MI9..."
Klein's question hit Emlyn's cognitive blind spot.
As a vampire who has only recently come of age and has grown up in Rune, Emlyn is different from most vampires of the same age.
He had loving parents, and because of this, he never faced the obligations and pressures of advancement that his people, far away in the southern part of the world, had to face.
His background made him unlike ordinary wild extraordinary individuals; he knew nothing about the various dangerous secret organizations and societies, but only to the extent that he was aware of them.
Before receiving the Count Nibais's forceful order, Emlyn knew the world-renowned intelligence organization, MI9, as nothing more than an empty title.
Yesterday's encounter, while giving him the opportunity to confront the members of MI9, also caused him to miss a crucial chance to truly understand his enemy due to the arrival of Count Mistral, or rather, the vampires' concern for him as a special "lucky one."
Indeed, in yesterday's unexpected turn of events, Emlyn witnessed the way the "judge" and the "lawyer" fought.
They excel at enacting laws to create a battlefield environment favorable to their side, while the "lawyers" are able to expand the advantages established by the "judges" in the shortest amount of time.
However, Count Mistral was, after all, a demigod with divine qualities.
His existence meant that mortal "laws" were unlikely to take effect, and the crude firearms in his hands, beyond the comprehension of the Rune people, shattered an entire MI9 squad in just a few seconds.
The rapid pace of engagement prevented Emlyn from gaining a clear understanding of MI9's capabilities.
Count Mistral's disappointment and the vampires' change of plans will not give Emlyn the opportunity to learn more about the root causes of last night's conflict.
He hesitated for a long time, racking his brains to find an answer from the count's instructions that could barely satisfy the "fool's" question.
"...They, they are also monitoring the underground gathering of extraordinary beings in Backlund."
This is the only useful information that Emlin could extract and summarize from his experiences over the past few days.
Monitoring Backlund's underground extraordinary gathering... this is to guard against the "Faceless Man"... It's amazing that Klein was able to see through MI9's objective from the vague information provided by Emlyn.
He recalled that Mr. A had briefly been in charge of a large underground gathering of extraordinary individuals in the West Backland district.
In the gatherings organized by Mr. A, in addition to the infiltrators of true Creator believers, there were also religious activities related to "the Sun" and "the God of War," which were not recognized by Rune.
According to Taylor Franz, the attitude of the "God of War" towards the "Father of All Beings" was quite subtle.
Legend has it that the "God of War" was the last giant and the son of the "King of Giants," Ormir. The Twilight Temple in Saint Milon was the God of War's memorial to his homeland, the Giant King's Court, and a longing for the former glory of the giants under his father's command.
Olmir died at the hands of the Creator of the Third Age.
Sure enough, the relationships between the gods were more complex than I had imagined, as were those between different nations. Their actions could not be understood by ordinary people's moral standards or likes and dislikes... Klein sighed silently.
Rune's thinking was clear: he was under immense pressure on the front lines and didn't want any more trouble to break out at home.
The followers of the true Creator are quite interesting. They usually talk about "heresy" and "rebellion," but in the underground gatherings run by Rune and his group, the majority of members are "heretics."
However, on the main battlefield in the Southern Continent, according to the internal intelligence obtained by the Archipelago branch recently, the number of colonies under Rune's name that have fallen to the Tronsust army is far less than that of Fussac and Intis.
"Could it be a balancing tactic..." Klein guessed.
However, he quickly dismissed the idea. The reason was that he had too little information to speculate further. Rather than making wild guesses based on the little information Emlyn provided, he would rather ask the "Magician" properly at the Tarot gathering later through the voice of "The World".
At least Miss "Magician" has worked diligently in the intelligence department for many years and has excellent professional skills, far superior to Emlin, an outsider.
"That's enough for today." Klein leaned back in his chair. "You did a good job."
He was just being polite, but Emlyn seemed greatly encouraged.
The young vampire had a ruddy complexion and proudly puffed out his chest. After thinking hard for two seconds, a hint of difficulty appeared on his somewhat effeminate and handsome face.
"Your will is my will."
"But, great 'God of Mysteries,' I will continue to report to the messenger and Sherlock Moriarty… I mean, Mr. V?"
"To be honest, I think the Empire's internal communication system is too slow."
Is it possible that you didn't include anything useful in your letter, which led to it being deemed ineffective communication and thus lowered in priority?
Klein felt a headache coming on as he stared at the vampires who were completely clueless about their own roles.
He resisted the urge to rub his temples, and tapped the armrest with his right hand in frustration, his fingers moving faster and faster.
Using the name of "the Fool," he certainly had the ability to shut Emlyn up and prevent him from wasting any more of his precious time.
However, when he thought that Emlyn himself did not actively communicate with him, and that the vampires of Backlund and even the native Ternsorst were the biggest driving force, Klein had to become rational again.
Even if he kicks Emlyn out, the vampires will find other ways to please the "God of Mystery" and the "Fool," striving to gain divine favor.
Thinking about it that way, Emlyn isn't so bad after all, is he?
Although he is naive and has a lot of room for growth, he is at least easy to deal with. His faith is relatively firm, and he holds absolute respect for great beings. Unlike the vampire high-ranking members who have become politicians, he does not have the urge to be hypocritical when facing gods.
"Hmm... I usually hold parties here."
"The participants in the gathering are all ordinary people like you, and the 'world' is also a part of it. You can participate in this gathering."
On the long table, an incomplete tarot deck was laid out in sequence, with its back to Emlyn.
"If you choose to join, you can choose one of the remaining cards as your code name for future gatherings."
The voice of "The Fool" came from the top. Emlyn looked at the incomplete Tarot Major Arcana with interest, glanced at it for a few moments, and then slowly nodded.
"This is my good fortune, great 'God of Mysteries'."
He had absolute faith in his destiny, so without choosing, he went straight for the one in the very center.
Emlyn flipped over the cards, glanced at them, a smile playing on his lips, and proudly read out the code name he had been awarded.
"'Moon,' that's my code name."
...
Good afternoon, Mr. Fool.
As always, "Justice" Audrey led all the members to rise and greet the convener at the head of the table.
Having received the "Fool's" approval, Audrey glanced around the long table as she sat down, but did not see any unfamiliar figures.
The Tarot Club hasn't had any new members for some time.
Good afternoon, everyone.
After much deliberation, Klein still didn't dare to let Emlyn, who had just been given a codename, into the formal gathering, for fear of scaring the other members or Emlyn himself and causing some major accident at a gathering that had never had any problems.
Those attending the gathering were all long-time members, and the gathering quickly transitioned into the usual routine.
This time, however, only "The Magician" Fors presented the newly collected Russell's diary, while "Justice" and "The Hanged Man" made no progress.
As Emlyn stated, the Loen authorities intensified their crackdown on the underground Extraordinary Gathering, which deprived "Justice" Audrey of her only channel to obtain and purchase the diary of Emperor Roselle.
But Alger, the "Hanged Man," had an even more important mission than Russell's diary.
After the Rune people and the natives broke off relations on the Rosed Islands, Alger, a privateer captain who was nominally still a member of the Storm Church, was summoned by "Sea King" Cortman and joined the Bayam Defense Force organized by the Rune Governor's Office. He is currently piloting the "Azure Avenger" and is fighting against the native resistance forces on the northwest side of Blue Mountain Island.
Of course, unlike his colleagues who were desperately trying to prove themselves and hoping to use this opportunity to escape their marginalized status, Alger always kept his compliance with the church's orders to a minimum, never taking any initiative.
After all, he had long since pledged allegiance to "The Fool," had a superior who was a former Aurora Society messenger and a prospective member of the High Council, and could also act as "Sea God's" messenger in Rosde. It was obvious that the other side had a better future.
So, in Klein's view, receiving two pages of his diary at this gathering was a pleasant surprise.
He gathered the two pages of the diary and read them in order.
"On April 22nd, we will prepare to enter there and explore the abyss."
"Zarathustra disagrees with my judgment."
"He said that the abyss existed in the world long before the Third Age, and can be considered the oldest existing structure in the real world."
"I asked Him why He regarded the abyss as a 'structure,' and His answer was rather ambiguous."
"Because it was a sanctuary built by a greater, and more corrupt being, who supported 'Lord of the Abyss' Fabuti."
"Is there a greater being than the creator they believe in?"
"I don't understand why Zarathustra would hold such great respect for an unidentified evil god. I learned a lot about the Second and Third Ages from that unspeakable gathering."
"In my opinion, the sun god who claimed to be the creator at that time was worthy of being called the supreme god and the lord of all gods. No true god, not even a more powerful ancient god, could compare with His strength. All opponents and enemies ultimately met their end in death."
"'Lord of the Abyss' Fabuti may have been an accident, but in the thousands of years since he disappeared into the 'Abyss', he has not made any major moves. Even in the history of the Fourth Epoch, his name can only be seen in the atrocities planned by certain demon families."
"Apart from that, it seems as if he evaporated, leaving no further trace in history."
"There is still a chance to try. The 'Black Emperor'—this ghost ship that was once said to belong to the 'Black Emperor' Solomon—seems to be of a higher status than Zarathustra. With its protection, we can resist the corruption of the 'Abyss'."
According to Roselle, the ghost ships left behind by Solomon are of a higher rank than ordinary angels... I remember some ghost ships were even made by sacrificing extraordinary beings; surely Solomon couldn't have actually sacrificed an angel back then...
Klein had reservations about Russell's views.
Unlike Roselle at the time, he knew very well that Zarathustra had received some kind of blessing from the "Mysterious God," and perhaps all the angels under the "Mysterious God" had that blessing related to the gray fog.
According to the "mysterious" theory, the gray fog's status is equivalent to that of the creator of the Third Age, so Zarathustra must be more resistant to the corruption than a typical Sequence Two angel...
Klein turned the tan parchment and continued reading.
"On April 23, Zarathustra did not leave after all. The old man also wanted to see the true face of the legendary 'Abyss'."
"He said that when He was young, the Zarathustra family had already declined and was no longer as powerful as it once was, so He was unable to take the time to travel the world and see more of the world like His grandfather, which was His personal regret."
"Entering the outer edge of the 'Abyss' went smoothly. We followed the pitch-black ocean, pierced through the liquid-like mist, and arrived at the monstrous mountain peak. Behind it was an endless expanse of black mist, which seemed to cover an entire continent."
"The scorching ice covered the deeper parts of the ocean, with icebergs covering the surface, making a piercing splashing sound as the liquid sulfurous seawater rose and fell."
"At the bottom of the rugged mountain, the physical concept of length and length loses its meaning. It has no end and no limit. I jokingly told Edwards at the time that if I jumped off the cliff here, I might never reach the ground because I would be falling forever."
"And Zarathustra warned me, yes, He warned me, speaking to me for the first time in such a serious manner."
"He said that if I don't want to die, I'd better not make any jokes about anything here within the 'Abyss'."
"He said that the development of the 'Abyss' was beyond His expectations, more terrifying than any description He had seen in the records and documents. It was no longer a simple building; the land, ruins, ocean... everything had been assimilated by the black mountain at the center and transformed into some kind of living thing."
"This enormous creature is asleep, breathing, its mind is incredibly active, but half of its body is in a strange, near-death state, a state that may very well be exactly what it wants to see."
"I asked Zarathustra what basis he had for making that judgment."
"He smiled."
"He said that he was not qualified to pry into the secrets of an ancient god, but his master was."
"This is the first time He has heard the voice of the Lord since His birth."
Upon seeing this, Klein raised an eyebrow and inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
Russell's diary confirmed his earlier speculation.
The "God of Mystery" has indeed always retained the means to interfere with reality, only perhaps not so directly, but needing to exert influence indirectly through the angels under His command and the spirit world.
"Dead but not stiff..." The condition of the "mysterious god" perfectly embodies this phrase.
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