Chapter 86: Powerful Purifier

Chapter 86: Powerful Purifier

Gathering his thoughts, Klein glanced at the angel of concealment opposite him and carefully said,

“Is there such a possibility—that the ruin you saw was actually imagined into existence?”

He did not directly mention Adam or the Twilight Hermit Order, worried that even inside Arianna’s concealed domain, speaking of the corresponding matters aloud might still be heard by Adam, who controlled the Uniqueness of the Spectator pathway and had recently obtained 0-08.

While within Arianna’s concealed world, Klein believed that thinking about Adam and the Twilight Hermit Order should pose no problem. But once those thoughts were spoken aloud, that might not remain true. One had to remember that back then, Mr. Door could discuss Adam without restraint with Emperor Roselle not only because a Secrets Sorcerer possessed Beyonder powers of concealment, but also because He Himself was a King of Angels, His status no lower than Adam or Amon, and perhaps even higher.

“Imagined…” Arianna softly repeated the key word in Klein’s sentence, seemingly already forming a guess.

At Her level and status, She was certainly not unfamiliar with ancient history or the main characteristics of the twenty-two pathways.

Moreover, She was an angel acting on behalf of the authority of concealment, possessing the highest reading permissions over all materials controlled by the Church.

A few seconds later, Arianna looked at Dwayne Dantès sitting there and said,

“The Psychology Alchemists?”

From Qonas Kilgor’s confession, it was obvious that the king’s faction was cooperating with the Psychology Alchemists, an organization that controlled the Spectator pathway.

Klein first nodded, then added,

“Their upper echelons should not possess the ability to imagine things into reality.

“In this world, there may be only one or two beings who control similar authority.”

Arianna nodded thoughtfully.

“I understand.

“Now that underground ruin is open to us. I will find an opportunity and think of a way to verify it. If it is real, then that means one or several archbishops of the Church of Storms or the Church of Steam are His people.”

She did not mention the possibility of problems among the Church of Evernight’s upper levels, because the Goddess controlled the authority of concealment. In this aspect, it would be very difficult for anyone to hide from Her year after year.

Klein felt slightly surprised and could not help asking back,

“That underground ruin has been opened to the three Churches?”

“Yes. If it truly was imagined into existence, that means the matter they are cooperating on is close to success, and they only need to delay for a while longer,” Arianna said simply, explaining Her guess.

That is exactly what I was thinking… The tide of the era is about to surge forward, trying to drown everything… Fortunately, I am more prepared than before. I now have a demigod-level marionette. In some sense, he is stronger than I am; after all, he can use my Beyonder powers, while I cannot use his… Since I cannot digest the Bizarro Sorcerer potion and seek advancement in the short term, increasing the number of powerful marionettes is also one effective means of self-preservation… I can pay attention to the Sanguine and Miss Sharron’s plan against the Rose School of Thought… Klein’s thoughts scattered all at once.

He calmed himself and casually asked,

“The three Churches do not believe that Prince Grove’s explanation?”

“They do not,” Arianna frankly shook Her head. “Qonas Kilgor mentioned Katerina.”

But you have no evidence. After all, the other side can completely explain it by saying that after they broke with the Demoness Sect, Katerina was sent to negotiate and try to repair the relationship, only to be ruthlessly refused. During that process, because the two sides each held the other’s secrets, they did not attack the moment they met, causing Qonas Kilgor, a demigod who did not understand the full situation, to mistakenly believe they were still cooperating…

And facing an angelic family—an angelic family that controls at least half of the military forces—the three Churches cannot directly tear the mask away without evidence. First, they themselves are not monolithic. Second, they must also worry that, once civil war breaks out, Feysac, Intis, Feynapotter, and the four Churches of the Eternal Blazing Sun, God of Combat, Earth Mother, and God of Knowledge and Wisdom will take advantage of the situation… Klein swiftly formed a judgment regarding the current situation.

He briefly mentioned,

“On Viscount Stratford’s side, traces of White Saintess Katerina appeared. I will try to find her.”

Aside from that, Klein was also thinking of finding and eliminating that dangerous Demoness Trissy, making up for the mistake of having released her back then in order to use her.

Her value was clearly not as great as her danger!

“I will also attempt it,” Arianna said, indicating that She would also trace Katerina through this line.

Mm… I have to say, Madam Arianna’s attitude when discussing matters with me is very comfortable. There is no feeling of an angel and high-ranking prelate looking down from above. She completely treats me as someone of equal status… Hearing Arianna’s words, Klein somehow felt slightly moved.

He then asked,

“Was Hvin Rambis of the Psychology Alchemists captured?”

This was one of the key elements in Qonas Kilgor’s testimony, and one of the clues that could expose the king’s faction’s plan.

“He disappeared,” Arianna answered succinctly.

As expected… The possibility that information leaked midway has risen again… Hvin Rambis has gone underground, but that does not mean he will not contact Miss Justice and the other members directly under him… When the time comes, heh, Miss Justice has detested him for quite some time… The only problem is whether Adam is currently in Backlund too, having just imagined a fake ruin into existence. If that is the case, moving against Hvin Rambis would carry a significant chance of attracting the attention of that King of Angels. He might even be sitting beside Hvin Rambis, with no one aware of Him… The more Klein thought about it, the more his teeth ached.

It had to be said that in the present era, when true gods rarely descended into the real world, the brothers Adam and Amon represented the upper limit of status, level, and power. They were synonymous with terror, strength, dread, and the impossible to resist.

Compared with Amon, Klein feared Adam more. Perhaps at some unknown moment, He would be sitting beside you, listening to you speak, smiling at you, reading your truest thoughts, and letting you die in a way that was natural, reasonable, and impossible to understand… Thinking of this, Klein could not help looking around, afraid that the simple priest with a beard and innocent eyes might be standing near the grill, holding a plate, waiting for food while smiling at him.

Without question, Klein discovered nothing.

Noticing his reaction, Arianna calmly added,

“He is not here.”

Whew, good thing there is an angel of concealment protecting me… Klein controlled his thoughts and nodded lightly.

“I will pay attention to Hvin Rambis’s trail.”

Arianna nodded.

“Once this matter ends, you may try praying to the Goddess for a bestowal.”

In other words, the Goddess is very satisfied with my performance this time, and when the time comes, She will bestow upon me the Scholar of Yore potion formula? Klein roughly understood Arianna’s meaning. He stood, tapped his chest four times clockwise, and said,

“Praise the Goddess!”

Arianna likewise drew the crimson moon.

“Praise the Goddess.”

Her figure then vanished inch by inch, as though erased from the air. Meanwhile, the guests at the barbecue dinner had never noticed that an ascetic had come and gone.

Klein sat down again and continued analyzing his situation from another angle.

Qonas Kilgor disappeared without the slightest sign, and the evidence and words Madam Arianna showed all indicate that this deputy director of MI9 fell into Her hands. In other words, Qonas Kilgor’s attack must be related to the Church of Evernight.

Qonas Kilgor disappeared at Rose Song Manor. Rose Song Manor belongs to Dwayne Dantès. Dwayne Dantès is a believer of the Evernight Goddess…

From the king’s faction’s and the Psychology Alchemists’ perspective, Dwayne Dantès can very likely be confirmed as a covert informant of the Church of Evernight…

In that case, my safety can be guaranteed, but being watched and monitored will be unavoidable. I have to be careful… After this, I need to think of a reason to add a new servant. I cannot keep having Qonas Kilgor or Winner Enuni hide like this forever. That would actually make it easier for others to discover a problem. Or perhaps I can turn one of the marionettes into a human-skin suit and merge it with the other marionette…

As he thought, Klein stood, placed the sweet white wine in his hand on a small table beside him, turned, and walked back into the manor’s main building, entering one of the washrooms.

Then he took four steps counterclockwise and arrived above the gray fog. With a beckon, he drew over the Sea God Scepter. Using the prayer light dot from Winner Enuni, whom he had marked, he observed every corner of Rose Song Manor.

During this process, Klein’s mind was somewhat tense. He was quite worried that he might see a simple-clothed priest with a beard and golden eyes.

Of course, compared to seeing such a priest, he was even more afraid that the priest would raise his head, smile back at his gaze, and lift the wineglass in His hand.

Fortunately, after a round of inspection, he confirmed that there was nothing abnormal inside Rose Song Manor.

Klein breathed out in relief, withdrew his spirituality, and cast his gaze toward the copper-green cross placed on the mottled long table.

This was the item that The Magician and Judgement, two Tarot Club members, had sacrificed not long ago. They had said it was to thank Mr. Fool for His various blessings and hoped it would please Him.

It looks rather high-level… Klein picked up the spiked cross and, through divination, quickly grasped this mystical item’s Beyonder abilities and negative effects.

The two were actually one and the same.

This copper-green cross could purify powers from the domains of degeneration, filth, corruption, darkness, evil, disease, and the like, causing them to swiftly disperse until not a trace remained.

Based on that principle, this mystical item could also remove mental corruption from Beyonder characteristics.

It was precisely because of this powerful and pure purification that the copper-green cross rejected contact with other mystical items and Beyonder characteristics. It could not coexist on the same person with them. Moreover, it similarly rejected the holder’s Beyonder characteristics, though comparatively less obviously. As time passed, it would cause a Beyonder’s characteristics to separate out little by little!

In other words, if a Beyonder wore or held this copper-green cross for over an hour, their Sequence would drop by at least one level. If held for over three hours, a non-demigod would inevitably regress into an ordinary person. If held for over six hours, even Saints of Sequence 4 or Sequence 3 would lose their extraordinary powers. As for angels, it had almost no effect, because angels could shatter Beyonder characteristics and possessed extremely powerful control over the source of their own strength.

It can be used to recover characteristics from Beyonders who failed advancement but did not die or lose control… This cross’s ability resembles the Unshadowed of the Sun pathway… Klein nodded thoughtfully.