Chapter 202: One Plus One Is Greater Than Two

Chapter 202: One Plus One Is Greater Than Two

Ever since he had handed the information on the suspected Bizarro Bane known as the Shapeshifter over to Mr. World, Derrick had often thought that the other party might one day issue a commission to obtain the corresponding material. But he was not strong enough. Even with his friends, he could not complete the hunt. Furthermore, an exploration of that sort would inevitably have to be organized by the six-member council. A private team could not possibly leave the City of Silver and travel that far. He had no choice but to temporarily bury the matter in his heart, taking it out from time to time to spur himself into improving as quickly as possible.

What he had not expected was that, after so little time, an exploration team to Nois City had already been formed—and its leader was Chief Colin Iliad!

Combining this with what he had discussed with Mr. Hanged Man, Miss Justice, and the others during the previous Tarot Gathering, Derrick quickly formed a guess:

During the exploration of the previous Chief’s mausoleum, Mr. Fool had provided the current Chief with a certain amount of help, allowing him to thwart the Fallen Creator’s conspiracy and resolve the matter smoothly. Therefore, this Demon Hunter, starting from the information Derrick had gathered, hoped to hunt a Shapeshifter in order to please the deity!

This is an unavoidable attempt at currying favor, and also a kind of balance… Mr. Hanged Man’s words abruptly echoed in Derrick’s mind, dispelling his confusion. He seized the time before departure to pray to Mr. Fool, asking Him to inform Mr. World that such an exploration would soon take place.

He swiftly received a response and heard Mr. World say:

“…If hunting the Bizarro Bane is difficult or dangerous, you may lower the requirement appropriately and try to obtain its blood instead.

“As long as you can get it, I will exchange it for the Priest of Light Beyonder characteristic.”

The Priest of Light Beyonder characteristic? Mr. World already has the Priest of Light Beyonder characteristic? Or perhaps he has locked onto a target and will soon obtain it? If it’s only obtaining blood, then with the Chief’s strength and the exploration team’s cooperation, there is a high chance of success… Derrick’s heart eased. He picked up Thunder God’s Roar and left his home, heading straight for the training grounds.

The moment he arrived, he saw Chief Colin Iliad. The man carried two straight swords on his back, tall and steady, the kind of person who could make others feel at ease merely by standing there.

Beside this Demon Hunter stood another person: Lovia the Shepherd, dressed in a black robe patterned with purple, with long, slightly curled silver-gray hair.

Lovia, who seemed likely to participate in this operation as well, turned her head. Her pale gray eyes reflected Derrick Berg’s figure without the slightest ripple of emotion.

For reasons he could not explain, Derrick’s heart jolted, and his footsteps unconsciously slowed a little.

…

East Balam, above the gray fog.

Klein deeply approved of the Chief of the City of Silver actively organizing a team to explore Nois City. He also informed Little Sun that there was no need to risk hunting the target; as long as he could obtain even a little of its blood, the mission would count as complete.

When the time came, Klein could smear the blood over the surface of Groselle’s Travels, bring along all his equipment, and “duel” the Bizarro Bane on his own home ground, obtaining the Beyonder material he needed.

As for whether the special isolation of the Forsaken Land of the Gods would block the ability of Groselle’s Travels to swallow people into the world of the book, Klein had considered that too and had already thought of a solution: bestow Groselle’s Travels upon Little Sun, then have him sacrifice it back after achieving the goal.

In addition, he did not worry that the Bizarro Bane might also be a spirit-world-like creature with no blood, because the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula had been very clear:

“Supplementary ingredient: 200 milliliters of a Bizarro Bane’s blood…”

There are always more solutions than difficulties… Klein murmured in satisfaction and returned to the real world.

Before sleep, he received Leonard Mitchell’s reply. The letter mentioned that the Worms of Time would only be available after another day, and it also described evil spirits in detail.

“They can only be provided after a day, and only two of them. The old grandpa inside Leonard really isn’t in good shape… Unable to leave their territory, restricted in range of activity… Common traits are an appetite for devouring the souls of living beings and a craving for Beyonder materials from their former pathway… In other words, when that evil spirit has the upper hand, it will use Ince Zangwill’s body to collect the corresponding materials and Beyonder characteristics. That is indeed one investigative direction.” Klein held the letter in both hands, reading while thinking.

Suddenly, he remembered something:

When he had encountered Ince Zangwill on an island in the middle of the Berserk Sea, the man had been pursued by a powerful demigod of the Hunter pathway!

“This… could that have been caused by the evil spirit?

“I had previously thought Ince Zangwill had been entrusted by a certain faction of the royal family to do something against the Intis Republic, only for some mishap to occur, exposing his movements and causing the other side to send a powerhouse after him…

“Now, it seems another possibility exists. That evil spirit craves Beyonder characteristics from the Hunter pathway. During periods when it can control the body, it actively hunts Beyonders of the same pathway. Perhaps it succeeded. Perhaps it failed. In any case, the result was that it drew the attention of a powerful demigod from the Hunter pathway, who pursued it all the way through the intuition of a hunter.” The more Klein thought about it, the more he felt that the latter conjecture was closer to the truth.

Only this could explain why Ince Zangwill, who controlled 0-08, would have been discovered!

At that moment, his marionettes Enzo and Ludwell each crouched down and began kneading and pounding Klein’s legs.

“We can make a preliminary guess that it’s an evil spirit from the Hunter pathway. In my reply, I’ll have Leonard guide the Red Gloves to investigate in that direction. Sigh. This fellow’s acting skills aren’t very good, and he doesn’t have any psychological foundation. I wonder if he can do it without leaving traces. Perhaps he’ll push it onto a nonexistent informant… A Hunter pathway evil spirit, a Hunter pathway evil spirit…” Klein’s pupils dilated, and he suddenly sat upright, causing his two marionettes to seem briefly at a loss.

He had not seen or known many evil spirits. There had only been one—and that one happened to be from the Hunter pathway as well!

It was an evil spirit with Red Angel Medici as its main body, fused with the residual spirits of two Sequence 1 angels from the Sauron and Einhorn families!

Within the Hunter pathway, there could be no evil spirit of higher status than this one, unless the Blood Emperor Alista Tudor had also left behind a spiritual remnant.

“Before, Ince Zangwill was in Backlund, and the evil spirit I’m not sure whether I should call Medici was also in Backlund.

“Later, that evil spirit escaped its seal and disappeared, while Ince Zangwill ended up miserably possessed by an evil spirit.

“Both sides involve evil spirits of the Hunter pathway…

“This… Could the one possessing Ince Zangwill be that Red Angel evil spirit?” Klein’s brows furrowed little by little. He found it hard to believe his own conjecture, yet felt that it was highly possible.

As his thoughts raced, he found another piece of indirect evidence:

The trait of 0-08 was that if you knew of it, it knew of you. As a King of Angels who had survived since the Second Epoch, Red Angel Medici most likely knew all sorts of information about 0-08!

In other words, so long as that evil spirit tried to recall anything related to 0-08, it would be known by 0-08, establishing a connection.

Right, there was also that phrase, “happy cooperation”… It can’t really be true, can it…? But the problem is, I had previously guessed that the evil spirit should possess a Sequence 1 characteristic and shouldn’t need to seek more from outside. Could it be unable to digest it? Klein rubbed his temples with a headache, stood up, entered the washroom, and took four steps counterclockwise to arrive above the gray fog.

The instant he sat down, he conjured paper and pen and began writing a divination statement:

“The one possessing Ince Zangwill is the evil spirit sealed in Alista Tudor’s underground ruin.”

After examining every word for several seconds, Klein removed the citrine pendant from within his left cuff and used the pendulum method for divination.

This time, when he opened his eyes, what he saw was:

The citrine pendant remained perfectly still.

That meant the divination had failed.

“The level is too high, and there is also 0-08. Right, that evil spirit also carries the Red Priest card, which resists divination and prophecy. With all three combined, no wonder I failed… Mm, this also counts as a certain indirect confirmation.” Klein analyzed the reason and considered what other angles he could use for verification.

His fingers lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table as he muttered silently to himself:

“Besides having Leonard guide the Red Gloves’ investigation, I also need to do something…

“Assuming first that the one possessing Ince Zangwill really is that Red Angel evil spirit, where would it go to seek Beyonder materials of the Hunter pathway when it can control the body?

“Trier, the capital of Intis? Saint Millom, the capital of Feysac? Or would it simply rely on the opening and sealing of the Card of Blasphemy, using the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence to attract moths to the flame?

“Wait. It once mentioned that the Medici family’s descendants were in Bansy Harbor.

“Although that place has already been destroyed, perhaps something is still buried there!

“Also, that evil spirit fused from the residual spirits of three great angels has a strong instinct for provocation. That matches Leonard’s description of evil spirits in his letter. It may deliberately leave something behind in Bansy…”

Thinking of this, Klein immediately conjured the figure of The World, Gehrman Sparrow, and had him request that The Hanged Man make another trip to Bansy to carry out a more detailed investigation.

After completing that, Klein began to consider whether, once it was confirmed that the one inside Ince Zangwill was indeed the Red Angel evil spirit, he could work from the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence and use corresponding materials to lure “Ince Zangwill” into a trap on his own.

“The Hunter pathway… the Hunter pathway…” Amid his whirling thoughts, Klein suddenly remembered the two Hunters currently wandering around West Balam.

He frowned slightly and instinctively analyzed the situation:

Although East Balam and West Balam were both vast, the distance from the city where Ince Zangwill last appeared to the Northern State of West Balam was extremely great. Without the ability to Teleport, even a demigod would likely need ten days to half a month. In theory, Danitz and Anderson should not suddenly run into the Red Angel evil spirit because of the law of convergence. Besides, with their Sequences, they were still too low… but it could not be said to be impossible either…

…

West Balam, Northern State, Kukwa City.

Danitz glanced at Anderson beside him and blurted out,

“I’m going to do an investigation. Why are you still following me?

“Normally speaking, shouldn’t you have returned directly to the Sonia Sea from Behrens Harbor?”