Chapter 77: Crisis in the Darkness

Chapter 77: Crisis in the Darkness

Bang!

The thunderous gunshot echoed through the open area where the trees grew sparse, spreading in every direction. If this were a normal island and a normal forest at night, countless birds would surely have been startled awake, flapping their wings and circling amid the roars of wild beasts. But here, everything remained silent—so silent it was as though no living creature existed.

The black curly-haired baboon’s head abruptly exploded. Blood, brain matter, and fragments sprayed violently outward, making that area seem to experience a sudden rainstorm.

The black crystals on its head likewise shattered. Not a single piece remained intact.

Klein bent his arm and slowly drew back the Death Knell revolver, which still seemed to emit smoke like gunpowder. He watched as the mutated curly-haired baboon’s body, sturdier than a human’s, fell to the ground with a thud.

Travel to close the distance, Wraith possession for hard control, and then Death Knell’s lethal strike at the right moment—together, they equaled an instant kill!

Klein had not done this to show off his own strength. Rather, from his brief observation earlier, he judged that the mutated curly-haired baboon possessed unusual abilities. If he did not take advantage of its complete ignorance of him to swiftly eliminate it, there was a high chance it would reverse the battle and make the situation very troublesome. And on a dangerous primitive island, that was something one had to avoid as much as possible, because no one knew what a fierce battle might attract.

Therefore, after the Wraith possessed the mutated curly-haired baboon, Klein gave up on manipulating its Spirit Body Threads and trying to use a longer, more reliable, and less traceable method to finish it. He simply cocked the hammer and, using Death Knell, seized the stiffness and sluggishness produced by the Wraith’s influence.

The result matched his expectations, and the possible accident midway through also matched what he had imagined. The mutated curly-haired baboon did indeed have enough ability to break free from the disadvantage of Wraith possession through Distortion or Disorder, and to make the bullet’s trajectory irregular enough to forcibly avoid its body.

Unfortunately, before all its efforts could take effect, everything came to an abrupt end. Klein seized that brief moment of dullness and decisively, violently delivered the lethal strike.

If he had switched to manipulating the Spirit Body Threads, the outcome would most likely not have been like this.

Bearing one weakness for this is worth it… And the deeper we go, the higher the chance that I will need to use Death Knell. Compared with discovering what I’m afraid of only after entering a dangerous environment, learning the problem in advance, adapting to it, and avoiding similar situations is the better choice…

Klein let the iron-black handgun naturally hang at his side and walked two or three steps to the mutated curly-haired baboon.

At that moment, under the Wraith’s control, the extraordinary creature’s Beyonder characteristic was separating at an accelerated pace.

Alger, carrying the lantern, saw this from far away. For several dozen seconds, he was unable to fully return to himself. The image frozen in his mind remained the moment sparks burst from the iron-black revolver in Gehrman Sparrow’s hand, and the mutated curly-haired baboon’s head shattered.

The initial encounter with Disorder had already made him understand that this extraordinary creature’s level was above that of the Illusory Chime Tree. It was a type that was rather difficult to handle. If he fought it, he would have to be sufficiently prudent and careful, and even then, victory would not be certain. Yet Gehrman Sparrow had ended the battle in two or three seconds, so quickly it seemed like mere target practice.

They were both Sequence 5. Such a gap was almost impossible for him to believe.

Short-distance teleportation, a strange ability that can control the opponent for a period of time, and that terrifyingly powerful revolver… The effect is more frightening than expected. If this were my first encounter with it, I would certainly be killed instantly as well. Even with preparation, resisting it would not be easy. The best method would be to use my singing in advance to influence the surrounding area indiscriminately, preventing Gehrman Sparrow from completing Travel so smoothly… As expected of the mad adventurer with a bounty of fifty thousand pounds. Even without Mr. Fool’s help, relying purely on himself, he is no weaker than Hell Admiral—perhaps even stronger…

Alger gathered his thoughts. While imagining himself in the mutated curly-haired baboon’s position and considering how he would respond, he silently sighed several times.

Compared with other people’s accounts and his own conjectures, seeing it with his own eyes clearly carried greater persuasive force and a stronger impact.

Inside the curly-haired baboon’s corpse, tiny glimmers of light rapidly separated from the shattered black crystals and condensed together, turning into a clenched, semi-transparent, pitch-black fist.

The fist gave an intuitive impression of power and evil. Its markings, specks of light, and nails seemed to follow normal rules, yet were filled with a deeply incongruous meaning, as though vast amounts of madness and chaos were hidden within.

Sequence 5 of the Black Emperor pathway, Chaos Mentor? I wonder what weakness I obtained this time. I hope it isn’t too bizarre… Mm. For the next six hours, I can use Death Knell freely…

As Klein muttered inwardly, he bent down, picked up the Beyonder characteristic, and placed it inside a metal box he had prepared in advance.

He could have tried to graze the mutated curly-haired baboon and see whether he could obtain Beyonder powers corresponding to Chaos Mentor, replacing the Baron of Corruption in his glove. In the end, however, he gave up on the idea, because he did not know what this extraordinary creature had done before, nor whether it deserved to be tormented.

The earlier clash was an encounter on the battlefield. Life and death were natural there. But grazing was something that left the spirit in great pain, desperately longing for release. Klein had his own principles and persistence. He would not do it lightly and always chose his targets cautiously.

Of course, in his heart, creatures with low intelligence could not be equated with humans. Even if he attempted to graze them, he would not be unable to cross that mental hurdle. However, much of his previous experience had told him that maintaining his own principles and not relaxing his demands on himself was not merely a moral issue. It was also a dike against the flood of losing control. He could not step along the edge bit by bit simply because it seemed harmless. Small matters accumulated one after another could ultimately create a major disaster.

In this mad and chaotic mystical world, actions are not done for others to see, but for oneself. A person can deceive others and deceive gods, but they cannot deceive themselves. Uh, I wonder whether a high-Sequence Beyonder of the Spectator pathway can deceive themselves…

Klein’s thoughts shifted. He was just about to take out Groselle’s Travels hidden at his chest and smear the mutated curly-haired baboon’s blood across its surface.

Just then, his heart tightened. The hairs at the back of his neck stood one by one.

This was an intense premonition of danger!

Yet within that premonition, no corresponding image appeared in Klein’s mind.

Not good!

A thick shadow instantly fell over Klein’s heart. Everything before his eyes seemed to be separated from him by a layer of dark glass.

Without the time to consider what had happened, the glove on his left palm, hanging by his side, once again became transparent.

His figure turned incorporeal at once, then appeared beside the Hanged Man, Alger. He reached out and grabbed the other man’s shoulder.

At that instant, Alger also sensed the abnormality. His heart contracted and expanded as though it were the source of a storm, and blood surged through his arteries and veins like a tide.

At the same time, he saw that Gehrman Sparrow’s right hand, which was gripping his shoulder, was turning gray inch by inch from the fingernails onward, losing its luster bit by bit, just like the stones that could be seen everywhere inside the black forest. As for his own legs, his knees were stiff, and his muscles had solidified, as if they no longer belonged to him.

Their figures swiftly turned transparent and vanished from where they stood, entering the spirit world, where vivid blocks of color were clearly layered and stacked, rapidly shuttling toward the ancient ruins.

All of a sudden, the scene before Klein’s eyes—red, green, black, and other colors stacked in layers—strangely unified into deep black and revealed fine, dense textures, like strands of pitch-black hair.

Pitch-black hair!

A chill shot up from the soles of Klein’s feet. Without the slightest hesitation, he took the Hanged Man and left the spirit world, returning to reality. They landed in an area mixed with broken stones and weeds. Not far away stood a group of buildings that had mostly collapsed.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that the Hanged Man’s body from the waist down had already turned grayish-white, like a stone sculpture!

Snap!

Klein snapped his fingers, igniting a clump of weeds several dozen meters away. He prepared to jump directly over.

At that moment, his heart suddenly shook, and his body began trembling beyond his control.

The rising flames were, to his current self, utterly terrifying!

The weakness brought by Death Knell this time was fear of fire!

The dark “glass” before his eyes grew thicker and thicker. Before Klein could escape his terror, he felt howling winds rise from beneath him, making both him and Alger fly upward together. They leaped past an invisible boundary and entered the area surrounding the ancient ruins.

Bang!

The two landed at the same time, falling with the sound of stones striking stones.

The heavy shadows in their hearts vanished. The danger hidden within the darkness around them retreated like a tide.

Whew…

Klein exhaled and saw that the gray-white color that had already spread to the crook of his arm was fading little by little, shrinking back bit by bit. He felt his body rapidly recovering after leaving the corresponding environment.

His back was drenched in sweat, soaking through his shirt.

What terrified him most was that he did not even know what monster had attacked them just now, nor what ability it had used!

Did Death Knell’s gunshot startle some monster in the area, or perhaps the one that rules the forest at night? Good thing it doesn’t dare enter the area where these ancient ruins stand… No, that isn’t exactly good either. It means there truly is something deep inside the ancient ruins that even that thing fears… I need to be ready to retreat at any moment…

Klein moved his hands and slowly stood.

At that moment, Alger also broke free from the gray-white layer. He looked back at where they had come from and said, “That region was petrifying us.”

That region… petrification…

Klein thoughtfully nodded, stepped toward the mostly collapsed buildings covered in weeds and vines, and replied in a low voice, “The problem now lies ahead.”

Alger said nothing further. He quickened his steps and walked steadily at Klein’s side.

Once they drew closer, Klein looked at the buildings. His gaze swept over the pointed rooftops, the stone pillars, and the broken walls that still stood.

He paused and asked, as if casually, “What do you think these ruins originally were?”

Alger was silent for a few seconds before saying, “A church.

“A cluster of churches.”