Chapter 252: Emlyn’s Persistence

Chapter 252: Emlyn’s Persistence

After using one second to confirm what he had heard, Klein clasped his hands together, leaned forward, and said, “What exactly is it?”

“No. I cannot say anything more.” Emlyn White shook his head firmly.

Worried that he was being tested, Klein did not press the issue. He simply analyzed the matter based on what the vampire had just revealed:

It is related to the Fool… It can help Emlyn White resolve a hidden danger… It carries great risk… Combining this with his earlier thoughts, this seems to indicate that he intends to hold the corresponding ritual and pray to the Fool—that is, to me—to remove the psychological cue and regain his long-lost freedom… But this is no longer Emlyn’s own ritual. It comes from the order of some great figure. And with this vampire’s pride, someone he is willing to call a great figure is most likely a powerful Sanguine… Why would some Sanguine bigshot send a descendant to pray to the Fool? Are they cooperating with the Aurora Order?

Filled with doubt, Klein raised his head and looked toward Emlyn, whose face was full of expectation. Inwardly, he gave a soft heh.

Guess whether I will respond to your prayer?

After thinking for two seconds, he did not directly give a suggestion. Instead, he said, “According to statistics, among a hundred people who pray to an unknown hidden existence, thirty receive no response, sixty-eight encounter various terrifying events that end their lives, or leave them alive in a state worse than death. Only two may possibly succeed and obtain what they desire, but the price they pay for that may not be something they are willing to accept.”

As a former keyboard expert, Klein had always believed that when proving something or strengthening a certain viewpoint, anyone who only spoke of examples and special cases, without mentioning the overall sample and statistical data, was playing rogue, secretly shifting the concept. And in general, this kind of situation often came with similar phrases: I have a friend; a certain lady I know; so-and-so around me.

Therefore, in order to persuade Emlyn White, he carefully fabricated some data.

Of course, it was not entirely baseless. At the very least, many files Klein had read while on the Nighthawks team had described similar situations.

“Only two succeed? Sixty-eight encounter problems?” Emlyn was indeed frightened and could not help raising a hand to smooth his hair.

“Basically. That is the danger level of the thing you intend to do. If you harbor malice, the risk will be even higher,” Klein answered sincerely.

Emlyn instinctively shook his head.

“No. There is no malice. And that great figure will protect me during the process.”

No malice? Uh, even if there is malice, you might not know. You are merely cannon fodder pushed to the front… Klein raised his right palm, using the gesture to strengthen his tone.

“That will reduce the risk considerably, but it absolutely will not eliminate it. Can that great figure truly contend with a hidden existence?”

“…Probably not,” Emlyn muttered.

“Therefore.” Klein spread his hands.

He suddenly smiled and said, “Emlyn, in truth, you have absolutely no need to take this risk. Even if you completely believe in Mother Earth, it will not affect your life in any way. Look at the people of Feneport—don’t they still eat what they like, wear what they want, and do what they enjoy? When that time comes, Father Utravsky will most likely no longer force you to volunteer at Harvest Church. You will regain your original freedom.

“Moreover, I think you adapt very well to Mother Earth’s teachings. There is no contradiction.”

Emlyn White was silent for a while before saying, “Becoming a believer because I like Her ideals and being forcibly turned into a believer through another person’s psychological cue are completely different things. Even if one day I truly betray the Moon and believe in the Mother Goddess, I hope it will be a choice I freely make, unrelated to anyone else. This is the final pride of a Sanguine.”

Klein looked at Emlyn in slight surprise, not having expected the other party to possess such a persistence.

After considering for two seconds, he did not continue persuading him. He gave an “Mm” and said, “The question is actually very simple. It is whether the command of a great figure, combined with the temptation of ridding yourself of a hidden danger, can give you the courage to face a certain level of danger. If you possess the conviction to pay your life for this, then the answer is very simple.

“In short, this matter ultimately must be weighed by you yourself.”

Emlyn listened with a heavy expression. Instinctively, he retorted, “If I truly choose to try, it definitely will not be for myself. It will be for the entire Sanguine! Resolving the hidden danger is only an incidental benefit!”

For the entire Sanguine? What could I possibly be involved in that concerns the entire Sanguine? That great figure is lying to you, isn’t he? Klein chuckled.

“A vampire who is not very strong has the chance to save his entire race. Do you believe that yourself?”

“Sanguine. Sanguine!” Emlyn emphasized. “And my strength is not weak either. It is equivalent to Sequence 7 among you humans. Also, it is the combat-specialized kind!”

“As for the question of belief or not, you would not understand.” He stood and said, “Although your analysis and advice have no substantive meaning, I still ought to thank you. Uh, the consultation fee can be offset by the suitcase and tin box from last time.”

Ah? For a moment, Klein failed to understand what the other party meant.

Only after Emlyn had left did he abruptly realize:

“Under normal circumstances, aren’t the containers included for free in large transactions?

“That petty, stingy vampire!”

…

In the deep darkness where the frequency of lightning had yet to recover, the City of Silver’s exploration team arrived “on time” at the outskirts of the half-abandoned temple.

Derrick remembered that, during the first operation, all the beast-hide lanterns had gone out here, plunging the entire team into pure darkness. He had heard the bone-chilling “save me” cry of the little boy Jack from the depths of the temple.

According to Mr. Hanged Man’s, Miss Justice’s, and the others’ guesses, this may be the starting point of the loop. But why, when we awaken, are we at the bonfire camp outside the city, rather than directly here? Derrick recalled the discussions at the Tarot Gathering while following the corresponding suggestion. He lifted his arm and prayed silently.

His body suddenly bloomed with pure, bright light, shocking Joshua and the other exploration team members into assuming combat stances.

“What happened?” Demon Hunter Colin drew out his straight sword and asked in a deep voice.

Derrick looked left and right in “terror.”

“Your Excellency Chief, I just heard a child shouting, ‘Save me… Save me…’”

He wanted to test whether this was the key point.

“And now?” Colin asked warily.

“Now it is gone.” Derrick listened carefully.

Demon Hunter Colin swept the corners of his eyes toward Joshua and the others.

“Did any of you hear it?”

“No.” The exploration team members shook their heads one after another.

Colin only thought for a few seconds before making a decision. From a hidden compartment of the belt around his waist, he drew out a deep-blue metal bottle and smeared the colorless viscous liquid inside over his straight sword.

Immediately afterward, he thrust the sword upward.

The air abruptly brightened. Rays of light like silver snakes swam above them, rapidly spreading outward.

Silver-white radiance instantly enveloped every member of the exploration team, as though illuminating the darkest “corners” within each person.

Sizzle, sizzle. The silver serpents burrowed into the void and raced toward unknown destinations.

Everything quickly calmed. Only the dim light from the beast-hide lanterns quietly spread.

Colin half closed his eyes, seemingly sensing something. Only after a full five seconds did he raise a hand and point ahead.

“From now on, there can be no negligence. Raise your guard to the highest level.”

Such familiar words… This place is not the key to breaking the predicament… Derrick sank his heart, not slacking in the slightest as he followed the team into the half-abandoned temple.

This time, learning from experience, he did not look at the Fallen Creator’s face. Then, during the inspection of the aboveground portion, he relied on initiative and enthusiasm to secure the area where that mural was located.

Holding the beast-hide lantern and gripping the Hurricane Axe, he formed a group with one teammate and began acting.

Passing one mottled or collapsed wall after another, he finally arrived at his destination.

As the light from the beast-hide lantern drew closer, the mural on the wall gradually became clear.

Derrick first looked toward the corner and found the strange line of words that had left such a deep impression on him.

“Redemption Rose…” he silently recited the name, raised the beast-hide lantern higher, and carefully examined the details of the mural.

On the mottled wall, at the highest point, was a huge, indistinct pitch-black cross. A shadow whose specific appearance could not be made out was hanging upside down upon it.

Beneath that background was a barren, deathly plain.

Across the plain walked a long procession. Their target was the mountain in the distance, as well as the cross and the person hanging upside down at the mountain’s summit.

Within the procession, some members were still kneeling on the ground, praying devoutly, while others had already risen and were walking into the gale.

Their faces were all sketched only simply, seemingly to highlight the raggedness of their clothes. Only the leader at the very front was quite clear.

It was a tall, thin man with silver hair reaching his back.

The man’s features were gentle. His head was lowered, his eyes closed, and layered wings of light spread from behind him.

An angel! The legendary angel! Derrick observed the surroundings of the “leader” with excitement hidden in his heart.

Very quickly, he discovered that beneath the feet of that suspected angel was a winding river glittering with rippling light.

The river bent again and again, circled back, flowed into itself, and became its own source!

A cycle! It forms a cycle! Derrick suddenly felt that he had grasped a certain key point.

Within an experience trapped in a loop, the mural on the wall actually contained a river in a loop!

The latter was clearly declaring or revealing something!

Derrick’s gaze shifted upward. He saw that the silver-haired angel, whose wings were too numerous to count, had a face gentle yet faintly indifferent, as though he were looking down upon the river, looking down upon fate.

Is this the true meaning of Mr. Fool’s hint? After brief thought, Derrick decided to try.

If it succeeded, he planned to push the reason for his abnormal behavior onto the little boy Jack. If it failed, no one would remember what he had done!

Under his teammate’s stunned gaze, Derrick raised the Hurricane Axe and slashed fiercely at the river painted on the mural.

The lightning that happened to flash was drawn over, silver-white brilliance falling onto the axe.