The City of Silver, atop the circular tower. Daryl Berg waited for a while, but never received a response from "The Fool." This caused him some unease—he didn't know what it meant, nor how to proceed. Was "The Fool" in a state of unable to respond to prayers? Indeed, The Fool had previously hinted that the next gathering might be canceled, which should have been a sign... With memories of past events returning, Daryl managed to calm his anxiety. It was no surprise that he reacted so strongly, as the city's textbooks recorded similar occurrences: a once-responsive deity suddenly ceased all communication, abandoning the land! After a moment of silence, Daryl stood and returned to the room where the chief resided, addressing Colin Ilyat: "We'll need to wait a few more days." "Wait?" repeated Colin, the "Hunter of Monsters," his brow slightly furrowed. In his view, this was an unusual occurrence, seemingly symbolizing unfavorable developments. Derek suppressed the instinct to scratch his scalp and nodded slightly, with some difficulty: "Yes." The white-haired Colin Iliad stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded slowly: "Very well, you may go first." ........... In Beckland, East District, a two-bedroom rental apartment. Fores wrapped in thick clothing paced back and forth around the warm fireplace, her face filled with bewilderment. Finally, she turned her head and looked at Hugh seated in the chair. "Why hasn't the 'World' gentleman replied to me yet?" "Perhaps he's been delayed by something," Hugh said, offering the reason he had already considered. "Maybe the 'Wise One' gentleman is currently unable to convey your prayers. He has previously hinted that the gathering might be postponed for a week." "Vors thought for a moment and nodded. 'The Fool,' Mr. said he implied that our gathering might be suspended next week—only mentioned during the week. Is this connected to the matter of King George III?" Recalling the ongoing inquiries of the 'World' gentleman, Hugh hummed, "Very likely." Klein, holding a leather lantern, surveyed the city and confirmed that its inhabitants had not entirely perished, but rather a small number of survivors had transformed into monsters dwelling in the depths of darkness, now avoiding the yellow glow and encircling the church from out of sight, intent on attacking the two seemingly ordinary humans—Klein and Amun. Klein was able to determine that these monsters were once residents of the city because their "spirit threads" exhibited certain distortions—some grayish, others twisted, or partially fused—differing markedly from those of monsters in other areas, and resembling more closely the appearance of the skeletons preserved within the stone caskets. It remained unclear how such profound despair and collapse could have led the remaining humans to choose this path. Perhaps the deepest despair is simply the daily absence of hope, as circumstances steadily worsen. Klein reflected on this, and thus adjusted his own mindset accordingly. He was repeatedly encountering hopes that would rise only to fade into despair. Amon, wearing single-lens glasses, walked along the edge of the illuminated glow, eventually reaching the deepest part of the church. When Kline approached, he saw a door standing there, glowing with a soft, pale light. "This city actually consists of two distinct parts—light and dark—where they use certain abilities of the 'Apprentice' path to conceal certain areas, requiring passage through specific 'doors' to enter," Amon pointed ahead. "The abilities of the 'Master of Secrets'?," Kline nodded, understanding, and gestured that he now had a clear sense of what was happening. Amon then added, "Beyond this door lies the city's darker region. With this door, I can connect directly to similar areas farther away, shortening our journey." No wonder he is the embodiment of the flaw... Kline watched as Amon extended his left hand and gently pressed upon the door composed of the pale light. The glow began to ripple, spreading rapidly outward, growing more intense. At that moment, a grotesque monster hidden in the depths of darkness, watching the church, suddenly trembled and transformed into Klein's statuette. Klein had already established initial control over it and deepened his influence twenty to thirty seconds prior, but had waited until now to achieve complete transformation. Immediately thereafter, Klein and his statuette simultaneously extended their hands, seizing the opportune moment when Amun shifted the orientation of the "door," and each grasped an object. Klein held the "Deep-Red Coronet," shaped like a full moon and set with a crimson gem; the statuette clutched the "Universal Key," of a yellow-bronze hue and ancient, sturdy design! At the same time, they opened their mouths, emitting a sharp "pop," launching air-projected projectiles that propelled both the "Deep-Red Coronet" and the "Universal Key" toward Amun, toward the pale-lit gateway. Together, these two items enable one to hear the "Door"先生's plea for help—that is, allow the "Door"先生's power to subtly seep into the real world. This particular figure is the master of all the "Doors," and is especially unwilling to see Amun become an "error," one of the key beings who holds dominion over the Source Castle. Klein does not expect the currently sealed "Door"先生 to actually harm Amun; rather, he hopes merely to disrupt the "Hourly Angel," creating sufficient space for himself to make other preparations. Of course, if the "Door"先生 manages to cause a change in that door, expanding or distorting the flaw Amun has created, thereby affecting the Angel King who arrives via the "Theft Path" and sending Him away to a distant realm, Klein will sincerely and wholeheartedly thank the "Door"先生 for a full week. — Having gone through the earlier attempts, Caine realized where his current greatest weakness lay: it wasn’t merely a single-tier gap in sequence or a fundamental disparity in level, but rather a loss of initiative, an inability to properly prepare. Each time he began to prepare, he would be interrupted or disrupted by Amon. For a seasoned "Magician," a performance without preparation is often synonymous with failure. If Caine could have been given advance time to prepare, to quietly summon the historical projections of Mr. Azk, Renette Tiniel, and the "Fated Serpent" Will Onsaitin, then even if he couldn’t fully resolve Amon’s second-tier manifestation, he would certainly have created an excellent opportunity for escape. At that moment, the serene radiance of the "Deep Crimson Coronet" and the timeless "Universal Key" surged forward, reaching the light gate. The pale, ethereal glow forming the portal instantly distorted, engulfing the two objects, staining them with a hint of crimson, and collapsing into a vortex. This vortex seemed to have no bottom, like a vast eye. As Amun turned, the gaze of this eye caused a slight pause—seeming to hear a call from an old friend. Yet this hesitation vanished instantly, as though it had never occurred. As Amun's gaze shifted toward Caine, he suddenly lost six of his extraordinary abilities at once: mastery over the "lines of spirit," summoning images of historical rifts, the use of paper figures as doubles, control over flame, underwater respiration, and bone softening. Of course, Caine's loss of these six abilities did not hinder his ability to perform any further actions. That barely perceptible pause had allowed Caine and Amun to exchange positions seamlessly! Now Caine stood deep within the darkness outside the church, and the distorted monsters surrounding him trembled, transforming into his own spectral doubles. For targets that even lack a sequence of five layers, Klein merely takes a few seconds—sometimes just two or three—to secrete them, and even as he summoned "Deep Crimson Coronet," he had already begun similar operations. While fully immersed in the darkness, striving to transform into a hidden state or even to achieve a successful suicide, Klein simultaneously reached out with his hands, grasping toward the mist woven by history. This time, he divided his secret duplicates into three groups, summoning Renette Tiniel, Mr. Azk, and "Fate's Serpent" Will Ongestin, to avoid, as last time, having finally succeeded only to have it stolen away by Amon—under such arrangements, he might just be able to retain one or two. Of course, this depended on Amon not being able to simultaneously steal multiple images of historical fissures. This remained to be confirmed by Klein. His physical self withdrew his hands, empty-handed. The attempts to summon the secret figures of the "Serpent of Fate" all failed, but two of the "Ancient Scholars" who had summoned the "Death Magistrate" and Renette Tinnikor exhibited a slight tightening of their arms. Klein felt a surge of optimism, suddenly believing that this endeavor might very well evolve into a genuine escape mission. At that very moment, an intense, surging, and terrifying light erupted from the single-crystal spectacles worn by Amun. The entire city, as well as the surrounding valleys, hills, and plains, was filled with pure, scorching sunlight—the "daylight," which had not visited this place for thousands of years, now returned. Amun had returned the "daylight" he had stolen from the "Divine War Ruins!" Within this restored daylight, Klein not only felt his body rapidly melting, but also heard familiar yet frantic murmurs echoing in his ears—like countless steel needles piercing each of his "spirit insects." This left his mind overwhelmed by intense pain, causing the imminent successful summoning of the secret figures to falter. The "day" of the divine sanctuary contains the murmurs of the "True Creator"! The once-crumbling, deformed monsters hidden in the depths of darkness—those who were the few survivors of the city—seem to have briefly regained their senses, gazing in wonder at the "day," their eyes narrowing with awe. Then, they surged toward the source of the "day," one after another dissolving into ash. In the afternoon camp of the Silver City, stationed atop the ramparts, the guards successively observed a luminous glow appearing on the northeastern horizon—distinct from lightning, resembling the scene described in legend when the sun is about to rise. This spectacle lasted only a few seconds before fragmenting, and the horizon once again returned to deep darkness. As soon as Kline recovered from the murmurs, he saw Amun, wearing a soft-capped pointed hat, standing before him. This "Angel of Time" adjusted his single spectacles and smiled, saying, "Well done."