Chapter 176: The Fool’s Instruction

Chapter 176: The Fool’s Instruction

Above the gray fog, seeing Light-Slayer Milgongen rapidly age and decay into white bones, Klein naturally thought of Mobet, Siatas, Longzel, and Snowman when they had left Groselle’s Travels.

At the time, he had not had time to stop it. This time, it was the same, because the leader of the King’s Court Hunters had never recited The Fool’s honorific name, and therefore could not be pulled above the gray fog.

However, compared to before, Klein, who was now holding the Sea God Scepter and using a prayer light spot, could do much more.

He immediately accommodated the Black Emperor card, mobilizing the power of the mysterious space above the gray fog, and had a Paper Angel carry his words. With the help of a crimson star, it entered the real world and descended toward Light-Slayer Milgongen’s incomplete spirit.

This was the method that least diminished The Fool’s status. After all, the True Creator was still watching this region.

Just as Milgongen’s consciousness rapidly blurred, an angel with layer upon layer of black wings on its back suddenly appeared before his eyes.

The speed at which his spirit body was collapsing slowed a little. Then a vast, majestic voice sounded beside his ears.

“What are the advancement ritual and supplementary ingredients for the Silver Knight potion?

“Is Sasrir truly asleep within the Giant King’s palace?”

Milgongen answered blankly and dazedly, “The advancement ritual for Silver Knight comes from the Blasphemy Slate. It requires setting up a complex altar, placing the remains of six powerful creatures one personally hunted in the correct positions, and receiving a god’s blessing…

“The supplementary ingredients are…

“I cannot be certain. In any case, after Lord Sasrir entered, that door never opened again…”

As he answered, Milgongen’s spirit slowly yet resolutely dissipated. At last, he could no longer support himself and transformed into sheets of light that merged into the unchanging twilight of the Giant King’s Court.

This conversation had occurred within the “mind,” so no one else heard it.

Fortunately, I was cautious enough not to have Milgongen state the main ingredients of the Silver Knight potion. They can be directly replaced with the Beyonder characteristic anyway. Otherwise, I might not have heard the answer to the second question… The Fool quietly sighed in relief and praised himself inwardly.

He then withdrew his attention and carefully considered what Milgongen had said.

“A god’s blessing? Isn’t this advancement ritual a little too difficult? It’s only Sequence 3… Uh, I have to consider the historical context. Milgongen is a powerhouse who survived from the Second Epoch. He is used to addressing angels as subordinate gods and counting them among gods. In other words, the blessing of an angel should be sufficient. Mm, I’ll use divination later to confirm… Of course, even if an angel’s blessing works, I have no means to obtain it for the moment. We’ll have to see whether the City of Silver’s Grade 0 sealed artifact possesses living traits and whether it can communicate…

“The altar arrangement really is rather complex… Must the remains of six personally hunted powerful creatures all be at the demigod level? For Demon Hunters outside the Forsaken Land of the Gods, this would be very difficult. Where would there be so many demigod-level creatures to hunt? The vast majority belong to factions, organizations, or have protectors… From that view, the Church of the God of War should have created a new substitute method while preserving the essence of the ritual… Is this the difference between the second Blasphemy Slate and the first?

“However, for this aging Chief of the City of Silver, he has definitely killed more than six powerful monsters already… That part should be simple.”

Because Klein could currently confirm that the second Blasphemy Slate had appeared after the ancient Sun God’s fall, he could judge that what Light-Slayer Milgongen had spoken of was the first Blasphemy Slate.

He quickly manifested the interpreted advancement ritual and supplementary ingredients on a sheet of parchment, then used a yellow crystal pendulum to perform divination. The revelation he received was that there were no mistakes.

After that, he threw this information toward the crimson star representing The Sun.

“This is Mr. Fool’s bestowment.” After completing this, Klein laughed self-deprecatingly and increasingly felt that Milgongen’s answer to the second question was worth pondering.

He had not said whether Sasrir was truly sleeping. He had only said that, after the Dark Angel entered, the great door had never opened again.

And what had not opened was limited to that door.

Did the God of Knowledge and Wisdom give me the key, and Adam give me the Unshadowed Crucifix, because they want the door opened to confirm the Dark Angel’s state? As Klein’s thoughts shifted, he suddenly felt somewhat fortunate—fortunate that the True Creator did not seem especially interested in the matter. If just now, He too had descended a will and attempted to influence Milgongen’s collapsing spirit body, He would have run into The Fool’s Paper Angel on the spot.

That would have been rather awkward.

At this moment, Derrick finally dared to open his eyes. His face bore the pallor of excessive blood loss. In order to maintain the Unshadowed Domain, the cross had drawn quite a lot of blood from him.

He looked left and right, pressed the Unshadowed Crucifix before him, and sincerely thanked Mr. Fool.

By then, Haim had put away Thunder God’s Roar and his own weapon. He took off the leather bag on his back, pulled out a set of clothes, and threw it to the Chief.

For the City of Silver exploration team, as long as the clothes or armor they wore were not mystical items, damage during battle was inevitable. They would always prepare several extra sets in advance.

To them, the function of clothing in covering the body was secondary. More importantly, it provided space to store materials, potions, and charms.

Colin Iliad warily swept his gaze around and found no abnormalities. Only then did he quickly put on the clothes, then search among the metal vials scattered across the ground from the battle. He found one, twisted off the stopper, and gulped it down.

His complexion turned a little bluish-green, as though showing signs of poisoning. However, the wounds on his body and his declining aura began to recover.

Lovia, meanwhile, could no longer maintain her Shepherding of the silver-armored knight evil spirit and drew it back into herself.

When Milgongen’s Beyonder characteristic condensed into a silver-white radiance that resembled both a heart and a miniature sun, and Demon Hunter Colin put it away, the Shepherd elder looked toward the Giant King’s palace not far away with her pale-gray eyes.

“Chief, the path leading to the sea is very likely hidden there.”

Lovia paused, then added, “Perhaps inside, there is also a way for us to directly reach the other side of the sea.”

As Colin Iliad watched Derrick, Haim, and the others clean the battlefield, pick up items, and deal with Antilna’s shattered corpse, he shook his head.

“Inside sleeps the Dark Angel. This is certainly a King of Angels. We currently have no way to fight Him. Even facing Him would be very difficult.

“We return first, tell everyone that we have seen the sea, and then prepare to enter the Giant King’s palace.”

Lovia’s silver-gray hair lifted slightly, and her expression became rarely solemn.

“But we know nothing, so we cannot make targeted preparations.”

After saying this, she fell silent for two seconds, then continued, “I have a proposal. You, Derrick, Haim, and the others return first. I will remain and try to enter this palace to gather useful intelligence. I can merge into the shadows. Perhaps I can do so without disturbing that Dark Angel.

“If I do not return, that means the danger inside exceeds the limit of what we can handle.”

When Lovia mentioned that she might die, there was not the slightest change in her expression. It was as though she had long since made such preparations.

Demon Hunter Colin listened quietly until she finished. He stared at her for several seconds and said, “No.

“We cannot endure that kind of risk.

“If you awaken the Dark Angel, He may leave the Giant King’s Court and attack the City of Silver. We definitely cannot withstand it.”

Without waiting for Lovia to respond, Colin Iliad turned his head slightly and looked at the other three team members.

“Derrick, what is your view?”

My view? Derrick was rather bewildered and almost blurted out a question in return.

Haim and the other Dawn Paladin were equally stunned, because this belonged to a dispute within the six-member council. Yet Colin Iliad was asking Derrick Berg for his opinion!

Could it be that the Chief is grooming Derrick to become the next elder of the six-member council? The two exploration team members thoughtfully shifted their gazes toward their teammate.

…He is asking for my view? Above the gray fog, The Fool Klein frowned slightly.

His mind immediately began working at high speed.

“What view can I have?

“If the door is opened and Sasrir wakes up, I can’t save a single one of you. I could only have you pray to the True Creator for help!

“Better to wait until I have learned more about Dark Angel’s state from the Red Angel evil spirit and other relevant existences before exploring again… Whatever the Dragon of Wisdom and Adam are thinking can be set aside for the moment…

“No matter what, choosing prudence and caution at a time like this cannot be wrong.”

As his thoughts flashed, Klein spoke with dignity:

“Return.”

He then sent this image into the crimson star representing The Sun.

Derrick froze for two seconds before calmly answering the Chief’s question.

“I believe we should temporarily give up and return after making preparations.”

Colin Iliad nodded, then turned to Shepherd Lovia.

“This is my decision.”

Lovia was silent for a moment.

“I obey your decision.”

She said nothing more and helped Derrick and the others make markings.

Since Antilna and the others had not died at the hands of blood relatives, there was a high possibility of mutation. Therefore, the exploration team would mark the area to warn later arrivals to be cautious. However, this place was far from the City of Silver, so there was no need to worry that they would affect it.

Amid their work, Lovia suddenly looked up and said to Derrick and Haim, “This is the Giant King’s Court. Mutation may not necessarily happen.”

She did not explain. She merely watched as the pile of Antilna’s flesh and blood was burned into bone ash by flames. Then she took a handful and placed it inside one of her own leather pouches.

After finishing these matters, the City of Silver exploration team searched again for any other passageways, but the answer they received was disappointing.

Then, under Chief Colin Iliad’s leadership, they began returning the way they had come.

When they entered the palace whose doors had been destroyed, where the “oil painting orchestra” played, Derrick could not help turning his head. Once more, he looked beyond the broken railing, past the distant orange-red clouds, toward that deep-blue sea gently surging far away.

After staring for several seconds, he withdrew his gaze and found that the Chief’s pale-blue eyes were also quietly watching in the same direction.

Colin then turned his head. His voice was as calm as always.

“Let’s go.”

Then he did not look back again. He walked steadily forward.