Hearing Lucifer's confident words, past Bethel glanced at him, saying diplomatically, "I believe you wouldn't physically harm them…"
The subtext was clear: past Bethel was convinced Lucifer would mentally devastate his descendants.
It wasn't hard to see why Bethel thought this. After all, Lucifer had just bamboozled the corrupted Mr. Door right in front of him, and there was the precedent of him running circles around Pallez. His credibility was, frankly, shot.
"Bethel, you're way too soft on your descendants," Evah said, tossing out an absurd remark. Ignoring past Bethel's reaction, he suddenly perked up, as if struck by a thought, and said eagerly, "Since you can't build the pocket dimension without materials right now, how about we use the remaining time to chat about something fun?"
Evah looked at past Bethel, grinning. "I've always been curious about your relationship with Amon. It feels like you two get along pretty well?"
This was a genuine curiosity for Evah. Beyond Mr. Door's self-sacrifice, the fact that Amon, the ultimate Trickster, returned an unused Sequence 1 characteristic to the Abraham family after consuming Mr. Door was downright shocking.
Past Bethel glanced at Luo Lin, not shying away. "We're probably friends, I'd say. We can work together, share a drink, but we'd also kill each other without hesitation in a fight."
"What a wild ecosystem!" Evah could tell Bethel was being honest, and he couldn't help but marvel.
"That's just how it is among high-Sequence Beyonders in this world. Solomon and Tudor were once great friends, but that didn't stop Tudor from betraying Solomon when it came down to it," Bethel said, seemingly unfazed, even offering a calm example.
"Scary people in this world of yours," Evah said, feigning fear, only to burst out laughing. After gauging his remaining spirituality and chatting a bit more with past Bethel, he released the summoning.
"I assume you've got the relevant memories now, Mr. Door," Evah said, re-establishing contact with the Mr. Door he'd left on hold, smiling.
Mr. Door was silent for a long moment before asking for the third time, "What are you?"
"Lucifer Zoroast, a mortal," Evah replied once more.
"Let's hope so," Mr. Door sighed. "I don't have much to offer you right now."
"Not true. You've got some bargaining chips, like knowledge and hidden history," Evah said unhurriedly. "Sure, I know a lot, but there's still plenty I don't. You're erudite and a firsthand witness to much of that history."
Evah grinned again. "So, are you willing to put that chip on the scales to make our deal a bit fairer?"
Mr. Door wasn't surprised by this. No one in this world was truly omniscient, not even the ancient Sun God at his peak.
Though, truth be told, Mr. Door seriously doubted what this self-proclaimed human really was.
"I can only contact you during a full moon. If you can keep me lucid like this then, I'll share some of what you want to know," Mr. Door said, not refusing. With Lucifer's abilities, he'd find those secrets eventually, whether Mr. Door told him or not.
Might as well use the chance to interact more and figure out what this guy was all about.
"Thank you," Evah said politely.
"Oh, by the way…" Evah added, as if just remembering, "Mr. Door, I actually need one more small favor."
...
Klein was studying at home.
For the past twenty days, Klein had enjoyed a rare stretch of calm. His routine involved studying occult knowledge, practicing combat, holding Tarot Club meetings, and, remarkably, no unexpected incidents. It left him almost dazed, half-convinced that all the prior chaos had just been coincidence.
But Klein knew better. Those weren't coincidences. All he could do in this brief calm was learn as much as possible and strengthen himself in every way.
Just then, he heard a familiar prayer. The voice was male, and after careful listening, Klein confirmed it was Jack Jones.
Klein mentally raised a question mark, puzzled why Jack, out of the blue, would pray to him.
"Did Jack come up with some wild idea again?" Klein wondered, but his expression soon turned grave. He noticed Jack's prayer carried an undertone of intense pain.
"Did something happen?" Klein hurriedly ascended the gray fog to check the situation.
Through the prayer's light, he saw a familiar study. Jack Jones was collapsed on the floor in agony, surrounded by scattered books.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;
The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog;
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck;
Save me, save me…"
Klein heard Jack's desperate plea and noticed abnormal signs on him—hair growing longer, nails extending, and more.
"Is Jack about to lose control? What do I do? What can I do?" Klein panicked, his mind racing through knowledge but finding no solutions.
Then, he caught faint, almost imperceptible ravings mixed into Jack Jones's prayer.
It reminded Klein of his own experiences. He'd occasionally heard ravings before ascending the gray fog, and he knew they were terrifying.
"Is Jack on the verge of losing control because of these ravings?" Klein thought, a solution clicking. "If I pull Jack onto the gray fog, could it block them?"
Without hesitation, Klein established a connection with Jack and pulled him onto the gray fog.
...
Evah blinked. Moments ago, he'd been mimicking a certain dramatic Tarot Club entry scene. Now, staring at the bronze long table, he put on a perfectly in-character expression of shock and confusion, though inwardly, he wasn't surprised at all.
This was all part of his plan. He'd just asked Mr. Door to whisper a few extra ravings in his ear, then used his Actor abilities to fake the signs of losing control. His goal was to replicate Fors's ascent to the gray fog, using a "life-threatening" crisis to force Klein to pull him up.
(End of Chapter)