Was it too late? A weight settled in Caine's heart as the "Box of the Old Days" suddenly began to vibrate violently. He hurried to look down, and there, on the first level, the surface of the miniature bone church gate—shrunk down to toy size—glowed with one after another radiance. Each white skull, each twisted face, seemed to come to life. How high was Adam's bone church? Could a single gate withstand the first level of "0–61"? Without hesitation, Caine, through the deep red star representing Leonard, locked onto the gas lamp pole outside No. 7 on Pinstreet. Instantly, the gate with its bone structure and prominent, twisted faces returned to the real world, and a toy lamp pole appeared on the first level of the "Box of the Old Days." Then, Caine turned his focus to Amun within the bone church, and with his right hand smoothly sliding down, he prepared to open the second level of "0–61." At this moment, the battlefield had no longer been occupied by Palais Solrath. Klein could now move Amun freely to another location. He had designated the Celestial Realm, hoping that the seven gods would "care for" Amun—yet he could not be certain whether this would give rise to any unforeseen, random variations. At this very instant, the great door returned to the Church of the Bones, and the magnificent structure, which had overlapped with No. 7 on Pinstreet, rapidly disintegrated. The disintegration unfolded with remarkable order: beginning at the dome, then the arches and walls, and finally the dark stone columns. The falling objects did not strike the ground but vanished mid-air. Amun, standing before the cross, also gradually dissolved as the entire Church of the Bones collapsed, as if He too were merely an imagined entity, ready to be dissolved at any moment. Of course, Klein was fully aware that this was precisely how Amun was exploiting a "gap"—by leveraging the dissolution of the Church of the Bones as a form of imagined embodiment, allowing himself to become an imagined presence and thus detach from Beklanth. Thunder! Thick clouds gathered in the sky without anyone noticing, and a spherical bolt of lightning, the size of a house, trailed silver-white light, crashing hard onto the still-partially-intact skeleton church and onto Amun. Amun’s single crystal lenses, crafted from polished crystal, suddenly developed fine cracks, and his pointed cap atop his head collapsed. Yet, this "Angel of Time" did not panic. After a few uncontrollable spasms across his face, he maintained a serene smile, holding the crystalline pillar formed by the convergence of light and shadow, and then dissolved into a phantom-like form, vanishing completely into the ocean of light that now filled the interior of the skeleton church. The next instant, the majestic church, once dark and adorned with white bones, was entirely dissolved into illusion. At that moment, the house at 7 Pinstreet remained standing, though the floor of the living room bore an exaggerated mark—like a person lying there, turned to charcoal. This is the remains of countless Amun's bodies shattered over time, yet Caine knows that Amun's true form has successfully escaped and achieved his intended purpose. Once restored, this Angelic King will only need a single ritual to ascend to the divine throne and become the embodiment of all "mistakes" in this world. "After I replaced the doors of the Church of the Corpse, it was the 'Lord of Storms' who first sensed the change, reacted, and summoned his power—clearly, the goddess simply cannot perform a divine intervention. She can only subtly influence reality through various intermediaries, and thus, when Amun's true form was unprepared, she could not affect him at all. ...I was still celebrating my own escape from Amun, delighted by having consistently avoided his traps without setting foot on them, only to find that He had quietly accomplished such a significant feat without a single word. ...When exactly did He shift his focus to Bekkanth?" Well, it seems that after I employed my method of leveraging the "fraud" pattern to achieve a reincarnation far from my origin, he has sensed the shadow of Palis Soloyasde and the fact that we are connected—now setting his sights on securing the final Sequence 1 extraordinary trait, becoming a True God. "...Leonard's prayer was rather vague—mentioning only that an issue had arisen with the treasure of Jacob. Even a Sequence 1 Angel as familiar with Amun as Palis Soloyasde, who had been so cautious, failed to notice any anomaly and simply stepped right into the trap. Amun must have done something truly remarkable. "Heh. Though I've grown rapidly through my ongoing strategic exchanges with Amun, and have undergone a transformation, I still fall far short, still feel quite immature, when compared to such a masterful fraud. "If Amun becomes Sequence 0—'Error'—and can still walk among mortals, then I will truly be in serious trouble. "No, I must uncover the divine ascension ritual of the 'Theft' path, and initiate some disruptions—definitely not allowing Amun to ascend smoothly and effortlessly. "But might this very scenario be precisely Did He deliberately stage the ceremony, just waiting for me to walk right into it? Thoughts racing, Kline sighed deeply. Then, adopting the demeanor and tone of "The Fool," he conveyed the message to Leonard: "No need to pray anymore." "Palis Soloyasde's voice carried a clear sense of weakness," said, "Coughing, to put it simply, I've died once, but not completely." Leonard finally exhaled in relief, glanced around, and seeing no one paying attention, lowered his voice: "You successfully deceived Amun?" "Not exactly deception," Palis Soloyasde sighed. "For years, the thought that has occupied me most has been: what if Amun himself were to find me? Through repeated trials, I've developed a method—when the body is lost, one can revive at a fragment site, though at the cost of losing the Sequence 1 extraordinary trait, passively downgrading to one level. Honestly, I'm not too far behind the times, after all." "So, Amun killed you once, claiming your Sequence 1 trait, and you revived as a Sequence 2 entity?" Leonard roughly understood the situation and confirmed with a question. Palace Soloyasde sighed and replied, "That's about right. In fact, Amun wasn't entirely unaware. When I pushed you out of the Bone Church, He didn't intervene—He left me a glimmer of hope, so that I wouldn't fight with my full resolve in the battle that followed. If He had done so, I wouldn't have fallen so quickly. At least, after absorbing the extraordinary qualities from the treasure, I had largely recovered." Leonard gasped in surprise, saying, "Old man, you pushed me out of the Bone Church because there's a part of you within me?" Palace chuckled, "Do you really think I'm treating you like a grandson?" "...Do you have any other copies of yourself, then?" Leonard mumbled. Palace huffed, then sighed, "Amun even managed to deceive His own copies—this time, I have nothing to say in my defense." If, from the perspective of the absorbed Amun, the "Angel of Time" were not already aware of the specific details of Jacob's treasure, He would certainly have been more cautious and would have been better prepared for Amun's appearance. This is the most crucial reason—none of the other factors, whether it be the origins of the Jacob family or the ongoing struggle between Klein Moretti and Amun's true form in the God-Abandoned Lands, would have convinced Him to make this decisive decision. Leonard paused and reassured him: "Old man, this is the treasure's most fatal trap. No matter what, you'll stumble into it. Surviving is already a triumph." "Not quite." "Palis immediately countered, 'If I had any sense of impending danger, I would have chosen a major deity directly, becoming their earthly angel and journeying to Jacob's treasure under their protection. Indeed, after absorbing my traits and restoring my power to Sequence 1, I've been seriously contemplating this very question—whether to join the Church of Night, collaborate with your 'Fool,' or dissolve my 'parasitism' and once again live in hiding, avoiding Amun as I did before.' As he spoke, his emotions grew increasingly complex. ...The old man truly has a plan. Why are you so adept at handling the matter of allegiance? Leonard silently mused, then refocused his attention on the most pressing matter: 'Old man, after Amun secures your Sequence 1 extraordinary trait, isn't he preparing for the divine ascension ritual?' 'Yes.'" "Palis replied in a low, steady voice, 'This means for a long time to come, your former colleague will be the one to keep us occupied—mostly with Amun's lower-tier duplicates, if not entirely.' 'What are the requirements for Amun's ascension ceremony?' Leonard asked. Palis paused for a moment before answering: 'To take over His place during someone else's ascension ceremony.' With that, Palis chuckled lightly, a touch of self-mockery in his tone: 'Amun's focus will undoubtedly shift to his own ascension ceremony—this will be our final period of quiet. Once He ascends, He will surely come to you, through you, to confront that 'Fool.' I may be able to leave you behind early, but I can't rule out the possibility that He intends to reclaim all the unique attributes of the Angelic tier. So, make the most of those rare spirits, absorb the elixirs, become a half-god, master the sacred relics, and secure the favor of the Night.' Leonard's expression grew serious, and he nodded slowly, thoughtfully. He immediately found a quiet spot and conveyed some essential information to the "Knight of Pentacles" through prayer. ... "Other people's consecration rituals? Recently, it seems only Adam has any hope of being consecrated... Just let the two brothers fight it out... That's all we need—the period of final peace. I hope Amun doesn't interfere too strongly with my duplicates. I hope to soon locate the Shadowed Wolf. I hope Dorian will agree to the deal..." Kline sighed and returned to the real world, continuing to walk through the darkness with his lantern.