Klein Moretti had just woken up, victorious from his fight against the Celestial Worthy. It was undoubtedly the greatest achievement he had ever accomplished in his entire life—because he was now a true Pillar—a being that made even the proud Outer Deities tremble at the mere mention of it.
He was now the one true "Lord of Mysteries."
It was absurd how all of this began when Zhou Mingrui transmigrated into the body of Klein Moretti.
The beginning of everything.
Back then, his only goal was to find a way back to his original 'home'.
Klein suddenly chuckled under his breath as he began to reflect on his entire journey.
"If only life was as simple as before..." Klein muttered as he drifted into a daze, reminiscing about the distant past.
The moment when he discovered that he could never truly return home.
The moments when he was helpless against fate.
The moments when he couldn't save his loved ones.
"Captain…"
He reached out toward the fog. In response, twenty-two tall, high-backed chairs, a long mottled table, and ancient white pillars emerged from the grayish-white fog—along with them came historical projections of every single person that Klein had failed to save.
"…"
Klein closed his mouth and smiled before sensing imminent danger through his spiritual intuition.
Someone was invading Sefirah Castle! But how?!
Suddenly, before Klein could even formulate any speculations, Sefirah Castle began to tremble uncontrollably, causing the twenty-two tall, high-backed chairs, the long mottled table, the ancient white pillars, and the historical projections to disappear.
Klein instinctively narrowed his eyes as he saw a hazy white figure slowly forming and becoming one with the grayish-white fog, standing before him.
He felt as if the figure was staring straight into his soul, prying open all the secrets he held.
Upon seeing this anomaly, Klein used his control over Sefirah Castle to quickly expel all external forces present.
The hazy white figure observed His surroundings as He slowly became engulfed in multiple grayish-white fogs trying to drag Him down into the endless fog below.
He merely smiled in response and allowed Himself to descend from Sefirah Castle. However, the very moment He descended, the entirety of Sefirah Castle began to collapse.
This had never happened before!
Klein's pupils dilated as he immediately used every ounce of his power to stop Sefirah Castle from collapsing.
However, he soon found himself slowly losing consciousness as multiple terrifying, large, dark snakes enveloped him like a storm.
Klein was unable to move. Panic became evident on his face. The ever-cautious and powerful Seer trembled in fear as he saw his life flashing before his eyes.
This was the last scene Klein witnessed before losing all consciousness.
At that very moment, one of the four true Pillars of the universe disappeared without a trace.
...
After an unknown period of time, Klein regained consciousness, and what awaited him was not the familiar gray fog of Sefirah Castle, but instead a small room.
A familiar room.
Sht... What happened...? I remember seeing a figure appear out of nowhere that tried to destroy Sefirah Castle, and that figure might have succeeded as well! If I remember correctly, I blacked out before I had the chance to restore Sefirah Castle to its former state... Have I... lost connection to it...? No... that's impossible...*
In a short amount of time, Klein formed hundreds of speculations regarding the identity of the figure, but none connected back to it.
What was more terrifying was that the invader had actually rendered Klein—who was a Pillar—unconscious!
Klein shook his head before finally observing his surroundings.
I need to figure out my current situation...
As he observed more and more, he found the environment extremely familiar. This room was the very same one he had seen when he first transmigrated into the body of Klein Moretti!
He saw a wooden desk in front of him with an open notebook at its center. The pages were coarse and yellowed, with an eye-catching sentence written in deep black ink at the top.
To the left of the notebook was a stack of neatly arranged books, numbering about eight. The wall to their right had grayish-white pipes and a wall lamp connected to them.
The lamp had a classic Western style, about half the size of an adult's head, with a transparent glass inner layer and a black metal grid on the outside.
Diagonally beneath the extinguished wall lamp was a black ink bottle bathed in a pale red glow. Its embossed surface formed a blurry angel pattern.
In front of the ink bottle, to the right of the notebook, lay a dark-colored pen with a rounded body. Its tip shimmered faintly, and its cap rested next to a brass revolver.
Klein immediately went across the room to the dressing mirror with two cracks. Its wooden base had simple and plain patterns.
With a quick glance, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror—the current him: black hair, brown eyes, a linen shirt, a thin build, average features, but with a rather deep outline...
No way...
Klein took another glance at himself in the mirror before slowly moving toward the wooden desk.
He saw a rather strange notebook on the desk, which had the words written on it: "Everyone will die, including me."
Perhaps I have returned to the past? But how is that even possible? Is this... envisioned?.. No, not even "Him" could infiltrate Sefirah Castle and cause it to nearly be destroyed.
Klein quickly discovered another dilemma.
He was still alive even though he knew the truth of this world!
If I had truly returned to the past, I would have already perished due to the amount of forbidden knowledge I know... Perhaps some unknown power is restricting the corruption? It could be the Sefirah Castle...
Klein quickly found himself with more questions than answers. He shook his head before slapping himself to wake up.
"Whatever is happening, I should first check if I still have my connection to Sefirah Castle. That's the priority." After saying that, Klein went on to clean the "crime scene" to avoid making his sister worried or suspicious.
A faint smile quickly formed in Klein's face as he muttered under his breath, "Melissa... Benson...
If I have truly returned... Then... Will I have to leave both of them again..?" The thought immediately crushed Klein's already fragile heart—sadness consuming him.
Through the window, Klein silently observed the red moon setting in the west. The gradual sinking of the moon continued until faint light glowed from the east, dyeing the horizon golden.
At that moment, there was a commotion inside the apartment. Soon, the sound of footsteps approached his door.
Klein quickly recovered and regained control of his expressions.
"Melissa is awake… She's really as punctual as always." Klein smiled at the thought of seeing his sister once again.
Memories regarding the past flashed through hus mind, his former colleagues, he was going to meet them again. Klein then heard the sound of the door opening. Only then did he jolt awake and remember that he held a revolver in his desk.
This was a semi-regulated item!
It will scare children!
Also, there's still the wound on my head!
With Melissa arriving at any moment, Klein pressed onto his temple and hurriedly pulled open a desk drawer and threw the revolver in before slamming it close.
"What happened?" Melissa looked over curiously when she heard the commotion.
When Klein saw his sister's brown eyes look over, he forcibly composed himself and picked up an item beside his hand before calmly closing the drawer to conceal the existence of the revolver. He placed his other hand on his temple, the texture confirming that his wound had already healed surprisingly fast!
He took out a silver vine-leaf pocket watch and pressed the top gently, causing its cover to flip open.
It was a picture of the siblings' father. It was the most valuable item the Royal Army sergeant left behind, but being a second-hand item, it would often malfunction from time to time in recent years even though he had gotten a watchsmith to fix it. It had embarrassed Benson who enjoyed bringing it with him to elevate his status many a time, so it was thrown away back at home in the end.
It had to be said that perhaps Melissa did have talent in machinery. After grasping the principles behind the watch, she borrowed the tools from her Technical School to fiddle with the pocket watch. Recently, she even claimed to have fixed it!
Klein looked at the watch's open cover and saw that the second hand was not moving. Subconsciously, he twisted the top dial to wind the pocket watch.
However, despite winding it a few times, he did not hear the sound of taut springs. The second hand remained motionless.
"It looks like it's broken again." He looked at his sister while trying to find a topic of conversation.
Melissa shot him an expressionless glance and briskly walked over to take the pocket watch away.
She stood in her spot and pulled up the button sitting atop the pocket watch. With a few simple turns, the tick-tocking of the second hand sounded.
Isn't pulling the button up usually meant to adjust the time… Zhou Mingrui's expression immediately turned blank.
At that moment, a bell chimed from a faraway cathedral. It chimed six times, sounding distant and ethereal.
Melissa tilted her head to listen to it and pulled the button up once again. Following that, she turned it to synchronize the time.
"It's okay now," she said simply without emotion. She then pressed the top button back and handed the pocket watch back to Klein
Klein returned a smile politely and feigned embarrassment.
Klein lowered his head and chuckled. He closed the pocket watch's cover with a click before opening it again.
He repeated this action for some time, his thoughts drifting to the events that would soon happen in the future. He was contemplating on how he should deal with all of those.
Click! The pocket watch opened. Clack! The pocket watch closed… Melissa returned from washing up and saw her brother's subconscious act of constantly opening and closing the pocket watch.
Her gaze was once again glazed with exasperation as she said with a sweet voice, "Klein, take out all the remaining bread. Remember to buy fresh ones today. There's meat and peas too. Your interview is soon. I'll make you mutton stewed with peas."
Melissa repeated the same words over and over again on his rather dull brother.
"Alright alright.." Klein nodded.
I really needed this.
Watching his sister close the door and leave, Klein suddenly sighed. Soon, his thoughts focused onto the luck enhancement ritual. It was the prime time to get an answer to his question.