While Lanevus was carrying out his scam, Wilt left Darkwill and went straight back to the hotel where he was staying.
He began reviewing the day's events, but the more he thought about them, the more he felt something was wrong.
I'll set the matter of Lanevus aside for now. He's under 008's influence, and Ince Zangwill shouldn't have the nerve to attack me.
Madam D of the Aurora Order and the Hidden Sage are worth considering, though.
The True Creator sent down an oracle that specifically pointed to me. What is He after?
And why did the Hidden Sage appear when I was performing the Dance of Attraction and stuff knowledge of Life Alchemy into my head?
Unable to make sense of it, Wilt decided to follow Klein's example and enter his Sefirah to perform a divination.
He set up a Wall of Spirituality in his room, creating an enclosed space where he wouldn't be disturbed, then began reciting the Sefirah's Honorific Name:
"Key of Light, endless chaos, embodiment of fate!"
Wilt closed his eyes. His spirit body rose until it entered a pure, transcendent ring of light, then appeared inside the unchanging Buddha realm.
Looking at the sunset in the distance and the ethereal clouds around him, Wilt pondered:
Sequence 8 of the Monster Pathway already grants divination and anti-divination abilities. The Key of Light is this Pathway's Sefirah. I don't expect Him to be as good at it as Sefirah Castle, but He can't be too bad, right?
Wilt decided to try Dream Divination first. He closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, and silently repeated, The reason the True Creator sent down an oracle...
The reason the True Creator sent down an oracle...
After seven repetitions, Wilt fell asleep. An image appeared in his mind: a land shrouded in darkness, where monsters ran rampant. An occasional bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and by its light, he saw an ancient, weathered cathedral.
The image then shifted to Lanevus Steelworks, the scene of Wilt's first encounter with Lanevus.
The scene changed again, revealing a vast expanse of sunset at dusk. Beneath it stood a magnificent, imposing royal court.
Wilt woke up immediately afterward and began considering what he had seen. The Forsaken Land of the Gods... Lanevus... and the Giant King's Court.
What does that combination of three mean?
The cathedral in the image of the Forsaken Land of the Gods is probably where the True Creator sleeps. As for Lanevus, that was yesterday's matter. Because of that, the True Creator noticed me. But why did the Giant King's Court appear at the end?
The more I divine, the more confused I get.
Wilt shook his head and decided to set the matter aside for now.
Next, the Hidden Sage!
He closed his eyes again and silently repeated, The reason the Hidden Sage came...
The reason the Hidden Sage came...
After seven repetitions, an image appeared in Wilt's mind. It was the same one he had seen when he drank the Monster Potion: Old Neil studying a ritual to resurrect his wife in his own home.
The image then changed, showing Wilt performing the Dancer Pathway's Dance of Attraction in the outskirts to summon an unknown existence.
Finally, another image appeared: Amon feeding him a Cryptologist Potion in the Corpse Cathedral.
The Dream Divination ended, and Wilt woke up. Based on this information, he managed to arrive at a plausible conjecture:
The Hidden Sage obtained some knowledge of Outer Deities from me, so He followed the principle of equivalent exchange and chose to give me part of the knowledge of Life Alchemy, letting me use Old Neil to digest the Cryptologist Potion?
The more Wilt thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Should I go find Old Neil and see?
In any case, my digestion of the Monster Pathway Potion has stalled. I only have the last third left to digest, but because of me, the official Beyonders have more than doubled their patrols. Today, I finally managed to find a secluded place, only to attract a parasitic spider...
Phew, my luck is terrible. I'd better stop for now and lie low, then digest the last part after some time has passed.
But the next moment, Wilt hesitated. Old Neil is a believer in the Evernight Goddess. Will doing this displease Her?
Soon, however, he put the thought out of his mind. Who cares? Even if there's a problem, the Evernight Goddess will go after Amon. What does it have to do with me, Wilt? I have merit to my name, so why should I fear mere misfortune?
Besides, the hints from fate when I became a Beyonder of the Monster Pathway all pointed to Old Neil. Add the Hidden Sage's actions to that... there probably won't be much of a problem.
Wilt's gaze grew resolute. That's right, it's settled.
I'll get a good rest today and go find Old Neil tomorrow morning. If anything goes wrong, I'll immediately go to the Church of Evernight, donate money, and ask for forgiveness. As long as I drop to my knees fast enough, misfortune won't catch up to me...
The next day, after breakfast, Wilt found Old Neil's home through divination.
Following the principle that thieves didn't use the front door, he climbed in through a window.
Clack!
Wilt stood in the living room, surveying the layout: one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, and a basement.
Life Alchemy is forbidden knowledge. Old Neil should be studying it in the basement.
Wilt pushed open the basement door and went straight in.
I was right!
In the dim basement, he saw stacks of papers piled haphazardly, an unfinished ritual array on the floor, and books scattered around it.
Wilt went over to the only desk and picked up the notebook lying open on it.
Just as I thought, it's knowledge related to Life Alchemy.
He turned to the first page and began reading from the start, taking nearly an hour to finish everything.
The Life Alchemy knowledge the Hidden Sage gave me is incomplete, and so is what He gave Old Neil...
But even after combining our respective knowledge of Life Alchemy, a part is still missing. That should be what I need to do: use the Cryptologist's abilities to try to complete Old Neil's resurrection ritual.
If I can do that, I'll definitely be able to digest most of the Cryptologist Potion. After all, Life Alchemy is knowledge at the demigod level.
And...
Wilt looked at the books around him. Perhaps I can also use this chance to learn some new Beyonder knowledge.
Wilt had Beyonder knowledge in his mind that every Amon avatar automatically possessed, something of a benefit Amon gave his avatars, such as Hermes and Jotun.
But he had nothing beyond that. For example, he didn't know how to perform sacrifice and bestowment rituals because Amon's avatars had no use for them. Nor did he know how to summon or make a contract with a messenger, because Amon's avatars contacted one another through their monocles and didn't need messengers.
There wasn't a trace of any other, more profound knowledge, so Wilt now needed to study on his own to expand his Beyonder knowledge.
He walked over to the books and picked one up:
I'll study this knowledge on my own until Old Neil gets back!