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Chapter 1290: "Deceiving" (Monthly Ticket Requests on the Last Two Days of February)

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After returning to Byers' home,克莱恩 didn't wait for Roy or the others to ask anything. He simply pulled over a chair, sat down, and with great sincerity, made a prayer to himself: "I hope my spiritual strength is restored." As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers—bringing his wish to life, restoring his spiritual vitality to its peak condition. Then, he extended his left hand, ready to end the current projection of the "curtain" in the historical timeline, before summoning another one to seal off the spiritual realm corresponding to Belland, thus preventing the Great Patriarch of the War God Church, Laryon, from escaping. "No need. Miss this opportunity, and there will be another next time," Arianna slowly shook her head, indicating to Klein that he need not summon the "curtain" originating from the Udark Wolf. The "wish"-granting ability has a limitation: the Miracle Worker cannot fulfill multiple similar requests from the same petitioner within a short period—specifically, within the next one or two hours. Thus, Caine will no longer be able to restore his spiritual vitality through self-wishes during that time. Of course, for a qualified Angel of the Divination Path, this limitation can be circumvented—by having Pascha, Roy, Phil, Byers, and Arianna take turns making wishes for Caine Moretti’s spiritual restoration, and then acting as the Miracle Worker to fulfill those wishes. However, even if he can restore Caine’s vitality repeatedly in this way, he is still unable to maintain the "curtain" with a Sequence 1 slot for more than an hour, and the "0–02" erasure rule requires a one-hour wait before the wishes can be rewritten. Klein paused, gently nodded, and smiled in reply: "Let's give it a try. We're rather idle now. We'll only abandon it after the final restoration of spiritual vitality—well, that's entirely up to the Great Patriarch's luck. Perhaps, during this process, He'll become overwhelmed by anxiety, restlessness, and tension, and ultimately lose control?" As he spoke, Klein released the maintenance of the original "curtain," then with his left hand, pulled steadily forward, dragging out a new "curtain" and presenting it within the corresponding spiritual realm of Belland. Where the color blocks were dense and overlapping, Lorian—wearing a black robe with white trim and a square hat—had just sensed the restriction lift and was preparing to pass through, when he suddenly saw the new "curtain" descend, once again isolating the area. The slight smile on his face froze instantly. He exhaled slowly—several seconds passed—adjusted his mental state, and resumed his calm wait. Over the next few minutes, the great patriarch of the War God’s Church experienced several more instances of frustration and pain—hope rising only to be extinguished. He made efforts to discern a pattern, to determine the intervals between these occurrences, and to seize the fleeting moment when the old "curtain" was dissolving and the new one had not yet formed, rushing through the barrier. Yet, in the end, he found that the intervals were irregular—there was no consistent rhythm. The barriers did not restore only when the spiritual strength was waning; sometimes, they would recover well in advance. Had it not been for the fact that within Fosak, there was no compulsion to replace the War God’s faith, and the decree declaring Laryon a heretic had not yet spread widely, the earthly angel might have collapsed on the spot. As time passed, Laryon once again sensed the disintegration of the old "curtain." This time, however, no new "curtain" emerged. He had finally reached his limit... Larryon was overjoyed, no longer hesitating to rush out of the crumbling nascent divine realm. In the very next moment, he saw the four golden-haired, red-eyed heads of a headless woman dressed in a somber, elaborate gown, saw a mysterious entity wrapped in bandages, its body flowing with yellow-brown liquid, and saw numerous strange yet exceptionally powerful spirit beings... Klein's previous "curtains" summoned were images from a historical rift imbued with the essence of the "Source Fortress," naturally drawing in entities sensitive to that presence. Even with Amun joining the group, it would not have been surprising at all! Larryon's faint smile once again froze on his face. ... Beldan City, Byles' rental apartment. Caine suddenly lifted his head, gazing upward and murmuring, "Still impressive... " He then fell silent again, until the "Mirror" began to emit a soft, misty glow, revealing the current state of the bulletin board. The rule texts were fading one by one, in reverse order of their appearance—meaning that "0–02" was beginning to erase the previously established rules and preparing to start anew. Once the curfew was officially revoked, Caine immediately pulled Lady Arianna and, through the "Flame Leap," appeared outside the now-shrunk Belland City Library. Upon taking a glance, he noticed that the copper pages of "0–02" were now erasing the rules at an astonishing pace—within just a blink of an eye, the latter half of the rules had reduced down to merely the clause: "The following rules are invalid." Immediately thereafter, this clause vanished, and a new rule surged forth without the slightest pause: “The 'Tronstöstr Bronze Book' is the most precious thing; no living being or entity may touch it without its explicit permission…” As this rule was still unfolding, Arianna’s figure appeared beside the long rectangular table, her fingers gently touching the bronze pages. With a sharp crack, the neck of the Head of the Night Church’s Order tightened suddenly, as if suspended by an invisible rope. As an angel, He had even suffered bone fractures and difficulty breathing. It was a hanging death! Yet, as Arianna’s fingers slid slightly with effort, the newly formed rule was immediately erased by the "eraser" effect before it was fully revealed, entering a state of "secrecy." All rules established by "0–02" must be publicly announced or communicated in order to become effective. With a loud rustle, Arianna snatched up the "Tronsthorpe Brass Book" and threw it to Klein outside the window. In the past hour, Klein had anticipated numerous possible developments and discussed them thoroughly with Arianna; thus, he was neither nervous nor disoriented. Seizing the moment when the "0–02" was still suspended in midair, he reached into the void and pulled himself out, wearing human-skin gloves. Then, he grasped the "Tronsthorpe Brass Book" firmly and, using his historical projection, instantly "teleported" himself away. Only after Klein's figure had vanished did Arianna finally drop to the ground with a crisp sound, leaving deep marks on her neck. Within just a few seconds, Klein appeared at the summit of the Honachis Mountain range, and through the angelic "divine vision" at the level of the angels, he saw the ancient palace—its walls collapsed, crumbling, shrouded in mist. Without hesitation, Caine had his historical projection take the "Trenzosth Bronze Book," "materializing" it at the main gate of the palace, and then pushed it gently forward. Before him unfolded a hall hung with numerous corpses—each one distinct, varying in gender, attire, from elaborate to simple, from refined to casual. Behind each suspended body stretched a translucent, smooth, intricately patterned appendage, all originating from the deep end of the hall, from an ancient stone chair. On that massive stone chair, writhing, twisted worms entwined and proliferated, extending one strange, slender tentacle after another into the surrounding space. This was the half of the "Fool" from the Antigonus family—the half that had long since lost its reason and spiraled into madness! Noticing the opening of the door and the approach of the projection of Caine's history, the worm mass instantly detached from the stone chair, vigorously waving its slippery tentacles, surging toward the entrance as though drawn by an invisible pull. Likewise, the tarot card at the base of the stone seat—depicting the image of Roderick the Fool, its text inscribed in starlight—flew toward the doorway. Simply witnessing this scene, the projection of Caine's history began to show signs of imminent collapse and disintegration. Fortunately, as the projection lacked a conscious mind and was instead guided by Caine's physical self, who remained at a distance, it did not experience mental confusion or spiritual disturbances, nor did it remain motionless, unable to act. In its final moments before dissolving, the projection hurled the "Trenzalore Brass Book" toward the mass of terrifying worms. Those translucent, smooth tentacles sensed the danger and instinctively responded—they simultaneously wrapped around and secured the sealing object labeled "0–02." Amidst the intangible "gale," the "Page of Fool" card arrived at the door ahead of the strange tentacles.克莱恩's historical projection had already begun to fracture significantly; in response, he mechanically extended his right hand, grasping the "profaned card" and hurling it backward. In the next instant, the newly extended, slippery tentacles reached the doorway, only to be blocked by the mist, unable to penetrate it—instead, they violently thrashed against the barrier. The once-open door gradually began to close, concealing this scene. At a peak somewhere on the mountain,克莱恩 furrowed his brow, feeling both joy and relief, yet inevitably stirred by a strong sense of curiosity. "So, in essence, I traded the '0–02' for the 'Page of Fool'?" "Does the goddess need me to go to Calde隆 and seek clues about the 'River of Eternal Darkness'?" Kline murmured to himself, then stepped out of the hidden place, approaching the ancient palace, and bent down to pick up the "Card of Desecration." As soon as these two rules began to emerge, having not yet been "informed" to the hosts here, a line of words suddenly appeared midway between the first and second halves: "The following rules are invalid." One hour later, the two rules were erased and new ones were written, but only a few lines in, a new clause—this one again—"The following rules are invalid"—appeared before them. The "0—02" seemed to leap directly from a completely blank state to one in which the pages were already full. Again and again, the "Trenzost Bronze Book" fell into an endless cycle.