As a streak of black light dove into the room, Snow--who had been lying like a corpse on the bed--instantly sprang up. He smoothly shut the window tight, then reached out to gently scratch the little fellow's chin.
With a soft "Meow~", the unusually vivid light in the kitten's eyes gradually faded, leaving behind only the sharp cleverness common to such creatures, proving this was no ordinary cat.
Snow chuckled and rubbed the little fellow's head, replenishing his 'cat energy' before pulling a bag of cat food from his trunk. It was only after the little one began its meal that Snow's mind started to wander again.
Although the plan had been made long ago, he still felt a trace of hesitation now that it was time to implement it.
He had to admit, this was a risky move. It was more dangerous than having Trissy snatch the Antigonus family notebook, more dangerous than the timed assassinations of Hanass Vincent and Siris Arippi, and even more dangerous than facing Dunn Smith in a dream.
One wrong move, and the basement of the Church of the Evernight Goddess would be his next destination.
But...
"There's no other choice."
Snow threw his arms wide and fell backward, lying spread-eagle on the bed. In hindsight, it had already been a month since his transmigration.
In other words, it had also been a month since he drank the Secret Supplicant potion.
A month wasn't a long time for most Beyonders, but for a Secret Supplicant of the Aurora Order, it was a dangerously close deadline.
And the reason lay in the Acting Method.
For the vast majority of Beyonders, the Acting Method was a precious treasure. With this technique, they could safely avoid the risks of losing control. For a Secret Supplicant, however, the Acting Method was a massive trap.
The acting principles for a Secret Supplicant were all too straightforward--
As the name suggested, one simply had to devoutly pray to a hidden existence.
And as a member of an extremist cult like the Aurora Order, it was blatantly obvious to whom they were supposed to pray.
But that was exactly where the problem lay.
As a Sequence 0 True God, the True Creator was among the very top tier of hidden existences one could pray to. Because of this, the acting feedback received from praying to Him was nearly perfect. Even the dullest Secret Supplicant, as long as they prayed with sincerity, could completely digest their potion in less than two months.
Conversely, if a Secret Supplicant had not finished their digestion after two months...
It meant they weren't devout enough.
And for an extremist cult group like the Aurora Order, being labeled 'un-devout' carried consequences that were easy to imagine.
During this past month, Snow had tried to imitate Klein by praying to himself, hoping to use the status of 'A White Horse is Not a Horse' to respond to his own prayers and gain feedback. However, whether it was because his pathway didn't belong to this world, because he knew deep down he wasn't a high-level being, or for some other reason, while he could use the power of the sefirot to create charms, the feedback he received was negligible.
He had even considered other acting principles, like preaching, but while they weren't useless, the effect was minimal. To this day, the digestion progress of Snow's potion was less than one-tenth complete.
Even for someone like the original protagonist, who went from Sequence 9 to Sequence 0 in three years and became a Great Old One in five, the Sequence 9 acting had taken a month and a half. This past month was the final deadline Snow had set for himself.
Now, with no other turnaround in sight, the time had finally come for him to make a choice.
Using a silver coin infused with spirituality to seal the room, Snow pulled out the three-hundred-year-old silver knife and plunged it into the table. Then, he actively triggered 'A White Horse is Not a Horse', activating the ability of 'Equivocation'.
Feeling the spirituality in his body begin to surge, Snow started to chant in his mind--
"Derrick was able to pray directly to Mr. Fool by relying on an ancient object. This knife in my hand is also an ancient object; therefore, I can also pray directly to Mr. Fool through this silver knife."
After repeating this several times, the sentence began to echo in Snow's ears like layered whispers. Accompanied by a sharp pain in his brain, a thread of connection began to form between the dagger and a certain place above the Spirit World. Snow then began to recite the lines he had long since prepared--
"Great Being, I pray for Your response. I pray for Your gaze."
...
"Another prayer?" Klein, who was still feeling a sense of helplessness regarding his 'inability to understand foreign languages', was about to leave the grey fog when he noticed another crimson star begin to contract and expand.
'It's not going to be someone using Ancient Hermes again, is it?'
Klein grumbled inwardly but still chose to extend his spirituality to touch the crimson star. Immediately, a blurry and distorted image appeared in his vision--
It was a young man with short, black, broken hair. Before him sat what appeared to be a pure silver dagger.
Above his head, a white cloud resembling a galloping horse flickered in and out of existence. It was unclear if this was due to his sequence or some sort of Beyonder item.
The young man was dressed in relatively casual home attire. His surroundings were simple and clean, though from the room's layout, it appeared to be a guest room in an inn.
Klein had intended to observe further, but as the young man's voice reached his ears, he instantly lost all interest in mere watching. He heard a few words that struck the very core of his heart: "An evil god is about to descend upon Tingen."
However, just as he was about to listen more closely, he suddenly noted that the young man had already stood up, speaking in a frustrated tone:
"Failed again. Is this ritual really effective? Should I report this to the Orthodox Church? But I've already... or, should I abandon the glory of the Pandrax family and throw myself into the arms of an evil god... No, I can't! No matter what, I cannot pray to the True Creator..."
Seeing the young man's words become increasingly hysterical--even shifting from Ancient Hermes back to Ruen Common--Klein's brow furrowed deeply. The somewhat familiar surname 'Pandrax' escaped him for the moment, but he understood words like 'Orthodox Church', 'Report', and 'True Creator'. Combined with the previous sentence about an evil god descending upon Tingen, a strong sense of crisis instantly rose in his heart.
However, the young man had already left the state of prayer. It wouldn't be long before the link would break. It seemed impossible to obtain further intelligence through mere observation.
Taking a deep breath, Klein tapped the edge of the bronze long table. He had already made a decision--
It was a bit reckless, but since it concerned Tingen, he had to find out the truth.
...
"Did I fail? As expected, it's impossible to succeed on the first try. Should I go cause some big trouble tonight and then sell it to Mr. Fool tomorrow as an opportunity?"
Having finished his performance, Snow still saw no change. He felt a bit discouraged, though failure had been within his calculations. Maintaining the mindset of finishing a performance properly, he returned to the table. Just as he was about to pull the dagger out, he suddenly saw a burst of crimson light erupt from the blade.
The light was like flowing water, instantly engulfing Snow's figure. By the time he regained his senses, he found himself standing within a majestic palace supported by massive stone pillars. An ancient, mottled bronze long table stretched out before him. At the far end of the table, a figure shrouded in grey fog was studying him with an unreadable gaze.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]