HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity-Chapter 707: Mr. Error

Roselle asked with a complicated expression on his face, "So once again, you chose to trust the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, to trust the God of Steam and Machinery, and plan to rely on them to become a Red Priest?"

"You—"

Before Roselle could finish speaking, the sound of mechanical gears suddenly echoed beside his ear. In the next instant, a towering, sky-piercing tree burst forth from the ground.

Sensing the violent changes in the surrounding winds and clouds, Roselle lifted his hand slightly. In the end, he did nothing, allowing that force to carry him into the Astral World.

A white-bearded old man holding a book and a muscular man gripping an iron hammer stepped forward.

They were none other than Herabergen, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and Stiano, the God of Steam and Machinery.

Roselle looked at the two of them and grinned broadly.

"Stiano, I didn’t even come looking for you, and you still dared to come and cause me trouble?! Perfect—let’s settle all our old and new grudges together!"

Terrifying, distorted power erupted violently.

For a moment, the very rules of the Astral World warped in response.

At the same time, after drinking the potion, Dorian Sauron swiftly completed the final accommodation of half of the Uniqueness.

In that instant, the shackles that had bound him for decades shattered completely. Countless fervent shouts from soldiers rang out beside his ears—battle standards waved high as they screamed his name in fanatic unison, gradually linking with his mind and forming a vast mental network centred upon the Red Priest.

Step by step, he advanced toward the final threshold of the Red Priest pathway.

But at that very moment, his body trembled violently. His consciousness froze instantly.

A teasing voice sounded beside his ear.

"Many thanks."

Dorian Sauron’s pupils erupted with boundless fury.

"No!! Don’t even think about it—"

"Ah, unfortunately for you, I must inform you that the two Conqueror characteristics you used to advance to Red Priest...were both fabricated by Adam through Imagination. The real Beyonder characteristics have always been with Lilith. Your ascension was a scam from the very beginning."

Dorian Sauron froze.

In the next second, his figure completely solidified. Then he slowly raised his right hand, brought it to his face, and placed a monocle made of polished crystal over his right eye.

"Just kidding."

"I stole them personally from Lilith and gave them to you—how could they be fake? Shh—don’t let Her know. She still thinks She has two Conqueror characteristics in Her possession."

At that moment, a dazzling light burst forth from the transparent monocle, illuminating the entire world.

All invalidated Errors were corrected.

All seemingly normal actions revealed Errors.

All clocks jumped forward by several seconds.

As the light swiftly receded, Dorian Sauron had vanished.

In his place stood a man wearing a soft, pointed hat and a classical black robe—Amon.

He had replaced Dorian Sauron at the ascension ritual and completed his own apotheosis.

He glanced at the three strange crown-shaped Beyonder characteristics, stained with rust and blood, as well as the Salinger’s Blood Banner, whose dual-Sefirot contamination had been temporarily sealed.

Then he casually tossed them behind him.

"Medici, the corruption on the Salinger’s Blood Banner was sealed by a paranoid zealot using the power of the Chaos Sea. Are you sure you want to take it?"

"That’s dual-Sefirot contamination. Be careful—you might end up just like Dorian Sauron."

Medici stepped out from the darkness, his heavy footsteps echoing. He bared his teeth in a grin.

"Do you think I still have anything left to lose? Or anything left to fear? That woman was right about one thing just now—only those who wield supreme power are qualified to consider anything else."

"Then, I wish you good luck."

Amon adjusted the monocle over his right eye. With a smile playing on his lips, he bent slightly and offered a courteous bow to his surroundings.

"Thank you all for bearing witness."

"Edward—here I come."

———

The Astral World

Herabergen did not intervene in Roselle’s battle against the God of Steam and Machinery.

After all, their goal this time was merely to stall Roselle and jointly elevate a "Red Priest of their own," not to fight to the death.

Although Roselle’s assassination at the White Maple Palace back then had indeed involved several major Churches and the gods behind them, Roselle had now resurrected and become the Black Emperor.

With the apocalypse approaching, those old grievances were no longer an issue.

BOOM!

Another thunderous roar erupted within the Astral World.

Under the distortion of rules and order, the surrounding space shattered, tearing open countless tiny black holes. Even the divine kingdom of the God of Steam and Machinery—the closest one—was inevitably affected, as innumerable machines and gears were ripped apart into fragments by the black holes.

Roselle’s body flickered briefly between illusion and reality before solidifying completely. He extended his five fingers, clenched them in a virtual grasp, and twisted.

All manner of creations surrounding Stiano instantly lost their connection to their owner under the interference, clattering down to the ground one after another.

At that moment, Stiano caused strands of dim, colourless, impure radiance to form out of nothingness—light that seemed to be composed of vast quantities of illusory substances. He flicked his finger, and the hazy glow shot straight toward Roselle.

If it made contact, even an angel would be instantly reduced to the most basic particulate structure.

Just then, Roselle suddenly sensed a faint yet unmistakable tremor ripple through the entire Astral World. He froze for a moment—then burst into loud laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Interesting, interesting! This is far too interesting!"

At this point, the expressions of both Stiano and Herabergen were no longer calm. They, too, had sensed that fluctuation.

It came from the ascension of a Sequence 0—but not a Red Priest.

It was from the Marauder pathway.

From Error.

From Amon.

Roselle casually twisted the incoming dim radiance aside, laughing so hard he was almost beside himself.

"Look at you—going through all this trouble, sneaking around, setting up such an elaborate chain of schemes, and in the end..."

"...right at the critical moment, someone else stole the show!"

"Hahahaha! I seriously suspect this whole thing was arranged by Adam from the very beginning, specifically to prepare for Amon’s ascension."

"What a pity—you two knew absolutely nothing about it. Sold out and still helping count the money!"

"Well then—now your Red Priest is gone, and Adam’s side has gained an ’Error.’"

"This is going to be good."

As he spoke, Roselle made a show of turning around.

"If you’re not planning to keep me here, then I’m off."

Herabergen’s eyes flickered.

Then he vanished without a trace.

After regaining his composure, Stiano looked at Roselle and said calmly, "Welcome back, my Son of Steam."

"..."

Roselle raised an eyebrow.

"Are you taking advantage of me?"

Stiano said nothing more. He slowly walked back toward his divine kingdom. The areas affected by the battle rapidly returned to normal with his arrival, and his figure gradually disappeared amidst the machinery and gears.

"F**king Wanker!"

After gesturing with his middle finger, Roselle leapt—directly jumping from the Astral World back into reality.

As Roselle departed the Astral World, Edward passed through an illusory door and arrived there as well—entering the fog-shrouded divine kingdom of Cheek.

The last time he had come here was during the pursuit of Zaratul, when he had mistakenly stumbled into this place and been caught red-handed by Chik. Now, upon his return, it had already become an empty city.

He tossed a gold coin and confirmed that Cheek was indeed not present. Only then did he step forward.

The moment he entered the range of the fog, Edward felt a faint stinging sensation on his skin. Every hair on his body stood on end.

This feeling was all too familiar—he had experienced it before when facing the Mother Goddess of Depravity.

It was corruption.

The difference was that this time, the contamination was far more complex. With a rough sensing alone, he could detect at least six or seven different types. Looking at the poppy flowers growing all around, they had been twisted into grotesque forms under the influence of these contaminations—many had directly transformed into enormous monsters covered in tumours, ravenously devouring everything nearby.

Edward’s appearance immediately excited these monsters.

In the next second, however, they were burned to ashes by blue-black flames. With another wave of his hand, a violent gale erupted—power from the Tyrant pathway—blowing away the fog that had shrouded this region for thousands of years.

"..."

The enormous rift in the distant sky startled Edward.

It resembled a gigantic eye gazing downward from the sky. The edges of the barrier were covered in horrifying claw marks, while space and time around it twisted under the intrusion of Outer Deity power.

"So the barrier has already been punctured."

Edward had originally thought—based on what Grisha Adam said—that it was merely a "small crack."

With a rift this large, had the Outer Deities already invaded Earth?

He immediately rejected the idea.

If that were the case, the world would have already faced annihilation the moment an Outer Deity cast its first glance upon it.

With a thought, Edward extended his spirituality toward the rift, attempting to repair it using Fantasy and Construction. After only a few seconds, he stopped.

It could be repaired—but the amount of spirituality and imagination required was astronomical.

That was hardly surprising. The original barrier had been established by the Oldest One. Edward was not even Sequence 0 yet; the gap between himself and the Original Creator was immeasurable.

Suddenly, Edward saw a shadow emerge within the rift.

Two crimson eyes appeared, gazing at him from afar.

In that instant, a fierce impulse ignited in Edward’s heart—an urge to throw himself forward without hesitation, to rush through the rift and plunge into the embrace of those crimson eyes.

Fortunately, the sensation came and went just as quickly, instantly dispelled by Unfettered.

The owner of those eyes was clearly an "old acquaintance."

The Mother Tree of Desire.

Although Edward knew that these Outer Deities were likely still unable to fully break through the barrier for the time being, he decisively chose to retreat. He did not even dare to leave behind a single harsh word before instantly teleporting away.

A powerful sense of anxiety settled over his heart like a shadow.

The current development of events had not only exceeded his expectations—it had far surpassed his capabilities.

Edward wanted to do something, but found himself utterly at a loss.

As he looked at the seemingly calm Astral World, doubts arose in his mind.

While Grisha Adam was actively preparing to repair the crack in the barrier, what were the other gods doing?

Were Eternal Blazing Sun, the Ancient Dragon of Wisdom, and the Tyrant still on guard against Grisha Adam’s ascent to godhood, fearing he would come to settle accounts over the assassination tied to the Rose Redemption?

Was the God of Combat plotting to strike the Evernight Goddess, intending to kill her while she accommodated the Death authority and thereby seek to ascend into a Great Old One?

Was the Earth Mother waiting for the God of Combat to act, planning to cooperate with the Evernight Goddess—just like in the original story—to deliver a fatal blow at the critical moment?

And the God of Steam and Machinery—was he worried because of Roselle’s resurrection, afraid that Roselle would seek revenge?

...At a time like this, really.

"Hm? That’s strange."

A puzzled voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. "Isn’t the Uniqueness of the Door already inside you?"

Edward immediately reached toward himself, stealing out a gigantic Worm of Time, and at the same time hurled bribe, distortion, disorder, and multiple other Sequence 0 Black Emperor abilities straight at Amon.

In the next second, Amon’s figure appeared several meters away. A hint of amusement surfaced on his face.

"To be able to affect even a god—this recorded ability of yours is quite extraordinary." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Edward raised an eyebrow.

"You...advanced to Sequence 0?"

"That’s right. Just a few minutes ago."

Amon smiled brightly as he spoke. "Look—after my ascension, the very first person I came to see was you."

"Touched, aren’t you?"

———

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