Chapter 165: The Chief’s Hint

Chapter 165: The Chief’s Hint

At the top of the round tower, inside the room belonging to the Chief Elder of the six-member council.

Colin Iliad possessed a build that could be considered tall even by the standards of the City of Silver. His graying hair was disheveled and poorly tended, and the nasolabial folds on his face were deep. Elsewhere, however, there were no wrinkles—only old scars, some twisted, some profound.

He wore a linen shirt beneath a brown coat, and around his waist was a belt divided into many small compartments. His light-blue eyes were aged and deep, as though filled with countless stories.

After Derrick finished saluting, this Demon Hunter gave a slight nod and pointed to the items placed on the table diagonally ahead.

“Do you still remember them?”

Derrick looked over. His gaze suddenly froze, and reflected in his eyes were two small translucent worms, each only as thick as a child’s finger.

Worms of Time!

Worms of Time made of transparent ring after transparent ring!

Worms of Time originating from an avatar of Blasphemer Amon!

“I remember,” Derrick said after a second of silence, instinctively giving an answer. “They are things left behind by Amon.”

Colin Iliad nodded almost imperceptibly.

“One of them was even coughed out by you.”

Without waiting for Derrick to speak, he continued in a slow, heavy voice, “You once said that when Amon possessed you, most of the time you were in a dazed state, as though dreaming. You were only occasionally lucid.”

Facing the Chief’s steady gaze, Derrick nodded repeatedly, indicating that he had indeed described it in that way.

Colin Iliad moved his eyes away and looked out the window, gazing down at the nearby buildings.

“I do not believe I ever told you what you did during that period.

“You held two rituals in succession. One contained elements of a covenant, while the other resembled an offering. Both received a certain response. Do you have any impression of what happened at the time?”

As expected. When I prayed to Mr. Fool for help and used the covenant ritual to purify Amon’s avatar, I was being watched as well…

Derrick was not too surprised by the Chief’s words. Under the Hanged Man’s guidance, he had already followed the line of thought that the elders of the City of Silver were all highly experienced and would not simply release someone abnormal without further precautions. From that, he had reached the conclusion that he had been under surveillance ever since leaving the dungeon. Later, when someone emerged from the shadows to stop him during the sacrificial ritual, that conclusion had been preliminarily confirmed.

“…I have no real impression,” Derrick said, pretending to think before shaking his head.

Colin, who had only been observing him from the corner of his eye, turned back and sighed.

“Think carefully again.

“These two worms left behind by Amon are highly valuable materials. I have been searching for a way to make use of them. If they can secretly be made into some item, that will become a trump card no one else knows about, one capable of playing a crucial role at a crucial moment.

“Among the two rituals you experienced, perhaps there were symbolic signs, ancient incantations, or mysticism elements that can be referenced.

“Think carefully again.”

If this had been the Derrick of the past, he would definitely have understood only the surface meaning of the Chief’s words. But now, at this very moment, he could already slowly, after a delay of a few seconds, “translate” those words into the sentences hidden beneath, the ones not directly expressed:

“I know you still have a certain connection to Amon.

“We are about to open the mausoleum of the former Chief. I must prepare an additional measure against accidents, a trump card that can stop Lovia and the being she represents—the Fallen Creator—from endangering the City of Silver. Hurry and try to communicate. See whether you can receive help, or provide the details of the earlier ritual so I can study them myself…”

Mr. Hanged Man was right. The higher one stands, the more experienced one is, the more dangers one has faced, the more one habitually expresses meaning through hints, in an indirect and tactful manner, leaving both sides room to maneuver…

Derrick suddenly felt as though he had truly grasped a certain skill.

Thinking that the Chief’s purpose was to restrain Elder Lovia and the Fallen Creator behind her, he felt there was indeed a need to do something. However, he had no idea how to use the Worms of Time. He could only consider praying to Mr. Fool and seeing whether he might receive assistance.

“I will work hard—to remember. I… need a quiet room,” Derrick replied haltingly, weighing his words.

Colin Iliad seemed to have expected this. He lifted a hand and pointed toward the corridor.

“Many of the rooms opposite with open doors are empty. Choose one yourself.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.” Derrick saluted and withdrew. He casually chose an empty room, locked the wooden door, sat down, and in the dim corner, with his eyes faintly glowing, began praying in a low voice.

…

Desi Bay, Eskelson Harbor.

Carrying his luggage, Klein descended from the airship along the gangway, preparing to take a carriage from the military base into the city.

As for Daly Simone, Leonard Mitchell, and the other Red Gloves, they had disembarked with the first group. Klein had been placed near the very end, so they had not met.

After entering the city and finding a hotel to stay in, he was just preparing to lie down again and improve the fatigue caused by the many problems that had kept him from sleeping well the previous night when illusory, layered prayers suddenly rang in his ears.

It sounds like little Sun…

Klein covered his mouth and yawned, entered the narrow washroom, and with some difficulty took four steps counterclockwise to arrive above the gray fog.

As he had expected, the crimson star that symbolized the Sun was the one constantly flashing and spreading ripples.

His spirituality extended outward and touched it. Klein quickly understood what the Sun was praying about.

The City of Silver’s Chief is asking little Sun—no, asking the Amon he believes to be behind little Sun—how to use the Worms of Time to make charms… Fortunately, I had been troubled by this before and already solved the question… But to use the Worms of Time to make powerful charms that can temporarily swap fates, one has to pray to the Fool. Would that not directly expose that the one behind little Sun is not Amon, but another hidden existence of unknown depth?

Klein’s right index finger lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table as he seriously considered how to respond.

In less than a minute, his thoughts turned, and he discovered that his earlier worry had no meaning.

First, other than Lovia the Shepherd Elder, who might receive certain revelations from the True Creator, no one in the City of Silver understood the specific situation regarding Amon. They only guessed that He might have been the Angel of Time, one of the eight Kings of Angels beside the Creator. Therefore, even if they learned of the Fool’s existence, they would very likely believe that this was Amon’s main body, or perhaps the god currently served by Amon.

Second, the Fool’s honorific name was already no longer a secret to the True Creator, Blasphemer Amon, and Shepherd Elder Lovia. It did not matter much if a few more people in the City of Silver learned it.

Third, that Chief named Colin Iliad was only a Demon Hunter. Even if he grasped the Fool’s honorific name and possessed a Grade 0 sealed artifact, he could not do anything in particular. After all, not even Blasphemer Amon or the True Creator had knocked on Klein’s door in the middle of the night.

Finally, that Chief of the six-member council had long since known there was something wrong with little Sun. What he had done now was practically a clear hint.

As thoughts flashed rapidly, Klein felt it was necessary to be a little bolder. Perhaps he could even use this opportunity to develop one or two informants—no, believers—in the City of Silver, allowing little Sun to no longer struggle alone.

Moreover, compared with when I purified Amon’s avatar, the current me has made considerable progress. I have accumulated deeper mysticism knowledge. I command the Sea God Scepter and can leverage more of the mysterious space above the gray fog. I no longer need to worry that something will go wrong during a ritual involving a Sequence 4 demigod… as long as I do not recklessly pull him above the gray fog…

Klein swiftly made a decision. He turned the process of making the Fate Stealer charm into light and shadow and cast it into the crimson star that symbolized the Sun.

…

Knock, knock, knock. The sound echoed inside the Chief’s room at the top of the round tower.

Even before it sounded, Colin Iliad had already known that Derrick Berg had opened the door and was walking toward this place.

“Come in.” He turned to face the entrance.

Derrick pushed open the door, stepped inside, and saluted.

“Your Excellency, I remembered some vague details.”

Colin Iliad nodded calmly on the surface.

“What are they?”

“Use pure silver and mercury as materials…” Derrick succinctly described the earlier portion of the ritual. Then he paused and said, “At that time, I seemed to be quietly reciting a section of an honorific name: The Fool that does not belong to this era.”

Colin’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly interrupted, “The corresponding symbolic sign is the one left on the candle?”

“Yes.” Derrick answered honestly. “The second line is: The mysterious ruler above the gray fog.”

At this moment, Colin interrupted him again.

“No other ritual materials are needed?”

“No.” Derrick nodded, slightly surprised.

Only then did he realize that the Chief seemed to be deliberately interrupting him whenever he recited Mr. Fool’s honorific name.

Right. Our common language is Giant, a language capable of stirring natural forces. If the honorific name is recited directly, all kinds of unknown effects will certainly appear. I am used to saying it all in one breath because I know Mr. Fool is a true god and worthy of trust, but the Chief does not know that…

Derrick came to a realization and continued, “The third line is: The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.”

Colin listened quietly until the end, then nodded slightly.

“Very good.

“Although we cannot be certain that what you remembered will be of help, this is still no small contribution. I will have merit added for you.

“Go back, or read in the library for a while.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.” Seeing that there was nothing else, Derrick silently breathed out in relief and swiftly left the room at the top of the round tower.

Colin Iliad watched him depart. Then he walked back behind the desk, sat down in the chair, and cast his gaze upon the two translucent, segmented worms.

Beside the worms lay an open notebook, on which was drawn a hidden symbol composed of half an Eye without Pupils and half of Twisting Lines.

Colin’s gaze remained unmoving for a long time, and his entire person seemed to transform into a stone statue.

After a while, he slowly stood and took out three candles.