette's wish count reach 3, causing her to unavoidably suffer something terrifying.
Of course, he could also mimic the first wish he did previously, transferring Bernadette's wish count onto himself and spending one chance at "revival." However, the Genie had already made it clear that "He" would distort any similar wishes, allowing the wish to be realized in a way that Klein didn't wish to see.
Sigh, it's also because I was in a rush the last time. And Roselle was affected by the Primordial Moon, so the wish we came up with was definitely flawed… At that time, I should've added a description to make the first wish only count under my name. Or perhaps, I should've added another wish between the first and second wish to transfer the ownership of the Magic Wishing Lamp to me. After all, my death would result in the ownership being cleared, and the Magic Wishing Lamp would return to its wielder… As Klein sighed inwardly, he smiled at Genie.
"You should be no stranger to 'Tampering' and 'Reassembly.'
"With your level and current state as this lamp, I can now rely on Sefirah Castle to 'Graft' its ownership from Bernadette onto me. Or perhaps, we can use a different method and directly use 'Theft'?"
Genie's blurry golden figure fell silent. After a few seconds, "He" said, "Although you aren't as cunning as 'Him,' you're just as shameless.
"However, this is of no use. After you accumulate your wishes and die, the ownership of this lamp will still return to Roselle's daughter. And I will distort the rules and place your wish count onto 'Her.'
"Also, I said earlier that before you fulfill your promise, I won't fulfill your wish normally again."
Klein maintained his smile.
"I once heard a story regarding investors.
"When a company is in trouble, the ones who are more willing to provide aid will definitely be the original investors. Although they have already paid a lot, if they don't continue investing, they might not be able to recoup their investment and end up losing all their money.
"Of course, if they could use other means to retrieve their own share, or exchange their investment for greater benefits, it would be another story.
"Which type do you think you are?"
Genie stared at Klein, who was sitting in The Fool's seat, and laughed.
"After you gain a deeper grasp of Sefirah Castle, you also seem to have obtained the eloquence of a Swindler. However, unless you help me remove the seal now, it will be difficult for me to affect matters at the level of Sequence 0. At most, you will encounter a backlash from Above the Sequences laws and die again.
"However, this won't be of any help to what you wish to do now. Death means failure. Furthermore, you should know very well that losing control during your advancement will affect all your avatars. It's not something that can be avoided by cutting off all connections."
Klein smiled and nodded.
"Indeed, I haven't thought of a wish yet. I'm just making preparations."
With that said, he looked at the Magic Wishing Lamp.
"Actually, this lamp has another use that can affect matters at Sequence 0.
"I heard that a true god once attempted to destroy this lamp, but failed in the end. Indeed, how can a lamp that can seal an Outer Deity be so easily damaged? It definitely has the power of the Lord of the Mysteries or Sefirah Castle."
As he spoke, the smile on Klein's face gradually became obvious.
"It's such a waste not to use something as sturdy as this as a shield."
"…" Genie fell silent for a long time.
After such a friendly exchange, Klein and Genie exchanged their views. The fact that both of them were connected by fate had allowed "Them" to come up with a preliminary agreement.
Then, Klein placed the Magic Wishing Lamp into his pocket, prepared to use it at any time.
After completing all of this, he cast his gaze at the fragments of light related to the Hornacis mountain range in the fog of history.
He was almost done with his preparations. Next, he would create another avatar and steal the undigested Attendant of Mysteries Beyonder characteristic from himself. Then, he could face the ancestor of the Antigonus family.
And this might very well trigger a divine battle.
To be frank, Klein didn't wish for that to happen. This was because a war of deities would likely have a negative impact on the real world.
Back when the Rose Redemption stopped the resurrection of the Primordial One, in the divine battle to assassinate the ancient sun god, which involved the help of Dark Angel Sasrir, it directly brought about a disaster that affected the entire Eastern Continent. This caused more than 99% of the living creatures there to die, making large swaths of the terrain to resemble the abyss.
The War of the Four Emperors and the Pale Disaster had nearly destroyed the Northern Continent, causing countless people to die and mutate. This caused the mountains to turn into lakes, valleys into peaks, rivers changing paths, the land to collapse, and the ocean to go berserk.
The battle between the Evernight Goddess and the God of Combat happened in the astral world. It happened in the Evernight Goddess's divine kingdom, and it was relatively brief. Therefore, it had the least impact on the real world. However, before that, the world war that exceeded a year had drained the blood and tears of countless people.
If it was possible, Klein was actually willing to give up on Sefirah Castle and live on as a Sequence 1 or even a Sequence 2 angel. The matter would then develop in the most peaceful way.
However, along the way, there were already too many existences who provided him with kindness, help, and faith. At this moment, if Klein were to give up, he would put them into danger. This wasn't being kind, but selfish.
From time immemorial, which successful person didn't bear the fates of many people?
If he gave up, what about the rest?
The members of the Tarot Club, The Fool believers of the City of Silver and Moon City, Azik Eggers, Reinette Tinekerr, Will Auceptin… Various faces quickly flashed across Klein's mind.
Finally, he let out a long sigh.
If Amon could be trusted, it wasn't that Klein couldn't hand over all of this to "Him." However, this God of Deceit had always been reckless. Even "His" believers were all "Himself."
If Klein were to give up just like that—notwithstanding his own safety—the people or demigods he had just thought of might be caught by his enemies or directly end up wearing a monocle on their right eye. Among them, Will Auceptin and The Fool's believers were in the most danger.
Believe in the might of deities, but do not trust "Their" benevolence!
This was Klein's decision. When facing the Evernight Goddess, he had used the Lord of Storms and company as an example. This was telling "Her" that he wouldn't let "Her" down after all the help "She" had given. This was the existence that had bet the most on him. If Klein were to give up, the Evernight Goddess might have to pay a greater price to obtain the River of Eternal Darkness. "She" might even not be able to obtain it forever. This was because after the appearance of the two pillars—Lord of the Mysteries and God Almighty—it meant that the threat from the Outer Deities would be reduced to its lowest level. There wouldn't be any need for additional Great Old Ones to appear.
Phew, I'll later use Sefirah Castle to "Graft" the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range to the astral world. This can prevent the war of deities from bringing any harm to the real world to the greatest extent. It can also allow the deities who are guarding the cracking barrier to unleash "Their" full strength. After all, most of my supporters are orthodox deities… Klein's mind raced as he came up with a solution.
He then snapped his fingers and used Sefirah Castle to create an avatar to stand beside him.