Mysteries: Arcana Wars

The more Klein thought about what was happening, the more horrified he felt.

The black-robed man's posture was so natural that Klein felt that he was not disguising himself at all. He was nakedly showing his truest frivolity and mockery, which was something that should not appear on him.

Every time he talked with Leonard about the story of the end of the Fifth Epoch, Leonard told Klein firmly that the terrifying Celestial Lord had been completely defeated by Klein, and now Klein was firmly sitting on the throne of the Lord of Mysteries.

But is his testimony really true?

Leonard was not a close friend who knew everything. He was a friend, a close friend, and one of the people closest to Klein in this world. But after all, there was a membrane that could not be pierced and a wall that could not be knocked down between him and Klein. All the stories could only happen between those tiny holes.

Regardless of whether he truly became the Lord of Mysteries, Klein believed that no matter what period of his life he was in, he would not be able to reveal his true situation to Leonard. Leonard could only know what he wanted him to know.

From the fact that Leonard doesn't know the secrets of the Moretti family, we can know that his testimony about his own doomsday times may not have much reference value.

Melissa in the illusion would provide information to Klein, but he didn't have much time to spend with Melissa in the illusion, so he couldn't learn too many stories from Melissa.

She just said:

Klein Moretti became the Lord of Mysteries.

But never said:

Klein Moretti [defeated] Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun.

So did I really defeat Tianzun back then?

The more he thought about the unknown past, the stronger the confusion and madness from the depths of his mind became, shaking Klein's obsession and confidence, as if there was a vicious hound tearing at Klein's self-awareness.

So are all the torture and pain I am experiencing now obstacles that prevent me from returning and fighting back?

Is it the betrayal of one's own will? Is it the hallucination of the outer gods of the starry sky? Or is it the madness of the Lord of Mystery?

What on earth am I struggling for!?

Who am I fighting against now!?

Who am I?

The noisy room suddenly became quiet, and Alice suddenly stopped struggling, hanging on the chair like a broken ordinary doll.

...and...Melissa...

The crazy noise that was howling in his head just now died down without any warning. The rare clarity washed over Klein's mind like a sweet rain, clearing his mind and making him feel relieved. As the madness of the characters in the illusion faded away, Klein finally regained his sanity for a moment.

"Oh, sneaky, I knew you were going to do this again."

Mad God Alice woke up by chance, his hoarse and deep voice was no longer hysterical, but he spoke calmly and clearly.

"You induced me to sign your plan while I was unconscious. As long as I nodded in agreement, the contract and cause and effect would be immediately established. I would have no choice but to act according to your plan."

"What a shame. It's not that easy to trick me out of my [promise] when I'm completely crazy."

"Oh my, I came to you sincerely to discuss the countermeasures for three hundred years later. Your words really hurt my heart."

The man in black robe said with a smile, and then he turned his wrist and took out a long pipe in the style of the Western Continent, and slowly blew a puff of white smoke towards Alice.

"You old lunatic are almost never awake. It would be really hard for me to wait for your moment of awakening. It would be better to save some time and get your [Promise] as soon as possible. This way, it won't cause you too much trouble. Anyway, you will agree to this plan in the end."

"Hmph, that sounds nice, you old liar, but you're just trying to take advantage of the situation to cheat me." Alice spat, "What are you going to do now?"

"I've already said it just now. You obviously agree with it. You just lacked the promise."

"Go away! Say it again! I didn't hear you just now."

"...Oh, you really went back on your word. Well, where were we last time?"

The man in black robe mock-taped himself by tapping his forehead with his pipe.

“As I just said, when the me of three hundred years later is resurrected, [he] will be the strongest link between reality, you, me, and nothingness.

"This way, you can use this connection with reality to return to reality in [him] - that Klein.

"But in exchange, I will let you return to reality, and you have to help me complete my plan..."

"I don't care what your plan is!"

A kind of irritability mixed with a bit of madness began to erode Alice's consciousness again. He seemed to recall something and interrupted the man in black robe impatiently.

“I won’t do it!

"I won't listen to you and wait here obediently. I want to return to reality! The sooner the better!"

"Look how anxious you are. I'm not trying to stop you from returning to reality." The man in black robe tapped his long pipe. "I just want you to return to reality two months later than previously planned. It won't cause you any loss."

"Come on, old liar. If I give you two more months, who knows what you can do." Alice's tone was very firm. "If I can't let you enjoy it, it will be my loss."

"Old lunatic, you should know that you participated in the formulation of these plans." The black-robed man narrowed his eyes, "and many of them were made when you were sober."

"Whether I'm awake or crazy, I won't agree to this!

"It's useless even if you don't agree! When the time comes, I will do my best to return to the present from that guy three hundred years later as quickly as possible in my own way!"

Alice stamped her foot impatiently.

“Perhaps your plan doesn’t need these two more months at all, and you’ve already anticipated that I won’t accept a delay in returning to reality.

"What you are doing now is just a provocation to stimulate me, to stimulate me to do my best to return to the real world, the sooner the better!

"No! Any! Discussion!"

"...Oh, that's not necessarily true..."

The black-robed Lord of Mysteries tapped his pipe on the table, and his laughter exuded a dangerous aura that made Klein fear. He was about to say something when he was ruthlessly interrupted.

"Wait a minute, I suddenly thought of something."

Alice suddenly became quiet and smiled widely, revealing her sharp shark teeth.

“This seems to be my territory.

"You sneaked in while I was unconscious and deliberately mixed up a lot of information, betting that I would not wake up suddenly, and would not recover too soon after waking up.

"I almost got fooled by you again, old liar... Are you really going to talk to me about this in my territory, using a clone?"

The ropes that bound Klein ignited with black, ethereal flames, and then the entire room began to twist.

The walls, floors, ceilings... everything began to stretch infinitely, and then began to spiral toward where the man in black was, as if the entire space had been thrown into a huge washing machine and was twisting and tumbling.

Klein seemed to want to say something else, but his beautiful clarity was fleeting, and madness came like a flood, destroying his thin and fragile logical thinking.

Then the mad god Alice in the illusion could no longer speak any clear words, and when He opened His mouth He burst into hysterical laughter.

The ropes formed by the gray fog were completely swallowed up by the black smoke, and the invisible madness finally had a terrifying substance. The originally spiraling spatial order collapsed, and all physical objects twisted and deformed in different directions. The walls began to tear, and the murals began to melt. In the end, the poor fantasy creations could no longer bear the crazy and chaotic thoughts and began to collapse.

Endless black smoke and dust spewed out from the broken cracks of the objects, quickly engulfing any concrete scenery around them.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the man in black robe picked up the lantern on the table and ran into the depths of the dark torrent. Alice, who was captured by madness, broke free from her restraints and immediately chased after him with a shrill laugh, followed closely by the vortex of nothingness that the whole house had turned into.

Finally, everything was swallowed up by the frenzied nothingness, and everything in the senses returned to silence. Only the swaying lantern in front was left, illuminating the running man in black robes and a small path under his feet.

The madness of the past was something Klein could not bear now. Klein's senses and spirit were torn to pieces by the madness of the illusion. He could only vaguely feel that he was running, as if he was getting closer and closer to the black-robed man holding the lantern. He didn't know where countless hands were reaching out from, grabbing and scratching.

Finally, the puppet's hand grabbed the black-robed man's wrist.

The strong tearing feeling made Klein turn his head suddenly, only to find that he was holding a swaying lantern in his pale and slender hands, and a velvety black cloth was wrapped around him. What was infinitely magnified in front of him was the terrifying grinning face of the Mad God Alice.

"It's time to fulfill your promise, Sneaky!"

The lantern went out, his feet felt empty, and Klein fell into the depths of endless nothingness.