Part 1. The Joker Chapter 67: “The Response”
The Crimson Moon hung quietly in the darkness, shining down on Tingen, the “University City”, which was gradually returning to silence.
Crane stood at his desk, looking down at the cold, deserted Daffodil Street through the bay window, and heard a horse-drawn carriage speeding by in the distance without making any noise.
He picked up the silver-and-white pocket watch with the branching pattern, snapped it open, and glanced at it before reaching up to draw the curtains together, allowing more of the yellowish glow of the gas lamps to reflect off the bedroom.
Crane turned unhurriedly, unlocked the door to the room, and closed the gate valve.
The whole room was suddenly shrouded in darkness, with only the slightest hint of reddish moonlight through the curtains to bring color and a late-night scene that had spawned many a folk tale.
In such an environment, Klein took out a silver knife that he had applied for, and outlined the sphere of light within his mind, pre-emptively entering a semi-meditative state.
He built up his spirit and, as he had practiced before, let the auras erupt through the tip of the knife and let them follow his own movements, combining marvelously with the environment and sealing the room.
This was his defense against any unusual fluctuations that might occur later, fearing that Benson and Melissa would be awakened by it.
Then Klein lowered his knife and took four steps counterclockwise, each accompanied by a spell from Earth.
The unchanging hissing and murmuring assaulted him, the unchanging madness and agony added to it, and he did his best to control himself, surviving the hardest and most dangerous phase in a near semi-catatonic state.
The gray mist was boundless, the crimson “stars” were far away or near, the majestic temple stood as if it were a dead giant, everything in front of Klein’s eyes was unchanged from the past, and the silence and antiquity accumulated over thousands of years came over him.
No, there was still a change! Klein muttered silently to himself, his eyes locking onto a crimson “star” located close by.
That was the star that symbolized “justice”!
The crimson color of the star contracted and expanded one after another, not too much, but persistently.
Klein carefully unfolded his own spirituality, spreading towards the crimson.
As soon as the two came into contact, his mind buzzed, and he saw blurred and distorted images, and heard illusory and overlapping prayers:
”O fool who does not belong to this age;”
”Thou art the mysterious lord above the gray mist;”
”Thou art the yellow and black king who reigns over good fortune.”
”I pray for Your help.”
”I pray for Your favor.”
”I pray that You will let me have a good dream.”
……
”I pray that You will let me have a good dream.”
……
”I pray that You will let me have a good dream.”
……
The women’s voices continued to echo and cascade, and Klein’s spirit became irritable and cluttered with them, like just trying to fall asleep when he heard a fight going on upstairs pounding the table and slamming the floor.
He pressed on, soothing the urge with meditation, and carefully recognized the blurry image that surfaced before him.
It was a girl in a white robe with soft, shiny blonde hair, and she was standing in front of four swaying fires, her head respectfully bowed, chanting over and over.
From the distorted image, Klein barely recognized this was Miss Justice.
At this point, he was absolutely sure that the ritual incantation he had conceived would point precisely here, to himself!
This filled him with a sense of accomplishment, and he felt that his efforts to build something from scratch had been very fruitful.
I won’t boast of being marvelous …… Klein’s mood turned, only to feel that the prayers hovering in his ears like flies were becoming acceptable.
His mind moved, and he tried to transmit the “answer” outlined in his mind to the “Crimson” star through the subtle connection:
”I know.”
……
In front of his eyes, the gray fog filled up, and a distorted and blurred figure stood in the deepest part of the room.
A deep red flowed from the location of his eyes, and his voice echoed continuously in the empty, nothing world:
”I know.”
”I know.”
”I know.”
……
Audrey Hall awoke suddenly, sitting up with her arms around the covers, her mind filled with images of what she had just dreamed.
She knew, clearly and distinctly, that she was dreaming of the Fool, the mysterious Fool who was high above the gray mist!
”Is this an answer to my early morning prayers?” Audrey, who had quickly entered the “audience” state, calmly analyzed the situation.
Although she didn’t understand why the Fool didn’t respond on the spot and had to wait until nighttime, she was still deeply shocked by the effectiveness of the ritual magic, and by the fact that the incantations were really useful.
In the past, she had prayed to the Goddess of the Night, but she had never gotten an answer!
Mr. Fool, even if he’s not a deity yet, he should be close …… Audrey slowly inhaled and exhaled slowly.
Since the other party was a powerful existence that could not be resisted, she quickly threw some of her worries to the side and began to think about what to do next:
”First, thoroughly digest the ‘Audience’ magic potion …… I’m not bad at ‘playing’.”
”Second, look for the Mental Alchemy Society.”
”Third, see if I can get the ‘Mind Reader’ magic potion formula from Mr. Fool, or clues from the Psychological Alchemy Society.”
”However, each deity-like existence has a complete chain of sequences belonging to itself, and doesn’t necessarily know the formulas of other sequential pathways……. A newborn extraordinary organization like the Psychological Alchemy Guild isn’t necessarily qualified to receive Mr. Fool’s attention either… …”
……
Disengaging from the contact, Klein sat moodily at the topmost head of the long bronze table.
Shrouded in gray mist, he leaned back against the back of his chair, his hand clenched into a fist against his mouth as he thought back and examined the process of what had just happened.
At this moment, he was the only living being in this world of gray mist, other than that, it was silent.
”It seems that I can only pass information over, I can’t use it to mobilize the power here …… Then it seems that one of my previous tricky thoughts won’t work.” Klein kept lightly pestling his mouth, wordlessly summarizing.
His original intention was that if the incantations and rituals he designed were effective, then he would try to see if he could bind himself to the Gray Mist World through this method, thereby prying the power of this mysterious space.
At that time, he could then pray to himself, thus trickily bypassing the restrictions, mysteries, and dangers to more fully utilize the Gray Mist World.
For example, he could first hold a ceremony to pray to “himself” for the granting of spells, and then, entering the gray mist, he himself would respond to the prayer and give the gift.
”It seems that I still think too beautiful …… my knowledge and mastery of this gray fog world is far from that level ……” Klein shook his head and laughed to himself, ready to leave.
At that moment, he saw the crimson “star” symbolizing the “inverted man” also began to contract and expand, and heard an illusory and invisible sound swept away in a circle.
”Just in time for the ceremony of the ‘Inverted Man’?” Klein nodded thoughtfully.
He sat at the top of the bronze table and reached out to the star.
Spirituality spread out and touched the shrinking and expanding crimson.
He heard the muffled and overlapping prayers of the “Hanged Man” and saw a blurred image.
In the image, the “Hanged Man”, clad in pure black robes, stood in front of the four flames, surrounded by a wall of spirituality, blocking out external influences.
Klein didn’t respond immediately, just watched and listened quietly.
”…… You are the Yellow and Black King who reigns over good fortune.”
”I pray for your help.”
……
”The Inverted Man finished his prayer and waited for a few moments, and when there was no response, he began to disarm the spiritual wall, extinguish the flames, and clean up the altar.
At the end of the day, he reached out and wiped his hand, a watery light filled the room, and the table that served as the altar was immediately refreshed.
”The water-based spell …… Storm’s Gift …… ‘Inverted Hangman’ is indeed, at least, ‘Mariner ‘ ……” Klein nodded slightly, and passed the “response” into the crimson, as expected, before the image disappeared.
……
Alger Wilson was in the city of Generosity, the capital of the Rothschild Islands.
Instead of joining his crew in the famous “Red Theater”, he stayed in his hotel, closed the doors and windows, and tried the ritual described by the Fool.
After familiarizing himself with the prayer, Alger waited patiently for a while, but did not receive any response.
”It seems that this attempt was not too successful …… Mr. Fool will have to find another way …… ” he thought with a mixture of gratitude and slight disappointment.
Taking care of the follow-up, Alger was going to go downstairs to ask for a glass of “Glorious Ranch” – alcohol helps to utilize the powers of the “Fury People”, so the “Storm Lord’s” vicarious punishment is not a good idea. Alcohol helps to bring out the power of the “Fury People”, so the “Storm Lord’s” vicarious punishers are quite fond of this “drink”.
Pulling open the door to his room, Alger was about to step out when he saw a sudden blur of gray mist in the corridor, and a blurry figure sitting in the deepest part of the room, as if he were sitting on a high throne.
”I know.” A familiar, low voice echoed invisibly in Alger’s ears, causing him to freeze in place, his head throbbing slightly.
Alger’s eyes turned deeper with a huff, and then he looked around, only to find that everything was no different from before, still the same floorboards that creaked when he stepped on them, still the same wall sconces that had aged, and still the not-so-clean corridors.
I know …… Alger s ears seem to still have voices echoing.
His face turned pale and he clenched his fist and lightly struck his chest, but he was unable to say the words of respect to the Storm Lord.
After a long period of silence, Alger’s expression returned to normal, only his gaze deepened a few more points.
……
Above the gray mist, Krynn did not tarry long, and when the remnants of the voices had all fallen silent, he wrapped himself in spirituality and fell into the gray mist, into the world of matter.
Light and shadows flashed rapidly before his eyes, like dozens of fast-playing movie images, and after a dizzying moment in his head, Klein saw curtains permeated with scarlet moonlight, and desks and bookshelves with hazy outlines.
He picked up his silver pocketknife once more and disarmed the room’s psychic wall, then opened the door quietly in a sudden gust of wind and looked out into the hallway.
Seeing that neither his brother Benson’s nor his sister Melissa’s rooms were stirring, he relaxed completely.
”This ‘Transit Ceremony’ is simply a must-have for home travel …… and hidden and magical ……,” Klein wordlessly whispered, re-closing the door and walking towards the bed.
His “mission” tomorrow was to go to the underground market of extraordinary items with Old Neil.