"That's right!" Mr. Devil snapped his fingers.
"Mastering a potion is the process of having your own spirit collide with the potion's Mental Remnant. This process is extremely dangerous, equivalent to two people fighting to the death. If a Beyonder weakens the Mental Remnant to a certain extent, they can gain the upper hand.
Likewise, if the Mental Remnant weakens the Beyonder to a certain extent, the Beyonder's spirit will collapse, leading to madness or even Loss of Control. But regardless of who wins or loses, the Mental Remnant cannot recover from the Beyonder."
"So that's how it is!" Klein felt the mystery in his heart unravel at once, but Audrey asked with some concern:
"Then if we use the Acting Method, wouldn't that mean..."
"Don't worry. At least, Miss Justice, you don't need to worry, because there is currently no true god in the Spectator Sequence." Mr. Devil smiled as he explained. Feeling that he had established his persona well enough, he changed the subject and said to The Little Sun:
"For certain reasons that are inconvenient to explain, I have some guesses about where you are. To avoid bringing you unnecessary trouble, let me ask this: do you still hold sacrifices for the object of your faith?"
"Sacrifice Ritual?" Klein had still been shocked by the mysterious knowledge Sno had revealed, but upon hearing those four words, he immediately refocused his attention. Compared with mysterious knowledge that was astonishing yet not particularly useful in itself, the Sacrifice Ritual was a power he needed more urgently.
"We do. Every time we harvest black-faced grass, we offer a sacrifice to the Lord. But ever since the day we were abandoned, we have never received another response."
"Oh? Tell me about your sacrificial process." Klein finally found a suitable opportunity to join the conversation and asked in a leisurely tone.
"Abandoned by the Lord? The Forsaken Land of the Gods? Mr. Fool is interested in this as well? Does he want to determine whether that so-called Lord that Created Everything still 'exists'?"
Hanged Man Alger straightened up completely. The feeling of hearing such a secret made him feel as though his entire being had been elevated.
Meanwhile, Audrey watched everyone present grow excited and realized that they seemed to be discussing a secret even more astonishing than the Acting Method. Yet, with her knowledge, she had no idea what was so remarkable about this sacrifice.
"Once the commission involving Zilingus is over, I'll pay Mr. Hangman for what he realized today... Hmm, I'm just afraid he won't agree. But Mr. Devil revealed so much for free, so he should agree, right?"
Miss Justice thought expectantly as The Little Sun slowly described the City of Silver's sacrificial process. Only after Klein understood the general procedure of the Sacrifice Ritual did Mr. Devil speak again:
"From what you said, I'm certain the City of Silver is the place I know of. However, I'm sorry, but there is some information I cannot tell you directly. It isn't that I'm unwilling; it's that this knowledge is poisonous. Even merely knowing it could bring a catastrophic disaster upon you and your city-state."
"Is that so?" The Little Sun's tone was noticeably downcast, but he did not doubt Mr. Devil. After all, the common knowledge classes in the City of Silver had also taught that certain knowledge involving high-level existences could lead to enormous risks.
Although Sno really wanted to reveal more to The Little Sun, considering that Ammon, who could steal thoughts, was over there, he ultimately said no more. Instead, he turned to Mr. Fool and apologized:
"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Fool. We took up your reading time."
"It's fine." Klein replied in a lofty manner, only then remembering that he still had a page of Perrdax's Diary in hand. He immediately picked it up and began reading quietly. As he did so, the members of The Tarot Club also fell silent—
"March 3rd. I killed someone. It didn't feel as exaggerated as the novels from my previous life made it sound. Am I naturally rather indifferent? Or did advancing to Clown passively enhance my emotional management abilities? However, while disposing of the corpse, I discovered a gemstone-like substance on him. Through divination, I found that this thing seemed usable as a potion ingredient... Could this be why the Church isn't worried about the extinction of species corresponding to Extraordinary Materials?"
"Come to think of it, when I divined the Clown Potion back then, that Clown's corpse appeared as well. And I remember some strange thing appearing on his body too... There was also Ray Bieber's corpse..."
Seeing this, Klein immediately compared it with his own experiences. However, considering the limited time of The Tarot Club, he did not dwell on it and continued reading—
"March 5th. Is it a coincidence? The Roselle's Diary I obtained from the Beyonder gathering happened to contain information about the law of Immortality of Extraordinary Characteristics. Hmm, and Aggregation of Extraordinary Characteristics as well... Could this coincidence also be a manifestation of Aggregation of Extraordinary Characteristics? But the diary has no extraordinary traits at all. Does mere knowledge satisfy the latent requirements for aggregation? If that's really the case, then knowledge may be more than just knowledge."
"Immortality and aggregation of Extraordinary Characteristics? What are those? And what does it mean that knowledge is more than just knowledge? Does it have something to do with what Mr. Devil said earlier about knowledge being poisonous?"
Klein grumbled inwardly, but he finally turned his gaze toward the final line—
"How can there be such a disgusting pathway as Spectator? Beware of Spectators! Beware of Spectators! Beware of Spectators! Once I make it big, I'll definitely create an Extraordinary Item that completely counters Spectators!"
"Hmm, it seems you really did create one." Thinking of Mr. Devil's extraordinarily high-level Extraordinary Item, Klein waved his hand and dispersed the parchment in his grasp—
"You may converse freely now."
Upon hearing Mr. Fool's words, Mr. Hangman immediately wanted to bring up Zilingus. However, before he could choose his words, he heard Miss Justice say to Mr. Devil:
"Mr. Devil, thank you for the protection you provided me. But if possible, I hope you can discuss it with me first."
"Oh, she expressed gratitude while subtly conveying dissatisfaction in an innocent, playful tone. Hmm, is this Loen's unique reserve? I love it." Hearing Miss Justice's sweet thanks, Sno pretended not to understand and said:
"After all, I was the one who recommended that you contact the Psychology Alchemists. Naturally, I couldn't let anything happen to you."
"..." Audrey immediately felt the urge to pout when Mr. Devil answered like that. She was certain that this gentleman had understood what she meant.
While inwardly complaining that he was not gentlemanly enough, she also understood that he had acted for her sake. Thus, she did not pursue the matter and merely asked:
"Then, Mr. Devil, how long can your protection last? And could someone of a higher Sequence discover it?"
"You can rest assured about that. As long as they are not a Grounded Angel, they will not notice anything unusual about you. As for how long it lasts, you needn't worry. As long as you attend social balls and salons according to your usual routine, I'll replenish it for you."
PS1: Regarding the idea that concealing the Acting Method slows advancement, I think that's rather far-fetched. Why? Because with the formula in hand, it is incredibly easy to restrict advancement to Mid Sequence. Since Extraordinary Characteristics are conserved, once one has the formula, one can effectively curb advancement by purchasing high-level Extraordinary Materials, controlling the sources of ingredients, or secretly raising the ritual necessities, such as mermaids. There is absolutely no need to restrict it through concealing the Acting Method.
If they are worried about advancement resources, they can simply control them in secret. Even the lower ranks would not know. If they want someone to advance, they can hold a Beyonder gathering and let that person happen to obtain the information, or simply have the upper ranks train only their direct descendants. There are plenty of methods.
If you say they concealed the law of Immortality of Extraordinary Characteristics to prevent excessive competition, I'd believe that. But concealing the Acting Method... It feels as bizarre as blocking medical treatment to slow population aging so that nobody lives long enough to grow old.
PS2: Regarding the City of Silver's population, I couldn't find a specific figure. However, during the relocation, everyone gathered at the training ground. One training ground could accommodate the entire population of both the City of Silver and Moon City, which shows that the number was not large. It probably did not exceed ten thousand. A combined population of five or six thousand would be more reasonable.
There is another piece of evidence: Bayram was not impacted. Bayram's population should be around one million. If the City of Silver had more than ten thousand people, that would mean large numbers of giants appearing in the streets, and employment opportunities would also suffer a huge impact. Taking those factors into account, I settled on a scale of just over two thousand people for the City of Silver. If there is exact data, feel free to tell me, and I'll go back and revise it.
Before you continue