Chapter 1164: Know Thy Enemy

When vast clusters of suns exploded, tearing apart planets and pulling all matter toward themselves, a pervasive grayish-white fog appeared. Within it stood Klein, wearing a half silk top hat and a long black trench coat, his figure slightly distorted as he faced Supernova Dominator, one of the Great Old Dominators.

At the same time, Klein sensed an almost untouchable shadow emerging from a higher dimension. He scrutinized the Spirit Body Threads, preparing to interfere, manipulate, influence, and disrupt them.

High-Dimensional Overseer!

This was a Great Old Dominator capable of countering abilities such as Parasitism, Marionettes, and Blink. He wielded the corresponding symbol:

Dimensionality!

From higher or lower dimensions, Spirit Body Threads were tangible and real—something that could be touched. Blink only allowed movement on a small scale, while those Parasitized were bound together into one entity.

This rendered the unique, ubiquitous nature of the Lord of Mysteries’ avatars ineffective. Combat against the High-Dimensional Overseer could only rely on Klein’s true body.

Thus, as long as the battlefield contained the High-Dimensional Overseer, Klein could only leverage Pillar symbolisms while contending with one additional Great Old Dominator.

However, in a one-on-one situation, the Dimensionality symbolism of the High-Dimensional Overseer did not completely suppress the Lord of Mysteries’ Change symbolism, which included space-time. These forces mutually counteracted each other. Just as the King of Space-Time could hinder the Lord of Dimensions from freely traversing dimensions,

Klein could rely on symbolism like Foolishness to turn the tide against the High-Dimensional Overseer. Klein couldn’t truly kill Him but could defeat Him, banish Him, and make Him suffer significant losses.

Apart from the High-Dimensional Overseer, three other entities could disrupt the Lord of Mysteries’ ability to manifest in countless forms and fight multiple foes simultaneously: Monarch of Decay, Inextinguishable Ravings, and Primordial Hunger.

The Monarch of Decay’s symbols of Decay and Certain Death made it so that the death of an avatar equaled the death of the main body, and the decay of an afterimage equaled the decay of the main body.

Inextinguishable Ravings seemed to share His origin with the residual psyche of the Original Creator within the Beyonder characteristics. It was the source of all ravings, capable of ignoring the interference of marionettes, avatars, and afterimages to directly project His voice into sefirot and Uniquenesses, transmitting His madness and implanting His intent. Moreover, He did not have a true physical form but attached Himself to certain objects, causing them to exhibit specific colors or appearances.

Primordial Hunger symbolized the instinct of Convergence. Through this mechanism, He could forcibly pull Klein’s true body to His side. Furthermore, if He devoured an avatar or marionette, He could absorb and erase the corresponding abilities, reducing or even temporarily nullifying their symbolic influence.

Without these four Great Old Dominators, Lord of Mysteries Klein would undoubtedly be able to hold off the remaining four on his own. While he might not secure a decisive victory, he would certainly not lose or allow Them to disrupt other battlefields significantly.

If the Mother Tree of Desire were still complete, as the Source of Curses, She would have been fully capable of cursing avatars and marionettes to indirectly curse the true body. Unfortunately, She has currently lost that aspect of symbolism. The uniqueness of the Chained and two of Her Abomination Beyonder characteristics were still sealed by Klein, and the Tenebrous World resisted Her influence.

A more reality-oriented Great Old Dominator like Supernova Dominator could rely on symbols and concepts like Density, Gravity, and Attraction to influence space-time and distort dimensions. However, for the Lord of Mysteries, who controlled change and could turn falsehood into truth or truth into falsehood, mere indirect interference was sufficient to stall Him without engaging directly.

The Circle of Inevitability wielded symbols of Past, Present, Future, Cycle, and Destiny, which theoretically could impact avatars, marionettes, and the ability to blink. However, it was effectively countered by Klein’s combination of the concepts of King of Space-Time, Beacon of Destiny, and Error. If the Lord of Mysteries lacked any of these targeted concepts, the Circle of Inevitability would have had a chance to reverse the suppression or even gain the upper hand. But Klein had all three: the King of Space-Time countered Past, Present, and Future and Beacon of Destiny countered Cycle; and Error countered Destiny.

The Goddess of Fate’s symbolisms primarily centered on the domain of fate, particularly conscious manipulation, which made Her an appealing opponent for the Beacon of Destiny’s Foolishness symbolism. As for Her other significant symbolism, Eternal Life, Klein had no intention of actually killing Her, so it posed no major concern.

Based on prior intelligence gathering, divinations, and prophecies, Klein has long understood which entities to intercept and which to redirect elsewhere. His hope was to hold off three to four Great Old Dominators on his own, creating opportunities for breakthroughs on other battlefields.

How should one guide the unwanted Great Old Dominators to other places while keeping those intended for containment? Beyond employing Fooling and Deceit, one must also have a general understanding of the goals of these Great Old Dominators.

This was one of the preparations Klein had made over the past month.

The High-Dimensional Overseer desired sefirot related to rules, order, and space-time. Through divination and prophecy, Klein deduced that He sought either the Nation of Disorder or the River of Eternal Darkness. If the Great Old Dominators concentrated Their efforts to press the Lord of Mysteries back into His coffin, the High-Dimensional Overseer would also likely seek to accommodate the Uniquenesses of the Door and Error pathways and take control of Sefirah Castle.

Inextinguishable Ravings was highly likely to covet the Knowledge Moor and aimed to control the Chaos Sea, accommodating the Uniquenesses of The Hanged Man, White Tower, and Visionary pathways.

Primordial Hunger would not miss any opportunities related to chaos or primordial qualities. His objective appeared to be consuming the City of Calamity, ingesting but not digesting the Chaos Sea, and absorbing the Uniquenesses of The Hanged Man pathway and others. However, Klein suspected that Primordial Hunger might lose control over His convergence instinct and directly swallow the Chaos Sea. If this occurred, the situation would become even more complex and troublesome.

The Monarch of Decay was relatively easy to deduce—His goals were either the City of Calamity or the River of Eternal Darkness, though He could only choose one.

The Mother Tree of Desire would prioritize reclaiming the Tenebrous World and its corresponding Uniqueness and Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics. This was an instinctual drive of Her godhood.

The Circle of Inevitability undoubtedly coveted the Key of Light the most. However, the City of Calamity and the River of Eternal Darkness were also within His scope, as these pathways symbolized destined conclusions and various calamities. Additionally, similar to the High-Dimensional Overseer, if the Lord of Mysteries were defeated in a joint effort, the Circle of Inevitability would not shy away from seizing control of Sefirah Castle and accommodating the Uniquenesses of The Fool and Error pathways.

Supernova Dominator’s goals were harder to pinpoint. Klein speculated that He desired the City of Calamity to embody the symbolism of Universal Catastrophe, the Knowledge Moor to enrich His star systems and civilizations, and the Nation of Disorder to complete the order and rules beyond celestial mechanics. Furthermore, He was likely interested in the Chaos Sea and the Uniquenesses of the Sun and Storm pathways.

The Goddess of Fate similarly prioritized the Key of Light. However, if Sefirah Castle was left vacant, Her goals would align with the Circle of Inevitability. As for the Chaos Sea and the associated Uniquenesses of the White Tower and Visionary pathways, Klein felt there was a certain probability of Her interest.

Having roughly understood these intentions, Klein already had a plan for what to do next.

First, he did not Graft the Western Continent’s Buddhist Kingdom or the Tenebrous World to somewhere near him. Instead, he proactively detached himself from the astral world.

Suddenly, at an infinite height overlooking the entire world, Lord of Mysteries Klein, wearing black gloves, a dark trench coat, and holding a star-encrusted cane, appeared. He was extraordinarily immense, towering over all creation. Raising his right hand, he snapped his fingers with a sharp crack.

With this motion, grayish-white fog immediately enveloped the spirit world, covering the entire universe’s spirit world.

Supernova Dominator, High-Dimensional Overseer, and other Great Old Dominators instantly lost Their connection to the spirit world and could no longer exert any influence over it.

The Lord of Mysteries—the Dominator of the Spirit World!

This was a direct utilization of Pillar symbolism!

From that moment on, for a set period, no creature could enter the spirit world without Klein’s explicit permission.

All their abilities, authorities, and symbols related to the spirit world were rendered ineffective!

The three Pillars differed significantly in how They wielded Their respective symbols. For example, the Mother Goddess of Depravity, as the Dominator of Reality, could not seal off reality to prevent unauthorized entry or expel all adversaries. Such actions were unachievable. She could only impose a continuous weakening effect on targets within reality. However, on the other hand, reality was the foundation of the universe. Unless everything ended, reality would eternally exist. Thus, the Mother Goddess of Depravity possessed the characteristic of indestructibility, never to perish. As long as She wished, She could not be displaced or sealed.

While the Lord of Mysteries sealed the spirit world, Lumian, with three heads and six arms, waited for his target to appear.

Since he was not yet dead or collapsing, it was time to execute the next phase of the plan.

The plan was: to take the initiative and devour a Great Old Dominator!

If the Great Old Dominators could absorb another sefirah to approach Pillar status, so could he, the Origins of Disaster, Calamity of Destruction!

Do you Great Old Ones lack sefirot within yourselves? Whatever you can do, I can do too!

As for the indestructibility of your psyche or the potential consequences of devouring you—I’m already dying, so why should I care?

Lumian had long identified his target for this purpose and made preparations in advance.

For example, he had reinstated the title of Malady God within his Sick Church.

Previously, the Malady God referred to the Monarch of Decay.

— New chapter is coming soon —
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