Having left the Chaos Sea with both of us surviving and not losing control.
Amanises spoke, "Shouldn't we have taken the Blasphemy Slate? It would have been beneficial, right?"
I retorted, "Taking the blasphemy slate is equivalent to being declared His enemy."
Amanises nodded as she had confirmed something, having already put two and two together, just wanting to confirm her hypothesis.
We walked a little further, and she asked, "Those subjects you mention, who are they?"
"They are the 7 lights of the spirit world. They have always been under the rule of the Lord of Mysteries. That reminds me I haven't told you about beings like me, correct?"
Amanises nodded and said, "And here I was, wondering if I had to figure it out myself. That reminds me, that ritual of yours—you're not the Fool yet, so why use that name?"
I chuckled a bit. "That was actually made using the former Lord of Mysteries, but considering I won't have to change my pathway anymore, I think Mr. Fool does sound good now."
Amanises quickly asked, "Why did you even want to change your pathway anyway? From what I have learnt, it mostly increases the chances of losing control, unless you have hidden some other fact from me."
I said, as if defending myself, "That's generally the case, but only true when your current pathway won't kill you." If I had to accomodate the Attendant of Mysteries' characteristics before this discovery, I would have become a vessel for the Former Lord of Mysteries
But since I found a way to remove his will, I can safely accommodate the potion."
Amanises nodded, but then she began to ponder for a while.
I looked ahead and spoke, "Ahh, it seems we have arrived before I even got the chance to tell you about Great Old One."
Amanises sighed and spoke, "Well yes, this is perfectly fine."
**********************************
As we regrouped with the humans, I stopped and spoke. "It seems you people did indeed follow my words to heart. I was hoping for a little action, but I suppose this is much better."
The group nodded, aware that I was a demonic wolf and how our kind had treated humans.
I continued, "Since I taught you the acting method, I think it's best I test how effectively you have grasped it. Only by name can you choose the pathway; furthermore, you only get 5 choices."
One of the humans quickly asked with a hint of anger, "We were told that we could choose from any pathway, and now you're changing the words of our Sun God."
I looked at this human with brown eyes and black hair; the contour of his face was round, and his skin was on the brownish side.
"I was given complete authority over this matter, so I decided that you may get only 5 choices; if you believe that things are not according to your liking, you can choose to not choose."
Choosing not to choose was the worst option, and if you heard with the right context, it basically means to do nothing. And these people had been doing nothing; this was their chance to change that, and thus, no one would choose nothing.
All the humans had no choice but to comply with my condition.
...…
So far, most had chosen the bard, some had taken the reader, and the remaining had taken the secret supplicant.
None had taken the seafarer and the spectator.
That last human from the group now had to make a choice.
With black–greyish hair, he had that calm look of apathy for some reason, like he didn't even want to participate.
I looked at him with neutrality and said, "It's your turn; go on, choose." Remember, not choosing is also a choice."
I once again made it clear that not choosing was an option.
He looked at me and nodded before speaking, "Yes, sir, I would like the spectator pathway; I think it would suit me the best."
Another man immediately interjected with a hint of worry
"Hermis, spectator is no different from not choosing."
Hermis!!!. The Hermis. A sense of greed erupted from within me; I wanted him under me. A Discerner would really add to what I could accomplish.
It seemed Amanises sensed this change of emotion and tapped on my shoulder.
Quickly composing myself, I spoke, "Well, Mr. Hermis, Spectator or not."
"Spectator, sir," Hermes answered.
I nodded and then gave him the potion formula and places where the ingredients could be found.
With that, we departed for the settlement.
***************
At the human settlement.
I entered the Sun God's church and looked directly at "Him" and spoke.
"You really let them choose from the 22 pathways?"
The Sun God nodded but had already realized what I had done and simply spoke, "Not quite; I never intended to reveal that there are 22 pathways."
"Haa haaa," I burst out laughing.
I then continued, "You truly are quite evil. I suppose the HangedMan does indeed surpass the Abyss when it comes to these matters."
Well, leaving the matter at hand.
The Sungod spoke, "It seems you have gained quite a boon from this journey."
I nodded and spoke with a smile, "Why, of course, who would have thought that there was such a method of removing corruption?"
Oh, and that reminds me, if you need the sefirah castle to remove your corruption, you're free to borrow it; just chant my honorific name and I will pull you up
According to my understanding, the Door authority should let me seal even the great old one corruption."
Sungod nodded in agreement
"Yes, very much so."
He then further continued, "Now that we owe each other in some shape or form, it's best that we introduce ourselves appropriately."
I nodded and went outside and brought Amanises inside the church
The Sun God spoke, "My name is Grisha; you are already aware of Sasrir. I am from Ukraine; Sasrir is a part of me made from the Dark Angel and
Chaos Sea's will.
As for how I and Chaos Sea came into contact.
We were researching a new oil that had appeared near the nuclear site of Chernobyl, and while doing the research, I slipped and fell into the Chaos Sea."
I and Amanises nodded.
Amanises also introduced herself and said
"I am Amanises, from London. I was one of the marketing leads for Unilever, and here I am cursing both my current and past predicament.
I installed a game that a friend recommended, and then I transmigrated. Not sure if my friend also transmigrated."
I and Grisha nodded in unison.
Both Amanises and Grisha looked at me.
"My name is Nikolas. While I was born in Italy, I have lived most of my life in Manchester. I had just finished my masters in electrical engineering and was scheduled to take an internship at ASML, but alas, here I am."
Just as I had finished my sentence
Amanises interjected, "Then how did you become the current LoTM successor?"
"Bruh, I was coming to that."
"My bad," Amanises said.
"Yeah, so, I transmigrated due to a novel, and that novel contained information about this world.
So to me, I was actually reincarnated into a novel. Also, believe it or not, both of you were in the novel so that's the reason I had decided to find you as quickly."
I know what you guys are thinking: Why did I tell them so quickly? Well, the answer is quite simple.
First, I wanted to check if telling them had any harm.
Second, would these people even believe me?"
The entire atmosphere changed. This much was expected.
I waited a minute or two for the both of them to speak, but none did.
The silence was deafening to the point that I had no choice but to break it myself.
'Sigh' "I know this seems farfetched and all, but what I am saying is true."
Amanises looked at me and sighed. "No, no, it doesn't seem far-fetched; in fact, your action justifies it even more. It's just that I am surprised that I myself am a character in some novel."
Grisha then added, "This would also suggest that the author of this novel is actually LOM or God Almighty, no?"
Hold on, I didn't expect it to go like this. I know it's cliché for the character in books not to accept that they are beings in a book, and LOM doesn't really use clichés that much, but still.
I sighed and then spoke. "I am surprised that you guys believed me and even accepted yourself as a character, since in most novels, characters don't really accept either of the facts."
Amanises interjected, "In those novels, is the author actually involved in the novel as either the protagonist?"
"Yes, it is," I said.
Grisha said, "Then this world is no longer under the influence of the author and the plot of the novel."
That does make sense; in all those novels, the author himself is one of the protagonists, like TLS123 from ORV.
"That seems the most logical explanation."
Grisha sighed and spoke, "Well, even if we were characters, as long as there is no forced influence from the novel, it should be fine."
Amanises suddenly had a smug face as she looked at me. "Well, well, since it has come to this, it's only fair that you tell us the future as well."
Grisha also nodded in agreement.
sigh.
***********************
Amanises and Grisha both had a disappointed look to them.
They looked at me like I was useless.
"Ahhhh." Amanises screamed, "And here I thought this would be advantageous to us."
I had explained the most LOTM novel and the fact that it occurred in the 5th epoch.
It seemed that Grisha had figured something out, as He spoke while playin with his beard.
"That makes sense; the novel is not influencing us since it has not yet begun."
I looked at this future author and nodded in agreement.
Amanises sighed and then looked at us. "Well, it's quite pointless to think about these things. That being said, this Klein, Is he still hangin in the sefirah castle like you said"
I nodded and said, "Once I have become an Attandant of Mysteries, then I shall take the both of you there. In an event that we do find your friends there, I might be able to release them."
"Yes, you still are the successor for LOM and have the sefirah under your control. " Grisha spoke in agreement.
All of us sighed; this had sidetracked us quite a lot.
Grisha said, "How do you wish to proceed?"
I said, "We plan to visit the Southern and Northern continents to get believers and stabilize our anchors. You should accompany us."
Grisha declined my offer and said, "It's best we separate our anchors. Plus, I would like to see if the novel controls me if I am separated from you."
"Suit yourself."
I nodded and continued, "We will depart 2 months from now; before that, we plan to visit the Giant King's Court and, more specifically, the Giant King Aurmier, who treats humans with some dignity.
As for Flegria, I plan on becoming a sequence 1 before we face him."
Grisha nodded and spoke, "I think I will hunt the Mutant King. As for Lilith, since 'She' survived till the 5th epoch, it's best you handle her."
Amanises added, "Yeah, I think we need 'Her' for my Darkness advancement."
I nodded, "Yes, we do."
********************************************