The City Lord opened the door of the governing building intending to assure the people they would be safe, but what he saw was not what he expected.
In the middle of the crowd of people was a guard, whom he remembered as a young man who usually skipped training under the excuse of watching over the wall in case of an unexpected threat
The young guard kept spouting nonsense about how all that matters in life is "peace," "understanding," and "love" and that they should be kind to the Nephiliam
The City Lord and the crowd looked at him like he was insane. Arthur knew he would probably get nowhere with his peaceful protest,
But the only other option was to stop the Nephiliam from heading here, something impossible for him to do, or to kill every soldier here if he manages to find a potent poison.
It's not impossible to kill one of the generals, but the number of Awakened is too much for him as he is, and that's not mentioning the Transcendent City Lord
As Arthur continued preaching about peace and understanding, The City Lord spoke, interrupting him,
"Were you not 'Guarding' the City Wall to make sure there wouldn't be an unexpected threat?"
Arthur quickly made up an excuse, continuing to lie with the same ease as breathing,
"I've got a divine revelation: Killing the Nephiliam will curse the land. The Nephiliam should be welcomed with open arms!"
The City Lord was unconvinced; he scoffed and spoke, "Welcome that Abomination?! Have you hit your head?"
The old woman whom Arthur first spoke to then added, "So that story you told me about hitting your head while trying to do a pose was true?"
Everyone looked at the old woman who spoke, then at Arthur; the silence spoke louder than words; they were judging him.
Arthur had thick skin, but this was a little too much even for him! He coughed into his fist and said,
"Ah, that... Well didn't I tell you it was a joke? Haha..." The silence remained, judging him.
Then the City Lord spoke, "Just stop shouting nonsense and go back to training. I will excuse you for your nonsense this time".
Arthur then spoke honestly for the first time since he entered the nightmare: "I don't know where the training place is."
And so the silence returned, as everyone thought he was provoking the City Lord; some had even more daring thoughts,
'doesn't he know disrespecting a noble means death? Did he fall in love with that Abomination, and now he wants to die with it?'
The City Lord was annoyed at Arthur. He whispered his next words, but everyone heard them: "You've taken your jokes too far," and so he turned his head back to the governing building and spoke, "Larry, send him to the Dungeon! 10 Years for disrespecting the City Lord!"
Larry, an Ascended General who had just finished his paperwork, quickly exited the governing building, and with a quick bow to the City Lord, he took Arthur to be jailed.
Arthur didn't even try to resist; he could only lampoon in his heart, 'People do indeed love the lie and hate the truth! I was honest once, and this is where I get?!'
Eventually they reached the jail cell Arthur's new resistance, where he was unceremoniously thrown in,
and the door was quickly locked. The Ascended General Larry Spoke, "You're lucky the City Lord has such a kind heart any other Noble, and you would be lucky if your head was rolling on the floor."
After saying those words, he left not waiting for a response
Arthur looked around his jail cell, a bare bed without any blanket, a barred little window high up the wall to let the light of the sun in,
and a small hole at the corner of the room as a toilet
As Arthur looked at his cell, he thought, 'Did I already fail my nightmare?' After a minute, once the Ascended General was gone completely, Arthur tried to make a divination; it was his only hope of getting out!
He closed his eyes and focused, trying to make a divination. Soon he could see the Grey Fog in his mind; he asked, 'How can I get out of jail?'
Then he saw a vision. What he saw was the cell next to his on the right, where an extremely shady guy was.
He somehow was in possession of a small knife. He was silently cutting the bar to his cell when the vision ended.
Arthur didn't even notice any noise. The Shady guy was almost completely silent.
Arthur was stumped on how he could convince the Shady guy to help him; eventually he said out loud, "Hey Shady guy, how did you get a knife in here?"
The Shady guy barely glanced at Arthur, ignoring him.
Arthur kept trying to converse with the Shady guy, but he felt like he was talking to a wall; he got no response
...
Arthur once again thought, 'How am I supposed to get out of here?!' Arthur was left with no choice but to make another divination.
He thought about what he should make a divination about: 'Maybe I should make one about this Shady guy's past to convince him to help me? Or maybe ask the Grey Fog what I should be doing to get out of here?'
Arthur Decided to Ask the Grey Fog about what he should do. The Shady guy didn't seem like the type who was very willing to help him if he knew some things about him.
Closing his eyes and focusing, he soon saw the Grey Fog, and he asked it, 'What must I do to escape the jail?' The vision this time was from the past; he knew because he remembered it,
The event had happened just yesterday; it was him sincerely praying to himself! Then the vision shifted to The Shady Guy, and shortly the vision ended.
Arthur instantly realized what the vision meant! If there's anything he remembers about the Grey Fog, for, it's the gatherings held in it!
If he can get the guy to believe he was a great existence, he would definitely help him! All he needs is for the Shady guy to chant his true name!
Arthur thought, 'Since aspect abilities are usually only wielded by Transcendents in this Era,
It shouldn't be too hard for me to fool this guy into thinking I'm at least a Supreme by adding a kingly title.
There's also that Supreme Nephiliam heading here; people will cling to any hope they can get at times like this'
Arthur immediately tried to convince the Shady guy to say his true name, so without any shame he started lying again.
"Since you're trying to escape despite the Nephiliam heading here, that must mean you are confident in surviving; are you also one of 'His' believers?
That great existence has given me a revelation: we will definitely survive if we don't fight that Nephiliam! You must have gotten the same revelation too, didn't you!"
The Shady guy looked at the wall separating him from Arthur, judging him; he already thought that Arthur was crazy. He scoffed, and for the first time since Arthur tried getting his attention, he responded, "What great existence have you gone insane already? It's not even been a day!"
Arthur eagerly replied; he was acting perfectly like a pious believer. "I've not gone insane; as long as this city listens to 'His' instructions, everything will be fine! 'He' is benevolent to humans.
His name is The Fool Who Does Not Belong To This Era! He is the mysterious ruler above The Grey Fog, The King of Yellow and Black, who wields good luck!"
Arthur shamelessly ripped off Klein's titles and even became a cult leader like him with a smile on his face;
He had stolen his whole flow! Even Emperor Roselle would start to sweat if he knew he had such strong competition in plagiarism!
The shady guy said, "The Fool Who Does Not Belong To This Era? I've never heard of such a person; you must have drunk too much to have such 'Divine revelations.'
Just shut up already, you Schizophrenic Bastard! You've been talking almost constantly for the past hour!"
Arthur immediately felt something the moment his true name was uttered; it was unlike when he said his True name himself;
He had a strange feeling like he was connected to something far away yet very close.
Arthur could only guess it was his domain; he might have one like Asterion, or maybe he was completely wrong he didn't really know yet
Arthur completely ignored the mocking words of the Shady guy whose name he didn't even know.
He closed his eyes and focused immediately. He saw the Grey Fog. This time, there was a crimson star glowing faintly in the distant sky above him.
He didn't try to touch it, yet he tried to make another divination about his yet-to-be indoctrinated cult member before he attempted to start recruiting his first believer.
Well, second Arthur, much like Klein, whom he was shamelessly ripping off, is his own number one fan!
He asked the Grey Fog, 'Why is the Shady guy near me trying to break out now?' Soon his vision shifted, and he saw the Shady guy waking up near a little boy.
They were both living on the streets in an alleyway out of sight to the people walking on the main roads. The Shady guy got up and tried to leave, but the little boy spoke before he could.
"Dad, don't go stealing, yet I've noticed the Guards have changed their patrol routes, but I've not managed to grasp them yet!"
The Shady guy didn't seem concerned; he casually said to the kid, "Don't worry about it; I'm not gonna get caught."
He left the alleyway unconcerned about the warning he had been given
He muttered under his breath, "A patrol shift won't be the end of me; I've done this for over 5 years."
The vision then comically switched to the very same Shady guy being arrested after an inspection; he was unceremoniously thrown in the jail cell, much like Arthur himself had been
After the guard closed the door to his cell, he remained walking around the jail cells, watching over the prisoners until another guard took his place.
Eventually, after a few days, the Shady guy was left unwatched as news of the Nephiliam heading to the city spread.
The guards no longer bothered watching over the prisoners and instead fled the city.
After finally being unsupervised, the Shady guy immediately took a small knife he had hidden from the guard by placing it silently near the guard's own sword scabbard and stealing it back once the inspection was over without being noticed
He began cutting the bars to his cell, and as he did, he muttered, "Dylan was right..." He sighed and continued,
"I shouldn't have gone stealing that day... Other than the labor they occasionally make us do, jail isn't so bad, but I can't stay here; the guilt is eating at me. How can I hope to repay Dylan's father like this?"
The vision started fading as the Shady guy kept muttering things Arthur could no longer hear, and the vision ended.
Arthur pondered, 'So he's getting out of here to help that boy so he can repay his debt to the kids, Father? I can use this...'
Arthur closed his eyes and focused. Soon he saw the Grey Fog and looked up there. A crimson star was dimly shining.
Arthur first imagined an imposing throne and sat on it; he also changed his attire into a cloak with yellow at its sleeves; he had to Look The Part to Sell his Scam after all!
If Roselle was sweating before, now he's panicking! Arthur is even more shameless than Roselle is!
Then he tried touching the star and succeeded. The moment he touched the Crimson Star, it started glowing intensely.
Arthur started feeling tired quickly. The Crimson Star turned into the silhouette of a man surrounded by Grey Fog, making it difficult to tell who it is.
Arthur knew he had succeeded in bringing the Shady guy above the Great Fog, but he didn't show any reaction to it; he had to sell the idea he was a great existence, not a desperate Con Man!
The moment the Shady guy became aware of his surroundings, he panicked, and then he asked scared, "W-where am I? W-who are you?"
Arthur smiled mysteriously and said, "You may call me... The Fool"
Roselle must be passed out from holding his Greatest Plagiarizer title, so tightly afraid that Arthur would steal it.
The Shady guy was shocked and scared, but he quickly tried to compose himself, with limited success.
He was thinking, 'T-The Fool? The great existence that Schizophrenic guy was talking about exists!? Just what does he want from me? Since he's called a king, that means he should be a Supreme.
What does a Supreme need from me?!' The Shady guy waited for a moment, and seeing that The Fool was not saying anything, he mustered the courage and said, "M-Mister Fool, why have you brought me here?"
Arthur 'The Fool' replied, "I brought you here because you were chosen by me to save your city; if you succeed in that, I shall give you a great reward you want to repay Dylan's Father, don't you?"
The Shady Guy's eyes Widened 'H-how does he know that?! How much does he know?!' Eventually, having somewhat calmed down,
the Shady guy asked nervously, "H-how might I accomplish that? I am merely a petty thief, Mister Fool."
Arthur 'The Fool' smiled mysteriously again and spoke, "Free the prisoner who has told you my name together. You two together can save the city."
The Shady guy didn't know how he and that not-so-schizophrenic guy were supposed to do that; wasn't a Supreme Abominable Nephiliam heading here?
How were they supposed to stop the people from killing it? Or better yet, how should they stop that Nephiliam from killing them!
But he didn't ask any questions; he only nodded and said, "I understand, Mister Fool, I will faithfully carry out your will!"
Arthur then dismissed him and exited the Grey Fog, feeling exhausted. He thought, 'Pulling people into the Grey Fog isn't easy.'