Prayer

As a streak of Dark Light slipped into the room, Sno, who had been lying on the bed like a corpse, immediately sprang up. He casually shut the window gap tight, then reached out and gently scratched the little one's chin.

With a soft "meow~" from the little one, the uncanny liveliness in its eyes gradually faded, leaving only a trace of cleverness that proved this kitten was no ordinary cat.

Sno smiled and rubbed the little one's head, replenishing his cat energy. Only then did he take out a bag of cat food from his suitcase. After the little one began eating, Sno once again drifted into thought.

Although the plan had long been set, he was still somewhat hesitant when it came time to truly carry it out.

He had to admit that this was a dangerous move. It was more dangerous than sending Trissy to steal the Antigonus family's notebook, more dangerous than exploiting the time difference to ambush Heinason Farsent and Sirius Arapis, and more dangerous than facing Dunn Smith directly in a dream.

With the slightest misstep, what awaited him would be the basement of the Church of the Evernight Goddess.

But...

"There's no other choice."

Sno spread his arms and fell backward, lying on the bed in a starfish position. By his reckoning, it had already been a month since he had transmigrated.

In other words, it had also been a month since he drank the Secret Speaker Potion.

For most Beyonders, one month was not a particularly long time. But for a Secrets Suppliant of the Aurora Society, it was a rather dangerous deadline.

And the reason lay in the Acting Method.

For the vast majority of Beyonders, the Acting Method was a precious treasure. With this technique, they could avoid the risk of Loss of Control relatively safely. But for Secrets Suppliants, the Acting Method was a massive trap.

Because the Acting Principles of a Secrets Suppliant were simply too straightforward—

Just as the name implied, one merely needed to pray devoutly to a hidden existence.

And as a member of the Aurora Society, an extremist cult organization, whom they should pray to was self-evident.

But that was precisely the problem.

As a true god of Sequence Zero, the True Creator was among the very best of the hidden existences one could pray to. Precisely because of that, the feedback obtained from praying to him was practically perfect. Even the dullest Secrets Suppliant could completely digest their potion within two months, so long as they prayed to him sincerely.

But conversely, if a Secrets Suppliant still had not completed digestion after two months...

That meant they were not devout enough.

And for an extremist cult group like the Aurora Society, the consequences of being branded irreverent were easy to imagine.

Over the past month, Sno had also tried imitating K by praying to himself, attempting to use the status of White Horse is Not a Horse to respond to himself and thereby gain feedback. But whether it was because his pathway did not belong to this world, because he knew in his heart that he was not some high-level existence, or for some other reason, although Sno could use the power of White Horse is Not a Horse to make talismans, the feedback he received was negligible.

Later, he had considered whether he could find other Acting Principles, such as preaching. While it could not be said to be entirely useless, it was little more than a drop in the bucket. Even now, Sno's potion digestion progress was still less than one-tenth.

Even K, the protagonist who became a true god in three years and a Great Old One in five, had spent a month and a half acting Sequence Nine. This month that had already passed was the final deadline Sno had set for himself.

Now, with no turning point in sight, he had finally reached the moment when he needed to make a choice.

Using a silver coin infused with spirituality to seal the room, Sno drew out the three-hundred-year-old silver knife and stabbed it into the table. Then, he actively activated White Horse is Not a Horse and used Concept Swap.

Feeling the spirituality in his body begin to stir, Sno silently recited in his heart—

"Derrick can directly beseech Mr. Fool through the ancient object in his hand. The knife in my hand is also an ancient object, so I can likewise directly beseech Mr. Fool through this knife."

After repeating it several times, the sentence began to turn into layers upon layers of whispers echoing beside Sno's ears. Along with the stabbing pain in his mind, a trace of connection began to converge between the dagger and somewhere above the spirit world. Sno then began reciting the words he had prepared long ago—

"Great existence, I beseech Your response. I beseech Your gaze."

"Another plea?" Klein, who had still been helpless over his inability to understand foreign languages, had been preparing to leave the Gray Fog when he discovered that another crimson star had begun expanding and contracting.

This time, it can't be another one speaking Ancient Dragon Language, can it?

Klein grumbled inwardly, but he still chose to extend his spirituality and touch the crimson star. Then, a blurry and distorted image unfolded before his eyes—

It was a young man with short, messy black hair that could vaguely be made out. Before him was what appeared to be a pure silver dagger.

Above his head, a white cloud shaped like a galloping horse flickered in and out of view. Klein did not know whether it was due to his Sequence or the influence of some Extraordinary Item.

The young man wore relatively casual clothing, and the surroundings were simple and tidy. However, judging from the furnishings, it should have been a guest room in some inn.

Klein had intended to observe a little longer, but as the young man's voice reached his ears, he immediately lost interest in watching. That was because he heard several words strike heavily against his heart—"An evil god is about to descend upon Tingen."

However, when he tried to listen carefully, he suddenly discovered that the young man had already risen to his feet and said in a dejected tone:

"Failed again. Does this ritual really work? Should I report it to the orthodox churches? But I already... Or should I abandon the glory of the Perrdax family and devote myself to the evil god... No, I can't! No matter what, I must not pray to the True Creator..."

Seeing the young man grow increasingly hysterical, even switching from Ancient Hermes back to Loen Common, Klein's brows furrowed tightly. He could not recall the somewhat familiar surname Perrdax for the moment, but he understood words such as "orthodox churches," "report," and "True Creator." Coupled with the earlier statement that an evil god would descend upon Tingen, an intense sense of crisis immediately rose within him.

However, the young man had already left the state of prayer. Before long, this connection would likely be severed. It seemed impossible to obtain information through covert observation alone.

Taking a deep breath, Klein lightly tapped the edge of the Bronze Long Table. He had already made his decision—

Although it was somewhat rash, this concerned Tingen. He had to get to the bottom of it.

"Did it fail? As expected, it couldn't possibly succeed in one try. Should I cause some trouble tonight, then use it as an opportunity to sell information to Mr. Fool tomorrow?" After finishing his performance, Sno still noticed no changes and could not help feeling a little disappointed. Still, failure had long been within his calculations. Maintaining the mindset that he should see the act through to the end, he returned to the table. Just as he prepared to pull out the dagger, he suddenly saw a burst of Crimson Radiance explode from within it.

The radiance flowed like water and instantly submerged Sno's figure. When he regained the ability to think, he discovered that he was already inside a majestic hall supported by enormous stone pillars. An ancient, mottled Bronze Long Table stretched out before him, and across it, a figure shrouded in Gray Fog was examining him with an unreadable gaze.