Sequence 0: The Fool!
After deciphering the inscription on the tarot card, Klein once again felt the same way he did when Zaratul spoke his name.
At that moment, a strong sense of destiny welled up in his heart, as if everything had been arranged from the very beginning, just like what "0-08" did.
He began to doubt his initial judgment, believing that the female Beast Tamer in the traveling circus in Tingen City who had asked him to do a tarot Divination was no ordinary person.
As his thoughts raced, Klein approached the situation from a different angle, gaining new ideas and gradually becoming less terrified, fearful, and frustrated.
"Perhaps it wasn't arranged by me, but rather a change I brought about myself."
"Because of the ritual that led to my transmigration, I became connected with the mysterious space above the Gray Fog, and my Fate was naturally affected. To be more precise, as a visitor from another world, I originally had no ' Fate ' here. My current trajectory is shaped by my own personality, the original owner's experiences, the influence of the Gray Fog, and the surrounding environment."
"The mysterious space above the Gray Fog is clearly strongly related to the ' Seer ' pathway, and the Sequence 0 of this pathway is called ' The Fool '. In reality, if I Divination the present moment, I would inevitably turn over the ' The Fool ' card!"
Similarly, this led me to later use ' The Fool ' as my title.
Klein gradually calmed down and concluded that this was the most likely reason.
If removing all currently unknown factors with a razor still yields a reasonable explanation, then the probability is not small... Klein forced himself to pause thinking about the question that he couldn't answer with certainty right now, and turned his attention back to what had just happened:
"That enormous chair, that clump of transparent maggots, are what I saw when I Divination above the Gray Fog."
"Judging from the chilling behavior that makes one's hair stand on end upon closer examination, this is very likely an Angel who has entered the ' Seer ' path, Angel who has gone out of control and become Monster!"
Zaratul himself?
Or perhaps the most powerful member of the Antigonus Family during the Fourth Age?
"If it's the former, both ' Magic Mirror ' Arrodes and ' Mercury Snake ' Will Auceptin have confirmed that Zaratul has reached Sequence 1 and gone insane, collapsing into Monster, which matches this... This also explains why Zaratul only asked for ' Door Opening,' because once that ' Hidden Door ' is opened, the two versions of Him can connect and break free from their current state, gradually recovering. The repeatedly emphasized ashes are just a pretext."
"The problem is that the environment that the ' Magic Mirror ' Arrodes showed Zaratul in is not similar to that ancient palace on the mountain peak, otherwise I would have been able to recognize it at the time."
"If that was Angel who barely survived the Antigonus Family, capable of causing Zaratu, who obtained the notes during Roselle's time and came to the Hornacis Mountain Range to Zaratul, to suffer a loss, having a portion of himself quietly taken away without his knowledge, and thus going mad during his advancement, then this person should at least be Sequence 1 ' Attendant of Mysteries,' after all, Zaratul was already a ' Miracle Invoker ' at that time..."
From this perspective, Zaratul's goal is likely still to Door Opening, connecting the history and Fate of the Foggy Town with the outside world, and preventing it from becoming divided...
"Regardless, that clump of transparent maggots is most likely a runaway Sequence 1. No wonder the ' Witch of Despair ' was on the verge of collapse just by seeing it, and was suspended up after the slightest struggle, becoming Marionette waiting to be dried out. Fortunately, I didn't have many clues at the time, and the scene I saw in the Divination wasn't clear enough, otherwise I would have suffered a severe shock from witnessing the complete and insane Mythical Creature, and mutated out of control..."
"Wait, even if He is strong, can He be stronger than the ' Eternal Blazing Sun ' or the ' True Creator '? Even if we take into account the ' Seer's ' method's restraint on the mysterious space above the Gray Fog, He is at most on the same level as them. In other words, as long as I can endure the pain, and given the necessary conditions, I have one chance to peek into it. And the complete Mythical Creature Form is mixed with the corresponding knowledge."
"Perhaps we can get one or two High-Sequence recipes through this, just like we got the ' Unshadowed ' from the ' Eternal Blazing Sun ' back then."
Thinking of this, an image involuntarily surfaced in Klein's mind:
The " The Fool " above the Gray Fog has once again quietly extended his sinister hand.
While overjoyed, Klein also felt a pang of heartache, because with his current level, strength, and resources, there was no way he could possibly reach the ancient chair where the transparent worm was and retrieve the " The Fool " card.
It's always painful to see something you desire most but not be able to have it.
Phew... At least I've obtained the " Bizarro Sorcerer " Potion recipe, and I'll have another chance to spy on it later. This adventure wasn't in vain, nor were all the gold pounds spent and the lost Marionette... Hmm, Zaratul shouldn't give me a fake recipe. For Him, it's beneath him to bother deceiving a Sequence 5 who has no chance of surviving. Besides, if He were to lie, he'd have to be wary that I already knew the " Bizarro Sorcerer " Potion recipe and was only asking for it to confirm whether He was trustworthy... I'll go back and do some Divination above the Gray Fog... Klein sighed. Seeing that there hadn't been any unusual changes outside for quite some time, he decided to immediately approach the dark church to observe what had become of the interior.
For him, none of the many questions he had just been thinking about were the most important thing right now. The most important thing was to leave this Concealment world and leave this Foggy Town!
After leaving the house, Klein, wearing an old tricorn hat and a dark red coat, cautiously approached the entrance of the ancient church, carefully passing through the half-open door and stepping inside.
The corpses, dressed and looking different, remained suspended in mid-air, swaying in the wind, uttering the muttered words, " Hornacis... Flegrea..."
Klein passed under "them," his eyes gradually adjusting to the dim environment, and he could see more and more things.
The half -Demonic Wolf, half-human statue still stood undamaged, while the obsidian slab and the tin urn lay diagonally behind it without breaking.
Klein breathed a sigh of relief at first, then looked around and his gaze suddenly froze.
In that dark corner stood a giant mushroom taller than him.
The mushroom's top was blood-red, interspersed with white patterns. Its body was composed of one identical small mushroom after another, their patterns collectively depicting a face— Mr. A's face.
However, Mr. A's "eyes" were extremely wooden, devoid of any human radiance. Mushrooms sprouted from both sides, forming long, slender arms, and a thin human skin glove was worn on his left hand, as if the two had become one.
... What kind of Monster is this...? Klein involuntarily took a step back, feeling that his knowledge of mysticism was completely inadequate at this moment.
He hadn't shut down the corresponding vision and was performing self-protection maneuvers when he discovered that the terrifying mushroom had no " Spirit Body Threads," suggesting it had already died, and its current activity was merely based on residual reactions of its body's nerves.
In an instant, Klein suddenly had a guess:
Mr. A, who had been planted with mushrooms, didn't have time to escape. He witnessed the transparent worm and the complete Mythical Creature. His spirit died on the spot, his body completely collapsed, and a terrible mutation occurred. He then merged with the nearby cursed and disintegrated " Wraith " Senor, becoming a mushroom-shaped Monster that had never appeared before!
And " Creeping Hunger " was also swallowed... This "mushroom" looks disgusting. If Frank mentions mushrooms again, I'll throw him into the sea... Klein's eyes flickered, and he subconsciously moved closer to the obsidian slab, preparing to ignore the "mushroom" and escape from here first.
Just then, he suddenly felt dizzy and everything around him became slightly blurry.
Suddenly, Klein realized he had been forcibly pulled into Dream Divination!
He immediately broke free and saw the nearly two-meter-tall "mushroom" slowly gliding closer, carrying a giant sword made of crimson magma and pale blue flames.
It can use the " Magma Sword "... Klein didn't hesitate, opened his mouth, and made a sound.
"Bang!"
The highly penetrating Air Bullet struck the "mushroom," which was slowed down by Manipulation dreams, piercing its cap and tearing a huge wound.
The wound was filled with human flesh and tiny fungal hyphae, which wriggled rapidly and quickly repaired the "body".
"Can it be like this...?" A strong sense of danger suddenly arose in Klein's mind, and he lunged to the side, rolling several times.
The "mushroom" suddenly accelerated, and the " Magma Sword " in its hand, trailing a trail of crimson and pale blue flames, slammed heavily into the spot where Klein had been standing, cracking the floor tiles and scattering flames everywhere.
At that moment, Klein snapped his fingers, instantly igniting the small mushrooms that made up the Monster.
Then, he ran diagonally behind the statue, trying to grab the obsidian slab.
But in a moment of confusion, Klein realized he was going in the wrong direction:
He was rushing towards the door.
"It can even Distortion my will?" Klein's heart tightened, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the surface of the huge "mushroom" was covered with a layer of frost, extinguishing the rising crimson flames.
In a flash, Klein rushed to the door and snapped his fingers again, setting the leaves of the trees outside ablaze.
Without knowing the enemy's situation or making much preparation, he believed that a qualified " Magician " should choose to retreat and avoid the situation first.
More importantly, his strongest " Marionettist " ability was ineffective at this moment because the giant "mushroom" lacked " Spirit Body Threads "!
With a whoosh, crimson flames surged like water, engulfing Klein's figure. He then Blink into the flames outside and leaped to the ground.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the sound of wind howling in his ears.
The enormous "mushroom" with its red and white cap was chased out of the church by the strong wind!
It can fly! Klein snapped his fingers repeatedly, using " Flame Jump " to forcibly create distance.
At the same time, he felt an itch in his nose and wanted to sneeze.
And then there's the disease... How am I supposed to fight this? I've lost my magical items, and I can't even use my " Marionettist " skills... What a strange mushroom! Klein, who had taken refuge in a house, didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Suddenly, he felt a chill run through his body, and his mind naturally conjured up his current appearance:
His worn-out tricorn hat, dark red coat, white trousers, and black leather boots had all disappeared, leaving only a pair of boxer shorts to guard his last shred of dignity.
This... it's been half an hour, and Senor, summoned from history, can no longer sustain it... Klein instantly understood the reason and his thoughts began to wander:
The " Admiral of Blood the "mushroom" should also have disappeared...
Also, wait another fifteen minutes, and the "fish meat" effect will wear off; it will lack its main components...
Klein's lips curled up slightly, and he immediately used the flames to leap away. Sure enough, as he expected, the huge "mushroom" had exaggerated holes in its body that could not be repaired, which slowed it down and made it sluggish.
"Come on, let's play hide-and-seek..." Klein muttered to himself, and began to circle around the town's streets, using the flames and houses as cover to outmaneuver the giant "mushroom."
Throughout this process, the red moon never once pierced through the fog to become clear.
After more than ten minutes, the terrifying "mushroom" finally lost its ability to move and swayed as it collapsed on the street.
Klein breathed a sigh of relief and slowly and cautiously approached, seeing the "mushroom" flesh coalesce and the light spot shrink inward, soon leaving only a thin human skin glove.
This... because of the mutation brought about by the Sequence 1 Angel, " Creeping Hunger " and Mr. A have merged? An upgraded version of " Creeping Hunger "? Klein bent down and carefully picked up the human skin glove.
P. S.: Thank you so much to Viker, Passerby Chacha, Renzai Wutongshuxia, as well as Choufengyuguo and Luoyefeiba923 for your generous donations over the past few days. You've been incredibly kind.
PS2: I was busy finishing my writing yesterday and didn't have time to say Happy Children's Day everyone! Actually, what I love most about the chapter comments and book review section is that the silly readers are always laughing, saying things like "666," "Holy crap," and "The author is awesome!" Just browsing through them makes me feel better. Yeah, it's good to be happy, everyone should be happy.
PS3: This is over 3600 words, please vote with at least one monthly pass!
PS4: Suddenly realized that due to a system upgrade, from June 2nd to June 6th, I won't be able to post chapter comments or replies, and I won't be able to see the silly laughs from my fellow readers. Disappointing...