The Third Choice
Klein didn't offer any opinion. He wasn't a novice, and of course he could guess why Luca's attitude had changed, but that wasn't something he should decide. All he had to do was relay everything to Neph.
So he shrugged and said, "If you don't mind waiting a little longer, I can try to find a new gift."
"Hey, did you really have to bring this gift?" Neph couldn't help but ask him. "I'm really afraid you'll bring me back something else another day, like the Skull of some Pope or some Child of God— "
"This—" Klein hesitated, "Isn't it actually not that easy to encounter—?"
Neph shrugged; she also thought the chances were slim, but she certainly didn't dare let Klein go a second time.
"That's fine," Neph shook her head and said, "We'll talk about it after you and Luca have finished dealing with your business—don't call me unless it's important, and don't call me either."
"What are you going to do?" Klein couldn't help but ask.
"Oh," Neph floated to her feet, transforming into a wisp of white mist that vanished from her spot, "Attack the Church of Evernight."
"----?" Klein opened his mouth subconsciously, wanting to ask for clarification, but Neph had clearly disappeared from the spot. He hesitated for two seconds, then sat up from the bed.
He skillfully arranged the Altar and carefully prayed to the Evernight Goddess: "Your sister just told me that she's going to attack your Church— "
Neph pulled her gaze away from Klein, who had returned to bed but was not asleep. She tapped her fingers on the Blank Canvas, staring silently at the pristine white book before her, which seemed as if it would vanish with a gust of wind.
The three main Authority of "Bitter Winter" are memory, cold, and disappearance. This is written in the Potion knowledge accompanying "Child of Winter" and is no longer just Neph's speculation.
Regarding the mastery of memories, Neph couldn't understand what use it was. She didn't believe that this Authority was simply about altering the Historical Void, but the "world's memories of the past" mentioned in Potion knowledge left Neph unable to figure it out.
When it comes to the past, aside from "Scholar of Yore," she can only think of one Outer Deity she actually knows very little about— the Circle of Inevitability. Of course, saying she knows very little about it is actually the one she knows the most about among all the Outer Deity. As far as Neph knows, this Great Old One Authority in the realm of Fate involves the past, present, and future, and seems to have the power to take people back to the past.
In contrast, Neph's perception of the cold Authority was much clearer.
Just as Fate is manifested through probability, when it truly involves Authority, the manifestation of coldness is not ice and snow, but molecular motion—the essence of this Authority is to bring all things to stillness, to freeze and stagnate everything, just like the still falling snow when Neph first opened her eyes in this space, just like the book in front of her.
This is precisely the Uniqueness of the "Bitter Winter" Pathway, the existence known as the "Ashen Ledger." The pages of Record that Neph had seen before were the "pages" of this ledger.
This is exactly how the "Ashen Ledger" is used—if she could hold the "Ashen Ledger," this is how it should be used: pull out "pages" from it, register something, and then store it.
Next, that thing will remain in a sealed state.
The "Ashen Ledger" also resembles the embodiment of the three main Authority of the "Bitter Winter" Pathway. In appearance, it is more like a book that has been burned and has been reduced to dust, but for some unknown reason, it still retains the shape of a book, except that it is white.
This is the manifestation of vanishing Authority.
Neph, in her "Child of Winter" phase, can finally halt her fading. Neph initially thought this could be used in "The Groselle's Travels," but she soon discovered that this was not the case.
Putting aside the issue of time limits, those people, who are not Demigod, have a lifespan of at most a hundred years. Preserving their lives for a hundred years is not a problem for Neph. But the problem lies here: her ability does not affect time or lifespan, but rather the process of disappearing itself.
What she stopped was their very lives, which had vanished after a sudden passage of thousands of years!
This means that these people will neither grow nor regress, and even normal eating and excretion will be affected because their bodies are forcibly stopped at a certain intermediate state, and all changes will disappear.
Neph felt that this wasn't her real purpose in saving the person.
"I can't really go to the Church of Steam and Machinery and ask for those ten thousand years, can I?" Neph grinned, then looked at the "Ashen Ledger."
This was something she had gathered using Blank Canvas. In fact, she had tried to touch the "Ashen Ledger," whether with her hands or her Spirituality, but the result was equally bad—it was as fragile as it appeared, and whenever Neph tried to touch it, it would disintegrate and return to the world.
Compared to the "Dice of Probability" which requires all sorts of methods to seal, Neph doesn't have to worry about how to seal the "Ashen Ledger." Her problem is that she can't pick it up at all right now.
And this thing is the "key" to unlocking the hidden collection!
For a brief moment, Neph even had the dangerous thought of bringing "Mr. Door" back and using the Uniqueness of the "Door" Pathway to Door Opening, but she quickly gave up, because it was no different from inviting a wolf into the house, and she wasn't even sure which wolf she would invite back.
Unable to find an answer, Neph decided to give up for now and consider the request from the Evernight Goddess first.
This task is both simple and difficult, and it's worth mentioning that it aligns with the requirements of the "True Creator," since Adam's Ritual likely ended here as well.
Neph speculated that the pivotal moment Adam envisioned was the fall of the God of Combat of War.
There are two directions: one is to scrap the proposal entirely, because it would require George III to become a god, and once a new "Black Emperor" is born, Roselle will completely lose hope.
Neph truly had no feelings for Roselle. She felt sorry for Miss Daly and for Captain Dunn, whom she had never met, but Roselle... well, she was just so-so.
But she wasn't familiar with George III at all!
Besides, Neph hadn't forgotten the diary Bernadette had provided. Although it didn't serve much purpose other than satisfying her curiosity, it didn't stop her from choosing another option out of respect for Bernadette.
Moreover, in terms of choosing the "Black Emperor," Roselle was definitely more advantageous to her George III —although she had never met either of them, at least one of them was a human being.
Getting back to the main point, if George III really becomes the "Black Emperor," Loen will have three True God. Without the Evernight Goddess speaking, George III will ignite a war against Feysac, and a full-scale war between the two sides will begin. The Evernight Goddess will then be able to take advantage of this to obtain the legacy of the "God of Combat of War."
Chapter 4, Third Choice
Secondly, George III was defeated, and the Evernight Goddess, as in the original story, feigned weakness, allowing Feysac to initiate the war.
Neph tapped the table, and then remembered the ten thousand years that Amon had mentioned.
"Perhaps—" she murmured, "Perhaps I have a third option!"
The third option is for her to try and win over the "God of Steam and Machinery".
The former "Wisdom Angel" is now in a semi-surrender state. He will not hinder the war much, and will inevitably stand on the side that Neph needs.
Although Lilith's secret replacement of the "Earth Mother" remains unknown, if Neph manages to win over the "God of Steam and Machinery," leaving only the "Eternal Blazing Sun" to defend Intis alone, Neph feels she could consider persuading the Evernight Goddess to lead the charge.
---Or should I impersonate someone from the Church of the Sun and kill a high-ranking member of the Church of Storms? Right, how come I didn't think of that? That could also provide Mr. "The Hanged Man" with an Beyonder Characteristic —hmm, no need to kill him, I can catch their Archbishop and high deacons, extract the Beyonder Characteristic, and then hang them at the church entrance.--
----Isn't this provocation a bit too obvious? Will the Church of Storms realize this is a setup? Hmm, I'll think about that later. The immediate problem is how to trick—no, how to bring Steam over—
Relieved by the Evernight Goddess's reassurance, Klein packed his things and went back to bed.
But he couldn't fall asleep. Neph's return and growth gave Klein a renewed sense of urgency. The truth about the time travel was still stuck on the "becoming Angel" progress bar, and there were still no clues about the King's secret. All of this made him unable to sleep.
Moreover, he hadn't contacted the Demoness Trissy for some time.
Spirituality emanated from it, and a gray Rat paused almost imperceptibly for a moment. Then, it scurried out of its burrow, carrying a clump of black, paste-like substance from No. 160 Böklund Street to the nearby Sewer entrance.
It raised its forebody and extended its two claws. Suddenly, its claws strangely lengthened, and clearly visible bulges of muscle appeared on its forelegs!
Then, relying on its mutated forepaws, it forcefully moved the manhole cover, making almost no sound!
Without pausing, the gray Rat scurried into the Sewer, making its way to the place where the Demoness Trissy had once hidden.
It dug and dug in the corner, and unearthed a shard of mirror from the soil.
Having done all this, the gray Rat tossed the paste-like black substance from its head to a cleaner spot, retreated to a corner, and allowed its body to slowly lengthen and widen as if being pulled by an invisible person, transforming into a middle-aged man wearing a dark red coat and an old tricorn hat, clearly the "Admiral of Blood" who had once been active at the Sea.
However, this Seniors was only dressed in a thin layer, like a mannequin cut from paper.
"This Rat is quite fat—" The Paper Doll- like "Admiral of Blood" raised his hand and touched his chin, nearly floating away as the cold wind from the Sewer blew on him.
With his arms swaying in the wind and his movements, "Seniors" bent down and picked up the clump of black paste. It was a remnant left behind by Trissy after she burned a lock of her hair with Black Flame, and it could be used for communication Ritual.
He then wiped the shard of mirror clean and applied the material he had in his hand to it.
After completing this step, Klein had the Marionette take two steps back with the "Mirror" and stick it to the moss-covered wall with a slap, like a realistic oil painting.
In the East Borough, in a room with heavy curtains and almost no light.
Layers of dark, slippery "tentacles" intertwined to form a giant sphere.
At the tip of these "tentacles," some are adorned with a distinct black and white eye, while others resemble the head of a venomous snake, with their mouths slightly parted and their tongues flicking out—all bizarre and terrifying.
Suddenly, they either rose up or shrank back, and the spheres disintegrated layer by layer.
Inside the sphere was a girl curled up in a ball. She had an exceptionally sweet face, but her brows were tightly furrowed, and her expression was slightly Distortion with Affliction, making her all the more pitiful.
Those slimy, disgusting "tentacles" had all retracted, rapidly shrinking until they finally returned to their original shape.
Strands of jet-black, lustrous hair!
This is Trissy Cheek.
--
Seeing Klein suddenly get up and walk towards the Armchair, preparing to lie down, Neph suddenly had a wicked idea. She reached out and hooked him, causing Klein to fall down—wait, he didn't fall!
Neph's eyes widened. The Clown's superb control allowed Klein to steady himself, and then with a sudden burst of strength, he successfully straightened up!
"Neph?" He turned to look at the obviously moved chair and called out tentatively.
Neph dropped the pretense and appeared in a White Mist, glaring at Klein with displeasure. After a few seconds of contemplation, Klein asked, "Are you simply trying to tease me, or are you unhappy about my prayers to the Goddess?"
"What's the difference?" Neph asked him.
"That's how I'll handle this," Klein said frankly.
"I just wanted to tease you," Neph replied.
"Congratulations then," Klein laughed, "It seems you've failed."
Neph stared at his smile and suddenly felt an urge to punch him.
"I knew it," she gritted her teeth, "The ones who really deserve a beating aren't—wait, what are they!"
She screamed, and a paper-thin figure slid through the doorway, stood upright, and caused Neph to show a terrified expression Klein glanced at her in surprise, manipulating the Paper Doll to set up the Ritual while remarking, "You were actually scared—"
"----?" Neph paused, then suddenly realized, "I almost forgot, you're a ' Bizarro Sorcerer ' now----"
"Yes," Klein glanced at her wistfully, "I think you might be the Uniqueness Angel who would be frightened by something like this."
"----?" Neph moved her lips twice, trying to find a counterexample, but failed.
"That's because my humanity is richer than theirs. Besides, if you want to Trissy Divination's pile of stuff, don't bother," she said stubbornly.
"Hmm?" Klein didn't stop what he was doing, but just turned to look at her.
"She is already a follower of Cheek," Neph said, shaking her head.