Chapter 166: The Key Part of the Magic Trick

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Six
The Key Part of the Magic Trick

The invisible prison around Parker immediately crumbled, leaving not even the slightest trace behind.

But he did not recover his ability to move. Instead, he collapsed limply onto the ground and kept shivering, as though still trapped in a frozen state.

This was not only the aftereffect of being touched by a ghost; it also came from Klein directly passing through his body and injuring his soul.

Parker, only Sequence 8, naturally had no way to recover in a short time. He could not even control his breathing and again inhaled a large amount of the same biological toxin already inside his body.

His weakened state accelerated the poisoning. His eyes stared blankly, and he instinctively turned in another direction.

He saw Capim, likewise rolling on the floor and constantly scratching his face and body. He saw stringy strips of flesh hanging beside one bloody claw mark after another. He saw the color of white bone.

Parker panted roughly and struggled to crawl toward him.

Capim, itching so badly he wanted to tear off the entire layer of skin covering his body, suddenly noticed Parker crawling toward him with bloodshot eyes. A bad premonition flashed through his heart. But, unable to stop scratching, he had neither the ability nor the strength to dodge. He could not even shout “No.” He could only replace the word with a scream.

At that moment, Klein, who had evaded “Imprison,” spoke a low word in ancient Hermes:

“Sacred.”

Then he rubbed his fingers together. As the dark-gold Sun Brooch flashed, he fired an Air Bullet with a bang.

The moment that Air Bullet formed, it was dyed in holy brilliance and shot straight toward Heras’s face.

This was Sacred Oath, provided by the Sun Brooch. What Klein had attached was sacred damage!

Heras had already changed position. His movements were exceptionally agile, less like a mage than an expert fighter.

While dodging Klein’s Air Bullets, he signaled for Katie to lash with her whip and bind the enemy.

Once Klein’s attacks were interrupted and no longer continuous, Heras took out an iron-black metal glove from an inner pocket and tried to put it on his left hand.

Even with his body turned sideways in Spirit Body state, Klein did not need the corner of his eye to see this. He immediately flew upward, avoiding Katie’s lashing strike, crossed above the chandelier, and pounced toward Heras.

Seeing this, Heras held the iron-black metal glove and pointed diagonally upward.

“Exile!”

Klein was immediately struck by a vast and invisible force. His entire Spirit Body was blown backward, slammed into the wall, then into the invisible wall created by “Confinement,” but he did not pierce through and leave.

Seizing that chance, Heras put on the iron-black metal glove.

In an instant, he seemed to grow slightly taller, becoming so majestic that he resembled an important figure who could decide the lives of others.

Klein had only just freed himself from the state of “Exile” when a great, unreasonable fear suddenly rose within him. He could not stop himself from wanting to lower his head, prostrate himself, listen to every word the other man said, and obey every command he gave!

His movements became rather sluggish. Reflected in his pupils was Madam Katie rapidly drawing near.

Pa!

Katie swung the black long whip, striking Klein accurately.

The whip passed through the Spirit Body, yet brought Klein’s mind considerable pain. It was like a red-hot branding iron had been pressed against the most vulnerable part of him.

He abruptly threw back his head and released a cry of pain.

At the same time, the revolver in Katie’s other hand fired.

Bang! Bang!

Two bullets carrying pale-gold light shot out one after another and struck Klein’s body.

Clear, bright light surged up. The figure in black armor rapidly thinned, turning into a paper figurine that swiftly burned to ash.

Klein appeared in a shadowed corner. Within his Spirit Body, the Sun Brooch gave off a glimmer of dark-gold radiance.

Warm power instantly filled his body. The extreme fear brought by Heras quickly vanished.

One of the Sun Brooch’s spell-like effects: Immunity to Fear!

And in just a few dozen seconds of fighting, Klein had already been forced to use Paper Figurine Substitute twice.

Although part of this had been intentional, it was enough to prove the strength of Heras and Katie working together, perfectly confirming the result of Klein’s earlier divination:

This operation was quite dangerous!

If Parker had not been temporarily disabled under the effect of the Biological Toxin Bottle and Klein’s initial ambush, the situation would have become even more perilous.

As for his predetermined plan, if all four paper figurines he had prepared were used up and the opportunity still had not appeared, he would rationally give up. It was not that Klein did not wish to prepare more substitutes; rather, aside from the demands of battle, his spirituality could only bear four uses.

Regarding the “Confinement” effect created by Heras, Klein was not worried in the slightest. He was currently a Spirit Body that had been “summoned.” So long as he ended the summoning, he could immediately return above the gray fog. Unless interfered with by god-level power, or by certain special Grade 0 or Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, the process simply could not be interrupted.

Previously, when Klein had stolen the Black Emperor card from the Kingdom Museum, that woman suspected to be a high-Sequence powerhouse had failed to stop his departure.

That was precisely the main reason and greatest source of confidence that let Klein attempt this challenge despite knowing it was rather dangerous—despite daring to help and daring to challenge the impossible.

Seeing that the enemy no longer feared him, Heras, wearing the iron-black metal glove, once again signaled Katie to intercept Klein. Then he pointed forward and declared solemnly:

“Ghosts and Wraiths are forbidden here!”

Klein’s body, covered in black armor, immediately swayed, pushed outward by a strong invisible rejection.

However, the Black Emperor card possessed exceedingly high status, raising his Spirit Body’s level relatively high as well. This direct influence targeting existence itself was soon suppressed.

Heras narrowed his eyes, feeling that this attacking ghost was extremely strange.

Seeing Klein easily escape Katie’s entanglement by flying, he once again pushed his palm forward and announced in ancient Hermes:

“Flight and floating are forbidden here.”

Instantly, Klein felt his body grow heavy and dropped straight from midair to the floor. Katie strode forward, shook her wrist, and snapped out the whip that tortured mind and soul.

She still possessed quite a few Beyonder bullets, but fewer than three remained that specifically targeted ghosts and wraiths. Therefore, for now, she gave up using her revolver and relied only on her secondary weapon.

Klein expertly curled his body and rolled across the ground, nimbly dodging Katie’s strike. He heard the crisp crack of the whip hitting the floor.

Katie was about to sweep the long whip sideways when her throat suddenly itched. She coughed twice, missing the chance for a continuous assault.

This was the symptom of the toxin affecting her!

Heras drew a breath, held it again, bent his wrist back, and pointed at himself.

“Punishment target: Wraiths and ghosts!”

A dawn-like radiance immediately appeared across his body. Even his fists shone with clear, bright light.

Thud!

The marble beneath Heras’s feet cracked silently. His tall, thin body charged out with swift ferocity, closing in before Klein all at once.

At that moment, he looked even more like a knight than Katie did!

Bang! He punched forward, and the air abruptly exploded. But Klein had already stepped back in advance, drifting backward with the wind to dodge it.

Pa! Katie assisted from the side, swinging her whip toward the position where the enemy was evading.

This forced Klein to roll consecutively once more, adopting the posture of a skirmisher while constantly paying attention to evade Heras’s Imprisonment-type spells.

Bang, bang, bang. Pa, pa, pa. Heras launched one fierce attack after another, while Katie assisted from the side. In less than two minutes, they forced Klein into a position where he had nowhere to hide, nowhere to dodge, where even rolling would hardly help.

Pa!

Katie’s black whip lashed toward him head-on. Klein only had time to take one slanted step before it struck his arm.

The pain that pierced straight into the mind struck his soul again, freezing him in place and thinning his Spirit Body.

Seizing this opportunity, Heras clenched his left fist and pronounced with majesty:

“Death!”

His body immediately fused with some peculiar force, dragging out a visible afterimage as it slammed into Klein.

Riiiiip!

The figure covered in black armor instantly split into pieces, turning into torn paper that fluttered like butterflies.

Klein had used his third paper figurine!

Heras swept his gaze around and swiftly locked onto the enemy who had appeared in the corner. He sneered.

“Let us see how many substitutes you have left!”

During the process of searching for the enemy earlier, he had already noticed Parker writhing over Capim. The scene was bloody and disgusting—too horrific to look at, cruel and terrifying all at once.

However, Heras had no time to save that subordinate. He knew very well that the depth of his poisoning would only increase, and he had to kill the enemy as soon as possible. He could not afford to be distracted.

Otherwise, he might have retreated from the dining room first, easing the poison’s effects, allowing the enemy to escape smoothly and leaving him without even a shred of useful information.

Again, he signaled Katie to move forward and entangle Klein, who could neither fly nor float. He himself inhaled and took a brief moment to recover.

“There is a strange smell in the air… This should be because the amount of poison is increasing…” The thought flashed through Heras’s mind, but he did not dwell on it.

He lifted his left palm and solemnly declared:

“Unlawful entry into another’s residence is a crime!”

“Unlawful entry…”

While repeating the sentence a second time, Heras’s breathing worsened again. For a brief moment, he could not catch his breath and had no choice but to stop.

He took another deep breath, adjusted his state, and then spoke again:

“Unlawful entry into another’s residence is a crime!”

He repeated it three times in succession. Klein, who had still been unable to break free of Katie’s harassment, suddenly felt a strange chill.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Katie’s coughing symptoms appeared again, slowing the movement of the whip in her hand.

Taking advantage of the chance, Klein broke free from her entanglement. But he had no time to attack her. Instead, he lifted his head, opened his mouth, and released a shriek human ears could not hear!

Buzz! Katie’s head tilted upward. Her body swayed, and she felt the floor rolling beneath her.

Heras only felt a slight dizziness before recovering. He looked at Klein coldly and spoke with authority:

“The guilty shall be restricted!”

Klein, who had been about to pounce on him, abruptly discovered that his feet seemed to have been locked in invisible shackles. His movements instantly became stiff.

Having recovered, Katie opened the cylinder of her revolver and quickly ejected the used cartridge cases and unused bullets.

Then she pulled out a speedloader and inserted six bullets, including the remaining Purifying Bullets, into the cylinder.

Heras clenched his left fist and began preparing his attack.

He intended to form a layered assault with Katie’s shots, striving either to completely eliminate the enemy or exhaust all his substitutes.

At that moment, however, Klein, covered in black armor, revealed a smile.

Because the moment he had been waiting for had arrived!

He knew very well that the Biological Toxin Bottle required some time before it could display good effects. As soon as Beyonders showed symptoms, they could detect that something was wrong and act accordingly—either searching for the hidden enemy or leaving the toxin-filled environment. It would be very difficult to use it alone to heavily injure them, much less deal with them outright.

Therefore, Klein’s purpose in using the Biological Toxin Bottle had two other layers:

First, to weaken the enemy.

Second, to conceal certain smells, making Heras and the others attribute every abnormal scent they detected to the toxin diffusing through the air, forcing all their extra attention to concentrate on that point.

This was the most important part of this “magic performance.” It was the key to success or failure.

That abnormal smell was the smell of gas!

The smell of coal gas!

The reason Klein had first made the flames in the gas lamps and fireplace flare brightly before immediately extinguishing them was not only to disrupt Heras and the others’ vision. More importantly, it was to draw their attention, allowing him to destroy several concealed gas pipes!

The reason he had deliberately fallen into danger at the start was to trick Katie into firing her bullets specifically meant for wraiths and ghosts, ensuring she would no longer shoot blindly afterward and accidentally trigger the corresponding change!

The reason he had kept fighting and entangling with them, making no other attempt, was to wait for the air to fill with gas!

That was why he had kept restraining himself from using Fire Jumping or controlling flames!

As for Heras sealing the room with Confinement, Klein had anticipated it, but had never expected it to go so smoothly. Before entering the dining room, he had kindly checked whether the doors and windows were tightly shut, and had destroyed the concealed gas pipes in the hall, turning the inside and outside together into one enormous “bomb.” Even without Confinement, the final result would not have changed!

And as a “ghost,” Klein himself had no doubt whatsoever that he did not fear explosions!

Low-level ghosts would be burned away by flames, but a “ghost” would at most be injured. This was the reason Klein, despite being able to control flames, had still gone out of his way to buy Purifying Bullets and the Sun Brooch.

Seeing Katie raise her revolver and prepare to fire, and seeing Heras about to pronounce “Death” upon him again, Klein smiled faintly and snapped his fingers.

Heras suddenly became alert, sensing a kind of danger.

But at that moment, he had already seen a flower of flame light up inside the fireplace to the side, violently igniting the surrounding air.

Boom!

Amid an enormous explosion, Heras’s eyes were instantly filled by flames that occupied the entire room, as though he were witnessing a grand fireworks performance.