Gray fog drifted as Klein, the Lord of Mysteries, returned to the space controlled by Sefirah Castle.
At his thought, the palace, bronze table, and twenty-two high-backed chairs destroyed when Angel, the Calamity of Destruction, slew Lilith, the Earth Mother, swiftly restored themselves. He then returned to the Fool's seat.
His black trench coat showed faint signs of turning into a dark cloak. In the fog behind him, slick tentacles covered in sinister patterns flashed into view.
Concentrating, Klein suppressed the other consciousness that had begun to stir within him, restoring his condition to stability.
Although the battle against the Outer Deities had been overwhelmingly one-sided, the Mother Goddess of Depravity still possessed the status of a Pillar. She did not need to inflict damage on other Great Old Ones through clashes of authority and symbolism. "New birth" alone could awaken the spirits of the Original Creator—the Celestial Worthy and Primordial God Almighty—within those who had advanced to become Great Old Ones, such as Klein and Grisha, steadily weakening their condition until they lost control and collapsed.
Had the two Pillars not reached a tacit understanding before the battle, with neither intending to truly revive through this opportunity, Klein might already have needed to enter slumber again to maintain his condition and contend with the Celestial Worthy in his dreams.
This was also why the Great Old Ones on Earth's side had not pressed the Mother Goddess of Depravity further to make her abandon the other Outer Deities. Even without the constraints of the armistice agreement, Earth's Great Old Ones needed time to stabilize themselves and were in no condition to resume the war.
Making the writhing, slick tentacles docile and drawing them back into his body, Klein surveyed the Gray Fog Palace, where members of the Tarot Club sometimes