Chapter 180: Unexpected

Chapter 180: Unexpected

After bringing the wooden staff that had no special appearance back to the real world from above the gray fog, Klein immediately began the ritual.

He lit the candles, burned the corresponding essential oils and powdered herbs, stepped back twice, and recited the Goddess’s honorific name in a practiced low voice. At the end, he said, “I sacrifice this staff filled with the power of life to You, and pray for Your grace.”

He did not directly mention the Flaring Heart of a Fog Demon Wolf or the White Frost Crystal. That would have made it equivalent to an exchange rather than an offering of an item and a prayer for bestowment.

In other aspects, the ritual did not need to be too meticulous, but on such a fundamental matter of attitude, Klein believed it was still necessary to pay attention.

As Klein’s words ended, two of the three candle flames suddenly swelled, intertwining into an illusory, gloomy, mysterious door.

The door slowly opened, bringing with it a strong, invisible wind.

The winds lifted the Staff of Life, carrying it through the gap of the illusory door and making it disappear into a scene resembling a boundless starry sky.

Immediately afterward, light flashed, and two items pierced through the barrier, falling silently onto the altar.

One was a strange heart formed from wisps of white fog. The other was a frost crystal exuding cold air.

Joy stirred in Klein’s heart. He hurriedly lowered his head to thank the Goddess for Her bestowment.

When he raised his head again, the gloomy, mysterious door had already closed and was swiftly fading. The altar had fully returned to normal.

Whew, it really succeeded… Klein breathed out in relief, stepped forward, and put away the Flaring Heart of a Fog Demon Wolf and the White Frost Crystal.

Now that he had relaxed, thoughts absolutely unsuited to being spoken aloud flashed through his mind:

“If I’d known it would go this smoothly, perhaps I didn’t need to use the Staff of Life…

“Maybe that huge pile of miscellaneous items would have been enough…

“Perhaps even if I sacrificed nothing, the Goddess would still have granted them. The current situation shows that She Herself supports my becoming a Scholar of Yore…

“Of course, in that case, the gift received would have been far too great, and who knows what price would need to be paid in the future. Exchanging it for the Staff of Life feels more reassuring…

“Mm. Judging from this, before I advance to Sequence 2 and obtain an angel’s status, the Goddess should still favor me. Afterward, it will be hard to judge what developments or changes might occur…”

Thinking to this point, Klein reined in his thoughts, ended the ritual, and tidied up the altar.

Then he began planning how to deal with the Fog Hound, that so-called “guardian of Sefirah Castle.”

“A Magician never performs unprepared.”

…

Backlund Bridge South, Rose Street.

Leonard had changed into a black-and-white checkered police uniform and brought the Red Gloves and his team members together with actual police officers to the only church of the Earth Mother in Backlund.

His epaulettes corresponded to a senior inspector. In reality, based on his Sequence level and his status as captain of a Red Gloves team, he should have been equivalent to a superintendent, or even chief superintendent. However, officers at that level rarely came out personally for such missions, and wearing the corresponding epaulettes to the Church of Harvest would easily raise suspicion among civilians.

Passing through the main entrance, Leonard swept his gaze across the interior and saw that it was empty. There were only two figures inside. One was the Feysacian bishop, massive as a small hill, seated in the front pew and praying intently. The other was a handsome man in clerical robes, black-haired and red-eyed, cleaning the floor.

Emlyn White… Leonard nodded inwardly and walked along the aisle until he reached Bishop Utravsky’s side.

He then coughed lightly twice, making the half-giant bishop open his eyes and look over.

“I am a senior inspector from the Backlund Police Department.” Leonard showed his identification and said, “There is something for which we need you to come with us and assist the investigation.”

Father Utravsky slowly stood. Looking down from above, but speaking in a calm tone, he asked, “What matter?”

“Residents nearby have reported your abnormal behavior. They suspect you may be a spy for Feysac or Feynapotter.” Leonard gave the excuse he had prepared long ago.

At the same time, he prepared to force Bishop Utravsky into a dream. If the other party resisted, he would strive to control this blessed as quickly as possible.

Given the configuration of the Red Gloves team, as long as they did not directly encounter a true demigod, they had no small confidence in taking down an opponent even if that opponent was a blessed wielding a holy relic.

Furthermore, before setting out, Leonard had applied to use a Grade 1 sealed artifact. This was also the reason he had delayed action until today.

Father Utravsky was silent for two seconds, then turned his head and looked toward Emlyn White standing beside the candlestick.

Emlyn’s slightly complicated expression froze at once. He opened his mouth, but did not know what to say.

Father Utravsky withdrew his gaze and nodded softly.

“All right.”

…He’s this cooperative? I thought we would go through an extremely fierce battle, and that we would have to be very careful to avoid casualties… Leonard froze for a second, then revealed a smile.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

If a battle truly occurred that injured a blessed of Earth Mother, Leonard suspected that the already taut situation would sharply change.

Through the ancient history he had learned inside Groselle’s Travels, the many secrets he had learned at the Tarot Gathering, and the corresponding explanations from the old man Pallez, he understood that the current relationship between the Church of Earth Mother and the Church of Evernight was like dried timber. A single spark could set it alight. If that happened, history books might record today’s events like this:

The fuse that turned the war from local to total.

Leonard Mitchell ignited the religious powder keg!

Whew… Seeing that Father Utravsky did not resist and accepted “protective custody,” Emlyn White also secretly breathed out in relief, feeling very satisfied with his performance at the Tarot Club.

At that moment, Red Gloves team member Cindy glanced at the not-quite-masculine, moonlight-soft Emlyn and lowered her voice.

“Cap—uh, boss, there’s still a priest here. Should we take him along too? Mm, and have the Church of Harvest close for a while, to avoid any accidents.”

“…” Emlyn.

“…” Leonard.

After several long seconds of repeated consideration, Leonard finally spoke.

“If the spy case involves Feynapotter, he is also somewhat suspicious. Please have him come back with us to assist the investigation.”

Emlyn froze there, not knowing what expression he should use.

…

East Borough, inside a two-bedroom rented apartment.

Forsi rubbed her dark eye circles, drank the last mouthful of bitter coffee, abruptly stood, and began changing into outdoor clothes.

“You finished writing it?” Xio, who was eating breakfast, froze for a moment.

It had only been a day and a half!

Forsi shook her head, inhaled deeply, and said, “No.

“But I’ve already finished the first part. I can give it to the newspaper editor to take a look. If it becomes a serial, there’s no need to finish all of it now.”

Xio thought about it and said, “That really is a decent method. It can effectively reduce your pressure.”

Forsi’s expression twisted slightly. She closed her eyes briefly and said, “I hope so…”

…

Several streets away, inside another rented apartment, Klein, who had spent some time making plans and preparations, put on Creeping Hunger. His body quickly turned transparent and entered the spirit world.

Raising his head to glance at the seven pure lights of different colors covering the heights, Klein released the arms of his two marionettes, took out a box, and removed the Spirit Wall on its surface, allowing the aura of the Flaring Heart of a Fog Demon Wolf within to leak out.

Then he pulled the marionette Enyuni along. Enyuni pulled the marionette Qonas. The three of them formed one connected line, Teleporting rapidly toward the depths of the spirit world.

Along the way, spirit world creatures of every strange form passed beside them, like an oil painting depicting hell.

After an unknown length of time, Klein’s premonition of danger was suddenly triggered. A scene rapidly outlined itself in his mind:

In a place where red, black, white, blue, and other rich colors overlapped heavily, a slender figure abruptly appeared.

Its outer appearance resembled a hound. Its entire body was covered in short black fur. Where its eye sockets should have been burned two dark-red flames, and the corners of its mouth stretched all the way to the back of its head. Although it clearly existed there as a physical entity, it gave the feeling of something illusory and unreal.

A Fog Hound!

Klein immediately turned to face that direction.

At the same time, he released the two marionettes, allowing them each to wander toward different places.

An instant later, the Fog Hound appeared.

This not-too-deformed but absolutely frightening monster turned its two dark-red flames and looked at Klein.

Immediately after, its figure grew even more illusory and vanished in an instant, as though it were merely a projection from history.

“…It just ran away?” Klein muttered inwardly in astonishment, while becoming even more vigilant against a possible incoming ambush.

A dozen or so seconds later, at the original position, two figures were simultaneously outlined. Both were Fog Hounds, covered in black fur, with eye sockets burning with flames and mouths split to the back of their heads.

However, in the eye sockets of those two monsters, each now had only one dark-red flame remaining. The other was being held in their claws.

Before Klein could react, the two Fog Hounds lay down in the void of the spirit world and began wagging their tails.

Wagging their tails.

“…” Klein’s mouth hung half open. He suspected he was dreaming.