Angel of Redemption

"What exactly do you want to say to me?" Anderson Hood looked at the hesitant Danitz with an impatient expression, his brows furrowed. "All coy, like a young lady—am I forcing you?"

"You're forcing me!" Danitz said angrily.

Anderson fell silent, a somewhat absurd expression crossing his face. Then, that expression naturally transformed into disdain, and he spoke with a look of disgust, "You?"

Even if you became a woman, I wouldn't be interested.

Danitz's expression froze, and he shouted, "I will never become a woman!"

"Oh," Anderson replied curtly.

This cold attitude made Danitz uncomfortable, and he became hesitant again. Before Anderson could lose his temper once more, Danitz asked, "Um, was what you said before true?"

"What?" Anderson looked at Danitz suspiciously.

Danitz looked around to make sure no one was nearby before lowering his voice and asking, "So, you're the one who said the Captain likes women?"

So that's what it was about— Anderson secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After making a deal with the unfamiliar God, the God not only didn't sign a contract with him but also prepaid him. This didn't make Anderson happy at all; on the contrary, as the unfamiliar God was imprinted into the Holy Bible of the Church of Evernight, Anderson's fear reached its peak.

In his brief encounter, the overly active God was completely different from the Seven Gods, whose silence was golden in Ritual Magic!

When she was still just Child of God, Anderson still had room for self-comfort. But when a True God acknowledged her God status and told others that she was his Twin sister, he lost even that last bit of space.

Of course, Anderson originally had no intention of breaking the contract. Such a being would only not sign a contract if he was afraid of being bound by it. But if he dared to disobey the contract, Anderson believed he was doomed.

But that should have been a long process. Danitz hadn't even fully grasped the concept of the Acting Method for long, and on Anderson's advice, he had to re-digest his previous Potion. He still had a long way to go before advancing to Sequence 5, let alone making up his mind to switch to the "Demoness" Pathway at Sequence 4.

Recently, Anderson Hood has met with both Gehrman Sparrow and the "God of Winter," with Gehrman Sparrow appearing more than once. To make matters worse, he brought a group of people to class.

This was hardly good news for Anderson. He strongly suspected that the "God of Winter" was dissatisfied with his progress and had therefore sped up the deception. Now that Danitz had finally brought it up, he felt relieved and feigned displeasure, saying, "I never said anything about that, don't wrong me—isn't it normal for her to be closer to women than men?"

"But—" Danitz seemed to want to say something more.

Anderson, showing no intention of instigating, spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "And don't forget, she came from the Church of Knowledge. What kind of place is that? People like you who don't do well in school are not even considered one of their own in Lenburg or Isar."

"Your Captain has been very polite; at least she didn't see you as incompletely evolved Curly-Haired Baboon."

Danitz fell silent again. Anderson Hood glanced at him gently and asked, "So why are you asking this? Have you finally made up your mind to embark on the Demoness ' Pathway?"

"I—" Danitz couldn't speak.

He certainly couldn't make up his mind at this moment, but the "Empress" card at the Tarot Club and the "Demoness of Despair" Potion recipe from the Captain seemed to indicate a certain possibility. Danitz was filled with fear, not only of Fate but also of himself—he was horrified to find that once he accepted the fact that "women are more likely to get close to the Captain," he seemed to be genuinely tempted by it.

Could it be that his future really is to become Gehrman Sparrow's Head Maid?

The thought flashed through his mind, and then Danitz shook his head in horror.

Some topics are not suitable for in-depth discussion with Klein. They would only spoil the mood of both of them and might even increase unnecessary risks, such as Klein actually thinking about something he shouldn't.

Therefore, Neph finally took her leave. She wasn't really sure where she wanted to go. After wandering around for a couple of seconds, Neph pondered for a few seconds and then raised her hand to make an Inverted Cross in front of her chest.

"Lord—" she whispered, "Would you mind if I went to Adam for therapy?"

Despite asking the question, Neph didn't intend to wait for a response.

The "True Creator" herself is undergoing psychological therapy with Adam, and she makes no attempt to conceal her contact with Adam. Moreover, this God has always been very attentive to believers, and always answers their prayers. He has probably been watching over them all along.

Therefore, Neph took the lack of response as a tacit agreement. The Uniqueness problem was that Adam was not a summoned being; if you called his name, he wouldn't actually appear, nor would it even mean that he would cast a glance at you.

Neph sighed softly. She took out the "Cross of Darkness," squatted down against the wall, and murmured, "The ' Forsaken Land of the Gods ' no longer needs the Beyonder Characteristic of the ' Those Unshadowed.' You gave it to Klein, not only to complete the history of your past encounter—but also for my sake, right?"

The verdigris-colored Cross remained motionless, but the surrounding scenery had changed.

--

Suddenly, rows of dark stone pillars rose up, supporting a magnificent and enormous church.

Inside this church, every pillar, every arch, and every dome is inlaid with bones of different races. They are densely packed, staring at Neph with different eye sockets, surrounding a truss that is hundreds of meters long.

Before the Cross, a blurry figure stood there, seemingly watching everything with pity.

"You seem confused," He said.

Neph looked up. The walls, windows, and doors of the church were covered with transparent, Distortion faces. After a few seconds of hesitation, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you have to decorate your church like this?"

"That is the manifestation of spiritual power," He stretched out His hand and gently beckoned, "Come."

He seemed to have done nothing, but for a Pathway King of Angel, words themselves have immense power. Neph instinctively stood up, but as she raised her leg, she suddenly snapped back to reality and pulled her foot back.

"You—" She frowned.

Adam nodded slightly, his clear blue eyes falling on her, and said in a calm tone, "I originally thought that you should be an honest and fair witness and Record, but later I realized that memory is not history. Compared to Record the truth, you seem to be more adept at fabrication and concoction."

"Your hatred of me is determined by your Authority."

Chapter 36 Angel of Redemption

Neph froze for a moment, then almost instinctively retorted, "I think I'd still hate you even without Authority— "

She looked at Adam, and suddenly couldn't continue speaking.

She suddenly recalled her experience at the end of her last meeting. This was an King of Angel of spiritual Pathway, who naturally inspired trust and reliance. It seemed that if it weren't for the influence of the Pathway, she might have unknowingly sided with him during their interactions.

"Come." He beckoned again, this time stepping aside.

That is—the second "Blasphemy Slate"!

Neph's eyes widened as she looked at Adam, Adam merely smiled. Neph hesitated before walking over and standing beside Adam, her gaze fixed on the "Blasphemy Slate."

"I'm considering including your Pathway," He said gently, "But my information isn't complete."

"Why don't you wait a bit?" Neph asked earnestly, "Let's talk about it after I've truly grasped the Uniqueness, because my information isn't much more complete than yours."

"That's how it should be," he said naturally, "But you must be interested in what's written on the Blasphemy Slate '."

Neph fell silent, because it was true.

"But actually, I'm more interested in something else," she began cautiously, "theoretically speaking, the Second Blasphemy Slate seems to be your corpse—"

Adam knew what she was going to say as soon as she opened her mouth, and his voice was devoid of emotion. "Of course."

"But as a ' Ghoul,' you can't just 'eat' the Blasphemy Slate like that."

"What if I just watch it?" Neph asked.

"That's not very useful," Adam told her, "Because you can't explore that history just by looking at it. It's not like Historical Records or myth books, where you can actually read the traces of history."

So, Moon City is definitely a good place for me. If the Library I'm in were filled with Fors's books, I'd be doomed.

She paused for a few seconds, then asked again, "Aren't you really going to consider changing the church's decorations?"

"If you insist," Adam said, looking at her, "I think you have a way to decorate this place."

Neph swallowed hard and immediately said, "I'm sorry."

"I think you deserve an apology more for coveting my corpse," Adam reminded her calmly.

Neph knew this wasn't a sign of anger; the Divinity Adam seemed devoid of emotion, as long as you didn't stand in his way of saving the world, he seemed to have no other emotions.

But Neph was naturally uncomfortable with such a peaceful person, which made her feel uneasy—perhaps this could be considered her nature, as she desperately wanted to add some color to Adam's White Paper of emotions.

This sounds strange, since she clearly has a Pathway that includes "Pure White" in the name of Potion, but it also seems perfectly natural. While comforting herself that things will turn out the other way around, Neph got to the point. "----I really want to know."

"If, I mean if."

"If he hadn't Divination about this Cross— "

She opened her palm, revealing the "Cross of Darkness" within, and then said, "If I hadn't peeked into the past of this Cross— "

"No, it won't," Adam told her confidently.

"But—" Neph seemed to want to say something.

"We can't really be sure about the future that hasn't happened yet," Adam shook his head, "But that's all in the past."

Neph was still confused. Adam thought for a moment and asked her, "You already have Sequence 2, so perhaps you have used the power of ' Sefirah ' to observe the past of this world?"

"No—" Neph shook her head, "I'm afraid I might actually see something."

"Very cautious," Adam nodded. "Then you must have obtained someone else's memories completely."

Neph nodded, Adam asked, "When you watch them, do you feel that they are happening?"

"Of course not—" Neph said instinctively, then suddenly stopped.

She looked at Adam, Adam told her, "For beings at that level, time has no meaning."

Neph frowned. As a child born in the information age, she had certainly heard similar views, such as time having no meaning and four-dimensional worms—but without reaching that level, some things are hard to truly understand even if you hear them a thousand times. Just like Neph still doesn't understand how Klein can manipulate the Marionette without affecting himself.

She couldn't understand what it felt like to have a split personality.

But she understood at least one thing. Neph hesitated, then asked uncertainly, "Does this sound a lot like fate?"

"I don't know," Adam said. "I don't know enough about the Authority and symbols of the Outer Deity."

Neph exhaled, thought for a moment, and then asked, "What about the Earth? Are my path and the ' Pathway of Fate ' adjacent?"

Adam hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Once you grasp Uniqueness, you should be able to sense it."

"How do I feel?" Neph asked, puzzled.

"The Aggregation of Extraordinary Characteristics and Divinity influence will make you yearn for Adjacent Pathways," Adam replied. "The way Divinity affects you is different from the way it affects us, but that doesn't mean there's no influence—or do you simply not consider it an influence?"

Neph frowned slightly, and as she pondered this, Adam suddenly asked, "In the story you saw, where does Amon's future lie?"

"Angel of Redemption" —Neph blurted out the name instinctively, paused for a moment, and then continued, "This is Sequence 1 of the 'Destiny' Pathway, the Pathway held by the Outer Deity ' Circle of Inevitability '."

Neph wasn't sure how Adam felt about those words, because he suddenly fell silent. In that unsettling silence, she heard Amon's voice. "Me? The Angel of Redemption?"

"Ha?"

"----?" Neph looked around, then looked at Adam in front of her.

Fortunately, the Blond Priest did not take out a Monocle from his pocket and put it on; he maintained his gentle expression and spoke in a calm voice, "Amon."

A raven flew through the Stained-Glass Window overhead and landed on Adam's shoulder. Looking at Neph with its white-rimmed eyes, it asked, "Are you sure the Potion's name is ' Angel of Redemption '? It sounds like some kind of crazy fantasy."

"After all," Neph looked at Him and spoke softly, "your father Prophecy that you were the light of the Apocalypse. If not because Angel of Redemption," was it because of the light emitted during a supernova Explosion?"