Bekland, 160 Berkland Street. Suddenly, Germán Sparo materialized in the master bedroom, his black coat swaying gently, his high hat perfectly upright. Daven Tancé, lying on the bed, instantly faded, retreating into a mirror just palm-sized. Tonight, no one should have come to visit—Arodés hadn’t caused any disturbance… Seeing this scene, with the room quiet and serene, Caine subtly exhaled, his form rising slightly, his hair quickly turning silver at the temples, his blue eyes deepening, and then transforming back into Daven Tancé. At the same time, ripples danced across the mirror, silver light gathering to form one word after another: "Great, Most High Lord, I did nothing tonight! No—I truly played the part of Daven Tancé asleep. Additionally, there is one matter I would like you to know." Ignoring Adroth's first plea for praise from the magic mirror, Klein's heart gave a sudden jolt. As he removed his hat and tossed it casually onto the nearby armchair beside him, he responded in a low tone: "Go on." On the mirror's surface, the original words began to ripple and re-form into new text: "A lady glanced at this house as she passed by this street." What in the world? Few people stopped to appreciate the surroundings while passing by here every day... Just as Klein was about to speak, the mirror's surface shimmered, reflecting the image of a figure. To a typical observer, this figure appeared quite distinctive—wearing the attire of a seer, with blue eyeshadow and blush, both vibrant and ethereal—none other than Dailie Simonne. This lady had been riding in a carriage along Berkland Street, glancing out the window at number 160, and had stared at the house for more than three seconds. Phew. She not only has a memory of Doun Tan-Tzès from his eyes, but also has gathered some details incidentally? Kline furrowed his brow slightly and asked, "Is there nothing else?" "Nothing!" Arordes responded, highlighting the words on the mirror's surface, while sketching a simple symbol representing a vow. Kline nodded, disregarding the mirror's enthusiasm and gently sent it away. After completing these actions, Kline produced a candle, preparing to set up the ritual—calling upon himself, responding to himself, bringing all the spoils he had acquired, along with the garments he was wearing, to the gray mist. He intended to distinguish between the garments of Germán Spáro and Doun Tan-Tzès, so as not to expose any issues in the details in the future. Tap! He snapped his fingers, and the wick sprang up with a bright crimson flame. The flame. The flame... Kline's gaze froze for several seconds, then he quickly closed his eyes and turned his back to the candle. Then he maneuvered "the restless spirit" Senyor step by step closer to the desk. Throughout this process, Senyor's body trembled more and more intensely, yet he eventually forced out his right hand and extinguished the candle. Let's rest a while and address this tomorrow... No, the "tyrant" is within him, and it has already awakened. Although the "Wall of Spirit" seals it, this may not fully isolate its ability to attract and coalesce through the same pathway—perhaps only weakening its influence, delaying the process. Back at Bayam, I had been rushing in and out, unable to stay long. As soon as Klein had calmed down, several concerns came to mind. A few seconds later, he slowly inhaled, then raised his hand again, tapping his fingers sharply to reignite the candle. Immediately, he steadied his inner fear and guided "the restless spirit" Senyor to bring out two additional candles, setting up the sacrificial ritual—thus eliminating the need for any response to the call, crossing through the candlelight to reach the real world. When everything was ready, Caine turned with difficulty, bowed "with devotion" and lowered his head, unable to meet the candlelight, then recited the sacred name of "The Fool" with earnestness. With sheer determination, nearly weeping, he completed the ritual and offered all the items destined for the misty realm as sacrifices. Huffing out a breath, Caine stepped backward four paces, arriving at the silent, mysterious space, sat into the seat belonging to "The Fool," and first drew forth the card of "The Tyrant," activating its contents. Instantly, the card of "The Desecration" took on a three-dimensional form, resembling a book of palm size. As the pages turned, each one displayed a Rosel Gustave—either as a seafarer, wearing a captain's hat and holding a sextant, or singing passionately against a backdrop of the sea. Caine was left speechless, growing increasingly convinced that this fellow was simply too self-absorbed. If the "Witch" card still features his own image, then I truly have to admit I'm impressed... While murmuring these thoughts, Caine browsed through the relevant content, analyzing the sequence names and ritual materials along the entire Storm Path: "Sequence 9: The Sailor... Sequence 8: The People of Wrath... Sequence 7: The Navigator... Sequence 6: The Wind-Kindled... Sequence 5: The Ocean Singer... Sequence 4: The Disaster High Priest... Sequence 3: The Sea King... Sequence 2: The Heavenly Disaster... Sequence 1: The Thunder God... Sequence 0: The Tyrant..." The ritual that culminates as "The Tyrant"—that is, the Storm Sovereign—is quite different from that of "The Black Emperor." First, it requires hundreds of thousands of followers who serve out of fear and devotion. Second, one must single-handedly confront and survive a true god—another Sequence 0—then, finally, endure the atmosphere of fear and obedience, consume the magic potion, and complete the ascension. "This is a bit of a pickle—having an unevolved Sequence 1 challenge a true Sequence 0 god, it's likely that seven or eight out of ten such attempts will fall short. And what if there were no other Sequence 0s in that era? Wouldn't that mean one would have to either cultivate a new one from scratch or transition to a similar path? Of course, the ritual might not be essential—should one be lucky enough, a direct potion intake could still work. Take Kavitova, the 'Sea God,' for instance: she didn't consume any potion at all, but rather drew upon unharmonized extraordinary traits. So, at its core, is the ritual about the courage to challenge the gods, coupled with abundant fear and obedience?" "Well, the 'tyrant' seems to lack the peculiar ability of the 'Black Emperor'—the capacity to distort and exploit rules, to die and then return from nothingness. Instead, he appears capable of a brief surge of electrical intensity and light-speed acceleration, and perhaps even of causing planetary-scale catastrophes... The Emperor Roserel's records emphasize the formula and the ritual, but offer surprisingly little and rather vague descriptions of the corresponding extraordinary abilities and divine authority...” Kaine casually summoned a page of non-material paper, wrote down the potion formula for the 'High Priest of Disaster' with a rounded-shouldered steel pen, and added, in the voice of 'World' Germain Sparo, a single note: "Try to avoid recalling the content of that painting whenever possible." This serves as a reminder for the 'Hanged Man'—in the esoteric realm, matters involving Sequence 0 demand exceptional caution and vigilance, even if it means defying ordinary logic. — On that primitive island, seeing the painting, discussing the painting, nothing seems to indicate safety beyond the island. If one frequently reflects upon it, perhaps one day, simply due to bad luck, will be struck by lightning during a thunderstorm, or face a difficulty that proves insurmountable, causing blood vessels in the brain to burst, or suffer from heatstroke from prolonged sun exposure, ultimately dying from delayed medical intervention. "The 'Chief of Disasters' ritual is extremely perilous—it can trigger earthquakes and tsunamis—and the aspirants must endure the medication under such conditions, holding on until the end..." Caine folded the paper neatly, placed it aside, and then set the 'Monarch' card aside. Only after using divination to identify the three exceptional traits inherent to himself as belonging respectively to Sequence 5 "Chaotic Mentor" of the Black Emperor Path, Sequence 5 "Ocean Singer" of the Storm Path, and Sequence 5 "Druid" of the Cultivator Path, did Caine finally find time to reflect on the events of this journey and ponder the information they contained: "The 'Eternal Scorching Sun' clearly belongs to the Sun Path, and that silver-city creator is known as the Ancient Sun God—this conclusion is supported by historical records from the Fourth Age and by depictions in elven murals. According to the conservation law of Sequences 0 and 1, the 'Pure White Angel' should not have been the Angel King at that time. Yet if not the Angel King, how could He have even been invited to share in the feast of the silver-city creator? This isn't merely an external circumstance—it also involves internal issues: a direct transition from Sequence 2 to Sequence 0 would almost certainly result in a breakdown. Either the "Eternal Sun" has shifted its path to become a deity, or the primary authority of the Silver City's creator—originally 'Sun'—was already delegated to the angels surrounding Him following the victory over the ancient gods, thereby establishing Him as King of the Angels. Thus, the frescoes of the elf race and the later traditions that refer to Him merely indicate that He once held the authority of the 'Sun,' rather than having held it continuously. "There's another possibility—perhaps the Creator who reclaimed the ancient divine authority has the power to elevate a Sequence 2 entity directly to Sequence 1... " Kline's thoughts quickly turned to who established that church and who left behind the mural, as the overlapping circumstances made it difficult to untangle. With the complexity of events, he simply materialized a sheet of vellum and summarized the key points in writing, seeking connections: "The original island was discovered jointly by Zilin-gus and the 'Hanged Man' gentleman... " Zilin-gus accepted a mission from the Twilight Hermit to assassinate Duke Nigan in Beckland, and he died at the hands of Mr. Azk... " Zilin-gus informed the 'Hanged Man' that deep within the church ruins there lay something precious, comparable in value to the Rothera Tarot cards, but access to it required a Sequence 5 level... " Subsequently, he obtained 'The Hungering,' becoming a pirate general whose strength now equaled a strong Sequence 5... " The 'Tyrant' card remains in the burial hall beneath the church... " Did Zilin-gus make any further attempts afterward?" Or perhaps the attempt had failed? "That church was built by beings who worshipped the ancient sun god, and its murals chronicle the official, yet biased, history of the great deities prior to the great catastrophe—clearly favoring the ancient sun god." "The Twilight Hermit Order is believed to have been founded by the divine prince Adam, with the goal of reviving that ancient sun god—the Silver City's creator." "The original island suddenly vanished, as if it had never existed at all." "Adam himself is an idealized angel." "Among the core members of the Twilight Hermit Order, at least one angel from the Hermes path—someone who has experienced the path of the viewer—is present." "The Order tends to encourage members to choose the 'seafarer,' 'reader,' or 'sun' paths, likely possessing high-tier materials and artifacts from the storm domain. There may even be angels within the Order belonging to the storm domain." Kaine set down his pen, gazing at the notes on the page, and slowly began to form a hypothesis.