Chapter 188: Divine Revelation

Chapter 188: Divine Revelation

Backlund, inside a basement that resembled a temple.

Mr. A, dressed in a black hooded robe, knelt quietly before the statue of an upside-down giant god and remained motionless for a long time.

Suddenly, he tilted his head slightly, as though listening to something.

After a brief pause, Mr. A abruptly raised both hands and used his left palm to tear off the index finger of his right hand with a snap.

He shoved the blood-drenched finger into his mouth and chewed with the crisp crunch of someone eating a snack.

Gulp!

Mr. A’s throat bobbed as he swallowed the crushed finger into his stomach.

His body suddenly trembled, as though seized and shaken by someone invisible.

In that state, Mr. A stretched his right hand forward and used the blood flowing from the wound to write word after word across the ground.

Those words were not in Jotun or Dragonese, which could pry at the forces of nature, nor were they in Hermes, used for rituals. They were written in the most ordinary, commonplace Loenese.

The crimson quickly gathered. Word after word pieced itself together into several lines:

“Find:

“The Fool who does not belong to this era;

“The mysterious ruler above the gray fog;

“The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

“His Blessed and believers are in Backlund.”

As the contents of the “divine revelation” ended, Mr. A stopped trembling. Flesh wriggled at his wound and grew into an entirely new finger.

He lowered his head, carefully looked at the words he had just written, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up in the shadow.

“I shall only obey Your divine decree!” Mr. A prostrated himself humbly on the ground, as though he had once again found the meaning of his existence.

…

The City of Silver. The upper section of the Round Tower.

Lovia walked to the window and looked down at the scattered candle flames in the darkness. Her expression gradually softened.

After an unknown amount of time, she heard a knock at the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Your Excellency Chief?” Lovia turned lightly and asked with a smile.

The door opened by itself without wind, swinging backward.

Standing outside was Demon Hunter Colin Iliad. He wore a brown coat, and around his waist was a leather belt studded with hidden compartments.

“Lovia, the abnormalities in the exploration team members have been confirmed,” Colin said plainly. “As the team leader, regardless of whether you have a problem, you must spend seven days in the dungeon and accept the Glory Crown’s purification. You should know very clearly that this is the rule.”

Lovia showed not the slightest anger. She smiled calmly.

“I know. I had already prepared myself to stay in the dungeon for a long time. After it ends, if you still don’t feel assured, I can accept any arrangement.”

As she spoke, she had already walked toward the door, passing directly in front of Demon Hunter Colin.

Colin silently turned around and followed at her diagonal rear, descending step by step along the spiral staircase.

Halfway down, the two of them heard heart-rending cries and screams.

“It has started again?” Lovia asked, her expression slightly dazed.

Colin nodded and answered in a low, hoarse voice, “Mm. This is the fate we cannot escape…”

At that very moment, on the middle floor of the Round Tower, inside a large hall.

The exploration team members and several City of Silver residents they had additionally corrupted were being pressed in place by an almost tangible sacred radiance. They could not move, as though they were carrying an enormous mountain on their backs.

A couple in their forties, both with rather dark skin, each held a straight sword carved with complex patterns and walked to stand before a young man in his early twenties.

The young man’s body had already collapsed, resembling a mass of meat paste, yet his head remained intact. Only thin, blood-colored tendrils had sprouted from it.

Seeing the couple approach, he cried out in terror:

“Father! Mother! What are you doing?

“Didn’t we agree to eat roasted iron scorpions together tonight?

“Father, Mother, I caught so many iron scorpions for you…”

The couple could not bear it and turned their heads aside, but the straight swords in their hands still rose high.

After two soft pfft sounds, the young man stopped crying out. First he twitched, then he completely lost all signs of life.

On the other side, a girl a little over ten years old also raised a straight sword with complex patterns, tears streaming down her face as she thrust it toward her elder sister.

The woman lying on the floor suddenly laughed softly and spoke with a gentle tone.

“After today, you’ll have to live on your own. Don’t be naive anymore…”

The girl’s vision instantly blurred with tears, and the straight sword in her hand froze in midair.

But a strong, powerful hand pressed onto the back of her hand and shoved forward.

Pfft!

The girl froze there, as though she could no longer hear or see anything.

This was the ancient curse that shrouded every person in the City of Silver: one had to personally kill one’s blood relatives in order to stop them from becoming terrifying and bizarre evil spirits after death.

That was why, even though Dark had completely mutated into a monster and had been corrupted by an unknown existence, making him worthless for interrogation, the Shadow monitor still had not dared to kill him on the spot. Instead, he had done his best to control Dark and bring him back to the Round Tower to await the arrival of his parents. Otherwise, matters would only have become even more troublesome.

Those exploration team members who had likewise been corrupted were now undergoing the same treatment that had remained unchanged for more than two thousand years. Though no one knew whether they would still mutate after death in their current state, no one dared gamble on it.

Fortunately, the City of Silver’s population was not very large, and everyone was trapped in the same place. Under arrangements made generation after generation by the higher-ups, there were many people related by blood. Even if the limit had to remain within three generations, quite a few could still be found.

Because of this, when patrol team rosters were arranged, the responsible Beyonder first had to consider blood relationships in order to guard against accidents.

For exploration teams, the requirement was not as strict, because their missions often led deep into the darkness, far from the City of Silver. Even if they died and mutated, they would not affect everyone’s safety.

If any resident no longer had blood relatives within three generations, they would be placed under strict surveillance. Once they became seriously ill or showed clear signs of aging, they would immediately be sent into the depths of the darkness, far away from the City of Silver.

When Udel, the former exploration team captain isolated in the dungeon, mutated earlier, there had actually been three elders inside the Round Tower. Yet the one who ultimately acted could only be the Chief, Colin Iliad. Otherwise, they could only have attempted to seal him.

Because that Udel had been his elder brother by blood.

The Shepherd Lovia and the Demon Hunter Colin silently entered the lowest level of the Round Tower. Accompanied by several Dawn Paladins, they arrived in the depths of the dungeon.

Soon, the two stopped outside a cell, while the Dawn Paladins spread out in the distance.

Lovia showed no abnormality. Neither hurried nor slow, she walked into the room that contained only a bed, a table, and a short length of candle.

Before the metal door closed, she turned around, looked at Demon Hunter Colin with her pale-gray eyes, and said calmly, “Your Excellency Chief, you once told me that when residents of the City of Silver leave this place and die deep in the darkness, they do not immediately mutate into evil spirits. They have to wait several days. Therefore, the remaining members of an exploration team have enough time to distance themselves.”

Colin nodded, confirming that this was indeed the case.

Lovia closed her eyes briefly and revealed a smile tinged with sorrow.

“During an exploration two months ago, a team member died right in front of me.

“I pretended to become separated from the others and waited there for five days, but he never mutated into an evil spirit.”

Demon Hunter Colin silently looked at her and said nothing until the metal door clanged shut and the seal formed around it.

…

Above the gray fog, inside the ancient palace.

Klein waited for a while. Seeing no abnormal change in the crimson star representing Little Sun, he finally relaxed.

It should have succeeded… He rubbed his forehead, wrapped himself in spirituality, and dropped back into the real world.

The instant he sensed his body’s existence, Klein tasted the flavor of cold.

He sneezed, hurriedly removed the wall of spirituality, and burrowed back into the blankets.

Sadly, his blankets had already gone cold.

Good thing my body receives some degree of protection after I enter the gray fog. Otherwise, I’d probably catch a cold tomorrow… Klein pulled the blanket tight around himself and sighed.

His current condition reminded him of a joke from his previous life:

Basic heating relies mainly on shivering…

Before the bed grew warm again, all he could do was let his thoughts drift aimlessly, considering all kinds of questions.

Eh, I don’t seem to have any urgent matters lately. The Magician’s principles have been summarized. Even if I no longer challenge the impossible and only perform normally, I should be able to digest the potion step by step around the new year. My main tasks now are collecting the Beyonder materials for the Faceless potion and accumulating the corresponding money, but neither can be rushed… The tightly wound string in Klein’s mind gradually loosened, and he suddenly felt like resting for two or three days.

As the blankets warmed again, he unknowingly fell asleep. When he woke, he happened to hear the church bells toll eight times.

Klein stretched an arm outside, felt the chill, and silently withdrew it.

It seems the temperature dropped again today… There’s nothing urgent to do. Maybe I can sleep in a little… Relaxed, he closed his eyes once more.

But after lazing in bed for only a short while, he heard his stomach growl and felt the pressure in his lower abdomen.

Life really is full of difficult choices everywhere… Klein muttered.

After struggling against those two sensations for more than ten minutes, he finally gave up, threw off the blanket, and charged to the washroom next door.

After changing clothes and washing up, he went downstairs, dug out ingredients, and prepared to make Feneport noodles.

This time, he did not plan to use store-bought meat sauce. He wanted to try the minced meat topping he had made two days earlier, using the flavor from memory as a guide and carefully selecting ingredients to fry it. Although certain ingredients in the two worlds differed slightly, making the flavor impossible to truly reproduce, Klein had tasted it afterward and found it quite decent.

Before long, he was eating Feneport noodles mixed with seasoning sauce and minced meat topping, and he felt that this truly was a beautiful morning.

Following this world’s tradition, he read the newspaper while eating, first confirming that the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom had not yet published an advertisement.

Based on his thoughts from the previous night, Klein decided to entertain himself today. Thus, he began considering whether to attend a concert, listen to an opera, or watch a play.

In many music halls in the West Borough, Hillston Borough, and Cherwood Borough, tickets cost at least six soli. If a famous musician was performing, prices could even be counted in pounds. Professional music halls aimed at ordinary citizens cost six to nine pence, while those open to poor people in the East Borough with a bit of spare money cost only one penny… Klein flipped through the relevant information, selecting today’s entertainment.

Just then, he heard the sound of the doorbell.

Ding-ding-dang-dang.