Chapter 80: Reunion

Chapter 80: Reunion

Because he had experience himself, Klein placed himself in the Dark Demonic Wolf’s position and began to think:

Under ordinary circumstances, He would definitely turn off automatic responses to prayers, in order to prevent enemies from using the feedback to establish a connection and lock onto His location.

Under that premise, when facing an unfamiliar prayer that had suddenly appeared, without question, He would rely on the corresponding light to observe the person on the other side and grasp more intelligence, making certain preparations for possible future events.

If the one reciting the honorific name was a familiar, powerful existence similar to Amon, then extinguishing that prayer light immediately would be the best option. But if the person on the other side was a stranger, then, in a situation where He Himself was absolutely safe, long-term monitoring, learning the specific circumstances, and examining whether there was a need to retaliate were things every rational creature would most likely do. At least, Klein himself would do so.

The essence of this matter was that a non-mythical creature would be marked by a high-level existence and might, at any moment, die inexplicably in an extremely miserable fashion. For the person praying, this was comparable to suicide—perhaps even more terrifying than suicide. Yet to the Dark Demonic Wolf, it had only benefits and no drawbacks.

At first, the suspicious Dark Demonic Wolf would certainly suspect there was a conspiracy and would not dare rashly establish a connection or influence Klein from afar. But as time passed, as He observed more deeply, and once He confirmed that the other party truly was only a weakling who had not reached the angel level but carried a hint of Sefirah Castle’s aura, and that the weakling had not made sufficient preparations, He would inevitably seek a chance. When Klein was at his least guarded, He would launch a remote attack through the marked prayer light.

This matched the advantage Klein had previously summarized about himself:

“I am very weak.”

The only problem with this plan was that the initiative would be completely in the Dark Demonic Wolf’s hands. Everything about Klein would be monitored. He would have no way to prepare in advance. Once the other party truly tried to exert influence, he would have no ability to resist and no reason to survive.

Whew. Doing this would mean successfully fishing out the prey, only for the hunter to die because of it… That has no meaning… But if I don’t put myself in such a passive position, I truly cannot lure out an angel of the Seer pathway, nor lure out such a suspicious demonic wolf… This cannot be replaced by a marionette or another person… If only I could seize that span of time when the Dark Demonic Wolf, because of His suspicion, does not dare attack from afar rashly and temporarily only chooses monitoring and observation… Klein’s thoughts spun rapidly, seeking out a possible opportunity amid one impossibility after another.

In the end, he could only sigh inwardly, regretting that he was not an angel of the Audience pathway.

According to his guess, angels of the Audience pathway would more or less possess a Beyonder trait like: the more others understand you, the more you understand them. When the Dark Demonic Wolf monitored and carefully observed an angel of the Audience pathway through a prayer light, His position would, without question, be naturally and reasonably exposed to the other party.

Unfortunately, I am not… And Sequence 2 of the Audience pathway may not necessarily possess this. I can only be certain that Sequence 1 has such a trait… Summon 0-08 from the fog of history? No. Leaving aside whether that quill can still be summoned without Groselle’s Travels, even if I successfully create its projection, the quill is the quill, and I am me. The Dark Demonic Wolf’s understanding of my situation would not let 0-08 reverse-attempt to grasp Him. Also, I can only use it for a brief two minutes at a time, far too short to sense anything… This can instead serve as support for the plan: I can write down the development I want in advance, making the Dark Demonic Wolf’s “choices” reasonable and eliminating uncertain factors… Klein considered many possibilities, but still failed to find a suitable trapping method.

Aside from regretting that he was not a Sequence 1 angel of the Audience pathway, the other thing he could think of was the starry sky:

The starry sky, which would pollute someone merely because they understood it!

If I possessed the essence of the starry sky, then after the Dark Demonic Wolf monitored me through the prayer light, He would be polluted from understanding me, allowing me to lock onto His location. But the essence of the starry sky is above the level of angels. How could I possibly have it… I keep feeling as though I have forgotten something… Klein had The World Gehrman Sparrow give an almost imperceptible shake of the head. Looking around, he said, “There is no need to discuss an answer immediately. After you return, you may communicate with suitable people in appropriate ways.”

He focused especially on The Star Leonard and The Hermit Cattleya, hoping they could obtain suggestions from more experienced existences such as Pallez Zoroast and the Queen of Mysteries, Bernadette.

As for Klein himself, he would use historical projections to return to Backlund and consult Miss Messenger, Will Auceptin, and the ascetic Arianna.

This is consulting angels or quasi-angels widely before making an important decision… Klein lampooned his own behavior inwardly.

The Star Leonard and The Hermit Cattleya nodded at the same time.

“All right.”

Next, the Tarot Club members exchanged information about the situations on various battlefields until the gathering ended.

…

After returning to the real world, Leonard, resting beneath Saint Samuel Cathedral, lowered his voice and described the important points of Klein’s question. At the end, he asked, “Old man, do you have any suggestions?”

“So he wants to take the Miracle Invoker Beyonder characteristic left behind in the Forsaken Land of the Gods…” Pallez Zoroast first understood. Then He laughed. “Tell your former colleague that he cannot solve this himself. I have only one suggestion, and that is to pray to that Fool for help!”

Leonard understood the old man’s personality quite well. He hurriedly pressed, “Is that really the only suggestion?”

Pallez Zoroast gave a snort.

“That is a mythical creature even Amon failed to catch. He can only rely on The Fool’s help.”

Only then did Leonard nod. He sighed.

“Looks like that is the only option…”

…

Two days later, two minutes before the time agreed between The Moon Emlyn and Maric.

Magician Forsi curled up in the easy chair beside the fireplace. She listened to the movements upstairs, then cast her gaze toward her good friend Xio.

“If the war keeps developing like this, Backlund will definitely face even more attacks. Are you really not going to evacuate your mother and brother to the surrounding countryside?”

Xio’s light-blond short hair was parted asymmetrically and combed very neatly. Compared to last year, her whole person seemed much more solemn and more dignified as an Arbiter. She looked like a high-ranking knight leading a band of knights.

She hesitated slightly and said, “The surrounding villages are already at the limit of how many people they can support. Besides, I can still obtain enough food from MI9 right now.”

At that point, she paused, then said, “If the flames of war really reach Backlund, you can Travel with them to Intis, Feynapotter…”

“It seems that’s the only option…” Forsi was just about to mention her recent trip to Intis to purchase food when she suddenly heard the alarm clock ring.

She jolted, abruptly sat upright, and reached into the void with her right hand, which wore a red string bracelet.

Her arm immediately sank. From the air, she dragged out Gehrman Sparrow, wearing a silk top hat and black trench coat, without glasses.

This cold adventurer’s eyes moved. He gained consciousness, reducing the drain on Miss Magician’s spirituality.

While nodding gently, he made the glove on his left palm rapidly turn transparent.

In less than a second, Gehrman Sparrow Teleported away, vanishing from the house Forsi and Xio rented.

“…” Forsi was dazed for a while. Only after some time did the corner of her mouth twitch as she turned to Xio and said, “I feel like I’m just a tool…”

…

Night had already fallen, yet the gas lamps by the street had not lit. Only the crimson moon illuminated the entire city.

Klein arrived at the agreed location. Looking left and right, his gaze stopped for a few seconds each on the unusually deserted street, the scorch marks on the wall, and a collapsed building not far away.

Judging only from the scene before him, Backlund was desolate, battered, and already permeated by the smell of smoke and war.

At that moment, Emlyn White walked out from an alley and nodded to this crazy adventurer.

Following the other party’s instructions, he did not speak and did not bow, in order to avoid wasting precious time. He directly led Gehrman Sparrow to a nearby house and knocked on the door in a rhythmic pattern.

With a creak, the door opened by itself, revealing the interior’s darkness cloaked in faint moonlight.

Emlyn and Klein stepped inside and saw Maric, wearing a white shirt and black vest, appear in the sofa area. Behind them, the door seemed to have a life of its own, closing with a bang.

After glancing at Maric, Emlyn smiled and pointed at Klein.

“This is my partner, Mr. Gehrman Sparrow.”

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly discovered that Maric’s gaze toward him had grown even stranger, as though Maric were examining a fool.

“Long time no see.” Maric immediately stood, pressed a hand to his chest, and bowed to Sherlock Moriarty.

Since the other party had not appeared in the image of Sherlock Moriarty, Maric naturally would not proactively mention that aspect.

“Long time no see.” Klein removed his top hat, looked around once, and said, “Please ask Miss Sharron to come out and discuss things with us. I can maintain this for only a limited time.”

As he spoke, he took out the silver-white adventurer’s harmonica and blew it once.

A figure wearing a gloomy, complicated long dress and carrying four blond-haired, red-eyed heads stepped out from the void.

The messenger summoned using the historical projection of the harmonica counted as an objective existence and would not add to Magician Forsi’s spiritual burden.

At the same time, Maric nodded and said, “All right.”

He cast his gaze toward a tall stool on the other side of the room.

Emlyn looked blankly at this Wraith, then at Gehrman Sparrow and the spirit world creature he had summoned, inexplicably feeling as though he had been excluded and should not be standing here.

Upon that tall stool, a figure was rapidly outlined.

Her skin was puppet-white. She wore an exquisite, deep-black court-style dress and a small soft hat of the same color. Her blond hair was pale, and her blue eyes were faintly light.