Chapter 75: Saving himself

Oh no! I've been controlled by the puppet!

The captain and the others are either unconscious... or have yet to recover. They can't even get up... They will not be able to... wake me up in time...

Everything before Klein's eyes was happening in slow motion. All his joints and brain seemed to have been coated with an ever-thickening layer of glue.

He had no interest in becoming a human-puppet, so he seized the opportunity while not being fully controlled by trying his best to seek a way to save himself.

Without the luxury of time to think through things, Klein came up with an idea. Being unable to hit himself and needing external help, he moved his "rusty" knee joint and took a counterclockwise step.

At the same time, he did not try to escape the invisible rope that "hung" around his throat. All he did was recite inwardly.

Blessings Stem... From The Immortal Lord of... Heaven and Earth...

He wanted to use the mysterious world above the gray fog to awaken him and escape Sealed Artifact 2-049's assimilation!

Creak! Creak! Creak! Klein's knees and ankles let out a creaking sound. With a slow, contorted movement, he took another step counterclockwise.

Blessings Stem... From The Sky Lord... of Heaven and Earth.

Klein's thoughts turned increasingly sluggish. He lifted his left foot in a jerky manner as he took another step in the required spot.

Blessings Stem... From The... Exalted Thearch...

Klein took the final step. At that point, he knew he was almost fully under the puppet's control. Even if Aiur Harson could get up in time to save him, he would probably be unable to be awakened. But his strong desire to live made him chant the final line of the incantation.

Blessings... Stem... From The... Celestial... Worthy…

Just as he finished his incantation, the extremely chaotic and hysterical shouts and murmurs sounded, taking over every corner of Klein's sluggish thoughts, shattering them in the process, and reducing them to thoughts he had no control over.

Klein's stiff body turned light while his spirituality lifted. Endless grayish-white fog and the dark red stars appeared once again before his eyes. It was vast, mysterious, vague, and blurry.

Klein's confused mind settled down as he finally regained his ability to think, only to see the magnificent palace.

"Phew. Thankfully, it worked," he whispered with a trace of lingering fear.

After pacing a few times, Klein began considering the situation he was in.

I can't just stay here the entire time. By the time Captain and company wake up, I won't be able to explain the situation... As things are right now, I only have the shell of my body, nothing more zombielike than a zombie... If I were to take the risk and return, there's no way to guarantee my safety... What if I get controlled by 2-049 again?

While suffering from his dilemma, Klein smacked himself in the forehead and chuckled. "It looks like I haven't gotten used to my status as a Seer!"

He appeared at the seat of honor in front of the long bronze table, sitting on the high-back chair, and extended his hand as a fountain pen appeared out of thin air.

He scribbled a sentence on an illusory piece of paper. "Returning to the real world is very safe."

Immediately following that, Klein pulled out a projection of a spirit pendulum from his packet. After a few Gatherings, he discovered that the items he brought on him were projected above the gray fog, but they were relatively illusory.

Klein held the silver chain above the paper. He calmed his breathing and half closed his eyes as he repeated the words on the piece of paper.

"Returning to the real world is very safe."

After repeating it seven times, Klein completed the divination with spirit dowsing and opened his eyes to see the topaz slowly oscillating, guiding the silver chain in a clockwise spin, indicating that returning to the real world is safe.

Klein heaved a sigh of relief as he released his spirituality and wrapped his body, simulating a plummeting state.

The hazy fog and deep red stars turned ethereal and charged upward. Klein soon found himself still in a daze in his original position and saw the brown puppet halfway out of the chest. He also noticed that the Sealed Artifact had apparently stopped all motion.

His physical senses reached to his brain, and just as he was about to try to move his arm to determine his condition, he suddenly heard a voice concealed within the wind.

"Do you wish to be awakened? You can be saved as long as you promise me one thing.

This one thing is to help me take that Antigonus family notebook.

Nod if you agree. I know you are still capable of completing that action."

Who is it? 2-049 doesn't seem like it's attempting to control me... Klein was shocked, but he did not show any emotion.

The voice then added, "You can obtain additional rewards if you complete this matter. I know you are a Seer. I also know that the Church of the Evernight Goddess does not have Sequence 8 that succeeds Sequence 9. But our Secret Order can give it to you.

Heh, to be honest, I was a Seer before. If not, I wouldn't have dared return. To show you my sincerity, I can now tell you that the corresponding Sequence 8 of Seer is Clown."

Clown? Secret Order... Klein had not made the connection between Seer and Clown.

"Alright, make your choice. Believe me, you no longer have much time left to waste." The voice within the wind was heard again. The distant Dunn and Lorotta were still unconscious, Borgia seemed heavily injured, and Aiur Harson and Leonard Mitchell were in relatively good shape as they attempted to sit up.

Since the person claimed to be a Seer, Klein attempted to analyze the situation from a Seer's perspective.

The Seer dared to return because he divined a glimmer of hope. He believes that Monster Bieber will be defeated, and we'll suffer a severe setback.

He didn't retrieve the notebook himself or confront us directly, likely because he foresaw significant danger. Perhaps he suspects Captain and Madam Lorotta are feigning unconsciousness, that this could be a trap, or that there's an unknown variable.

He's likely at a Sequence above Clown. He didn't divine further to assess the current situation, possibly due to lack of time—if he waited too long, Mr. Aiur Harson and the others might recover some combat ability. Or maybe he underestimates me, thinking it unnecessary. He's confident I can't break free from the puppet's control... He's using me to test for traps and retrieve the notebook.

From another angle, the luck enhancement ritual appears to not cause any abnormal appearances.

With his brain no longer sluggish, Klein felt that his line of reasoning was clear. As for the clown's promise, he believed not one bit of it. Cannon fodder like him did not have any right to negotiate.

Klein controlled his neck and difficulty nodded.

As he took this action, he confirmed that he had escaped the control of Sealed Artifact 2-049.

Just after he nodded, a transparent "curtain" stirred two to three meters to his side. It revealed the suited clown who had his face painted with pastel colors. It was the Secret Order member who had fled previously.

Klein had previously turned around in an attempt to leap out of 2-049's effective range, his back now facing the black chest and the puppet.

The suited clown was in front of him and to his side. First, it was to stay away from the Sealed artifact, and second, to avoid his revolver's barrel. He was being careful.

The suited clown pulled out a long paper slip from his pocket and rapidly shook it until it turned straight like a pole.

He held the paper pole, and at a distance of two to three meters, he gave Klein's shoulder a prod in an attempt to wake him.

This fellow knows 2-049 very well. He knows that if the scent of an Antigonus family descendant is present, the puppet would go ballistic and control two at a time.

Although Klein did not know why 2-049 had stopped assimilating him again, he did not wish to stay within five meters of it any longer and waited as he held his breath.

Just as the paper pole was about to touch his shoulder, Klein suddenly raised his left hand and grabbed the edge of the pole, yanking it backwards.

The suited clown was caught by surprise as his body was pulled forward. He staggered a few steps forward as the gap between him and Klein contracted once again at a distance of less than two meters away.

At the same time, Klein squeezed his right finger on the revolver's trigger.

Bang! Bang! He shot twice but did not aim at the suited clown but behind him, to the side of Sealed Artifact 2-049.

Before the gunshot rang, the suited clown had taken the initiative to roll from his staggering state and instinctively backed off.

Klein released his hand, which had grabbed the pole, as he took several steps away rapidly and rushed out of the danger zone.

Just as the suited clown rolled twice and was about to jump backwards, his head went abuzz as his thoughts rapidly turned sluggish.

He forced me to... dodge in the direction of the Antigonus puppet! I'm within... five meters... How could he not be controlled by the Antigonus puppet?

The suited clown stopped from his rolling as he attempted to crawl out with his seemingly rusty joints.

At that moment, Klein had turned to face him, holding his revolver as he aimed at the slowly-moving target.

Having seen the suited clown's battle with Dunn, Aiur, and Lorotta, Klein knew that he was agile and good at rolling. Even when they were just a meter or two apart, he had carefully given up on shooting directly and forced the clown to dodge to the "kill zone" he imagined—where Sealed Artifact 2-049 was.

Bang! Reflected into the indescribable eyes of the suited clown, Klein pulled the trigger calmly.