Hearing Alexia's agreent, the silver dragon lord turned to look at the petite woman.
"I never expected you to have co this far," she murmured to herself.
"It's not surprising. To you, Miss Miller's presence in this era may seem out of place, but if you knew fate's original design, it would make perfect sense," Mr. Pisco explained.
"The original design?" Sigrid questioned.
"Yes. Even the Millstone of Fate cannot see the complete picture of destiny, so there are always subtle deviations. In the originally projected history, Miss Miller..."
"There's no need to explain." Alexia interrupted him, her reaction surprisingly calm.
"If it's not going to happen, don't speak of it. I know Jenkins experienced a Mysterious Realm with a similar situation. But in our world, the tiline is stable and singular; there's no possibility of it splitting. So what won't happen, simply won't happen."
"Yes, you're right." Mr. Pisco nodded slightly and then sighed.
"So, you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"Considering Jenkins promised to tell a secret only after everything was over, it's easy to guess what you're trying to say. It's about him, and about this world."
"I'm glad you understand. Then let's drop the subject and return to the matter at hand. You have pushed open the door and seen the path ahead. Even if the end is still a long way off, you at least know the destination, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Then, I have a way for you to briefly experience the power at that destination. I believe that power will be enough to help Jenkins."
"So what exactly does that an?" Hathaway, with the cat on her head, still didn't understand. Chocolate, perched glumly atop her hair, understood perfectly but was too lazy to explain.
"I'm going to temporarily beco a god," Alexia said softly, ignoring the astonishnt on Hathaway's and Sigrid's faces.
"It's different from Jenkins's situation. He has, in fact, already reached the end. When he becos a god, he is a true god. But I haven't. Even if I succeed with this gentleman's help, I can only be considered a god on earth, a god of mortals—a false god. But if I can wield that power for even a mont, I think it will be of great help to Jenkins."
The reason Mr. Pisco had arrived in Nolan at this precise mont was that the story of the 18th Epoch had reached its climax. It was a ti when the power of "fate" was at its absolute peak. With the Savior, Jenkins Williams, inside the Mysterious Realm, the material world was left temporarily without its protector. Thus, even if the original destiny was never ant to be, circumstances had nonetheless created a reality where "all saviors had vanished, yet Alexia remained."
Mr. Pisco was the Millstone of Fate, and the little pixie Vinette was the Book of All Things. With the addition of the unpredictable power of the All-Seeing Cards, the three forces combined could indeed perform a ritual to manifest a potential reality, allowing Alexia to experience the power she would have possessed in a tiline where Jenkins did not exist.
This naturally sounded difficult to achieve. After all, it ant making soone into a god, and Alexia had not yet reached the final step.
But Mr. Pisco's idea was indeed feasible. Moreover, their actions were to help the Savior, so they would surely be favored by fate, raising the probability of success—much like how the old elf's "gate-opening," which had failed for centuries, had just now succeeded.
So, the only thing missing now was the power of the All-Seeing Cards. Jenkins did have a card, [The World], but that one couldn't possibly appear here.
Fortunately, they were in the Church of Knowledge and Books. It seed there were All-Seeing Cards among the items Jenkins had been unable to take with him into the nine-story tower.
So everyone split up. Mr. Pisco, the pixie Vinette, the silver dragon, and Princess Sophia went to the Gate of All Things to prepare the ritual, which would also allow them to borrow the gate's power. As for the explanation to the Church, Hathaway was tasked with that.
Alexia went to find the two diviners to ask their opinion on the All-Seeing Cards. Sigrid went to the Church to request the cards; not every card would be suitable, so she decided to ask for all of them to sort through.
Sigrid was the quickest to act. When the Church heard it was to help Jenkins inside the tower, they imdiately brought out all the All-Seeing Cards in Nolan's possession. In truth, there were only three in total, two of which had always been in the Nolan diocese.
The two cards in the Nolan diocese both had owners. One belonged to the old gravedigger from the Church of Death and End, the oldest demigod in the Nolan region, who held [All-Seeing Card - The Grave]. The other belonged to Sister Natasha from the Church of Ocean and Exploration. This sister had only beco an Enchanter last winter, so she was only at level 1.
She and Jenkins were acquaintances. During the stormy night last autumn when he killed the art student and sacrificed divinity, Jenkins had recuperated at the Church of Ocean and Exploration, and it was Sister Natasha who had cared for him. Unfortunately, Jenkins was in no mood for romance at the ti; otherwise, perhaps there would be no story with Hathaway.
The card in the sister's hands had nothing to do with the ocean; it was [All-Seeing Card - The Holy Sword]. The Church of Ocean and Exploration believed she had the potential to beco a hero.
The appearance of an All-Seeing Card was often accompanied by an inevitable destiny, like the [Angel] card Jenkins had once used. These two cards had clearly already found their owners and had nothing to do with Alexia. The final card, the one collected and transported by the Church for the purpose of helping Jenkins, was Alexia's true target.
The card's na was [All-Seeing Card - Nun · Zero].
"This card was clearly ant for Alexia," Sigrid remarked as she carried it into the underground chamber and approached the Gate of All Things. The petite woman hadn't returned yet, but Hathaway had already secured the Church's permission to use the open space before the gate.
"By the way, what did you tell the Church?" Princess Sophia asked, standing with Hathaway as they watched church mbers deliver various ritual materials. "The people from the Orthodox Church seem remarkably calm, not at all panicked by the potential effects of this ritual."
"Of course I didn't say Alexia was going to beco a god. I just said she needed to acquire a powerful, one-ti boost to help Jenkins in the tower... It wasn't exactly a lie, just not the whole truth. The Church doesn't need to know everything we're doing, right?" Hathaway replied with a smile, reaching up to stroke the cat on her head. Chocolate owed, thinking that the red-haired human girl had really learned a lot from Jenkins.
anwhile, Alexia had successfully found Miss Brolignans and Miss Audrey. Unlike Hathaway, she didn't hold anything back, stating directly what she intended to do.
Miss Brolignans maintained the typical composure of a diviner, showing no particular reaction. Miss Audrey, however, was quite stunned.
"You've already reached this stage?" Miss Audrey and Alexia had been friends for years, and both pursued goals different from ordinary people. Miss Audrey sought to gain a share of fate's power by aiding and guiding the Savior, while Alexia was forging an entirely new path with her own talent.
"Not yet. I'm still far from it, but I have to help Jenkins. He needs . The results of the arithmancy have already shown that I am the so-called [God of Mortals]." This was a conclusion reached by both the machine and the demigod.
By the ti the three of them arrived before the Gate of All Things in the underground chamber, the ritual preparations were nearly complete. The ritual itself wasn't complex, and the materials were even simpler—mostly gold and silver items that would have been easy to gather even without the Church's help.
The focus of the ritual was the power of the three books. After giving the All-Seeing Card to Alexia, Hathaway retreated to the wall with the cat still on her head. Unexpectedly, Chocolate poked the back of Hathaway's head with the tip of its tail, then used its tail to point the way, leading her temporarily away from the area.
No one noticed Hathaway's departure; everyone's attention was fixed on Alexia, who stood before the bronze doors.
With little fanfare, the church mbers were asked to withdraw temporarily. The Keeper of Secrets stationed at the Gate of All Things granted Alexia permission to open it before also taking his leave.
Mr. Pisco nodded, confirming that no unauthorized personnel were present, and then signaled for the ritual to begin.
Candles along the walls provided light for the underground space. A mont later, Mr. Pisco and the pixie Vinette began to glow as well. Their forms grew translucent, and after a few minutes, they vanished completely, dissolving into particles of light that flowed into a torn sheet of paper and an old parchnt scroll. The torn paper was made whole, and the rolled-up parchnt slowly unfurled.
Alexia gently released the card. The All-Seeing Card imdiately ascended to the sa height as the two pages. The power of the three books, the most ancient of tos that symbolized the world, manifested as three purple lines of light, connecting to Alexia from three directions.
A series of phantoms flickered out from the pages of the Millstone of Fate, flashing before Alexia's eyes. She saw the tiline that could no longer happen, understood her gains and losses, and finally grasped the true nature of Jenkins's so-called secret.
"Did he really think I would care about that?" the petite woman scoffed inwardly at Jenkins. Then, she felt the power from the three books converge, completing the path she had not yet walked.
A massive diagram of complex formulas and geotric patterns ford at Alexia's feet, much like Jenkins's Savior's Emblem. At the sa ti, the sky-blue cube representing the [Mathematical Principles] erged from her forehead and floated above her head. Blue light filled the underground chamber, illuminating everyone's faces.
But this was not enough. Alexia had no divine office, no godhood. Even becoming a false God of Mortals for a short ti was not so easily accomplished.
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