Well done... Faced with Amon's "praise," Klein forced a smile and responded politely:
"Thanks."
Frankly, he'd rather hear curses than praise, because that at least means he's close to success.
Of course, Klein suspected that even if he did escape, Amon wouldn't be furious. Judging from the personality of this " God of Mischief," he would probably find it too interesting and exciting on the one hand, but also feel a little frustrated and disappointed on the other, and be eager to move on to the next round.
"To think of using a 'door' to distract me is a big step forward," Amon laughed nonchalantly. "But don't you think that when the door is ' Door Opening,' I'll be in a relatively alert state, and not so easily affected by unexpected events?"
Klein thought for a moment and answered seriously:
"That was my initial thought, but then I realized that you should be able to grasp my mindset. Believe me, I wouldn't dare to take action when you open the 'door.' At this moment, trying it might have a surprising effect."
Doing something when others think you won't is also a strategy.
In his previous life, Klein had encountered similar mental games, and he was completely bewildered by them.
"What if I had thought of that too?" Amon chuckled, pushing up the bottom edge of his monocle with his knuckles.
At the same time, the remaining Marionette belonging to Klein took out crystal monocles from their bodies and from the void, put them on their right eyes, and all looked at Klein.
This sent a chill down Klein's spine as he realized that the connection between the Marionette and himself had been severed instantly.
"Although there has been progress, failure always comes with some punishment." Amon smiled, turned around, and walked towards the church.
With each step He took, the Marionette smiled one after another, then collapsed stiffly, tearing Klein's soul apart time and again, causing the blood vessels in his temples to visibly swell and contract.
Enduring the pain, Klein stood still, and it took him a long time to recover.
Throughout this process, although he remained in the depths of darkness, he neither encountered any terrifying Monster nor transformed into a Concealment state.
When did Amon Stealing the Concealment divine power of this city-state? If I try to end my own life, even my thoughts will be stolen... I was still unprepared, I didn't have enough control over Amon, I didn't take into account what He Stealing before... I really didn't expect that He would release the "Daylight" stolen from the Ruins of the Gods' Battle... What else did He Stealing in the past and store in his body? I have no way of knowing, so I can't make any targeted preparations... Is that monocle a container for storing the Stealing things, and is it part of Amon himself? So, every time He " Parasitism," he can take out a monocle... Klein rubbed his temples, walked back into the church, looked at Amon in Door of Light, and asked casually:
Why do you have so many monocles? Where do you usually keep them?
Amon adjusted his right monocle and smiled nonchalantly:
Why don't you ask me why each clone has eyes, and where they're usually placed?
"... I understand." Klein nodded, as if suddenly realizing something.
Amon turned his gaze back to the Door of Light, whose vortex had not yet subsided, and said casually:
"I always felt that the essence of your operation this time was a large-scale preparation, rather than an experiment."
"What little tricks did you make during that process?"
Klein considered for a moment, then replied with an unchanged smile:
"You guess."
"I do have some guesses. Do you think I'm right?" Amon asked with interest, pinching the top and bottom edges of his monocle.
"Perhaps yes, perhaps no." Klein didn't give a definite answer, but cooperated by walking to Amon's side and watching Him reach out again to press down on the pale white Door of Light.
Ripples spread across the Door of Light once more, growing more intense and exaggerated with each passing moment.
After about ten seconds, ripples spread around the area, causing the Door of Light to expand to twice its original size.
Amon glanced at Klein, gesturing for him to take a step forward.
Klein instinctively turned around and looked around the church.
Beyond the area illuminated by the leather lanterns, some Beyonder Characteristic left behind by the mutated Monster shimmered faintly—not all of them were Beyonder in life. Those who were originally ordinary people transformed into Monster, and a large part of their power came from darkness and Depravity, not from themselves, and no special characteristics could be extracted from them.
"I almost forgot." Amon, who had followed him around, suddenly shook his head and laughed.
As soon as He finished speaking, clusters of Beyonder Characteristic rose up and entered His body on their own, merging with Him, with only a small amount remaining in place.
"Most of those who voluntarily transform into Monster are ' Apprentice ' Beyonder who can enter the dark side of the city-state, as well as their families," Amon said casually, withdrawing his gaze.
Even if it's Beyonder Characteristic from a similar path, directly "consuming" it like this would cause problems, wouldn't it? Shouldn't it only jump to a higher level within the similar path? Is it backward compatible? Klein was a little stunned and asked in confusion:
"Won't this build up to madness?"
This is more than just a matter of accumulating madness; Klein suspects that if he did this, there's a good chance he'd go half-mad.
"Others can," Amon said with a smile, "I can't."
What a bug... Klein couldn't help but sigh to himself.
Then, the distance between him and the Door of Light disappeared.
Subconsciously, he forgot the Beyonder Characteristic of the remaining " Death " pathway and entered the mutated Door of Light with Amon.
The endless, deep darkness and the writhing, linear light Distortion and mixed together, giving Klein a feeling of sudden, weightless falling.
Ten seconds later, he found himself and Amon in a square. The Yellow Light of the leather lanterns seemed to be blocked by an invisible force, only able to illuminate half of the area.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, instantly illuminating the surroundings.
With the help of the lightning, Klein saw that there were broken statues standing around the square. Some had their hands tied behind their backs, some had their bodies wrapped in thorns and roses, and some were shaped like mummies, giving people a direct feeling of "binding".
"This place was the Original a city-state that worshipped Mutant King." Amon, like a competent tour guide, introduced the "spots" to Klein. "They are very interesting. They are usually restrained and quiet, like Ascetic, but once they encounter prey or at a certain moment, they will unleash a bloodthirsty and murderous rage. You can imagine that on Full Moon night, this is a city where Werewolf roam everywhere."
It seems the Mutant the Original had some restraint... but later they were all led astray by the " Mother Tree "... Klein took a few more glances under the influence of the new lightning bolt, and asked thoughtfully:
"Does the appearance of the Mutant King resemble a mummy?"
"No, although He is an ugly Distortion man, He likes to wrap himself in thorns and thorny roses." Amon chuckled.
... Klein took this opportunity to ask:
What kind of idols do your followers worship?
"In mysticism, your symbol is a clock plus a ' Worm of Time '?"
Amon scratched his chin and said:
"Theoretically speaking, my followers are all myself, so there's no need for the trouble of erecting idols."
My followers are all myself... Fortunately, I now have Danitz as my Blessed... Klein suddenly realized that he and Amon were quite similar in some ways.
Of course, when I say "My believer is myself," it's a joke, while Amon says "My believers are all myself," it's a thriller. The styles are quite different... Klein finally chuckled to himself.
As Amon walked forward, he continued speaking:
"However, in my father's time, many people followed my faith. Some of them started with the name ' Angel of Time ' and created my idol with clock-related symbols, while others used the title ' God of Mischief ' and used a raven covered with mysterious patterns to represent me. Still others combined the two."
At this point, Amon, who wore a monocle, suddenly turned his head, glanced at Klein, and curled the corner of his mouth, saying:
We're no more than three days away from our final destination.
In other words, I only have three days left... Klein almost gasped, the psychological pressure suddenly increasing, making him feel like his nerves were about to snap.
He had not yet determined Amon's true purpose in playing this game, nor had he discovered any trace of what the other party was driving him to do. This meant that he could not grasp the key point and could not find a real opportunity to escape.
The performance of Amon's clone just now made him realize that without being truly prepared, he might not even last ten seconds in front of Him.
As his thoughts raced, Klein fell silent and followed Amon out of the square, which was marked by destruction.
In the sparsely populated streets of Pritz Harbor, where many houses bore the marks of fire, the " Mystery Queen " Bernadette, with her long chestnut hair tied up, placed the newspaper she was holding on the table.
The front page of that Tussock Times, carried the bombshell news of the king's assassination, claiming that the Assassin was either Feysac or Intis.
"This is neither preventing the disaster nor exacerbating it..." Bernadette muttered to herself with a slightly grave expression.
She pondered for a moment, then picked up the tablecloth, wrapped it around the animal, and let it untangle itself.
This time, the coffee cup, pen holder, newspaper, and other items inside the tablecloth disappeared, replaced by ritual-related items such as silver candles.
Bernadette then performed a ceremony to summon Gehrman Sparrow's messenger.
As a collaborator, she felt it necessary to inquire about the other party's situation to see if there was anything else she could help with.
As soon as the ceremony ended, Reinette Tinekerr emerged from the swirling candlelight, carrying four blonde, red-eyed heads, dressed in a somber, elaborate long dress, with nothing around her neck.
Bernadette's eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly, and she immediately picked up the letter and a gold coin that she had prepared beforehand, and handed them to the messenger.
One of Reinette Tinekerr's heads bit the letter and the gold coins, while the other heads sized up the " Mystery Queen " for a few seconds.
He shifted his gaze and stepped into the void, but just as Bernadette was about to put away the tablecloth, the messenger suddenly reappeared.
Two of His blond, red-eyed heads spoke in turn:
He... he's gone missing...