Chapter 334 334: Ignore Amon?! - Faux Sealed Artifacts!
The Gray Castle shook.
The dense gray fog that covered Mr. Fool also shook.
All the Tarot Club members stood up, stunned, the huge pillars towering around them cracking, raining chunks of stone and dust.
And then, as soon as it had begun, it ended.
Mr. Fool lifted His right hand and put it on the table.
With that, the tsunami-like gray fog became a calm sea.
The cracks on the pillars healed, and the shaking of the Gray Castle ceased.
Then, to the utter shock of everyone, they heard something that hadn't happened in a very long time.
Mr. Fool…was chuckling.
"I see…" He said, his voice carrying amusement. "So that was the purpose of the Worm of Time."
"Mr. Fool…" Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man said, concernedly.
"Sit down," Mr. Fool commanded. When all had taken their seats, He continued, "The Worm of Time played quite a trick. It stole Mr. Devil's memory regarding the advancement murmur and returned it just before the lightning could purge it. As Mr. Devil arrived here right away, the System failed to latch onto the discrepancy."
The Tarot Club members exchanged puzzled glances.
The Magician raised her hand. "But, why, Mr. Fool?"
Mr. Fool seemed to smile once more. "It was Amon's way of saying I am here… to me."
Silence.
"But what of the murmurs themselves…" Luke began.
In the next moment, Mr. Fool lifted His hand. "It's best if you don't know of it," He said, addressing not only Mr. Devil, but all members. "Knowing of it more might corrupt you instantaneously."
WHAT?!
Terror bubbled in all hearts, finally realizing just what kind of greeting Amon had sent to Mr. Fool.
"It's best if all of you hire Miss Justice's services to lock the memory regarding Mr. Devil's murmurs," Mr. Fool advised.
All members' heads suddenly snapped toward Audrey, who eagerly nodded.
Luke's fingers balled into fists, though. "What must I do, Mr. Fool? I… don't have the confidence to fight off Amon."
"It would have been concerning if you had the confidence," Mr. Fool said. "For now, the best thing you can do is… to ignore Him."
Luke looked in Mr. Fool's direction, dumbfounded.
But the rest of the Tarot Club members found some sense in those words, as they had heard them before.
As Mr. Fool didn't explain His suggestion, they took it upon themselves to decrypt those words for Mr. Devil.
"First, Amon will not come after you directly," the Hanged Man said thoughtfully. "Mr. Fool is watching over your… Apostles, so they are safe for some time, too. Second, He cannot go after most of your relatives because of all of them having Quirks. In such a case, it's truly best just to ignore Him for the time being and focus on your growth."
Miss Hermit nodded in agreement. "Also, with your advancement to Sequence 6, the connection between you and Mr. Fool must have strengthened by a large margin," she guessed, once again secretly looking in His direction from behind her glasses. "You can capitalize on that and frequently ask for reinforcement, like the Judge Button."
Luke's eyes lit up.
He had been saving that extraordinary object ever since his USA fiasco.
Luke was so enthralled by Judge Button that he had somehow managed not to use it during the Training Camp and later during the Kamino Incident, either.
One couldn't blame him, though.
Judge Button had literally saved his life, which was saying something, given Luke's Quirk and Beyonder abilities.
"I am more worried about the rest of the Apostles," Luke admitted. "They have abilities of only one pathway, which, if you don't mind me saying, isn't much in my world."
The Tarot Club members smiled wryly.
Only one pathway? Wasn't much in his world?
But, in a way, they did understand where Mr. Devil's worries were coming from.
In a world full of extraordinary abilities, using divination, opening doors, and having the ability to steal truly didn't seem like much.
"Mr. Devil needs Sealed Artifacts," Miss Judgment said, everyone agreeing with her.
"But I can't receive objects with corruption," Luke reminded. That was the only reason he had been asking… manipulating Momo to get the Potion ingredients, anyway. "Even the Judge Button I received from Mr. Fool is a mere copy which will disappear after two more uses."
Suddenly, they heard the sound of rapping.
"Things have changed," Mr. Fool said. "The Boundary has thinned, as suggested by the reappearance of Singularity's Radiants. Together with the strengthened connection, you can attempt to receive more… faux Sealed Artifacts."
Luke's eyes lit up.
Not only he, but almost all Tarot Club members showed interest in it.
A Sealed Artifact was basically a Beyonder Characteristic, which meant that it couldn't be sent to Mr. Devil. However, if they could somehow use Mr. Fool's help to make faux versions of their Sealed Artifacts and send them to Mr. Devil, then they could exchange them for more… desirous things from his world.
And the most ridiculous thing about such an exchange was that they could do it repeatedly!
"I am very interested in this," the Moon hurriedly said before anyone else.
Luke looked at Mr. Fool. "But won't it trouble you…given…"
"It's alright," Mr. Fool said. "You must confirm it after returning first. The number and quality of such faux Sealed Artifacts will be limited. Repeated bestowing of these objects might anger Conformity and Singularity, as this can be seen as an attempt to thin the Boundary even more. So, you will have to choose wisely."
Emlyn White cursed within.
Choose wisely only meant that Mr. Devil would have the upper hand in negotiation.
On the other side, Luke was only concerned about one thing. Mr. Fool said that the bestowal of faux Sealed Artifacts might be seen as an attempt to thin the Boundary. But… would that actually make the Boundary thinner or not?
Luke thought it wise not to ask that question.
Instead, sensing his time here was coming to an end, as per his past experiences, he decided to ask an even more crucial question.
"Should I advance to Sequence 6 of Marauder's Pathway?"
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