"’Kabas’... that’s the little town shrouded in ’Nightmare’ all year round! "As the only suspicious place left in East Chester County, it’s very likely that the ’Queen of Calamity’ Cohinem is hiding there! "And Miss ’Justice’ just mentioned in the most recent Tarot Gathering that members of the ’Psychological Alchemists’ would be heading to that town tomorrow to investigate... "Is this just a coincidence? Or was it ’arranged’ by Lady Yaloran or someone else?" Ebner followed Klein’s habit and tapped the bedside table with his fingers. After a brief moment of thought, he activated the ’Pure White Eye’, borrowed the uniqueness of the ’Wheel of Fortune’, and then used his own ’Insight’ to manipulate information and knowledge, beginning a concrete application of ’Fate’: "You decide to go to Kabas tomorrow night to meet. Afterwards, you will encounter: "1. Because you ignored the ’Psychological Alchemists’ exploration team, they managed to crack part of the effect of the ritual ’Mystical Reappearance – The Vanished Nation of Evernight’, allowing the ’Hidden Sage’ to sense Yaloran’s true body... "2. You used the uniqueness of the ’Wheel of Fortune’ to properly deal with the Psychological Alchemists’ team, but because you relied on the uniqueness too often, you drew the attention of the ’Angel of Fate’ Ouroboros. Yaloran, in order to save you, had no choice but to expose her true body, which was then discovered by the Hidden Sage. "3. You struck directly and wiped out the entire Psychological Alchemists’ team, but when you entered the dream at night, you still discovered that other outsiders had broken in and cracked the ritual ’Mystical Reappearance – The Vanished Nation of Evernight’... "4. You found that unless you used uniqueness, with any normal means you could not make the Psychological Alchemists give up their exploration. You realized at once that a high-sequence ’Spectator’ was pulling the strings from behind. So, you wrote to Yaloran, asking her to change the time and place of the meeting, but received no reply... At midnight, ’Mystical Reappearance – The Vanished Nation of Evernight’ was broken, and the Hidden Sage discovered Yaloran’s true body." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⚑fire.net Looking at the four "fate choices" that appeared before him, even though the current "version" could not yet force a selection of fate, Ebner still gleaned much information just from the content of the options. "’Kabas’ town’s abnormality originated from the ’Mystical Reappearance’... "’The Vanished Nation of Evernight’? This was using the authority of the ’Sage’ to reproduce the Goddess of Concealment’s Hornacis misty mountain town at Kabas! "No wonder when I first entered the first layer of Kabas’s ’Nightmare’, I felt the two were so alike. "And then, ’Yaloran’s true body’... So, whether it was the Yaloran who appeared before Klein, or the one who helped me block the ’Rose School of Thought’s’ angel, they were all just avatars, or something similar? "Her true body has been hiding in the deepest nightmare concealed at Kabas town all along, which is why the Hidden Sage hasn’t been able to find her? "And this time, the ’Spectator’ behind the Psychological Alchemists has a very clear goal: to use my meeting with Yaloran, and at the moment when that ’Pillar’ of the Moses Ascetic Order temporarily removes part of the concealment effect, to let the Hidden Sage notice her true body. "In that case, there are several problems I must solve... "First, how did the person behind the Psychological Alchemists know that I would be meeting Yaloran soon? "Second, why is the Hidden Sage so desperate to find Yaloran’s true body? "Third, what goal does the mastermind of this scheme have? "Fourth, why does the dream town suspected of hiding Cohinem end up pointing at Yaloran? Or rather, what is the connection between Yaloran and Cohinem? "Fifth, what stance do the gods who are watching me take on this matter..." Picking up the notebook on his bedside, Ebner casually crafted a pencil out of some available materials in the room. Then he wrote these five questions one by one on a blank page. As he thought, he scribbled with the pencil: "The first question isn’t hard to guess... Aside from Klein, only Vera—who last Tuesday night reminded me to meet Yaloran—and the ’God of Spiritual Creatures’ Tolzna, who was present, knew about it. "Combining that with the high likelihood that the person behind this is a high-sequence Beyonder of the ’Spectator’ pathway, the answer is almost obvious... "The one most suspicious as the mastermind is either Vera’s other ally, the ’Dragon of Imagination’ Ankewelt who occupies the body of Pride, or the ever-mysterious Hermes. "I just don’t know whether Vera was involved herself... or if she was merely ’arranged’ or ’used’?" At this point, Ebner hesitated for a while before striking out Vera’s name. He couldn’t think of any benefit she would gain by betraying Yaloran. Moreover, since Yaloran chose to ally with her, she clearly trusted Vera’s character. Of course, the real reason Ebner crossed her out was that he truly despised this kind of "betrayal." With the importance Vera placed on him, even if she had to act, she would never put herself in such a conspicuous position. Thinking of this, Ebner sighed, deciding he would ask Vera about it directly later. "The answer to the second question isn’t hard either... For an existence like the Hidden Sage, who is nearly a True God, there aren’t many things worthy of His attention anymore... "So, either Yaloran’s true body holds the last piece of the ’Knowledge Emperor’s’ Beyonder characteristic, or she is in fact connected to the Sefirot ’Knowledge Moor’... "Both possibilities are valid. "If it’s the former... then that last piece of the ’Knowledge Emperor’ is very likely Roselle’s! "Reasoning it out, back then Roselle separated Cohinem from the ’Book of Calamity’ and imprisoned her in the ’Nation of Evernight’ recreated at Kabas by Yaloran using ’Mystical Reappearance’... Roselle thus made some kind of deal with Yaloran, and after his fall, entrusted this final piece of the ’Knowledge Emperor’ to her care. "In that case, the fourth question—Yaloran’s relationship with Cohinem—also has its answer. "And if it’s the latter... then the special soul in the ’God’s Casket’ branded with the mark of the ’Knowledge Moor’ is very likely Yaloran! "The Hidden Sage locked onto her during that experiment eleven years ago, which is why she has been forced to hide her true body, only sending out avatars. "As for the third question—the mastermind, Ankewelt or Hermes—what is their goal... "Heh, the biggest possibility is that they are still scheming for the Sealed Artifact ’0-08’. This is just one step in their plan... They intend to ally with the Hidden Sage, using His power to resist Adam? "After all, unlike the Three Gods, the Hidden Sage, as an Evil God, doesn’t care who ends up leading the unified White Creator in the future!" (End of this Chapter)