Chapter 132: The Hidden Secret

Chapter 132: The Hidden Secret

Saint of Secrets Botis… Recently, Forsi had experienced quite a few events, and she had even possibly been watched by a King of Angels. Because of that, her ability to withstand shock had grown much stronger. At this moment, she actually showed nothing unusual. She just as naturally withdrew her gaze, did not slow her pace, and walked toward the man in the black windbreaker.

A few steps later, the two passed each other.

“…Did he happen to pass by because of the attraction between Beyonder characteristics? If he knew Teacher was here, he definitely wouldn’t walk this slowly. He would directly ‘Teleport’ to pursue him… Good thing Teacher has already gotten into a carriage and left the inn…” Forsi’s heart settled back into place, and her tense thoughts eased slightly.

After taking a few more steps, she looked up at the sky, as though trying to determine whether it would rain later.

At that moment, a crow flew over from not far away and landed on a roadside tree, facing the place Forsi had just passed.

Forsi no longer thought about the Saint of Secrets Botis. Maintaining her previous pace, she left the street.

Because the Aurora Order had not held a gathering in Backlund for a long time, and because the target was a demigod, Forsi temporarily had no intention of avenging her teacher. Leaving aside whether she had the combat ability to do so, simply finding and locking onto a Secret Sorcerer was already a difficult task.

“…I’ll wait until I become a Traveler. Once I might possibly run into Botis by chance, I can commission Mr. World for the corresponding task. I’ll save up compensation properly during this period… For now, one thing can be confirmed: the Aurora Order recently has a saint in Backlund… Uh, it also can’t be ruled out that Botis was ‘traveling’ somewhere today, and under the influence of the attraction between Beyonder characteristics, he accidentally lost his way to Backlund…” Quite naturally, Forsi began considering whether she should ask The World Gehrman Sparrow for help.

As far as she knew, that gentleman had already personally killed at least two demigods, and it had only been three months since he became a demigod himself!

Among the upper ranks of the seven orthodox Churches, true demigods only numbered around a dozen or so… At Mr. World’s pace, in at most two years, he could wipe out all the powerhouses of a Church… Of course, reality isn’t such an ideal model… Forsi, who had received higher education and had once been a surgeon, gradually let her thoughts wander. She walked to the roadside and boarded a rented carriage.

…

Above the gray fog, a small gathering had been convened with only The Sun Derrick, The Hanged Man Alger, and The World Gehrman Sparrow.

Unlike previous similar occasions, however, this time Mr. Fool was serving as witness, because The Sun Derrick’s main purpose was to determine which sealed artifact would better please this great existence, thereby allowing him to exchange for the cross left behind by the Creator.

At the same time, he also had certain doubts he wished to consult Mr. Hanged Man and Mr. World about, which was why he had applied for this private communication.

Sword of Dawn Silver, Twilight Mask, Staff of Life, Fallen Flute… These are all items whose abilities and negative effects are equally outstanding, items that must be sealed. This also shows that the City of Silver truly has no Beyonders of the Artisan pathway. All of their gains can only rely on natural formation. Even if they have a god-level sealed artifact that can shatter characteristics, they have no way to make those characteristics recombine in a better form… While listening to Little Sun’s description, The Fool Klein rapidly analyzed the pros and cons of the different sealed artifacts in his mind.

The first one he eliminated was the Twilight Mask, because the negative effects of this sealed artifact, which originated from the former Chief of the City of Silver, were truly too severe.

Although Klein could have a marionette wear the mask and cut off his connection to its hearing, thus avoiding the never-ending shrieks and roars, and although he would not need to worry about a marionette—essentially his own item—becoming the slave of the Twilight Mask, in that case, his main body would become one of the people nearby who inexplicably, suddenly, and successively died.

Next, for similar reasons, Klein gave up on the Fallen Flute. This sealed artifact’s ability to predict danger in advance was indeed superior to the Desire Apostle within Creeping Hunger, making it extremely tempting. However, its negative effects were likewise not easy to avoid.

If Klein’s main body used the flute, he would gradually become cold and lose normal emotions. This completely contradicted his principle of using humanity to resist divinity and maintain balance. And if he handed it to a marionette, his main body would have to endure the terrifying effect of all nearby life forms suffering a marked decline in thinking ability and becoming prone to mistakes. That would cause the Seer pathway’s core advantage to be passively lost.

“Besides, this flute will also make the hearts of people in the area fall, causing desires to run rampant. I don’t want the people of Böklund Street turning into a carnival clan that has abandoned morality. At that point, who knows how many illegitimate children would be born… I can only consider the Sword of Dawn Silver and the Staff of Life…” Klein muttered inwardly and quickly turned the matter into a choice between two options.

The head sculpture on the Sword of Dawn Silver possessed living characteristics. To Klein, that meant it could be communicated with. And as long as something could be communicated with, many negative effects could naturally be reduced. As for the height restriction, at worst, he could forgo thickness and focus only on height. In any case, for a Clown with an extremely strong sense of balance, it would not affect his performance.

The Staff of Life’s problem of causing mutations in the holder’s body could be avoided by entrusting it to a marionette. If any organs went missing or extra ones appeared, they could then be restored with the Blood Flower ring. As for the influence that filled the surrounding area with vitality and made animals and plants flourish, it was not actually that negative.

Since neither artifact’s negative effects posed too great a problem, what needed to be considered was their function. The Sword of Dawn Silver clearly came from the Demon Hunter of the Warrior pathway. Whether in offense or defense, it was rather powerful. It could also hide malice and was skilled at dealing with demons. The Staff of Life, by contrast, excelled at creation and inducing deformities. It was of a rather sinister type.

After several seconds of consideration, when The Sun Derrick opened his mouth to ask for the answer, The Fool Klein spoke in an unhurried tone, as if discussing something perfectly ordinary.

“The staff, then.”

He ultimately decided on the Staff of Life!

In truth, the Sword of Dawn Silver and the Staff of Life each had their advantages, making the choice difficult. Klein’s final decision was based on a rather uncommon reason:

The sinister powers of the Staff of Life were worthy of the description “mysterious,” and could effectively assist him in acting as a Bizarro Sorcerer, increasing the speed at which his potion digested.

“Yes, Mr. Fool!” The Sun Derrick answered, unable to hide his joy.

That meant that after completing the sacrificial and bestowment ritual, he would obtain the cross that came from the Creator.

After confirming this matter, he turned his gaze toward the figure at the very end of the bronze long table.

“Mr. World, aside from the complete brain of an adult Mind Dragon, do you also need higher-Sequence potion formulas of the Planter pathway?”

Because the matter of the secret passage into the Giant King’s Court had been shared with him by The World, Derrick could only ask him rather than Mr. Fool.

Of course, in Derrick’s view, The World was Mr. Fool’s blessed, so his answer also represented Mr. Fool’s will to a certain extent.

Higher-Sequence potion formulas of the Planter pathway… Sitting at the seat of The Fool at the head of the bronze long table, Klein immediately felt a headache and fell into an intense internal struggle.

He could roughly understand the thoughts of the City of Silver’s Chief. This experienced Demon Hunter hoped, on one hand, to find a future with light through the exploration of the Giant King’s Court. On the other hand, he remained cautious and did not hold excessive expectations, preparing to continue standing guard in the darkness. Therefore, his mention of the Planter pathway potion formula was mainly to see whether Mr. Fool possessed the corresponding authority, or rather, whether some force favored by Him needed it. If that could bring a response, it would effectively improve the City of Silver’s living environment.

On Klein’s side, Frank Lee had recently written to say that his research was only one step from completion. Once he became a Druid, he should succeed. This made Klein very hesitant about whether he should give him a push.

…There’s no way to know what the future will be like… I’ll focus on the present first. A Sequence 5 Beyonder who doesn’t even possess divinity shouldn’t be able to cause anything too serious. Besides, Ma’am Hermit is already a demigod. Keeping an eye on Frank shouldn’t be too great a problem… After thinking for a while, Klein made The World Gehrman Sparrow speak.

“Sequence 5.”

“What if there are even higher ones?” The Sun Derrick asked again.

…Klein had the feeling that he was undergoing some very serious test. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “If you want to give them, that is also acceptable…”

“All right.” The Sun Derrick asked nothing further. He instead turned to the person beside him for advice. “Mr. Hanged Man, I feel that this matter is somewhat strange. Why did the Chief suddenly bring up higher-Sequence potion formulas of the Planter pathway?”

The Hanged Man Alger looked at The World Gehrman Sparrow, then said, “This should be a probe from your Chief, an attempt to see whether the environment around the City of Silver can be changed.

“I remember you mentioned before that you only knew of a Goddess of Harvest who was the Giant King’s queen, while Moon, according to the records of the Sanguine, said that this Goddess of Harvest was named Omebella, and that She was in fact the original object of worship of your City of Silver.

“I had originally only been certain that the name Omebella was real. I had no leaning regarding the other claims. Now, your Chief has suddenly produced higher-Sequence potion formulas of the Planter pathway that you previously didn’t know about. This makes me suspect that Moon’s statement is correct.

“That means that, for some reason, your City of Silver has hidden the fact that it once worshiped the Goddess of Harvest, and even deliberately avoids mentioning Her true name.

“There must be no small secret hidden within this.”

“No small secret…” The Sun Derrick thought about it seriously, but he could not imagine what kind of secret it might be.

Fortunately, this was not an especially important matter to him. He soon ended the private exchange and returned to the City of Silver, preparing for the exchange of sealed artifacts.