In the " Forsaken Land of the Gods," most areas lack roads in the normal sense, but they are not particularly difficult to traverse, as vast stretches of land are desolate wilderness, with deep black as the dominant color.
In the wilderness, one can occasionally see plants that grow tenaciously, their shapes bizarre and extremely Distortion, and Klein has no way of knowing what their original forms were.
All around, in places untouched by the lantern light, the Evernight seemed to possess a life of its own, silently writhing in a deep stillness, as if trying to devour everything it covered.
As an " Scholar of Yore," Klein only needed to glance out of the corner of his eye to see countless " Spirit Body Threads " extending from the deep darkness around him. These lines were ethereal, fine, and numerous, indicating that a large number of Monster lurked in the darkness.
These Monster remained perfectly still, watching Amon, dressed as an ancient the Magician, and Klein, dressed as a gentleman of the present day, as they walked through the desolate wilderness bathed in Yellow Light.
Klein stared ahead, casually holding the leather lantern, not at all worried that it might go out.
As he and Amon were about to leave the wilderness and enter the hilly area, a deformed Monster with two heads, five arms, and rolled into a ball of flesh suddenly twitched in the darkness behind them.
It has become Klein's Marionette.
Manipulation the " Spirit Body Threads " is inherently silent and takes place over a distance of no more than 500 meters.
The next second, the Monster quietly collapsed, losing its life.
Walking to Klein's left, Amon, wearing a pointed soft hat, smiled, raised his right arm, and opened his palm, revealing something:
It was a transparent worm with three-dimensional patterns.
" Worm of Spirit!"
This was stolen by Amon from that Marionette along with the " Spirit Body Threads ".
Before Klein could speak, Amon easily and comfortably made a fist and crushed the transparent worm.
Klein suddenly felt a pain that seemed to emanate from the depths of his soul, as if his head was about to split open.
Fortunately, he had made " Yesterday Once More " talismans and " Spirit Control Bullet " many times before, so he was quite used to this feeling. He only Distortion his face and didn't lose his composure.
Amon maintained his smile and slapped his hand, saying:
"You're too reserved. You can be a little bolder."
Having recovered from the pain, Klein raised his hand and rubbed his temples, feeling utterly exhausted, with every " Worm of Spirit " calling for rest.
During the pursuit by Zaratul, Klein had almost exhausted the Spirituality he had borrowed from his past self. He continued to " Teleportation " and use " Angel's Embrace " to erase traces, which had already pushed him to his limit.
After returning to a safe area, he originally planned to check the surroundings above the Gray Fog before entering a period of slumber to recover his energy. However, he was ambushed by Amon and suffered " Parasitism," which led him all the way to this Forsaken Land of the Gods. If he hadn't been in such dire straits that he naturally squeezed out his potential, he might have fallen into a deep sleep along the way or shown signs of losing control.
"I need to rest now," Klein said frankly, lowering his right hand.
He believed that Amon would grant his request, because the more he tried but could not escape, the more he would satisfy the " God of Mischief's " desire for pleasure.
"Alright." Amon's face, framed by his monocle, turned slightly toward the hillside. "There are places to rest there; we'll get there soon. Of course, I don't mind if you want to camp in the wilderness, but I feel you humans might prefer a place that provides a sense of security."
"Let's go there." Klein wanted to Manipulation the lantern's flame to make the leap, but his depleted Spirituality stopped him, so he had to follow Amon and move forward step by step on his own two feet.
Along the way, Klein, wanting to ask as many questions as possible, said to Amon:
Why don't you steal the distance and go straight to your destination?
Amon turned his head, glanced at Klein with his right eye (which wore a monocle), and said with a slight smile:
"It's not me who wants to rest."
... Klein shut his mouth and quietly moved forward.
After about a dozen lightning strikes, Amon pointed diagonally forward:
"Arrive."
Less than a hundred meters away, in the shadow of the hill, there were several half-built structures resembling the tops of spires. Around them, a dozen giant stone pillars, only knee-high to Klein, protruded from the ground. A few weeds grew from the gaps between them, their tips dark red like blood.
"Was this place ever inhabited?" Klein rubbed his temples again and asked.
Amon pressed the second joint of his right index finger against the edge of his monocle and said with a smile:
"This place was once a large city-state. When the Cataclysm came, the earth cracked open, and the entire city was swallowed up, leaving only these things as proof that it once existed."
The destruction of civilization... This thought suddenly popped into Klein's mind. He quickened his pace and arrived at his destination in the strange weeds.
After entering a partially collapsed building, Klein instinctively looked around and began to observe the place.
On the gray-white stone walls, which are cracked with fissures, there are murals that have been eroded by thousands of years. They are now blurred and indistinct, but one can vaguely make out that the people of this city-state take pride in entering heaven after death.
Klein adjusted his breathing, threw away the leather lantern in his hand, leaned against a thick stone pillar, and barely managed to visualize layers of light spheres.
He completely disregarded the dangers of sleeping in such a place and under such conditions.
Let the danger rage on! Klein shouted to himself before falling asleep.
Amon, dressed in a classic the Magician's robe, glanced at him, casually sat down next to him, and snapped his fingers.
Inside the leather lantern, the nearly burnt-out candle had stopped melting, but the dim yellow light continued to emanate.
It can only last a few more minutes, but it seems it can last for several hours or even days.
This is like a Error, Error that goes against the laws of nature.
After a drowsy sleep of an unknown amount of time, Klein finally regained his energy and awoke to the sound of Miss " Magician's" prayers.
He had no answer to this at the moment, so he closed his eyes and pretended that he was still dreaming.
In a non-deep " Parasitism " state, Amon should not be able to monitor my thoughts, but can only discern whether my current thoughts are harmful to Him... Klein's heart stirred, and he quietly made a summons into the gray-white mist.
He borrowed a state of being from the Historical Void, from his past self, a state that was not directly related to the matter of escape.
That was the state of his mind island when it was invaded by Herabergen Rambis.
This attempt was neither stopped nor stolen.
Using this state and his unique ability to remain conscious in the invaded dream and Mind World, Klein's self-awareness differentiated itself, residing in the Sky of Spirituality, calmly looking down upon the island of consciousness.
He began to examine his own mind for any abnormal, Parasitism thoughts.
After careful examination, Klein preliminarily confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his Mind World.
In other words, even if Amon still has the " Worm of Time " inside him, it is only a superficial " Parasitism " and cannot eavesdrop on his thoughts.
Having found this "safe zone," Klein was finally able to release the thoughts that had been restrained and suppressed, analyze his current predicament, and consider his next steps to save himself:
" Amon is the ' God of Mischief ' and also the ' God of Deceit.' He wouldn't play this game simply for pleasure... If he really wanted to, he could have waited until he reunited with his true form, stole my Fate, and obtained the ' Sefirah Castle ' before trying. That way, even if something unexpected happened, his main objective would have been achieved, and he wouldn't have lost anything..."
What is His hidden purpose in this matter? If we can grasp the key, perhaps we can find a real chance of survival...
"Furthermore, after reciting the incantation for the ' Luck Enhancement Ritual ' in Chinese, he showed no interest in this unusual language and did not ask any questions, which is completely inconsistent with the curiosity he had shown..."
"Um... did He deliberately say the word 'bug' to test what I would associate it with...?"
"But He didn't steal my thoughts. No, if an entire thought, unrelated to what came before or after, were stolen, I wouldn't have noticed..."
Klein recalled the situation at the time and confirmed, based on the logical connection between his thoughts, that his ideas had not been stolen at that time.
This, in turn, reinforced one thing in his mind.
That is, in a deep " Parasitism " state, Amon can directly listen to his thoughts without Stealing!
Amon's act of requiring the detection of harmful thoughts before he can Manipulation is Deceit!
"I knew it; the deep-seated ' Parasitism ' I experienced before seemed a little different from Pallez described..."
"Based on this deduction, Amon must have heard all my thoughts along the way, including those about Earth, my fellow countrymen, and my approach to children's education..."
"That's terrifying..."
"Fortunately, when I was planning to sabotage George III's ascension ceremony, I had anticipated the situation where I would be trapped in a desperate situation and ' Parasitism ' by Amon. The leak of my thoughts was half an instinctive reaction and half a deliberate indulgence. In this way, I both revealed the secret and 'gained' Amon's trust, while also hiding the most crucial and core matter."
"Just like now, He surely knows I intend to extract more historical Concealment from Him in order to digest the ' Scholar of Yore ' Potion as quickly as possible, but He doesn't know that I'm not far from completely digesting it, just two or three steps or a turning point..."
"Did Amon deliberately break free from ' Parasitism ' and play this game because He once heard about Earth from the Ancient The Sun God, came into contact with some Concealment, and intended to use self-salvation to drive me to do some things that He was inconvenient or unable to do? If that's the case, there will definitely be some developments next..."
"Yes, I need to act like I haven't noticed this, and proceed as if I'm planning my escape normally."
"Once I've adjusted my physical condition, I'll make my first 'attempt'!" After "sleeping" for a while longer, Klein opened his eyes.
Amon, wearing a pointed soft hat, sat beside him, smiling as he looked at him and said:
"Have you thought it through? When do you want to take action?"
He acted as if he were Klein's accomplice, not the one fleeing.