Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Alice's Understanding
Chapter 178: Alice's Understanding
Klein was feeling very confused.
When the fog first cleared, Alice wasn't there - okay, that was normal.
Some time passed after the fog cleared, and still no word from Alice - alright, that could still be considered normal.
But damn it, several days had gone by now!
His divinations yielded no results. He couldn't see anything through the flickering deep red stars, nor could he directly pull Alice up or send her a message - after all, whatever the situation, Alice was clearly in trouble.
After two anxious days, on Friday evening, Klein finally heard the familiar sound of prayer.
...
Alice got up from the ground in a daze, looked around, and fell into deep thought.
She seemed to be in some kind of secret world. It was no different from where she had passed out, except that she was the only one here.
...Oh.
Alice blinked in confusion, realizing a serious problem - how was she supposed to get out?
After hesitating between using her honorific name or true name, Alice chose the safer option of her honorific:
"Goddess of the Night, more noble than the starry sky, more eternal than eternity,
"You are the Crimson Sovereign, Mother of Secrets,
"You are the Lord of Slumber and Silence,
"You are the Queen of Calamity and Fear,
"I beseech Your gaze,
"I beseech Your audience,
"Did You... forget to let me out?"
After a moment of silence, Alice felt the secret power dissipate, and her surroundings became lively again.
Alice looked around and muttered thoughtfully, "Is the Goddess... not really in the mood to deal with me?"
Of course, this question would not be answered. Alice checked her belongings, straightened her clothes, confirmed the date, and hurried home.
...
Upon hearing the prayer, Klein quickly ascended above the gray fog and heard Alice's request: "Pull me up."
Realizing the issue was likely resolved, Klein didn't hesitate to pull Alice up. He carefully examined her to assess her condition.
She didn't immediately start complaining as expected. Instead, her expression was serious, as if pondering something important.
Klein recalled the last time Alice had worn such an expression.
That time, Alice had seriously reconsidered her hasty decision to name Sequence 4 of the "Diviner" pathway "Ringmaster," proposing to rename it "Circus."
...Why did he suddenly have a bad feeling about this?
Despite this, Klein asked with concern, "Did something go wrong with your advancement ritual?"
Alice was silent for a moment, then looked at Klein earnestly and said, "I think only one phrase can express how I feel after completing the advancement ritual."
Klein looked at Alice in confusion. Then, he heard her curse in the most authentic Chinese:
"Fuck you, Fate! You call this especially lucky?"
Alice's outburst of profanity thoroughly piqued Klein's curiosity. Although it seemed she had gone through something terrible, seeing Alice now cursing with such spirit alleviated much of Klein's worry.
Now, Klein just wanted to know what exactly had happened to make Alice so agitated.
Using his Clown's extraordinary ability to control his expression, he did his utmost to appear concerned and asked in a caring tone:
"So what exactly happened?"
"I..." Alice described all her experiences up to swallowing the extraordinary characteristic, her expression difficult to put into words.
Klein was silent for a moment, then voiced the same question as Alice: "Is this what your 'Fate' pathway considers lucky?"
After a moment of silence, Alice looked at Klein and hesitantly expressed her doubts:
"Actually, I think I can understand the reasoning a little...
"You see, normally, advancement should be done when one's body, mind, and spirit are at their best. That's when the chances of success are highest.
"If, and I mean if...
"When everything - body, mind, and spirit - is in the worst possible state, and you're forced to swallow an extraordinary characteristic without any auxiliary materials, advancing so recklessly.
"If you can still succeed in advancing under those circumstances, I suppose you can't say that's not lucky, right..."
Klein stared at Alice in disbelief. After a while, he mused, "Why does this sound so familiar?"
"..." Alice gave Klein a resentful look. After all... the reason she was so upset was because she could completely understand this logic!
It even sounded like something she would do... Alice shuddered, not daring to think further. She changed the subject:
"Sequence 5 is when the 'Fate' pathway first gains the ability to control fate. The essence of the ritual is probably using one's own fate fluctuations to stabilize the spirit during this process, preventing it from being washed away?
"Well... I'm not too clear on the specifics, since at the time I was... I guess you could say I was recovering my memories?"
"Recovering memories?" Klein sat up. "Then, that book..."
Alice was silent for a moment, recalling how she had become friends with Song Shu, and Song Shu's judgment of the relationship between these two people...
So Song Shu must have been deceiving her back then!
Alice painfully held her forehead.
Of course, not everything Song Shu had shown her was strange stuff like "Overbearing Celestial Angel and His Hundred Avatars' Foolish Little Darling." There were normal stories too... otherwise she wouldn't have really believed it!
...Maybe she should let Klein take a look too?
Having been tormented by Fate's bizarre logic, Alice seriously considered the possibility of venting her frustrations on Klein.
Seeing Alice's silent contemplation, Klein suddenly had a bad feeling and nervously asked, "What's wrong?"
Alice looked at Klein thoughtfully and said, "I want to give Mr. Fool a gift."
Remembering Alice's return gift to Amon, Mr. Fool's eyes widened as he asked, "What are you planning to do?"
Judging from his tone and reaction, Mr. Fool was extremely afraid at that moment.
Alice gazed at Mr. Fool pensively, lowered her head in thought, and said:
"Although I still can't remember the book's title, there is indeed some information related to Mr. Fool...
"And it should be very important information!"
Klein's bad feeling intensified.
Alice solemnly patted Mr. Fool's shoulder and said with a sincere expression, "Don't worry, Mr. Fool. I'll organize it properly. You'll see it at the next Tarot Club meeting."
"Can you give me a preview?" Klein asked hesitantly.
Alice was silent for a moment, then looked at Klein with a sincere expression and said, "It's about this place, and how you used it to defeat Amon."
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