chose to join the church."
To Klein, this was the sensible thing. He could tell he was stronger, being of a higher sequence, but he lacked one very important thing: experience. Even if he was technically stronger, he simply lacked the experience to fight back effectively. Arianna is likely a very skilled Beyonder and seems to be a Mythical Creature, so she was at Sequence 2. Also, he sensed she wasn't the only one sent and that there were hidden dangers. Additionally, if he fought her, he likely would bring the wrath of not just the Evernight Goddess's church but the other two. Better not to have most of the official forces on him. Also, he felt something strange, an anomaly in his fate. This made him worry, so he chose not to fight.
Better to be a coward than dead!
Klein felt his thinking was being influenced, but this only made him less willing to fight if he didn't need to. While he would fight to save himself, unless there was an actual threat. . .
"Though I would like to know what conditions there are with me serving the Evernight Goddess and why you don't just kill me." Klein, while knowing he didn't really have a choice due to certain reasons, wasn't going just to do whatever the Evernight Goddess's church demanded; he knew he was powerful and knew he could throw that around. Additionally, he could guess why she didn't just kill him- for one, collateral damage- but he didn't think that was it.
"Very reasonable. The conditions are related to why I don't want to kill you. The first reason why I don't want to kill you is obvious and something you likely concluded: collateral damage. The second reason, someone of your sequence, plus the fact that you are relatively sane, is very hard to gain. Someone on your pathway, just to get to Sequence 3, would take 300 years minimum. So killing you would be a massive waste, especially since we are both believers in the Evernight Goddess. Since you are a believer and managed to skip a lot of the time advancing in strength, it is only sensible that we would rather desire to recruit you. The conditions of your service can be very generous, of course, since you are an archangel. Archangels are very hard to acquire, so while I don't have all of the conditions straight, you do have, despite agreeing to join, a lot of bargaining power. The main conditions, though, that can't be debated that I know of, are that you must swear loyalty of some sort to the Goddess, listen to 'Her' commands, and not reveal matters related to Beyonders as best you can. Is this agreeable?" Arianna smiled, knowing Klein would agree.
"I do agree, but I assume there is some sort of binding contract we must do first?"
"Correct, go outside; I have a divine artifact we can use to witness your agreement." Arianna then proceeded to leave Klein's dream.
Klein then proceeded to wake up and realized they were conversing in a dream!
Is this dream power from Ma'am Arianna's pathway?
Klein then proceeded to go outside and saw Ma'am Arianna outside with the gray-eyed inspector from before.
"That inspector is with the Nighthawks?" Klein was rather certain that the inspector was a Nighthawk.
"You know of the church's Beyonder team?" Arianna was rather curious how he knew of official forces from the church.
Klein wasn't sure how to respond, realizing he had backed himself into a corner.
"It's alright; you don't have to say how you know."
Klein was very relieved.
That was probably a concession to show her goodwill.
"We won't do what we discussed here; we will be doing it at the church. Mr. Smith, you can return to your normal duties now." Arianna quickly replied, not allowing Klein to ask about the contract with the divine artifact.
"My normal duty is back at the church, Ma'am Arianna." Dunn carefully spoke. He didn't exactly know the context of what Klein and 'Her' Eminence Arianna were talking about, but knew better than to ask.
"Hmmm, then I'll take all of us to the church then." Arianna grabbed both Klein's and Dunn's hands and seemed to travel through a chaotic space.
They appeared in the basement of Saint Selena Cathedral. Arianna let go of their hands and motioned Klein to follow.
"Mr. Smith, you can go back to your duties here; I will be taking one room." Arianna walked to a room.
"Wait, I need to tell Daly she doesn't need to do the spirit mediumship!" Dunn lampooned his forgetfulness quietly.
Dunn began walking out of the basement to go tell Daly she didn't need to prepare to do a spirit mediumship.
Meanwhile, in the room Arianna led Klein to, she sat down on a chair and motioned Klein to take the other chair.
"We can negotiate your terms of service more thoroughly here." Arianna took out a piece of paper. "In truth, there is only one condition you must comply with: swear some degree of loyalty to the Evernight Goddess. Additionally, I can personally assure you that 'She' won't command you to do things you don't agree with. Now, what other condition do you desire?"
"I understand swearing my loyalty to the Lady, but what would I actually do? Additionally, what's the pay?" Arianna could tell that Klein was most interested in the pay.
"Considering your current living conditions, we can't just give you a massive pay. That would look suspicious. So the idea is you would have a salary of 15 pounds a week with an additional private pay of 1,000 pounds a month. The only requirement for that 1,000 pounds is that you don't tell your siblings. Also, we will let you write off many of your expenses as work-related. The only requirement for that currently is that it can't be too unreasonable.
Am I in heaven? The original Klein Moretti's and Zhou Mingrui's greed had combined. So when given this, Klein Moretti's greed sold him out.
"As in things that would harm the church. Or are completely frivolous. You can, for example, write off your bills for living in a place, or if you need to buy materials for charms or other mystical things. We will also provide you with a mystical item once you provide enough contributions. Also, we will let you in on important church secrets immediately once you swear loyalty. These secrets are greatly beneficial to you, and you can't find them easily without our help. I swear they will greatly benefit you in the Goddess's name. Are these conditions acceptable?" Arianna was writing out a draft on a shiny golden object.
. . . where did she get a shiny gold thing? Klein detected an anomaly when 'She' took the golden object out.
Noticing Klein's reaction, Arianna spoke, "Oh, this is Sealed Artifact 1-100. It corresponds to Sequence 3, Justice Mentor of the Sun pathway. This will allow for a powerful binding contract that neither the church nor you will be able to break without severe consequences."
"I will agree under the condition that I can later change parts of the contract within reason so long as I make enough contributions. Also, that you swear this contract doesn't undervalue my value," Klein didn't really know whether they might try to get him to sign something that gave them more benefits than him, but it sounded good. So he was content with it as long as he could alter it later.
Arianna placed Sealed Artifact 1-100 down on a table and took out the divine artifact.
She placed her hands on it and proclaimed, "I swear on the Goddess's name that the contract I give you is honest and isn't trying to undercut or deceive you in any way." She additionally took the Sealed Artifact 1-100, wrote the same thing, and proclaimed it was true.
Klein could clearly see that it was binding and he could trust it. He might not have believed the divine artifact since the Goddess could choose not to punish her for lying, but the other Sealed Artifact made him believe. This was because of his spirituality, telling him it was effective.
"Alright, I will agree to swear my loyalty." Klein was rather happy with the contract and looked forward to his service with the church.
Arianna pushed the contract written on Sealed Artifact 1-100 to him so he could read it.
…
Must swear loyalty to the Evernight Goddess through 1-100 and 0-19.
Will swear through the contract on Sealed Artifact 1-100, "Bound by the Sun", and the divine artifact 0-19, "Proof of the Lady".
Do any reasonable commands 'She' has.
Reasonable commands will be determined by Klein Moretti.
Has gained proof that 'She' will not command Klein Moretti to do activities he doesn't desire to do.
Immediately after swearing loyalty, Klein Moretti is privy to important church secrets that will greatly benefit him.
The only condition for the secrets is that 'He' must not tell the secrets without permission.
The church will inform Klein Moretti what secrets he can't tell.
Any secret the church doesn't explicitly say needs to be a secret Klein Moretti can tell.
(All above is non-negotiable, unless the Evernight Goddess makes amendments)
Payment of 15 pounds every week.
Additional hidden 1,000-pound bonus for private use.
Can write off reasonable expenses as church-related business.
Reasonable expenses are:
Utility Bills
Mysticism Materials
Other expenses related to Beyonders
(Under the condition that none of these harm the church)
The Evernight Goddess church will agree to get Klein Moretti anchors to allow him to stabilize 'Himself' further.
Klein Moretti, after making enough contributions, can alter the contract so long as he remains loyal to the Evernight Goddess or attempts to change the non-negotiable section.
Signature: Amanisies
Co-signature: Arianna
Signature:
…
"What do anchors mean or do?" Klein wasn't sure what anchors meant, but he had guesses. He was also curious about the blackout part, but his Spirituality told him it was from the Goddess.
"So to become a Beyonder, you must acquire a Beyonder characteristic. This Beyonder characteristic possesses a spiritual imprint, the imprint of the Original Creator. The higher the characteristic, the greater the imprint. Eventually, the imprint will become so strong that you need something to balance it out; this is where anchors come in. You can think of it as a human will, as a scale being tilted too far to one side by the imprint. So you use anchors to balance it out."
"Additionally, the Evernight Goddess wants me to hand this to you as true evidence of our goodwill." Arianna hands a letter over from the Evernight Goddess
When Klein took it, he saw that it had… English and Chinese characters.
…
I'm from London; I can personally assure you that I have true and legitimate information about Earth and can help you with your goal of going home. Speak my honorific name, and we can speak in person. If you desire, you can divine whether I have good intentions or not.
我来自伦敦;我可以亲自向你保证,我掌握着关于地球的真实可靠的信息,可以帮助你实现回家的目标.请叫出我的尊称,我们就可以当面交谈.如果你愿意,你可以辨别我的动机是否纯洁无害.
(Translated using Google Translate, may be incorrect.)
…
The Evernight Goddess stands higher than the cosmos and more eternal than eternity;
The Lady of Crimson;
The Mother of Concealment;
The Empress of Misfortune and Horror;
Mistress of Repose and Silence
I pray for an audience with you.
When Klein opened his eyes, he was in a grand cathedral. He saw an extremely beautiful lady with a hazy face. "She" wore a layered black classical dress that wasn't overly complex. A circle of radiating rays was at the bottom of "Her" head.
"My Lady," Klein hastily dropped to one knee, then both knees, likely out of old Klein's belief in the Evernight Goddess.
"There is no need for that, Zhou Mingrui, or do you prefer Klein Moretti? We are fellow Earthlings." He could tell that the Lady was smiling at him.
…
Meanwhile in the room where Klein and Arianna are in. . .
"Thank the Lady I didn't have to fight him." Arianna made the worship symbol.
…
"You don't know of a way home, do you?" Klein immediately realized that if a goddess hadn't managed to go home yet, there might be an issue.
"I was hoping you wouldn't realize that so quickly, but there is a reason why a few others and I haven't managed to go home." Amanises sighed in pain and wistfulness. "Do you desire to know why?"
"Yes…" Klein felt that whatever came next was going to hurt.
Amanises projected a map of the world and asked, "What does this map look like?"
. . .
Klein felt something in him break; he collapsed to the ground and bemoaned, "我从未离开过我的家乡,但我永远不会回去了."
(Translates to: I have never left my hometown, but I'll never return.)
The only boon he got from it was most of his Scholar of Yore characteristic digesting.
Amanises walked over to help him up. "You might not believe me, but I truly didn't desire to hurt you."
Klein could tell she was being truthful.
"How do you still desire to live?" Klein bitterly remarked.
"The same reason why you haven't died: neither of us desires to die." There was a deep pain in Amanises's voice. "By the way, I never introduced my name; it's Amanises. My original name is Perran."
(Author's Note: Perran is a Cornish name meaning "little dark one". I also did not know that Amanises was her Earth name.)
"Also, another reason why I keep living is that I believe I have a responsibility towards the people who believe in me. Currently, this world is protected by the Astral Barrier; this blocks the Outer Deities from attacking our world. I'll explain the Outer Deities later. Anyway, the reason why I desire an oath of loyalty. For it is an insurance that you will help later for something I need."
"In exchange, you will help me?" Though Klein couldn't go home, he wondered if she knew what he feared he wanted.
"Indeed, I can help you become Sequence 0 Fool and then become Lord of Mysteries. Something people don't realize is that while the Law of Convergence is subtle, it is incredibly powerful, especially for you."
"Law of Convergence?" Klein felt this was the reason why there was some small yet disturbingly hungry part of his soul that desired more power.
"Yes, everything that separates will converge, and everything that converges will separate. All of the characteristics come from the Original Creator, and thus they follow the former. This causes you to desire the other characteristics for Sequence 0 Fool and soon likely the characteristics for Lord of Mysteries."
"Why do I desire the characteristics more?" Klein was curious about why the Law of Convergence was so much stronger on him.
"Because one, you have a Sequence 1 characteristic that you accommodated with no prior experience, and two, you have a connection to Sefirah Castle. It is essentially an amalgamation of symbols that represent your pathway Fool, and Error and Door. Sefirah Castle is also the essential characteristic of Lord of Mysteries, which makes you desire more related characteristics because of the Law of Convergence."
Are you a Sequence 0?" Klein wanted to confirm his understanding of the sequences.
"Yes, the Beyonder system is essentially a series of pathways with levels. Each pathway starts at 9 and goes to 0. After 0, multiple pathways converge to create an Above the Sequence. This is what the Outer Dieties are. Additionally, because of that, we orthodox gods need to become Above the Sequence; otherwise, we can't fight back. And before you ask, if all 7 orthodox gods team up to fight, we might be strong enough to fight one Above the Sequence. But that's unlikely."
"So you need my help in becoming an Above the Sequence?" Klein was beginning to understand the true reason why Perran wanted to get his help.
"Yes, I need your help to gain my pathway's corresponding sefiort; additionally, if you could help me kill the God of Combat, that would be helpful because I need his characteristics. I also need to get the necessary Death pathway characteristics."
"You are at odds with the God of Combat?" Klein was immediately worried and began remembering relevant information from his memories.
"Yes, Lord of Storms, Eternal Blazing Sun, and God of Knowledge and Wisdom are at odds for the same reason why I'm at odds with the God of Combat."
A lot of the questions the old Klein had about the churches began to make a lot more sense.
"So, ummmm, you need me to sign an oath of loyalty?" Klein was wondering whether it was necessary.
"The oath of loyalty isn't really you giving your loyalty, so much as a mutual agreement that we will help each other. You don't need to worry about me making you into a corporate slave; I had to climb the ladder back on Earth, so I have respect for those under me." Perran began reassuring Klein.
"Oh, alright then, when I leave, I'll go swear to your divine artifact." Klein was now fully willing to assist Perran in her goals, especially since, from his perspective, Perran didn't lie about having to climb the corporate ladder.
"Additionally, let me warn you about two people. The person who really wants you to swear an oath of loyalty to me is known as Adam, the Angel of Imagination. This is because while I want to back you, he wants to back his brother Amon, the Angel of Time, also the second person you need to be careful of. Both of them can be considered stronger than you, despite your having the corresponding seifort. This is because they have their pathway's uniqueness, Sequence 0 characteristics basically, and possibly extra Sequence 1 characteristics."
"Why would Adam want me to swear an oath of loyalty, and what pathways are they on?"
"Adam wants you to swear an oath because while he will back his brother, 'He's' not dumb enough not to place bets on multiple people. Especially since now you have a higher chance than Amon simply because you have the Sefiort. Additionally, I also possess a way to get you your extra Sequence 1 characteristics and the corresponding uniqueness. So 'He' has to really be careful. Currently, you are the one most likely to be the Lord of Mysteries. Also, since both Adam and I want to protect humanity, we are generally aligned. So if 'He' can get you to swear an oath of loyalty, he will lose nothing even if his backing of Amon fails. Also, Adam is on the Visionary pathway, or better known as Spectator, and Amon is on the Error pathway, or better known as Marauder."
"Doesn't he need to be concerned that I will have issues with him for backing my enemy? Also, what happens if I don't want to fight the Outer Deities?" Klein was slightly confused about why he had to become Lord of Mysteries; even if he had a small part of his soul wanting power, he could probably crush it.
"Your first two questions can basically be answered as: you want to live, so you don't really have a choice. Additionally, I believe you can't live with yourself if you let humanity die because of you. It's the same for me. Anyway, to further explain, the Outer Deities will kill you if you don't fight them. They fear the old Lord of Mysteries so much that they will kill you and absorb the old Lord of Mysteries' characteristics to ensure he won't return. You really only have one choice: to become stronger and be capable of fighting back."
Klein could tell she wasn't trying to deceive him. Perran could see that 'He' understood.
"Also, another reason why Adam wants you to swear an oath is that I can gatekeep Amon's advancement. To become Sequence 0, you need the uniqueness and 3 Sequence 1 characteristics. Some supplementary ingredients aren't too important, and more importantly, there is also a ritual Amon would need to do to become a true deity. Though mainly, I can block Amon's ability to gain one or maybe two Sequence 1 characteristics."
"Really, how?"
"You didn't notice him because I was concealing 'His' existence, but Sequence 4 of Error is Parasite. Pallez Zoroast is a Sequence 1 Worm of Time that is parasitizing a Nighthawk of mine. The inspector with black sideburns and green eyes. I intend to use the fact that he prayed to me to conceal his existence and the fact that he parasitizes a Nighthawk to force him to join my church. I will also offer him protection from Amon, who critically injured him, which is why he parasitized a Nighthawk."
Klein nodded in understatement.
"Also, don't think about Adam; his pathway allows 'Him' to have the trait of "the more you know of 'Him', the more 'He' knows of you". While I can conceal you, there is no need to cause more trouble than necessary."
"I understand; thank you for helping me, truly desiring to help me." Klein was deeply appreciative of Perran's desire to help him.
"Of course, I've been wanting some more friends to talk to; it's lonely being a true deity. Especially since I can't frequently go to Lilith or the Earth Mother, who's my only other friend. Oh, by the way, while we transmigrated, some people like Lilith managed to survive the Apocalypse that ended Earth. Most, if not all, Ancient Gods were survivors of the Apocalypse."
"Well, I don't exactly know what to make of that information, but I do appreciate you considering me a friend." Klein was sincere about this.
"Oh, by the way, don't talk about Lilith being Earth Mother; it's part of my plan to kill the God of Combat."
"Hey, what would happen if I didn't agree to go with Arianna?" Klein was rather curious about this matter.
"Since you already understand getting someone of your level would be difficult and I would lose your ability to get my sefirot, I would have Arianna give you the letter ahead of time. Your spirituality would tell you it was legitimate. If you still decide to fight back, that would be deeply unfortunate. I also had planned to use a descension vessel to personally talk to you and convince you. If even then you still decided to fight back, understand you wouldn't have survived or would have been badly weakened. While I can't send my full power, Adam was close by and ready to intercede. While you can escape to Sefirah Castle, Adam isn't inexperienced or weak enough to let you. Then you may have lived or died. Though please rest assured that I would try to avoid that as much as possible since we are fellow transmigrators." Perran didn't talk about Klein's ability to resurrect.
"I understand." Klein bowed slightly, scared but oddly soothed that Perran was so sincere, and went back to the real world where Arianna was patiently waiting.
Meanwhile, an archangel arrived at Perran's divine kingdom.
"You don't consider me a friend?"
"No, you're just a business partner I have to pretend is a friend while I get some actual friends."
'How mean," the archangel proceeded to leave.
…
"Hello, Arianna."
"I hope you had a productive conversation with the Lady," Arianna replied.
"Indeed, shall I swear the oath now?"
"Indeed."
Arianna gave the divine artifact to him.
"Recite after me: I swear my loyalty to the Evernight Goddess and will be her sword and shield and do as 'she' wills."
"I swear my loyalty to the Evernight Goddess and will be her sword and shield and do as she wills." Klein felt the oath bind him to the Evernight Goddess. Then he proceeded to sign the contract.
"Alright, time to reveal some important secrets to you. The Evernight Goddess has already informed me of what was discussed with you, so we can skip all of that. Next, the important thing I need to tell you is the acting method. Which is another way to not lose control. The acting method is where you use the Sequence name to know how you are to act to digest it. This is because the characteristic is separate from you, and you need to fuse with it, essentially. If you don't digest it, you are essentially letting a possibly dangerous foreign object into you. So you must act to convince it to fuse with you. Also, you may learn that we don't teach the acting method to most people in the church. There is a reason for this: mainly, if we did teach the acting method, it could get out to the unofficial Beyonders, and then chaos would ensue. Secondly, it could cause people to advance too fast, and Beyonder ingredients are limited. This is where the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Indestructibility comes into play. Characteristics can't be destroyed or created. So when a Beyonder dies, they leave behind a characteristic."
Kinda like a law of thermodynamics. Guess even magic has to follow some sense.
"So if people began advancing too fast, they may end up looking at their superiors. Is this understandable?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll let you determine your acting methods; also, it's recommended that you consider how to act for all of them, but prioritize the lower sequence ones first. There are some more secrets, but you may need to return home soon. Well then, welcome to the church of the Evernight Goddess. Return tomorrow when you can; I'll be here to give you the remaining secrets."
"Alright, thank you, Ma'am Arianna." Klein waved goodbye. "Actually, how do I leave?"
A moment of silence.
"Let me just take you home myself." Arianna got up, took Klein's hand, and sent him home; then she returned to the church to fulfill a second job from the Lady.
…
"Leonard Mitchell, come with me." Arianna stood at the doorway of the room where most of the Tingen Nighthawks were. 'She' was already walking out.
"What?" Leonard got up to follow 'Her' amongst the concerned glances from his teammates.
Leonard followed her to the room where 'She' was with Klein.
Sitting down from the perspective of Leonard was very intimidating. 'She' spoke soothingly for Leonard's benefit. "Pallez, you are in much debt to the Lady, after one parasitizing a Nighthawk and two praying to 'Her' for concealment."
Leonard was about to say something in defense even though he had no defense, but he couldn't use his mouth!
Pallez used Leonard's mouth: "You don't intend to kill me; you want my services?" Pallez had already decrypted the Church of the Evernight Goddess and the Evernight Goddess's plans.
Arianna smiled, "For your service, we will provide protection from 'Him' and help you recover your strength; do you agree?"
"So long as I can see a contract." Pallez was deeply excited by this prospect. 'He' could see the light in 'His' situation.
"Then we are in agreement, Pallez." Arianna extended her hand and took out the silver suitcase holding the divine artifact 0-19 and Sealed Artifact 1-100.
Meanwhile, Leonard was sweating in confusion and fear. Pallez mercifully put him into an unconscious state.
Notes: