Chapter 54: Regardless of Life and Death

Chapter 54: Regardless of Life and Death

Magician Forsi was not surprised that Mr. World would make this request now. Slightly nervous, she answered, “All—alright.

“What kind of transaction, specifically?”

During this period, she had already exchanged several letters with her teacher, Dorian Gray Abraham, and under Miss Justice’s guidance, she had laid quite a bit of groundwork.

The World Klein laughed in a low, hoarse voice.

“You do not need to tell him what I want for now. Simply present my bargaining chips and see whether he is interested.”

“Is your bargaining chip still the promise to remove the Abraham family’s curse?” Magician Forsi asked cautiously, seeking confirmation.

Klein nodded, then pointed at 0-61 on the mottled long table.

“It can also be this Box of the Great Old Ones.”

Anything that requires a Grade 0 sealed artifact in exchange is absolutely not simple… This realization suddenly surfaced in the minds of both Justice Audrey and The Hermit Cattleya.

Magician Forsi placed greater importance on the promise to remove the curse, because she had experienced it personally and knew how tragic her teacher’s family truly was.

Without hesitation, she answered solemnly, “All right.”

…

Backlund, West Borough, inside the basement of a house.

The Dark Saint Kesma, hidden in the shadows, suddenly grew out of the darkness.

He tilted his head slightly, as though listening to something. The muscles of his cheeks gradually began to twitch. Not in sheets, but point by point. Not only did they fail to connect with one another, they interfered with one another instead, making the sight extremely bizarre.

Only a few seconds later, Kesma revealed an expression of extreme pain. His skin tore inch by inch, and his flesh writhed like something boiling, mixed with deep, heavy blackness.

With a thud, he fell to the ground. Crawling toward the altar, he vomited a large quantity of internal organs and flickering points of light.

This Dark Saint’s head pressed tightly against the floor. Like a madman, he muttered without pause:

“Botis actually died…

“A Secrets Sorcerer carrying a Grade 0 sealed artifact died just like that…

“There was a tarot card at the scene, the Hermit…

“The two enemies who acted were both saints. One was a Mysticologist, and the other was a Manipulator…

“An organization that uses tarot cards as code names and believes in The Fool…

“Gehrman Sparrow… Azik Eggers…

“…”

After this uncontrollable low murmuring, the Dark Saint Kesma, both remorseful and suffering, shed tears of agony.

“I repent. I repent. I repent…”

…

Several days later, inside a room in an apartment in Pritz Harbor.

The disguised Dorian Gray Abraham received a letter from his student Forsi through several circuitous channels.

He cautiously examined it once, and after confirming there was no problem and no unusual sign, he picked up a letter opener and took out the paper inside.

The beginning of the letter contained the usual greetings. After that, Forsi wrote with unusual directness:

“…We have killed the Saint of Secrets Botis and obtained the items he carried…”

…Dorian, who had originally planned to skim through the letter once, was abruptly stuck by that sentence. He read it back and forth several times, forgetting to continue downward.

Dorian deeply understood just how powerful Botis was. He also knew exactly how terrifying a Secrets Sorcerer could be.

Yet now, the new student he had only taught for a little more than a year had told him, in an exceedingly plain tone, that Botis had already been dealt with.

For a moment, all that echoed through Dorian’s mind were thoughts like “impossible,” “lies,” and “there is a conspiracy.” He suspected that Forsi might already have been controlled by Botis, or by the Aurora Order.

In any major force, a Sequence 4 Beyonder was an absolute upper echelon and an extremely important member. How could someone of that level be killed so easily, so lightly!

Dorian’s Adam’s apple moved. He forcefully gathered his attention and continued reading the contents of the letter:

“…We obtained the Box of the Great Old Ones. I believe you should not be unfamiliar with it…”

He had only read one more line, yet Dorian’s eyelids jumped several times. He felt the paper in his hand suddenly become as heavy as a boulder.

Of course he was familiar with the Box of the Great Old Ones. It was the Abraham family’s Grade 0 sealed artifact, proof of their former glory.

“…The one killed was Botis holding the Box of the Great Old Ones…” As Dorian grew more astonished and felt that the matter had exceeded his imagination, he inexplicably felt that perhaps it was not impossible. Perhaps what had truly killed Botis was, in fact, the Box of the Great Old Ones.

He knew very well how dangerous that Grade 0 sealed artifact was!

At the same time, he finally noticed one word:

“We.”

This was the first time Forsi had clearly revealed that she had companions and collaborators.

Of course, Dorian had long since guessed as much. He had merely chosen not to expose it out of mutual tacit understanding.

As expected… Dorian sighed and impatiently read the contents that followed:

“…The reason we took action against Botis this time was that a friend of mine wanted to show you goodwill. He said that he is willing to use the Box of the Great Old Ones or a promise to remove the Abraham family’s curse to make a transaction with you. He does not know where you are, and I will not tell him. You may refuse completely…”

A promise to remove the curse? Dorian skipped directly over the Box of the Great Old Ones and began savoring that extremely important sentence.

Through the previous few letters, he had already completely understood the essence of the family curse. It was tragic and helpless, yet within the pain, a trace of hope had been born.

Before this, who could have imagined that what caused generation after generation of Abraham descendants to lose control was actually their ancestor’s cry for help?

It was like a vicious joke from fate itself.

Dorian did not know whether Mr. Door understood the consequences He had caused, nor did he know how to describe his own complex feelings. Yet he could not help beginning to search for a way to let Mr. Door return and completely remove the family curse.

That was a path with extraordinarily faint hope. But for the Abraham family, that was already enough—because a ray of light had finally appeared in the darkness.

After an unknown length of time, Dorian folded the letter and laughed bitterly to himself.

“Goodwill… Such goodwill is truly frightening…”

After speaking to himself, he fell silent again. The expression on his face shifted between gloom and clarity, as though his heart was struggling intensely.

Dong!

The wall clock rang on time, and Dorian jolted awake at once.

His expression gradually became solemn. At last, he made his decision.

Once he had decided, Dorian’s entire person relaxed greatly. A faint smile even appeared on his face.

He first burned Forsi’s letter. Then he simply packed his luggage, went straight out, and headed for Pritz Harbor’s steam train station.

He was going to Southville County—not to hide, but to make some preparations.

He planned to hand the family items and potion formulas in his custody to another family member living there, then return to Pritz Harbor and, as Dorian Gray, go to Backlund to meet his student Forsi and the powerful individual who had displayed this goodwill.

When the time came, he would take a potion in advance, causing himself to bear an intense curse rooted in his spirit body. He would have to consume another kind of potion at fixed times and doses in order to maintain his life. In this way, even if he were controlled and unable to commit suicide, he would still quickly die because he had no chance to take the medicine. As his spirit body dispersed, he would not leak any key intelligence.

For Dorian, on this “journey,” life and death were no longer things he placed in his heart.

For that vague and fleeting hope, he was willing to pay with his life.

…

Backlund, North Borough, beneath Saint Samuel Cathedral.

Leonard, who had just finished a case discussion meeting with members of the Mandated Punishers, Machinery Hivemind, and MI9, returned to his office and sat down.

Just then, Pallez Zoroast’s slightly aged voice echoed inside his mind.

“They have finally found the exact location of the Jacob family treasure and are about to enter.”

“Ah?” Leonard was stunned for a moment, failing to react.

At the previous gathering of the Hermits of Fate, he had sold information regarding the Jacob family treasure. Because no one knew what was inside, no one had been willing to offer a high price. And Leonard’s main objective had not been the transaction anyway, so he had only exchanged it for some rare spiritual materials.

He then lowered his voice and asked, “Old man, how do you know?”

“Heh. Of course I sent an avatar to monitor that place,” Pallez Zoroast replied irritably. “Are you looking down on an angel of the Marauder pathway too much?”

Leonard dryly laughed twice.

“Old man, you’ve recovered pretty well. You even have spare avatars now.”

“I am already at Sequence 2 level.” Pallez Zoroast chuckled. “Next, do not go out. Stay inside the cathedral to prevent accidents.”

“You’re worried that treasure has a trap?” Leonard asked thoughtfully.

“How could a treasure left behind by an angel of the Marauder pathway possibly have no traps?” Pallez Zoroast sneered. “Even I cannot predict exactly what will happen, but staying underground in the cathedral is absolutely safe.”

Leonard nodded, keeping his voice low.

“I hope everything goes smoothly. Old man, you promised me: if you successfully obtain the Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristic, you’ll steal a Grade 1 sealed artifact for me from the items they obtain.”

It was not that he cared whether he gained anything. He mainly used this method to relieve the tension that had suddenly risen in his heart.

“Didn’t you reject the word ‘steal’?” Pallez mocked him once, then fell silent, seemingly focusing on monitoring the situation at the Jacob family treasure.

About an hour later, He let out a long breath inside Leonard’s mind.

“Although there were many traps and quite a few accidents, the expected objective was ultimately achieved. Heh heh. I only took that characteristic and one sealed artifact. The rest can be considered their payment.

“Do not rush to leave here yet. Wait until I absorb that characteristic, then you can go. At that point, there will be no problems.”

Leonard immediately relaxed. He leaned back, crossed his legs, and leisurely began reading the newspaper.

By evening, Pallez Zoroast finally spoke again.

“It is done.”

His voice contained many emotions, but because there were too many and they were too complicated, Leonard was actually unable to distinguish them.

Seeing that nothing else needed to be done, and that the old man might still need to digest, Leonard stood, rubbed his temples, and left Saint Samuel Cathedral, returning to 7 Pinster Street.

Just as he passed through the doorway, he suddenly saw a person sitting on the sofa.

That person wore a classical black robe and a pointed soft hat. His right foot rested atop his left leg, and he was leisurely reading a newspaper.

As though noticing Leonard’s arrival, the person lifted his head, adjusted the monocle over his right eye, and revealed a teasing smile.