Chapter 193: Choosing His “Clothes”

Chapter 193: Choosing His “Clothes”

Above the boundless grayish-white fog, inside the majestic ancient palace, Klein was in no hurry to begin his divination. Instead, he first responded to The Hanged Man Alger’s sacrificial ritual and brought the cane crafted from the Ocean Songster Beyonder characteristic before him.

“Sea’s Word… For some reason, that name feels a little nostalgic. Let’s keep it, then… It’s basically a comprehensively weakened version of Sea God Scepter, without demigod-level abilities like Lightning Storm or Tsunami… but its negative effects are quite numerous…”

As Klein recalled The Hanged Man’s description, he ran his fingers over the dark cane head inlaid with silver-white metal.

Perhaps due to the natural suppression of the mysterious space above the gray fog, this supernatural cane did not display any living traits. It lay there quietly, looking as though it were the most ordinary piece of wood in the world.

Klein gave a tiny nod and muttered silently to himself:

“Living traits are indeed rather troublesome for a mystical item, but looked at from another angle, they also mean it can be communicated with and negotiated with. The Die of Probability was such a nasty fellow back then, yet after receiving an education, didn’t it become quite obedient?

“Besides, under normal circumstances, I can just have a servant hold it. Mm, Winner Enzo is very suitable. Although he no longer has passive luck, he is constantly accumulating good fortune in preparation for crucial moments. Letting out a little of it won’t affect anything. That way, whether he gets tripped, falls, or is whipped, he can dodge smoothly enough without drawing attention.

“And if I think about it carefully, the cane’s pranks aren’t entirely useless. If I encounter another Marionettist, a Spirit World Plunderer, or a Bizarro Bane, and I lose the initiative and get initially controlled, slowing both thought and movement, it would be rather difficult to break free on my own. At that moment, if an uncontrolled cane suddenly lashes me or trips me to the ground, wouldn’t that successfully free me from the predicament?

“Sigh. When the negative effects of mystical items are used properly, they can become a great help…

“Of course, in a normal battle, this kind of prank will also bring unnecessary danger. How to balance it and how to avoid it will have to be explored through repeated use.”

As for the negative effect that made the holder more likely to be struck by lightning during thunderstorms, Klein did not care much. First, unless one was in a special region, thunderstorms were ultimately uncommon and did not need to be considered most of the time. Second, as a Seer, divining the day’s weather before going out was a standard operation. Lastly, if he truly could not avoid a thunderstorm, Klein could hand the cane to his marionette Enzo. In that case, even if lightning did strike toward the Winner, it would be drawn away by nearby lightning rods.

“I just hope I’m not that lightning rod…” Klein mocked himself with a smile, then considered the most troublesome of all the negative effects:

A supernatural song broadcast every six hours!

It made no distinction between friend and foe, and the effect was random. It was practically an area-of-effect weapon of mass destruction!

After thinking for a while, Klein decided to communicate with Sea’s Word and have the cane reduce how often it sang, or at least give a warning before it did.

“I had lunch early today. Counting the time, Creeping Hunger should be about ready to howl…” Klein thoughtfully removed the human-skin glove from his left hand and tossed it onto the empty area in front of the junk pile.

Then he picked up the dark cane inlaid with silver-white metal and threw it over as well. After that, he mobilized a small amount of power from the mysterious space above the gray fog to create a barrier capable of severing all sound and images, letting Creeping Hunger and Sea’s Word spend some time alone together.

Once he had done all this, Klein brushed his palms lightly, conjured paper and pen, and wrote down a divination statement:

“There will be danger if I conduct reconnaissance in the outer region of Calderón today.”

After setting down the dark red fountain pen, Klein took the spirit pendulum from within his cuff and held it in his left hand, letting it hang above the paper, just short of touching it.

After silently reciting the divination statement seven times, he opened his eyes and saw the citrine pendant hanging perfectly still without turning.

That meant the divination had failed.

“The specific circumstances of Calderón are a secret to the entire spirit world. The divination lacks sufficient prerequisites… And that place was once the divine kingdom of an ancient god. Mutated resurrection arrangements remain there, which would also interfere with divination…”

Klein put away the pendulum and pondered.

“I can only choose to trust Red Light’s statement: the outer region of Calderón isn’t very dangerous… Besides, I still have my marionettes. I can have them go in first and confirm whether the place can block the gray fog. If it can, I’ll give up. If it can’t, I’ll enter myself.”

Klein quickly made his decision and no longer hesitated. With a wave of his hand, he removed the barrier he had created earlier.

Then he saw that Creeping Hunger had retreated to the edge of the junk pile, propping itself up with three fingers while its thumb and little finger pressed backward against Groselle’s Travels. It looked weak, as though it was about to lose its balance at any moment.

At the same time, a mouth had split open in its palm, revealing two rows of illusory, ghastly white teeth as it panted nonstop.

On the other side of where the barrier had been, the dark cane inlaid with silver-white metal lay on the floor, twitching from time to time. Transparent bubbles with a faint bluish tint kept burbling out of its tip.

“Good. Even that has made them quiet…” Seeing this, Klein spoke in a gratified murmur.

The moment he finished, the Sea’s Word cane suddenly stood upright. As if held by an invisible person, it “hopped” toward Klein one bounce after another, circled around The Fool’s seat, and hid on the other side of it. Creeping Hunger used its five fingers as legs and chased with difficulty. Halfway there, it finally toppled over with a plop.

Klein watched in silence, then abruptly let out a long sigh.

“After fusing with Mr. A, Creeping Hunger, you may seem to have developed living traits, but your intelligence is far too low. You clearly have a Wind-blessed One grazed and can fly short distances, yet you still use your fingers as feet to chase after something…”

After saying that, he turned to look at Sea’s Word, which was hiding beside him.

“And you. Aren’t you Sequence 5 of the Sailor pathway? What kind of mystical item only hops around on one leg?

“Honestly, do these early-stage living traits only amount to the level of infants? No, a certain fetus is much smarter than both of you!”

After lecturing each of them a few times, Klein sighed and entertained himself by saying,

“It isn’t as if I’m some kind of devil…”

Before he could finish, both the glove and the cane, which had still been making small movements, froze at the same time, not daring to make the slightest sound.

Klein’s remaining words were immediately stuck in his throat. He could only reach out, pick up Sea’s Word, and begin a kind and sincere exchange with it.

After friendly and candid negotiations, the dark cane inlaid with silver-white metal expressed through rapid shaking that it would try to sing as little as possible in the future. If it truly could not hold back, it would inform its master in advance, by means including but not limited to a slight vibration, lifting itself upward by a few centimeters, and so on.

At the same time, it used singing to make one request:

It absolutely could not be held by the hand wearing Creeping Hunger!

Of course, if its master insisted on doing so, it did not object and would be very happy to accept.

“Better than Creeping Hunger. Not as stubborn…” Klein beckoned Creeping Hunger over and put it back on his left hand.

After glancing at the Summoning Door he had created through the ritual earlier, Klein began considering which items to take for this preliminary exploration of Calderón.

The two marionettes went without saying. They could serve as bait, scout ahead, and act as experimental subjects to test whether there were traps, allowing a Marionettist to avoid carrying out too many dangerous maneuvers himself. They had to be brought.

Since he was bringing them, Enzo’s Blood Flower ring and Ludwell’s Harris Rapier were standard equipment and could not be forgotten. In addition, Klein planned to have Enzo hold the Sea’s Word cane.

As for himself, Klein intended to go in spirit body form. If anything went wrong, he could immediately end the summoning and return above the gray fog. In that case, which “clothing” to pair with himself became worth careful consideration.

“Azik’s copper whistle? No. That is connected to the later Death, while Calderón belongs to the Ancient Death… There is a decent chance it could trigger a terrifying mutation and cause danger from the core region to emerge on its own.

“The Black Emperor card, or the Tyrant card? Mm, this time I’ll be moving through the spirit world, and the two marionettes are basically equivalent to the dead, so they aren’t afraid of having their blood extracted. Heh, Ludwell himself is half undead, half human. He hardly has any blood to speak of. As for Enzo, the only value of his blood is that it usually makes him look like a living person, and that can be restored afterward through the Blood Flower ring. In other words, I can bring Sea God Scepter into Calderón!

“That place lies deep in the spirit world, far from the Rorsted Archipelago’s waters, so I don’t need to worry about being affected by my believers’ prayers. The only problem is that I’ll become irritable, easily angered, and prone to getting carried away… That is taboo during exploration. But that’s easy enough to handle. I can hand the scepter to Enzo or Ludwell. Furthermore, the Tyrant card has a very high status and can suppress Sea God Scepter to a certain degree, preventing me from being quite so inflammable and explosive.

“With the Tyrant card plus Sea God Scepter combination, I’d be equivalent to half a Sequence 4. That is the most effective way to lower the risks. Even if I enter with Miss Sharron in the future, I can still use this setup, as long as Miss Sharron remains in wraith—no, evil spirit—state!

“As for the corresponding law of Beyonder characteristic convergence, I don’t have to worry too much. If Calderón can block the gray fog, I’ll take a look from outside and return. No one will be able to lock onto me or catch up, since the spirit world is not the home field of the Sailor pathway. If Calderón cannot block the gray fog and a high-sequence powerhouse of the Church of Storms is truly attracted over, that can instead be made use of…”

As these thoughts rose and fell, Klein suddenly stretched out his hand, causing the Tyrant card placed on the bronze long table to fly up and fall into his palm.

Immediately afterward, he merged this Card of Blasphemy into his spirit body.

In an instant, an aura of extreme dignity and terror radiated outward from The Fool’s seat. A deep, heavy triple crown silently appeared atop Klein’s head, while his clothes transformed into religious vestments.

They resembled the pope’s attire in Saint Seiya from his previous life, except the color was deep blue approaching black.

A howling wind sounded. The papal vestments abruptly unfurled. Klein then lifted his right hand and held it in midair, catching the bone scepter that flew toward him on its own.

At the top of the scepter, gemstone after gemstone suddenly emitted dazzling rays of blue-green and silver-white light. They coiled like lightning around the seated Tyrant.

With a smack, the Sea’s Word cane immediately prostrated itself on the floor beside Klein, who wore papal robes and held the scepter in his hand.