157 LOTM

Backlund, East Borough, in a cramped rental apartment.

Wearing a rather thick jacket, Klein stood behind a desk and looked at the glass window in front of him. He carefully sensed the speed at which the Bizarro Sorcerer potion was being digested.

It's really fast. It's even more than the first three months of my digestion combined... However, there's nothing I can do about it. Before I received Life's Cane, I couldn't provide sufficient treatment. I have to make sure that the heart of the target can withstand the fright they experience, so as a result, I wasn't able to go to the hospital to create an urban

Similarly, if it wasn't for the fact that a war broke out, it would be rather difficult to find other demigods. Those whose whereabouts that I can confirm are mostly on their own home ground. To secretly invade and create a bizarre sense of horror will involve turning innocents into marionettes. Even if there's no other choice, I wouldn't have considered it... Klein shifted his attention away from himself and sighed silently.

He then repeated a word in his mind:

War...

At this moment, the street lamps in the distance were lit up. East Borough was pitch black with the occasional policemen patrolling the streets with lanterns.

In the past, these policemen wouldn't have been so enthusiastic. Now that the war had broken out, they had to carry out the corresponding curfew orders to ensure that there was order and security.

"War..." Klein repeated the word softly again, and in a daze, he saw a part of the ending.

The Loen King, George III, has finally broken through the shackles. He's no longer worried that any of the seven deities will strongly object to his apotheosis. He can officially push for the various rituals needed of Black Emperor. What follows will depend on himself, or should I say "Himself." As long as "He" can withstand the impact of the potion, and as long as "He" can maintain "His" rationality, "He" would be able to ascend to the divine throne and advance to Sequence 0.

The Einhorn family of Feysac used this war that can embroil the entire world to allow its key members to significantly digest their potions, and without much difficulty, they can prepare the corresponding rituals and allow their family's overall strength to be enhanced.

As for Amon's brother, "He" can consume the potion during these tumultuous times and experience a transformation to become a Visionary, allowing this world to have another true god...

As Klein's thoughts drifted, a question suddenly popped up in his mind:

Can I accept such an outcome?

Can I accept such an outcome... Klein opened his mouth and slowly closed it. Everything he saw seemed to pass through the limitations of time and space before returning to another place:

It was the extremely thick, slightly pungent, cold, and moist smog which was yellow and slightly iron-black in color which had permeated through the entirety of Backlund;

It was the tramps who were suffering from ailments, hunger, pain, and cold before being pushed to the brink of death. He was also struggling to survive. For the sake of food, he pushed himself with all his might, not daring to slack off at all. Finally, he saw the light of life. He bought his long-awaited ham, but in the hazy smog, he fell to the ground and never got up again;

She was a hardworking widow. In order to survive, and to provide for her two children, she had abandoned all her dignity and made herself a shrew that spewed vulgarities. With pain-ridden joints that suffered repeatedly from the invasion of the humidity on a daily basis, she supported a roof that could block out the elements. However, the roof had collapsed in the Great Smog. The child she wanted to protect had died in her arms;

It was a young girl who yearned to study and fantasized about a bright future. She doted on her mother and her younger sister, working hard in the room that was filled with moisture, always carrying that tiny bit of hope. However, after the Great Smog, she was no longer able to see the future she longed for;

It was a girl who desperately took in knowledge under the care of her mother and elder sister. She had gone through too much suffering, and she walked out of her predicament one step at a time, hoping to improve herself. She hoped that her mother and sister wouldn't tire themselves out anymore and that she would have a chance to let her family of three to live an ideal life. However, all of this ultimately shattered. In that terrifying smog, this girl was left alone. No matter how much pain or joy she felt, she was no longer able to share it with her mother and sister. That fantasy of her family life never appeared, nor would it ever appear again;

They were living beings that fell to the ground like straw, one family after another, one human after another. They would never be able to erase the pain in their bones;

It was a student who clearly had a bright future, but only half of his body was left—his intestines splattered all over the ground;

They were children who returned home from school, only to suddenly realize that they had lost their parents and had become orphans;

It was the pain of writhing on the ground while crawling with great difficulty. He was an ordinary person who wanted to approach the future, but was powerless to swallow his last breath;

It was the people in the cemetery who were so silent that it made one's heart ache, or those who cried until they fainted several times;

It was a land stained with blood;

It was the air filled with gunpowder;

They were cold and ruthless shells.

And for the mastermind behind all of this, the greatest murderer, he would step up to the divine throne over piles of corpses, only to receive cheers and escape his mortal coils.

Can you accept such a development?

Can you accept such an arrangement?

Can you accept such an outcome?

After a moment of silence, Klein suddenly spoke with a deep voice:

"No, I can't."

This voice immediately echoed in the room. It was layered and interlinked:

"No, I don't accept it!"

There were still lingering echoes in his ears as the corners of his mouth curled up. Klein gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"The seven deities already tacitly accepted it. What meaning is there even if you don't accept it?"

Once again, he fell silent. After a long while, he finally exhaled and said to himself with a calm expression, "Even if it's meaningless, some things still ought to be done."

In this world, how could there be many things that were guaranteed to succeed? That they were of value and be of use?

The corners of Klein's mouth curled up. He looked away, turned around, and entered the room inside the rental flat.

Although he had already made up his mind, he had no intention of doing it rashly. With his current level and status, no matter how hard he tried, it would be difficult for him to affect George Ill's matters. Other than throwing away his life, there wouldn't be any other outcome.

Furthermore, if this resulted in chaos in the Loen Kingdom during a critical period of the war, resulting in the invasion of the Feysac army, then the deaths and injuries of the innocent would only be ten times or even a hundred times worse than the Great Smog of Backlund.

All I can do now is make preparations. On the one hand, I have to improve myself. On the other hand, I have to make more preparations and patiently wait for an opportunity... Klein muttered silently to himself. He found a black sticky blob and split it into two before smearing one half uniformly on a mirror.

This was a way to contact Demoness Trissy.

However, when all the black objects disappeared, there was still no abnormality in the mirror.

There's no response... After being frightened by an angel like Miss Messenger, Trissy has already decided not to have any contact with Gehrman Sparrow... Klein sighed and walked to the bed to sit down.

His thoughts quickly shifted to the reason why the Demoness Sect had helped King George III.

...One of them is that the Demonesses need a catastrophe to digest the potion and hold a ritual. The other is that George III has made a promise to them? He promised them that they could openly spread their religion? No, this should be something that the seven deities wouldn't allow. Even if the Black Emperor is a Sequence 0, and with the Primordial Demoness and the True Creator, "They" wouldn't be able to fight against the seven deity alliance. Of course, after this war, the existence of an alliance between the seven deities is itself a question...

In that case, the seven deities that know that George III is working with the Demoness Sect shouldn't let "Him" become the Black Emperor...

The promise is for something else? The Demoness pathway has a true god, and there are very few valuable items left outside... Similar pathways? Isn't that the Red Priest pathway... George III—no, Amon's brother doesn't only know of the secret mausoleum needed by the Black Emperor from Blood Emperor Alista Tudor, but "He" also obtained the angel-level Beyonder characteristics or Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts of the Red Priest pathway?

With the condition that having a Sequence 0 means no Sequence 1, this is probably the greatest hope for the upper echelons of the Demoness Sect to advance further. Yes, the Primordial Demoness should also be very interested...

This can explain why the Demoness Sect is providing help... The Red Angel evil spirit is searching for Saintess of White Katarina, and it doesn't seem to be as simple as "He" said... No, "He" didn't say anything else besides using common knowledge and reactions to guide me into thinking that way...

Klein's train of thought gradually became clear. He decided to use Saintess of White Katarina, as a breakthrough point, making her his next target. However, before that, he had to listen to what Queen Mystic had predicted. He wanted to know what she was planning to do in Backlund from her mouth.

Only by understanding the situation could he find and seize the opportunity!

The next morning, The Hermit Cattleya conveyed the words of Queen Mystic Bernadette:

Today between 12 to 12:30 p.m. at Srenzo Restaurant, Golden Theater."

It was the name of a private room. @@novelbin@@

When Klein arrived at 11:55 a.m., he used an illusion to deceive the waiter, and he walked all the way to the room and waited patiently.

After a while, he took out his golden pocket watch and opened it.

With that, he put away his pocket watch and counted down to ten silently. Then, he raised his hand and knocked on the door of the Golden Theater.

At that moment, his marionette, Qonas, was sitting on a bench across the restaurant and reading the newspapers leisurely. Enuni was with a group of students, giving off a flyer that promoted the evilness of Feysac. Of course, the three of them would switch positions from time to time, making it impossible for anyone to make an accurate judgment.

"Come in." Bernadette's voice came from the room.

Very impressive. I didn't notice anyone inside, nor did I notice anyone entering... Well, it's also because I didn't activate my Spirit Body Threads vision... Klein mumbled to himself before turning the doorknob and pushing the door open.

The first thing he saw was large swaths of gold before noticing the chestnut-haired woman sitting at the head of the table.

-x-X-x-

Bernadette was wearing an Intis-styled blouse and was sitting there quietly. Her chestnut-colored hair was naturally draped over her shoulders, and her straight brows were spread out perfectly. She actually had the aura of a female professional from Earth, one that had been in a high position for a long period of time.

The Emperor's sense of aesthetics still has quite the influence over Queen Mystic. However, it's limited by the environment around her, and it cannot be fully manifested... Klein took off his hat and pressed it to his chest. He bowed slightly before casually pulling out a chair and sitting down.

With a sweep of her blue eyes that resembled the deep-blue sea, Bernadette's gentle and calm voice rang out:

"Why did you contact me so urgently this time?"

Aren't you a Clairvoyant? Didn't you receive a hint of a revelation? Klein subconsciously replied in his mind before he felt that he was being too arrogant.

This should be the aftereffects of interacting with the Red Angel evil spirit for too long... With "His" level, it would naturally affect the people around "Him." If "He" was willing, this effect would definitely turn into a form of corruption... Klein quickly did a self-analysis and made a judgment.

He pondered for a moment before asking, "Have you attained what you wanted to achieve in Backlund?"

Bernadette slowly shook her head.

"No.

You can even say that I failed."

"Oh?" Klein used a tone to express his surprise and puzzlement.

Bernadette glanced at him and said unhurriedly, "There's a strange name for the Sequence 2 potion of the Mystery Pryer pathway. It's called 'the Sage.' To advance to this level, one has to prevent a disaster that involves a higher level of power."

Sage... So that's where "sage" of the Hidden Sage comes from... Klein was momentarily enlightened. Just as he was about to ask, he heard Queen Mystic continue, "I anticipated such an opportunity in Backlund, so I came here a few years in advance to make preparations. I've recently been waiting for it for a long time.

"Unfortunately, I predicted that it would happen in the second half of this year. Last year, I wasn't in Backlund at the end of the year, so I wasn't able to stop the Great Smog. And in this war, I tried my best to do something, and I achieved something. But to my surprise, Feysac directly attacked Backlund with an air raid, and the disaster ultimately erupted."

That's why you said you failed... Klein nodded indiscernibly and said with a sigh, "I didn't expect the ones to start the war to be the Feysacians either."

As he spoke, he sighed inwardly. The difficulty of Queen Mystic's advancement ritual was controversial. It all depended on one's luck.

One had to know that before he became a demigod, Klein had already stopped the True Creator from descending. He had saved Tingen and Backlund, which were feats that could definitely satisfy the ritual requirements of becoming a Sage. But under normal circumstances, there weren't as many disasters like these, and they weren't things that could easily be stopped.

Just like the present situation, Amon's brother had planned for one to two thousand years. Even if something went awry with King George III, war would erupt as "He" had expected. This was because the root cause of the Uniqueness of the Death pathway hadn't been resolved.

This made him suspect that Mr. Azik's life in the Northern Continent had always been under the arrangement of Amon's brother. If not, how did "He," who had lost his memories, escape from the sights of the various major Churches without a shape-shifting mask?

More importantly, it was unknown why Azik had used his real name in this life!

And this wasn't something that was suspected by anyone, nor did it incur any investigations!

Is this all part of your plan? Amon's brother... Upon thinking of this, Klein felt a certain trauma, a result of post- traumatic stress disorder. His body nearly trembled.

He silently took a deep breath and looked at Queen Mystic and added, "This war involves the son of the Creator, King of Angels, and the true deities. It's not something you can stop."

With Bernadette's knowledge and experience, she still had some changes to her facial expression when she heard the sentence. She repeated a few keywords in a low voice:

"The son of the Creator... King of Angels... Deities..."

She wasn't too surprised by this, as if she had already made a prediction. However, even if she was a Clairvoyant, she wasn't able to pry into the "script" composed by Amon's brother.

After repeating it again, Bernadette fell silent for two to three seconds before sighing to herself, "So that's the reason..." Klein adjusted his posture and thought.

"Actually, to you, this war is also an opportunity.

"Next, there will be many disasters, including the clashing of powers at the angel level. I believe that you should at least be in control of a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. You can stop certain matters from happening at the critical moment. Of course, you have to choose a good time and method."

Bernadette nodded gently and agreed with what he said. She also tacitly acknowledged that she possessed at least one Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.

Of course, as the daughter of the protagonist of the previous era, as the child Emperor Roselle doted on the most, it would be unbelievable if her father didn't leave her one or two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts.

What was more important was that Bernadette was already preparing the ritual needed to advance to Sage. This meant that she definitely had the corresponding Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristic in her hands. To a certain extent, it was equivalent to a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.

After tacitly agreeing, Queen Mystic Bernadette's gentle but emotionless voice changed slightly.

"However, I still don't like war, even though it will give me a chance.

"I once hated him and couldn't understand him. That's why I didn't call him father for many years. It's because he did too many things against the trend of the times and hurt the innocent. I couldn't accept my heroic father turning into a crazy tyrant...

"And now, through the answers from the entity behind you and my own investigations, I somewhat understand his situation. I understand that he was suffering from despair, pain, and loneliness. I understand him as a drowning person, only struggling on instinct."

When Klein heard that, he sighed and felt his emotions in turmoil.

In this world, the only people who understood Huang Tao—Roselle Gustav—the most were probably the two people sitting here.

Of course, this feeling didn't stop him from sensing that Queen Mystic Bernadette's condition was a little different today. In the past few times they had met, this king's daughter had never said so much, nor had she opened her heart so directly. At most, she would play the tune of music, subtly expressing her sadness.

After some thought, Klein pretended not to notice, and he asked, "When did 'He' start changing? Do you think there was any prior warning, or something worth paying attention to?"

Queen Mystic Bernadette's deep blue eyes moved slightly, as though she had sunken into her trove of memories.

After a while, she slowly said, "Not long ago, he proudly said to me, 'Haven't you always wanted to know what's surrounding our moon and other planets? In the future, our journey might be towards the sea of stars."1

The sea of stars... What's on the moon and other planets... As Klein pondered over Queen Mystic's words, he suddenly recalled a key phrase and something.

The keyword was:

Cosmos!

That matter was:

Mr. Door had once told Emperor Roselle that once he had the ability, he could take a look at the moon. That would resolve many of his doubts.

The emperor finally went? That hysterical diary page[l] was written after this exploration attempt? He had unknowingly changed his personality, becoming extreme? Klein recalled the corresponding content. Under Queen Mystic Bernadette's gaze, he deliberated and said, "At your level, you should more or less know that there's corruption coming from the cosmos."

Bernadette nodded and didn't pursue the matter. It was as though she knew that Gehrman Sparrow wasn't sure either. She knew that only an angel-level demigod could detect and resist the corruption.

After more than ten seconds of silence, the topic was directed towards Klein's reason for being here.

"One of the reasons for this war is because the Loen King, George III, discovered the nine secret mausoleums left behind by the Blood Emperor, doing so with the intention of switching to the Black Emperor pathway and becoming a Sequence 0. As such, he abolished the Grain Act..."

Klein didn't care if Queen Mystic knew anything about these matters. He followed his own pace and roughly told her everything without missing out any key matters. Finally, he said, "The Black Emperor does have the ability to revive, but once a new Black Emperor appears, the original entity would perish completely."

The original entity here referred to Emperor Roselle, who might've succeeded before being "assassinated."

Sometimes, Klein even suspected that Roselle had intentionally given others a chance which resulted in him perishing on the spot. This way, when he revived from the astral world and regained his Uniqueness and absorbed the three Sequence 1 characteristics, he would no longer absorb the characteristics of Knowledge Emperor, Arcane Scholar, and the characteristics of another pathway. He could make himself pure; thus, free from madness.

This was a way to live through death, but the prerequisite was that Roselle's ritual had succeeded. He had died during or after the ritual, and not before the ritual.

Queen Mystic Bernadette took it all in before slowly saying, "You want to stop George III?"

"Yes." Klein nodded frankly.

"Why?" Bernadette pressed in an unperturbed tone.

The corners of Klein's mouth curled up as he smiled.

"Some ridiculous reasons that aren't worth mentioning."

Bernadette's gaze landed on his face for a moment before she said, "That's enough. I'm also doing such things for something that has slim chances, one that's almost impossible to happen.

"We can cooperate on stopping George III."

We're all "ridiculous" people... Klein sighed and said, "I'll give you the method to summon my messenger." "Alright." Bernadette reached out her right hand and lightly tapped the table.

The fountain pen that was originally placed diagonally in front of her suddenly jumped up, as if it was held by an invisible elf before writing fluidly on the paper.

"This is the method needed for summoning my messenger," said Bernadette calmly.

-x-X-x-

Queen Mystic's powers are all very fantastical—no, fairytale-like... Klein glanced at the fountain pen that was writing on its own. He took out a pen and paper from his pocket and wrote the incantation to summon his messenger. He also indicated that each letter delivery needed the payment of a gold coin.

Right on the heels of that, he handed the piece of paper to Bernadette and took the other party's piece of paper. He quickly scanned through it.

"An invisible creature that roams the upper realms, a strange spiritual body that is friendly to humans, a messenger that belongs solely to Bernadette Gustav..."

There's a certain difference between this and a standard incantation, but it's essentially the same... Hmm, Queen Mystic must've deliberately changed it to this to prevent others from trying out the summoning incantation and using the connection between the messenger and the contractor to lock onto her... For me, it doesn't matter. My messenger is an angel. Only "She" can threaten others, and no one can threaten "Her." Even if "She" were to meet Zaratul, "She" should have the ability to protect "Herself and escape... Klein mumbled inwardly and shook the piece of paper, igniting a scarlet red flame.

As she looked at the piece of paper turning into dark ashes amidst the flames, Queen Mystic Bernadette said without emotion, "What are your thoughts regarding the preventing of George Ill's matter?"

Having already made some considerations, Klein deliberately spoke slowly, "First, don't be rash. Don't take risks that we can't bear. Don't hurt the innocent."

If not for the fact that Queen Mystic Bernadette had mentioned earlier that she hated wars and hated harming the innocent, Klein wouldn't have said so directly to prevent exposing his weaknesses. He would've used a milder and more roundabout method to achieve his goal.

Upon hearing this, Bernadette nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

"Then, there are only three possibilities. One is to destroy the ritual at the critical moment and let George Ill's advancement fail. The second is to attempt an assassination in advance so that 'He' won't be able to hold the ritual." Klein deliberately didn't give his third idea as he first analyzed the viability of the first two possibilities. "Assassination has an extremely slim chance of success. George III, or should I say, the one who will become Black Emperor should be a Sequence 1, so it's not someone we can deal with.

"Even if 'He1 has yet to advance to Sequence 1, he will definitely have acted ahead of time. Once 'He* completes the preparations for the ritual and consumes the potion, 'He' will be able to quickly digest it and build a foundation for the future.

"Of course, even if this situation has a very slim chance of happening, that person must be at least at the Sequence 2 level. Furthermore, the Augustus family definitely has no lack of Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts. Together with the protection bestowed to 'Him,' it's impossible for us to succeed."

Here, he changed the way he addressed George III from 'him' to "Him."

After calmly listening to everything, Bernadette seemed to do an assessment.

"As long as we can create a good opportunity, a Sequence 2 can also be assassinated, but at least one of us will die, or perhaps both of us."

What she meant was that the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact she wielded was sufficiently powerful, magical, and terrifying. However, if she wanted to fully utilize it, the price paid would be very high.

In that case, there really is a chance. That's because I lied just now. If I really had to give it my all, I could still find Will Auceptin, Pallez Zoroast, and Miss Messenger to help me. I can let "Them" use the Yesterday Once More charm to recover "Their" normal states for a short period of time. The problem is that I don't know how much of a price needs to be paid, or what kind of effects it would have on the situation. I also need to consider if it would end up involving Kings of Angels like Ouroboros and Amon...

It would be great if Mr. Azik woke up. With four angels and Queen Mystic's Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, as long as we create an opportunity, we can even place our sights on a Sequence 1. Of course, the chances of failure are extremely high, since there's no way to sustain it for long... Klein's heart was stirred when he heard that, but he didn't discuss it further.

It wasn't that he wasn't willing to be honest during the cooperation effort, nor was it that he didn't trust Queen Mystic. Instead, Will Auceptin and Pallez Zoroast were being pursued, so once "Their" whereabouts were exposed, it was very likely that it would lead to "Their" deaths. This was something that Klein absolutely didn't want to see happen.

He vaguely said, "If assassination attempt is the only solution left, I can invite at least two angels to help."

This was referring to Death Consul Azik Eggers and Snake of Fate Will Auceptin who Bernadette already knew of. She could guess the latter through the drop of Mythical Creature's blood.

Bernadette was extremely surprised.

"This is that entity's will?"

Without the consent of The Fool, how could "His" Blessed seek the help of an angel?

"'He' has tacitly agreed to it," Klein spoke the absolute truth.

Queen Mystic's blue eyes turned darker. She didn't say another word and only nodded slowly.

As for Klein, he brought the topic back on track.

The destruction of the ritual might be relatively simple, but it has to be done at the most critical moment. Otherwise, it will only be delaying George Ill's apotheosis. 'He' has already received the tacit consent of the deities, so 'He' isn't concerned about that. Even if the mausoleum is destroyed, it wouldn't take long for 'Him' to rebuild it.

"And it being destroyed at the critical moment will cause 'Him' to fail at the advancement and lose control to become a monster. No deity would allow such a creature to roam the world freely. A deity's descent will definitely happen to kill it off. The problem is that, with a King of Angels's reminder and help, George III won't take it lightly. 'He' will definitely arrange for the most secure protective measures. The difficulty might only be lower than directly killing 'Him.'

"This requires us to gather intelligence as soon as possible and find an incisive angle to be used.

"And be it the first line of thought or the second line of thought, it's best that you advance to Sequence 2 in advance and become a Sage."

Bernadette nodded slightly to show that she understood.

She then said, "What about the third line of thought?" @@novelbin@@

Klein was silent for a few seconds before saying, "If the ritual was successful back then and the emperor had already advanced to Sequence 0, then 'He' would still have a chance to revive. As long as we could find the arrangements left behind by the emperor before George Ill's apotheosis and allow 'Him' to return, the plot of George III will fail."

He didn't use the word "him" to refer to Roselle as Bernadette did, to avoid exposing his identity.

Queen Mystic's eyes clearly flickered before they turned dark and reserved.

She opened her mouth slightly and said, "I'll hand over selected diary entries to Cattleya."

Klein didn't discuss the matter deeply. Instead, he smiled and said, "Actually, there's still a fourth line of thought."

Bernadette's eyebrows twitched as she expressed her doubts.

"That's to do nothing. Let George III hold the ritual and attempt to become a god while we wait for 'Him' to fail." Klein gave a self-deprecating laugh. "The higher the Sequence is, the greater the chance of failure."

This was actually the truth. Even if there was the "script" written by Amon's brother with the road to success completely paved, and even if George III had perfectly digested the previous potions, the odds of "Him" successfully advancing to become a god didn't exceed fifty percent.

Of course, what Klein said was just a self-deprecating remark.

Queen Mystic didn't immediately respond. She looked seriously at Gehrman Sparrow for a few seconds before saying, "The feeling you give off to me now is different from the previous few meetings."

"I'm taking advice from my psychiatrist." Klein smiled, describing himself as a very serious mental patient.

Without another word, Bernadette retracted her gaze and looked at the fountain pen lying on the table.

"Then, let's gather the corresponding information and maintain communication through letters."

At this point, she paused for a moment before speaking again. Her gaze remained unchanged.

"Actually, I'm wondering if he might've already been resurrected. It's just that he's still finding his past self... I'm not sure what details the Black Emperor's resurrection entails. I wonder if he really chose to be the Black Emperor in the end..."

Bernadette's voice gradually became ethereal and carried an indescribable feeling.

As Klein listened, he suddenly understood what Queen Mystic was thinking or expecting.

She suspected that The Fool was the resurrected Roselle, suspecting that the emperor had fooled every one in the past. In fact, he had never thought of switching to the Black Emperor pathway. Instead, he had chosen another path. As such, he needed to find himself by seeking out his past diary pages and Cards of Blasphemy.

Unfortunately, I'm just Uncle Zhou from next door... Klein originally wanted to say something cheeky, but his emotions gradually turned staid, making it difficult for him to force himself to relax.

Without saying anything, he stood up, bowed, put on his hat, and left the room.

After closing the door to the Golden Theater room and taking two steps forward, he suddenly heard a tranquil and melodious tune.

This melody was ethereal and carried with it a faint sense of melancholy.

After pausing for a few seconds, Klein turned towards the hall and left with Flaming Jump.

City of Silver, a team gathered at the city gate and was about to set off.

This was the team that was headed for Afternoon Town to prepare the exploration of the Giant King's Court.

Derrick Berg was standing in the middle and was the second shortest person. In his hand was a bronze cross with sharp spikes.

To his sides were Joshua and Haim. They were prepared to receive the Unshadowed Crucifix at any time to prevent Derrick's Beyonder characteristic from being purged.

This Sealed Artifact required three people to take turns to resist the negative effects.

As he looked down at the Creator's relic, he suddenly felt someone looking at him. He subconsciously looked up and saw that it was a member of the six-member council, Shepherd Elder Lovia.

The woman, who was shortest in the group, had long silver and slightly curled hair. She was looking at the ancient, mottled Unshadowed Crucifix with her pale gray eyes. Her gaze seemed to be blazing hot.

Upon sensing Derrick's gaze, this Shepherd Elder's lips twitched, revealing an indescribable smile.

"This is the Lord's item."

For some reason, Derrick shivered. Then, he heard the Chief, Colin Iliad, say, "Let's set off."

-x-X-x-

In a small alley in the Backlund Bridge area, Xio once again met the MI9 staff responsible for contacting her.

"This is your reward from exchanging your merit points. A total of 2,500 pounds. Heh heh, I helped you get another 500 pounds." The golden-masked man threw a bulging envelope at Xio.

Xio caught it accurately and didn't count. She instinctively pressed down and sincerely said, "Thank you."

The golden-masked man waved his hand and said, "There's no need to thank me. This is also a good thing for me. If you continue to harp on past matters without letting go, I'm very worried that I'll go to military court one day.

"Are you still going to stay in Backlund?"

"Yes, I'm already used to living in a big city. When the war stops, I'll bring my family here," Xio said, having already made up her mind.

"Wait for the war to stop..." The golden-masked man repeated Xio's words with a slightly odd tone. He smiled and said, "May the Lord bless us to live until the end of the war."

Here, the "Lord" referred to the Lord of Storms.

"I believe in the Goddess," Xio replied seriously.

"You understand what I mean." The golden-masked man waved his hand and said, "Are you still planning to take on missions from MI9?"

"I won't reject an opportunity to earn money," Xio scratched her slightly coarse hair and said half-truths.

"Yes." The golden-masked man nodded and said, "The main thing to take note of during the war is to deal with spies from all over the world. If there's a suitable mission for you, I'll look for you."

"Alright," Xio replied without staying any longer. She cautiously and carefully retreated out of the dark alley.

After watching her figure disappear, the golden-masked man looked at the shadow in the corner and said, "She was likely used by some particular faction. She was abandoned after she stopped investigating the matter."

In the shadows in the corner, a deep voice sounded:

"On the surface, it looks like that, but there's no need to pursue or worry about the truth. Even if she can figure out the truth and spread it, it will not affect His Majesty's matters. Heh heh, the Church of Evernight has already tacitly agreed."

"That's for the best..." The golden-masked man silently exhaled.

After returning to her residence at the edge of East Borough, Xio said to Fors, who was sitting by the bed and reading the newspapers, "I received 2,500 pounds."

Fors put down the newspaper, her eyes moving slightly as she focused on making calculations.

"That's enough."

Xio had savings of more than 600 pounds, and with the 2,500 pounds, other than her necessary expenses, she had 3100 pounds to spend freely.

And her purchase of the Judge potion formula was 2000 pounds, and the Beyonder characteristic was 3,500 pounds. In other words, she was still short of 2,400 pounds, something that Fors could lend her.

After borrowing this sum of money, Fors's savings would be reduced to 780 pounds. However, this didn't affect her at all. She had the subsequent potion formula and main ingredients, so she didn't have many expenditures for a long period of time into the future. Occasionally, she could even earn a little from renting out Leymano's Travels. @@novelbin@@

Yes." Xio nodded. "I'll complete the transaction as soon as possible and strive to advance to Sequence 6 as soon as possible."

Seeing that her friend's matter was settled, Fors turned to worry about herself.

"I don't know when my Scribe potion will be completely digested. Now that the war has broken out, it will be much safer with the ability to 'Travel.'"

"The crux of a Scribe is definitely 'Recording.' When I become a Judge, you'll have new Beyonder powers to repeatedly 'Record.' This should be able to speed up the digestion of the potion." Xio pulled a chair over and sat down.

Fors sighed.

"I suspect that, other than the 'Recording' of Beyonder powers, I need to 'Record' down the sights and customs of different places. Only then can it be matched with the subsequent Traveler Sequence. But with war having broken out now, it's fine if I go further inland, but it will be difficult and dangerous if I go somewhere else. Sigh, the price of bread is rising. The price of one pound of bread has risen by a farthing. It's even more expensive than before the Grain Act was abolished!"

"Indeed." Xio thought seriously and agreed with Fors's conclusion.

The two fell silent. After about ten seconds, Xio suddenly had an idea.

"Actually, there's a very simple solution."

"What?" Fors sat up slightly and asked.

"You can spend money to hire that person to take you 'Traveling.'" Xio was very careful not to mention specific code names and actual names. "You can be thrown somewhere unfamiliar each time for three to four days, or even a week.

Then, you wouldn't take long to 'Record' all kinds of customs and traditions. Besides, you can rent some mystical items from him—from them—to 'Record' Beyonder powers. This can both improve your strength and help your digestion."

"That's right!" Fors's eyes lit up when she heard that.

Only then did she realize that her usage of the Tarot Gathering was very superficial.

After the pleasant surprise, Fors gradually frowned. This method meant that she had to frequently deal with The World Gehrman Sparrow, and the thought of the crazy adventurer left her trembling.

Indeed, there's nothing that doesn't require a price... To digest the potion, I can only take the risk... Finally, Fors made up her mind to make the request next week at the Tarot Gathering.

In an apartment several streets away from where Xio and Fors stayed.

After returning from the Srenzo Restaurant, Klein was sitting in front of a table. He quickly flipped through today's newspaper and summarized the important information he had received:

The Feysac Empire's Sonia Sea fleet has retreated from Pritz Harbor, their whereabouts are unknown...

The Ministry of Defense, Admiral Amyrius, has indicated that he will strengthen the coastal defenses and allow the three ironclad warship fleet to not return too hastily, and will take detours to avoid being ambushed...

Feysac's two-headed giant army invaded the Winter County's Amantha mountain range and suffered intense resistance. They failed to pass through the few strongholds...

Feysac's Subjugation Fleet attacked Constant and other large-scale industrial cities along the Midseashire's eastern coast. There was a large-scale sea battle with the kingdom's Midseashire Fleet. Both sides suffered losses...

East Balam's Feysac and the Loen colonial armies are fighting in multiple locations...

The rest of the countries have yet to make their stance clear. In the corresponding capitals, the ambassadors are running around to contact each other to have emergency diplomatic meetings... The electrical transmission waves contain all kinds of important news and are intertwining with each other in the different cities of the Northern and Southern continents...

We are still in the early stages of the war... Klein didn't believe that the diplomats were able to avert the war. He put down the newspaper and thought about how he could gather information regarding George Ill's Black Emperor ritual.

According to normal logic, before Blood Emperor Alista went crazy, "He" did things in a reasonable manner. That is to say, "He" couldn't build all nine mausoleums in the same hidden area; this would've been easy for others to wipe them out all at once, causing "His" resurrection to fail.

Therefore, in the surrounding areas of Backlund, in other parts of the kingdom, there should be eight other mausoleums that are similar. They haven't been exposed yet, so they might not be as heavily guarded as Ruins No. 1. This might give us an opportunity...

Perhaps the Red Angel evil spirit might know something, but I can't contact "Him" now. Ignoring the question of whether chanting "His" honorific name will be dangerous, just this act alone will expose my intention to prevent George III from becoming the Black Emperor. To a terrifying Conspirer, there are too many points that can be exploited.

Queen Mystic might have some channels and clues, but I can't just rely on her... At the moment, the Church doesn't know how many of the Blood Emperor's secret ruins there are, or where they are...

Attacking a key figure beside the king, such as a demigod from the royal family who is deeply involved in this matter? They must be on their guard. Furthermore, the angel of the Augustus family and that ancient secret organization would most likely be watching everything, one in the open, and one in the dark... In addition, as long as the royal family's demigod ends up in an accident, George III would definitely guess that someone is trying to stop "Him" from becoming a god...

Yes, Demoness of White Katarina will be easier to deal with than the demigods of the royal family. It would attract much less attention...

Hmm, theoretically speaking, George III, who has been tacitly accepted by the few major Churches, no longer needs to work with the Demoness Sect. Not that there is a need for that. If not for some particular reason, the two sides would've been completely tied together in this matter. The first thing "He" needs to do now is to cut off ties with the Demoness Sect.

Of course, "He" would most likely not betray the Demoness Sect directly. On the one hand, the Demonesses are also adept at ploys, so they wouldn't be unwary. On the other hand, if they anger the upper echelons of the Demoness Sect, George Ill's Black Emperor ritual might not be that safe. This is a secret organization with a true deity, Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, and angels.

As long as George III is still rational, the correct method is to follow the agreement and give everything that needs to be given. Then, "He" will send the members of the Demoness Sect away. During this process, "He" will use the help of angels from the mind domain or even a King of Angels to erase the key memories of the Demon Sect participating in the matter.

If that's the case, even if Demoness of White Katarina goes missing for some time, it wouldn't alert George III. "He" might not even know.

And from the perspective of the Demoness Sect, the matter has come to an end. The various Churches have also tacitly agreed to it. They no longer need to hide like they did in the past and can move about freely. This gives me and Queen Mystic a chance.

Yes, Vice Admiral Ailment will likely appear again. From her appearance and the attitude of Demoness of White from back then, it can be determined that she and Katarina are related by blood...

With this in mind, Klein heaved a sigh of relief. He cast his gaze out the window and silently muttered, I hope Anderson and Danitz can find that pirate admiral as soon as possible...

I hope that the City of Miracles in Groselle's Travels can effectively destroy the influence of the mind domain...

And all he could do now was to wait patiently.

Berserk Sea, Theros Island.

Danitz said to Anderson in delight, "I just learned that the southwest region of this place isn't a normal sea route. There's an island with no resources but is hidden enough."

-x-X-x-

"You suspect that Vice Admiral Ailment's fleet is hidden there?" Anderson asked in thought when he heard Danitz's words.

Danitz replied in excitement, "It's very likely! Didn't the Black Death vanish after steering towards the west and after leaving Theros Island?"

Anderson curled his lips and chuckled.

"If Vice Admiral Ailment's whereabouts were so easily discovered by you, why would she need to hide?

"How can islands that you can find out about be considered hidden enough?"

"Hey! What do you mean by that?" Danitz felt like he had been mocked.

Anderson shrugged.

"I don't mean anything. I'm just using my brain to analyze it.

"That island should exist, but it either belongs to the type that many people here know about, or it's intel that someone deliberately released.

"If it's the former, Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy's fleet definitely wouldn't be hiding there. If it's the latter, that would be interesting. Who would release this intel?"

Danitz was still a little angry at first, but later, he began analyzing Anderson's line of thought.

"A trap set up by some pirates or adventurers? However, an island without any resources isn't enough to lure others into exploring it.

"Vice Admiral Ailment herself? To figure out who's investigating her whereabouts?"

Anderson smiled.

"That's right. After my teachings, you've improved quite a bit. Otherwise, I suspect that even if you drink the Conspirer potion, you wouldn't be able to enhance your brain. You'll only mutate and turn your enemy stupid, bringing him down to a level at which you're familiar with, and then defeat him with experience.

"I didn't say that. It was Emperor Roselle."

After this period of searching, Anderson had already helped Danitz obtain one of the main ingredients of the Conspirer potion and nearly all the supplementary ingredients. He was just one step away from success.

"I suspect that you have such an ability..." Danitz muttered softly in response.

Anderson ignored him and continued, "If Vice Admiral Ailment got someone to release the news herself, the secret island must be a trap. Perhaps there's nothing other than a mirror that monitors the ships and humans that approach the island. Or perhaps it might be an important gathering base of the Demoness Sect that Gehrman Sparrow mentioned."

"Then what should we do next?" Danitz subconsciously asked.

Anderson chuckled when he heard that.

"You can't even figure out such a simple matter?

"Naturally, we'll seek out the person you heard this intel from. After finding the source of his information, we can trace it back, and we'll eventually find something."

That's right... Danitz wanted to nod in agreement, but the words that reached his mouth turned into a "heh."

Nearing dawn, on the second floor of a casino.

Bartz, with his brown hair, yawned and walked into his room.

Before he could use the moonlight outside the window to light the candle, he suddenly saw a bright white flame light up in front of him, momentarily blinding him.

Bartz's heart tightened as he pounced to the side and rolled.

After rolling twice, he suddenly stopped his actions, as though he had been petrified.

This was because there was a bone-chilling coldness and a slight pain around his neck. This made him have no doubt that if he proceeded any further, blood would definitely spray onto the roof.

"What do you want?" At that moment, Bartz's vision had recovered. He saw a blond man with one hand in his pocket and a black short sword in the other. Beside him was a man wearing a black cloak that covered half of his face with a hood.

Danitz didn't answer Bartz's question as he looked at Anderson in surprise.

"Why didn't you disguise yourself?"

"If you disguise yourself, how can you let others know who to hate?" Anderson replied with a nonchalant look.

Danitz exhaled. "Thankfully, I haven't been infected by this crappy habit of yours."

"It's fine," Anderson said with a smile. "Any random person on the island can know who I've been hanging out with." "Dogsh*t!" Danitz cursed.

Bartz, who had Anderson's sword at his neck, didn't dare to move. All he could do was listen quietly. He felt as though he had returned to Trier and was watching a comical scene.

What are the two of them here for...? The intelligence peddler was deeply puzzled.

At that moment, Anderson retracted his gaze and looked down at Bartz.

"Who told you about the secret island to the southwest that deviates from the main sea route?"

Bartz suddenly came to a realization as he looked at Danitz.

"It's you!"

In the past few days, this information had only been sold to one person!

...I was recognized so quickly? Danitz was momentarily at a loss as to how to respond.

Anderson slightly lowered the pitch-black short sword in his hand, making the stabbing pain even more obvious. "Please respect the order of what is to come and follow." @@novelbin@@

Bartz immediately felt as though his life was rapidly slipping away. He hurriedly replied, "I-it was Vice Admiral Ailment!"

"When did she tell you? Why did she tell you?" Anderson asked without any surprise.

"The night before the Black Death left Theros Island," Bartz replied quickly, afraid that he would die from excessive blood loss. "I didn't ask her why. Back then, I was only focused on admiring her beauty. She lives up to being the infamous Ailment Maiden of the Five Seas..."

Even after a long time, Bartz couldn't hide his admiration of her, even when he recalled her while being in extreme danger.

"Is this the charm of a Demoness?" Anderson muttered to himself before asking, "Do you have a way to contact her?"

"No." Bartz quickly shook his head and said, "She told me to take note of everyone who asked about her whereabouts. I'll tell her when she returns to Theros Island. And if anyone leaves the port after obtaining the information on that secret island, they shall be left alone to leave freely."

"Is that so... Very reasonable." Anderson nodded and withdrew the short pitch-black sword. "Is there a trap?"

"I don't know either," Bartz replied frankly.

Anderson didn't say a word as he searched for the money on Bartz's person and in the room. Then, he pointed at the intelligence peddler with his short sword.

"I wanted to kill you, but no one will hate me if that's the case.

"Live well, curse me a few more times every day."

He then turned around, walked to Danitz's side, and jumped down the window with him, disappearing into the dark, unlit night.

Bartz touched his bleeding neck and stood up in fear. He ran to the window and confirmed that the two of them had disappeared.

Thankfully, I met a guy with mental problems. If not, I would be dead today... He closed the window and locked the wooden door. After carefully inspecting the room, he finally sat down and gulped down half a bottle of Lanti Proof.

In his tipsy state, Bartz collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

Time ticked by slowly until it was three in the morning.

Suddenly, Bartz flipped over and sat up. His eyes were bright and spirited, and he didn't even feel the slightest bit drunk.

He found a dagger and pried open a wooden floor in the room. He took out a thumb-sized ball of paper.

After the white paper unfolded layer by layer, there was a sticky black object in the middle.

After taking a quarter of the blob, Bartz walked to the mirror in the room and was about to smear it.

At this moment, he saw two figures reflected in the mirror. One of them was wearing a white shirt and a black vest with one of his hands in his pocket and the other carrying a short sword. The other wore a black cloak that didn't reveal his face.

Just as Bartz's pupils dilated, Danitz punched the back of his head, causing him to faint.

And his final memory was a voice with a smiling tone.

"He really didn't disappoint."

After dealing with Bartz, Danitz bent down to pick up the sticky substance that had fallen to the ground. He chuckled and said, "This fellow actually believed you. He believed that you didn't kill him because you wanted him to hate you."

The conversation he had with Anderson was actually a rehearsed play. It was to make it reasonable for Anderson to let Bartz go without being suspected.

"This means that you acted sufficiently well," Anderson said with a smile. "It's truly different when you're acting as yourself."

"Dogsh*t!" Danitz cursed without any qualms.

He then sighed.

"I didn't expect him to be so patient. He waited past midnight before he took action. But we were more patient."

"If a hunter wants to capture his prey, he has to be patient. Sometimes, he can wait a few days," Anderson replied.

To the two of them, there was actually nothing they could do. Be it a Hunter and Provoker, or Pyromaniac and Reaper, none of them were good at mediumship, much less having the ability to hypnotize others. In order to obtain information, other than interrogating and threatening others, they had to work hard on "scheming."

This is very reasonable, but in the future, it will be done with the words I use to school others... Danitz looked at the black sticky blob in his hand and said, "It seems like it should be applied on the surface of the mirror... before contacting Vice Admiral Ailment?"

"That should be the case. However, what's the point even if we contact her? Are we going to ask her out on a date to join us for breakfast at Theros Island?" Anderson mocked.

Danitz knew that he and Anderson were unable to influence the person in the mirror. All he instinctively wanted to do was to do something more, so as to better complete the task that Gehrman Sparrow assigned him.

He frowned slightly and said, "Then what should we do next?"

"Of course it's to contact Gehrman Sparrow. Let him handle the aftermath. This fellow is very mysterious in every aspect, so he should have a way to resolve it," Anderson said with a tsk. "Besides, the mission he gave us is to seek out Vice Admiral Ailment's whereabouts. And there are results already now."

Danitz acknowledged and began taking out the candles and other items for the ritual.

"What are you doing?" Anderson asked with an odd expression.

Danitz set up the altar without looking back.

"Summoning Gehrman Sparrow's messenger."

Anderson fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "I'll go out for a smoke first."

-x-X-x-

At just past six in the morning, the entirety of Backlund remained dark. It was very quiet, with most areas being illuminated only by the street lamps.

Wearing his pajamas, Klein sat on the bed and looked at Miss Messenger who was carrying four heads. He rubbed his temples and asked helplessly, "Who sent the letter?"

Why couldn't he have a good night's rest?

The three heads in Reinette Tinekerr's hands replied one by one, "That..." "Particular..." "Brainless..."

"Servant..." "Of..." "Yours..."

Danitz... He prayed in the middle of the night in the past, and now he's sending letters in the morning... Klein took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Following that, he received the letter from Miss Messenger.

When he opened it, his expression gradually turned solemn. This was because Danitz's and Anderson's discovery of Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy's location was extremely untimely.

According to Klein's deductions, it wouldn't take long for the pirate admiral and Demoness of White Katarina to regain their "freedom." They wouldn't be hiding much, making it easier to find them. Now that they had dealt with the intelligence peddler, Bartz, and obtained the items to contact Tracy from him, the greatest possibility was that they had frightened the target and made her continue hiding.

Of course, Klein could seek the help of Queen Mystic Bernadette to find a way to lock onto Vice Admiral Ailment through the mirror. However, the problem was that he suspected that the target's hiding place was an important stronghold of the Demoness Sect. It might even be the headquarters where there were Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts. This way, even if he had confirmed the whereabouts of Tracy, he wouldn't dare to "Teleport" over to capture her. Hence, any contact would alert the pirate admiral.

And if he didn't take the opportunity to contact her, regardless of whether Bartz was dead or alive, the news would spread after daybreak. Similarly, Tracy would be on guard.

Seriously... However, this is also because Anderson and Danitz don't know the truth. They don't know the changes in the situation of the Loen Kingdom... After some thought, he said to Miss Messenger who was waiting by the side, "Wait for me. I'll write a reply."

He had originally planned to "Teleport" over directly to decide what to do next, but after some consideration, he still chose to write a letter.

Although he believed that Zaratul wouldn't waste time on an obvious "bait" like Danitz, he still felt that he had to be more careful. If Zaratul didn't do so, it didn't mean that the members of the Secret Order under "Him" would do the same. Such a huge secret organization definitely had a few demigods at the saint level. Once he got entangled by the other party, it would be a huge problem.

"Alright." The head carried by Reinette Tinekerr that had failed to speak previously rushed to answer first.

Klein got out of bed, walked out of the bedroom, and came to the room outside. He took out a pen and paper and wrote fluidly:

"Think of a way to make Bartz faint until dawn.

Then, leave his room immediately and stay far away. There is a great danger lurking there.

"Monitor Bartz again when daybreak arrives, but don't alarm him."

The so-called danger was a half-truth, and his main goal was to get Anderson and Danitz to leave the scene, so as to draw away any possible spying.

Putting down the pen and looking through it again, he folded the letter and handed it to his messenger, Reinette Tinekerr, who had followed him out. @@novelbin@@

At 3:10 a.m. in the Berserk Sea, Theros Island, Bartz's room.

Danitz had just finished clearing the altar and wiping away the traces when he saw the terrifying messenger with four heads return.

Gehrman Sparrow actually didn't come... Danitz reached out to receive the letter in surprise, then he took out a gold coin for the messenger.

After the figure with four heads and dark, complicated long dress disappeared into the void, he opened the letter and quickly read through it.

T-there's danger! Danitz's pupils dilated as he rushed towards the door as if he had been burned in the ass.

After leaving the room, he said to Anderson, who was standing in the corridor with his back against the wall with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, "Quick, let's go. It's very dangerous here!"

"...Did Gehrman Sparrow say that?" Anderson was taken aback as he asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, how do you know? Couldn't it be that I discovered something?" Danitz replied instinctively.

"You? Heh." Anderson chuckled and asked rather relaxed, "What else did he say?"

"Aren't you nervous? Gehrman Sparrow is very reliable on such matters." Danitz's focus was completely off.

Anderson fell silent for a moment before saying, "His messenger is more reliable. At least, within the few minutes of his messenger's return trip, there won't be any danger here."

If there really was any "danger" lurking here, they would silently shrink back when they saw the messenger.

Danitz originally wanted to reply that it may seem so in terms of her image, but for some reason, he instinctively gave up on that sentence.

He switched to saying, "Gehrman Sparrow also said to let Bartz pass out until dawn so that we can monitor him again when the sun rises without exposing ourselves."

Anderson frowned. "What does he want to do? There won't be any latent dangers anymore once the sun rises?"

Without waiting for Danitz to respond, the Strongest Hunter of the Fog Sea turned around and entered the room. He took out a small metal bottle he carried with him and pulled out the stopper. He placed it at the tip of Bartz's nose and moved it back and forth.

"It's done. Let's go." Anderson didn't hide his curiosity as he surveyed the area before leading Danitz out of Bartz's room and walked far into the distance.

Backlund, Empress Borough, Inside the Hall family's luxurious mansion.

At 7:25 a.m., Audrey suddenly woke up from her dream.

She dreamed of the boundless gray fog and dreamed of The World Gehrman Sparrow asking her to help hypnotize someone, making the target forget everything that had happened in the past six hours, as well as all the people who asked about a particular secret island.

This is something that can be used as contributions needed for the Manipulator potion formula and Beyonder characteristic... Also, Mr. World said that he would donate 7,000 pounds for the war efforts... Audrey got off the bed very lightly and put a teal cloak over her white nightgown.

Following that, she followed Gehrman Sparrow's instructions and set up a ritual, praying for Mr. Fool's bestowment.

The illusory door quickly took shape and opened, sending three items flying out and landing on the altar.

One of them was a thin human-skinned glove, the other was the "instruction manual" on a piece of paper, and the other was a neat stack of cash that wasn't tied up.

This is Creeping Hunger? Audrey scrutinized the altar and thanked Mr. Fool.

Then, she put on the glove and, according to the "instruction manual," activated the spirit of the Traveler.

When the glove turned transparent, the twelve sacred angels with fiery wings suddenly appeared in front of her.

This is the Angel's Embrace that Mr. World has requested? Its effect is to interfere with divination and prophecy powers at the scene, so as to ensure that my identity won't be exposed? Audrey's eyes darted around as she changed the Lie accessory which she had already prepared into a silver mask, and she wore it on her face.

Following that, she followed the coordinates given by The World Gehrman Sparrow and began the "Teleportation" step.

During this process, the strange scenery of the spirit world and all kinds of strange creatures left a deep impression on her. However, before she could carefully observe them, she arrived at her destination. She saw that the colors were saturated, and the stacked scenes rapidly faded away, becoming normal. It was still late at night outside.

It feels like I've recovered my feelings and mood from when I first entered the mysterious world... Audrey analyzed her mental state and focused her attention on the target lying on the floor in the room she was in.

It was an unconscious man. The door to his Body of Heart and Mind was rather weak, meaning that he was someone who could easily be charmed, even if it didn't involve Beyonder powers.

Hypnotizing such a target wasn't difficult for Audrey. However, in order to digest the potion, she decided to use dreams to help with the "Hypnosis."

The unconscious Bartz had a dream. He dreamed of a blurry female figure. In his dream, he believed that she was the most beautiful woman in the world, a perfect state that Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy could achieve.

Bartz wildly chased her as he ran back and forth in the wilderness, hills, and mountains. However, he couldn't catch up to her, as though he had left behind something very important.

After an unknown period of time, he woke up from exhaustion and slowly recalled what had happened last night. He was in a bad mood because of him losing money. He had fallen drunk after drinking only half a bottle of Lanti Proof. Up to now, his temples were still throbbing in pain.

I even knocked the back of my head... Bartz rubbed the swollen area and lumbered back to the bed. He fell into it and continued sleeping.

And for Audrey who had completed a milder form of hypnosis with the Dreamwalker's powers, she had long followed The World Gehrman Sparrow's instructions and restored the scene completely, leaving nothing suspicious behind.

This was the ability of a senior Spectator.

Then, she "Teleported" back to Backlund and sacrificed Creeping Hunger to Mr. Fool.

The entire process didn't cause much of a stir. The Church of Evernight Beyonders in charge of protecting the Hall family were completely unaware.

After dealing with all kinds of traces, Audrey pulled a bell and let the maidservants waiting outside enter.

Her personal maidservant, Annie, gestured for the other maidservants to get busy as she said to Audrey, "Miss, there's a piece of news from the bursary foundation."

"What news?" Audrey interpreted the shock, confusion, disbelief, joy, and curiosity in Annie's tone.

Annie replied quickly, "That Miss Eudora who needed to have her leg amputated has completely recovered. It's as though she was never injured. This... this is a medical miracle!"

Audrey was similarly stunned. She had some guesses, but she didn't dare to confirm them. She lacked sufficient clues and evidence.

"Also, all the patients with serious medical conditions have fully recovered!" At this point, Annie couldn't control herself. She lowered her voice and said, "I heard that there was a ghost wandering around. Half of its face had mushrooms growing all over, and the other half was covered in weeds. It ate illnesses, trauma, and grief. I don't know if it's true, but it's scary."

"Mushroom... Weeds..." Audrey repeated the two words, momentarily at a loss.

-x-X-x-

Seeing that her mistress was clearly interested in ghost tales, Annie glanced at the other maids who were preparing hot water, combs, and other items. She continued, "The doctors and nurses wished to invite the Church's bishop to host a Mass, but the remaining patients strongly objected to it. They look forward to meeting that ghost. They all call it 'the Clown Angel.' They say that its terrifying appearance resembles a specially dressed clown, but in actual fact, it's an angel who can resolve pain and torment."

"This title is very interesting..." Audrey said with a faint smile.

If it were in the past, she would definitely be very interested in this, perhaps eager to make a trip to the hospital via Dream Traversal to figure out what was going on with the so-called "Clown Angel." However, the sudden eruption of the war made her feel rather depressed. She felt that there were too many important things that she needed to do, so she wasn't in the mood to probe further.

In fact, if she hadn't experienced the air raid herself and seen those who were injured because of it, she would definitely feel like a war had never happened over the past few days and that Backlund was still very peaceful.

This was because, after that air raid, the airship fleet of the Loen Kingdom had been roped into the war effort. The air defenses of the coastal city's had all been raised, and Backlund didn't suffer another attack again. Currently, the battle between Feysac and Loen was mainly focused in three places—the Winter County's Amantha mountain range, the heavy industry metropolitan area along the Midseashire's east coast, and the few harbors along the Sonia Sea coast. Furthermore, they were in a deadlock with no side gaining an advantage over the other. Even if there were casualties, it didn't have any material impact on Backlund. Other than the rise in prices with several editorial pieces in the newspapers, this city seemed to restore its peace in a few short days.

However, Audrey didn't think so. Her father and brother have been busy with work recently, often returning late at night or convening a private gathering with a group of nobles, Members of Parliament, and clergymen. Through the other charity organizations in the Church of Evernight, she learned of the exact number of casualties at the front lines of Pritz Harbor and Amantha. She even saw some photos of the battlefield. She was working hard to gather funds, contacting various pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, hoping that she could organize help and treatment needed in the war effort.

Who would've thought that the crazy adventurer has not only offered the excess food in his manor, but he has even donated 7,000 pounds in cash... Audrey sighed secretly and began letting the maidservant help doll her up.

South of the Bridge, Rose Street.

Emlyn White casually donated ten pounds to a charity organization's solicitor. He pressed his top hat and walked up the stairs, entering the Harvest Church.

At this moment, there were no believers in the cathedral. Father Utravsky, who looked like a half-giant, sat at the front and prayed sincerely.

Emlyn was in no hurry to change into his priest robes. He sat beside the priest and wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he ended up scoffing.

"It must be your typical Feysac appearance and figure that made those believers fearful of coming over," Emlyn said casually as he looked at the altar in front of him.

Bishop Utravsky put down his hands and opened his eyes.

"I can understand them."

"What's the point of understanding them? If the war gets more intense and the number of soldiers who die in the battle increase a bit more, the believers might rush in here and bum the cathedral and hang you to death." Emlyn continued to look at the Sacred Emblem of Life.

Father Utravsky shook his head slightly.

"No, they won't. They sincerely believe in the Earth Mother. They won't bum the cathedral. At most, they will banish me. If I express that I've given up on my Feysac nationality, there will always be people who will understand and accept me."

Emlyn tsked and said without moving his gaze, "What if Feynapotter joins in the war and attacks Desi Bay, Loen territory?

"What if the Church of Earth Mother calls all clergymen to arms and become enemies with Loen?

"Are you going to obey the orders of the Church and abandon the believers here, or are you going to pretend that you don't know anything? Continuing promoting how precious life is, how joyous the harvest is as you are now? Or, will you directly organize those believers to make them become enemies with their own kind, using blood and sacrifices to prove their faith?"

Bishop Utravsky slowly looked at the Sacred Emblems of Life up and above the altar, not saying anything for a long time.

Emlyn didn't bring up any more questions as he fell silent like the priest.

The entire Harvest Church was silent. @@novelbin@@

On a colonial island, Alger Wilson, who hadn't had the chance to return to Pasu Island, didn't leave the Blue Avenger due to his principles of being cautious. He only sent his sailors to take turns to gather information.

"Captain, there still isn't any news about mustering us," a sailor reported to Alger of his findings of the day while reeking of alcohol.

Alger waved his hand and dismissed his subordinate to leave the room. Then, he frowned slightly and muttered silently to himself, The Church doesn't seem to care much about this war...

From what Alger knew, this was likely an intense war that would cover a huge scale. As the victim of an invasion, the Church of the Lord of Storms would definitely mobilize all its strength to defeat the enemy, including the "captains" who were scattered across the sea by giving them corresponding missions. However, at this moment in time, Alger had yet to receive orders from Pasu Island.

This didn't mean that the Church of the Lord of Storms was slacking off. The activity of the Church's forces amongst the Loen army and the air raid drills it was involved in the various major cities, and the activities of the demigods implied that the Church of the Lord of Storms was seriously resisting the invasion of the Feysac Empire. It was just that it wasn't going all-out.

Could it be that it's because we're still in the early stages of the war? The Church wishes to preserve a portion of its strength for the critical moment? Alger held back the stirrings in his heart and waited for further information.

At night, another group of sailors returned with news that had nothing to do with the war.

"Captain, there seems to be some kind of monster hiding on this island. Many pirates say that they encountered a terrifying situation when they head out to pee after drinking too much. Some of them were violently slapped by the branches of trees, while others saw fruits growing on their bodies—ones filled with blood and flesh in them. Some of them encountered skinny ghostly figures with wheat faces..." A rather sober sailor described the rumors he had heard.

Tales about ghosts and monsters... Alger didn't have the intention to probe into the truth of the matter. He nodded and sternly warned, "Don't go out at night."

After such paranormal tales started in Backlund and Pritz Harbor, Klein never went to those hospitals again, afraid that he would directly meet Zaratul's marionettes.

With the Creeping Hunger and the ability to "Travel," he expanded his range for creating terrifying tales. Sometimes, he would be in the Sonia Sea, at other times in the Fog Sea. He would go to Lenburg, sometimes to Feynapotter, and sometimes appear in places like East and West Balam, the highlands and valley. He didn't abide by any rules, and he relied solely on his momentary inspiration. He would visit some cities two or three times while not stepping foot into others even once.

During this process, Klein felt an inexplicable strange feeling. In the terrifying darkness, invisible tentacles extended out, either searching for his whereabouts or attempting to predict his movements so as to intercept him ahead of time.

They were silent and cold, and once they entangled him, the consequences were unimaginable.

Klein knew that this might be the result of Zaratul's "search." His best solution was to temporarily stop acting and to lay low in wait. However, it was also this subtle feeling that made him wish to digest the potion as soon as possible. Hence, he made use of the gray fog's powers. Every time he randomly chose a target location, he would go above the gray fog to divine the danger level and use Paper Angels to interfere.

At this moment, with the huge progress in his digestion, he "Teleported" to Cookawa, which was in the Northern State of West Balam.

This was where he had killed Ince Zangwill to avenge himself and the captain.

The moment his figure appeared in the White Feather Square, he suddenly sensed something amiss.

The residence that belonged to Maysanchez was too quiet. It was so quiet that it sent chills down his spine.

Maysanchez was a native general who had previously bought arms from Dwayne Dantes. He was a Beyonder of the Death pathway, and he was backed by the Church of Knowledge.

What happened? Klein frowned slightly as he considered whether he should enter to confirm the situation. After all, that was his "collaboration partner."

Furthermore, if he were to encounter an enemy that wasn't weak, it would be a very good opportunity for him to act. After doing a self-analysis of the situation, he believed that if he could use a saint-level demigod as the main lead and create a few more horror tales, then his Bizarro Sorcerer potion would be digested for the most part.

Of course, the prerequisite for everything is to be safe. I have to be careful and cautious... As he made his marionette, Qonas Kilgor, transform into the appearance of Dwayne Dantes, he took out a gold coin.

This time, the revelation he received was that there wasn't any danger.

Strange... Klein didn't let his guard down as his body turned incorporeal before becoming a shadow that disappeared into the darkness of the night. As for his marionette, Qonas Kilgor walked slowly towards Maysanchez's mansion with his face facing down.

This was the ability to hide in the shadows that Creeping Hunger provided itself.

As for the other marionette, Enuni, he was waiting about 1000 meters away. As for the few "rats" that belonged to the marionette, they were spaced out nearly 1000 meters away from each other, but they were unable to do anything.

Soon, Dwayne Dantes arrived in front of the general's residence and activated his Spirit Body Threads vision.

What entered his vision were black illusory threads that were "grown" in a messy fashion. They seemed to come from different people, but they also had an obviously similar aura.

And normal Spirit Body Threads didn't exist at all.

After a few seconds of silence, Dwayne Dantes extended his right hand and pushed open the closed door.

The scene inside was completely different from what he remembered. The pillars that were covered with golden foils, the golden sculptures on the walls, and gorgeous stairs were now rolled into a bunch like a huge porcupine with golden spikes growing out of it. On the ground, there were sharp stone pillars and shattered glass everywhere.

Apart from these, there were more illusory bookshelves in the hall that didn't appear real. There were pools of black shadows hidden in different spots on the bookshelf as they curled and stretched like eyes from time to time.

As the door opened, the pool of liquid-like shadows suddenly came alive and produced the same sound:

"It's you!

"My prediction was right. You're the one who can help me out of my conundrum!"

-x-X-x-

Upon hearing the words of the pools of black shadows, a figure suddenly appeared in Klein's mind.

It was the elder in a white robe with inlaid brass lines. His hair was completely white and neatly combed. His pair of gray-green eyes left a deep impression on him.

He claimed to be a member of the Church of Knowledge and that he was in charge of matters in West Balam and had a close relationship with Maysanchez.

Back then, he had suddenly paid a visit to Dwayne Dantes, giving the excuse for his visit as him having predicted that he would be in a very troublesome situation in the future, and that someone he met during that time period would help him resolve the problem.

After some thought, he slowly said, "Lucca Brewster?"

"Yes, it's me. You actually still remember me!" In the different parts of the illusory bookshelves, the pool of liquid-like shadows rushed to answer.

Their voices were no longer uniform. They were layered over each other, echoing endlessly. Even though he was separated by his marionette, Klein's ears still rang, and he felt a sense of dizziness.

This isn't a normal sound. It contains a certain inclination towards losing control or experiencing mental corruption... The illusory bookshelves themselves are just for show... Just as this thought flashed through Klein's mind, he heard the black shadows curling and extending at the same time.

"Sorry, I was too agitated just now and couldn't control myself."

Hiding in the shadows outside the mansion, Klein controlled his marionette, Qonas Kilgor, and said, "What did you encounter? How did you end up like this?"

The black figures sighed and said, "The Adjudicator of the Feynapotter military, Bellacosta, and the Church of Earth Mother's archbishop, Martina, jointly attacked this place, with their main target being me. I had no choice but to activate my Mythical Creature form and make them temporarily retreat. Seeing as you entered without noticing anything, you must've 'Teleported' here.

"You're also a demigod. You should know that once you reveal your Mythical Creature form, it won't be easy for you to return to normal. I was also affected by inclinations towards going insane, and I nearly lost control. Fortunately, I was once a Mysticism Magister and had mastered many strange but effective mystic arts. Hence, I sealed myself to a certain extent at the critical moment and ended up like this.

"Sigh, this can only last for some time. The madness is still eating at me. I've already contacted the See, and it wouldn't be long before a helper comes. However, I don't know if I can last that long.

"I was just thinking that this should be that very troublesome conundrum in the prophecy, and I was wondering if the person who could help me solve this problem would appear. I'm so happy that you're here. This proves that my prediction and interpretation wasn't wrong. This has improved my mental state..."

He really is a demigod who's determined to see his predictions succeed... If I were to turn around and leave at this moment, would you just break down and lose control on the spot... After lampooning silently in his heart, Klein began thinking about the key information that was revealed by Lucca Brewster.

The Feynapotter military and the Church of Earth Mother had begun taking action!

He then got his marionette, Qonas Kilgor, to take out a gold coin and flick it before reaching out to catch it.

From what he knew, the clergymen of the seven Churches were focused on maintaining order and ensuring the safety of their believers, regardless of the situation. From this angle, it was impossible for Lucca Brewster to be a Devil or a Demon.

As for the impression that Vice Admiral Iceberg and Detective Isengard Stanton gave him, it made him feel that the Church of Knowledge wasn't too bad. He felt that, other than their habitual discrimination against people with low intelligence and those who were not fond of studying, there was nothing wrong with their actions and style.

This is also the reason why they're unable to develop and expand. They can only stay in a few small countries... Klein didn't look at the result from flipping the gold coin. He mumbled a few words before saying, "How can I help you?"

The excited black shadows fell silent. A few seconds later, they said, "I don't know either..."

Klein looked at them, and they looked back at him in silence. Instantly, there was a mutual silence.

Why don't I suggest turning you into my marionette? Nearly ten seconds later, Klein lampooned inwardly.

His thoughts raced as he began to think of a way to resolve the Lucca Brewster's problem of not being able to recover from his Mythical Creature form.

To be honest, his seriousness towards helping Lucca out wasn't just because of his good impression of the Church of Knowledge and Wisdom, but also because of interests that could benefit him.

Firstly, there was the inkling of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom's existence in the matter of Groselle's Travels. At present, he was unable to determine the true god's goal. He felt that showing some goodwill might lead to pleasant surprises. Secondly, if Roselle's return really happened, the attitude of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom was rather important.

From the Red Angel evil spirit's tone and manner of speech, Klein could make a preliminary judgment: Compared to the Fourth Epoch, the seven deities of the present era had a drastic change in attitude towards the appearance of a Black Emperor. Their reaction wasn't as intense as before, and they were more inclined to tacitly approve of it, even if the person wasn't their own candidate of choice.

Under such circumstances, if Emperor Roselle were to return, the only ones who would be against it would probably be the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery. After all, back when Roselle perished, "They" had been involved in the matter to some extent.

However, this objection wouldn't be too strong either. As long as Roselle's mental state was normal and he escaped the corruption and madness, there was a chance of being accepted. After all, the Black Emperor didn't have the problem of switching with the Sun and Savant pathway, so there weren't any direct conflicts of interest.

As for the original grudge, it wasn't too serious at the level of a deity. Of course, this was just a guess Klein made from his knowledge of ancient history and from the angle of mysticism. According to his understanding of the situation, other than the God of Craftsmanship, the other six deities had been enemies with each other back during Solomon's first empire. "They" had left behind countless grudges, and had no choice but to rope in the Black Emperor back then to help "Them." In the end, "They" still put these matters behind "Them" and formed an alliance that lasted to this day.

Even the deities of neighboring pathways could coexist peacefully to a certain extent. As long as Roselle could really be revived, then as someone who wasn't completely dead, the feud between him and the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery could be resolved.

Of course, with his understanding of Roselle, it was only a matter of time before Roselle took revenge. As long as he wasn't crazy and wasn't forced into a corner and wasn't extreme, he could still understand the situation clearly and know what to do and what it meant to wait for an opportunity.

Under such circumstances, Klein believed that the ones who were able to suppress the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery when "They" expressed "Their" objections and also make "Them" tacitly agree to it were definitely the Lord of Storms and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, because "They" and the Eternal Blazing Sun were on Beyonder paths that could be interchanged.

I'm just afraid that the corruption that stems from the cosmos isn't that easy to resolve. The revived Roselle may end up completely turning into an evil god, but such matters can only be done one step at a time. Only by understanding the situation can one grasp the crux of the matter and decide whether to press the "button" at the final moment... Humans can't stop because of worries with low odds. If that's the case, nothing can be done. Even drinking a mouthful of water might lead to the descent of an evil god...

Similarly, what are the reactions of the various parties towards Roselle's return, and how intense would they be? This will require me to wait and make further observations before I can find the most acceptable solution for everyone... At the moment, causing damage during the ritual at the critical moment has the highest chance of success... As his thoughts raced, Klein looked at the pool of dark shadows and slowly said, "How long can you last?"

Lucca Brewster observed his condition and said, "Seven, seven minutes.'

I thought you were going to say "seven, six, five, four, three..." After lampooning, Klein said, "I'll get you a Psychiatrist."

As he spoke, he retreated a few hundred meters out of the shadows of Maysanchez's residence. Then, he set up a ritual and sacrificed Creeping Hunger above the gray fog.

After doing all of this, he sat in The Fool's chair, conjured Gehrman Sparrow's figure, and made him do a simple and quick prayer.

At this moment, it was almost dawn. As for Audrey, who had been busy with charity work, she had yet to sleep.

Treat a demigod who has shown signs of losing control... I can accumulate more merit points as well... Audrey put down the fountain pen in her hand and put on a white cloak with golden patterns.

Just like the previous mission, she set up a ritual to receive Creeping Hunger and wore Lie, which was in the form of a silver mask. Under the protection of Angel's Embrace, she "Teleported" to the Maysanchez mansion in West Balam according to the map provided by Gehrman Sparrow.

The difference this time was that, due to her facing a demigod, not only was she wearing a mask, she had also used Lie to adjust her figure, aura, and appearance under the mask.

Then, she saw "Mr. World" in the form of Dwayne Dantes.

"That demigod has broken down into pools of black liquid. Try not to communicate with his Body of Heart and Mind directly. This will infect you with his inclination to lose control. If you can't treat him, I can lend you a Beyonder characteristic." Klein specially warned Miss Justice.

Audrey didn't say that she was very clear about this. She was very professional in this aspect and listened attentively. "Let me give it a try first."

She tugged at the cloak covering her body and took a few steps forward, casting her gaze at the illusory bookshelves and the pools of black liquid.

"Thankfully, he hasn't truly lost control." After examining for a few seconds, Audrey said gently.

Accompanied by her calm and powerful words, an invisible wind of Placate began to blow.

The frequency at which the pools of black liquid curled up and stretched began to decrease as the sense of anxiety weakened.

Audrey used Placate a few more times. It was only when Lucca Brewster's mental state was completely stabilized and he had the ability to cooperate did she get him to open up his mind and receive the treatment.

And she took the opportunity to open the door to the demigod's Body of Heart and Mind. She split her use of Placate into multiple treatments during the process of purifying the corruption. She planted psychological cues, cuing Lucca Brewster into believing that everything was fine, allowing him to easily converge his Mythical Creature form and turn back into a human.

The reason for splitting up the process was because if Audrey was affected by the slightest bit of corruption and the negative effects, then she would immediately retreat and resolve her mental problems first.

Finally, she completed the treatment and cues before taking a few steps back.

"Your Excellency, you can remove your Mythical Creature form."

The moment she finished speaking, the illusory bookshelves in the hall vanished. The pools of black liquid gathered together like life, taking on a human form.

The black colors quickly faded away, turning back into Lucca Brewster's original form. He sighed and said with a smile, Thank you very much. When I saw a Sequence 5 Spectator come over, I thought that I would become the main ingredient for her switching to another pathway..."

This old man's words are so direct... I don't even know how to respond to his words... Klein turned his head to look at Justice Audrey. He realized that her eyes were closed tightly.

Uh... Klein opened his mouth to respond to Lucca Brewster.

"Don't worry. What you need the most right now is a set of clothes."

-x-X-x-