Chapter 79: Random Mutation

Chapter 79: Random Mutation

On the surface of the full-length mirror, the silver words seemed to possess lives of their own. Line after line vanished, then line after line reassembled:

“Concerto of Light and Shadow is a pocket watch. It can ‘prohibit’ a certain kind of behavior within a certain range, and it can also ‘deprive’ a target of a certain Beyonder power. However, the total restrictions caused by these two effects cannot exceed two.

“Concerto of Light and Shadow can also directly ‘bestow’ a negative state upon a target, causing them to work passively and perfunctorily, become greedy and impatient, lose fighting spirit, or be capable of focusing only on money.

“Apart from these, the holder of this Sealed Artifact can likewise ‘distort’ a target’s speech, actions, intentions, and the effects of their attacks. It can turn a fatal wound into a severe injury, turn a strike into a push, turn advancing into retreating, and turn fleeing into charging.

“The negative effects of Concerto of Light and Shadow are rather severe. The main point is that once its carrier enters a battle state, all displayed Beyonder effects within a certain range will intermittently undergo random mutation. This does not distinguish between enemy and ally. It is difficult to control and impossible to predict. In other words, Lightning Strike may still create a bolt of lightning, or it might splash a target’s face with cold water, or it might summon an unknown spirit-world creature.

“Because of this, Qonas Kilgor deliberately collected a mystical item that would make himself lucky at crucial moments, hoping that the intermittent random effects would be more favorable to him. This has a certain effect, but not an especially great one.

“…

“Qonas Kilgor also possesses a peculiar handgun. It originates from a mutation caused by a certain evil-god sacrificial incident and is called Revere’s Desperate Scream… It can fire without bullets, and every shot has great power… It can shoot rapidly without stopping, like a shrunken machine gun… Targets struck by it will also endure Revere’s despairing scream before his death, separately falling into different states such as pain, dizziness, or muddle-headedness…

“The greatest problem with this handgun is that its holder will likewise hear that despairing scream, only not as frequently.

“…

“As a Fallen Count, Qonas Kilgor undoubtedly also possesses the qualitatively transformed Distortion and the unreasonable Bestow. In addition, he can Exploit rules, Magnify effects, and Confuse order.

“Exploit can cause a certain state to last longer or end ahead of time, and it can make rules more favorable to himself. To give an example, after he jumps into midair, he can prolong the state of having left the ground, achieving the effect of floating.

“The function of Magnify is to strengthen the effect or influence of certain actions of his own. It can turn an ordinary strike into an execution, and it can turn an air-embrace made across a distance into a binding restraint.

“Confusion affects the structure of things, standards of measurement, and attack precision. It can cause a seemingly huge building to collapse with a rumble, shorten an obviously distant length into only a few steps, and make an attack aimed at himself deviate to the side.

“Through Magnify, Exploit, and Distortion, Beyonders of the Lawyer pathway can, to a certain extent, accomplish things that only the Arbiter pathway should be able to do.

“Of course, mid- and low-sequence Beyonder powers of the Lawyer pathway such as Bribe are also possessed by a Fallen Count, and they are even stronger.

“…

“Great master, I have finished answering. Was it acceptable?”

Your answer feels like I was reading an instruction manual. You were definitely collecting information from the spirit world while displaying it bit by bit… Also, you want praise even for this kind of thing? Klein inwardly muttered a couple of sentences, then gently nodded.

“Not bad.”

After answering the Magic Mirror Arrodes’s question, he swiftly entered the proper state and began analyzing the abilities of Qonas Kilgor, this demigod, along with the characteristics of that powerful Sealed Artifact.

Fallen Count is indeed Sequence 4. He is a half-god, half-human existence. Every aspect has undergone qualitative transformation. Whether Bestow, Distortion, Exploit, or Magnify, they are all rather hard to deal with. A single careless moment could lead to suffering a loss…

By contrast, Confusion is not that frightening. It is basically a certain degree of improvement over the abilities of Sequence 5 Mentor of Disorder…

Concerto of Light and Shadow indeed has traits of the Arbiter domain, and its most troublesome aspect is that negative effect… For Beyonders of the Seer pathway, their combat style is definitely biased toward preparation, precision, and control. Once a fight begins, their methods inevitably link together one after another, set after set. If, during this process, random deviations occur from time to time, the overall plan can very easily be disrupted and fail to come together… That is extremely dangerous…

As he thought, Klein discovered that the main problem lay in the Sealed Artifact called Concerto of Light and Shadow.

As a Beyonder who liked setting traps for his enemies, Klein did not wish to expend all his effort, go through countless turns and struggles, and finally force himself into an extremely dangerous situation, only to plan on using the Luck Stealer charm to swap fates with his target, overturn the battle, and eliminate the opponent in one move—then discover that this lifesaving and victory-securing item had merely summoned a rabbit, or simply turned into fireworks celebrating the user’s sudden death.

Qonas Kilgor can use an item that increases luck to weaken this influence, but I cannot do the same. Luck or misfortune that is not at the angelic level has no effect on me at all… However, I have Winner Enuni as a marionette… After thinking for a while, Klein posed a second question to the Magic Mirror Arrodes:

“How do I avoid that Sealed Artifact’s intermittent random mutation?”

On the dark mirror surface, silver words shot out from the watery light, forming a new sentence:

“There is no need to avoid it!

“You only need to make Qonas Kilgor unlucky. In this aspect, demigods of the Evernight pathway are experts.”

That makes sense… According to relativity, as long as Qonas Kilgor is unluckier than I am, I am the lucky one… Madam Arianna herself also said that she would provide necessary assistance… For her, quietly giving Qonas Kilgor misfortune before creating the concealed world should be very easy, very simple… Klein suddenly saw the light and nodded.

“Very good. That will be all for today. If anything comes up afterward, I will summon you again.”

“Yes, Master! No problem, Master! Goodbye, Master~” On the surface of the full-length mirror, a simple stick-figure drawing of “waving” appeared immediately after the silver words.

Seeing the mirror instantly return to normal, Klein withdrew his gaze and quickly simulated the battle that was about to happen in his mind.

Gradually, he formed certain lines of thought, grasped flashes of inspiration, and began further refinement.

After developing several backup plans, Klein walked to the balcony. Facing the garden in the night, he said softly,

“Can you make Qonas Kilgor fall into misfortune before the battle?”

After a brief silence, a calm, ordinary female voice sounded beside his ear:

“Yes.”

“Then I have no problems.” Klein immediately replied.

His surroundings swiftly returned to silence.

A cold autumn wind blew past. Klein stared expressionlessly at the nighttime manor for several seconds. Then he pressed down on his silk top hat, tugged at the human-skin glove on his left palm, and took the Death Knell revolver from beneath his armpit.

Immediately afterward, his thumb swept diagonally, making the cylinder of that iron-black handgun spin.

…

The night deepened. The crimson moon occasionally pierced the clouds, and Rose Song Manor slept completely under such an environment.

At this moment, a figure covertly came from the south bank of the Tussock River, spending only two or three steps to return to his own room.

He was the deputy director of MI9, Qonas Kilgor, wearing a white shirt and black trousers.

The hardboiled-looking demigod surveyed the area and discovered nothing abnormal. Then a slight smile appeared on his face. He walked to the small bar in the guest room, took out a glass, picked up a bottle of Rose Song red wine, and prepared to pour himself a shallow layer to celebrate this beautiful night.

Just then, his spiritual intuition was suddenly touched, and he abruptly raised his head.

He immediately saw the several grayish-white chimneys on the opposite rooftop suddenly shrouded by shadows and dyed the color of ink.

To the side of those chimneys, one of the iconic spires of Rose Song Manor’s main building had likewise turned deep black, while a clear, scarlet moon hung quietly behind and above the top of that spire.

The clouds and stars high above had already disappeared. Aside from the enormous crimson moon, there was only pitch-black night.

Under the night, the flowers and trees were clearly before his eyes, yet they possessed no vitality. They were dim and hazy, as though separated by a great distance.

Black and red, shadows and buildings, quiet and plants—all of them were displayed before Qonas Kilgor’s eyes in this strange posture.

This… As the demigod’s pupils dilated slightly, he responded without the slightest hesitation.

His left hand reached into his pocket, while his right palm moved beneath his arm, separately taking out two items.

In his right hand was a strange handgun. Its overall color was gray, and it was several sizes larger than an ordinary revolver, resembling half of a giant hammer that would only appear in classical warfare.

What was unusual about this handgun was that it had six barrels in total, each rather thick and with a deep bore. Its cylinder was embedded with more than ten ugly rivets, giving it a rough kind of beauty.

In Qonas Kilgor’s left hand was a “tin” pocket watch. On its face, one half had all sorts of symbolic signs arranged neatly and positioned according to time order; the other half was chaotic and mixed, even intruding into the opposite region. The two halves seemed connected at some invisible mechanical core behind the curtain, possessing an even more complex and dizzying structure.

Almost at the same time, a human figure emerged from the huge crimson moon outside the window and glided down at extreme speed.

He grew larger and clearer. He was a young man with black hair, brown eyes, deeply defined contours, and cold, hard lines.

The young man wore a silk top hat and a black windbreaker. One hand held a unique revolver, while the other was covered in transparent human skin. Under the illumination of the clear radiance, it was as though he bore the gigantic crimson moon on his back.

Gehrman Sparrow.