LOTM: Paradox Pathway

"Traveler from distant Space and Time,

The Paradoxical spiral of Logic and Wisdom,

The Reflection of Knowledge, reverse side of truth."

The honorific name chanted in ancient Hermes echoed within the room sealed by spirituality, while a solitary candle flickered with crackling sounds.

Snow dropped two drops of men's cologne onto the flame, instantly splashing blue-white fire that mixed with the fragrance into a swirling vortex, frantically absorbing Snow's spirituality.

"I pray to You;"

"I pray for You to grant me strength;"

"Grant me the strength to complete the Paradox Charms."

"Oh Cardamom, please transmit strength to my charm; oh Ambergris, please transmit strength to my incantation..."

Accompanied by Snow's chanting, layers upon layers of whispers echoed in his ears. With the infusion of his spirituality, a white cloud shaped like a galloping horse began racing through his mind.

Without hesitation, Snow took up the carving knife and, on the penny coin from which he had ground away the portrait and text and re-carved complex patterns, carved the symbol "∞". A peculiar, twisted power that seemed to contradict all reason also surged into it.

The sustained consumption of spirituality was trivial for Snow, who was essentially equivalent to a refined Uniqueness. As spirituality flowed like water, charm after charm transformed from penny coins was arranged before him.

"Phew, this went much smoother than expected." Snow played with the coins one by one, feeling the spirituality contained within them, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. He didn't know whether it was because he had higher authority over the Sefirot, or because White Horse is Not Horse itself was lodged within his soul, but his process of responding to himself was far easier than Klein's.

He didn't need to summon himself, didn't need to push open the summoning door, and he even replaced the pure dew and herbs with a bottle of men's cologne—

Incidentally, the ambergris and cardamom in his incantation were actually components of this bottle of cologne.

After all, when praying to oneself, being casual was fine. With sufficient spirituality, there was no need to use spiritual materials to reduce consumption.

However, everything has its good and bad sides. For instance, he couldn't store things inside White Horse is Not Horse.

After stuffing the paradox charms, which cost one penny each after excluding labor, into his pocket, Snow really wanted to find a place to test the power of these charms.

Unfortunately, he couldn't guarantee that he had escaped the Nighthawks' surveillance, and as someone who had been staying in the hotel for half a month without going out, suddenly leaving would definitely attract attention.

Slightly suppressing his childish excitement over getting new toys, Snow returned to the bedside and began playing with Lily. By the way, Lily (Ruri) was the name of his Loen Shorthair cat.

Actually, he had already planned the perfect daily routine for himself—

Wake up in the morning and pray to Mr. Fool, then start writing. After lunch at noon, begin studying the ritual knowledge gained from the potion. In the afternoon, use the ability of [Pavlov's Dog] to attach his consciousness to Lily and go out for walks, then fall asleep punctually before nine o'clock at night.

Oh right, before sleeping he must drink a cup of warm milk, then do half an hour of physical training. Once in bed, he would immediately fall into deep sleep, never leaving fatigue and stress for the next day.

However, like most daily routines, this plan didn't last long. Not because Snow lacked willpower, but because on the very next day, a twisted spirit with a vertically oriented mouth appeared in Snow's room.

"Looks like Mr. A's messenger isn't as fast as the train..." Snow complained inwardly, but immediately took the envelope from the spirit's hands, watching as this spirit that clearly didn't meet the Aurora Order's recruitment standards disappeared again before tearing open the envelope and unfolding the not-too-long letter inside—

"Mr. Penredax:

I have received your letter. Given the foolish actions of the two Secrets Suppliants, you need not feel guilt or panic over your decisiveness. The Lord will not blame any devout believer.

Even we devout believers require extensive preparation for the Lord's summoning ritual. A fraud who doesn't even qualify as a lamb doesn't deserve excessive attention.

The notebook you intercepted has high value, enough to exchange for a Listener potion.

I presume your potion digestion is also nearing completion. I look forward to your return.

Your friend,

Mr. A."

"Friend? Mr. A is quite polite when the True Creator isn't involved!" Snow looked at the delicate and elegant handwriting on the letter paper, grinning, while also feeling slightly relieved. Thank goodness he had already connected with the great Mr. Fool, otherwise he'd be thinking about packing up and running right now.

After all, he was the seedling that Mr. A had high hopes for!

As mentioned before, once one drinks the Secrets Suppliant potion, their personality will inevitably be twisted, so the Beyonders of the Aurora Order are either madmen or deeply hidden madmen.

But even among madmen, there are different ranks within the Aurora Order.

Ordinary madmen belong to the lowest level in the Aurora Order. These people who completely cannot control themselves have only one fate: to be consumed as cannon fodder in battle. They wouldn't be allowed to touch anything involving schemes or conspiracies.

Next are the madmen who appear to be normal people. These people often possess relatively reliable identities, can hide among crowds, slowly develop lambs, and strengthen the Aurora Order's power. They are the backbone of the Aurora Order.

And Snow was the third type above these: a rational madman with an excellent identity.

As a veterinarian, Snow frequently moved in high society, had considerable connections himself, and maintained contact with wives and young ladies from many noble families.

Such an identity allowed him to easily access the upper circles of the Loen Kingdom. For the Aurora Order, such an identity was undoubtedly quite rare.

More importantly, he also had a handsome face that could represent the Aurora Order's corporate aesthetics!

It was precisely because of this that, to allow him to pray to the Lord more frequently and thus quickly advance to become a Listener who could better utilize this identity, Mr. A had transferred him from Backlund, where throwing a stone could hit a demigod, to Tingen, this "peaceful" city where even Sequence 7s were rare.

And judging from Mr. A's letter, as soon as he finished digesting his potion, he could immediately return to Backlund, then be promoted to Listener and begin telling wives and young ladies of various families about the Lord's glory.

Snow held the letter to the candlestick and lit it, then turned to look at the calendar on the nightstand. Looking at the red circle marked on the calendar, a somewhat sinister smile appeared on his face—

"Perhaps before I return to Backlund, Mr. A will have to make a trip here first..."

(End of Chapter)

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Author's Note: Regarding the Listener's enhanced preaching ability, this is a secondary setting deduced from original work information.

First, from the original work, we know that Listener was formerly called Whispered, suggesting this profession might possess the ability to "transmit whispers to others."

Second, in the battle with the Evil God's Offspring, Megose displayed the ability of Language of Foulness.

Although I don't know the specific level of the Evil God's Offspring, it definitely didn't reach Angel status. At most, it was an incomplete demigod, otherwise there's no reason it would be suppressed by the urn. So this ability shouldn't come from an Angel-level.

So what Sequence skill is this Language of Foulness?

It's definitely not possible for Secrets Suppliant. Hermit is possible but unlikely, since Hermit's main abilities should focus on shadow powers. Rose Bishop is similar—a Sequence focusing on flesh magic is unlikely to derive Language of Foulness. Shepherd should be more about herding. Thinking it over, Listener should be most likely to possess this ability.

Hearing the Lord's teachings and then teaching others should be the Whispered's acting principles, but because the Lord went mad, all Whispered became Listeners.

As for why the Evil God's Offspring's Language of Foulness was so powerful... understand the Old One level entity ("Old One-level straw" analogy).