The "curtain" enveloping Antigonus' palace vanished instantly, and an indescribable atmosphere returned to reality, causing the entire stellar realm to tremble as if shaken. Outside the world barrier, riddled with cracks, the faces—unprecedented in their terror and beyond ordinary description—began to shift simultaneously. The intangible barrier started to quake violently, as though it would crumble inch by inch. Earthquakes, though not severe, were noticeable and widespread across every continent of the internal planets. Across the Five Seas, waves surged high, as though suddenly subjected to an unforeseen tidal force. In the sky at noon, the crimson moon suddenly emerged with an intense, rich hue, swelling dramatically as if suspended above every roof. Meanwhile, the brown, orange, red, yellow, and blue stars all brightened simultaneously, emitting luminous qualities of distinct textures. From the stars down below, the entire Earth appeared to be caught within an invisible storm, swaying and trembling in place.
These are subtle changes brought about by the Outer Gods' attempts to breach the barrier. The atmosphere emanating from the ancient palace floating within the Stellar Realm stirred memories of that terrifying entity in them, prompting either fury or madness as they collectively tried to prevent its resurrection. While the Outer Gods themselves had been held outside the realm of reality, it was the "Wishing Lamp" residing within the very folds of Celine's "true body" that reacted first. The viscous, pale golden light suddenly pierced through the enhanced seal strengthened by Amun, materializing into a hazy, distorted form. Extending one arm, it seized the "Trenzost Bronze Book" into its grasp. All previously inscribed rules vanished, replaced instantly by new ones:
"Resurrection of the deceased is hereby forbidden!"
A fleeting shimmer of pale gray mist then revealed a familiar set of rules appearing before this one:
"The following rules are hereby invalidated!"
Even before fully reviving, before fully absorbing the unique essence of the Fool and the extraordinary traits of the "Oracle" path from Sequence 9 to Sequence 1, the "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun" within Kline's "essence" could already command the "Source Citadel," drawing upon its own dignity and invoking power. At this moment, the Tianzun's existence had interacted with the historical mist, causing fragments of light to warp and twist—sometimes fusing into a unified whole, at other times fracturing and dispersing, unable to fully cohere into a coherent historical narrative. A contradiction in the very nature of history now emerged! The true history had always been that Kline Moretti, a human soul from prehistoric times, had assumed the role of the Fool, founded the Tarot Society, and gradually strengthened himself sequence by sequence, eventually approaching the true essence of the Fool. But the current historical account portrays the Fool as a great being who had awakened—this ancient "Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun," finally rising once more.
At that moment, although the rule restrictions enacted by the "Lamp Deity" through the "Trenzost Yellow Copper Scroll" only took effect for less than a second, they still caused a noticeable weakening of the "Master of Mysteries" within Celine's "true self"—as though suffering a decisive blow. The "Mother Earth Deity" and the "Deity of Steam and Machinery" both abandoned their interference with Amun's manifestations, seemingly intending for this "mistake" to focus on confronting the reemerging "Master of Mysteries." Yet, despite still possessing ample strength, neither of them attempted to influence Celine's "true self," instead continuing to suppress the "Primordial Maiden" and the "Hidden Sage." The attacks and disruptions from these latter two figures likewise grew less intense, as though patiently awaiting a specific outcome. To them, the revival of the "Master of Mysteries" served the same purpose: to establish a key pillar as swiftly as possible, and to prevent any of their adversaries from becoming the "Master of Mysteries."
Moreover, their respective paths did not belong to the three that fell under the dominion of the Master of Mysteries, and they held no enmity or conflicting interests with one another. Immediately, upon ceasing to be affected, Amun shifted his focus, concentrating most of his attention on Celine's "essence." Without needing further explanation, they clearly understood that this was their greatest threat. Without hesitation, the Amuns simultaneously raised their right hands, gently clasped them, and solemnly "stole" the "Eternal Day" effect from Celine's being. Yet, the Amuns did not abandon their influence over Celine. Leveraging their numerical strength, they dispatched a small contingent to observe Celine, currently a Sequence 1 "Mystic Servant" bearing the identity of Antigonus. The lenses of these Amuns suddenly brightened, utilizing their powers related to "doors," and transported Celine from the realm of reality into the expanse of the stars.
Within the profound, dark expanse of the cosmos, Klein's figure emerged and then instantly thinned, transforming into a sheet of paper. This paper figure first swelled its abdomen, giving birth to a paper infant, before rapidly decaying and turning to dust. Klein used "grafting" and "paper mannequin substitutes" to fend off the attacks from the Amons. Meanwhile, other Amons achieved success, stealing the "Eternal Day" effect from Klein's "true form." Yet, in the very next second, this "Eternal Day" effect was reclaimed by the Amons themselves. This is the mastery of the "Mysterious Sovereign" over the capabilities of this path—despite still being in the process of resurrection, not yet fully restored.
The Amon's gaze flickered slightly, immediately shifting their focus away from Caine and concentrating instead on three key matters: the majority of them continued to "steal" the "Eternal Day" effects bestowed upon them, countering the "Master of Mysteries," while a smaller group locked onto Antigonus seated upon the great stone throne, systematically "stealing" his "Eternal Slumber" state without regard to sequence. Furthermore, all the Amon weakened or even partially dismantled the seals protecting the realm—no longer under attack from the Amon, Caine likewise remained passive, directing his attention inward toward his own "Essence." It was the resurgence of the "Master of Mysteries" that now posed the greatest threat!
In that instant, a faint, ethereal mark emerged at the center of Caine's brow—a peculiar luminous gateway tinged with hints of deep indigo, continuously radiating a thin veil of pale gray mist. Caine began to contest for control of the "Sanctum" with the "Master of Mysteries," aiming to prevent the latter from easily drawing upon his positional authority to summon power.
And, while the "Mysterious Sovereign" had not yet truly revived nor fully embraced the unity and exceptional qualities of "The Fool," this effectively diminished the opposing force's strength, increasing the failure rate of His operations and significantly weakening their overall effectiveness. With his arrival and his growing control over "The Source Citadel," the "deception" inflicted upon "The Treasuries of Trenzost" was immediately weakened, and the success rate of the Amon's "theft" operations improved. Almost simultaneously, beneath the vast, ancient light of the great solar deity in the God-Abandoned Lands, across the sea surface that encompassed all hues, a passage written in the oldest known language swiftly materialized: "The 'Mysterious Sovereign's' revival, despite multiple disruptions, ultimately failed." As this sentence took form, and as Kline contested for control of "The Source Citadel," the Amons once again succeeded in stealing the "Eternal Day" effect previously granted to the "Mysterious Sovereign."
On the other side, they also "stole" Antigonus's "state of eternal slumber." Without hesitation, the Amun priests transferred this state of slumber to the "true body" of Caelen, to the "Master of Mysteries." The stirring breath of that ancient being instantly subsided, yet soon rebounded. At this moment, on the weakening seal of the "Trenzost Yellow Book," the corresponding verses reformed once more: "Resurrection of the dead is hereby forbidden!" Suddenly, the terrifying will within Caelen's true body rapidly weakened, and a strong tendency toward renewed slumber emerged. Yet this will was so powerful that even over the course of centuries it had not been fully eroded—under the dual constraints, it persisted, steadily growing and reviving, and attempted to resolve the current predicament through "revisions" and "deceptions." Caelen sensed the invocation of forces from the "Source Citadel" and immediately focused his attention, intervening.
At the same time, the "Goddess of Night," floating above the ancient palace, slightly relaxed her control over Amun's true form and retracted the golden bird-shaped ornament, orienting its head downward. Within the bronze eyes of the bird-shaped ornament, the ethereal, layered gates surged forth, and a drop of colorless liquid—emitting a strong sense of eternal stillness—fell precisely onto Amun's true form inside the ancient palace. This was a drop of water from the "River of Eternal Darkness." As the Goddess of Night performed this action, Amun's true form, in its attempts to open "doors" and escape, subtly eased its efforts. The drop of water descended swiftly, causing the natural barrier established by the "Earth Mother Goddess" and the "God of Steam and Machinery" presenting the civilization's tapestry to contract slightly, yielding space for it. *Plip*—the water from the "River of Eternal Darkness" landed precisely on the crown of Amun's true form, entering silently and without sound.
The gradually emerging "mysterious sovereign" aura immediately settled, losing its fluctuations and sinking back into a state of eternal slumber. Yet this state was unstable, as if it could be broken at any moment. At that moment, the "Night Goddess," with her last empty hand, drew forth a massive longsword from the void. The sword's surface shimmered with an orange-red glow, radiating the atmosphere of dusk and the signs of decay. This was the symbol of the "Dusk Giant." Extending her arm, covered in sleek black fur, the "Night Goddess" swung this imposing sword downward. She had always retained sufficient strength—clearly preparing for this very moment! As the sword, glowing with the hues of twilight, cleaved through the void with a strange, decaying sound, it severed the dome of Antigonus' palace, causing the suspended bodies to fall to the ground. Immediately afterward, it struck the core of Kleyn, who had still not fully escaped his state of eternal slumber.
The portion of consciousness that had awakened in the "Mysterious Sovereign" rapidly faded, and the body itself began to decay and collapse inexorably, its unique identity as the "Fool" and the two sequence-9 to sequence-1 extraordinary traits within it collapsing and merging together. Upon seeing this, Kline acted without hesitation, following protocol, summoning the "Source Citadel" to draw down a quarter of the historical mist and contain the gathering phenomena. Amid the gray-white mist, the identity of the "Fool" and the extraordinary traits fully coalesced. They then violently absorbed the surrounding historical mist, transforming into a fluid of indefinite form, deep and dark. This fluid stretched and flowed, as if striving to take shape into a translucent, hooded, odd cloak—or the form of a human whose organs and flesh had been hollowed out. "The Fool's potion!" At that moment, the Amons simultaneously extended their right hands, seizing the potion.