Chapter 83: Ruin No. 1

Chapter 83: Ruin No. 1

“No…” Qonas Kilgor stood frozen where he was, an overwhelming sense of despair surging up inside him.

As a military demigod who had experienced no small number of dangers, he clearly understood the situation he was in. He could already hear the footsteps of death drawing closer and closer.

He wanted to make a desperate final struggle. He wanted to reveal his mythical creature form. But after the command was issued through his sluggish thoughts, it had no effect whatsoever.

His body had been “parasitized.” It was no longer under his control!

At that moment, Qonas Kilgor could not even shed a single tear.

Beneath the illumination of the enormous crimson moon, time passed second by second. Suddenly, Qonas Kilgor raised his left hand and touched his own close-cropped hair.

He had already become Klein’s marionette.

In truth, at the very end, he had still had one chance. Because the duration of “parasitism” could not last as long as the time required for complete marionettification, there had been two or three seconds in which he could have tried to reveal his mythical creature form.

The problem was that he was still affected by Misleading and Deception. His own thoughts also became increasingly stagnant and slow as time passed, making it impossible for him to grasp that brief opportunity.

Klein looked at his new marionette and silently breathed out. He then raised his head, looked toward that clear, fresh-red moon, and said,

“It is done.”

Within that enormous crimson moon, a black dot instantly appeared, then descended from the sky. It was Arianna, the Archbishop of the Church of Evernight and Servant of Concealment, wearing a simple robe with a bark belt.

In this concealed world, the ascetic used no Beyonder power at all. She simply floated in midair, casting her gaze toward the Fallen Count below.

She lightly raised her right hand. Above the military demigod’s head, the faintly blurry spirit of Qonas Kilgor emerged, and because of that, Klein lost control over the marionette.

He was not too surprised. After all, he had not yet separated a Worm of Spirit and transmitted it through the Spirit Body Threads. In essence, his control over that marionette still belonged to the Sequence 5 stage, not yet at the demigod level.

“Where did you go just now?” Arianna asked calmly as she looked at Qonas Kilgor’s spirit.

Qonas Kilgor’s expression distorted slightly. Then he answered,

“Ruin No. 1.”

…Is this a promise in the domain of contracts, or a suggestion at the psychological level? As Klein watched the “spirit channeling” from the side, he detected something from the Fallen Count’s reaction.

However, this would not affect anything, because this was a concealed world—a world known to no one, a world no one could sense.

“Where is that ruin located? To whom did it once belong? What is it currently used for?” As an archbishop of the Evernight Goddess, an angel of the corresponding pathway, Arianna could share a certain portion of the authority of Concealment. Thus, she did not begin with simple questions, but directly entered the heart of the matter without the slightest worry that something unexpected would happen.

Qonas Kilgor’s spirit trembled slightly, giving the impression that it might explode on its own. Yet in the end, nothing happened.

Hesitantly, he answered,

“That ruin is located in the Striven section of the Tussock River, deep underground. It has arrangements that interfere with divination and prophecy.”

The Striven section… That is quite a distance from the mountain where Mr. A once was, and also from the place where you vanished earlier. It seems you are all quite cautious. And that point-to-point “teleportation” is much better than I expected… In Klein’s mind, a map of Backlund’s northwestern outskirts rapidly took shape.

Qonas Kilgor continued answering,

“That ruin once belonged to the Blood Emperor, Alista Tudor. As for what it is currently being used for, I do not know. I cannot enter the depths of the ruin. I am only responsible for delivering the people and materials collected through various means.”

The name Blood Emperor Alista Tudor made Arianna fall silent. Two or three seconds later, she asked,

“What materials have you collected?”

This time, Qonas Kilgor did not show much resistance. He listed them one by one, including large amounts of mercury, iron ore, and ritual materials from various domains. Klein could not extract even the smallest bit of useful information from them, because the list was far too comprehensive. It could be used for almost anything.

As expected, very cautious. They used a large amount of miscellaneous material to conceal what they truly wanted, and even the demigod responsible for these matters does not know what it is for… This has the style of a Beyonder of the Spectator pathway. A Psychology Alchemists design? Klein nodded almost imperceptibly as he made his guess.

Arianna also seemed to discover nothing and turned to another question.

“Do you have your own guesses about what they are doing? What are they?”

“Yes. I suspect they are excavating something and attempting a sacrifice,” Qonas Kilgor said, giving his judgment.

Arianna quietly looked down at him for a while, then asked,

“Who had you participate in matters concerning the underground ruin?

“Which people can enter the depths of the ruin?”

Qonas Kilgor struggled again, yet still produced no abnormality.

Hesitantly, he said,

“I received His Majesty the King’s order. I was able to become a demigod because he provided the formula, materials, and opportunity. He also bestowed Concerto of Light and Shadow upon me, allowing me to act as a Sequence 5 Beyonder even when I was not holding back my strength.

“Besides His Majesty the King, at present only two demigods of the royal family can enter the depths of the ruin. One is Prince Grove, and the other is Duchess Georgina.”

Both are Augustuses… But the royal family definitely has more than these two demigods… Miss Justice does not know much about either of them either. She only mentioned that they rarely attend social events and have even given their seats in the House of Lords to their children… Mm, at the level of a demigod, even without Beyonder traits such as Undying or Unaging, living past a hundred is still not a problem. It is indeed not suitable for them to hold public positions and appear frequently before the public… Klein tried to search his memories, but gained nothing.

Arianna remained silent for several seconds, then suddenly asked,

“Have you seen Corens inside the underground ruin?”

“Who… is he?” Qonas Kilgor asked blankly.

Arianna did not answer. She continued asking,

“Other than them, whom else have you seen inside the underground ruin?”

Qonas Kilgor maintained that slightly dazed state produced by spirit channeling as he said,

“There are also people from the Demoness Sect and the Psychology Alchemists. The former’s representative was originally Despair Nightingale Panatiya. After the Great Smog, she was replaced by White Saintess Katerina. The latter is Hvin Rambis.”

“Have they entered the depths of the underground ruin?” Arianna asked meticulously.

“I do not know. I did not follow them at all times.” Qonas Kilgor shook his head. “At least when I encountered them there, they were all in the outer region.”

Arianna then asked other questions, attempting to outline the overall shape of the matter from other angles and aspects. Yet it was obvious that King George III’s arrangement had almost no flaws. Even a demigod like Qonas Kilgor only knew the task that belonged to him and could only move within a certain region. He had no way to understand more.

After pondering for a while, Arianna turned over her right hand and lightly pressed down, pushing Qonas Kilgor’s spirit back into his body. Klein’s control over the marionette then recovered.

This made Klein unable to resist sighing inwardly:

The authority of Concealment is truly powerful! Even if one day Madam Arianna secretly interrogates one of my marionettes, I would have no way of knowing…

At this moment, Arianna turned slightly and said to him on the balcony,

“It can basically be confirmed that George III has a problem, and we now know where that underground ruin is.

“I will immediately meet with the archbishops of the Church of Storms and the Church of Steam in Backlund, persuade them to act tonight, and open that ruin.

“Before I notify you, keep Qonas Kilgor under control and disguise him as if everything is normal. Afterward, make him disappear.”

She is worried that while discussing with the Church of Storms and the Church of Steam, the other side might discover that something has happened to Qonas Kilgor, close off the underground ruin in advance, or activate some other contingency plan? Klein roughly understood and nodded.

“No problem.”

Arianna, whose hair simply hung loose, said no more about this matter. With a casual beckon, she drew over the “tin” pocket watch.

“This Sealed Artifact came from George III’s bestowal. Perhaps its earlier origins can reveal certain clues.”

Meaning you want to take it? Klein answered without the slightest resistance.

“I leave it to you.”

He truly had no objection. He even believed it should be done this way. After all, half the credit for this battle belonged to Arianna’s concealed world and her “blessing” of misfortune. Under such circumstances, even if she had not taken Concerto of Light and Shadow, Klein would have taken the initiative to suggest it. In this aspect, he had always been fair.

And among all the spoils, Concerto of Light and Shadow was the one Klein least wanted, because it was utterly incompatible with a Bizarro Sorcerer’s style of combat. Those random mutations would inevitably affect his own performance, weakening him far more than they weakened his enemy.

Klein had previously considered that if this pocket watch became his spoil, he would have to coax—no, promote it to the Snake of Fate, Will Auceptin. Only a demigod member of the Life School of Thought, a being that survived by relying on luck, could make proper use of Concerto of Light and Shadow. And at that point, with such a large secret organization and such a Sequence 1, there would definitely be other powerful Sealed Artifacts that could be used for exchange.

After receiving his response, Arianna nodded lightly and first tossed the “tin” pocket watch back into Qonas Kilgor’s arms, making the Fallen Count look no different from before.

Her figure then vanished, as though erased by an eraser. Along with her, the world of the enormous crimson moon, the black spires, and the dark chimneys was swiftly wiped away.

In an instant, everything returned to normal. Klein stood inside the master bedroom, while Qonas Kilgor was in a guest room dozens of meters away, tightly gripping Revere’s Desperate Scream.

Then, this major general of MI9 used Confusion to put the handgun back into the holster beneath his arm. He picked up the glass of Rose Song Manor’s special wine that he had just poured and lightly sipped it.