Watching Amon's avatar leap decisively into the deep pit connected to the Chaos Sea, Angel and Klein exchanged bewildered looks, unable to speak for a moment.
They had imagined Amon raising his hands in surrender or simply dying in battle. At most, he might seize the opportunity afforded by their conversation to escape Chernobyl and find a way to pass their whereabouts on to his main body.
But a living, breathing Amon committing suicide right before their eyes still exceeded anything they had imagined.
After a long while, Angel finally turned to Klein and said:
"He just said 'goodbye.'"
"I could at least make that out..." the former online political pundit replied with a nod. "If he understands this language, those manuscripts we saw gathered together were probably collected by him before we arrived."
"Was that another hint? Was he trying to tell us he knows his father's true origins, as well as ours?"
Muttering to herself, Angel tentatively approached the pit and peered inside. She found that her gaze still could not penetrate that illusory, fathomless space, while its inexplicable pull only grew stronger. She could only shake her head at Klein.
A moment later, Angel's Mirror Substitution and Klein's Historical Projection dissipated in their respective ways. The two lanterns also returned to the periods of history they had originally come from, leaving the research institute without a light source and plunging it into darkness once more.
Tap, tap.
Tap, tap.
The "footsteps" that had drawn the pair's attention sounded again. A figure climbed back up from the cliff-like edge of the pit and stood on a more level stretch of ground.
A spark of light flashed. Having returned from the pit, Amon took his monocle from his pocket and placed it in his palm, watching it turn into