Chapter 110: Behind the Door

Chapter 110: Behind the Door

In that instant, the first thought that surfaced in Klein’s mind was:

Zaratul indeed has a scheme!

Immediately afterward, he felt extremely glad that he had obtained the correct “door-opening” symbol from the Antigonus family notebook in advance. He now had confidence and would not fall into panic and helplessness.

Zaratul made the feather pen and ink bottle in His hand return to history. Lifting His head, He swept a glance over Gehrman Sparrow and the Demoness of Despair, Panatiya, then sighed and said, “All the conditions are already complete. You may go open the ‘Door of Escape.’”

At this point, His gaze settled upon Gehrman Sparrow’s face, and He chuckled.

“Do not forget to take away my urn.”

The moment His words fell, His entire body suddenly split apart into countless tiny specks of light, spreading in every direction and merging into the void. It was as though He had long since decayed and long since turned to ash.

Where He had sat, a tin-white jar remained. Its surface patterns were ancient and simple, with nothing special about them.

Klein had Gehrman Sparrow take two steps forward and bend down to pick up the tin jar. It felt heavy, unlike something fake.

He opened the lid with the hand holding the parchment and saw that it was filled with gray-white dust and particles, without a single flicker of light.

Are these really just ordinary ashes? Then who cremated Zaratul? Did He cremate Himself?

After Gehrman Sparrow closed the lid, he casually used the same hand holding the parchment to take a lump of fish meat from his pocket, stuff it into his mouth, and swallow it into his stomach pouch.

The Demoness of Despair, Panatiya, noticed his action. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked over, as if asking, “What are you trying to do?”

Klein quickly sent the meat into the marionette’s mouth, deliberately adjusting the respiratory tract.

“A little nervous.

“I do not know whether this ‘door-opening’ symbol will work.”

Panatiya had already confirmed that what the other party had eaten was ordinary fish meat, though it looked somewhat disgusting. In her half-mad state, she had no patience to make further distinctions. She shifted her gaze away and looked at the urn, smiling before she spoke.

“If it does not work, we can share it.

“I only need one spoonful a day. It can sustain me for a very long time.”

This Demoness’s mental state really is rather abnormal…

Klein sighed inwardly, passed the “eraser” angel statue suspected to be the Mother of the Sky, and walked to the wall behind it.

Then he turned sideways, pointed at the depression, and said to the Demoness of Despair, Panatiya, “Embed that obsidian slab into it.”

Panatiya’s smile was bright, but her eyes were cold.

“Show me the ‘door-opening’ symbol first.”

There is no need to guard against me this much. If I truly wanted to harm you, I would simply abandon the marionette at this moment. You would not have time to flee the church and would definitely be hung up. Afterward, I could slowly enter, pick up the obsidian slab, and still open the door and leave… However, there really is a slight problem with the symbol Zaratul provided. I still need someone to bear it with me…

As Klein’s thoughts shifted, he had Gehrman Sparrow raise his palm, pat his stomach, and open his mouth.

A lump of indistinct flesh and blood quickly surged out, continuously piling forward and becoming Mr. A, beautiful like a woman.

Seeing this, Gehrman Sparrow flicked the parchment open.

The special symbol and the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula appeared simultaneously before the Demoness of Despair, Panatiya, and Mr. A.

Panatiya’s eyes moved slightly. Suddenly, she smiled sweetly and said, “You open the door. You go out first.”

She had confirmed that Gehrman Sparrow was currently still helping manipulate her Spirit Body Threads, so there was still plenty of time to wait.

As she spoke, she tossed the ugly doll smeared with blood and flesh and wrapped with hair to him.

She is also afraid something might go wrong…

While having Gehrman Sparrow catch the doll, Klein watched as the Demoness of Despair took a few steps forward and placed the obsidian slab into the depression.

The two fitted seamlessly, with not the slightest excess.

That wall swiftly emitted light and gradually became transparent. Through it, one could see stone slabs paved outside, walls with holes in them, and clouds floating in midair.

As the Demoness of Despair, Panatiya, retreated to the side, Gehrman Sparrow held the doll, parchment, and urn in his left hand. He stretched out his right palm, using his finger like a pen, and began drawing on the transparent wall the vertical eye formed from many concealed symbols.

During this process, Klein hesitated deeply. He did not know whether he should draw Zaratul’s symbol or the Antigonus family’s.

Although just now he had been thinking that Zaratul had a problem and a scheme, once he calmed down, he also felt that this underestimated that great figure far too much. If Zaratul had simply wanted to harm him and everyone here, He could have avoided mentioning anything about opening the door and simply waited patiently. That alone would have achieved His goal.

Furthermore, Klein’s gray fog aura was completely blocked in this misty town. He truly could not think of any possibility that Zaratul was targeting him specifically.

Therefore, his final judgment was that Zaratul’s fundamental goal remained to coax someone into “opening the door.” This would allow Him to gain something, or free Himself from something. As for whether there would be danger after the “door” opened, that was not within His consideration. If the matter of scattering the ashes was real and relatively important, then after going out, things should be comparatively safe. If not, then the outside would be full of danger.

In other words, the chance that Zaratul’s “door-opening” symbol was correct and would not bring any danger was fifty percent.

On the other side, the Antigonus family notebook was not exactly “benevolent” either. From the scene Klein had seen during divination above the gray fog, from certain information revealed in Zaratul’s words, and from the situation of the external Zaratul having already lost control and gone mad, he could make an initial judgment: the Antigonus family treasure on the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range was very likely a trap with an exceptionally delicious bait. In that case, whether the complex symbol provided by the notebook concealed problems was worthy of consideration.

A tiger on the left, a wolf on the right. A high-stakes choice between two extremes… Also, the Antigonus family’s symbol is for entering the treasure. It does not necessarily mean it can be used to leave…

While Klein thought, the tracing in his hand did not stop. It was about to reach the final, differing portion.

Just then, he glanced at Panatiya and saw that this Demoness’s eyes were bright and shining. The corners of her lips held a smile, giving off the sense that she was slightly impulsive and eager to try.

She… If she were in a normal state, as a seasoned Instigator, she should be able to control her expression… Also, she saw the “door-opening” symbol just now…

Klein’s heart stirred, and he had the marionette follow Zaratul’s version for the ending portion.

Very quickly, the complex vertical eye was completed.

Pure rays of light immediately covered the wall, flowing along the patterns and ultimately gathering together.

Amid the blooming radiance, an illusory double door filled with a sense of concealment appeared upon the wall. As Gehrman Sparrow pushed, it slowly opened backward.

Behind the door were the ancient stone slabs and hole-riddled walls seen just now. Everything was quiet, without the slightest abnormality.

At that very moment, the figure of the Demoness of Despair, Panatiya, suddenly shattered, turning into piece after piece of mirror.

At the same time, this bright, beautiful woman in a pure white robe appeared before Gehrman Sparrow and passed through the Door of Escape in one step.

In her hand, there was now an ugly doll, its surface smeared with flesh and blood, its neck wrapped with hair.

As for the one in Gehrman Sparrow’s hand, it had astonishingly degenerated into a shard of glass.

In Mirror Illusion, the Demoness of Despair surpassed Klein by an unknown margin.

After Panatiya rushed through the door first, she half-turned and revealed a smile to Gehrman Sparrow that mingled madness with mockery. Black flames shot up from her palm, instantly igniting the doll.

At this moment, she seemed to be saying: Despair. At the moment hope arrives, fall into the deepest despair.

Klein discovered that this curse could not be transferred or shared using Paper Figurine Substitute!

Panatiya immediately turned around, preparing to seize the time to move far from the misty town and the ancient church, fearing that an accident might occur.

Just then, her eyes suddenly froze.

Her body shattered again and again, transforming into mirror after mirror, yet she could not move more than ten meters away from the Door of Escape.

In only one or two seconds, Panatiya let out a shrill scream. One invisible thread after another, and thick black strands of hair, immediately curled backward, wrapping around her. Black flames covered the outside, and layers of ice condensed over her, one layer after another.

Suddenly, all of this collapsed. In the Demoness of Despair, Panatiya’s gaze, an obvious, intense despair and regret emerged.

Her expression rapidly became blank. Her neck seemed to have been lifted by an invisible hand, and her entire body rose into midair, hanging there. Her eyes slowly rolled white, while her appearance remained bright and beautiful.

On this side of the Door of Escape, Gehrman Sparrow’s body had already been shrouded by black flames, melting drop by drop like a candle. Meanwhile, Mr. A, who was about to fly into the door of light, inexplicably dry-heaved and vomited out one vivid mushroom after another. On the surface of his body, even more mushrooms sprouted densely like bamboo shoots after rain.

In Gehrman Sparrow’s not-yet-fully-extinguished vision, the image beyond the door of light drew closer, revealing an empty hall.

No. It was not empty at all. Even more corpses hung in midair there. They were old and young, male and female. Their clothing was either exquisite, gorgeous, ancient, or casual.

Together with the hanged ones inside the church, these corpses all floated upward at the same time. They were densely packed, moving to and fro, as if performing a grand opera—an opera that accurately reflected all the ecology and details of an entire town.

Klein saw that behind each of these hanged ones was a transparent, slippery tentacle. Upon them were complex patterns and hidden concealments, seemingly capable of driving people mad.

The countless tentacles extended toward the depths of the hall. There stood an ancient, enormous stone chair, its surface inlaid with dull gold and gems.

This…

Klein’s mind tightened. Without the slightest hesitation, he closed his eyes and severed the connection to his marionette!

In his mind, the scene he had previously seen through divination surfaced once more:

Countless transparent maggots clustered together, sitting upon that gigantic chair, slowly squirming, growing wildly, and extending one almost invisible tentacle after another.

And in the final scene fixed by the marionette’s vision, at the base of that ancient chair, a tarot card lay quietly.

Its surface also depicted Roselle. The emperor wore a gorgeous headpiece and colorful clothing, carrying a staff hung with luggage, seeming about to travel far away.

His expression was filled with longing, and beside him followed a small dog. At the upper corner, resplendent starlight outlined words:

“Sequence 0: Fool!”