265 Cards of Blasphemy

"Floren said that the history of the Sauron family exceeds two thousand years, making it longer than even the Church of the God of Craftsmanship's history. They witnessed all the cooperation and strife, light and darkness, in the Fourth Epoch, and they have survived until this very day. Other than the Augustus family of Loen, the Einhorn family of Feysac, and the Castiya family of Feynapotter, the other powerful families that have been deemed their equal, such as the Antigonus family and the Zaratul family, have been relegated as vestiges of history, or have turned to nothing but rats in the sewers, hiding from the public as shady existences.

"He said that making me his subordinate—a subordinate of the ancient and glorious Sauron family—is a gift to me.

"Back then, I wanted to f**k all eight generations of his ancestors.

"However, for the Sauron family to have a history exceeding two thousand years is indeed surprising. The Fourth Epoch is known as the Epoch of the Gods. Be it the seven orthodox deities of the present times, or Death, Primordial Demoness, Dark Side of the Universe, and the True Creator, they all remained active in the real world. Legend had it that they frequently did miracles. For the Sauron family to last to this day and enjoy its current high standing, it's definitely not an easy matter.

"Their long history has given them far more than just arrogance. They must be hiding many secrets, and perhaps even extremely terrifying Sealed Artifacts.

"They are truly a colossus that stands tall above the earth, one that people can't look straight at."

Upon reading this, Klein had a lot of ideas.

For Roselle to be able to overthrow the rule of the Sauron family, he must have experienced a horrifying and heart-stirring struggle. Even if the Sauron family didn't have a Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, they definitely had no lack of Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts. Adding to the possibility of having High-Sequence Beyonders, even if the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery fully supported Roselle, it's unlikely that any good outcome might come out of it… Could it be that before all of that happened, the Sauron family was already beginning to wane and weaken, and the Intis revolution was just an external manifestation of this state?

What did they experience during that period of time?

Did they lose Sealed Artifacts? Did the High-Sequence Beyonders die? Did that attract the attention of many ambitious people?

Hmm… Judging from this diary, the Augustus family of Loen is no stranger to the Antigonus and Zaratul families. Internally, they should have corresponding records.

The Sun had previously mentioned that the City of Silver has endured for more than 2500 years in the Dark Ages. According to my initial judgment, that's the date of the Cataclysm. In the past two hundred years, the Sauron family claimed to have a history spanning more than 2000 years. I wonder if it will extend to the point before the City of Silver… I'll try to find an opportunity to mention the Sauron clan and see The Sun's reaction. If The Sun still has a look of stupefaction, it would indirectly mean that the Sauron family only rose up after the Cataclysm. Perhaps they had benefited greatly from the Cataclysm to become nobles in the Fourth Epoch, and royalty in the Fifth Epoch…

Well, even if the Sun doesn't know, it doesn't prove it completely. Perhaps he didn't learn his history well.

When Klein turned to the third page, he found that the content should've been written in the early days of Roselle's appointment as Consul of the Intis Republic.

From the diary entries on this page, it can be seen that Roselle had developed and promulgated a new Civil Code which encouraged inventions, protected trade, and the incubation of the industrial revolution. It wasn't him merely satisfying his own warped humor of acting as this world's Napoleon and his ambition to change the world. What he did allowed him to reconcile with the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.

The Eternal Blazing Sun was also the God of Deeds, the Guardian of Businesses. The closer to the times the Civil Code was and the more prosperous trade was made it more in line with the needs of the church.

Judging from this part of the diary, the relationship between Roselle and the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun was gradually thawing and beginning to improve. When he brazenly claimed the title of Emperor more than ten years later and called himself Caesar, it's likely that he obtained the simultaneous endorsement of the two Churches. Otherwise, it would've been too risky. Then, what resulted in his assassination? Klein cast his gaze at the fourth page in puzzlement.

"11th August. That retard Floren is showing off again.

"He said that he's the most promising member of the Sauron family generation to become a High-Sequence Beyonder because he's very similar to his great-great-grandfather.

"Is there any necessary connection? I looked him up and down, left and right, but I couldn't find any sign of talent.

"Moreover, in the field of Beyonders, is talent important? Well, figuring out the essence to 'acting' can be a core element of talent, but that's not necessary. As long as one knows the acting method and not be stupid enough to misunderstand the meaning, or avoid doing things that easily result in a loss of control, then one has a chance to completely digest the potions. Which is to say, just a bit more time and effort needs to be spent. In one's lifetime, it's not impossible to become a High-Sequence Beyonder.

"The main obstacle to becoming a High-Sequence Beyonder is the difficulty of obtaining Beyonder ingredients and the difficulty of corresponding rituals. Of course, I have to admit that those born as Beyonders have more time to prepare.

"Was Floren's great-great-grandfather a High-Sequence Beyonder? Does looking like him imply talent?"

It can be seen that at the time of writing this diary entry, Roselle was still very young and that he wasn't aware of the two Laws of Beyonder Characteristics Indestructibility and Conservation… Klein nodded indiscernibly.

With his current knowledge, he could probably understand the hidden meaning behind Floren Sauron's words.

A High-Sequence Beyonder's Beyonder characteristic remains contained a spirit mark. This was also one of the reasons why it was easy for people to lose control when concocting potions with this ingredient.

And people who resembled the original owner could avoid this negative influence to the greatest extent. Their chances of success were higher than the average person, so they were considered gifted. How Holy Artifacts recognized their masters probably shared the same conditions.

This achieves the same goal via different approaches as the acting method, but it can't be popularized… Once the advancement is successful, one would still have to do the acting method required of the potion to completely digest its characteristics… While in deep thought, Klein glanced at the two diary entries at the back of the page and discovered how much Emperor Roselle enjoyed the liberalness in Intis, but he was worried that his future wife would be equally liberal.

With the paper making some noise, Klein placed the fifth page at the top.

"20th April. I participated in that ancient organization's secret gathering once again. Those members still leave me shaking. It's hard to believe that they're actually all members of this organization.

"This time, I learned some of the ancient organization's philosophy. They believe that people will always lose some of their individuality bit by bit until they 'sleep.' Hence, by trying hard to observe and remember oneself, one can use the various types of information to achieve the purification needed to face the final end of days.

"They've kept and passed down secrets for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. They believe that dusk is inevitable, and that doomsday cannot be avoided.

"They believe in the original Creator and believe that He is not truly dead. When dusk comes and everything ends, He will wake up from His slumber and let everything return to Him. He will create a new world, a new history.

"All of the actions from this organization stem from this belief. It can be said that they show great animosity to the True Creator. They aren't stingy with their descriptions to describe Him as fallen and evil.

"They wield the second Blasphemy Slate and the twenty-two paths of the divine, but they only allow members to choose a few of them, with the exception of those who were already Beyonders when they joined.

"Are there any secrets to these pathways?

"I'll first jot it down and analyze it in the future. These pathways are Bard, Sailor, Reader, and Spectator.

"Haha, I have to change my habits of calling these Sequence pathways in the future. Using those names in that ancient organization makes me appear quite uneducated.

This is very similar to what I've analyzed from my hostile relations and from Mr. A's request, with it being very similar to how the Bard, Sailor, Reader, and Secrets Suppliant pathways can be exchanged at Sequence 4… Is Manipulator a High Sequence of the Spectator pathway? Why do many secret organizations declare that the apocalypse would definitely befall us one day? For example, the Demoness Sect, this ancient organization, and they themselves do not rely on this to proselytize. Is it a requirement for brainwashing or would there really be a so-called dusk? Klein thought of many things, but due to a lack of information, he was unable to come to a definite answer.

At the same time, he couldn't help but silently lampoon, Roselle, can't you just write down the name of that organization?

Resisting the changes in his expression and body movements, Klein turned to the last page which had relatively little content and read.

"1st Jan. A beginning of a new year. I happened to finish my first Card of Blasphemy.

"I will hide the ultimate secret of the twenty-two paths of the divine in these different Cards of Blasphemy and scatter them across the world. If things fail, they'll be the best insurance that my children can fall back onto.

"Haha, I'll disrupt the order they wish to have and spread the profound mysteries of the divine!

"These Cards of Blasphemy will possess characteristics of being anti-divination and anti-prophecy. Apart from the ones I'm giving my children, the fated ones will receive it!

"I'm a person who makes sure to square accounts when it comes to grudges, and after I die, who cares if floods deluge the heavens! Oh, I didn't create that sentence.

"In short, the more chaotic the world is, the better it is!

"I have to consider how to name the Cards of Blasphemy that will form a set. The paths of the divine number twenty-two. The Major Arcana tarot cards also have twenty-two cards. They can match quite well, but there are a few that don't meet the requirements. I need to make some changes to match the original potion names.

"That ancient organization is my last and biggest insurance. I don't know if they'll support me, or the manner in which they'll support me in.

"I still remember the shock when I first saw the Blasphemy Slate."

"So it turns out that the Beyonder pathways are paths of the divine. It really is true that the Blasphemy Slate is blaspheming the deities.

"Above every pathway's Sequence 1, there is still a Sequence 0! And there's a corresponding potion and ritual!

"Each pathway can only have one Sequence 0!

"And Sequence 0 is the Sequence of a True God!

"For example, Sequence 0, Sun!"