Lord of Mysteries:Fire of Destruction

"I'll assume you've also been reading the pages of Emperor Roselle's diary that we gave to Mr. Fool." Adryan said calmly, "I've been a bit busy, so I haven't been able to send many more.

"I didn't think much of it either. Most of the pages I have... They're not very different from the ones I gave before, in the sense of 'escapades'." Adryan grimaced before continuing.

"You've noticed it, haven't you? The time dilation between your transmigrations to this world?"

Not trusting his voice at the moment, Klein just nodded.

That was a problem he had noticed almost immediately. Roselle appeared more than 100 years ago, and he had only recently appeared.

Such a difference had always worried him.

 And now his worst fears were confirmed.

"Time kept passing..." Klein murmured with enormous anguish, "I've already lost 5 years..."

Luckily, at least now, he knew that time dilation on Earth was much slower than here.

With more than 100 years from Roselle to him equaling more or less 5 years on the other side. Obviously, not counting the previous transmigrator-including him, the time dilation would be completely screwed up.

But that didn't console Klein at all, he had still lost 5 years with his family, at a time when they needed him by their side.

Is his mother even alive? She had a terminal illness for which she had only just started treatment.

With his father already being somewhat older, could he even have worked these years to pay for her treatment?

It's not like his health was much better, either. He got sick easily and was stubborn as a mule, not letting himself be helped unless he was already hallucinating.1

With that combination, Klein couldn't help but fear the worst...

That once he found his way home, there would be no home waiting for him.

"..."

Adryan said nothing; he just placed his hand on the man's shoulder in silent support.

Klein didn't comment either; he stared at his broken cup of tea, his gaze unfocused and lost.

...

It was about 3 minutes before the Magician finally stirred again.

Raising his head slightly, he gave the man next to him a small smile.

"Thanks, Joa."

He didn't expect that having someone else in the same situation as him would help so much, as horrible as it sounded...

Klein was happy that he was no longer alone.

Unaware of his thoughts, the redhead patted him on the back a few times.

"Don't mention it. We transmigrators look out for each other." Smiling sideways, Adryan brotherly slapped Klein's back, knocking all the air out of him.

"Argh! Really?!" Giving him a strong look, Klein held his back with a grimace.

That had hurt!

The redhead shrugged his shoulders without feeling the least bit bad.

"I had to get rid of the sadness that was left."

"You're a bully. Who's so evil as to hit someone who's down?" Klein complained bitterly, but the corners of his lips rose slightly.

Easily noticing this, the redhead's lips turned up into a smirk.

"Oh? Do I have to take out the bitterness, too? I can hit you harder if you want; I won't be so gentle anymore~"

Klein's expression trembled a little, and he looked at him strangely. "Does everything you say have a double meaning?"

Adryan winked knowingly, "That's the point. Where's the fun if I can't make people uncomfortable?"

"How old are you? 15? Only a child would say that." Klein blushed a little at the comment.

Adryan rolled his eyes disinterestedly, "I was 20 before I transmigrated, and I've always had this side. They always told me to grow up, but I never listened to them."

"..." At his comment, Klein froze.

Slowly, he turned his body. The movement was so mechanical that it looked like the rusty gears of a grandfather clock.

"… You were 20 before you transmigrated?" He murmured with an unknown emotion.

"Just turned" Adryan nodded.

"…" Klein said nothing for a moment, just blinking like an owl.

After a few seconds, he just said, "You're younger than me."

He wasn't referring to his age as Klein Moretti because although he was older, he was only a few months older.

No...

He was referring to his original age!

Zhou Mingrui had been born on March 4, 1995.

If he subtracted Joa's age before transmigrating, then he would have been born on December 1, 2002.

'I'm 3 years older than him... He really should be my junior... Wait! He transmigrated in 2023, so if I add up that time...

'I'm 7 years older! Almost 8, in fact!' With a cloudy gaze, Klein looked at the ground in defeat.

Someone more than 7 years younger than him was his Senior...

'So this is what Roselle meant when he said the other transmigrator had to be older than him... This feeling is... oh Goddess... I hate it...'

At this comment, Adryan's expression twisted into a grimace, and his gaze became extremely judgmental.

"What is it with Asians and age? You're obsessed with it. Who cares if I'm younger? What matters is that we're in this together, right?"

'And my Junior-Senior is more mature than me. Good job, Klein.' Ashamed of his actions, he could only smile apologetically.

"Sorry Joa, it's just something personal. Don't take it to heart."

"If it hurts that much, we can pretend you're the senior. I don't mind." Shrugging his shoulders, the redhead looked disinterestedly at his empty cup, wishing there was more coffee.

"Honestly, that would be much more humiliating."

"Do what you want, I'm not forcing you to call me Big Bro either, that's more Huang Tao's thing. He would no doubt rub it in your face."

"He's quite a character, isn't he?" Unable to help himself, Klein laughed softly.

Gossiping and talking behind the back of such a character was quite fun.

"And a slut. I can't even imagine how many bastard children of his are out there. The promiscuity of the intisians disgusts me." Adryan complained with disdain.

Having been raised in a christian family, he respected and treasured purity, something special that should not be given to just anyone.

That the Emperor had been like that and continued to do so after he was married repulsed him enormously.

"If I ever see Roselle, I'm going to act like his mother and reproach him for being so promiscuous and perverse. I'll give him such a hard slap that even his former 'partners' will feel it." Adryan promised with all his heart.

Klein nodded in complete agreement.

It was good to be 'free,' but the Emperor had taken it to such an extreme that it would come as no surprise if more than one 'passenger' had been caught, in the sense that it would not be unusual for him to have acquired some disease or other.

"His escapades are... something."

Adryan looked sideways at the man; without wasting a second and changing his expression, he said, "It wasn't her mouth. It was his mouth."

Klein's cheeks puffed out, but it was too late to use his Clown powers.

"Pff! HAHAHA!"

That one was undoubtedly one of the most disturbing and funny pages he had read about the Emperor—the only time the Great Emperor Roselle Gustav was surpassed in his perversion.

"Reading that was a bit traumatic, but I can't help but imagine the face he made. Oh, the horror! It must have been magnificent!" Adryan tried to imitate a similar face.

His face twisted bitterly as if he had eaten something extremely sour or salty. His eyes turned into raisins, and his mouth opened so wide that his gums showed.

It was an expression of pure horror and disgust.

Klein, who was already struggling to control himself, lost all the progress he had made.

"OH! STOP! HAHAHAHA!"

Seeing such a strange side to the always stoic and reserved man, Adryan couldn't help but play a little more.

So, snorting a little, he added mockingly.

"I swear that if I find a page that mentions that 'Pegging isn't bad', I'll lose it."

"PFFF-"

...

"Huff! Huff! Do you want to kill me? I could hardly breathe at the end!" Klein gave the man a stern look, who only had a mischievous smile.

"It's not my fault that it's so easy to make fun of the Great Emperor. What was he thinking when he did all that?"

Having no idea how to respond, Klein could only raise his arms in ignorance.

One of life's great secrets, isn't it?

"..." The smile on Klein's face became a little tense.

Giving himself an idea of what the man was thinking, Adryan could only sigh.

"Don't feel bad about making fun of that pervert. Although I have no idea where he is, I'm sure he's alive.

"Someone so arrogant and without counting 'The Protagonist of this Era,'" The redhead remarked with his fingers, "Someone so full of himself won't die so easily.

"If we want to find that old man, we just have to keep looking for his diary, right?

"Isn't that why Mr. Fool is doing it?"

"Of course. But talking so badly about someone who isn't here isn't very nice, is it?" Using his Clown skills, Klein just nodded.

"Speaking of diaries..." Adryan looked around and, placing a hand on his chest, bowed deeply to the great confusion of his companion.

Before the other could ask him what the hell he was doing, Adryan quickly spoke in apology.

"I hope you can forgive my test a while ago, Mr. Fool. While handing over such a 'page' from the diary was highly disrespectful, I had to make sure you still had your humanity.

"This is not something the Scarlet Monarch asked me to do. I did it on my own abolition. If there is any punishment or reprimand, I will bear it all."

Such sudden words startled Klein, and he could not help but look at the man in a daze.

'What are you talking about? When you disrespected me... Oh, right... That page.'

When Klein remembered the time he almost lost control of his mask while still in Sequence 9, his eyelids fluttered for an instant.

Plus, although he had already gotten over that and left it behind as just another Chariot episode. The man's words indicated that it was not merely luck that led him to do what he did.

'Of course. Now that I know he knows Chinese, he can also read the pages of the diary. So he knew exactly what he was giving me...'

With these thoughts in mind, Klein said nothing, but using his control over this space, he let the voice in his head speak.

"It's not a problem." The mysterious voice of the Fool echoed throughout the room, coming from everywhere and nowhere.

Adryan sank even deeper into his reverence, "Thank you so much for your mercy. I swear it won't happen again."

Waiting a few seconds in silence for a response, the redhead sat up and wiped away a layer of sweat that had fallen down his forehead.

"Phew... That was a close one..."

Seeing that now was a good time, Klein quickly questioned what had happened.

"Well, what do you mean by 'the humanity of the Fool'?"

The redhead looked at him sideways and calmly explained...

"As you may know, when we ascend to Sequence 4 we acquire divinity. We cease to be human and become beings of legend. As we climb the sequences, these forms mature until we completely abandon our humanity and become complete Mythological Creatures, Angels."

"Being already completely separated from human beings, these beings lose much of their emotions and become more 'divine' in nature. With far fewer emotions and less appreciation for life, they become oblivious to the world around them.

"Of course, maintaining their humanity will help to avoid this, but it all depends on the Beyonder itself and how they cultivate it.

"Beings like Mr. Fool, who have been asleep for so long, undoubtedly have more divinity than humanity. My test was solely for the purpose of testing the level of humanity."

Pausing for a moment, Adryan laughed awkwardly.

"It was a complete success. Mr. Fool's humanity was much richer than I thought, if I managed to break his mask with something as silly and ridiculous as that then everything will be fine."

'Giving me such a perverted and tasteless page was to test me? What kind of crazy and suicidal test is that?!' Klein controlled his expression with all his might.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help feeling that it completely fit the redhead's style.

Unaware of his thoughts, his earth companion sighed and shook his head sadly.

"Although it seems that Mr. Fool has regained a lot of strength, he is still quite weak. The lack of anchors undoubtedly means that he has to fight much harder to maintain it."

'Anchors? What is this guy talking about? Is the title of Fool something related to ships?'

Swallowing his doubt, he quickly questioned it.

"Anchors?"

"They are the prayers and beliefs of the people." Adryan replied calmly, "From the level of angels onwards, one needs to have a base of believers in order to maintain their sanity and themselves.

"Without that, they will only be able to lose themselves. Unable to fight against the will of the characteristics awakening within them - I assume you know what the characteristics are, don't you?" Seeing that the man nodded, he continued.

"Why do you think the Gods make churches, bibles and spread their 'religion'?

"All these efforts are not to show who is the greatest or most important. It is because they need these anchors to maintain their sanity."

Ignoring Klein's second freeze, he looked around him heavily.

"Considering that Mr. Fool only recently reappeared, his anchors are undoubtedly few.

"But also, considering how gloomy and mysterious the Seer Pathway is, it doesn't surprise me that he can stay sane for the time being."

'So this is the truth of religion... It's not because the Gods want to be praised, but because they literally need to be in order to maintain their selves...'

Now he understood much better why, when he accepted the Scarlet Monarch's deal, the latter only spread His Honorific Name and not that of the Fool.

He needed those anchors to maintain His state!

'Considering how gentle and kind He was, not to mention mischievous, it is not incorrect to assume that the Monarch retained His humanity well...'

After a few moments, Klein gave a gentle nod, "The path to the divine is much bloodier and full of madness than I thought..."

"That's the way this world is for you." Adryan closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

"That's why it's important to maintain your humanity when climbing the sequences.

"It's what makes us, us—our shield against the corruption of divinity. If we lose it, we lose ourselves.

"We would become indifferent to everything, to those we once called a friend will just be another human that we see deteriorate without blinking or feeling anything. The things we fought for would lose meaning, and only a cold shell of what we once were would remain.

"But don't think greater humanity is better, this is also a form of corruption. The only way to stabilize your state once divinity is reached is a balance between the two.

"Neither can be greater than the other. While a little more humanity is fine, too much will result in the opposite of divinity. Instead of being pure reason without a soul, you will be a madman."

'Humanity and divinity... It's like water and oil, no matter how hard we try they will never truly mix...' Pondering the matter, Klein could only nod slightly.

All this information he was receiving was undoubtedly rich and of a high standard, and obtaining it so easily was something he did not believe possible.

'This is an experienced Beyonder...'

"I'll keep that in mind... Thanks a lot, Joa."

One red eyebrow raised curiously, "What do you mean, thanks a lot?"

The smile on the dark-haired man's face froze. "Huh?"

"I didn't tell you all this for free, you know? Where's my money, McFly?!"

Although for a moment he had been scared and almost wet himself, hearing the reference killed all that.

"Haha." Laughing sarcastically, Klein raised his fist and punched the man on the shoulder.

At that, the other man just winked.

Seeing that he wasn't saying anything, Klein also decided to reveal some of the information he had. Although it wasn't much, he still considered it important.

'As The Fool, I must uphold the most important principle of the Tarot Club... Equivalent and fair exchange.'

"There was another transmigrator before Roselle..." He paused momentarily and continued, seeing the man's lack of reaction.

"According to the Emperor, they created a Tower somewhere in the world. Do you know anything about it?"