Advancing across Pathways from Sequence 3 of the Door Pathway to Sequence 2 of the Fool Pathway required more than the Miracle Invoker advancement ritual. According to Alvin's calculations, he also had to satisfy the ritual requirements for Bizarro Sorcerer and Scholar of Yore.
That was why, over a thousand years ago, Alvin had laid a trap. With the Goddess as his witness, he had used the Land of Unknown to cut off Zaratul's Resurrection plan, driving the Angel completely mad and causing him to lose control and become a monster. That had fulfilled the Bizarro Sorcerer ritual.
That was also why, after his "death," Alvin had spent more than a thousand years cut off from reality in a church in the Nation of the Evernight, more than satisfying the Scholar of Yore ritual.
And now, his "Resurrection" had fulfilled the Miracle Invoker requirement to "bring a lost piece of history back into the present age."
After all, Alvin was the only Angel the long-lost Abraham Family had produced since Mr. Door's banishment. His return was, in itself, the return of that family's glorious history to the present day.
In short, the rituals had worked remarkably well. Alvin—or rather, Abner—soon passed through the most dangerous stage. Then he encountered the two anomalies that the original work had described as part of advancing to Angel.
The first came from the Beyonder Characteristic merging with his body. A powerful, terrifying, lofty will that seemed impossible to resist stirred faintly awake and sent image after image into his mind. Some contained mystical knowledge concerning Miracle Invokers; others showed dust igniting into suns and the grand spectacle of celestial bodies forming. Each bore a spiritual imprint that was ancient, indifferent, cruel, mad, condescending, and utterly devoid of feeling. They rapidly assimilated Abner's spirit, changing