Chapter 107: Descendant of an Ancient God

Chapter 107: Descendant of an Ancient God

Shit…

At that instant, upon hearing the old man’s answer, Klein’s mind echoed with only that one crude word. Aside from it, no other thought could take shape.

Zaratul, leader of the Secret Order, descendant of an aristocratic family from the Fourth Epoch Solomon Empire, previous owner of the Antigonus family notebook, guide to Emperor Roselle’s Beyonder pathway, a true high-Sequence existence of the Seer pathway, a hidden being who had already been a Miracle Invoker one or two hundred years ago, and an angel whom the Magic Mirror Arrodes believed had lost control and become a monster during the process of advancing to Sequence 1 Attendant of Mysteries!

No matter which description one chose, it was a weight Klein currently could not endure. It gave him the shock of a figure from a history textbook leaping out from the pages and walking, alive, right in front of him. At the same time, he felt as though the surrounding air had turned solid, piling layer upon layer over his body, pressing against him and blocking his breathing.

Klein had once imagined that perhaps everything he had encountered—including his transmigration—originated from Zaratul’s arrangements. He had suspected that this existence might be the final boss he would eventually have to face.

And now, he had met him.

He had met him ahead of time.

I’m only a Sequence 5!

Klein could not help screaming inwardly. At the same time, he began doubting whether the other party was truly Zaratul.

Zaratul was a surname, one representing a great noble family from the Fourth Epoch Solomon Empire. Theoretically speaking, over the past two thousand years, there should have been more than one Zaratul… Perhaps this is the grandfather, father, brother, or descendant of the Secret Order leader mentioned in Roselle’s diary… Also, he just said that he himself had died many years ago, while both the Magic Mirror Arrodes and the Snake of Mercury, Will Auceptin, have confirmed that Zaratul, leader of the Secret Order, is still alive—only that he lost control and became a monster, becoming extremely insane…

Klein first tried to convince himself that things might not be as terrible as he imagined. This swiftly calmed his emotions, allowing him to think in greater detail:

The Beyonder abilities this Zaratul displayed just now might not seem numerous, but every one of them surpassed common sense. This was especially true of the parts related to history and fate… He is definitely not merely a Bizarro Sorcerer. He may even be Sequence 3, or even Sequence 2. And the number of angels in a single pathway has never been large…

This place has a close connection to the vanished Nation of the Evernight at the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range. It also contains ravings that can be transmitted into the ears of middle- and low-Sequence Beyonders of the Seer pathway… Back then, after the Secret Order’s leader Zaratul obtained the Antigonus family notebook through Emperor Roselle, he appeared less and less often, with no one knowing what he was plotting. Could this be understood as him using the notebook to come to the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range to search for the treasure left behind by the Antigonus family, thereby obtaining the Sequence 1 Attendant of Mysteries potion formula and the corresponding materials?

In the world of mysticism, consecutive coincidences often meant there was a problem. They meant certainty…

If this truly is that Zaratul, could this “self” of his, split off and existing within the misty town, be what ultimately caused him to lose control and go mad?

As for the matter of him “having already died long ago,” there is also a reasonable explanation. The Secret Order leader Zaratul once said himself:

What is a miracle? Resurrection from the dead is a miracle!

And he himself was already a Miracle Invoker!

While Klein’s thoughts churned, the old man with a face covered in white beard—who claimed to be Zaratul—chuckled.

“Judging from your reaction, you know me?”

Klein’s thoughts turned, and he said tentatively, “I have heard this surname.

“I once met the Queen of Mysteries. From her, I learned of the Secret Order and of its leader.”

The old man lightly nodded, neither confirming nor denying it. He smiled and asked indistinctly, “What other help do you need?”

Help…

Klein savored the extraordinary abilities the other party had displayed. After hesitating briefly, he said, “Can you summon a fish from the outside world out of this concealed world’s history? Even one that had already become food would do.”

In his view, this was not impossible. After all, a large number of outsiders who had once entered the town came from the God War Ruins at the easternmost end of the Sonia Sea. Perhaps some fish had been raised and brought in, serving both as reserve food and as a means of observing changes in the environment, only to vanish at night because they had not fallen asleep. Or perhaps some explorer had just eaten a bellyful of fish when night fell and had not had time to sleep. In that case, fish from the outside world existing within the misty town’s history was not impossible to understand.

Zaratul lifted his head and looked twice at Klein, who wore Gehrman Sparrow’s appearance. For a brief moment, he gave no answer.

Several seconds later, he leveled his gaze again and said in his indistinct voice, “I can.”

No sooner had he spoken than Blood Admiral Senor suddenly had a lump of minced fish meat bonded together in his hand.

“It can only last for three quarters of an hour. Once that ends, it will be as if it had never been eaten,” Zaratul added.

He can really do it…

Klein increasingly felt that the high-Sequence abilities of the Seer pathway were strange and terrifying.

He had originally wanted to say that he did not need any other help. But thinking of Zaratul’s widely acknowledged cunning, he felt that everything the other party said and did needed to be viewed with suspicion. He decided he should make some preparations.

As thoughts纷纷 rose, Klein chose to display a certain degree of greed, lowering Zaratul’s assessment of him and making the old man believe he could be easily guided.

After having his marionette put away the fish meat, he moved his eyes slightly, drew in an almost soundless breath, and said, “I also need the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula.”

Zaratul’s posture did not change. After several seconds of silence, he chuckled.

“No problem—as long as you are willing to believe the formula I give you is real.

“Once you retrieve that piece of obsidian, I will give you the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula together with the symbol for opening the door.

“Ah, to me, these are all things no longer worth caring about. So long as you can scatter my ashes back into the river of my hometown.”

Klein quietly listened to the end, then could not help asking, “Your level must be very high. If your remaining ashes were scattered like that, wouldn’t they contaminate the entire river and create countless monsters?”

Hearing this, Zaratul laughed loudly.

“Very careful.

“However, there is no longer anything special left in my ashes. I lost them long ago.”

As he spoke, he again lifted his head and looked toward the highest point of the ancient church.

Is he implying that his Beyonder characteristic, along with the special traits his body gained through transformation, were all drawn away by the “magnet” at the highest point?

Klein guessed at the other party’s meaning and asked about matters concerning his own Beyonder pathway.

“What is the Sequence 3 potion after Bizarro Sorcerer called?”

The beard on Zaratul’s face shifted slightly as he said, “Scholar of Yore.”

Scholar of Yore… Although that sounds like an artifact that has already died and been dug out of a grave, Zaratul repeatedly mentioned “history” earlier, and the corresponding Beyonder abilities are simply unbelievable…

Feeling slightly pleased, Klein asked again, “Then what about the corresponding Sequence 0?”

Zaratul lifted his head again and looked at him once before giving a low laugh.

“When you open the door and escape, you should be able to find out.”

I hate people like you the most. You only ever say half of what you know, then just smile without speaking…

Klein instantly felt something similar to what Emperor Roselle had once felt. He shifted his gaze to the stone statue nearby and changed the subject.

“Who is this?”

Without turning his head, Zaratul said in a voice that was not entirely clear, “She is a descendant of an ancient god.”

A descendant of an ancient god. A descendant of Flegrea, the Demonic Wolf of Destruction? That ancient god seems to have held the authority of night… Was it His descendant who established the Nation of the Evernight?

Before Klein had time to ask another question, he heard Zaratul chuckle.

“She also has a brother. You should not be unfamiliar with him.”

“Who?” Klein tried hard to recall, but could not find the answer.

Zaratul gave a heh.

“He gave himself a new surname.

“Antigonus.”

Antigonus… Nation of the Evernight… Hornacis… Flegrea…

Klein’s eyes brightened faintly. All at once, he connected the scattered fragments of intelligence into a whole.

It was easy to understand why the Evernight Church destroyed the Nation of the Evernight. It came from a struggle over authority. Yet it made little sense for them to deal with the Antigonus family, who inherited the Seer pathway, with a posture of total extermination. There was no need to go that far. After all, the pathways interchangeable with Sleepless were Death and Giant.

Moreover, Klein had never truly understood why the Antigonus family had to place its treasure on the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range, or why they trusted the people of the Nation of the Evernight so much.

Now, he finally understood somewhat.

Klein was about to ask another question when he suddenly saw the crimson moonlight shining through the church windows turn clear and bright, dragging out shadow after shadow from the corpses hanging in midair.

The red moon has become clear!

Klein’s heart tightened. Without any further thought, following his emergency plan, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, lighting a candle near the opposite wall, far from himself.

At the same time, he made the Wraith Senor possess him and suddenly leapt forward, then rolled, landing beside the nearest outer wall.

By then, the entire church had become abnormally silent. No murmuring echoed anymore.

Klein’s spiritual intuition gave him no warning of danger, but through the shadows on the ground, he discovered that all the corpses suspended in midair had turned toward the side where the candlelight burned!

Without hesitation, Klein pressed down with his left palm, and his entire body directly passed through the wall, arriving outside the church. Then, not daring to even lift his head, relying on the internal force created by the Wraith, he rolled, vaulted, bounded, and sprinted toward the nearest house. The distance between the two was only a dozen or so meters.

During this process, he heard no beast-like low growls, nor did he sense any figures appearing and walking to and fro around him. However, his back felt like it was being needled by countless gazes!

In just a second, Klein flipped to the outside of that house, pressed both palms forward, and passed through.

Then he snapped his fingers, manipulating the flame from a distance and extinguishing the candlelight inside the church.

After a brief silence and tension, the sensation of being watched by countless gazes vanished. Outside the tightly shut curtains, human figures began appearing, coming and going.