Anyone who has read the original Lord of the Mysteries knows that cross-pathway consumption is an incredibly dangerous endeavor. Losing oneself or going mad are considered the 'lightest' consequences; a single misstep often leads to immediate loss of control.
If the human body is compared to a video game, then a Beyonder potion is like a mod. Potions within the same pathway are part of a mod series; as long as they are installed in the correct order, there are no issues.
Neighboring pathways are like compatible mods that can work together under specific conditions--once the foundational mods (Low and Mid Sequences) are installed, they can be swapped or combined.
Non-neighboring pathways, however, are conflicting mods. Forced installation will inevitably lead to a game crash.
Yet, the unique pathway provided by Snow's 'cheat' defies this rule. Every sequence in this path is advanced by directly consuming potions from other sequences.
The reason for this lies in the sefirot known as 'A White Horse is Not a Horse' [White Horse Paradox], which has the ability to imprint the mental marks of the Paradox pathway onto any potion consumed.
It is essentially a 'compatibility patch' for Beyonder mods.
For example, when Snow was an ordinary human, he consumed a 'Secret Supplicant' potion to advance to Sequence 9 of the Paradox pathway: 'Dilemmist'.
When he wishes to advance to Sequence 8, 'Respondent', he can choose to consume the 'Listener' potion from the same Secret Supplicant pathway. Alternatively, he could consume Sequence 8 potions like 'Unwinged Angel', 'Lunatic', or 'Beast Tamer' to complete the advancement.
However, a compatibility patch is ultimately just that. While it allows for stable operation, minor bugs like model clipping, texture tearing, or feet floating off the ground are unavoidable.
The modification 'A White Horse is Not a Horse' makes to the potions involves imprinting a more dominant mental mark. This means the original mental mark within the potion is not removed; as a result, Snow must digest two sets of mental marks simultaneously.
Of course, this doesn't mean Snow has to develop a split personality and play two roles at once. The acting method for the Paradox pathway is mandatory.
Simply put, it's a negative status effect that functions as 'forced acting'. Any attempt to resist it will cause a slide toward loss of control.
Take his current state as a 'Dilemmist', for instance. While acting as a Secret Supplicant to digest the potion, he also carries a debuff called 'Analysis Paralysis' [Difficulty in Choosing]. Whenever faced with two relatively equal options, he must provide a reason for his choice; otherwise, he will fall into a deadlock, unable to decide. If he tries to force a choice without a reason, he will begin to lose control until he either stops the dangerous behavior or transforms completely into a monster.
Fortunately, aside from this debuff--which weakens as the potion is digested--this cross-pathway behavior does not add extra risk of losing control, nor does it hinder his potential for future advancement. The only difference lies in the Beyonder abilities gained after advancement.
Using 'Dilemmist' as an example again, the characteristics of this Sequence 9 include stamina and spiritual intuition several times greater than an average person, a certain degree of appraisal ability, and considerable knowledge and talent for ritualistic magic.
The potions required for this sequence can be from the 'Seer', 'Monster', or 'Secret Supplicant' pathways. Depending on the potion consumed, there will be slight variations in the resulting abilities. For instance, a Seer potion grants stronger appraisal abilities, a Monster potion grants stronger intuition, and a Secret Supplicant potion provides more ritualistic magic knowledge.
However, for the current Snow, these are secondary. The most critical function of the sefirot is the higher-sequence abilities it possesses. For instance, the power that blocked the corruption of the cosmos, the gaze of the true gods, and the perception of 0-08--his most vital strength: 'Equivocation' [Concept Swapping].
Based on consumption, this ability's sequence shouldn't be very high, but when activated through the sefirot, it gains the status-level boost of a True God.
Yet, powerful abilities often come with a heavy price. The reason Snow can maintain this power--which can even screen out cosmic corruption--is entirely dependent on the Uniqueness he has thoroughly fused with: 'A Foot-long Stick'. (In a sense, Snow can be considered a 'Uniqueness come to life' like Amon, albeit without Beyonder characteristics).
As the saying goes, 'A foot-long stick, take half a day, and it shall never be exhausted.' The power of this Uniqueness is simple and crude; it is the manifestation of the Paradox pathway's authority, directly distorting the rules of infinite division and magnitude to produce near-limitless spirituality.
The price? Exactly half of Snow's spirituality is permanently rendered unusable.
If there's any shortcoming, it's that the maximum output of spirituality from this Uniqueness is capped at one-quarter of Snow's total capacity.
It is through this near-perpetual motion power that Snow is able to keep 'A White Horse is Not a Horse' active 24/7, defending against the risks posed by the knowledge of Lord of the Mysteries stored in his brain.
...
The headache caused by the activation of 'A White Horse is Not a Horse' gradually subsided. Snow pulled himself together, pushed the window open a crack, and placed his hand gently on the little kitten's head. As the white horse manifested in his mind, the spirituality in his body began to drain once more.
This time, however, the consumption was not exaggerated. It was only slightly faster than his spiritual recovery rate while in a semi-meditative state.
As his spirituality was siphoned, Snow found a comfortable position to lie down. The little kitten transformed into a streak of black light and, with a whoosh, lept out the window...
The Ruen short-haired cat, as the name suggests, is a breed native to Ruen. Due to its docile nature and excellent adaptability, it is widely loved across all social classes. Its exceptional talent for catching rats makes it especially popular among commoners; during the Age of Sail, they were even kept as ship cats.
In such an environment, a kitten wandering the streets wasn't something anyone would pay attention to, even if it ran much faster than its peers.
After all, in most people's eyes, cats are naturally elusive creatures.
...
In a dilapidated courtyard, on the second floor of a grayish-blue house, was a bedroom without a lit lamp.
A young lady with a round face and a gentle, sweet temperament sat before a dressing table, playing with a simple wooden puppet.
In that moment, her spirituality suddenly sensed a premonition. Almost instinctively, she cast her gaze toward a silver mirror placed at the corner of the table. But on the surface of the mirror--which had been intentionally scuffed--there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"You rely too much on Beyonder abilities." A slightly high-pitched voice came from overhead. The girl almost instantly reached for a hidden pocket at her waist, but in the next second, she stopped.
She looked up at the black kitten that had somehow crept into the room and said with a cold face:
"Didn't I give you a way to contact me?"
"I'm not naive enough to use a method provided by a Witch, just as you never send items by offering sacrifices to my Lord." The kitten put extra emphasis on the word 'Witch'. The girl's brow furrowed slightly, but she spoke anyway:
"I've already obtained the notebook you wanted. Is there anything else?"
...
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
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A/N: The protagonist's shielding against the True Gods/Great Old Ones isn't because the 'Equivocation' ability is so powerful that a sefirot alone can directly influence them. Rather, it uses a clever method to bypass their perception.
The reason he can think about cosmic knowledge, know the secrets of the True Gods, or even discuss Adam in Ancient Hermes without attracting attention is that before these thoughts, words, or languages can interact with the world, they are stripped of their 'poison' and their 'influence' in mysticism by the 'Equivocation' ability. Thus, they cannot trigger the attention of the True Gods or Great Old Ones.
To use a police and thief analogy: if the True Gods are the police and the protagonist is the thief, the 'Equivocation' ability doesn't lower the police's intelligence; it simply wipes away all traces of the crime, making the police entirely unaware that a case has even occurred.